Strife

[Leandros Solus]

Leandros was hurting. His newfound role left a bittersweet ache in his heart; he would not have claimed to be the next Mand’alor if he truly believed Raz was alive, but he had no way to tell. The destruction of his home had been immense; smoke and ash hung in the air and danced around, the acrid stench of death and decay assaulting the senses wherever one went. Following his rally, he went back to his home and searched around for hours, looking for a sign. Something. Anything. Any kind of sign or indicator that Raz was alive, that she had fought off whatever Sith she encountered and escaped to live another day. His armor was coated completely in ash and dust, the symbols and markings on his armor long since concealed. His daughter sat on a duracrete slab nearby, watching him with interest.

She didn’t understand what he was doing. She couldn’t understand, not yet. The only thing she knew was that her dad was upset about something and that it troubled him immensely. She watched him toss, pull, and shift every bit of debris in their home that he could, sometimes even getting on all fours to dig for something. Every time he stood back up, his sagging shoulders and hunched posture indicated a sense of defeat. The two walked down the devastated streets several times, but she had no idea what he was looking for. She had no idea that he was trying to find his wife, her mother.

After what seemed like hours, he trudged back to his home, carrying his daughter in one arm. He set her down on a giant duracrete slab and sat next to her and reached up to pull his helmet off. Lines of clear skin poked through the ash on his face where his tears stained his cheeks, running down every which way like arteries. The two sat in silence for a while, listening to the gentle whistle of the wind. The sound of something rummaging nearby alerted him to the presence of life nearby, and he quickly reached for his blaster. He waited, watching the debris that the noise originated from; it could be looters, wild animals, or survivors. Several tense moments passed by before the offending creature scurried out.

From the destruction of a nearby building came a large, dust-and-blood-covered badger, clearly terrified from the annihilation of the planet. For a moment, it simply stared at the man and his daughter. Soon, the confusion passed, and sudden familiarity lit up in its worried eyes. It shook loose some of the dust, revealing its white fur and red eyes, and slowly approached the two. Leandros could do nothing else but laugh at the absurdity of the moment; he'd been looking for signs of Raz, and here, from the desecration of his home, came her albino badger, Bubbles. The pet walked up to Lily and nuzzled against the young girl's leg, curling up at her feet as a guardian might with its offspring. Here on this slab of duracrete now sat the last remnant's of Raz's legacy - her husband, her daughter, and her badger. It was a bitter reunion, but at least what was left of the family was together.

Leandros rummaged through his pack, pulling out some snacks for Lily and Bubbles and a quick ration stick for him to eat. His weary eyes watched her as she bit into the food, tears welling up at the reminder of Raz. Though he refused to show it to his people, he was destroyed. Every night was filled with nightmares and dreams of how he envisioned his wife dying and their home being destroyed. He could remain strong in front of his people when he needed to, but he couldn’t hide from himself. He was the only one who he couldn’t run from.

He reached out and wrapped an arm around Lily, hugging her closer to his body as she ate. The traumatized girl snuggled in close to him, pecking away at the food in her hands. She’d been silent since the attack, and he wasn’t sure what he could do to bring her out of it. Time healed all wounds, but seeing his own flesh and blood hurt like this and not even understand it pierced his heart. At first, he didn’t notice the tears raining down on his ashen armor, but once he realized that he was crying again, he did little to stop it. It was just him and his daughter left now. Sure, he had the backing of thousands of Mandalorians, but nothing could fill the hole in his heart.

The gods had betrayed him, betrayed the faith he put in them, and now demanded he serve still. What cruel and callous beings would do such a thing? What cruel test was this that they would strip a Mandalorian child of their mother, the ruler of their people? Where had he failed in his piety? Was this punishment? A thousand questions and doubts raced through his mind as he continued to hold his child. What did she do to deserve any of this? He continued to sit there, lost in thought, finally taking a moment for himself to think.

