Chapter 1: Chapter 1
Tanya Kryze
Mandalore, Royal Palaces
Damn that Being X and his machinations, damn his lazy writing ability, and damn his pompous lies. I thought that after a long, somewhat happy, second life I was through with being X's bullshit and when I finally died it would be over. Instead, when my eyes closed for the last time, I had found them opening again, as an infant. Granted there were differences, last time I had remembered my first life as easily as yesterday. Or at least I think I did. Now, patches are missing, large patches from my first life, some small ones from my second life. Couldn't even remember my name from my first life, which was concerning. I could remember my name from my second life though, which was good because apparently, it followed me here, just with a different surname.
My new name is Tanya Kryze, born in 698 FNM, an acronym that means, the Foundation for New Mandalore, the planet I found myself born on. This was new, instead of being born at the turn of the century on Earth, I had been born on a planet that was part of a massive interplanetary republic. What was not new was being orphaned again though I was not doomed to the existence of fighting for scraps. Apparently, my father and mother had been members of Clan Kryze's major political house, they had enough influence that they practically ran this planet. Though they had died near the tail end of the Clan Wars period that I had avoided, hopefully it is more evidence that Being X is not nearly as godlike as he claimed. The family as a whole had survived victorious.
As a result, my older brother and I had been taken in by our aunt, the Duchess of Mandalore, Satine Kryze. Satine for her part was pleasant enough, from what I had been allowed to see in her ten years of this life, she seemed to be a good leader, wanting to improve the lives of her subjects, and her forces had been strong enough to defeat the other clans in the war. Although considering the last rebel group had only been put down last year, I would say her anti-military policies were… admirable but hardly comprehensive. She depended on the loyal clans to put down the disloyal ones outside the city of Sundari a bit too much. Inside the climate-controlled city, she expected the police force and royal guard to keep the peace.
I could understand why there was no official military, it may have taken a bit to learn common, but I was no slouch when it came to researching, and Sundari libraries were a public utility. Twenty years back near the end of the Mandalorian Civil War, and before the Clan Wars, or Civil War 2, Governor Vrox deployed the official military of Mandalore in a raid of nearby solar systems, and began building a droid army. This resulted in the Republic sending forces to Mandalore and bombarding the planet from orbit, most of the planet was an inhospitable barren landscape from previous conflicts but this bombardment had finally pushed the planet over the environmentally suitable cliff. Considering the devastation etched in the very crust of our world it was understandable why there was a pacifist government dedicated to dismantling the military, the last one had, effectively, wrecked the planet. The entire situation was reminiscent of what happened to Japan after the Americans won WW2, but trusting the duties of the active military to Clans, who could hardly be described as uniformly loyal, rather than a competent and reasonable self-defense force seemed foolhardy to me.
Granted this was an elective monarchy so at the bare minimum they had voted in their leaders, which implied some trust that could go both ways. A democratic system of any kind was often a stabilizing force and Mandalore intended this system to have the strengths of both monarchist systems and democratic systems. But I would feel safer if they at least had a self-defense force, to call up when they were needed, preferably one without political subservience to any particular clan, not even my royal one.
Though I kept those thoughts to myself, for now, I was supposed to be a simple child after all. With royal blood there was no need to rush for retirement, my future was secure, thanks to my aunt, so it was best to keep her happy unless I end up like her sister, Bo-Katan. I needed to keep myself fairly normal, so most days I spent hanging around my room reading a book on the economics of the Republic or some such subject close to some blocks or dolls to look like a normal girl. Thankfully, Aunt Satine was respectful of my privacy so I was able to keep this ruse going. When I was at school, I let my academic bones shine. It may be unfair to leverage several decades of knowledge and study techniques to assure high grades but frankly, the satisfaction from a job done well was worth it. Besides, by establishing my academic credentials I was simply demonstrating that I was a bright child, one who should be placed in a safe position inside the government. Far away from any potentially violent problems that could crop up.
