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#that one time Jon Antilles got captured
secret-engima · 4 years
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politepoltergeist
I started reading this, and Kat was the first person to come to mind. Then I got to the end and I got confirmation, she caught another one! Seriously tho, I’m begging you- please write that WIP.
Me: Yes, Kat caught another one. XD. Also I am, in fact, writing that WIP. It’s like- JUST under 4k words already and I haven’t even gotten to Jon’s POV yet, and yet my muses are still gleefully plotting out all the things I want to happen in this one-shot, or, if it’s too long for that, a two-shot. My muses are also trying to talk me into starting an Ao3 Series just labeled “My Crazy AUs” specifically for random things like this, which will only encourage them to make more and- AND-
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Okay I’m fine now. Here have a preview of my crazy Star Wars one-shot which took a hard left into Even Crazier Land because I made the mistake of watching anime just before starting this WIP-
...
     The man started to stir, it had been a whole two seconds since she arrived, and she carefully input the code needed into the door to make a small slot open in the energy barrier so she could slide the tray of food in. The man opened his eyes with a slow breath that sent frost into the air —this planet was always cold, always wintery—, and his eyes were a very pale color. More pale blue than grey, but not quite. He glanced around, taking in the tray of food and then her all in a moment —she raised her mental estimation of his threat level a little bit higher—. His eyes resettled on her and something in his chakra signature … wavered. Flared out around her before pulling back again. A reaction to an emotion perhaps, though she did not know which one. He smiled at her, a thin, crooked gesture, “Hello.”
     She settled on her heels and waited in silence. As the one who brought the tray, she had to wait until he was finished so she could retrieve it and return it before anyone could report it to Temporary Commander. The man ducked his head down, an instinctive gesture, like someone used to wearing a hood of some sort to hide his face, and reached for the tray with his bound hands, “A whole slice of bread and some cheese,” he mused softly, “very kind of you.”
     She didn’t respond. He wasn’t talking to her anyway. No one talked to tools unless it was to assign a task. He watched her as he ate, just like she was watching him. She wondered why he had let himself be captured by Temporary Commander and his group. None of them had even a tenth of this man’s chakra. Surely he could have overpowered them and escaped, even if he was outnumbered.
     When he was done eating, he slid the tray back to the door without being told, then scooted back until he was sufficiently far enough away that she could reach in a hand and retrieve it without risk of him grabbing her. She retrieved the tray and left.
     The soft light of his chakra signature felt like it was reaching for her as she went, even though the man said nothing.
     She listened to Temporary Commander the next day as he talked to his lieutenants. They were arguing over what to do with their new prisoner. Apparently they had caught him sneaking around places he shouldn’t. They were torn between interrogating him, killing him immediately, and selling him off since they were sure he hadn’t gotten any information and he looked like fit stock for the nearby mines. Temporary Commander decided to leave the man in the cell for the day. They had another matter to deal with and the unease of sitting in a cell all day might give them an advantage when they came to interrogate him.
     She took another tray of food to the prisoner at the same time as the last one. The guards didn’t do more than glare in her general direction before letting her in. She slid the tray inside the cell and watched the man cautiously eat. “They intend to interrogate you tomorrow,” she informed him, watching his reaction for clues.
     “I’m sure they do,” the man replied, seemingly unbothered. He studied her for a moment, then asked in a low voice “are you one of their slaves?”
     “No,” she replied, because there was little to gain from withholding that information, “I am a weapon temporarily attached to this operation.”
     His hands stilled over the food, “A weapon,” he echoed slowly. Something in his chakra signature began to turn cold and she wondered if he was now reestimating her threat level.
     “Yes.”
     “Only temporarily? Until when?”
     She debated telling him, then decided there was no real risk to it, “Until I am retrieved by my Handler or until a better Temporary Commander is found.” She didn’t tell him that she hadn’t seen her Handler in over a year, that she was pretty sure he was never coming, because this planet was very different from the one that held the Village, and she had seen no sign of others like her anywhere. Temporary Commander was a bipedal lizard and people sailed across stars instead of water in this place. Her current situation had very little in common with the place she’d grown up in.
