Coruscant, Tuesday morning [FT]
While the Old Senate Chamber hadn't been used for official Senate business in decades after serving as the battleground between Exar Kun and Vodo-Siosk Baas during the Great Sith War, it was still occasionally used as a venue for ceremonial events of historic importance thanks to its large public seating. Sometimes those events included show trials for the odd notorious defendant... provided the authorities could get him inside the chamber in one piece. That was easier said than done while parading Demagol - the Mandalorian mad scientist who butchered countless people, including Jedi, since the start of the war.
Demagol had a single guard hustling him forward through the hostile crowd. He was dressed in a brown prison suit with large durasteel cuffs and, of course, his helmet. "The helmet's a nice touch," his guard laughed as jeers rang out from the crowd. "You're the face of all Mandalorians everywhere! That idea's courtesy of Malak, the Jedi you tortured! You've got a lot to answer for!"
"I'm... of the Mando'ade," Demagol responded weakly. "We don't talk."
"Why not, Doctor Demagol? Aren't you proud of your great achievements?" Koa Delko, the Minister of Defense asked. "Your ruthless experiments on Jedi? Or how about what your people have done in Mandalore's name? Wiping out whole peoples? Your sneak attack on the Republic? Your sabotage of our self-defense fleet, killing the heroic Draay family?" Those last two charges weren't remotely true, but the public didn't know that.
"Don't know... what you're talking about," Demagol said.
"Oh, I forgot," Delko mocked. "You've been asleep! When the Jedi captured you, you took the coward's way out. Attempting suicide with one of your vile drugs! But we revived you! Our doctors actually HELP people!"
"Don't want... to talk to you," Demagol said. "There was... a Jedi on Flashpoint. I need to see...." But he was wobbling and fell to his knees before he could finish his thought.
"You'll see them soon enough, when our trial starts," the minister said. "You see, people of the Republic? Stripped of armor, the Mandalorians are a joke!"
"We're... not who you think we are," Demagol said. "I'm not who you think I am!"
Off in the distance, Zayne, Gryph, Slyssk, and Elbee were in the crowd. It was the first time Zayne had been on this side of a prisoner march in a long time and there was something unsettling about it. "He looks... drugged," he noted.
"Holdover from the coma," Malak said, approaching. "They say his lucidity will return. Which is good. I want him fully aware of everything that's coming to him! Thanks for coming back to testify, Zayne. Err, where's Jarael?"
"She's... on her own now. We had a... difference of opinion," Zayne said, trying to be delicate.
"Huh. Sorry, I saw that coming. I always saw her with someone... older. More established. You know what I mean," Malak said. Since everyone knew what he meant, he moved on quickly. "I'm testifying after the break. I want to get back to the front. My ship is already out with Karath's patrol. And I already had one victory. We retook Omonoth long enough to salvage the wreck of the Arkanian Legacy."
After showing off how established he was, Malak turned to start back toward the Old Senate Chambers. "Oh, funny thing about that. We found Adasca's cyborg aide in a lab. He was mutilated. Mandies don't usually do that. Well, besides Demagol. See you in court!"
Once he was safely away, Gryph turned to Zayne. "I see you didn't tell Malak that Rohlan Dyre was travelling with Jarael."
"Malak's already in a Mandalorian-hating mood, Gryph. That wouldn't have helped. But he's wrong about Rohlan. It was Rohlan who insisted that the four of us come here right away when we heard Demagol was awake."
With the big public part of the event done, the Cargryph team started wandering the area around the old Senate. But while he was sure about Rohlan, there was still something bugging Zayne. "They can use us here, I know, but still... I don't know, I still feel like something's not right."
"So do I!" Gryph said, sounding a little testy.
"Okay, that's it. What's wrong with you?" Zayne asked. "You've been in a rotten mood all day!"
"I'll tell you what's wrong, 'Partner.' You've been ripping me off!" Gryph accused. "I saw one of my accountants this morning! The money your father was managing for us is gone! Getting chased by Rakghouls and crooked Jedi was one thing. But I won't tolerate a thieving partner!"