@Darasaurus (I got it right this time)

 

[Koil Solus]

♠ THEME ♠​

Koil wondered where he should have gone after he had his wounds tended to. Archie trailed beside him. Occasionally he would trot ahead and sniff someething before moving on. Familiar scents had probably been thrown everywhere in the wake of distruction. The smell of all sorts of burnt and atomized materials still heavy in the air.

Half of his helmet was still cleaved open from the shrapnel he had taken. Koil was walking through the streets of Keldabe towards Leandros's and Raz's house. At least, that was where he thought he was heading. Dio's house was over that way too if he remembered correctly. As he made the trip his mind drifted to a distant memory.

"You know you have an adolescent freak in you know that right?" It was said as a joke by Koil's uncle at the dinner table. The young mandalorian, just about fourteen years old said nothing as he stared at his plate. His father was to his right at the head of the table. His hair was still wet from taking a shower after a hard day's work and his one working eye staring at his brother with a stoic look. "I don't know how you can stand it. I mean he looks like a human more or less aside from..." He gestured with a casual wave towards Koil's unusually pale Echani complexion. "...just look at him, Atin. He's a pretty animal...but still an animal right?"

"You best mind how you speak to my son, Hakon. My husband might tolerate your ignorance but I don't." His mother said as she came in holding a large skillet. The food inside still sizzling as it had just been lifted from the stove. It smelled fantastic and usually was enough to put all the stressors of the day on pause. But Koil's uncle, Hakon, kept pushing.

"oh come on Ivinia, you can't be serious. I know you have to say that on principle because you adop-" But he was promptly interrupted by the terse tone of Koil's mother. "You come in to my house. I serve you supper and you insult my child. Now if you will apologize to my son and after that you will get to eat my food and sit in silence unless spoken to directly. Do you understand?”

His father was the rolling thunder in most situations but in truth his mother was the more fearsome. At the moment his father took a deep breath and sighed but ultimately not saying anything. Across from Koil sat his sister Vidian who's expression said that she would rather be anywhere else but here. She was not like Koil. She was younger than the young Echani and unlike him she was the biological offspring of Atin and Ivinia Solus.

Something had consumed the Uncle in that moment though. "...and if I don't?" He said daring Ivinia. The woman just smiled without any humor. She picked the hot skillet filled with food an smashed it across the man's face so hard he fell back in his chair. Food flew everywhere, spattering the walls and only a few flecks ironically hitting the empty plates. "Then I'll make you permanently silent."

The skillet fell from her grasp with a clang making the already surprised children jump a little for a second time. Ivinia's steps took her over the stunned body of her brother in law. At the head of the table still sat Koil's father. "Gods damn it. Waste of good food"

He had arrived at Leandros's and Raz's home. He hardly recognized it. Koil wondered if his family's home to the north was in the same degree of disappeared. The War Councilor had yet to reach them on any calls in the short moments of quiet and calm he had stolen away in the past few days.

The speech from the new Mandalore had been fairly recent. The words he had not really listened too closely to now bounced around in his head. But they quickly were silenced as he laid his eyes on the lone frigure who was his new leader. His right crimson eye visible from the cracked and jagged helmet opening. Smeared blood and soot covered his armor not unlike his badger. The Echani did not know what to say right then as everything he had done recently came welling back up again at once. He was not going to get over what had happened any time soon. That was, if he would ever get over it. Mom was right. You don't get over losing someone. You just go through it. Koil wondered if Leandros, in all his exhausted state even noticed him.

@Painus

 

[Leandros Solus]

Theme​

Silent tears continued to fall down onto his armor as if in a funeral procession, each dropping in turn after the one before it. It wasn’t the first time he had cried in the past few days, but it was the first time that each tear, each muffled sob, actually hurt him. Lily continued to quietly nibble away at her food, the badger at her feet curled up and resting for probably the first time in days since the attack. It was a pitiful sight; the new Mand’alor coated in the ash of his home crying quietly while holding his traumatized daughter close. If he hadn’t held the reputation that he did, onlookers were likely to scorn him for his weakness.

