The Kenobi Saga Book Two: The Dark Times

Chapter 3

Bo-Katan looked at her niece unsure what she was supposed to do. The girl was seething. Her clone pet was standing behind her looking nervous. Lore-Val had thrown a vibroblade at an instructor, if the man hadn't been wearing armor there was a chance he'd be dead. The clone should be nervous, he was supposed to control her.

"I'm not sorry," Lore-Val said finally, arms crossed over her chest.

Bo-Katan raised an eyebrow, "What would your mother say about that?"

Lore-Val looked absolutely feral, her eyes burning with rage. The look passed quickly, and was replaced by guilt, "He called me dar'manda (non Mandalorian)," she said quietly, taking a nervous step closer to Solitaire, "I wanted to prove him wrong."

Bo-Katan felt her own blood start to boil. She was going to stab the man herself, and she wouldn't miss, "You did the right thing."

Lore-Val and Solitaire's heads both snapped to look at the woman. Lore-Val blinked, "Really? Am I not in trouble?"

"No. You handled it like a warrior," Bo-Katan paused, watching the teenager. She was weak, even now after training for almost a full year. Yes she'd grown physically, but all those morals Satine and Kenobi had instilled in her were holding her back.

She could see the conflict within the girl, generations of Mando'ade blood fighting against the lessons of pacifism and patience. "You want to be seen as Mandalorian?"

"Yes," Lore-Val answered anxiously.

"Then when the knife doesn't work you break a man's arms," Bo-Katan growled, "You get your point across. And if someone ever calls you dar'manda again, you kill him."

Lore-Val's eyes widened. This had escalated quickly, and in the opposite direction then she had expected. When she didn't say anything, Solitaire reached forward and bumped her shoulder.

She straightened up, forcing her confidence back into her voice, "It would be much easier to kill people if you would stop pawning me off on your underlings."

Bo-Katan smirked before turning away. "Meet me in the throne room at 0600. We'll make you a Mandalorian."

. . .

"Do you know the Resol'nare?" Bo-Katan asked, as they walked down the long hall outside of the throne room. She was afraid to hear what her sister had passed on, but she needed to know where her starting point was.

"The six actions," Lore-Val answered, ticking them off on her fingers, "Speak Mando'a. Honor your armor. Love your family, blood or otherwise. Teach your children. Contribute to your clan, and to rally to the cause of the people."

"That wasn't all wrong."

"That was six?"

"Yes. But Satine didn't teach it to you correctly. Do you know the nursery rhyme?"

Lore-Val shook her head.

Of course she wouldn't, Bo-Katan thought. She loved her sister but this was one of the things she disagreed with. If Satine wanted to live with some delusion of peace that was her prerogative. It wasn't fair for her to force those beliefs onto Lore-Val and the Mandalorian people, they should have been allowed to choose for themselves. How could Lore-Val choose when she was only presented with her mother's side of things?

"Ba'jur bal beskar'gam; Ara'nov, aliit; Mando'a bal Mand'alor—An vencuyan mhi."

"Education and armor; Self-defense, tribe; language and leader—All help us survive," Lore-Val repeated slowly in Basic, making sure she understood. When Bo-Katan confirmed her translation as close enough she frowned, "Self-defense? I thought it was just general violence, this sounds almost like a Jedi. Fighting with the goal of peace and safety."

"We are not Jedi."

"I'm half Jedi. For all I know my children could be force sensitive."

Bo-Katan frowned, "We both know force sensitivity isn't what makes a Jedi. The Jedi don't feel. When we have families we care for them. We watch our children grow and make sure they are prepared to protect themselves when we can't"

Lore-Val stopped walking, forcing those behind them to detour around them, "My father did his best once he actually knew about me. And you can't possibly say he didn't love mother. Why else would he have risked everything to save her?"

Bo-Katan let out a huff. "The people weren't always the problem. Their code can't coexist with the Resol'nare."

"Well congratulations," Lore-Val told her dryly, walking again, "we're the last ones standing."

AN: Thank you for reading! More updates soon :)

Translation notes:

Mando'ade is the Mando'a word for Mandalorian, I didn't bother to put a translation

Dar'manda is so ridiculously important. I couldn't put the full translation into the story so here it is copy/pasted straight from mandoa.org "a state of not being Mandalorian - not an outsider, but one who has lost his heritage, and so his identity and his soul - regarded with absolute dread by most traditionall-minded Mando'ade"

The Resolnare is technically just the six actions of being Mandalorian, the nursery rhyme is from Wookiepedia "Education and armor, Self-defense, our tribe, Our language and our leader—All help us survive."