My jetpack rested against my leg as I leaned back in the seat. It was wonderful in the field but was a pain while traveling. The ride down to Mandalore was smooth. Adyan had been the main pilot ever since Anakin got his hands on the second-generation droids. I swear that kid could revolutionize droid design given half a chance. Flying the Zepplin again felt good. The controls were smooth and my helmet synced with the ship to keep the readouts from becoming overpowering.
It was a lost simpler to get a meeting with the Duchess. If anything, she had this down to a science. Meet a detractor, speak her case, and then return to her version of brooding.
I took in my surroundings as I walked down the ramp. Pre-fab buildings outnumbered classic architecture. Keldabe, the capital city of Mandalore, was an anachronistic jumble. Buildings made of stucco, wood, and brick mingled with durasteel high rises. The industrial era shared the same street as the space age. I could visibly track the process of demolition of older architecture and replacement of pre-fab that were in a generic, vaguely Republic, style. It made sense to upgrade the stucco and wood buildings, but there were other modern ones that had been torn down as well.
A group of guards met me once we landed. They wore generic gray armor with helmets with their lower-face exposed that could be found on hundreds of planets. I cocked my head to the side as I examined their choice of weapons. They carried shock-staffs and stun pistols rather than actual blasters.
"You'll need to disarm if you want to meet with the Duchess," one of the guards said.
I motioned at my belt to show I only had one blaster, three knives, and the Darksaber, "I am."
"What do you call those?" The lead guard asked.
Either the guy was a true believer, or he didn't know Mandalorian history. A couple of the guards clearly recognized the Darksaber for what the artifact that it was.
I chuckled, "I'm a Mandalorian, weapons are part of my religion."
"We're Mandalorians," the leader guard replied. "Do you see any weapons?"
I pointed to the stun pistols on their belts, "I'm not going to be unarmed, but I will keep my weapons holstered."
The guards stared at him.
"I came here to speak with the Duchess," I sighed. "We wouldn't have this conversation if I came to fight."
The lead guard paused. He titled his head slightly to the side listening to a communication.
"We'll escort you," the lead guard said in a resigned tone.
The group stepped away leaving the lead guard to the front with the others on the side. He led me into the building with the remaining guards falling in steps behind me. The fortress had artistic flares added in an attempt to cover the hard edges. Anti-Air cannon emplacements had been replaced with statues. Newly planted trees undermined the open stretch leading to the fortress. Classic Mandalorian statues had been altered to remove weaponry and trophies. Marks on the walls showed where paintings had been replaced. Someone had tried to clean the discoloration.
I walked with my hands loose and had to concentrate to keep them away from my blaster. It was trickier than I had expected. Crossing my arms across my chest or behind my back just felt too much like I was a prisoner.
Duchess Satine Kryze waited for me, regally posed before the short steps that led to an ancient throne. She hadn't had the throne removed or destroyed, instead a less ornate chair had been placed on the main level of the floor. It was the only other seat in the room. The blue and white dress she wore was royal without being ostentatious.
"You may leave us," the Duchess waved the guards away.
The lead guard stiffly nodded and led the others away. I waited for the doors to close before speaking.
"Duchess Kryze," I inclined my head. "Thank you for agreeing to meet with me."
She nodded, "Kiskin Aurelian, the bearer of the Darksaber. Have you come to take the throne?"
"In a sense," I nodded.
She sighed, "and you intend to banish me after giving me some speech about disgracing our heritage."
"Not quite," I chuckled.
She raised her sculpted eyebrows, "oh?"
"You are insulting the history of Mandalorians," I explained. "I can respect pacifism. It is a noble vow. Forcing it on a culture that prides themselves on being warriors, hunters, and soldiers of renown is disrespectful and creates needless tension."
Duchess paused, "you can respect pacifism?"
"Of course," I nodded. "Do you think that every Mandalorian in history was a warrior? Pilots, teachers, inventors, smiths, mechanics, cooks, medics, farmers, builders, and techs. They may have carried a blaster for defense, but they weren't fighting."
The Duchess nodded slowly, "interesting. The part where you take the throne?"
"I am Mand'alor," I stated. "I earned the Darksaber through a duel with the previous holder. I disbanded Deathwatch. I'm in the process of redeeming them and teaching them the true Mandalorian way. By tradition, the throne is mine."
Duchess Kryze sighed, "more blood, death, and pointless combat."
"No," I said. "There may be blood and some combat, but death isn't something anyone can escape. Regardless, it will not be pointless." I paused for her to absorb my words. "Mandalorians under my rule will follow the Resol'nare and the Canons of Honor. True Mandalorians. Speak the language, wear the armor, improve the welfare of the clan and our people, defend yourself and your family, raise our children in The Way, and answer the call of Mand'alor."