     The chakra signature blazed hot like a desert sun for just a moment, the gossamer dark threads thickening like tripwire before the man breathed deep and everything settled, “Your … handler … isn’t here then.”
     “No.”
     He stared at her for a long time with an expression she couldn’t read, then said, “I’m Jon.”
     She filed that information away, “Jon,” she echoed politely, because people reacted positively to having the highlights of their own information quoted back to them —it was supposed to show understanding and attentiveness, she thought—. She looked down at his tray, “If you will not finish, then I will remove what is left.”
     Jon ducked his head again despite his lack of hood, “Are you going to eat the leftovers?”
     “Yes,” she answered, but didn’t tell him why —that she couldn’t return it without risk of someone noticing, couldn’t give it to the slaves because they were always watched and the extra food would be noted by the guards—, “it would be wasteful not to,” she said instead. Which was true, if she could not return it or give it to the slaves, then she had to either eat it herself or throw it away, and that would be a waste of food.
     Jon slid the tray obediently back to the door, because apparently he was not very hungry today, and watched as she took the tray and ate what remained of the bread and cheese. When she was done, she stood up and left.
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feelinkeeli · 3 years
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Work In Progress Wednesday - June 16th
Sorry for missing last week and sunday. Back on schedule now.
"Hey," Jaster called out and felt a little guilty as the figure ahead of him flinched at his sharp tone. 
It didn't stop him from marching towards the person. This was definitely the wandering vagabond he'd been receiving complaints about all day. The humanoid looking being wore a cloak with enough tears and poorly done repairs to be mistaken as a sentient rag. 
Concord Dawn was said to have been settled not long after Mandalore was, but it was settled primarily by farmers. There wasn't a centimeter of farmable land - and then some - that wasn't owned by someone and carefully monitored to ensure neighbors weren't trying to move fences around to claim more. This person had been trapiezing around various people's lands, setting off all kinds of alarms, and putting people in a mild uproar.
Concord Dawn didn't have any laws against homelessness but they had a stack of datapad's worth when it came to trespassing. The only reason why this stranger wasn't already locked up was because their obvious circumstances gave them leniency. People wanted them warned off before the Journeyman Protectors took more serious action. At least Jaster caught up to them before they hopped another fence like property markers were something for other people to worry about.
"Can I help you?" The stranger asked and now that Jaster was closer it was easier to tell the stranger was definitely Human or a race that could be mistaken for Human. Jaster was just grateful they could speak Basic. He was far more literate in multiple languages than he was capable of speaking them as Clan Wurfyyys could attest. 
"Yes. Stop trespassing all over the kriffing fields," Jaster said bluntly, crossing his arms as he tried to stare down the other. The vagabond might be taller than him but height never stopped a Mando'ade from throwing their presence around to get their point across.
Abashed, the Human ducked their head and maybe that would normally hide their face but the height difference made it easier for Jaster to see their face past the hood of their cloak. Jaster felt his throat go tight in surprise at the scars on the other's face. Some were clearly that of an animal's claws, another the too thin and precise to be anything other than a blade of some kind. The one scar that truly captured Jaster's attention was the scar that wrapped over their nose. The only kind of weapon that could leave a trailing burn scar like that was an electro whip on its highest setting.
This stranger was a Freed or a runaway slave. There was no other explanation for a scar like that. 
"Sorry," they said, ducking their head further and hunching their shoulders when they caught on to Jaster's staring. "I thought as long as I left the crops and herds alone no one would mind."
"We appreciate the consideration but we have strict laws against trespassing here on Concord Dawn. You get a warning cause you're clearly new here but if you keep going we're going to have more than a talk. Understand?" Jaster asked, trying to balance his tone between gentle but firm. 