I was unsure if it was working yet, but I was certain that given enough time it would. My brother, Korkie was likewise angling for a similar position. It was always pleasant to be in the company of like-minded and sensible people. I had been rather worried about him when I had discovered the old cultural practices of my newfound people. Satine had promised to send him to the royal academy when he was older, thus it was eminently reasonable to assume that if I showed my capability as well I would be offered a similar opportunity.
There were, however, some indignities that must be suffered on the path to a well-established retirement. I was reading about the Mandalorian Civil War trying to get an understanding of the failure of the ruling class that led to the conflict in the first place when my door burst open. The 'Pocket terminal' jumped from my hands and landed on the floor in front of me as I was ambushed while in the midst of pleasurable research on a fascinating subject.
"Hey Sis, Aunt Satine wanted to know when you're coming to dinner." the blond thirteen-year-old boy said as he broke decorum of my expected world for the fifth time this year. With a smile, he looked at the room, with interest quickly spotting the active pad on my floor with interest.
Before he had the chance to understand what he was looking at I was off my bed and gathering up the offending item, hiding it under a bedsheet at the foot of my bed. Before turning on him with a suitable expression of distaste at his invasion of my privacy. Part of me wanted to vent my frustration at being interrupted in such a manner on him, having my privacy broken like that, something that I needed to dissuade now before it could become troublesome later. But getting too angry at what was effectively a child was unreasonable so I simply took a breath and said with only an air of annoyance in my voice.
"Please knock, in the future brother, what if I had not been presentable?"
"Ah." He spoke with a predictably sheepish tone. "Right, sorry about that, won't happen again," Korkie sounded suitably cowed before he continued, "but really sis, Aunt Satine wants you down for dinner and sent me here to get you, she wanted to have a talk about something as well."
I nodded briefly wondering what she was interested in talking with me about, before smiling at the thought that I might finally get confirmation on my political aspirations!
"Very well, let's get going then we should not waste the Dutchess' time," I said trying not to appear too excited at the prospect of my hard work paying off.
Korkie Kryze
There is something wrong with my sister, yes that would be the harshest way to state my concerns. It was understandable, really it was, that she didn't like to talk to me about her problems as she got older. But it was concerning nevertheless when I found her reading about the old Mandalorians. At first, I had thought it was an isolated event when I burst into her room to get her up for school and found her reading about the Crusades. Though the fact she immediately hid the subject of her studies, had tipped me off that something was not right about the situation. But after the third time, I found her studying and attempting to hide the subject matter while pretending she had been playing with the various toys she had, I was certain something was up.
At first, I tried to rationalize it. Mother and father had died in the Clan Wars so it was not impossible that she simply wanted to find out what they had been fighting for, to find some connection to a family she never knew. But my efforts to coax an answer from her on the matter had been stonewalled, she would find some excuses about school research projects or that she was just interested in the economics and political situation of what led to the conflict. I know she is smart, but her excuses were too smart for her own good and came around to being dumb. I had taken most of the same classes as her with only a few years' separations and I never had to do the research on that era while at school, and frankly, the idea that she wanted to learn about the economic forces of a war that been about old hatred boiling over was dumb.
I could not believe she had not seen that in the material she was looking at with the high grades she got in class. No, that was simply a cover story, for her real quest, her real quest had to be to find out about mom and dad and the old ways. Why else would she lie and hide what she was doing from me? She's most likely afraid of failing to live up to Satine's expectations, and that was understandable after Aunt Bo got herself banned from the estate by being a bit too public about her belligerent politics as Satine put it. It was a shame really, if Tanya was honest about her interest, perhaps Satine would be willing to put aside politics and let Bo back into our lives. I was sure Satine would be willing to let Bo talk about dad… okay perhaps that one was a bit self-interest for myself, I had only been three when they died, and though I didn't remember them all that well, I missed the idea of having a father and mother.
