On The Brink

[Raz Solus]

There was nothing irrational about this, right? Nope, nothing at all. Raz pushed her logical thoughts aside as she walked around and gathered up a few more demolition charges. She had her personal ship parked nearby on the Contruum base, and she would lug all this out there. Her destination was Korriban, and she would go there by herself to bring as much hell as possible. She had seen what Cuyan and the other Mandalorians had done, but even that wasn’t enough.

Raz was angry. Outwardly she appeared deathly calm and meticulous, but she was in turmoil inside. The past few weeks had wreaked havoc on her - first beginning with the celebrations on Nar Shaddaa. The reveal about Leah’s feelings on Val had been crushing to her, but it finally made her realize that she could never envision herself with a Jedi. There were lines she simply couldn’t cross, and Leah’s confession brought that to light more than anything.

Secondly, Dan’s death felt as if she had a hole shot through her chest. She was still numb and reeling from the pain. There were other celebrations to be had, but she always felt detached from it all, thinking back to all the times she had ever chastised or yelled at Dan. He had probably died believing that everyone thought he was a fool. He had probably died thinking he had to go out of his way to prove himself, and it had gotten him killed as a result.

Raz always ran whenever her emotions screamed at her. She had abandoned her people when she was a teenager, and the urge to do just that was almost crushing. She wouldn’t do that ever again. However, that didn’t mean she didn’t want to withdraw away. In this case, she would bring with her a payload of destruction to unleash on Korriban.

She glanced over at her basilisk, her PIPE and other weapons already loaded up. She would park the beast in her cargo hold before taking off. Raz had a feeling she wouldn’t be coming back - but she felt that about most operations she went on these days. Everyone had their own way of grieving, and doing something exceptionally loud and stupid was her way.

@Painus

 

[Leandros Solus]

”Raz!”

The call echoed throughout the base as Leandros stormed down its metal corridors, searching for the one woman he knew he had to watch. Somehow, she had escaped his grasp and disappeared in the base, and he knew exactly what it was that she planned on doing. She was an impassioned woman; when she set her mind to something, she would guarantee it would get done regardless of the obstacles in her way. The world-shattering news that they had just received was the perfect catalyst to trigger this exact response and he intended to stop her from doing something that she would regret.

His eyes were bloodshot from the tears he had shed, but he paid no mind. The burn was good, as far as he was concerned, because he did not focus on his own pain. All that mattered to him was Raz – her initial response to the shock clued him in enough on how she would act. His footsteps echoed throughout the halls, each one a resounding thud as he marched with an extreme purpose. Raz was fast, and he knew that time was of the essence if he wanted to ensure the worst did not happen. He initially checked the personal quarters to see if she had fled there, but, upon finding nothing, he went for the hangars next where he knew her ship and basilisk were sitting.

The walk felt like an eternity, though those within the base noted the man charging forward with determination, his face frozen in a furrowed-brow frown. He was not angry, but rather worried. Concerned for Raz and their people. He would not allow the worst to happen to her, whether she liked it or not. He knew she would run whenever confronted with her personal feelings, but it was his duty to ensure she did not do so this time.

Entering the room where Raz was regarding her basilisk, Leandros shouted out once more, ”Raz!” before steaming towards her. As soon as he got close, he attempted to reach out and grab her arm, saying, ”Stop for a second and look at me!”

@Sreeya

 

[Raz Solus]

Raz breathed in deeply and exhaled slowly. She was doing this, and she had made up her mind. She didn’t even hear the hurried footsteps coming her way, or even the shout for her name, and her focus was solely on how she was going to cause the most damage. Raz was about to take another step when Leandros abruptly caught up to her and grabbed her arm. She didn’t pull away, visibly stunned as she turned to look at him. He looked as if he had been running a mile.

She looked into his eyes, saw the look on his face, and she knew at once she couldn’t fib her way out of this. Her instinct was to yank her arm away, but she didn’t do it for whatever reason. Instead Raz looked away, unable to meet his gaze, “How did you know?” She muttered quietly, barely audible. She wanted nothing more than to run away and to get away. She wanted nothing more than to scream at him or shove him and fight him.

“I don’t want to hear about how I should be handling this,” Raz said grumpily, finally slipping her arm out of his grasp. She didn’t want him to see the emotions on her face, and she rushed over to grab her helmet and pop it on. It was unbecoming of Mand’alor to show weakness like emotions, especially in front of others. Her mind reminded her that he didn’t fit into that mold, but she still couldn’t break her habit.

“We’ve been striking at Republica when it’s the Old Empire that’s been winning this entire time,” She growled, “We’ve been doing their work for them. I can’t be sitting around moping with my thumb up my ass, Lee. I’m going to go kriff them up,” She gritted her teeth, her fingers curling into fists, “Why would you ever want to stop me?”

@Painus

 

[Leandros Solus]

Leandros looked into Raz’s eyes for what felt like a long time before she turned away. His mind ran through a million responses to her question, though in the span of a second he only offered up one reason as to how he knew where to find her. ”Because, he started, not taking his eyes off her face even when she looked away, ”…because I had the same idea.” He kept his grip but looked at her, then looked around the hangar and the ship awaiting her to board. As soon as he heard the news, he wanted nothing more than to bring about swift retribution to the Sith. Even as he held Raz in a bearhug to stop her from hurting herself, he had the irresistible urge to just go out and lay waste to every planet on the path between Contruum and Korriban. But he didn’t.

Raz pulled away from him and he squared his body towards her, just in case, but she did not run away. ”I’m not telling you how to handle this,” he began as she bolted away to grab her helmet and slam it down on her head, ”But we both know that martyring yourself is not the right way.” He took another step towards her, both to close the gap and to let her know that she was not alone, though he knew she would not pick up on the subtleties of the move. It was more for his own peace of mind than anything.