"Oh!" Zayne said as Gryph reached up to grab his shirt. "I didn't expect you to find out before I put it back. I've, uh, been borrowing it. For a special project."
"A project besides busting a slaving operation, you mean? You sprange that one on me, too!" Gryph said. "I won't have it! I won't have secrets in my crew!"
"Yeah, I'm sorry, I never..." Zayne started to say, sounding contrite. Then he snapped back, remembering a certain bit of information he'd been trying to get out of Gryph for months. "Wait! I almost fell for that! No secrets? What about Serroco? I thought you and Slyssk were killed in a nuclear blast! Then you show up days later and you never explain!"
It was Gryph's turn to look sheepish, while Slyssk just tried to do his best impression of a statue: standing still and silent, hoping to be generally ignored but without anyone walking into him. "It was... complicated," Gryph said. "I was waiting for the right time."
"How about the first ten times I asked you about it? All you ever said was once we got back to civilization, I'd figure it out!" Zayne said. "It's been weeks, and I haven't figured it out!"
"Hey, don't think you can go changing the subject! We were talking about you, not me!" Gryph said, trying to turn it back around on Zayne. But Zayne's gaze started to move upward, completely off of him. "What is it?" Gryph turned around to see two giant, bronze statues, one of a heroic-looking Snivvian and the other of a stoic Trandoshan. The resemblance might have escaped if Gryph weren't standing next to Slyssk at that very moment. "Oh. That. I, uh, guess the right time is now."
"What is this place?" Zayne asked, looking more closely at the building behind the statues. It looked suspiciously like the Little Bivoli from Serroco. "And what is that... thing?"
"It's my restaurant," Gryph admitted as he started leading Zayne over to a server droid. "One of them. And that's us. Sort of. Maybe you'd better have a seat. And a drink. Two Captain's Specials, Gigi. Make mine fatal."
The group took seats at an open table inside as Gryph started to explain. "When the Mandies attacked Serroco, Slyssk realized we had no fuel to leave. And he had a panic attack. Worse, a total freak-out! He grabbed me and took off through the camp! The next thing I know, he was up the ramp of a troop transport, busting past the guards. They were already crazy, looking for their flight crew. But before they caught him, Slyssk ran for the cockpit, jammed the door, and launched the ship! We beat the blasts by seconds. Turns out, the crew was on sleep shift below. And they weren't alone."
"We, uh... saved half a battalion. By accident," Gryph said, sounding embarrassed now. "When the defense ministry guys on Chandrila didn't recognize us as fugitives, I started thinking of aliases to give them. But it turned out they really wanted to weave this big propaganda story around the rescue. And so was born, Captain Benegryph Goodvalor, hero of Serroco, and his trusty Trandoshan sidekick! Star of holovids, toys, even propaganda broadcasts. I got my actor brother the gig doing those!"
"I only won the licensing rights - including this restaurant chain - this morning," Gryph said. "I never explained because it's a state secret, and I didn't want you thinking I was making money while you were in trouble. I really was going to find you when Jervo had me kidnapped. Honest. I'm sorry."
"Zayne had to hold his head to fight off an oncoming headache. "Too many secrets."
"Yeah, the only one who hasn't been keeping secrets is the stupid droid! Maybe it is time to call it quits. Slyssk and I have the restaurant, you've got your project, and Elbee can sit in the Hot Prospect and stare at the darkness to his metal heart's content!" Gryph joked.
"Yeah, Elbee," Zayne said. "Since Rohlan went with Jarael, you won't have to look at the guy who broke your hand."
Elbee was silent for a moment before admitting, "That was not the Mandalorian that broke my hand."
"Now his mind's going, too," Gryph sighed.
"Elbee," Zayne said, patting the droid's shoulder. "Rohlan shut the door on the Last Resort on your pincer the day we first met him. Remember?"
"I do remember," Elbee said. "That Mandalorian looks like the one we have been traveling with. But they are not the same being. I lifted the Mandalorian that broke my hand into the Camper Special that day. And I lifted that container the next night, once the Mandalorian you call Rohlan was hiding in it. That being weighed at least seventeen point four kilos less. They are not the same being."
Zayne and Gryph started to exchange worried glances. Gryph finally broke the silence. "That... can't be right."
