Chapter Text
Quinlan Voss, Shadow Knight, was running through the temple. This was not completely out of character as the young Knight was well known for his pranking ways when he was in temple, but the look on his face was. The Kiffar looked deadly serious, and rather than ducking around people and laughing, he was using the Force to jump over people, run on the walls, (and once the ceiling), and he was doing it at his top speed. This rendered him a blur to those without Force Sensitivity and left many non-Jedi gasping in shock while the Jedi in the same corridors merely moved the small adjustments needed to get both themselves and those who couldn't sense him coming out of his way before he arrived in their space.
He was headed for the Healing Halls.
Most assumed that A) he had been hurt at Genosis, or B) one of his crechemates had been hurt at Genosis, or C) he had vital information for one of the Council members who had been hurt at Genosis. It was none of those things. Well, he did have vital information and it would completely change the Jedi Order and the lives of the clones that he had just met/been informed about, but it wouldn't matter if he couldn't get that information to the only Mandalorian Jedi they had; his crechemate Obi-Wan Kenobi. Not that many outside of their crechemates knew Obi-Wan was Mandalorian. His adoption, or rather his WILLING adoption, had been kept quiet thanks to that bantha brained Master of his.
Qui-gon Jinn had forced Obi to give his armor to the Archives, and Yoda had sighed and counseled Obi to not advertise his personal situation due to the political situation between Mandalore and the Order. This was mostly because the Republic Senate refused to allow the Jedi to do what the Council actually wanted to do, which was to sit down with the mandos and work out what reparations were needed on both sides as the Council admitted, at least in temple, that they had made grave mistakes. The Senate refused to do so.
So Obi-Wan, ever responsible, had asked Madam Nu to hold onto most of his armor for him, told his crechemates about his new identity, and had continued to quietly uphold his new oaths. Quin, who was not the spice head he often pretended to be, had learned as much as he could about his brother's new people, (and kriff the dar'biur who had tried to drown Obi for being Force Sensitive!), up to and including learning the language so Obi-Wan would have someone to speak his new language with. This meant that he alone KNEW what the Senate's latest move to turn the Jedi into their attack dogs actually MEANT for everyone.
Quin found Obi-Wan in one of the treatment rooms for people getting replacement limbs, watching with Senator Amidala as his padawan was testing out his brand new arm. Master Che yelped as Quin burst into the room. "KNIGHT VOSS!"
Quin ignored her and the other two. "OBS! The Senate just repealed the ENTIRE Reformation!" he yelled as he grabbed his crechemate by the shoulders. "That means,"
"That means I can adopt," Obi-Wan finished with him, the ramifications running through his mind. He reached over and grabbed Anakin. "Ni kar'tayl gai sa'ad, Anakin Skywalker. I will know your name as my child forever."
"What?" Anakin gasped.
"Obi's Mandalorian," Quin explained. "The Reformation, or rather the Senate's current interpretation of the Reformation has meant that adoption is one of the parts of his culture that he's not been allowed to practice. More Mandalorians adopt at least one person in their lifetimes than actually reproduce biologically and the average is at least four adoptions, and in Mandalorian culture, adoption is not restricted to children. A lot of those adoptions are sibling to sibling and child to a non-parent type, like aunt/uncle or grandparent/mentor. Now that the Reformation is gone, Obi-Wan is allowed to adopt anyone he chooses."
Obi-Wan pulled Anakin into a hug. "I've wanted to do that for the last ten years," he said with a grin. Anakin sat there stunned, before he leaned into his new father with a shudder.
"Yeah, but Obes, the clones aren't being considered people, or citizens of the Republic. You know what sort of abuse that's likely to lead to. However," Quin said leadingly.
"More than that Quin," Obi-Wan said fiercely. "As citizens of the Mandalorian Empire, we can claim one of the uninhabited planets inside Mandalorian space. If we work this right, we can claim all of the clones and the entire order as part of my House. Well, no that wouldn't be practical, let's say we divide the Order up into six Clans under my House, one for each branch of the Order and one for the Wanderers. But, if we claim them, the entire Order can leave the Republic and the Senate will have no army."
"They'll be forced to negotiate," Amidala breathed with a smile.
"If they want to hold onto their power," Obi-Wan agreed. He whirled. "Master Chi, ni kar'tayl gai sa'vod. I will know your name as my sibling forever. You are now Mandalorian and can now adopt the entire Medi-Corp. Madam Nu has all of the required learning materials in the Archive, including what the Mandalorian oaths are for a Jedi, which places the Force or Ka'ra in place of the Mand'alor in regular oaths. That's been done since Master Tare Visla became Mand'alor at the end of the Jedi-Sith Wars. I'll be in the council chambers adopting the High Council."
"Oh, and Anakin, get those materials. The riduurok is the Mandalorian wedding vow and it is absolutely approved for Jedi and other people in positions of power over their people to use," Obi-Wan said with a grin and a wink as he hurried out the door.
