Chandrila

[saberforce]

There was a slight exhale as Tros surveyed the battlefield. His eyes were heavy with thought, and almost anyone could see it from just looking at him. It was also made easier by the fact that his own buy’ce was not with him, but rather sitting on an unused table. As his face continued to look around, he allowed for the right side of his own mouth to tighten and pull in, creating a look that was unmistakable. He closed his eyes for only a moment before he heard the sharp voice interrupt his own thoughts. 

“Kad Ha'rangir sure likes to pick the spots, huh.”

Tros opened his eyes and looked to his right. Vrax Saxon with his own rugged face marked with scars of prior wars and battles was offering up an apologetic look. The scar upon his front chin made him stand out in a crowd, even amongst Mandalorians. Every part of the man seemed harden, rough and warn, even his blue eyes. Tros in turned offered up a shrug before turning his head back to observe the fire and smoke rising from the beach town front before them. He again allowed for the weight of everything sit upon him. 

“Don’t do that to yourself al’verde. We follow you. We accept you. You are our al’verde.”

Tros looked down for a single moment before looking up at the sight before him again. The smoke rising from the city. He stood onboard the bridge looking below at Chandrila, and the smoke clearly coming from Hanna. He knew that Vrax was right. These men and woman did indeed follow him. But somehow deep down he doubted that it was out of anything other than the word of Manda'lor. Taking a quick inhale followed by a loud exhale of breath, Tros turned towards Vrax to face the man directly. 

“Inform Thae to lead the squads down. Burn and destroy everything that isn’t Hanna.”

Tros looked out the viewport and within his mind that Kad Ha'rangir has saved the capital for Manda'lor alone. 

[saberforce]

Tros lowered his head after he watched the defending fleets and remaining ships pull out of the space area around Chandrila. There was a great amount of disappointment that arose within him. He could feel the eyes of Vrax upon him before he heard him speak the words.

“We will follow your command al’verde.”

Tros adjusted himself and looked directly into Vrax’s eyes. His own eyes revealing what he was really thinking. The exchanged look provided enough of what was needed, as Vrax suddenly lifted within his hand Tros’ buy’ce. He wasn’t sure where Vrax got the time to pick it up, but he didn’t question it. He instead extended his own hand and retrieved it from the man. He put his buy’ce on and then turned to see that Vrax had also put his on. He understood what his purpose was now, at least for this battle. 

“In the name of Kad Ha'rangir… burn Chandrila to the ground. All turbolasers may fire at will. Glass the planet.”

Tros walked side by side with Vrax towards the front of the bridge of the medusa-class Star Dreadnaught to watch the destruction of the planet. 

[saberforce]

Tros closed his eyes as ships from the surface began to return back to the fleet. He could feel something stir deep within him. It was something small, yet so very familiar to him that it was almost impossible to ignore. He had felt it before, many times before. His own eyes opened to observe the planet before him behind his buy’ce. The fire from the planet below was evident even from space. He let out a very loud sigh, which must have caught the attention of Vrax. 

 

“Is everything alright al’verde?”

 

The million-credit question was asked. To answer simply, no. But how could he even begin to phrase that to the man next to him. To the man who was older and had seen so much more. The man whom Terra had personally recruited on Dxun. There was nothing he could say to him that would convey what he felt stirring deep below. With a slight head turn towards the man, his voice became softer than what it had been since they were paired up upon the ship. 

 

“It could be nothing… It’s not worth bringing up at the moment. We can talk later. For now, prep the ships for departure from this this system.”

 

Tros held his stance at the viewport for a few seconds before he turned abruptly on his heels and left the bridge, leaving Vrax to stand there alone. He for now he had to get himself alone to think. So the best place for him to that was the commander’s quarters. He quickly walked in and shut the door behind, tossing very casually his buy’ce to the side. It bounced off the wall and landed upon the bed where it rested. But he ended up sitting at the table that was offered up for the quarters. He sat and stared out of the viewport within the room and allowed for his mind to run wild. He reached for a drink that was on the other side of the table, which was bottle of Whyren’s Reserve, to which he quickly poured himself a full glass of it to drink as he was left alone to his own thoughts. 

 

But his time alone was rather short, as only after his third swig of the drink did he hear a knock at the door. Tros shifted himself slightly and shouted come in, which was followed by Vrax entering the room and shutting the door behind him, which was a clear sign that the man wanted to talk privately. Of everything that Vrax was, subtle wasn’t one of them. Perhaps a trait almost too common with all Mandalorians. His own comfort with Tros went on display as he walked right up to the table and sitting down while pouring a glass of whiskey himself all within a shift motion. 