"Can it?" Zayne asked.
"I am a bulk loader," Elbee said. "I may not know what many things are in your world. But I know what they weigh."
"But... what could that mean?" Zayne asked, his mind already jumping to a conclusion he really didn't want to think about. "We were with him the whole time you're talking about. Except... on Flashpoint, when he went back to get Demagol and put the armor I stole back on him."
"Wait, you're not panicking because Rohlan trimmed down," Gryph said. "He's still the same anti-social brusier he's always been. Hasn't he? I mean, I guess he has had his special projects. With, um, chemistry."
"You can't doubt Master Rohlan," Slyssk said. "I owe him a life debt, remember? He gave me the surgery that saved me when my throat was crushed. He said I was lucky he'd worked on Trandoshans before. I didn't know there were any Trandoshan Mandalorians."
"I am remembering," Zayne said, closing his eyes. Before they left Flashpoint, Rohlan was gruff and determined, but he didn't act with cruelty, even when he fled his unit or when he attacked Demagol. Since then, he'd been angry, and regularly called Zayne 'human' like it was a curse. "I was so wrapped up in my own problems, I just didn't listen! What have I done? WHAT HAVE I DONE?"
"This is crazy, Zayne," Gryph said. "There's gotta be another explanation. If what you're thinking is true, Rohlan's lied to us every minute for months! He'd need to be the king con artist in the galaxy!"
"Why not?" Zayne offered, burying his had in his hands. "Look who he's been learning from! This is worse than horrible! This is the worst thing ever! He's got Jarael, and I sent her away with him! He could have taken her anywhere!"
"Elbee, if you knew all this time," Gryph asked while Zayne freaked out, "why didn't you tell us?"
"I preferred not to," Elbee said. "And you didn't ask."
"GAH! I wish you did something so I could fire you!" Gryph snapped.
"Master Zayne, what are you going to do?" Slyssk asked.
Zayne dropped his hands and stood up straight, speaking with determination now that he was past his panic. "What we have to do! Come on! We're going to make it right, starting with the first thing we got wrong!"
[OOC: Hello, one big, long scene from Demon Part 1 by Miller and Ching with some embellishments by me since they decided to show, not tell via flashbacks. Damn them. This is going to be a few posts over the next few days, so please excuse me as I finish canon.]
Demagol had a single guard hustling him forward through the hostile crowd. He was dressed in a brown prison suit with large durasteel cuffs and, of course, his helmet. "The helmet's a nice touch," his guard laughed as jeers rang out from the crowd. "You're the face of all Mandalorians everywhere! That idea's courtesy of Malak, the Jedi you tortured! You've got a lot to answer for!"
"I'm... of the Mando'ade," Demagol responded weakly. "We don't talk."
"Why not, Doctor Demagol? Aren't you proud of your great achievements?" Koa Delko, the Minister of Defense asked. "Your ruthless experiments on Jedi? Or how about what your people have done in Mandalore's name? Wiping out whole peoples? Your sneak attack on the Republic? Your sabotage of our self-defense fleet, killing the heroic Draay family?" Those last two charges weren't remotely true, but the public didn't know that.
"Don't know... what you're talking about," Demagol said.
"Oh, I forgot," Delko mocked. "You've been asleep! When the Jedi captured you, you took the coward's way out. Attempting suicide with one of your vile drugs! But we revived you! Our doctors actually HELP people!"
"Don't want... to talk to you," Demagol said. "There was... a Jedi on Flashpoint. I need to see...." But he was wobbling and fell to his knees before he could finish his thought.
"You'll see them soon enough, when our trial starts," the minister said. "You see, people of the Republic? Stripped of armor, the Mandalorians are a joke!"
"We're... not who you think we are," Demagol said. "I'm not who you think I am!"
Off in the distance, Zayne, Gryph, Slyssk, and Elbee were in the crowd. It was the first time Zayne had been on this side of a prisoner march in a long time and there was something unsettling about it. "He looks... drugged," he noted.
"Holdover from the coma," Malak said, approaching. "They say his lucidity will return. Which is good. I want him fully aware of everything that's coming to him! Thanks for coming back to testify, Zayne. Err, where's Jarael?"