Raz started speaking to him, her voice brimming with passion. Every word she said was true, and he knew that his face showed that he accepted this. He was not trying to hide his emotions; they were already on the brink with the death of Dan. He was wearing his heart on his sleeve right now, and it was not shameful to admit it. Finally, Raz curled her hands into fists and questioned why he was so concerned with her actions. It caught him off guard, and he did not think about his response, but rather blurted it out thoughtlessly. ”Getting yourself killed to take out a few hundred Imperials is not worth it. Think of our people, how they would react to losing their first Mand’alor. Think of what Dan would want.” Invoking Dan was a risky gambit that he was willing to take. Hearing that would, hopefully, cause her a moment of hesitation. He took another step forward and looked at the ground for a moment before raising his head and looking directly into her visor. ”I’m stopping you because I-“ he started, pausing for a second, ”Because I don’t want to lose you. Not like this.”

@Sreeya

 

[Raz Solus]

Raz paused when he admitted he had the same idea. That brought all her selfish thoughts to a screeching halt at once. How could she have missed the way the others were grieving? Dan didn’t mean something to just her, but he was precious to everyone in Solus. Leandros and Dan had worked together many times, and there was a bond and kinship there that didn’t even exist between her and Dan. She said nothing for a moment, her fingers relaxing slightly.

“I’m not going there to martyr myself, damn it,” She protested, shaking her head, “I just can’t stand doing nothing,” Raz began to pace. She walked back and forth, “And if Dan had his way, he’d have us all sitting around a fire with Imperials, Jedi and everyone else and singing battle hymns together,” She said the words angrily, but she paused. Raz couldn’t help but crack a grin at the thought, laughing through the emotions flooding through her.

She looked up to see Leandros meeting her gaze directly. She noticed he paused awkwardly for a moment before going on to say he didn’t want to lose her. Raz sighed, “How would you lose me then, Lee?” She challenged him, “We don’t choose how we want to lose people. It just happens. This is war and it’s what we all signed up for. We went into this knowing we could die any day.”

Raz wasn’t good with subtle cues, and she missed whatever flickered through him when he had paused. She looked back at her droid, thinking about all the explosives she had packed into her ship. Raz crossed her arms over her chest, “What would you have me do?” She asked, still clearly angry about this, “Because if it's to go back to my quarters and cool off, I'm going to break your nose."

@Painus

 

[Leandros Solus]

Leandros stood still as Raz began to pace around, claiming she would not be martyring herself. He shook his head, eyes locked onto her helmet. She was angry and hurting; the loss of Dope- of Dan was hard on all of them. They had been together since the beginning, since Solus was nothing more than a minor clan and not the unifying force of the entire Mandalorian people. Such a death demanded retaliation. An eye for an eye. But having their Mand’alor go on a suicide mission to bring that retaliation was not what that meant and he needed to make Raz see that.

”You and I both know that once you step on that ship and head to Sith space, you’re not coming back,” he asserted, his voice rising to drive home the point as he gestured towards her ship. He furrowed his brows as she turned and looked at him, sighed, and challenged his statement. He sat in silence for a moment as he thought about her words. ”I don’t know, okay?!” he responded, ”We don’t get to pick and choose how our friends die, you’re right. Every day I wake up wondering if it’s going to be my last; now I have to start thinking if it’s your last too? This is war, but that doesn’t mean we can go around throwing our lives away!” As soon as the news hit, it was his first instinct to take up his arms and go out to kill as many Sith as he could before falling in battle. Seeing Raz do the same, however, snapped him out of his stupor and made him realize how important they were to their people; how important they were to maintaining the fragile and infantile unity of the clans.

He took another step towards Raz when she turned to look at her ship then back at him. ”You’re on the edge of that cliff back on Mandalore right now,” he said, shaking his head, ”And for some reason, you think that you’re alone. That you’re the only one about to jump off.” He pointed towards her before continuing, ”If I were you, I’d have broken my nose a long time ago. But you’re still listening to me instead. You know that you’re not the only one on the brink, but you won’t look around to see who’s next to you.” His voice was firm and impassioned, still upset from the news and now from this confrontation. Raz was as stubborn as a mule when it came to things she set her mind toward, but he had to try his best to get her to see reason.

Sighing, Leandros dropped his head and let it hang there for a moment or two, shaking it. Eventually, he lifted it back up and looked at Raz, ”I don’t know what the right response is. I don’t even think there is one, but I do know that whatever you planned on doing is not it. Step back from the edge and think.” He rubbed his face, pinching his fingers together on the bridge of his nose as he wiped his eyes. He blinked a few times and looked at Raz, crossing his arms over his chest.

@Sreeya

 

[Raz Solus]

Raz simply watched him as he seemed to get a little flustered when she called him out on his line of thinking. She quirked an eyebrow beneath her helmet, “Start thinking of if it’s my last day? Lee, I’ve been risking my life since day one in case you haven’t noticed. This is standard affair for me,” She grumbled as she turned away. Raz wasn’t entirely done with packing, and she wasn’t completely convinced it wasn’t a good idea to go just yet. She put another crate of explosives on her ship, though this time she was much more grounded than before. It was almost comical as she calmly went about her business as if she were about to go on a picnic.

As he mentioned that she was back on the edge of that cliff on Mandalore, Raz sighed without looking at him, “It’s not like that,” She turned to look at him, the cold and steely surface of her helmet facing him, “Because I was happy when I was there on that edge. I was happier than I had been in a long time and…. It was because I knew you were there next to me,” She was chewing furiously on her lip now. Raz shook her head and looked away again, “This is nothing like that,” She added under her breath.

Raz slapped her droid on the leg, nudging it to walk into the cargo hold. The beast shook to life and began to slowly amble its way over. She wasn’t as emotional now, but she still wanted to fight. She still needed to hit them where it hurt, and she wanted that little sliver of satisfaction that would come with it. Would it bring Dan back? No, but it would let the Old Empire know that she was done fighting their enemies for them.