Well perhaps things would work out for them, I had told Satine about my concerns and Tanya's behavior, as an adult and wise leader I was sure she would come to the right decision about Tanya's problem. Perhaps she could even use the situation to mend the fence with Aunty Bo. It would be good to have the whole family in one house again.
Shaking my head at this thought I glanced over to Tanya who was walking rather briskly in front of me as I followed along my hand interlocked behind my head with a relaxed pace. She was wearing a white and green dress and the maids had helped her get her long blond hair in a braid going down her back, all in all, she looked more put-together than myself, but then she always did. I was simply wearing a pair of tan shorts and a dark gray shirt, Hardly scruffy and reasonable as I had just been hanging out with some of my friends before I had come home and been told to go get Tanya, for just sitting in her room Tanya looked like she was ready to attend a formal meeting… which was odd considering for all I knew she had no friends. She didn't hang out at school with anyone, as far as I was aware. That could also be what was wrong, maybe I should invite her along with some of my friends more when they went out to play. She was younger than me but there was no question of her being mature enough to play with us... Couldn't hurt to get her out in the sun more, she was a bit too pale, she almost looked sickly.
Our long walk to the dining room came to end rather quickly, as two guards waited outside. "Good evening Obyrd, Briyuk" Tanya said, greeting the two royal guards who did not wear name badges and could have been any other guard in the entire capital complex as if that was the most normal thing in the world. Yeah, I needed to get her outside, she spent too much time here.
"Good evening Lady Kryze," they greeted in turn, Briyuk moving to grab the handles of the door, "the Duchess is waiting for you inside." He said, opening the door and ushering them both in. They were greeted with wait staff placing silverware on the table and preparing it for a meal for four by the looks of it. With the fourth sitting across from Duchess Satine, her vibrant red hair was rather odd for the Kryze family but it was always nice to see Aunty Bo. Bo-Katan was in the house, something wonderful must have happened was the only thought that rang in my head as I watched the two there… there I noticed they were staring each other down rather, forcefully…. Well, being under the same roof was a step in the right direction!
Earlier
Satine Kryze
"I told you this would happen." Bo-Katan said rather too smugly as she sat across from me, her boots filthy from the wasteland outside purposely sat on the edge of the table just to annoy me. Years of political talks, assassination attempts, and other sorted business allowed me control of my emotions, at least externally. But of course, the only person who really knew how to push my buttons was my sister.
"You told me a lot of things, clans would never sign up with pacifism. I would bring ruin to the house of Kryze, that the Jedi would betray me and murder me in my sleep. None of that came to pass. Your record on these things is rather spotty." I said with a smile as I listed off a selection of the times Bo had been wrong. A small selection at that, I hadn't even got to her failed romances and her boyfriends, that was a low blow I would not go to as I was better than that.
"So you are simply going to say broken clock twice a day then and leave it at that?" Bo asked still with an awful smirk.
"Oh, I wouldn't say that. The clock on palace ground still uses military time, 19 hours a day." That got a smirk out of her.
"Hah, good one, but doesn't change the fact I was right, Little Tanya is not going to be the perfect princess you want her to be, her bloodline calls her to war. Just as it does for all of us." Bo said as she leaned back in the chair a bit more, for a brief fleeting moment I hoped the chair would slip out from under her, but alas, she was a bit too used to pulling stunts like that. It was not that I wished harm to my sister, but she was attempting to push my buttons. Besides she was wearing her armor, even if she fell, she wouldn't be hurt too much. It would however be entirely deserved and suitably entertaining.
"Really now," I began shaking my head, "just because she knew not to point a blaster at her face that one time, does not mean anything, she is a bright child, anyone could figure out it was dangerous." The incident in question had happened 5 years ago. If I had been there I probably would have strangled Bo to death and prove her damn suggestions about warrior blood entirely correct if the guards had not moved to stop me. But from what I heard it was rather benign, Bo had left an empty blaster out in the opening and Tanya had found it. The incident is why I banned weapons in the palace's ground to all but the guards.