"Sorry," the stranger said again, curling in further on themself while also tensing, as if preparing for an attack. "But I'm looking for something. Or someone. It's important."
Wayii. Just Jaster's luck this stranger was either crazy or Force Sensitive; it was same thing really. At least they weren't a Jedi. Jaster sighed and resisted the urge to rub his face. What a pain in the shebs attached to a pretty face this was turning out to be. 
"You got a name, stranger?" Jaster asked.
The vagabond hestitated, body twitching like they thought they could flee from the question. "Jon Antilles," they said like they were naming someone other than themselves. 
There was no telling if it was an alias, a name 'gifted' to Jon, or a name Jon was so unused to hearing it didn't really feel like his. Jaster wasn't ignorant enough to question it. 
"I'm Journeyman Protector Jaster Mereel. Why don't you follow me to the cantina? It's approaching midmeal time, we'll talk this out after we see to our stomachs," Jaster suggested.
Jon was visibly hesitating again. "I don't have many credits on me."
You don't say, Jaster thought loudly and bit his tongue to keep from speaking. 
"It's on me. Consider it a gesture of welcome," Jaster said carefully. He knew how Freed could shy away from acts of kindness, too wary of hidden costs to accept not everything had a price to it. 
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north-peach · 3 years
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Whoops, lemme fic it (SW)
So I’ve been tossing this idea over in my head, daydreaming, wordbuilding and talking to myself and I’ve had enough.
It’s time to come out.
So, I tried the SI fic once and I didn’t like how it turned out and it was a good few years before wrote one again. There’s a lot of good ones, done by good authors. Silver Queen, Shadowblayze, Vixen Tail, and Mullk6 to name a handful.
But I wanted a character who knew the depth and breath of canon and could fix it. In Star Wars. With Mandalorians. 
Which is usually a self insert, but....wasn’t feeling it.
Then it shifted to time travel. Main characters generally revolved around Bly, Aalya Secura, Quinlan Vos or Anakin, Rex and Alpha-17. Then it was a mix, sometimes Padme or Ahsoka, Jon Antilles or Fay, thanks to @blackkatmagic.
Then it was Boba Fett, Jango, Arla or Jaster even Tarre Vizsla. Korkie Kryze, a mix of his father’s ‘obi’ sound with ‘kote’ as in ‘glory’.
It’s been almost a month since this thought sprang from my head, exactly the opposite of Athena, but here it is.
My first Star Wars time travel fic.
Bly doesn’t wake, not for a long time. 
Even if he is aware of the pressure against bare skin and the alternating temperatures that cause him to shiver or sweat to beat across his face.
He doesn’t wake to the snack, crack of the whip against his back, nor to the claws that rake across his face, but as the days pass, it is pain that draws him back from the dark.
The cold metal of manacles around his wrists, the dull throbbing of his knees against cool, packed dirt. He doesn’t move even as chains rattle and as a weak light flickers in tiny bursts even though he can’t quite open his eyes.
Bly takes a deliberate breath, deliberately breathing in long and slow.
Ribs, is his first immediate thought as pain now screams in his head, followed instantly by, back.
His arms are numb, lips cracked, throat and mouth dryer then Tatooine and it feels like someone’s poured sand in his eyes and then glued them shut.
We release our emotions, our pain into the Force. We breath it back in and then stand and carry on. Lives depend on us. The trick to keeping the pain away is it set it aside and ignore it. But you need to remember, Bly, pain is our body telling us we’re injured. You cannot ignore it forever.
It’s her voice in his head, the memories always there as soon as he tugs them and he barely muffles a noise in the shifting of his chains because the last thing Bly remembers is a fractured and shattered thing that provides nothing to help him determine his situation.
Beyond the obvious of captured, separated and tortured. 
A breath, another and his fingers twitch as he tries to get his hands to response to his commands.