She watched the droid walk in, the ramp slowly closing up behind it. Raz gazed ahead, a few other Mandalorians on the base passing them by now. One or two stopped, looking over curiously at their Mand’alor preparing to leave somewhere. Raz stood next to her ship, lightly slamming her fist against it and sliding it down against the metal plating, “How are you handling it?”


@Painus

 

[Leandros Solus]

Gods, this woman infuriated him. Maybe that was why he felt the way he did about her; she held true to her convictions no matter what, even if it could be a fault at times. She challenged him again and he sighed as she turned around, resuming her packing. He wanted nothing more than to just tackle her and show her why he did not want her to leave on this one-way trip to Korriban, but he knew that that was not what she needed. She worked methodically, much more calmly than when he first saw her storming around the room. Eventually she turned to face him, taking a momentary break from loading explosives on her ship. Wow, did she have a lot of bombs there.

Leandros shook his head when she spoke about their time back on Mandalore, looking into the faceless visage of her helm. He chewed the inside of his cheek as she spoke, furrowing his brows lightly. ”It’s not the same, no,” he agreed, shaking his head again, ”And it shouldn’t be.” He walked over towards her and stopped a pace or two away. ”But you’re not alone. I promised you that you never would be.” Briefly, his mind flashed back to the two of them sitting side-by-side on the edge of a vast lake watching nature. She accepted that he was by her side then and always would be, and he was not going to go back on that vow. ”I can’t stop you from doing what you plan on doing,” he said, shrugging and pulling one of the corners of his cheeks back into his face, ”But I’m not going to let you do it alone. Wherever you’re going, I’m coming.”

He smiled impishly at that, though his heart was not entirely in it. By now, other Mandalorians were peering over at the exchange between their leadership, curious as to its intent. If only they knew. Leandros walked over and stood in front of her by her ship, leaning against it and putting his body between her and the way onboard. ”It’s like someone stabbed me in the heart and didn’t pull out,” he admitted, looking at her helmet again. He saw his own reflection in her visor and frowned, noting that his eyes still bore the signs of his previous tears. ”I never apologized to him for humiliating him in front of the clans.” He didn’t want to say Dan’s name, not wanting to invoke the emotions that would assail him once he considered his own failures towards the boy.

”And now I can’t. It’s going to eat at me, I think, in time. I want to just go over and tear Vrael’s head off with my own fists.” He gritted his teeth at the mention of the Emperor, clenching his fists tight. He was angry; angry at the Sith, angry at the Alliance, and angry at himself. ”But I know that I wouldn’t come back. As satisfying as it would be to show those cowards that they should be afraid, I know that our people need me alive now more than ever.” He continued to lean with his shoulder against Raz’s ship, taking a moment to look at the floor plating before focusing his attention back on Raz. ”Why are you so hellbent on doing this? What do you even plan on doing?”

@Sreeya

 

[Raz Solus]

He casually made his way over to get in her way yet again. Raz opened her mouth to protest, but she knew it was useless. He was one of the few people she knew that was just as stubborn, if not more, than her. As he made it clear he would come along, Raz was thrown off guard, “Wait no, I don’t want you to-” To do what? Risk himself? Do the very thing he didn’t want her to do? The words died in her throat, and she could practically see the satisfaction on his face from her catching herself. How did she expect him to let this slide when she didn’t want him to do the same?

As he recounted his regrets with Dan, Raz remained silent. It wasn’t just her then - he had his own regrets he was holding onto. His were deeper, and she remembered the day Leandros called Dan out when he tried to make a play for Mand’alor. Raz felt guilty at the pit of her stomach, thinking back to how she herself simply took it from him. Everyone backed her, but she hadn’t even bothered talking to Dan. She simply stepped in and plucked the title he had been wanting for so long.

When he painted the image of him tearing Vrael’s head off, Raz had to smile, “I could envision that quite easily, actually,” Leandros was known to be among the fiercest warriors in their clan. As a field marshal, he commanded the respect of countless soldiers that all looked to him for leadership. He was their rock, and she had to remember that she had her own role to play for her people as well.

His question of what she planned to do threw her off, and it was her turn to be challenged by her own ideas, “Uh.. well..” She shifted awkwardly where she stood, “I was going to fly in, drop some bombs, fly out on my basilisk and um… I haven’t thought beyond that,” She felt stupider with each word leaving her mouth. Raz grinned sheepishly beneath the helmet, shaking her head.

“Fine,” She said finally, stepped back from the side of the ship, “You’re coming with, but you decide where we go. I can’t stay here because it’s making me too angry. And since you won’t let me go anywhere alone, I’m putting the responsibility on you,” She grinned beneath the helmet, “So, where to?”

@Painus

 

[Leandros Solus]

Whatever it is he did, it seemed to be working. Raz was distracted from her original bullish plan of just going to bomb the shit out of something, which meant that Leandros’ words were having some kind of an effect. She sputtered, about to tell him that she did not want him to go with her. That put her in a corner and he knew it, smiling gently as she realized that she had no way of preventing him from coming along on their little suicide mission short of just shooting him and running.

As he went on to describe his desire to behead Vrael, he noted the shift in Raz’s overall tone. She was becoming more levelheaded, thankfully, which meant that he could relax a bit more. ”It’d be pretty easy. He’s old,” he replied with a short laugh, lightening the mood a bit. He was glad that she was not still on her rampage; it really made all of this much easier. Her ship was still absolutely loaded with explosives and was just awaiting her command to leave, but he was focusing on baby steps. Stop the trigger puller, then stop the big boom. Two-step process.

His demand to know what she even planned on doing caught her flatfooted, and she stuttered as she tried to figure it out on the spot. Fly in, drop some bombs, and fly out. That… was pretty much how all of their attacks went, really, so he could not fault her for that, but he was a little surprised at how little thought-out it was. You would think someone with such a known enemy would have several plans to go and disrupt their empire, but nope. She just wanted to blow something up.

