Chapter 9: In My Mind In My Head
34 BBY (Before Battle of Yavin) - 2 Years before Canon
Sector/System: Mandalore
Location: On Mandalore - Clan Gryphen Compound
Jack's POV:
I groggily woke up with a killer headache, wishing to get up only to flop back down my head on the pillow.
"Uh… what, where am I…" I spoke up with a raspy voice denoting I had been in bed for a long time.
"Right, I got knocked the fuck out huh." I said shaking my head and holding it with one hand.
'Sigh, why can I remember what I saw while I was, knocked out.' I thought shutting my eyes hoping the pain in the head would subside.
To say you would never dream so vividly as if you felt you were there, and remember it when you wake up? That is what happened to me, I remember being knocked out by 'my mother' and I remember everything after waking up..
And yes, I call her 'my mother' and not 'our mother' since I saw many vivid memories like I was truly there, and recalling each of them, let me focus on some of them.
— — — — —
A small boy barely five was seen happily with his mother, reading a book about the history of Mandalore, a story about the old leader Mandalore the Great and Mandalore the Ultimate to name a few.
"Mother! I know what I will do! I will become just like them!" I could see the small boy I knew was myself jump up and excitedly yell at his mother.
My mother though laughed, she laughed, something I felt weird about putting that woman I met in place of this one, it confused me greatly and made my head hurt so much another memory popped up instead.
— — — — —
This next one, to be honest, I wished I had never seen, it was about my training or well-being stomped on by 'my mother.'
"Get up brat!" she yelled at me kicking me back down the moment I saw the 'me' stand up
"You dare become a trader! You DARE!" I heard her scream at 'me', who was unable to block anything, from fists to knees or elbows even a headbutt.
To say I felt bad for the complete one-sided beatdown is an understatement.
I could see myself getting back up when a low kick hit the right side of my left knee.
I could see myself crumbling to the floor clutching the knee, but not a word was uttered, no scream not even a whimper.
"WHY! WHY! A TRADER!" my hysterical mother screamed at me, I could see some tears flowing as well
"You could at least be a bounty hunter! or a guard! or anything that has a chance of fighting! but Trading? Have you lost your mind!" my screaming mother kept going all while beating me up and showing the 'me' all over the room.
She stopped at the words the 'me' managed to say.
"It is needed, our clan resources are running low, and other clans are… also suffering. If I trade I can run past the blockades… bring back stuff needed, food and water mainly and maybe other things." I heard the 'me' say with some difficulty.
"Besides I could never raise my hands at you unless it is to kill you…" I saw the 'me' crumble and be caught and hugged tightly by her.
"You foolish brat, you are just like that idiot father of yours." I heard her whisper, looking at the ceiling with tears flowing from her eyes, before the scene changed again
— — — — —
This next memory was of me as a child again, maybe ten or eleven not sure I could see the 'me' watch and learn how to assemble and disassemble a weapon to maintain each part properly.
The old man teaching me patiently was the old armorer of the clan who also did weapons and such.
"A weapon is a Mandalorian's life, we use it to stay alive, take out enemies, and get payment from jobs, mainly bounty hunting." I heard the man explain.
"Look at this small area. This is where the fuel in the weapon is ignited, to be able to shoot red laser bolts." I could see him show the 'me' the device or part in question
"Eh? It is so tiny, how could that be able to make the ignition needed?" Child, 'me' asked
"Well kiddo, that is a good question, you see this small part at the top, that heats the small part over here, and when the fuel is shot and passes what you call the 'tiny part' it will ignite and fly out the weapon as a red laser bolt." the old man explained
"But I saw some guards use blue and yellow instead, how can that happen?" Child 'me' asked again.
"That is a lesson for next time, your close combat master is here to pick you up." the old man said. The child 'me' looked to the door standing there in full armor making the child pale, it was my mother's second in command.
Then the memory changed again.
— — — — —
Suddenly I was looking at myself in a training field watching teenage 'me', surrounded by men from all sides. All carrying melee weapons of many kinds from knives, clubs, batons, axes, staffs, and even a few swords thrown in the mix. And all I had was nothing but my empty hands.
I felt a pull and felt myself pulled into the 'me' in the field. All the combat knowledge flooded my mind as if I had been trained for years, allowing me to dodge an axe strike by side-stepping and throwing a fist into the attacker's face from the side.