"She's... on her own now. We had a... difference of opinion," Zayne said, trying to be delicate.
"Huh. Sorry, I saw that coming. I always saw her with someone... older. More established. You know what I mean," Malak said. Since everyone knew what he meant, he moved on quickly. "I'm testifying after the break. I want to get back to the front. My ship is already out with Karath's patrol. And I already had one victory. We retook Omonoth long enough to salvage the wreck of the Arkanian Legacy."
After showing off how established he was, Malak turned to start back toward the Old Senate Chambers. "Oh, funny thing about that. We found Adasca's cyborg aide in a lab. He was mutilated. Mandies don't usually do that. Well, besides Demagol. See you in court!"
Once he was safely away, Gryph turned to Zayne. "I see you didn't tell Malak that Rohlan Dyre was travelling with Jarael."
"Malak's already in a Mandalorian-hating mood, Gryph. That wouldn't have helped. But he's wrong about Rohlan. It was Rohlan who insisted that the four of us come here right away when we heard Demagol was awake."
With the big public part of the event done, the Cargryph team started wandering the area around the old Senate. But while he was sure about Rohlan, there was still something bugging Zayne. "They can use us here, I know, but still... I don't know, I still feel like something's not right."
"So do I!" Gryph said, sounding a little testy.
"Okay, that's it. What's wrong with you?" Zayne asked. "You've been in a rotten mood all day!"
"I'll tell you what's wrong, 'Partner.' You've been ripping me off!" Gryph accused. "I saw one of my accountants this morning! The money your father was managing for us is gone! Getting chased by Rakghouls and crooked Jedi was one thing. But I won't tolerate a thieving partner!"
"Oh!" Zayne said as Gryph reached up to grab his shirt. "I didn't expect you to find out before I put it back. I've, uh, been borrowing it. For a special project."
"A project besides busting a slaving operation, you mean? You sprange that one on me, too!" Gryph said. "I won't have it! I won't have secrets in my crew!"
"Yeah, I'm sorry, I never..." Zayne started to say, sounding contrite. Then he snapped back, remembering a certain bit of information he'd been trying to get out of Gryph for months. "Wait! I almost fell for that! No secrets? What about Serroco? I thought you and Slyssk were killed in a nuclear blast! Then you show up days later and you never explain!"
It was Gryph's turn to look sheepish, while Slyssk just tried to do his best impression of a statue: standing still and silent, hoping to be generally ignored but without anyone walking into him. "It was... complicated," Gryph said. "I was waiting for the right time."
"How about the first ten times I asked you about it? All you ever said was once we got back to civilization, I'd figure it out!" Zayne said. "It's been weeks, and I haven't figured it out!"
"Hey, don't think you can go changing the subject! We were talking about you, not me!" Gryph said, trying to turn it back around on Zayne. But Zayne's gaze started to move upward, completely off of him. "What is it?" Gryph turned around to see two giant, bronze statues, one of a heroic-looking Snivvian and the other of a stoic Trandoshan. The resemblance might have escaped if Gryph weren't standing next to Slyssk at that very moment. "Oh. That. I, uh, guess the right time is now."
"What is this place?" Zayne asked, looking more closely at the building behind the statues. It looked suspiciously like the Little Bivoli from Serroco. "And what is that... thing?"
"It's my restaurant," Gryph admitted as he started leading Zayne over to a server droid. "One of them. And that's us. Sort of. Maybe you'd better have a seat. And a drink. Two Captain's Specials, Gigi. Make mine fatal."
The group took seats at an open table inside as Gryph started to explain. "When the Mandies attacked Serroco, Slyssk realized we had no fuel to leave. And he had a panic attack. Worse, a total freak-out! He grabbed me and took off through the camp! The next thing I know, he was up the ramp of a troop transport, busting past the guards. They were already crazy, looking for their flight crew. But before they caught him, Slyssk ran for the cockpit, jammed the door, and launched the ship! We beat the blasts by seconds. Turns out, the crew was on sleep shift below. And they weren't alone."