He moves his eyes, scrunching his face, and ignoring the sting of scabbed wounds and manages to crack his eyes open. He’s in a room, surrounded by stone and bars. An electrical lamp flicker erratically in a halo of barely there light in the distance.
No one is there. He is alone.
He listens, strains his hearing, yet nothing so much as stirs. 
Bly goes back to restoring feeling in his body.
A minute, two and then an unpleasant rush of pins and needles as sensation returns to his arms. Bly grits his teeth and clenches his thighs, his legs then curls his toes under his feet, allowing his body weight to force him to rock back, using the momentum to stagger to his feet.
Lights prickle against what little vision he has and the chains jerk and rattle as he uses them as leverage to remain on his feet.
Pain bursts across his back, down his legs, his knees, every motion and contraction of his body, his muscles sends signals of agony to his brain.
“Osik.”
The word is almost soundless, hissed between clenched teeth and formed from harsh, gasping breaths.
Bly cannot help how his body curls over it self, even if it sends the blood rushing to his head and makes him even more dizzy. He braces his feet and refuses to pass out.
He doesn’t know where Aalya is.
He doesn’t know who he was with, what he was doing, if any of his vod’e are here, Bly doesn’t know anything.
He remembers blue and gold, the blue of Aayla’s skin, the gold of her eyes, maybe the blue of the 501st? Was General Skywalker on mission with them?
Was... was Vos there?
There’s nothing but a blank space in his head, so Bly puts that away for now and takes stock of what he has on hand.
Which is, in short, a big fat nothing.
He’s in loose pants, thin material, covered in dirt and blood, no shirt, no armor, no weapons- even the small tools disguised as a ring, bracelet- he’s got nothing.
It looks like he’s chained up underground in a cave somewhere. That’s the only explanation for both his surrounding and the relatively cool atmosphere. There’s a door that’s barely even a door, just a large rectangular slab of rusty bars almost propped against the entry way.
He could probably kick it open, depending on how heavy it was, but that was once he found a way out of his chains-
Bly pauses.
Looks up at the roof of his cell where the chains are anchored.
Well, he thinks, an edge of amusement to himself, If I can take my chains with me, I’ll have a weapon.
__________
Honestly, later, if someone asked how long he was stuck there in the murky darkness working and working to pull the anchor points of his chains from the ceiling, Bly wouldn’t be able to say.
He stops and rests when the injuries on his back crack open, spilling blood down his skin and dripping onto the floor, when his ribs scream at him and his breath wheezes as he desperately tries to breath.
He doesn’t ever stop for long though.
Eventually he gets free, the rest anchor breaking free of crumbling stone and Bly sinks to his knees, wincing as pain flares up again.
A moment of rest, to wait until his breathing slows down enough he can regulate it for sleath.
Then he carefully wraps his new weapon around his shoulders, winding them down his arms. Slowly, he makes his way to the door that is currently the only obstacle in his way to relative freedom.
It was heavy as it looked, but several solid shoves and one frustrated kick and the door was free enough for him to squeeze past it.
Thankfully, he didn’t have to worry about directions at the moment because his cell was located at the end of a hallway and the only way out was forward.
So forward Bly went, creeping along the walls on bare feet, moving steadily down to where a single light was valiantly, but ultimately failing at lighting up the area.
Bly took a breath and walked past, heading deeper into the caves with no way of knowing which way was out, if anyone was waiting for him on the other end or even if he could find a way out.
Bly didn’t care because right now, there was an entirely unacceptable amount of space between him and his General and it needed to be rectified, right karking now.
__________________
Times passes and Bly has to take a breather, has to sit to wait for his legs, his hands, everything to stop shaking even as chills crawled up his skin.
He keeps going, keeps following the eternal hallway he seems to be trapped in. Occasionally he’ll come across other cells, but like all of the ones he checked previously, there isn’t anyone in them. Just chains, manacles, shakes, crude stone tables or chairs.
The weak lights are not quite evenly spaced out, but every cluster of cells has one in the middle of the block. He’s sure he’s passed about six blocks by now, and still no sign of this hallway ending or branching off.