Following that another two charged me with knives, I blocked one by grabbing the arm with the knife, my other hand on the shoulder pushing him down to the ground, and knocking him out with a knee in the face.
The second man with the knife showed up, I fell backward releasing the first man to fall face first into the ground out cold. As I fell on my back and quickly turned to my side putting a hand on the ground pulling my legs close and springing them towards the man in a sideways axe kick while I pushed myself up, the man flew back after being hit in his body.
I put my second hand on the floor rolling to the left standing up, fists ready for the next group.
Following this the first man with the axe showed up again, this time with three more with batons with sparkling tops, letting me know they were stun batons.
These were often used by the New Mandalorian faction police forces, or as most of us call them the pacifistic fools, or tree-loving morons… if we still had trees.
But pirates also loved them to harm people and scare them or to keep slaves in check depending on the voltage used.
Then there are the gangs on Corrusant's lower levels that tend to use them to rob people and wreak things.
But I was being sidetracked and the enemy saw it and made his move.
The man with the axe showed up charging me again, this time I did not move from my spot, I just leaned to the side watching the axe pass my face when I moved.
I quickly hit the man with my left elbow on the nose, which was soon followed by a crunch that told me it broke.
I saw him drop the axe to clutch his nose, and I barely caught it in time, and cut the man's head off, in a sideways slash.
The sudden flying head made me pause when my instructor yelled to continue or these criminals would walk free after killing me.
I knew what to do, these men were criminals, some of the worst criminals among Mandalorians, captured Deathwatch, all around the instructor's age.
The three with batons circled me ready to beat me to death.
I was standing there with the axe in hand waiting, I wanted to finish this but there were still so many of these criminals left. I was sure I downed three, close to ten more to go.
That was when I saw one of the knives close to my feet reflect the sun so I shuffled toward it when I was next to the knife I saw all three charge me.
I quickly put the toes of my boot under the knife and kicked out my leg to one of them.
I saw the knife fly into his torso where his heart should be.
I saw the man stop in his tracks quickly followed by dropping to his knees and fall forward spitting blood.
The other two stopped to look at their companion's sudden fall, and I used it to charge them.
One of them managed to block with his baton, and I kicked him quickly between the legs and watched as he dropped screaming to the floor, then I grabbed the man by the hair and pulled him in front of the last man with a baton watching that man hit the man I had kicked between the legs.
I saw the man hitting his compatriot go wide-eyed and start to panic, I quickly used the axe in my hand to hit his head in a downward slash hoping to split his head.
Sadly that failed though, I had no real momentum so the axe got stuck, forcing me to kick him away and making me lose my weapon.
I quickly grabbed a baton lying on the floor and beat the last man still hands between the legs on the head hard, seeing him crumble with a dent in the head, no longer moving.
That was when the others, made their moves as well or would have if not for my instructor.
"That is enough… you are now good enough to partake in the Hunt to become a true warrior." I heard him say while watching as the guards fired and killed the remaining criminals left alive.
I noticed my instructor put a hand on my shoulder and pointed toward the dead criminals.
"No need to worry about them, they were captured pirates. If they had been Deathwatch you would be dead for getting distracted even a slight second." I heard him say making me shake and look at the dead bodies
"When you return a warrior, training is going to be much worse, so be prepared." he told me
"Yes sir." was all I could muster up to say, feeling the thoughts in my teenage body go all over the place, from disgust to happiness, from glee to disgust, I felt them all, even the feeling of wishing to puke.
However, I felt myself resist knowing if I puked I would not be allowed to go on the hunt to become an adult and in turn a true warrior. And instead would be seen as weak, so I rushed away to wash the blood off my hands, and to puke in private.
— — — — —
Those were some of the most vivid dream memories I had at the time and I felt my body be slightly lighter on my feet.
"Good, you are awake. Now go for a shower, eat and drink something to regain strength, and take the day off training." I heard from beside my door.
Looking up I saw my wonderful close-combat instructor, I did so and grimaced feeling some dizziness and more when I put my legs over the edge of the bed, making me clutch my head in both hands for a moment.
"Take your time, you've been out for three days." he told me, making me whip my head up in shock, making me groan in pain and dizziness soon after
"What?" I said showing pure shock for the first time that was genuinely my reaction, not the body's reaction, like before when I felt I had to force it.