 

“Al’verde, you can be as dangerous as a Trill beast and twice as cunning as the next man. But something that you are not is subtle.” Tros let out a very quick laugh, followed by him taking another swig before responding. “Yeah, I just had the same thought about you. I guess being subtle isn’t a trait amongst us.” The comment drew a soft laugh from Vrax before he took a swig himself. There was about three seconds that passed before either of them spoke. “I know your face very well al’verde, as I have been in shoes before when I was much younger. You’re beginning to doubt Kad Ha'rangir.” 

 

Tros turned and looked the older man in the face. His own eyes searching for the right words to say, but all that could come out was something that sounded like an attempt to find more air to inhale. Vrax could feel some sympathy for him and placed his left hand upon Tros’ shoulder. “There’s no need to defend yourself. Doubt is natural. Even more so from someone in your shoes.” Vrax then took his own eyes off of Tros along with his hand and stared out of the viewport before continuing. “You’ve been betrayed by your dar'buir, raised by no one. Went to war with a Mand'alor who wasn’t prepared for it. And now, served with one who is the complete opposite. Life hasn’t given you the best hand.” Vrax took a large and hard swig and then almost slammed the glass on the table. He then turned to directly look at him. “But you’re stronger because of it. And trust me, your gut is the best thing to follow, more so than any god that has ever existed within our culture.”

 

Tros slowly nodded his head and took a much smaller swig this time to finish off his own drink. He then pushed himself up from the table and offered up an arm to help Vrax stand. Upon the older man accepting the offer, Tros pulled him up and locked eyes with him. 

 

“I must resign my position then and return to my roots.”

[saberforce]

Tros simply held out his hand to shake Vrax's, but found himself staring blankly at the man's face who held no such expression. After a long moment passed between the two of them, Vrax broke eye contact and looked at the doorway and allowed for a small smile to come to his face. "You are my al’verde. That means I will follow you, as I am sure that others will as well." He looked down at the floor to consider exactly what Vrax had just told him before looking back up. There was no need for more words. It was understood what was about to happen, so the two then put their buy'ce upon their head and walked back up to the bridge. Things didn't take very long for the word to spread that al’verde was resigning his position. Some had quickly shown their own disdain for the move, but there were some, a select few besides for Vrax who wanted to stay pledged to Tros, and so then also followed suit and resigned their own positions.

 

Tros had given them instructions to meet him in the hangar bay at his personal ship, Swift Justice. Then him and Vrax took a moment to make sure that the security and safety of the Crusaders were set with a solid commander to the rest of the crew to follow. Once everything was settled, Tros and Vrax headed off the bridge towards the hangar bay themselves. It was then that they had come across a Mandalorain who wore very old armor. It made Tros eye the warrior before him and come to a complete stop. He looked him over for a long second-which forced Vrax to speak up rather bluntly. "Tro’solus- you have but a single spot available on your ship. This one seems a little too damaged to fill that seat."

 

"Vrax-never call me Tro’solus again. And if you don't have a memory... I'm more damaged than anyone else that's already on that ship. What's your name?"

[saberforce]

Tros almost had a slight rocking motion with his body as he listened to Canderous. Vrax who stood next to him clearly had his own thoughts on the situation, but wasn't going to argue the points, so he instead placed his hand on Tros' shoulder and then took his leave towards the hangar bay. Tros then waited for Vrax to fully leave the area before responding to Canderous. 

 

"My ship, Swift Justice. It has room for just one more on it. Me and a few others are leaving to return to my beroya roots to remind purpose. If you want, you can have that last spot. But I will warn you. I will not call you Dar'Manda, as you are still very much so manda. But if you don't wish to be called Canderous either, we can find a new name for you vod."

 

Trso then extended his hand as an official offering to Canderous who stood before him now. 

[saberforce]

Tros looked at Canderous and could tell that the man before him was broken and lost, yet still held onto a purpose of sorts. The emotions he felt could be seen upon his body language as much as himself on a bad day. He spoke of redemption, and for some odd reason, it reminded him of his half-sister, Xae. Slowly, he nodded his head before speaking to Canderous. 

 

“Alright then. Vode an.” There wasn’t much more that needed to be said by Tros. Canderous had accepted and would join the slowly growing crew. He put his buy’ce back on and then headed towards the hangar bay for his ship, Swift Justice. After arriving, he was quickly greeted by Vrax with a nod until he reached the main pilot’s chair. Vulios Vuuku looked at him from the navigation spot and asked a simple question. 

 

“Where to al’verde?”

 

It was a very simple question, but one that he had some time to really think about what his answer was going to be. The Holonet was full of reports of organizations asking for different things, as his crew would be more then beneficial to reap rewards from taking on some of those larger bounty jobs. Turning his head towards the copilots chair where Vrax sat, he gave the man a quick nod. 

 

“Kessel. I’ll fill you guys on what the job is on our way there…”

Edited June 26, 2019 by saberforce