"She didn't just handle the blaster safely, she was about ready to field strip and clean it when I found her. She looked like she was born with the thing in her hand's sister, I know you are... ideologically predisposed to fall more on the Coruscant way of viewing the world nowadays." That was rather diplomatic of her, better than being called a slave to a foreign ideology I suppose. "But I'm telling you right now, she's something special, perhaps a gift from the Manda itself." Bo said, dropping her leg from the side table and sitting properly for the first time since she had sauntered into my home, most likely trying to impart some kind sincerity that this was an important talk.
Well, it was but I wasn't going to fall for this nonsense "The Manda? Really? I think you have been drinking too much."
"Okay then... how do you explain her natural ability with weapons and why did you call me back, pretty sure you said I wouldn't be let back in the house last year?"
"She held a blaster once, that is hardly what I would call "ability", but if you must know Korkie has found her with reading material related to the history of the Mandalorians. I have only learned of this recently, but from what he told me she had been rather insistent on hiding what it is exactly that she has been reading." I was annoyed by this situation. If Tanya simply talked to me I would have this settled but it was obvious that I was the one she was hiding her interest from.
"Let me guess, pretending to be playing with her toys whenever someone enters her room?" Bo asked with a confident look that said she already knew the answer.
"Yes, how did you know that?" I waited to hear the wondrous story on this one, even mental sarcasm could not save me against her here.
"Course you did the same thing when you were a kid, but instead of Mandalorian books, it was stuff on the greater galaxy and Republican nonsense." Ah, she could hardly help herself. "Guess we know that the desire to rebel against your elders doesn't skip a generation."
I sighed, taking a moment to gather my thoughts before I muttered "I really hope you're wrong about that…" genuinely I did, then after taking a moment to get my mind straight I began the rather painful reason for my dear sister's presence here today. "But in case you're not, I intend to make sure Dad's mistakes are not repeated, if she is to learn about the old ways I would rather it be from you than from some politically busy body preacher that I don't have any control over. Would you be willing to help instruct Tanya? Of course, if you're willing, I will withdraw the order keeping you out of the house, for as long as you don't make any political statements." I gave her a pointed look. She knew well that her expression was the least of my concerns. I was not going to step into the quagmire of arguing over how to teach Tanya about the 'old ways', that was not an argument I was equipped to win given the situation.
"Depends, how long are you going to let me teach her? If I agree of course! I doubt you want her to become a bounty hunter or a mercenary.What political game do you intend to play with her life?" Bo said with a smug smile assured in her position but displaying her lack of experience by not pressing her advantage.
"Same as our dear departed father intended with mine, dear sister, at age 16 she will be sent to Coruscant to work with the Mandalorian senatorial delegation. She has demonstrated some interest in politics, the same as her brother. But I believe she will be safer and learn more from the culture of Coruscant than staying here and attending the Royal Academy.
"Toss her onto the planet of murders, thieves, and backstabbers… yeah I need six years just to make sure she could survive that rat's nest. Very well sister, I will help train her and I'll even keep your little censorship policy. Just so I can see what happens when you realize she is a born warrior and wants nothing to do with your idea of pacifism."
"I'm afraid you will be disappointed. Even if that happens, I will love her either way, the same way I love you, even if you make me want to rip my hair out sometimes dearest sister." She laughed but I meant every word.
Tanya Kryze
Of all the possible scenarios for why Duchess Satine would call me down here, seeing the return of Bo-Katan was not on that list. Frankly, It was a wonder she was allowed in the house after the whole Blaster incident. I wouldn't say she went out of her way to let me find the blaster, but I would say leaving one out the way she did was a good way to get someone hurt and she needed to be taught a lesson. Besides, I had been interested in the mechanics of blasters for a while before I got a chance to take a look at one. They were a devastating weapon from what I was able to learn from my research, however, I think I would still prefer a more conventional ballistic weapon or slug thrower as they were known in this universe. Quite simply, the benefits afforded by a blaster did not make up for the shortfalls such a platform offered.
