Ask To Nab Taanab

[Gett'se Vizsla]

The Mand'alor's ambitions were grand, Gett'se could not deny this. It was always a distant dream of his people, to heal Mandalore. A living Mandalore would mean nothing less than a golden age for its children. But it was always only a dream. Until now. The technology had advanced to the point where it might perhaps be possible, and there seemed to be no limit to the Sith credits funding the restoration. It was a deal too good to be true.

The strings attached felt numerous to Gett'se.

He had flown in silence for most of the trip, piloting his Y-wing silently. Letting Arthos stew in the back seat as he considered all the angles, all the strings. Sith credits meant resources to perhaps pull off terraforming their home. It also meant being indebted to them even more deeply. Disgust rose in his throat at the thought. And then there was the problem of the kid Arthos and his newfoundling son.

To many problems on his mind with a mission at hand.

"How is fatherhood treating you?" Gett'se asked him after the hyperspace trip of sitting silence, he pulled a lever and the stars snapped back into place out the viewport of his Y-wing. Fresh paint, blue and black. The marks of Mandalore and Clan Vizsla emblazoned it. An unmistakably Mandalorian ship entered the Taanab system, alone.

He gave it about three minutes until fighters scrambled on them. If they were lucky.

"How's your diplomacy?" He asked. Generally speaking Mandalorian's had two forms of diplomacy. Diktusayir and kadtaniyaa. The difference between threatening to shoot someone in the face, and shooting someone in the face, as Gett'se would describe it. It wasn't a wonder that Mandalore did not often have allies.

They approached Taanab in the distance, a bright green orb in the inky black.

@Nefieslab

 

[Arthos Vizsla]

Diplomacy was often seen as something of a curse word to some Mandalorians but Arthos wasn’t one of them. It had served him well in the past to lean into the Mandalorian stereotype but he was actually willing to, gasp, compromise on some subjects without pulling a blaster. He did, however, usually draw the blaster anyway but it was the thought that counted.

One thing he knew about diplomacy from the non-Mandalorian standpoint was that appearances mattered and showing up in his working relic of a ship would have been a bad look… but he would admit that he missed being the pilot. He was learning that he was an uncomfortable passenger even if he adored flying typically.

He awkwardly shuffled in place both at the question and his own discomfort at not being the one controlling their flight after so long piloting himself.

“Being a Buir is a lot less of a hassle than my own Buir made it seem.” He said before admitting something aloud that he had been thinking on for some time, “Difference, as I see it, is that I wanted Bak-Ru as my son.”

Left unsaid was that his adopted mother had never made any secret, even amongst the clan, that she would have been glad to be rid of him.

On the note of diplomacy however?

“I’m quick on the draw.” He said by way of a basic answer before adding, “They’ll likely figure out I am younger. We can lean on their preconception that it means I’ll be less firm with them.”

They’d be wrong, of course. Arthos was the man who had threatened to cut off Mandalorian smiths from supplies of beskar should they refuse to follow the Mand’alor’s commands to put aside their current feuds for the greater good.

@Arcangel

 

[Gett'se Vizsla]

Gett'se watched the scopes as he listened to Arthos shift in his seat. Nothing yet. He wasn't in communication range with the planet yet, but his sensors pinged that they had been scanned, which meant a response... Well there would be a response on the scopes soon he didn't doubt.

"This is the Way." Gett'se replied as Arthos spoke of how he had wanted to raise Bak-Ru as his son. He found the pairing a little unorthodox... But Gett'se was a foundling himself and though he never found out exactly what moved his buir to adopt him that day, he hoped to gain some insight from his fellow Vizsla.

Gett'se's eyes wandered back to the long range scanner. Two pings. Still far out.

"Do you think they'll let us keep our blasters for the meeting?" He scoffed. It was good to know that Arthos thought himself quick on the draw, but Gett'se had thought the same thing about himself at that age. He hadn't been proved wrong yet.

"Less firm?" He asked, chuckling. "So you don't want to go in threatening war and destruction if they don't give us what we want?" He said deadpan as he watched the sensor pings enter communication range. "We got incoming, two fighters. I'm going to hail them. Hopefully they don't decide to blow us up." Reaching over and pressing a switch, he hailed the fighters

"Taanab craft, you're coming in a bit fast." Gett'se spoke, eyeing the distance as he spoke. "If you continue course this will be considered an act of aggression towards emissaries of Mandalore." He finished strong, eyeing the scopes. His words were met with silence. "Might want to strap in. Things might get bumpy." Gett'se spoke back to Arthos as he flipped a few switches on the console and taking hold of the stick, preparing to make evasive maneuvers

@Nefieslab

 

[Arthos Vizsla]

It was instinctive…

“This is the Way.”

He might not be a Child of the Watch as some feared their Mand’alor was but that didn’t mean that a reverence for the creed of Mandalore wasn’t a staple of pretty much every Clan. It made sense that the Clan had calmed down on the subject of Bak-Ru when he explained how it lined up with the Creed. Had it not, he would have been sporting several new blaster holes he was certain.

Eyeing the controls and the sensors, Arthos made to man the guns but he didn’t engage them. Instead he readied them but he avoided actually heating them up or targeting the signals that were seemingly tailing them. It made sense to him – letting a Mandalorian ship do whatever it wanted had left worlds burning in the past.

“Depends – do you think they’ll buy the religion excuse?”

Always a classic.

Strapping himself in properly, Arthos snorted in amusement at the idea that he might actually be less firm on the diplomacy front than Gett’se. The only reason it might be true was that Gett’se was one of his more staunchly minded vod – Arthos himself was something of a true believer after all.

“They might think I won’t want the war they invite with their refusal.” He agreed with a smirk underneath his helmet, “Though if those craft start acting any more aggressive they’ll have it before they can speak.”

In the end one of the craft stayed further behind them, within weapon’s range but not within easy reach, while the second craft flew up alongside the Y-Wing gunship. It was an older model X-Wing but even an older model X-Wing could be dangerous.

“Mandalorian craft, this is Taanab defence fleet craft XF-0018. Please lock down all weapon’s systems and engaged a lock on your hyderdrive. Ping when confirmed.”

They didn’t want them able to shoot or able to run. Arthos’ hackles rose but he tapped the side of his helmet with his metal-clad fingers.

“I can fake the weapon system lock well enough but they’re still going to want our legs tied. Shoot our way out if they try something is still an option.”

Typically anti-ambush plan A for Mandalorians.

@Arcangel