There was something off about Arla Fett. After the newness of realizing his sister was still
alive wore off, Jango realized more and more every day. This girl had been through something.
Something unspeakable. He was too ashamed to ask. He was afraid of what she might tell
him, or worse, what she may not tell him. But she was the only family he had left. Jaster
Mereel was dead and the man who became like a brother to him, betrayed Jango as soon as
the opportunity arose. Arla Fett was all he had, and he was glad he had her back. But
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Hoth…Jango was becoming more and more unsettled as this was their base of operations. Montross
Viszla knew where they were and could turn them in to the Death Watch at any moment.
Besides, Jango Fett is the Mand’alor. The leader of the Mandalorian people. How could
he lead them from a remote ice planet that was nowhere near Mandalore? Something had
to be done about this. As it were, the pacifists were holding control of most of the Mandalore
sector, and it wouldn’t be easy to gain control. Not to mention, there were only a
handful of True Mandalorians left. Not enough to fight a war. The betrayal of the Korda
Defense Force and Death Watch made sure of that.
Then there was the issue of Mi’Regen’s son…Corkie Kryze. The poor child had been
born into a war he didn’t choose. Yes, his parents were killed by Death Watch, but he
also had family in Death Watch…as well as the pacifist New Mandalorians. Wait…there’s
something to that, Jango thought. He needed to get Corkie out of this war, but he was
also the Mand’alor. He summoned his few remaining lieutenants. Sylass Skirata would
always follow Jango. Especially after the betrayal at Korda Six and that of Montross
Viszla shortly after. Hondo Ohnaka had become friends with Jango Fett, but he was also growing
tired of waiting for his compensation for everything he had done for the group.
Jango turned to Hondo before the briefing began, “Hondo, you have proven to be nothing
but trustworthy, and you have become a good friend. Well, as good of a friend as a pirate
could be.” He gave Hondo a wink, “I just need you to go along with one more mission.
Then you are free to leave. I will make sure you, and your men are compensated for your
time with us.” Hondo almost looked a little sad, but he nodded his head, “you Mandalorians
need to get off this frozen rock. I will listen to your final proposal, my friend.”
Jango began, he wasn’t the most eloquent speaker, but he knew how to get his point
across, “the Battle of Korda Six has left us weak. We have lost most of our forces,
including some good officers. Montross’ betrayal has also exposed us. We need to leave
this planet.” Sylass took this opportunity to address this concern, “agreed but where
do we go?” Jango gave him a half smile and paused, “Mandalore.” Everyone looked in
shock. The group erupted in defiant questions. Jango put his fist in the air and everyone
fell silent. Sylass was the first to speak, “Mand’alor Fett, we don’t have the resources
to take on the governing council. I’m sure you are aware of this. So, how do you plan
to take Mandalore?” Jango gave Sylass a curious look, “It’s obvious I’m not
the same leader as father, Jaster Mereel. What he got us into on Korda Six will never
happen again, as long as I am the Mand’alor. But I am the Mand’alor. All clans, recognize
the line of succession. We will not be taking Mand’alor by force. Load everything we can
fit into our remaining fighters and aboard Hondo’s ships. We are leaving this planet
for good.”
After the briefing Sylass approached Jango, “how are we to take Mandalore? Our resources
are few, our warriors are fewer.” Jango stopped walked and turned to Sylass, “Sylass,
you have been a good friend. We were raised together. You have stood behind me through
everything. Now, I need you to trust me one more time. I’m not getting us into a situation
we won’t easily escape. I am doing this for the benefit of those still with us, not
to lose more of them. This isn’t about power anymore, it’s about survival, and maybe
a little prosperity.” Sylass began to crack a smile, “we aren’t preparing for battle,
we are preparing for a negotiation, aren’t we?” Jango smiled and turned away.
On Concord Dawn, Tor Viszla was trying to devise a plan. There had to be something to
wipe out the True Mandalorians. However, his forces were too weak. He had lost many warriors
and Arla Fett had gone missing. Arla, such an innocent, sweet girl. She would have made
the perfect bargaining chip against her brother, Jango Fett. He had worked on her for years.