Anakin blushed a bright red. "Master!" he squawked.
"That's buir," Quin said with a grin. "Mando'a is gender neutral, so it means parent. Also, if you have any parents that are still alive and you want to keep them, the adoption vow doesn't negate that relationship. In fact, you are the only person allowed to divorce any of your parents. Just call them dar'buir and that's that. No parent is allowed to disavow a child, only the other way around."
"That's beautiful," Amidala said. "But why didn't Master Kenobi adopt you, Knight Voss? If you know all about this?"
Quin shrugged. "Just because it wasn't allowed by the Senate's rules, didn't mean that Obi-Wan didn't adopt anyone. He just couldn't do it when anyone was looking - and everyone was watching his and Anakin's relationship all of the time. Obi-Wan adopted all of his crechemates as siblings when he was seventeen. I'm the oldest."
"And yet you act like the youngest," Erin Bant, the actual youngest of Dragon Clan, said as she came in. "Go, shoo. Adopt as many Shadows that aren't in temple as you can arrange for. I'll let the rest of Dragon Clan know that House Naasade is actually going to be a thing and get them to adopting. This needs to happen as fast as possible if we're going to use it to save lives."
"House Naasade? Doesn't that mean nobody?" Anakin asked, confused.
"Yep," Bant agreed as Quin hurried out of the room, at less than top speed this time. "Obi-Wan Kenobi isn't actually a name. It's a place holder that means, No one of No clan. The Stewjoni are, well less than happy about Force Sensitives being born to their people. They consider us cursed and actively drown the children that show the gifts that such sensitivity brings. Fortunately Master Plo found Obi-Wan just as his mother was drowning him. He spent his first six months with us in the Healing Halls; which is the reason that he hates them so much. He's also always been stubborn about not changing his name, although he'll accept being called Ben by someone he's close to.
"Naasade is the mando'a word for someone who has given up their name and clan for whatever reason. It's considered rude to ask after those reasons in Manalorian culture. It's assumed that someone who calls themselves Nobody has undergone the process to divorce themselves from their past or past associations, such as a clan or immediate family who are terrorists. Lots of people who had family in Death Watch took that route."
Bant handed Anakin a datapad. "There's the new adoptee learning modules on that, plus a bunch of stuff on near-human/human hand specifications and how the mechanical replacements are made and used. Also, knowing you, Padawan Skywalker, I also included an app for healer/mechanics that you can use to design improvements. Now, as both you and Healer Che are now Mandalorians by adoption, these are the Six Actions or Resol'nare which are the code that all Mandalorians are required to live by.
"The First Action is Education. We are required to teach our children and to continue to learn throughout our lives. The Second Action is armor. Children are to begin wearing training armor at age seven standard or species equivalent. Those who come to be Mandalorian begin as soon as they can get to a Goran, which is a position as an armorer who creates beskar armor and as a lore keeper and it is their job to teach their clan members how to be Mandalorian as much as it is to be the keepers of the traditional Mandalorian histories. You don't have to wear all of your armor all the time. Obi-Wan for instance, wears his vambraces under his robes and his kar'ta on a beskar chain around his neck. That's the piece that goes in the center of the chest armor. It represents the Ka'ra or Manda which is the center of Mandalorian belief. Translated into Basic, it represents the Force," Bant said with a wink.
"You're joking," Master Che said flatly, her leku flaring with shock.
Bant shook her head. "Nope. The Ka'ra or stars, is the Council of Marching Kings, or the Mand'alors who have marched on, that is to say have died and joined the Force and the Manda is the Long March, that which waits after death aaannnddd, the Force that directs us during our time in this life." She shrugged. "That we, and those who are star-touched or Force Sensitive, can actually feel that is to most Mandalorians irrelevant. The Manda is, the dead are marching on unless they've gotten themselves declared soulless, or dar'manda, and the Ka'ra direct those who can hear and push those who can't.
"The Third Action is self-defense. All Mandalorians are required to learn self-defense. That is not to say that everyone is required to be a warrior, just that if something happens you are able to defend yourself and others. The Fourth Action is our tribe, that is our people/clan/house and or Mandalorians as a whole. You are required to help support those you can if they are Mandalorian as well. That is not to say that you can't help those who are not Mandalorian, just that if you come across someone who is and is in need of help, you need to do what you can. This can mean providing healing, a literal helping hand, mediation, basically everything a Jedi already does in service to others and provide food, clothing, shelter, etc for those of your immediate family and clan.
"The Fifth Action is our language. You are required to learn and be able to speak and write in Mando'a and teach it to your children. The Sixth Action and last is normally to heed the call of the Mand'alor, the sole leader of the Mandalorians. Now, for Jedi, Goran and those who are called to follow the Force, the Force itself is what we swear to. According to the Goran who Obi-Wan studied under, this substitution is allowed because it really isn't a substitution as we're swearing to follow the Ka'ra, the Council of Dead Kings. It's been that way since Master Visla became Mand'alor," Bant finished.