บท 2: Chapter 2
Tanya Kryze
Mandalore, Sundari, Gun Range
Being the ward of a politician, I had expected a curtailing of my freedom to some extent sooner or later. In fact, I predicted much further curtailing of my rights than most probably would in my position. As I was related to the leader of a planet, a royal and a female, that most likely meant that sooner or later, I would be used in a marriage to seal a political alliance.
My general thoughts on that were that, frankly if my security was provided for, I could stand that situation, and since I could stand the possibility of being married off to a random noble as a way to cement an alliance, I could stand Bo-Katan and her efforts to convert me to her ways.
Oh, and Bo had tried the last few days, she had taken me to several shooting ranges so I became more familiar with how to properly handle a weapon, something I easily adjusted to due to the experience I had in my last life with several variants of a rifle. I quickly noticed that anytime I showed interest in particular brands or types of weapons she would go out of her way to find an interesting version of said weapon for me to test out the next time we went to the range.
Most likely she was trying to play the good aunt who's only trying to show her niece a fun time, at least that's what she wanted me to believe, more likely than not she was just simply trying to use weapons to ingratiate herself further into my life. It's what I would do, in fact, it was what I was doing, as I played my part in this little game.
After all, Satine wanted to keep Bo out of the press and out of politics. The easy way to accomplish that goal was to simply play the part that the Duchess had put in front of me. Then that was to obviously somehow find a way to convert Bo from a potential political rival and problem child into someone who is at least willing to let bygones go by for the sake of the unity of the clan.
How I was going to accomplish that? I wasn't yet sure, though I figured if I played the part of a simple youth needing to learn how to defend myself in a big bad world, an opportunity would present itself. It was a simple game, really. Bo was playing to find some way to convert me to her way of thinking, which was never going to happen as I preferred the peaceful life presented by the new Mandalorians even if they were a little bit too passive in my opinion. And I had to find a way to convert Bo to at least be accepting of the new Mandalorians' existence and perhaps stop calling them names like the "faithless ones".
A simple derogatory term for someone who had abandoned the tenants of their pseudo-religion. I was still reading up on that matter so my thoughts on that were few and far between at the moment.
But besides my thoughts on Bo's attempts to convert me to her way of thinking and the impossibility of that ever coming to pass, I shall admit I was having some fun. I've never traveled to America in my first life, but I'd heard about their ranges there and how you could have access to some of the most interesting weapons to fire. And I must say that particular American cultural trapping, I didn't exactly mind experiencing, even if it was just a similarity I noted.
The first time I had been summoned by Bo after school to a weapons range in the outer districts of Sundari, one of the few that were still allowed to operate under the New Mandalorian government. It would seem there used to be quite a bit more but they were always more unscrupulous or prone to explosives and accidents. It's only the ones that showed they were respectable institutions that have been left to grow under the New Mandalorian regime, which of course was all about pacifism in not needing War. One good thing I could say is that my aunt may have very high ideals, but she wasn't stupid about them, allowing institutions like this to continue to exist was an easy pressure relief valve on society since weapons seem to be a very important part of Mandalorian culture, even without the need, for war.
Hell, going by a poster that was on the wall of the metal walls of the main entryway, weapons may be more important than I suspected, said entryway poster consisted of a simple black T on a white background, obviously a reference to the T-shaped visors of a Mandalorian helmet with a simple quote underneath its "Weapons are part of my religion". Frankly, out of context, that quote seems rather frightening. Really, we need to do more investigations on religion but the idea that weapons were integral enough to have a reference like that on a poster could mean terrible things.
Religious fundamentalism is a dangerous game and to have a core component of it being weapons meant that said religion was about Conquest. What little research I had done mentioned something called a Mandalorian Crusader, and that part of the history looked a little too dark in my opinion. Something that needed to be stomped out hard if it was as dark as I feared. Of course, if it was something simple as needing to maintain and protect oneself, that was not too bad of a religious tenant, and after my experiences in the Empire, I could see the value of self-defense.