Finally, she conceded and agreed to let him come. As she stepped away from her ship, he followed suit. Suddenly, the onus was on him to decide where they ought to go. He balked, not expecting her to agree so readily, let alone make it his decision to figure out where they should vent their anger. ”Uh…” he began, thinking of all the places they could go. Korriban, Yavin, Raxus, pretty much anywhere in Sith space, really. ”If being here makes you mad… We could go, to… Erh.” He paused and thought, pursing his lips as he did so. He resisted the urge to cheekily invite her to her personal quarters, knowing that she probably wanted to break something or someone. Gods, why did women do this to men? She could have just said they were going somewhere to kill some Sith and he would have been totally okay with it. Now here they were with a ship loaded with explosives and a basilisk, and it was his decision to find a place to mess up.

”We could get drunk,” he mused, then shook his head, ”But you probably want to fight something.” He thought for a moment, putting his hands on his hips as he looked at Raz, frowning. ”Oh!” he said, snapping his fingers, ”I know exactly what you’d love. I’ll give you three guesses to figure it out.” He hoped that she would fall for his game and he would know exactly where they would go. He just needed that trademark Raz obliviousness to work and get her to offer up the idea. Men everywhere used this trick; he read it on the HoloNet one time. It was a classic reversal.

@Sreeya

 

[Raz Solus]

Raz saw the look on his face after she flipped it around on him to find somewhere for them to go. She quirked an eyebrow as he muttered something about guessing what he had in mind. The idea of drinking sounded appealing, but she was probably likely to do something exceptionally stupid then too. She stared at him for a moment before chuckling, “You have no kriffing idea where to go,” She declared, clapping him on the shoulder, “It’s okay, let’s go.”

She jutted her chin for him to enter her ship, and she followed shortly after. Raz popped into the cockpit, powering up the engines and popping in a destination into the navicomputer, “I got an idea,” She said simply. She didn’t offer anything else, and the way she was excited could either be very good or very bad for Leandros. Raz was known to get giddy about especially disastrous things, so it was always a cointoss on where her mind was.

Within moments, they had taken off, exiting the planet’s atmosphere within moments. She leaned back in her seat, thinking about where they were going. Raz finally popped her helmet off, tossing it aside. She reached for a flask, filled with liquor that wasn’t normally legal in most of the galaxy. Raz took a swig before tossing it over to Leandros, kicking her feet up on the terminal in front of her.

“You have a talent for showing up anytime I’m about to do something stupid,” Raz mused, looking ahead of herself, “Does Kad speak to you or something that Mand’alor is about to be an idiot?” She couldn’t help but laugh at the thought, shaking her head.

@Painus

 

[Leandros Solus]

Damn it.

His masterfully-crafted plan was foiled by his own lack of helmet. Leandros knew Raz could see his visible confusion as the gears in his head frantically grinded together while he thought of where to take her. Seriously, why did women do this? It was like a mind game they played to see how much they could astound their male counterparts, and it seemed like she was the grandmaster of it. He could have sworn his plan was going to work, but when it did not, he sighed. Raz clapped him on the shoulder and admitted his ignorance for him, to which he nodded. ”I’m bad at date ideas,” he remarked half-jokingly, except kind of not really. He realized he could not see her reaction and cursed inwardly.

She motioned for Leandros to get in her ship and he quickly rushed across the hangar to grab his helmet and gun belt, making sure he had at least the basics. Just in case, you know? He entered her ship and noted that it was similar to her home on Mandalore – bits and pieces of armor and equipment around where she had presumably been tinkering with them. They entered the cockpit and he took a seat before she did. Uh… she had an idea? ”What, uh, did you have in mind?” He set his helmet off to the side and looked at her, his brows trying to decide if they wanted to be furrowed or raised in alarm. Normally when she got this excited about things, it never went well for him. Last time she acted like this, he ended up taking a polar plunge into a lake right off of his basilisk, though he had to admit that he was feeling pretty elated back then, too.

Raz never responded and instead blasted off into space, sending them off in their destination. Leandros caught the flask she tossed him and took a swig, his nostrils burning from the potency of the liquor. ”Ooh, nice,” he muttered to himself before capping it and tossing it back to her.

He thought about what she said and chuckled softly, shrugging his shoulders. Frankly, he did not know how he always managed to be near her whenever she was about to do something. ”It’s my superpower,” he said after she finished speaking, ”My Raz-dar goes off and I know exactly where to go.” He laughed and kicked his own feet up, looking at her while she looked ahead. ”I don’t know. Maybe it’s random. Maybe it’s fate. I don’t pretend to know these things.” He sighed and watched the blue miasma of hyperspace undulate around them. ”All I know is that I managed to stop you from doing something dumb alone,” he said, putting his hands behind his head as he reclined, ”So we better go out with a bang with whatever it is you’re gonna do.”

@Sreeya

 

[Raz Solus]

The journey had been pleasant, and it mostly consisted of the two of them catching up and shooting the shit like old times. She always enjoyed even talking about nothing with him, one of the few times she didn’t have to play Mand’alor. After a long while, they burst into the atmosphere of Concord Dawn, somewhere he’d recognize at once as where a lot of Solus clansmen made their homes. The planet was lush and green, rich with forests and farmlands.

Raz didn’t even explain what the entire purpose of coming here was, but she did reach over and take another helping of the liquor. She somehow managed to park the ship without getting them killed, though it was harrowingly close. There was a huge jerk and they skidded across the ground into the old, janky landing pad on the planet. Raz got up and began to shake off her armor, looking up at Leandros and smiling, “No armor,” She explained simply. She tossed off the plates till she was just in some tight-fitting pants, boots and a tanktop. Raz packed nothing but a pistol with her, making her way out of the ship.

She walked over to the cargo hold, ignoring the droid and looking at the swoop bike parked there. Raz brought it down the ramp before closing it behind her, swinging a leg over it and nodding for Leandros to hop on behind her. She was suspicious the whole time, smiling but not explaining anything. He had no real say in anything and would have to come along.