Leandros didn’t care. The only things he had left in this world were right here with him. While they sat, he reached for his datapad and pulled up the last photo he, Raz, and their kid had taken just moments prior to the attack on Mandalore. The three shared jovial smiles, the two parents on either side of the product of their love. He was glad he saved the picture; it was all he had to look at his wife. Well, it was almost all he had; his gaze turned towards Lily, the tears in his eyes blurring his vision. She looked like her mom, even at such a young age. He told himself that no harm would befall the girl so long as he lived, and he swore before the gods that he would uphold that vow.

The trio sat in solemn reticence, each member of the family processing the emotional damage they now suffered in their own way. Bubbles’ ears perked and she raised her head in alarm. Leandros’ free hand twitched instinctively towards his holster and he slowly turned his gaze at the incoming presence, worried it was a looter or some other unsavory type. He lowered the datapad and set it beside his helmet, his arm listlessly hanging down on top his leg. He made no effort to hide his tear-stained cheeks, nor did he look at Koil for very long, instead turning his gaze back to Lily.

”She hasn’t said a word since it happened,” he sighed, shaking his head. He went quiet again, his chest rising and falling gingerly with each breath. His mouth opened as if to say something, then went closed again as he thought about what it was that he wanted to say. Eventually he opened it again, pausing for a moment, before letting out a vague ”I’m sorry.” He didn’t direct the statement at anyone in particular, but it was appropriate for everyone around him. His eyes didn’t even look up and instead remained locked on the family photo he had picked back up since Koil’s arrival, studying their faces just mere minutes before calamity, longing to return to that blissful peace he had felt, even with a war going on.

@Darasaurus

 

[Koil Solus]

The was the second time he had come before Leandros in that day. His emotions had barely been curbed in the time since last. His daughter was still there but there was not any audience. Koil's eyes flicked towards Lily at Leandros's words.

When he apologized his crimson irises turned back onto the new Mand'alor. His apology did not make him empathize with the man. In fact it fueled his anger. Apologies were not going to ease the pain any of them had. It would not bring Raz back. But if that was Leandros's way of saying he knew it was his fault then Koil would not disagree with him. The Echani felt it Leandros's fault, but also his own. Yet he was having trouble saying that out loud. It was always easier to blame others.

The booted feet crunched against the dirt and the rocks that had come from blasted structures. Most of it were the pieces of Leandros's destroyed home. Each step brought him closer to Leandros. Koil did not say anything as he got closer. When he got within arms reach he moved around Leandros and went deeper into the ruined building.

In the following moments he pushed pieces of rubble out of the way. Shifting burnt furniture and jagged debris. Occasionally a grunt came from him as he pushed things out of the way. Koil had been to the house enough to remember where things had been before the extensive damage had been wrought. Eventually he found what he was looking for among the mostly damaged property. A small case he had purchased himself long ago. A glove hand brushed off the ash and dirt. The War Councilor did not open the box. Instead he held it there, waiting until he decided on whether he should open it or not to check and see if it was empty. "Silence isn't the worst thing." he said mostly to himself, finally responding to Leandros's comment about his daughter, among other things.

@Painus

 

[Leandros Solus]

Leandros switched his gaze from the family photo back to Lily as she finished eating her food. He handed the datapad to the toddler to look at and occupy herself with while his own gaze trailed upwards to look at Koil. The man said nothing to him and simply looked down at the new Mand’alor. Leandros knew that apologizing for whatever wouldn’t have an effect, and the man wasn’t particularly the target of his apology. It was more so something that he had rarely said before and needed to get off his chest, even if nobody around him would accept it.

He knew Koil wouldn’t forgive him just as he knew the animosity the man felt towards him, even if he never spoke it into existence. Despite years of working, fighting, and bleeding together, there was always some barrier between them, some invisible force keeping them apart. Leandros knew what that force was, but he still had difficulty understanding how one person could be so caught up in matters he couldn’t affect.