She shook her head, "fine words, but all I see are more needless war."
"Fighting is a factor, yes, but there is more to it than that," I argued. "It is an honor to fight a worthy foe. Why do you think I came here to face you on your battleground?"
She gave dry chuckle, "this is not a battleground."
"We are in conflict with words and ideals," I countered. "Fighting you through physical force would be an insult to myself, my personal code, and what I am trying to teach others. I want the throne; I will not deny that. Killing you or forcing your conversion solves nothing. My people are in the process of rebuilding Tatooine. We have removed the Hutts, dismantling the slavers, and working to provide a better life for the people. If I must, I will remove you to Tatooine. Your political acumen and way with people will do wonders. We recently found a network of force field protected tunnels under the sand that cross the planet. The next step is to terraform the planet from a desert to an arid environment." I chuckled. "There are quite a few nasty creatures that can provide for enterprising hunters."
She studied him for a long, silent moment, "I am Mandalorian. You expect me to leave the planet where I was born? Where generations of my family have been laid to rest?"
"Your current path is dishonoring those same people," I tried to keep my voice even. "You are from Mandalore, but you are not a Mandalorian. Mandalorians can be born on any planet or from any species. It is a choice to live as a Mandalorian. You made the choice not to."
Her hand clenched, "you know nothing of what I have sacrificed. The choices I have made. The people I have lost all for that cursed armor."
"True," I agreed.
That stole the steam from her growing anger.
"I don't know your personal loses and sacrifices," I continued. "I do know what the damage you have done to my people."
"Your people," she glared at me. "These are my people."
I shook my head, "look at this palace and the city beyond. You have rewritten history and discard everything to be another soulless Republic Colony."
"Mandalore is not in league with the Republic," Duchess Satine recited smoothly.
I took a step closer to her, "repeating a lie doesn't make it true."
"I'm not lying," Duchess raised her voice.
I let out a humorless laugh, "and you said this wasn't a battleground."
She glared at me, "I find it hard to trust a man when I can't look him in the eyes."
"I only take it off around people I trust," I said in retort.
"Is my sister among that number?" Her words dripped venom.
"Yes," I nodded. "We have grown to trust each other. She speaks highly of you."
"That doesn't sound like her," the Duchess rolled her eyes.
I chuckled, "after she's punched a few things."
"That makes more sense," she replied. "Apologies, my emotions got the better of me." She bowed ever so slightly. "You have given me much to think about. Allow time to gather my advisors and I will contact you again."
I held up a hand, "Pre Vizsla is dead. He was the leader of Death Watch and held the Darksaber."
"He was a trusted advisor," she gasped.
I sighed, "he was a duplicitous traitor that was waiting for the right moment to take the throne by force."
"That…" she took a breath to steady herself. "That is unfortunate."
I bowed, "Duchess. Until we meet again."
She nodded absently as she adjusted to the news. I stalked out of the room heading back to my ship without bothering to wait for the guards. My very being called for action. I needed some way to get this of my system before I did something stupid.
A Battle of Wit+100 CPWords Hurt+100 CP[Roll – Bank – Shop]
Well. This might provide some sort of distraction.
ROLL.
[COST: 400 FP][INFORMATION: Stark's Blueprints][Perhaps thanks to a bit of corporate espionage, you now have blueprints for pretty much everything that Tony Stark has ever built(with the exception of things built off world or with the help of others). Includes his suits, his Arc Reactor technology, and the Quinjet.][Purchase – Dismiss]
Oh, hell yeah.
PURCHASE.
[Balance: 200 Forge Points]
"Kiskin," Carrie chimed in. "I just got a flood of blueprints. What did you do?"
I deactivated my external speaker before I replied, "I got lucky."
"Clearly," Carrie clicked her tongue.
She activated the ramp to lower.
I waited as the ramp lowered, "assess the new information. Check if we can adapt it for use."
"Roger, roger," Carrie replied.
I took a deep breath and let it out. My heartrate had evened out by the time the ramp was lowered completely. I still needed to work off some energy, just not as urgent. It would have been a long, torturous trip if I didn't have the Warehouse. Traveling from Concordia to Mandalore took up to ten hours depending on the planetary alignment.
The Narnia Door, as I'd named the connection that was the closet in my captains' quarters, was the closest entry to the Warehouse.
"Hey, Kiskin," Carrie said once I entered the Warehouse.
"What's up?" I asked.
"There's a couple of things we need to handle," Carrie said. "Where do you want to park the Hammer-Head and you need to pick a spot for the forge."
"Put the ship in the hangar," I ordered. "Does the forge need anything special?"