Whatever its meaning, it was a complicated issue that I did not have the information to process at the moment and not important to my current activities. What I was currently doing was looking carefully at the blaster pistol in my hands, making sure that it was on safety mode.
"Are you sure this is safe?" I questioned looking at the rectangular block that I've been told was a gun.
"Oh that's perfectly safe, I have two of them and they are probably one of the more reliable weapons Concordian Crescent have put out." Bo explained as she stood next to me at her position at the range. She had taken out her power pack and was making sure that her pair of blaster pistols were in good working order.
"Do you mean that their older models were not as good as these or did they have a spotty history when it comes to weapon development?" I asked, confused about the meaning of that particular statement. I then got to work, field stripping the weapon to ensure it was in a good condition. I have done this particular operation before when I found Bo's weapon 5 years earlier left on a table, so I had some idea what I was doing.
"A bit of both and neither," Bo said, putting down her first pistol before looking over the next "Concordian Crescent Technologies Currently has two Blaster pistols on the market WESTAR-34 and the 35 like these."
"The 34, from what I've seen of them, are damn good weapons and are the direct predecessors to the 35. Some would say the 34 is even better than the 35, which is true, but they're also 10 times more expensive, the price difference mainly comes down to them being duelist weapons. They are made from some expensive alloy. It doesn't weigh very much, making them easy to wield one-handed, as well as more heat resistant than a lot of blasters out there. Frankly, if you can get the money to ever need a weapon that can fire all 20 shots in under a minute without it turning into a molten slag in your hands they're worth buying."
Finishing the cleaning of her second weapon she continued her weapons lesson "35s are better overall in my opinion, cheaper, easier to maintain and they're more moddable."
"They're more moddable?" I was intrigued by the use of that word.
"There are various smaller companies that produce modification kits that allow you to change out some parts to make it look different and improve certain aspects of the weapon. But more importantly, you can get things like this." Without further ado, she pulled off her helmet and without asking my permission, pushed it down over my head, directing me to look downrange. Wondering what this was about, I did as she directed, looking at the Target.
With a quick flurry of her hands, Bo reloaded her pistol and aimed downrange and I saw what she meant by 'might be more moddable'. This was the first time I had ever worn one of these helmets so I was not very familiar with its operational abilities.
Frankly, I thought the T-shaped visor would make it almost impossible to see out of, but I quickly found that not to be the case. Not only that, as Bo brought her weapon to the target, I saw numbers appearing in the corners of my vision. As she fired around I saw the number tick down, it wasn't hard to figure out what numbers I was looking at and I was rather impressed. Not only was there a weapons ammunition counter there was a heat detection number and range detection number. The helmets and weapons were 'Bluetoothed' to each other, giving the wielder more control than an average soldier in the trenches of the Rhine front over factors that may have lost track of in the heat of battle.
Bo fired off a couple more shots to allow me to observe the data and understand how it operated. "See what I mean about their modability?" She reached down and carefully pulled the helmet off my head before continuing, "the 34 is basically a very good blaster, the 35 is a very good weapon system."
I nodded my agreement before asking the question that was primarily on my mind, "How is the weapon paired with your helmet?" It would seem to me an open wireless connection between those items would be a dangerous thing to have in combat. If the data could be corrupted or intercepted, you could end up with your weapon blowing up in your hand or running into combat with an empty magazine.
Placing her helmet down on the range table in front of her Bo raised an eyebrow and answered. "Specifically designed and secure chips, I had to hire a professional armor-designer to install the receivers in my helmet, the ones in the blasters were easy enough to do myself."
"Amazing tech," I said enjoying the fact that we lived in an age where such technology existed, granted I wasn't a big fan I was finding out that this existed and was used four military-grade weapons that anyone could get their hands on, but the simple fact that it existed in a military capacity meant that it most likely existed in other capacities, primarily in civilian use. Who knows how useful such a technology could be there.