When Arla was a child, he had beaten her. The rod was not spared on this child. Any
time she would mention her family being killed by Death Watch he would hit her and remind
her that it was Jaster Mereel who had killed her family. He did this so much that she began
believing it. Then he stopped beating her and treated her as his own daughter. She would
make the perfect weapon against Jango Fett. Not just a bargaining chip, but someone who
could get inside and report back to him.
When Ursa reported back to Tor that Arla Fett had stunned her and joined the True Mandalorians,
Tor Viszla was disappointed, at least to the face of Ursa Wren. He had raised both and
knew they were close. He could never tell anyone his plan. If there was a way to get
ahead of Jango Fett, it was through the trust of his own sister. All he could think of was
how he used Ursa’s brother, Kyra Wren and that plan worked even better than anticipated.
Using family against one another had become a specialty of Tor Viszla’s and now, Arla
Fett will be Jango’s defeat.
Jango approached Arla, his long-estranged sister. Something had been off about her,
but Jango couldn’t nail down what it was. Not that he understood her personality at
all. They had been separated for a long time. “Arla, something is troubling you. You have
never been one to hide your thoughts. Even as a child, I could tell when something was
wrong. What is it?” Arla shed a tear, “Jango, I thought you were dead. Tor made me believe
that. He made me believe Jaster Mereel killed you and our parents. You have to believe me.
He beat me, and tortured me, until my memory was gone.” Jango had heard this from her
before. He had told her how he watched Death Watch kill their parents and that Tor Viszla
wasn’t one to take children as foundlings.
Arla continued to sob, “he made me do this…” Jango stood to his feet, “made you do what?!”
Arla looked up at him, “his plan was to make me surrender to Jaster and your group.
I thought there would be no better way to get back at Jaster for killing my family.
But then I heard you were alive. His stories started falling apart. If he lied about you
being killed, what else was he lying about? I was sent to be an insider, to report your
location and strength. He now believes we are on Nar Shaddaa.” Jango gave a surprised
look, “that could work to our advantage. It will give us time to negotiate with Satine
Kryze. Arla, if there is anything else you are hiding, or if you are lying to me, your
fate will be the same as that of Montross Viszla. I am happy to have you back, but I
will not excuse betrayal.” Arla nods, “understood.”
Hondo’s personal ship had become Jango’s flagship. Was this fair to the pirates? Probably
not but Hondo liked having Jango around. They had become good friends. There was still the
issue of trust on Jango’s part because Hondo IS a pirate. And there was a trust issue on
Hondo’s part because neither Jaster Mereel, nor Jango Fett had delivered on the wealth
they had promised Hondo. And Hondo made it very clear it was time to compensate him.
Even though neither Hondo, nor his men had been directly involved in a battle, there
was still the chance of exposure. This could hurt his enterprises in the future. But Hondo
and Jango wondered, had Jaster Mereel included the pirates in the plan at Korda Six, what
would the outcome look like. Ass they talked, both came to the same conclusion, the pirates
would have been wiped out.
Hondo often told Jango, “I need to be done with you crazies. You Mandalorians will be
the death of us.” And Jango acknowledged that statement. He wasn’t wrong and it wasn’t
right to keep these pirates involved with a war that had nothing to do with them. He
understood Jaster’s logic in keeping them, but this was not the way of the Mandalore.
He looked Hondo in his eyes, “Hondo, get us to Mandalore. I will give you everything
I can, once the negotiations are finished, and you will be free to go back to Hoth without
us.” Hondo chuckled, “my boy, we will not be returning to Hoth. You have ruined
that place for us. Besides, it is far too cold. We found another planet, while waiting
at Korda Six, that will suit the Weequay much better.”
Meanwhile, Tor Viszla receives Arla Fett’s transmission, “Nar Shaddaa huh? The smuggler’s
moon. Jango Fett, there is nowhere you can hide that I will not find you.” He then
transmitted a message to the Jedi Master Dooku. “Master Dooku, I know where they are.”
Okay, so that concludes this chapter of the story of Jango Fett, prior to the events of
Attack of the Clones. What do you think so far? I know this was a shorter chapter, but
I wanted to leave it on the note of trust and family ties. Had I gone any further, it
would have lost some of that thematic meaning. But let me know in the comments what you think
of this story and how it’s playing out.
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