"Listen… talk to the chief, your mother… she took it hard the last few days when you never woke up for three days straight." I heard him say with a grimace of his own.
I never saw this side of him, I guess he is truly worried for the chief… as long as this bastard ain't aiming for her though.
I would sooner kill him than let that happen, specifically since I remember him having a wife, two daughters, and a son older than me, who is also his oldest child.
"I will, dismissed." I said in my gruff voice with a bass undertone, which made me think that the modulator would need some work since I vaguely remembered my voice and that trough there sounded close to the same just a bit rougher.
I saw him salute me before walking out of my room.
"Fuck… three days… this is going to be annoying, a shower is sorely needed this smell is going to make me puke." I mumbled scrunching my nose in disgust smelling my scent.
I quickly went as soon I got enough strength back in my legs to stand and no longer shook in place, and then went for a quick shower.
The showers here looked rather spartan, with a small cubicle, a shower head on the wall, and a sensor you can use to adjust. in hand reach, on the corner of the wall a block of soap.
After a quick shower, I dressed in my armor and left to meet my mother who apparently was panicking, after not waking up, afterward I will go and eat I'm pretty hungry, to be honest.
'She must have been beating herself up last few days when I did not wake up… but dam three days.'
I quickly walked at a brisk pace. Moving toward where my memory told me the command room was and walked straight in.
I saw the people inside look my way but soon looked back at the planning table, as I walked towards them I saw my mother leaning over it talking to them and pointing at things, on said holographic table.
When I stopped behind her at a safe distance.
"Hello, mother." I said in a gruff voice, expecting her to angrily, beat my ass up but all I got was her turning around and hugging me.
"You stupid brat! do you have any idea how much I worried that I killed you're sorry ass!" I heard her say and looked at the table over her shoulder seeing a large-scale assault at multiple pirate bases just outside Mandalore space.
"Your body was a wreck, we took the supplies from your ship including the machines, got them working, and used them on you right away." I heard her ramble on pulling away.
"Your body had traces of poison in your blood, your muscles and bones all had micro-tears, it was a miracle you even were awake and walking let alone fighting..." I heard.
"Then it all came back to bite me when you knocked me out." I finished her speech
"Indeed, now come here now you're awake you can lead the assault after I get you up to speed." I heard my mother say in a happy tone, keeping a hand on my shoulder, clearly afraid I would disappear or fall over
As I looked at the table, I was worried because multiple routes of corrupt Republic patrols on pirate pay would be around that area who all despised Mandalorians.
"Alright, first things first, we would not be using those routes but we will use the smuggler route I have been using to evade all the Republic patrols out there. They are all corrupt and on Pirate payroll. This is why there are so many bases so close to Mandalorian space." I told them pointing at each route I mentioned
The nod from my mother, told me enough to continue, but I would if one of the men did not get ahead of himself.
"Each normal route has a small republican patrol with a second nearby to jump in or call assistance, not that they would since their little operation and being paid by pirates would come to light."
"You brat! you show back up, and now wand to turn everything to your hand? You are nothing but a filthy trader get lost, coward!" I heard a man leaning against the wall point his weapon at me, who was leaning against the table.
'Shiny new armor, wonder who this moron is.' I thought in a surprised calm, something the memories of such a vivid dream sequence would do to you.
"I challenge you a brat to…" the man said before dropping dead from Sera cutting his throat with a knife.
"I lied about not having a target… this man was my target, he dealt in slavery outside the system and acted properly in Mandalore." Sera spoke up and everyone tensed in the room.
"I apologize for this." I heard Sera say.
"That is fine girl, you are not one of mine, but one of my sons, he will deal with you for this." My mother said in a scary chipper way, making everyone shake in what I knew was fear because I felt the same when I came home.
'No, please no, don't tell me my mother is also like that fool Stan, mood swings… if so *gulp*' I thought gulping at the end.
"Oh right this is only for next week, about that training of yours, I will whip you into shape now that you are awake and fully healed." I heard my mother say in a sweet voice
I could sense the looks of dread from the other commanders around the table.
"Yes Mother…" was all I could muster to say, fearing for my life after seeing the beatdown in my memory dream, and others like it.
Even though many memories are still far away, and I still have many gaps, at least some of the important things, I did remember, at least enough to not be out of place, and finally feel at home where home is.