"I knew you'd like that," Bo said, before taking a step back and behind me, "now, why don't you give that blaster a couple of shots, let's see how much you need to learn when it comes to shooting."
Nodding, I reached out and picked up the gun, carefully finishing resembling and loading it, keeping it pointed safely downrange the whole time, just in case something went wrong. Once I was sure it was good and ready, I aimed downrange at the target, flipped off the safety, and fired a round.
The blaster bolt went a little high on my first shot, so I aimed lower, quickly getting accustomed to the eccentricities of blaster bolts. They were not one-to-one translation to a "slug", as they were slower and had less kickback, but they did require more skill than I suspected to actually land a hit on your target. It felt a bit like even the slightest breeze would threaten to send it off target, but I quickly grew accustomed, and by the time my final and 20th shot I felt good with how well I had done.
The target I was firing out was 3 concentric rings, red, black, and white, and most likely the goal was to hit the red center ring. Out of 20 shots, 5 had hit red with the rest split, half hitting, second ring, meaning I got 12 out 20 shots on target. With a 3 out 5 hit ratio, I thought I did pretty good, so I let myself smile a bit after putting the safety back on and putting the gun down, turned to face Bo.
Bo was looking past me at the target with a strange look in her eye, and with a smile, she folded her arms across her chest and said "Well… I was going to hold this over you to help you improve, but you did better than I expected. There is a good ice cream place down the street from here, and I'm going to buy you whatever you want, from the place for putting on a show like that."
I blinked then wondering how 12 shots on target were good enough to get myself an ice cream treat, till I looked back at the target and noted the score counter above the target (something I had missed earlier), which did not read 12 out 20, instead, it read 20 out 20. I had wrongly assumed that a hit outside the ring was a failure, being that it was rather too wide of a portion of the target in my mind to be centered on a human, but it would seem they did count.
I would have to be more careful not to show my last life's skill in the future, otherwise, I would create unneeded expectations of what I could do, and that had gotten me in trouble during my last life more than once.
Turning back to Bo I simply kept my smile up and said "Thanks, Auntie Bo" using the term Korkie liked to use with Satine, figuring it was a quick and easy way to endear me to her more.
708 FNM (30 BBY)
Bo-Katan Kryze
Mandalore, Sundari, Gun Range
There was something special about her niece, when she told her sister that her blood called for the old ways she'd only really half meant it. As much as she liked to play the dogmatic follower of their ancient culture and acting as if she was some throwback who believed in the gods and other divine beings controlling their lives, she mainly brought up the Manda to annoy her sister more than anything.
But what she had just seen did make her wonder if something weird was going on when it came to her niece Tanya. She brought the little blond girl to the range to get a better understanding of how much training she would need to undergo, expecting her to maybe hit the target five times in total.
Blasters were notoriously hard weapons to master, and being that it was Tanya's first try, she had expected her to miss the majority of her shots. What she got instead was someone who had some previous experience shooting (which knowing her sister was impossible), but was not yet an expert. She would estimate that Tanya was semi-competent, as if she had already had a year or two of training. Oh, she was not spectacular, hitting 1 out of 4 in the center was fairly normal for someone of 2 years of training, but to quickly understand the intricacies of the blaster's capabilities, that was impressive for a complete novice.
How Tanya was so good was a question that bubbled in her mind as she watched the girl go through a second round of blasting the target and scoring similarly. There was an intriguing possibility, but she had no evidence for or against it.
All she knew was during one phase of the clan wars, the Kryze family had been scattered to the wind. After her brother and father died, she'd gone out into the greater sector, trying to find herself, not really sure what to do and seeking adventure and caring less about the overall cause of the Clan Wars. It was about that time her sister had also been brought back into the greater Mandalorian sector in the company of Jedi and would start her path to a peaceful Mandalore, what a joke.