"A couple of warning signs and an air lock setup should be enough," Carrie replied. "There's some kind of magic wibbly-wobbly stuff going on in this place."
I nodded, "understood. Hook it up next to the door to the Droid Production Floor."
"Roger, roger," Carrie said. "Brace yourself."
I didn't have time before a loud GONG sounded through the Warehouse. The ground shifted before I could brace myself on anything.
"Damn," I muttered.
I waited for a moment to see if anything else was going to happen. No raised voices or hurried footsteps. It looked like I was the only one in the Warehouse. I made my way over to the door to the Dwarven Forge. The first set of doors opened. I paused for a moment. The décor changed from a spaceship to carved tiles and the door ahead was two ornately carved stone slabs that stood easily double my height. Ash stained the walls fading away before it could reach the first set.
The area around the Dwarven Forge was hot but not to an unbearable degree. My armor kept me comfortable. Crates of ire lined the walls. The forge itself rested in the middle of the room with tools meticulously placed within reach. Instinctive knowledge about each one and their functions sprang to mind whenever I looked at them. Hammering out some metal sounded like a great way to channel the remaining energy.
~
"Carrie," I said through deep breaths. "ETA for Concordia?"
"Seven hours," Carrie replied. "You've been smacking metal with a hammer for three hours now."
I nodded appreciatively, "damn."
It had started out as a way to work out the lingering frustration then shifted into testing the various available ingot. There were plenty of hurry-up-and-wait stretches, so it was like I was hitting metal with a hammer every second. The built-up energy from the meeting with Satine had been used efficiently.
I had gone through the usual sources from Earth before moving on to the Elder Scrolls. Going from steel to glass was strange. I honestly expected it to shatter with the first strike of the hammer instead it took shape like the other options. It held heat on the level of iron but needed more time to work it into a base form. Dwarven Metal cooled down faster than expected requiring long periods in the forge before a rush of hammering before it lost the heat. Daedric glowed when in the heat and held it for the longest. Uru was a dream to work with. Dragon Bone took forever to get to the right temperature but was easy to shape once I found it. The forge didn't have any issues with Beskar either. Granted, I was using the heat from a dying star so measuring the time in minutes rather than hours. The higher tier materials were what called my name. Uru, Ebony, Daedric, and Beskar.
The next step was to put them through tests. I had worked an ingot of each material into sheets with the same thickness and size. At the very least, Bo would probably want to help me shoot the 1'x1' square sheets of metal. I added a classic target on each one before taking them to a long stretch of open floor in the droid bay. It was meant to hold around a hundred thousand droids which left me plenty of space. My improvised target range was ready for guests.
I also used the time to get a feel for the tools and the space. The idea to strip my armor off to the waist was tempting simply for style points. Carrie reminded me of how hot the forge was without the protection of my armor.
"Where is everyone?" I asked.
"Your operations on Tatooine are still active and the Commandos are wrapping up the Hutt network," Carrie let that settle. "The crew is currently in orbit above Alderaan."
"The Commandos are efficient," I gave an appreciative nod. "Remind me to see if they need anything. Or if they want anything. Any updates on the cloning operation?"
"Bo sent some files while you were playing with your hammer. There are two stand-out options. Camino specializes in larger batches with limited options of variation," Carrie explained. "They could clone you and each of the commandos to make an interstellar army but there wouldn't be much in the way of genetic diversity."
I thought for a moment. Getting each one of the surviving Ryett cloned a few dozen times wasn't a bad idea. The galaxy was a big place and they could spread out. There would need to be some sort of growth acceleration that was crafted to avoid being passed on to future generations. Clones of each, then create the next generation with all of the possible combinations. There shouldn't be any relatives among the commandos.
"I'll keep that in mind," I said. "The other option?"
"Arkanian," Carrie replied. "They are known for their very flexible morals when it comes to science. Their specialty is smaller batches with genetic customization."
"Designer clones," I said nodding. "They sound like the obvious choice."
"They think they are the peak of evolution and treat everyone else as lesser," Carrie cautioned. "Prepare yourself to be treated like an entitled moron."
I sighed, "and there aren't any other cloners?"
"There probably is," Carrie replied. "Smaller teams, specialized fields, private operations, and all that."
I set a table nearby with a selection of weaponry. There was a nice selection of slugthrowers, blasters, explosives, a spread of melee weapons, and my lightsaber. It was tempting to start testing them now, but it wouldn't be as fun without someone to share it with.
"Is anyone available at the moment?" I asked.
"You have assigned tasks to your people," Carrie said. "They would have to pause what they are doing to shoot things with you."
I groaned, "can you record the results?"