A part of him wonders if he’s hallucinating, but the continuous pain for his body begs to tell him differently.
He trails bloodstained hands against the wall and so far he hasn’t randomly circled back around so he must be making progress.
You were modified to see better in the dark? Compared to humans, or near-humans, Twi’leks vision is considered superior, but without the Force, I’m thinking you’d win at Hide-and-Seek-in-the-Dark.
My favorite color? Tell me, if I said blue wh- no, I’m kidding! It’s gold Bly. W- No, not like my eyes! Like Master’s-
Bly can hear Aalya sometimes.
The way she laughed, said his name or how she would stare at him. When her mouth softened and she smiled so easily.
Bly keeps going.
______
Hours? Maybe days later, Bly hears voices that are, for once, not his or in his head. A soft murmur, nothing clear enough to make out words or the like, but Bly grits his teeth and quickly lunges into the nearest cell and flattens himself in a natural curve of the walls.
He’s lost weight during how ever long he’s been here, so he folds himself easily into the shadows and evens his breath down, ignoring the ever familiar spasm of pain his ribs makes with every movement.
A beat, two, three, longer and still the voices only murmur. 
Bly slows moves from his hiding place only to step right back into it as the voices abruptly rise in volume along with a feminine scream of pain that rings off the walls and is swallowed by the darkness that leads down to his cell.
Gently, Bly uncoils his chains.
______
When enough time passes he can make out the heavy footfalls of two armored being’s footsteps and the unmistakable sound of dragging feet, Bly closes his eyes and concentrates on his hearing.
“-Ne shab'rud'niÖ, aruetii-”
“-aruetyc dini'la-”
The sharp sound of metal against flesh, followed by a harsh vocalizer.
“Ne'johaa!“
A faint moan, before one of the men laughs.
See, the thing is Bly isn’t considered Mandalorian.
In fact, Manda’yaim considers Bly and his brothers to be abominations. Soulless things created in a lab. Not to mention General Kenobi’s Duchess is a pacifist in the very worst way. 
A Mandalorian with a Mandalorian’s stubbornness, determination and pride to be anything but a Mandalorian. 
Good intention’s Satine Krytze may have had at the beginning but erasing everything that makes Mandalor Mandalor was not the way to go about bringing peace to her people.
Especially since the Duchess had the final say on if the Clones of Mand’alor Jango Fett should be considered citizens of Manda’yaim. Or rather, she just enforces Prime’s opinion that clones were not real people and this couldn’t be a people or a part of a people.
Jango Fett may have been some high ranked Mandalorian in certain circles, but the only reason why the clones even knew the languages is because of the instructors who adopted the older batches and how those clones would teach one or two- like Kote who became Cody, who taught Ret who was now Rex.
The language and the customs spread from the clones who were actually wanted down to even the shiniest of shinies. Of course, there were parts of their culture that they developed all on their own. 
Being modelled after a Mandalorian, of course, meant that they shared the same traditions and quirks that they did as a consequence of being so closely related.
The colors, symbols and naming to mention a few.
Colors all had meaning, as did their placement, the same with symbols and the bucket everyone wore. Working with the jetiise as closely as they did, their culture took bits and pieces that resonated with the Vod’e and as it did with everything, spread to all the battalions. 
But when he hears a threatening form of behave, traitor followed by two words that mean ‘traitorous’  and ‘insane’ preceding what is clearly an armored fist making contact with someone’s bare skin, Bly’s already pretty sure who’s side he’s on.
That’s even before he sees the dusty blue and the gray of beskar in the dim lighting worn by two people dragging what looks like a teenaged girl between them.
Kyr’tsad. 
Kriffing, karking-!
Bly untucks himself from the shadows and creeps up behind the two, careful to keep to the walls until he lunges forward, throwing one of his chains between target two’s legs even as he losses a coil of chains around target one’s neck and pulls back.