And as for her brother's wife, she didn't know what happened. She had assumed that as long as her clan sister, Tanya's mother (who had gone by the same name), remained inside the Kryze family estates, she would be safe. A hope that had been misplaced as the estate had been assaulted while she was gone. She didn't find out exactly what happened until years later, and by the time she'd come back, her sister was in charge of the new Mandalorian government and she had a new niece. She shared the blonde hair of her father and about nothing else.
She suspected that there had been something else going on while she was away. She had no proof, but blood was calling to her, and if it wasn't "Mandalorian blood", as that seems to be very unlikely on a metaphysical level…. Well, there was only one other person in the area who had blood that could have created a situation like this.
She didn't know much about the Jedi, but she suspected they had something to do with it. The few times she asked what exactly her sister had been doing for the year it took to get the support needed to bring down the military traditionalists, her sister had simply always said it had been a close-run thing in that they had traveled around the Mandalorian sector, securing alliances and other platitudes.
Was it possible something else had happened during that time? Most people would assume it unlikely, but as much as she pretended that there was nothing similar between herself and Bo-Katan, the fact of the matter was there were similarities, not just at the surface level. Deep down, they were raised by the same man, and hello, Satine had fallen for the New Mandalorians' nonsense. They both share the same level of commitment to whatever cause they put themselves to, and considering her relationships while she'd been out finding herself, she wouldn't be surprised if young love played a role in the final days of the military traditionalists. After all, she did know the Jedi had brought a Padawan about her age and the two young teenagers spent a year straight running around a sector always on the edge of life and death. That sounded like a Mandalorian honeymoon.
The only piece that didn't fit, if that was true, was the question of why Satine had not outright said that Tanya was her child. Having a direct descendant wouldn't harm her, after all, and she figured having an unwed mother ruling their planet was the least of a typical Mandalorian's concern. So if she wasn't protecting herself, then who was she protecting?
That was a question for another day. Once she had more evidence suggesting that this theory might have some merits. Right now though, she had to make sure she had enough credits on her to make sure Tanya got good ice cream, she deserved a reward for being such a good shot.
708 FNM (30 BBY)
Satine Kryze
Mandalore, Royal Palaces
Listening to various government officials talk about how everything was going right for once was a wonder to behold. However, ever since I ascended to the throne of Mandalore as its Duchess I had always wondered if I would ever have a moment to just enjoy peace. Dealing with various rebel groups, disobedient clans and houses, minor inter-sector conflicts, and a whole host of issues that had to be solved before peace could be declared, I had come to believe that there was a good chance I would die before it ever came to be. So listening to governor Pre Vizsla talking about the efforts to regrow the forests of Concordia was simply a delightful change of pace.
Today was the yearly meeting I had with all elected officials that helped me run the Mandalorian system. Pre Vizsla was a trusted ally who helped run Concordia, the forest moon of Mandalore, a planet that has been greatly abused over the centuries as it was a source of beskar. Even the ancient Mandalorians wanted to turn that planet into a green haven for agriculture but their need for resources for war turned it into a nearly brown ball in the sky. But Pre Vizsla's indispensable diplomatic acumen e in dealing with the martial traditionalists who had refused to live on Mandalore under my rule, the planet was making a massive comeback. Every year it was looking more green than brown, a true sign that there was hope for a return of a green Mandalore.
"I suspect in the next 20 years the Regrowth Project will make the planet be fully habitable and we can look into the possibility of setting up farms and the greener pastures will help us get us more independent of Concord Dawn food supplies," Pre commented as he looked at the pad he brought with him.
"Well, that's good. Though we'll need to be careful about Concord Dawn, push too hard when it comes to food, one of their main and only real exports, the governors of Concord Dawn have always been protective of their limited trade exports. Considering they still have their semi-militarized police force of Journeyman Protectors to call upon, we don't want to push them too hard." Prime Minister Almec stated from where he sat on my right hand.
I nodded my head in agreement with his statements, thankfully most of the planetary governments were stable and somewhat independent. The governors and ministers ran most of the government and all I needed to do was give my agreement to their plans and spearhead the general direction. It was a very hands-off procedure only possible because I've been graced with many trustworthy ministers and governors.