"Roger, roger," Carrie answered.
A smile crossed my face as I picked up the recently repaired BR55HB Battle Rifle.
"Cameras are rolling," Carrie prompted.
"Exotic Material Stress Test," I announced. "Glass, Ebony, Uru, Daedric, Dragonbone, Dwemmer, and Beskar.
It was a shame I didn't have access to Mithril. I wanted to know how it measured up against the others. Cortosis too. It should be easier to find than Mithril. I should experiment with alloys too.
"Weapons test 1, BR55HB Slugthrower," I held the rifle out to make sure the recording got a visual. "Material, Glass Armor."
I brought the rifle to my shoulder, switched it to single-fire, and snapped off a shot. A small spider-web crack appeared where it hit. I swapped it to burst-fire to test it as well. A spray of three rounds stitched along the side of the sheet far from the first impact. I set the rifle on the table before I moved to inspect the damage.
"Shots did not penetrate," I narrated. "Cracks are visible on front and back. I'll move on to the next material before testing another ballistic weapon."
I jogged over to the table to get the rifle, aimed at the Ebony sheet, and fired. Single-shot then burst, just as before. This time I didn't inspect it, holding off until I had gone through each material. The process was repeated for Daedric, Uru, Dragonbone, Dwemmer, and Beskar.
Once each material had been tested I set the rifle on the table, made sure it was unloaded, cleared the chamber, and set it aside.
"Material Ebony," I announced as I began my examination. "No cracks, divots, or flaking. Minor discoloration." I paused. "Carrie, can you scan these after each weapon? Look for weaknesses or something that I might miss."
"Roger, roger," Carrie replied.
"You're the best," I said.
"Aw, Kiskin, you're making me blush," she teased.
I chuckled.
"Back to business," I said moving over. "Daedric sheet. No visible damage. Uru also appears undamaged. Slugs are imbedded in the Dragonbone. Please measure the depth." I clicked my tongue as I moved to the Dwemmer sheet. Each shot had punched through easily. "Dwemmer material offered no protection against ballistic damage. Will still test with blasters, lightsaber, and explosives." Finally, it was time for Beskar. "Material Beskar. Pristine."
The process repeated with a couple of common calibers of slugthrower. Everything except for the Dwemmer held up well. Even the smaller caliber of slugthrower left behind some serious dents. I remembered the Dwemmer constructs being a tough mid-level fight.
"Note, increase the sheet thickness on each for next tests," I said.
"Noted," Carrie said.
"Moving on to blasters," I tried to keep the giddiness out of my voice and failed spectacularly.
Glass was horrible against blasters; each hit made the material melt for a few moments which reduced its overall integrity. Ebony did fine. The square of Daedric material pulsed with an energy that matched the color of the bolt of compressed plasma but that was it. Dwemmer held up better than it did with the bullets. Each shot left behind a heated patch that faded after a couple of seconds. I wasn't going to use it as armor unless it worked as an alloy. Beskar handled blaster fire as expected.
They all held up great against standard knives and vibro-blades. Explosions also proven to be well within the range of protection for all of the materials. The weathered the shockwaves and resisted shrapnel. I didn't test a thermal detonator because I was in no hurry to learn its strength and range while I was in the same room. It wasn't until I used my lightsaber that I discovered other issues.
The blade cut through Glass like clothe. Daedric stopped my lightsaber when I reached about halfway through the cut. The same with the Dwemmer square. My lightsaber barely left a mark as it danced along the Dragonbone. Stabbing through it was a very slow process. I only succeeded due to sheer stubbornness. Beskar held up like a suit of armor against a sword.
Uru didn't have an issue with anything. The downside was how much it weighed. Even without the enchantment like Mjolnir it was just too damned heavy. It could probably be used in starship construction. The only way I would use it while creating armor or weapons was if I could get a workable alloy. Energy based weapons simply dissipated while ballistics and explosions didn't so much as leave a mark.
Remember Kids, the only difference between screwing around +100 FPAnd Science+100 FPIs writing it down+100 FP[Roll – Bank – Shop]
ROLL.
[Cost: 400 FP][FACILITIES: Launderer System][ You gain a new thing to place in your warehouse, and though you don't exactly know how it works the instruction booklet says it can construct beam katanas of all different styles and usefulness if given the right components or if you don't have those, shoving the right raw ingredients in enough quantity to just manufacture the damn things. With enough technical knowledge, you will be able to discard the manual][A Beam Katana is basically a Lightsaber from Star Wars][Purchase – Dismiss]
Something to make lower-quality versions of a lightsaber. Pass.
DISMISS.
[Balance: 500 Forge Points]
"This would be so much better with someone here," I muttered. "Next time."