"We, uh... saved half a battalion. By accident," Gryph said, sounding embarrassed now. "When the defense ministry guys on Chandrila didn't recognize us as fugitives, I started thinking of aliases to give them. But it turned out they really wanted to weave this big propaganda story around the rescue. And so was born, Captain Benegryph Goodvalor, hero of Serroco, and his trusty Trandoshan sidekick! Star of holovids, toys, even propaganda broadcasts. I got my actor brother the gig doing those!"
"I only won the licensing rights - including this restaurant chain - this morning," Gryph said. "I never explained because it's a state secret, and I didn't want you thinking I was making money while you were in trouble. I really was going to find you when Jervo had me kidnapped. Honest. I'm sorry."
"Zayne had to hold his head to fight off an oncoming headache. "Too many secrets."
"Yeah, the only one who hasn't been keeping secrets is the stupid droid! Maybe it is time to call it quits. Slyssk and I have the restaurant, you've got your project, and Elbee can sit in the Hot Prospect and stare at the darkness to his metal heart's content!" Gryph joked.
"Yeah, Elbee," Zayne said. "Since Rohlan went with Jarael, you won't have to look at the guy who broke your hand."
Elbee was silent for a moment before admitting, "That was not the Mandalorian that broke my hand."
"Now his mind's going, too," Gryph sighed.
"Elbee," Zayne said, patting the droid's shoulder. "Rohlan shut the door on the Last Resort on your pincer the day we first met him. Remember?"
"I do remember," Elbee said. "That Mandalorian looks like the one we have been traveling with. But they are not the same being. I lifted the Mandalorian that broke my hand into the Camper Special that day. And I lifted that container the next night, once the Mandalorian you call Rohlan was hiding in it. That being weighed at least seventeen point four kilos less. They are not the same being."
Zayne and Gryph started to exchange worried glances. Gryph finally broke the silence. "That... can't be right."
"Can it?" Zayne asked.
"I am a bulk loader," Elbee said. "I may not know what many things are in your world. But I know what they weigh."
"But... what could that mean?" Zayne asked, his mind already jumping to a conclusion he really didn't want to think about. "We were with him the whole time you're talking about. Except... on Flashpoint, when he went back to get Demagol and put the armor I stole back on him."
"Wait, you're not panicking because Rohlan trimmed down," Gryph said. "He's still the same anti-social brusier he's always been. Hasn't he? I mean, I guess he has had his special projects. With, um, chemistry."
"You can't doubt Master Rohlan," Slyssk said. "I owe him a life debt, remember? He gave me the surgery that saved me when my throat was crushed. He said I was lucky he'd worked on Trandoshans before. I didn't know there were any Trandoshan Mandalorians."
"I am remembering," Zayne said, closing his eyes. Before they left Flashpoint, Rohlan was gruff and determined, but he didn't act with cruelty, even when he fled his unit or when he attacked Demagol. Since then, he'd been angry, and regularly called Zayne 'human' like it was a curse. "I was so wrapped up in my own problems, I just didn't listen! What have I done? WHAT HAVE I DONE?"
"This is crazy, Zayne," Gryph said. "There's gotta be another explanation. If what you're thinking is true, Rohlan's lied to us every minute for months! He'd need to be the king con artist in the galaxy!"
"Why not?" Zayne offered, burying his had in his hands. "Look who he's been learning from! This is worse than horrible! This is the worst thing ever! He's got Jarael, and I sent her away with him! He could have taken her anywhere!"
"Elbee, if you knew all this time," Gryph asked while Zayne freaked out, "why didn't you tell us?"
"I preferred not to," Elbee said. "And you didn't ask."
"GAH! I wish you did something so I could fire you!" Gryph snapped.
"Master Zayne, what are you going to do?" Slyssk asked.
Zayne dropped his hands and stood up straight, speaking with determination now that he was past his panic. "What we have to do! Come on! We're going to make it right, starting with the first thing we got wrong!"
[OOC: Hello, one big, long scene from Demon Part 1 by Miller and Ching with some embellishments by me since they decided to show, not tell via flashbacks. Damn them. This is going to be a few posts over the next few days, so please excuse me as I finish canon.]