Raz revved up the engines and took off a dirt road that led away from from her ship. The wind blasted through their faces as she zoomed through the path, long blades of grass and cornfields passing them by on both sides. She was leaned forward on the bike, going far above any regulated speed limit. Out here, there was very little civilization around, the roads empty save for the occasional farm animal here and there. They passed a few small settlements, here and there, some Mandalorian farmers staring at them curiously.

After a long journey, Raz finally pulled up towards what looked like an old, abandoned barn. She made sure to park the speeder out of view and behind this barn before hopping off. She slowly walked around, quietly pushing the door and peeking her head in. It was empty and she grinned, making her way in and rummaging around. She found massive jugs of liquid, bringing one out to hand to Leandros, “Moonshine,” She grinned, “When’s the last time you had some homebrewed shit?” Raz chuckled, “Some things never change.”

She popped the lid off one of the jugs, taking a swig. She had a disgusted look on her face, but she downed it anyway. Raz opened the barn door again and peeked out, pointing out to a homestead far up ahead, “That there is Fett property,” She explained at last, taking another swig, “When it gets dark, we’re going to spook and set all their banthas on the loose and see what happens.”

She was practically giggling to herself, thinking about this. She hadn’t done this since she had been a child, and this little rivalry went between Solus and Fett for as long as she could remember. Her father had done it as a child, and his father before him. Her family had lost several pigs and chickens to those Fetts, and a united people didn’t mean all old petty rivalries were gone. And it always, of course, involved stealing all their home brew liquor.

@Painus

 

[Leandros Solus]

Leandros enjoyed these kinds of rides. Alone time, just catching up on this and that, talking about whatever came to their mind. It was pleasant not having to play the part of the stoic Field Marshal and the fiery Mand’alor in front of everyone and just letting loose, passing the little flask back and forth until it was all gone. Eventually they slammed out of hyperspace in front of the lush planet of Concord Dawn, home to much of his clan. He loved the planet; just like Mandalore, it was verdant and symbolic to their people. A place of peaceful and honest living, even despite the warlike nature of its inhabitants. His eyebrow raised on its own as he wondered what Raz had in store for him. She had been silent about her intentions the entire ride, not once spilling the beans. Whatever it was, she was giddy about it. That made Leandros nervous.

They hit the ground roughly, no thanks to Raz’s… “impressive” flying ability. She started taking off her armor and he furrowed his brows in confusion, but decided to play along. His own pieces of armor fell to the ground and he was left in just a pair of synthetic fiber pants and shirt with boots. He kept his pistol on his hip and followed Raz to the cargo hold. She hopped on a speeder and motioned for him to mount up, a mischievous smile on her lips. He was beginning to grow more and more wary. What did this little devil have planned? The last time a woman made him strip, he was humiliated and had to come back with Raz.

Fitting, he supposed.

He swung a leg over the speeder and saddled up right behind Raz, wrapping his arms around her waist. Not like he had much choice, anyways. The two burst out from the cargo hold, the landscape becoming a smear as she bolted along the dirt road. Their ship quickly became a speck in the distance and the wind buffeted them, just like during their race back on Mandalore. They passed by farmstead after farmstead every so often, the simple inhabitants regarding them with idle curiosity. He simply leaned forward into her, squinting his eyes against the onslaught of the wind, his head turned so as to not take the full brunt of it head-on.

Eventually they came to a stop in front of a ramshackle barn. The speeder was hidden out of sight and Leandros followed Raz towards it, noting her suspicious, clandestine behavior. She scoped out the inside before entering. He followed her inside and looked around; it looked like your typical farm family barn. Tools were scattered about and there were bales of hay everywhere. Raz was off in the dark, the sounds of tools and jugs clanking around echoing throughout the closed barn. Through small sun rays poking through cracked boards, he noted the silhouette of his Mand’alor approaching, massive, sloshing jugs in hand. ”I don’t-“ he tried to get out before a jug was shoved into his chest. Moonshine, huh? Raz fascinated him more and more each day. How did she know to find this place?

He popped open the top and took a swig, his face involuntarily contorting in a scowl as the liquid sent an inferno down his throat. He was pretty sure his nose hairs were singed, but wow if this was not the best liquor he had ever had. It might as well have been pure ethanol, but he did not care. He followed Raz over towards the door and peered out at the farmstead down yonder, nodding along as he took another painful swig. ”You are,” he began, putting the lid of the jug back on and setting it down, ”The most… I don’t even know. But I’m completely awestruck. All of this – how did you know any of it was here?” His face was frozen in a big, goofy smile and he could not stop himself from trying to laugh. Raz, his Mand’alor, the fiercest woman he knew, was an absolute hick. He was loving every bit of this. He reached down and picked up the jug, opening the lid again and sniffing the brew. Strong stuff.

The sun had not yet set, so they had plenty of time to kill before their cattle chaos began. ”I’ll bet I can drink more and freak out more banthas than you,” he said, raising the jug in challenge. Outside, storm clouds loomed in the distance, but that was a problem for later. Right now, it was just the two of them, gallons of moonshine, and a herd of Clan Fett banthas just waiting to get spooked. Just a classic Mandalorian evening. Bottoms up!

@Sreeya

 

[Raz Solus]

As Leandros began to describe to her exactly what she was, she took a huge swig from the jug and looked over at him, wiping her mouth off, “What?” She asked innocently, her eyes wide, “This is serious business, Lee,” She said urgently, gazing up ahead again. She was beginning to feel the alcohol hit her and she was suddenly distracted by him openly challenging her to drink.