Almec, for instance, was an old hand at the political game and a trusted ally, He may have served under the military traditionalists but he joined early in my ascension to power and had proved his worth over the last decade.
Pre nodded his head. "Yes, I have thought of that. Perhaps Kalevala could be used to deal with that situation?" He asked, holding his chin in his hand. "If more of their farmland could be converted to wine production that would be more lucrative in the long run, and any dropoff in food exports to Mandalore could be shifted over to Kalevala in the long term."
"That could work," Deputy Minister Jerec of Kalevala mused absentmindedly, "Although the Council of Kalevala tends to let the chips fall where they may when it comes to the free market. I can't give any guarantees that the idea will be given any investment, but let's introduce the concept to them and we'll see what happens from there."
I smiled and said "It doesn't have to be immediately so any help you can use to push things in the general direction would be appreciated." Jerec was the oldest of my allies and had been instrumental in setting up the alliances that would bring an end to the Clan Wars. Frankly describing him merely as an ally was doing him a disservice. He was one of my oldest and dearest friends, and it was good to have people I could depend on for running aspects of the government.
These three men represented the governments of three out of four of the habitable planets in the Mandalorian system and were each key figures in helping me maintain the peace I had strived so hard to build within this system. The only planet that wasn't represented in this government was Mandallia, but that was really okay when it came.
The Mandallian Giants, though a steadfast ally of the Mandalorians for as long as they'd been in contact, were not interested in pacifism, they were also not interested in conquest, they were interested in fighting as a cultural tradition unrelated to their connections to Mandalore. They were after all one of these few races in the galaxy to not only put up a spirited defense against the ancient Mandalorian Crusaders but defeated them. Since then as a political entity, they have become an isolationist state keeping to themselves on their own little planet and you only really saw the giants off their Planet when they were acting as Mercenaries.
It was unfortunate that they were not part of the system as they had the only green planet in the system which could be useful in freeing us from relying on Concord Dawn completely.
"I'll do my best, my Duchess." Jerec said with a smile.
"Is there anything else we need to discuss today?" I asked moving to end the conversation. I had to get home sometime today after all and check on how Tanya had done with Bo.
"Kalevala has nothing that needs to be spoken of." Jerec said
"Mandalore at peace." Almec added.
"Nothing that needs to be brought up in an official manner." Pre said, piquing my interest about what he wanted to talk to me in a private matter for.
"Then I believe this meeting is adjourned. We will meet again in a month's time," I said with a smile before turning to Pre. "Please stay a moment and we will discuss what you wanted to talk about, Governor Vizsla."
The other two got up and left the room, Quietly leaving me with the governor of Mandalore's moon. Pre stood up in front of me as I sat on the throne of Mandalore.
"I have heard from Bo-Katan that you are allowing her to train your ward in matters of self-defense." That raised an eyebrow from me, I was unaware that those two talked.
"Oh, and why has she informed you about this?" I asked pointedly.
"We're old friends, and she thought I could help in this training. More importantly she knows that if word got out that you were allowing your ward to be taught some of the older ways it could disturb the more fanatical of the pacifist. She was shopping around for somewhere where she could take your ward so they could train on some of those things in safety. There are plenty of abandoned old mines miles from prying eyes on Concordia who would not know a Kryze from a Vizsla. I just wanted you to know that they are at your disposal." Pre explained, giving a bow to me.
It was worth considering, Pre is a trustworthy Governor and if Tanya ever trained on a jet pack, that would be better to happen off-world. "You raise a fair point, Vizsla. I'm not sure if Tanya will progress far enough in her training that she will need such an environment but if she ever does I will tell Bo-Katan of your offer."
Pre nodded and said, "If I can be of use to you my Duchess, just let me know and I shall be there."
"Thank you, Pre Vizsla" I responded with a smile, happy to have such loyal ministers.
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