His ribs scream, his arms shake, but he drops his weight and wrenches the shabuir back, his legs kicking out the catch the small space between armor plates on Death Watch’s lower back to toss him over and behind.
Target the second is already dropping the girl, pale blonde hair visible in the gloom and reaching for a weapon at their belt.
Bly doesn’t give them the chance, jerking his chain back instantly compromising target two’s balance.
Barely ten seconds in this fight and both of them are on the ground. Target one is still choking with the chain around their neck and Bly keeps yanking it back to ensure they stays that way.
The other, Bly goes in for close combat, using his chain as bet he can with his shoulders and ribs kriffed up, but he manages to get enough wrapped around their legs and a single arm that he’s able to jab his fingers into the hollow of their throat and jerk their helmet off.
Eyes, nose, mouth, all places Bly can do some damage, but his strength is flagging so he slams his palm into their nose, once, twice, thrice until the shabuir goes limp.
One down, one to go.
Bly cracks the chain and sends the last stumbling even as he palms a vibroblade and uses the weight at the end of the chain the move himself close enough to-
Bly swings up, twists and lets dead weight fall where it may.
A moment, two, three before he breaths again, carefully, adrenaline pumping through his body. He pulls the chain taunt and swings the blade down. Metal chips, but doesn’t break do he does it again, again, again until it gives and all he’s left with is a manacle around his wrist.
The process repeats until he’s free from the weight of chains and he’s free. An arm carefully wraps around his chest as he struggles to breath, but he forces himself back up, to rifle through the utility belts and pockets to see what other weapons or rations he can find.
The first pocket he searches has a whole flask of water and he immediately takes small slow sips, 
He coughs, the taste of iron lingering in the back of his throat, but already his day is starting to pick up. Setting the water back down, he turns his attention to the small body crumpled on the ground.
Gingerly he makes his way over, easing himself to the floor and reaching out a hand-
-before pausing. 
All three of them spoke Mando’a. Even in the dim lighting, Bly can see all the bruises up an down the girl’s arms. So he opens his mouth to speak, only to cough, his entire body lighting up in pain as his ears start to ring.
It takes a minute, but when he stops, he carefully wets his lips and tries again.
“Hey, ade.”
Silence.
In the hallway, there’s only the sound of his strained breathing and her soft breaths.
Bly doesn’t know if she’s faking or not. Either way, he can’t afford to take any more injuries.
He coughs again, hunching over and unable to avoid the low groan of pain that crawls up his throat.
He does his best to breath, there in the dark with the girl either genuinely unconscious or faking it. Either way, the pain is distracting him and he’s going to need to sit there for a moment before he attempts any other movements.
Regardless he tries again and ignores how his voice cracks.
“I’mma...I’mma need you to wake up here, ad’ika.”
His back burns where he’s leaning against the wall and he can feel the blood begin to drip again. He doesn’t know how much he’s lost, how many times he’s reopened his wounds, but considering how lightheaded he is, considering how everything is starting to close in on him, it’s probably more then recommended. 
The world blurs around the edges and his awareness drifts away for a bit. Somewhere, far away, it sounds like Aayla singing, her voice echoing with the 327th Star Corps.
_____
“Gar shuk meh kyrayc.“
Bly blinks back to awareness.
The girl knees in front of him, short blonde hair framing a pale face. Barely out of childhood, even if she looks like she’s in need of a few good meals.
Then the words register.
He can’t help the amusement that wells up and huffs a laugh he immediately regrets.
“Here,” the girl says as she shoves a fist in front of him.
He flinches back, before stilling himself.
The girl doesn’t react, just holds up the water flask in her other hand.
“It’s for the pain. The tall one carried them.”
A breath, then he reaches out, ignoring the shaking on his hands, to let the girl drop two small pills into his hands while shoving the water at him. More careful sips as the pills go mostly dry down his throat.
“Vor entye,” Bly rasps.