Through teary eyes, Leandros watched Koil approach, but rather than acknowledge the man sitting down, he simply stepped around him and continued towards his home. Without watching, he listened to Koil rifle through the destroyed ruins of where he and Raz had spent years together. Something about it disturbed him greatly; it was like ransacking a grave whose soil had barely settled. His fingers gripped the edges of the duracrete slab tightly, the calloused skin of his fingers scraping against the jagged surface until friction stopped all movement. He would have said something in an emotional outburst, were his daughter not present. Instead, he inhaled deeply, his muscles tensing up, and exhaled slowly, his ragged breath disturbing the ash that had settled on his lips.

”Yes, I’m sure you know a thing about being quiet,” he growled, his brows furrowing and his lips forming a scowl, ”And this is not your home to pillage.” Lily looked up at him, holding out the datapad for him to take now that she grew bored of it. He reached over and gingerly plucked it from her hands, setting the family photo beside his helmet. Not once did he look over towards Koil, not wanting to see how the man was offending what was now a ruin. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for, but it irritated him to no end.

@Darasaurus

 

[Koil Solus]

He was angry. That much Koil could tell from Leandros's words. Not at the Sith this time, not at himself, but at Koil. For some reason that made the War Councilor feel a tiny bit of satisfaction. Good So much had gone without being said by the both of them. It was not just the Echani who had been silent when it came to certain subjects. To this day Koil still did not know if Raz had told Leandros about his confession that day in the tattoo parlor, or the time on the sail boat.

In this moment he could not smell the ink of his own tattoo shop. Koil tried thinking of how the spray of the Jartra Lakes felt on his face when Raz and himself had just spent an afternoon sailing. That was one of the happiest moments of his life. Yet he could not feel anything but the pain in his body. The smell of ash and war, the taste of copper still lingering on his tongue. It would be some time before he got rid of that flavor.

The booted feet crunched on rock and glass. Broken bits of various furnishings partially burnt lay strewn everywhere. It was impossible not to step on something that had once been their home. But Koil left the house with the box in his hands. He moved around in front of both Leandros and his daughter before setting down the wooden container at his own feet.

"Where's her armor Leandros? Where is her body?" That was his belated response to the man accusing him of theft. But maybe how the new Mand'alor answered might lead him to the point of why he was taking the box before the three of them. Maybe he would realize it was not so strange for Koil to want to take it.

@Painus

 

[Leandros Solus]

Leandros continued to listen to the man move around the debris, his feet cracking glass and wood, crunching stone against stone, disturbing the gravesite of his past life. Koil, in typical fashion, said nothing in response to his statements, and the silence perturbed him immensely still. Leandros was a straightforward, get-to-the-point kind of guy, and those who took more roundabout ways of doing things bothered him to no end. It was the stubborn impatience that his clan was known for, that desire for constant activity and action that brought them to the forefront of the galaxy, and it never left him, even as he matured.

Eventually Koil returned to where he was sitting with a box in his hands and set it down at his feet. For a moment, Leandros looked at the box with confusion; he’d seen it before, but rarely paid any attention to it. He and Raz both collected trophies from all around the galaxy, and their home quickly became filled with loot from their conquests that neither of them really looked at ever.

Koil’s words snapped him from his stupor, but he didn’t move his gaze from the box. The questions he asked now had been asked hundreds of times before to himself as he searched day and night for some sign of her, to no avail. Hearing the questions from another sent a shock through his body, and he gritted his teeth once more, gripping the edge of the slab in an attempt to calm himself down. He could do little to stem the tide of emotions he felt, though, and he soon found himself abruptly pushing himself to his feet and stepping very close into Koil, nearly pushing the man back with his chest.

”I don’t know!” he shouted, causing Lily behind him to jump with surprise at the outburst, ”Is that what you want to hear!?” He was practically yelling down at the smaller man, his face running hot with anger. ”Do you want me to tell you about how my wife is dead and I can’t find her body, is that it?! About how the one person I cared for in this galaxy is gone and now my own clan is accusing me of failing her?!” He turned away, desperately trying to unclench his fists, his emotional turmoil finally boiling over into an explosive rage. Every time he opened his hands, they clamped back up immediately, his knuckles beginning to turn white.