“Whoa whoa whoa,” She held her hand up, turning to face him, “I don’t care how big and bad you are, when it comes to this, I will drink you under the table. You’re on, mister,” Raz clanged her jug against his, almost breaking it before she took another swig. She looked out, finally bothering to explain how she knew about this, “I grew up near here. Fett were always our rivals. We were supposed to be enemies, but I made things worse because I got caught making out with Billy Fett behind that there wooden post,” She used the jug in her hand to point out said post far away in the distance. Her local accent was beginning to slip into her speech the drunker she got, “And of course you know how my brother is. Shit hit the fan since, starting with Billy getting his teeth knocked out and Daz getting a helmet stolen.”

She could see the storm clouds beginning to churn up above, the clouds getting dark and thick. Raz didn’t care about this just yet, taking another swig. She shook her head, thinking back to all the old memories on the ranch. She hadn’t thought about this since a very long time, and it felt wonderful to be back here again. Raz was definitely feeling the alcohol now, the effects leaving her with a nice, warm feeling all over her body. The winds began to pick up, swinging the old, creaky doors of the barn to and fro. The blades of grass rippled and swayed, the bantha loudly bellowing.

“We used to get drunk and cause all sorts of hell,” Raz turned to grin at Leandros, “I stole their tractor speeder before and thought I could escape in it. Was cheering and excited till I realized the damn thing moved like a snail. I had to bail halfway and run away like an idiot,” Raz began to laugh halfway through the story, remembering clearly the panic she felt back then seconds after giving out a triumphant victory whoop.

After a while, the first splatters of rain began to hit. Raz looked up, hearing the drip land on the tin lining above the barn. It fell in a particular rhythm, and it made her start to tap her foot. That tapping began to turn into a stomp. Soon that stomping got louder, and she did it to a specific beat. After a moment, she began to belt out a song, raising the jug and waving it in the air. She kept stomping and and clapping her metallic hand against the side of the jar to play the part of the beat.

Raz was slightly off key, but she was having the time of her life. She swayed and moved, her feet working expertly to do the stomp and a series of dance moves that were common to most farmers. She had a huge smile on her face as she kept singing, lifting her jug and moving closer to Leandros. Raz hooked her arm through his, skipping around in a circle and tugging him along while continuing her off key singing.

Thunder erupted in the distance, the winds beginning to howl as the rain got heavier.

@Painus

 

[Leandros Solus]

Shit.

Actually, not even shit. Holy shit. Whatever concoction was swirling around inside his jug was a level of alcohol he had not experienced in, well, ever. It was like getting hit in the back and front of the head with a shovel. It was like taking a piss, except the piss was taking you. Whatever it was, it was like snorting a pound of bricks and trying to sneeze. It was incredible. He felt heavy as hell and weightless at the same time as the nearly-pure-alcohol entered his bloodstream. It probably was not a good idea to skip breakfast today, he decided. That was a mistake. A big one.

Leandros swayed slightly as the alcohol hit him, but he did not stop taking pulls from the jug every so often, listening to Raz speak. She accepted his challenge with gusto and they clinked jugs, toasting the beginning of one of the worst decisions that they could make. Who cares? They were sad, but now they were going to be very, very happy. ”Good luck,” he barked out, taking another swig of the burning juice. It was starting to go down easier, now, which was never a good sign. He sat there on a hay bale and watched Raz as she explained her knowledge of the place, enamored. He laughed and shrugged, ”Lucky Billy,” he said in reply, raising his jug in a mock-toast to the childhood story figure. ”Except for the losing his teeth part, I mean,” he appended, nodding a few times.

The storm approached quickly; he could smell it. Rain was imminent, and that meant that it was going to get muddy very quickly. That just made this plan even better, he figured. Added a level of difficulty that the liquor would make worse.

Raz went on to tell another story and Leandros grinned the whole while, laughing at the end of it. ”Reminds me of the time as a kid I-“ he stopped, thinking for a moment. Was he remembering his childhood, or a story from someone else’s that he had heard? He was raised as an indentured servant – a slave, nearly – in a village on Mandalore. There were times where he enjoyed himself, but he spent most of the time meditating on their gods or doing backbreaking labor. ”Uh… nevermind,” he said, cutting his story short. There was nothing really interesting about him, he figured. Raz was far more fun.

The rain heralded a change of pace. As the pitter patter of the drops formed a rhythmic beat, Raz stood and began to dance. Leandros took another pull from the jug, swaying as he did so, and stood up with her, clapping his free hand against the container with the beat. He had no idea what she was singing, but he was digging it. He joined in every now and then, picking up her “aaaaa”’s a few seconds late or trying to guess what lyric would come next, always at a slight delay. Eventually, however, she locked arms with him and the two circled around, dancing like absolute idiots. He laughed raucously, trying to drink from the container but just spilling moonshine over his shirt. ”Awh, damn- damnit!” he said, trying to brush the liquid off.

They drank for a while – hours, probably – before the night creeped up on them. The torrential downpour outside made illumination almost nonexistent, and it was starting to become a muddy mess. Streams of water flowed in through cracks in the walls and holes in the ceiling, occasionally hitting Leandros in his head. The cold shocked him, but it was fun. He was pretty sloshed right now, to be honest. Lightning crackled overhead and thunder soon followed, booming throughout the barn. After they were done dancing around and making merry, he looked at Raz, draining the last bit of his jug. ”I’s.. I’s time’ta go get some banthas,” he asserted, pointing a finger towards the barn door, ”’Fore they get all wet.” He probably sounded like an absolute idiot, but he was feelin’ it right now.

He stumbled towards the barn door and pushed it open, getting smacked in the face with powerful winds and rain. He yelped and took a step, his foot catching a fat puddle of mud. He slid forward and his entire life flashed before his eyes before wobbling and falling down into a crouch, planting his hands on the ground. Standing up, he looked back towards Raz and shouted over the cacophony of the storm, ”S’slippery!”

Time to rustle some cattle.