“Ba'gedet'ye,” she says, eyes running over his face, his chest, a wary twist to her mouth. “You’re no use dead.”
Unnecessary for her to repeat that, Bly thinks. Scared, but brave. His lips twitch  as he runs a searching gaze over the girl.
Torn clothes, almost identical to his own, only with a shirt and less blood and dirt. Thin wrists, lank and greasy hair, coupled with even more bruises he can see blooming everywhere on uncovered skin.
Including her face, one cheeks which sports several colors that frame lines of dried blood and a split lip.
Gently, carefully, Bly lifts a hand and hovers in front of the injury. Not touching, close, but out of reach.
“And you?”
She blinks, startled. The barest hints of confusion crinkle her brow.
Bly smiles, letting his hand drop.
“Are you hurt, ad’ika?”
A touch of fire burns in her eyes.
“You’re bleeding.”
It’s almost an accusation, the words falling harshly from her mouth.
He acknowledges the point.
“Lek.” He continues, more solemnly, shifting his weight forward to meet her eyes, slowly enough that she doesn’t react beyond tensing her muscles. “But Kry’tsad is not known for being kind.”
Slowly, the girl shakes her head.
A moment of silence passes and the girl watches him. Bly gets his breathing back under control and deeply appreciates as the pounding in his head fades along with the burning in his shoulders and arms.
“By any chance, have you seen a blue Twi’lek in any of the cells you passed?”
“We are the only prisoners in this place. There are none who come here, save for the tall one and the cold one, both of which you killed.”
Bly studies the girl, the way the strain in her features eases as she talks about target one and two’s death, the audible note of gratitude. 
“Tion gar gai?“
“What is yours?” 
The response to his simple question is instantaneous, her tone now biting and wary. He doesn’t react, only lets amusement tug at his mouth.
“Bly-”
 (“There is a name that Mandalorians use when they are disowned or cast out from their clan or family. Some chose this name as a way to seperate themselves on their own terms. Others have their names taken and are left with this.”
“Considering that Jango Fett doesn’t considering us real people let alone his ade, do we call ourselves this?”
A humorless laugh.
“You always were the one who never hesitated to go for the throat, Kote.”)
“-just Bly.”
“Arla.”
Not a familar name, even if there’s something about her face that reminds him of- reminds him.
“Let’s get out of here, okay, Arla?”
The barest hints of a smile as Bly hauls himself to his feets and then turns once he can speak without screaming or making any other noises of pain, and holds out his hand.
Arla hesitates to reach out, before glancing over to the bodies.
“Can I have the blaster if you have the vibroblade?”
“How about we see if there’s another vibroblade you can carry and I’ll take the blaster?”
______
A more thorough search of the bodies produces another vibroblade, a small holdout blaster (which Arla claims), a large blaster (which Bly claims) rations, two lights that work and a new set of clothes and armor for Bly.
He makes Arla turn around while he strips the corpse of the tall one, a.k.a. target one and pulls on the armor under suit, which helpfully compresses his ribs and then begins to strap on armor. 
“Were you conscious enough to see how many people there are in these caves?”
Arla’s voice is soft, but it carries well as she immediately goes into an information download.
“We came on a ship, just the three of us. There is no one else here. It’s supposed to be so secure that it doesn’t matter if you manage to escape, there’s no where else to go. Plus someone always comes to check every couple of days. Which is when, if they want you to live, you get food and water. This is where you get thrown when they want you to rot away and die in the dark.”
Bly hums, carefully clicking vambraces into place, pleasure briefly rising up in his chest at the decent fit. 
“And the war?”
Arla pauses.
“I haven’t- They kept most of the information away from me, but sometimes I managed to hear things. Like how Kry’tsad has a sky in Mand’alor Mereel’s camp and how they’re planning how to lead them into a trap and kill them all in such a way to send a message.”
Bly blinks, as he finishes up with tugging the last piece in place.
“Mand’alor Mereel?”