”I- you have a lot of nerve standing there and saying the things you say,” he spat, his voice echoing out off the dead buildings of Keldabe, ”You- rrraaaaagh!” He placed his hands on his head and paced around, trying to calm his breathing. His heart pounded and his movements were quick, erratic. Lily sat on the slab and watched her father with worried eyes as he vented. After a few moments he stopped and stared at the destroyed buildings around him, hands still on his head, until he clenched his eyes shut to think.

”Go ahead and hate me for loving her,” he eventually said, his voice shuddering with emotion, ”It’s all you’ve ever seemed to do.”

@Darasaurus

 

[Koil Solus]

One eye exposed behind the damaged helmet showed Koil's partial expression. Leandros got up and in his face, their chests practically touching. The container at both their feet. The man yelled, loudly. Koil was surprised it had taken him this long to show this level of distress.

"I don't hate you for loving her, Leandros..." His voice was not raised above normal volume in contrast to widower. The Echani still held on to the feeling of death and the outlook of a calculating warrior. Loving Raz was not a crime and that was not what he had accused Leandros of.

"I hate that she choose you." Those words were not cold. The war councilor watched Leandros as he said them, intent on looking him in the eye so that he knew Koil was not lying. He had never lied before. Koil's burned in his throat as he said them. Before the battle of Mandalore Koil had stayed quiet, fully believing Leandros was probably better for Raz. Though with the battle having come and gone, those feelings were not the same. The truth can hurt even to the people that say it.

When he continued to was a little bit louder as his emotions rose. Not nearly at the same levels as Mand'alor the Crusader, but above normal. "She chose you, Leandros. You were supposed to keep her safe! You were supposed to protect her from..." He tried to imagine how she must have died. What had happened to her without either of them there. It resulted in a long pause and when he came back from it Koil realized he was his singular crimson iris looked at Lily. "...we were both supposed to protect her." A hint of personal regret at seeing the motherless child before him.

@Painus

 

[Leandros Solus]

Leandros thought he was much more in control of his emotions. The hot tears running down his face, cleaning the ash from it, suggested otherwise. His face grew red with indignation, hate, sadness, fear, concern – a whole slew of emotions that he hated feeling. It was not his place to feel these things; he was the Mand’alor now, he had to rise above the common level of life, to be the exemplar of what their people needed to be, to show them that they could take a punch to the gut like this and come back swinging harder than ever. He tried so, so hard to hold back the chaos and turmoil going on in his mind, but there was nothing he could do. He was human; a fallible, fragile machine that could not do what he demanded of it. His weariness began to show, and that weariness broke down the walls he had carefully erected over the years.

His heart pounded, the rhythmic thumping of blood drowning out all noise around him except for Koil’s words, and even those took some time to process. Koil loved her? This animosity was the result of jealousy for his clanmate’s life? Was Leandros that oblivious that he could not see that his love for Raz, their marriage and the life they lived, was the source for Koil’s ire towards him? He inhaled and exhaled deeply, his breath shuddering as it escaped through his mouth still, a desperate bid to slow his heart rate. He wanted nothing more than to turn around and punch Koil for the things he said but couldn’t bring himself to move a muscle. His limbs felt paralyzed as he processed the things the man behind him said, and his consciousness screamed out in protest, demanding retribution for some perceived slight.

”I was supposed to protect her…” he faintly whispered, more to himself than to anyone else. He turned around to look Koil in his exposed eye, fists clenching shut again once he dropped them from his head. ”I was supposed to protect her?!” His voice began to raise again and he took a step towards Koil, raising a fist as if to strike. ”You have the balls to stand there and tell me what I was supposed to do?!” He took another step forward, getting closer. He kept his fist raised; his face contorted in a rictus of distaste.

”You think you have the right to accuse me of failing a woman you loved and could never have because you were too afraid? You think I asked for any of this?! For my home to be destroyed, for my wife to die, for our daughter to never know her mother outside of photos and stories?!” His voice choked with emotions and cracked at times, so raw were the feelings he was experiencing. He was within striking distance now after another step. He wanted to do it, to swing and let out all of his frustration and hate and fear and sadness at once on this man, this poor, innocent, loveless man who he called brother.