@Sreeya

 

[Raz Solus]

Raz was cracking up at her own stories, though she was caught slightly off guard as he muttered about ‘lucky Billy’. She coughed and almost sprayed out some of the liquor, her face feeling suddenly hot that had nothing to do with the alcohol. Raz playfully shoved him, laughing at the way he didn’t seem to keep his balance. The gesture made him stumble a few steps.

To her delight, he attempted to sing along and moved right along with her as she danced. The alcohol sloshed around everywhere, some of it spilling on her, and some on him. She didn’t care, lost in the pure joy that was singing a song she hadn’t belted out in several years. She forgot what this was like, and she forgot this was as part of her identity as much as the woman that rushed into battle without a second thought. This was oddly liberating for her, and she was elated to have Leandros here with her.

The time flew by before she even realized it, and she was almost seeing doubles. Raz stumbled around, one of the jugs already broken and shattered. She rubbed her eyes, nodding stupidly to his suggestion about going out to get the banthas, “Riiiiiight,” She said, every word elongated and slurred, “No wet...don’t want wet bantha,” Raz began to giggle, grabbing a rope as she followed him out, “I’m gon’ catch me a bantha, just look, Lee.”

She had a determined look on her face, her feet squelching through the mud. They barely made it out a few steps before Leandros slipped and crouched into the mud. Raz almost toppled over and fell with him in the way, pressing her hand into his shoulder for balance. She looked down at him, “What’re you doin’ down there, Lee, come on we gotta git some bantha, we ain't got time to be takin' naps..” The rest of the sentence ended in gibberish as she stumbled her way towards the farm. She was still singing some notes from the song off key here and there.

Miraculously she managed to make her way to the bantha pasture without falling. Raz was completely soaked and she came across the fence. She placed her hand on top of it, easily vaulting over and landing on the other side.

Except, that was only what she thought happened.

In reality, she placed her hands on the fence and laid down and rolled over like a useless blob. It ended with her plopping down in the mud on the other side, lying face down. Raz groaned and laid there for a moment before stumbling to her feet, desperately clutching the fence post to climb up as she spat out globs of mud.

“Come onnnn banthaaaa,” She called out, completely caked in mud now. Raz made the rope into a poor lasso after a few minutes, almost tying her own hand up in the process. She plodded through the mud and towards the large creatures, deciding that she would have fun riding one to spook the others. Raz giggled to herself, making her way towards one of the bantha standing around grazing on the grass and completely ignoring the storm.

She spun the rope around and tossed it towards the bantha, “Whoooooosh!” She made her own sound effects, cheering as she watched it coil around one of the horns. The bantha was terrified at once, bellowing loudly and looking around and shaking its head. It made a huge commotion, starting to move rapidly away as Raz was skidding across the mud. She ran to keep up, grasping fistfuls of its long fur to try and hoist herself up.

Raz managed to get halfway on, holding on for dear life as the bantha screeched and cried out. The other bantha around it panicked as well, and they all began to scatter and thunder around in the mud. It was utter chaos within a matter of seconds, mud flying everywhere as the large beasts began to run in different directions, the earth shaking beneath their feet. Raz could be heard laughing at the top of her lungs, barely holding on as each violent jerk threatened to send her flying clear off and potentially get stomped on.

@Painus

 

[Leandros Solus]

He was leaning.

No, wait, everything else was leaning around him. From his position in the crouch, Leandros watched the world slowly turn on its axis. His entire body swayed with the gradual tilt as the fenceposts and rain slowly began to go the wrong direction. Rain did not go sideways, right? He rotated his head and saw that the ground was coming up to meet him, probably to cushion his fall. He felt a pressure apply itself on his shoulder, shoving him right into the mud with a wet squelch. His face smacked a nice puddle of the muck and he sat there for a second as everything around him violently spun. Wow, that moonshine was awesome. ”Nnmh.. shu’p Raz,” was all he managed to utter as he lay there. What did she mean it wasn’t time to take a nap? A nap right here would have been fantastic. It was like he was in the shower getting washed off as quickly as it took him to get dirty. The rain was probably cold, but the warmth of whatever was in those jugs kept him feeling nice.

Eventually planting his hands on the ground, Leandros unsteadily rose to his feet, stumbling back a few paces as he turned his head to see Raz ungracefully slump over a fence. He jog-wobbled over, entirely too focused on getting to that fence. It felt like it was an infinite number of meters away all the way up until he smacked right into it. He let out a ”Hurk-“ as the wood pushed into his stomach suddenly. He clambered over and leaned over to pick Raz up.

Wait, where was Raz?

Completely unaware of how long it took him to charge towards the fence that assaulted her, Leandros failed to realize that Raz was up and moving towards a bantha with rope in hand. He stared slack jawed for a moment as she somehow managed to loop the lasso around her target’s horn and climbed up, holding on for dear life on the side. Not wanting to be outdone, the drunken idiot that was Leandros ran towards one of the spooked banthas trying to get away and leaped into it. The sensation was like tackling a wet rug, except the rug was flailing around and weighed far, far more than he did. His hands gripped chunks of wet fur and he sat there, halfway on the bantha as his lower body was dragged through the field.

He turned his head to look at Raz and laughed, trying his absolute best to climb up on top of the bantha. There were no footholds, and his grip on the fur was becoming looser as he realized that he was literally pulling it out. He scrambled up some more, kicking his feet off of the ground to sort of jump up and get in a better spot. ”Mm’ridin’ BANTHA” he shouted over the roar of the storm and the frightened mooing of the cattle, laughing like a moron. This was awesome!

Craning his head to see where his pseudo-mount was taking him, the Mandalorian-turned-land-barnacle noticed that the herd was beginning to stampede towards the fences keeping them in. He opened his mouth to say something in alarm, but instead took a fat mouthful of wet, unwashed hair. He spat it out and wiped his tongue on his sleeve, thanking himself for being too drunk to taste it. As his bantha approached the fence, he clenched his fists tighter to brace for the impact, letting out a steady ”aaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.”