Arla makes an agreeing sound.
“Someone let slip they’re calling him Mand’alor the Reformer. Vizsla gets really angry when he hears that.”
Mand’alor Mereel.
Jastor Mereel?
On getting access to the holonet, one of the first things the Vod’e who were interested in Mandalorian history looked up was the state of leadership. Kote was certain that he wanted to see who decided that they weren’t citizens despite being from a Mandalorain. 
 Jaster Mereel was the father of Jango Fett, before he died on Korda 6 twenty something years ago!
Bly took a breath, before spitting out a curse in Twi’lek, follow up by a very vehement “Force osik!”
Arla didn’t say anything when Bly walked up behind her, only stared to stare, distaste clear in the disgust on her face.
“Needs must, ad’ika. I need to find someone and the easiest way off this haran place is on the Death Watch ship you came in one. Which”, Bly slid the helmet on, the HUB automatically pulling up and activating night vision. “Will be a thousand times easier which me pretending to be Kry’tsad.”
Again, he held out his hand.
“Ba'slanar.”
A smile, small, but undeniably there as clearly seen by the display screen in his buy’ce. 
Arla took his hand.
_________
The climb out of haran was nothing to sneeze at, but they made it. Upon exiting, Bly couldn’t help the noise of appreciation he made at the sun setting into the distance. Or rising. Either or. It wouldn’t matter in a few minutes as they would be leaving the planet, deserted and rocky as it was, it offered no appeal in water or wild growing plants.
The ship was there, ramp still down and Bly gently tugged Arla along, right into the ship and take that, General Skywalker!
Plan A, accomplished with only a minor deivation.
Minus the either confused youngling or the apparently very real possibility of time travel.
Aayla was still missing and Bly still had no idea if anyone else was missing or if it was him that was missing and not everyone else. For all he knew, this was something that only affected him and Aayla was completely fine.
Surrounded by the 327th and the 501st, plus droids. 
Bly quickly ran through each and every room in the ship, Arla right behind him, gripping her vibroblade, clearing each space before moving on to the next one.
Cargo, armory, kitchen, berths, cockpit and a decent sized corner with padded seats and tables. 
Bly also ran a lifesigns sweep from the main computer before he was satisfied. It wasn’t a large ship, but it could comfortably accommodate three to four people so it would be perfect for them.
He holstered the blaster and quickly ran through flight check before initiating the start up sequence.
Arla quickly strapped herself into the co-pilots chair, unable to contain the trains of excitement painting itself all over face.
Ramp up, engines fired, all systems green, Bly slowly poured power into the system and the ship lifted off this karking planet, landing gear folding up and away.
Before he turned around to launch into the atmosphere, he quickly toggled the weapons system, loaded up a missile and fired it without hesitation into the mouth of his former prison.
The resulting explosion of stone, dirt and fire would go a long way to ease nightmares for the next weeks.
Once they cleared the atmosphere, Bly carefully used the HUD to change all teh passwords, security settings and just generally switched out who the ship’s computer’s answered to before tugging it off and gently running a hand through his tangled hair.
“Well, ad’ika. I’ve no place to be, but frankly I could use a shower. How about you?”
Arla look up and smiled, eyes wet.
“Shower and food first. Then we find our people.”
The knot of worry in his chest eased somewhat at the assurance that now he was able to begin his efforts to find out if Aalya made it along with him and if any others did. 
“Her name is Aalya,” Bly says, longing heavy in his voice. “I don’t remember much, but if she’s out there, I’ll find her.”
Arla, stands, equal height with him before holding out her hand. She wait unti Bly takes it before speaking.
“Arla Fett. I’m looking for my brother Jango. He should be with Mand’alor Jaster Mereel and the Haat Mando’ade.”
_______________________
....so uh. When I sat down like............................five hours ago I did NOT mean to write chapter one of fic. I guess I did though so....eh. I’ll go polish it up and post it on ao3
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