His gaze flicked sidelong towards Lily, who sat on the duracrete slab with her legs tucked into her arms, embracing herself out of fear for what was going to happen while tears ran down her face. Leandros turned his attention back to Koil, but his body would not move, could not move. What was he doing? Why was he so angry towards Koil? So many others had to have loved Raz, but she chose him, and now he was abusing that love to want to strike out against a man with whom he had fought and bled beside for years? If his wife could see him now, he knew she would be ashamed in his behavior.

His fist hung in the air for a moment that felt like an eternity. Leandros looked into the crimson iris of his clan mate, his facial features twitching as the various emotions ran rampant through his head. His arm lowered slowly, very slowly, as though he couldn’t control his body, and he turned away again, looking at Lily.

”You’re right,” he muttered, ”I failed her. I failed our people. I failed you, Narir, Drace, the whole clan… I failed and failed and failed, and nothing I can do will fix this.”

@Darasaurus

 

[Koil Solus]

Koil stared back at Leandros's enraged expression. Each step bringing him closer and closer. The man did not need to look at the Mand'alor's fist reading to strike him. He was not about to defend against it. While he he felt the way he did about Leandros and Raz and everything else that had transpired he did not want to stop the fist. So he stood there, waiting for the larger man to swing. But none came yet. The cyclopean crimson eye staring at Lily's huddled body.

The Echani had been afraid. Fear had ruled him from the beginning. As a child, as Bryce Wryx, his family had been on the run, hiding from hunters and other criminals. When he joined the Mandalorians he had been afraid of being weak. Connection had been a weakness, or so he thought. After meeting Raz, after becoming Al'verde of Clan Solus the man had bonded with those around him. Fear of being shunned for being anything but pure human. Then there was fear of rejection. That was what Leandros had said and he was right.

Koil felt fear. The Silent Badger did not. Then why am I crying? A single visible tear fell from his eyes. It was a question he could not answer and it was not the type of thing to come to him any time soon. Swallowing the lump in his throat a singluar and slow blink came to try and clear his eyes. It did not help much.

Still, no strike from Leandros had come. Part of Koil was confused. He had deserved getting a good strike. He even felt like he probably had earned more than that after everything he said. The Silent Badger knew the cost of making a sound and he had done his equivalent of a roar but the expected consequence never came. It felt wrong. But that said more about his feelings towards himself in that moment more than anything else.

Reaching up with one hand he undid the straps to his helmet. A snap and click later it was loose. With the same hand he pulled the damaged piece of armor off his head. The right side of his face was slightly dirtier than the left thanks to the exposure to the elements.

He was not sure if things were ever going to be the same between the two of them. The War Councilor did know that he was not solely consumed with hatred. Leandros was the new Mand'alor and still Koil's brother. "I didn't hear that." An almost warning tone came with the words. The Echani inhaled audibly and exhaled just as loud calming himself. Looking away from Lily he turned to stare at Leandros for the first time with both eyes unobscured by his visor. "I better not hear you speak in that hopeless tone again. You're Mand'alor the Crusader...and Raz...would not tolerate that kind of talk. And neither will I." That was the best he could do. Leandros had made mistakes. So had Koil. But he was still a War Councilor, he was still Silent Badger and he still had love for both the living and the dead. He was not about to forget one in favor of the other.

@Painus

 

[Leandros Solus]

If Raz were here, she’d probably punch the shit out of him and tell him to pull himself together.

Leandros trudged over to Lily, his heart heavy with grief, and reached down to pick the girl up. She was terrified, and the tears running down her face could’ve filled a drinking glass. Seeing her dad cry like this, seeing him go through rapid emotional changes like this, was something she was unprepared for, and it frightened her. She cried and clung to him tightly, wrapping her tiny little arms around his neck as he brought her in close. He didn’t want to let go of her, nor would he. She was his entire world, and he’d do anything to keep her safe and happy. He had no idea how to be a single father, let alone one with Raz, but he’d give it his damnedest to raise her properly. For now, though, all he could do was comfort the trembling toddler as she buried her face in his neck.

