In the annals of Kaleesh history, there is not a leader more respected than Qymaen jai Sheelal. There are many things that mark the youngest khagan to sit on the throne of Kalee as a formidable leader, but the crowning jewel of his reign is his clos...
She finally found a computer—beaten-up and cracked, and powered off, but a computer.
Taking her staff and activating it, she shoved it into the port on impulse. Trembling hands dialed Bent's com number, and she prayed that something would happen—that he hadn't been caught, that he had escaped Kaleela before the droid general had arrived.
"Who?" his voice called.
"Bent...." she gasped, collapsing on the ground and weeping out of delirium. "I'm here. I'm alive."
"Mapait," Bent murmured—the Yamikh analogue of her name, in case anyone was listening. "You are? Where are you?"
"Kabisera," she gasped through crying. "Kabisera."
✺✺✺
"Ama," Rón whispered, kissing Ronderu on the cheek. "Ama, wake up."
She found herself in a homely little room with a tiny hearth and several cots, and clean. "Where's Quemáy?"
"War bunker," Bent said from across the room. "Kept here from the days of Bitthævria." He cleared his throat and passed Quemáy to her. She breathed in as tears began to fill her eyes. Her daughter cooed softly in return, clawing at her sternum with chubby hands, and Ronderu hugged the baby tightly—filled to the brim with affection for her child. Oh, my love. My Quemáy.
She frowned. "Won't the general be able to track us down here? Dooku fought in Bitthævria. He probably knows the secret bunkers."
"Should've studied war history, my khagan," he chuckled, letting Rón scurry up to his shoulder. "We didn't give out our locations to the Republic. Khan Jai Shurga wouldn't allow it."
She nodded. "How many other khans survived?"
Bent sighed. "Don't know. I fled the incident. Majority's dead, either from the general himself or the battle droids. My estimate's probably that the ones who survived are heavily injured. Heard from no one."
"We can't stay down here," she said, letting Quemáy take her finger in a hand. "We'll be cornered if anyone traces the location of the call."
"Assuming the leader's that smart. Seems like brute strength t'me. And you're in no condition to move, Ronderu. When I found you, you were the sickest I've ever seen you."
Then he medicated a new bandage and placed it over her head. "When you're well again, we'll move to the underground tribes. Somewhere we won't be found."
"I can pretend to be your daughter. I went by the name Ru san Jinn when I was on Mandalore."
"Don't think I'm that old," her friend said with a chuckle. "I'm only five years your senior."
"Then you can be my brother," she said stubbornly.
A nod. "And we can't let our new dictator know that we have Qymaen's kids." He paused. "But I will always recognize your rule, my lady."
"I'll just have to get my mask done-over," she said. "Paint new markings on it. There's no way I can just toss it aside."
"Very well, then," he said. "I'll scratch the blood off your mask for now."
She closed her eyes. Time to disappear. Time to fade....until the Republic comes to bait us into the war.
◈◈◈
Did you know....
● Ronderu's backstory is shrouded in mystery in canon, but there were rumors that caused her to be marked with a name meaning temptress. Because I had to expand on her story, I decided to make it a story about people who refused to give grace to a desperate young girl.
● Because my headcanon is that the Kaleesh traditionalists value virginity and see all losses of it as the fault of both parties who lost it, they see her as impure. This is not a reflection of my beliefs, and never has been. But it is the reflection of how some people around the world think.
● I will focus on her story more if I write a non-AU version of Unknown Soldier.
Tell me what you think....
● Since bynames are supposed to reflect who you are, do you think you would have believed the rumors about Ronderu?
● Would you have been able to continue on in that situation? Why or why not?
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