@Sreeya

 

[Raz Solus]

Theme​

Raz felt like a queen as she finally managed to get on the bantha’s back, though being up this high made her queasy. She clutched onto the fur furiously, the bantha beginning to rampage around. All of the ones around it were going in different directions, thunder and lightning erupting above. Some of the younger bantha were terrified of the noise, and seeing the older bantha panic meant it was game over. The mooing and shrill cries of the large beasts cut through the night and drowned out the storm’s noise.

She had a stupid grin on her face, her hair matted to her shoulders from the rain. Raz was still covered in mud, but she was having the time of her life. She tightly held onto the rope, glancing over to see Leandros making his way up a bantha to cling on. The sight made her laugh out loud, and she was determined to spook and chase as many bantha as possible. She yanked harshly on the rope, making the bantha turn and change directions and barrel towards another group of them.

The group dispersed quickly, all going in different directions. One of the larger bantha crashed through the fence, leaving a space open for the smaller bantha to start rushing out. Raz whooped in victory, raising her fist in the air and almost toppling over in the process. She leaned down and clung to the bantha desperately to keep her balance.

Meanwhile, right as Leandros and his bantha were making a beeline for the fence, the door to the home on the farm burst open. A tiny, hunched over figure came out holding a gun almost as long as she was tall. The aiming was jerky and the figure fired off a shot. The bolt erupted into the air, not hitting anything but a testament to how powerful of a weapon it was. The bantha Leandros was on tried to change directions abruptly, spinning around so its butt crashed through the fence instead. It changed courses and began to run deeper into the pasture again.

“GIT OFF MUH’ PROPERTY!”

The bantha began panic even more from the explosive noise, the recoil sending the figure toppling backwards. But she was determined to come back for more, slowly making her way back to her feet. Raz looked back behind her, her eyes going wide, “GRANNY FETT? What the kriff?” She shrieked, “She was in her nineties when I was a kid!” She shouted out to Leandros, suddenly feeling a sense of dread.

“Buncha hoodlums out ‘ere causin’ a ruckus! Wait till ah call mah sons out-” Granny Fett was the stuff of nightmares, and she was quickly trying to aim another shot. Her vision was crap, but she was crazy enough to keep shooting till she hit one of them. Raz tried to maneuver her bantha to try and make for one of the gaps in the fence.

“WE GOTTA GO, LEE! THAT OLD MYTHOSAUR WILL SEND AN ARMY AFTER US! AAAAAHHHHH!”

@Painus

 

[Leandros Solus]

By the gods, it was like scaling a sheer wall, except the wall was bucking and baying in fear and he was piss drunk. He looked up into the sky, trying to estimate just how far he had to climb to reach his goal. The side of the bantha stretched out for miles, the furry hide seemingly elongating and contracting the more he looked up. It began to make him ill, so he looked right ahead, burying his mud-caked face in the fur as he reached up to grab a higher handhold. Slowly, steadily, he climbed to glory, eventually summitting the great beast. He triumphantly swung his leg over and straddled its back, leaning forward and gripping its hide for support. It took all of his mental fortitude to not yak over the side of the bantha. He took deep breaths and held fast.

It was a damn shame that none of this actually happened.

While Leandros was busy staring at the sky, the bantha runt he was climbing on top of made a sharp adjustment to its course and swung around, slamming its rear into the fence and shattering it in an explosive crunch. He was whipped around, barely hanging on as his body nearly went parallel with the ground. He swung back and slammed into the side of the bantha, headbutting its thick, hairy side. His grip failed for a moment and he slid down some more, his boots dragging in the mud. He heard the shrill cry of the ancient warrior, followed by the explosive gunshot, and scrambled upwards as fast as his drunken stupor would allow.

He was riding the bantha backwards, bouncing and jostling with every panicked stomp, his stomach churning violently. He groaned, clearly out of his element. His eyes caught Raz riding her own bantha, the beast much larger than his own. His mount began heading towards Granny Fett and Leandros slapped its ass, spurring it to go in the other direction with Raz. ”Hya!” he commanded, digging his heels into the beast’s ribs. It mooed and stormed off towards Raz, a bolt whizzing past his head, nearly singing his scalp. He ducked his head instinctively, not wanting to move from the safety of his frightened mount. All of this moving and jostling did not sit well with his alcohol-filled stomach, and he wanted nothing more than to lie down.

”BOYS! G’ON OUT HERE AND GIT THEM KIDS!”

Leandros heard the cry for alarm and watched Granny Fett level her rifle towards them again, sending another bolt streaking towards them with murderous intent. Raz said she was in her nineties when she was a kid? Gods, this woman had to have been over a hundred years old! If he wasn’t piss kriffing drunk, he would have actually been pretty worried about someone who managed to live so long as a warrior. ”NOT SCARED’F.. ARMY. I CAN FIGHT!” he slurred in response to Raz, waving a fist angrily in the air before grasping another patch of hair to hold onto.

The two adult hoodlums burst through the fence, heading off into the great beyond. The herd of banthas stormed around, masking their escape as their two banthas bolted off at their rider’s behest. Whooping and hollering echoed in the distance as Granny Fett managed to rally her sons, but it was too late. They were making a break for the forest down yonder, where they would be safe from the hunting ranchers. Leandros still bounced around, riding his bantha backwards, and kept an eye on the Fett farmstead. So far, so good; the Fetts were off trying to corral their cattle, but missed the two riding off into the downpour.

Eventually they reached safety, their banthas slowing down. Leandros lifted his head and groaned, looking at Raz. He realized how dumb he must have looked riding his bantha backwards and let go of the hair. The world started tilting again, and it wasn’t until he was in midair before he realized that he just slid off of the bantha like a wet rag, landing on his back in a great puddle. His face was frozen in confusion the entire time, not realizing just how drunk he was. Water splashed up and landed on his face. With a groan, Leandros lifted his head and looked at Raz, triumphantly mumbling, ”We did it!”

@Sreeya