Koil’s words resonated with him and he began to realize how much of a wreck the attack on Mandalore had made him. He had no control over his emotions, his thoughts switching from wanting to punch a wall to wanting to cry to wanting to burn a world in the blink of an eye. You never truly know how much you cared for something until it was gone, and the loss of Raz left a deep wound in his soul that he wasn’t sure could ever be repaired. Only time could tell, he supposed. He sounded like a hopeless idiot, not the warrior-king of an entire people, and that only embarrassed him further.

Leandros clenched his teeth and shook his head, fighting the shame he felt for some of the things he said, both to Koil and to himself. He knew deep down that he hadn’t failed anyone; the attack on Mandalore was so swift and unexpected that any kind of counterattack would have ended in more deaths. He blamed himself for not being by his wife’s side when she died so that the two of them could have gone out together, but he knew the necessity of them splitting up. They needed to rally their people all over the city to provide them with the best chance of survival, but damn, did her loss hurt.

He turned around, still clutching Lily tightly, and saw, perhaps for the first time in his life, Koil unmasked. The man was… paler than he expected, and the crimson irises were off-putting, but he wasn’t sure what he expected. The two men looked each other in the eyes; Leandros through his bloodshot, weary eyes, and Koil with his piercing gaze. ”She was the only thing in this galaxy that made me happy,” he admitted bitterly, ”Not the gods, not bloodshed, not conquering planets in our name. Just her.” He gingerly rubbed Lily’s head, ”And they took that away from me.” He gritted his teeth and scowled, still staring Koil down.

”I don’t know how to be the Mand’alor any more than she did,” he said, spitting a glob of ash and saliva on the ground, ”I don’t know how to lead an entire people. I can’t even control my own kriffed-up feelings.” He sighed, his shoulders heaving gently with the motion, ”What do they see in me?” His doubts came surfacing now, and he truly doubted his role as the sole ruler of their people. Sure, he could rally them and galvanize them to crusade and avenge their home, but what did they see in him? Why choose him to rule over any other? Why was he having these thoughts? The weight of an entire culture bore down on him, and he suddenly felt very alone.

@Darasaurus

 

[Koil Solus]

The House of Solus were badgers through and through. Each of them were emotional, their passions burning hot. Arguably hotter than any other Aliit. Koil was no different from Leandros in the intensity of his feelings. But he was better at concealing them for better or worse.

"They'll pay for what they've done..." His eyes staring back at the grieving widower as his voice trailed off. The crimson gaze turned towards the sad child in his arms. "...I promise." The Echani never made promises he could not keep. It was the vow he had made to himself when Leandros had given his rallying speech earlier that day. Now he had made it to both Lily and Leandros. If the Sith Empire knew he had made that promise, they should be afraid. Because the Silent Badger's justice was inevitable.

"They've followed you so far." Leandros was uncertain about what to do next. Koil was not doing much better. He was the Alor of Solus and he could think of the Clan and House's wellfare but that was still a struggle for him. Leading had never been an ambition of his. Koil had long been the hands-on kind of guy and the higher he went in terms of rank and prestege he felt the distance grew from his field of expertise. But so far the man had kept working on the front lines and not forgetting what was important. Leandros's question was not an easy one to answer. "Just, make her proud. I believe in you Leandros because Raz did. You're the Crusader. Give them a crusade."

With that said he lowered himself back to the container at his feet. It had sat there, closed and collecting a faint layer of ash and dust during their exchange. Undoing the latch it flipped open. "Lily..." He spoke the child directly though she was probably too emotional right now to really listen as well as just too young to understand. "When a warrior, a great warrior dies they're armor remains. Family and friends take pieces of their armor to remember them, keep them close. These..." He turned the container to show an immaculate set of throwing vibro-knives. "...were a gift from me to your mother. When you're older, come find me and I'll give them to you. Until then I'll hold onto them." There was no armor, no body for him or any of them to keep. This was as close as he could get. I will kill them with the ones responsible for her death with these blades. After another moment or two he closed the container, sealing the weapons away again. The next time he opened it he planned on using them.