Well, she was here, so there must be a reason, exactly what I couldn't say. Politics was a bit above my head, perhaps there was some force in play that required Satine to bring her sister back in the fold? If so she most likely wanted to try and reform her like a disobedient employee and bring her into compliance. But how would she manage that? Bo had her own ship, armor, and home, Satine didn't hold any cards that would be useful in controlling her sister. At least to my knowledge.
"Tanya, Korkie. Please take a seat, food will be brought out in a bit, and we can talk while we wait." Satine said, motioning to sit at the table. Nodding, I took the offered seat noting how it placed me next to Bo.
Before I really had a chance to settle in and think about that placement Satine started talking "Tanya, Korkie, Bo and I have had a talk today and have come to an agreement, she is going to be allowed back in the house again. On the condition that she keeps political comments to herself, and out of the press." Damn? What did Satine give her in order to get such a massive concession out of her sister? Getting Bo to keep quiet about anything was like expecting the communist not to backstab you the first chance they got. It was possible, but you have to be damn sure that you are giving them something worthwhile to keep them happy. Whatever it was, the fact I had such an iron aunt was a good sign for my future. Getting control of her sister must have been a masterpiece of negotiation.
"In return, she agreed to help with overseeing your education on self-defense, especially for you Tanya. I have decided that in 6 years you will be assigned to the delegation to Coruscant and I want you to be able to defend yourself." The smile on my face froze and distorted a bit as I began to piece together what she had just been saying.
Satine had given me to Bo-Katan, as a way of shutting her up… I was being used as a political tool. I was going to be exposed to battle maniacs' teachings. It took me a moment to determine how I felt about this revelation. On one hand, I should not be too worried about this development, I was not some child who could be brainwashed into a Mandalorian cultist. Satine must think the same way otherwise she would never take a risk like this. But on the other hand, I was to be sent to Coruscant, and from what I read that planet was a cyberpunk dystopia. A massive planet-wide city, and the capital of The Galactic Republic. I had expected to end up in local politics, perhaps governing one of the planets under the control of Mandalore. Being sent to the heart of the Republic could mean I was going to be groomed for a higher part in the government than I expected.
It was honestly a very savvy play, not only did Satine reach across the aisle in allowing guardianship over me to what was effectively a representative of the clans that diverged politically from Satine, she was strengthening the family bond. Given how politically established our clan was, the value of keeping family somewhat united could not be understated.
"That sounds wonderful." I said with a calm and passive tone, keeping a smile on my face, even though I was still trying to figure out how terribly my career choices had been reduced. I really didn't have much choice in the matter, when it all came down to it, I had been given to Bo so she would shut up about politics, and I had to just accept that and deal with it, otherwise, I would appear unreliable. And that was one thing I would never be.
Bo, finally spoke up as she reached over patted my shoulder "Don't worry about it kid, by the time we're done, you'd be able to handle that hive of scum and villainy, and if you want I even know a place for training with jetpacks, so we can start teaching you how to fly like a true Mandalorian."
"You can teach me how to fly!?" I didn't squeak with excitement… if someone says otherwise they were lying. I was just very happy for the chance to fly again. In my last life, flight was one of the things I had enjoyed greatly, there was just something about being free from gravity and having the ability to move through the sky with ease. I doubted jetpack flight was as freeing as using magic but the chance to feel that feeling again was too damn tempting, and the fact I didn't have to fake the genuine smile on my face says a lot about how much I missed it.
"Damn right I can," Bo said with a smile, as she put her hand on my head and messed up my hair "but we're not going to go too high, don't want your Aunt Satine to worry about you breaking anything."
I nodded my agreement as I turned to look at Satine, she looked less than thrilled, but that was understandable, flying was risky behavior, and before my last life I would never attempt it, I would have to be careful so I can keep this privilege.
Weekly Power Status
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