@Painus

 

[Leandros Solus]

Leandros held onto Lily, thinking of the girl’s wellbeing. She was terrified, both from this encounter, and because of the events that had passed recently. Even though she was no more than a toddler, she understood the situation enough to recognize how upsetting everything was. He began to think of her future, of how she’d grow up and remember these traumatic moments and began to fear for her mental state. Even now, amidst the ash and smoke of his home, he worried more about his daughter than anything else around him. He found himself so caught up in his thoughts that he missed Koil’s promise to Lily and him, perhaps for the best. It was something Koil needed to swear to himself, and he knew that he would not stop until it was fulfilled.

Koil affirmed his belief in him, and Leandros could do nothing but stand and stare in silence. He knew his people believed in him – they had to – but hearing it from the mouth of one so close to him hit him differently. A cold chill ran through his body, causing his muscles to spasm lightly from the sensation. They wanted him to give them a crusade? They’d damn well get one. He wouldn’t rest until every Sith sat buried beneath the sins of their crimes with a bolt between their eyes and a beskad in their heart. They thought the Mandalorians were a menace before, but they had not yet made Leandros into the man he was destined to be.

His mind flashed briefly back to that snowy mountain top decades ago, when a fever-induced vision of Kad Ha’rangir spoke to him, pledging him into his service for eternity. Leandros knew then that nothing would stop him until his service was complete, and he was far from having served fully. Perhaps this is what he needed to catalyze his righteous fury; perhaps it was the glassing of his home, the death of his wife, the trauma of his daughter. Perhaps it was the thunderous rallying cry of his people that echoed still within his mind. Perhaps it was simply Koil, standing here and telling him to be the man Raz believed him to be.

Leandros went internal and grew angry with a desire for vindication, tuning back in about halfway to Koil’s lesson and promise to Lily. The girl had very slowly peered out from her father’s neck, nothing more than a sideways glance with one eye, but it was enough to watch and learn, even if she didn’t understand. The new Mand’alor understood, and the vow spoke volumes to him of how much Koil cared for them.

”A mind without purpose,” he recited from memory, ”Will wander in dark places. The Destroyer told me that, I think, long ago.” He hefted Lily up, making sure she was comfortably snuggled in his arms. ”I was without purpose for a time,” he admitted, turning his gaze to the destroyed surroundings around him, ”But now I see what it is he meant.”

”To be united by hatred is a fragile alliance,” he continued, ”But love can unite a people forever. A love for their home,” he said, gesturing around him, ”A love for a wife. For a child,” he said, sweeping his gesture towards the datapad with their family picture on it, ”A love for friends. For a brother.” He finished his gesture by leaving his hand extended towards Koil, looking the man in his weary, sanguine eyes, ”We will always have our differences, Koil, but we will always stand together because of something neither of us can understand. I don’t know if it’s the will of the gods, or if it’s the strength of man, but what our people share – what we share – will never be crushed. Not again.”

He kept his hand extended, wondering if the man would accept his veiled apology and desire to put whatever differences they had aside.

@Darasaurus

 

[Koil Solus]

Koil's hands held the box that contained the throwing knives. His grip was firm, stronger than it needed to be perhaps. But he held it regardless. He stood and listened to Leandros as he spoke about his plan. The War Councilor watched the new Mand'alor develop his motivation for their people.

The warrior knew what motivated him. Leandros admitted he did not understand but Koil with held his own feelings yet again. It was not the time to correct him. That was not what Mand'alore the Crusader needed to hear. Instead of any contrary statement or correction Koil shifted the container in his hands so that it ended up under his left arm. Extending his free right arm he clasped the man's right arm in a firm grip. A following nod was given to affirm their agreement. Even if they had their differences as men, they had their shared goal for their people and that was enough.

Afterwards he had nothing else to say. Releasing his arm Koil took a step towards the fallen helmet. Bending down he picked it up and turned to leave. He would get a few dozen meters before he would shake the helmet. The remnants of blood, ash and dust would fall to join the rest. Once again, Silent Badger would don his other face.

♠ EXIT THREAD ♠​