Ask A Mandalorian Welcome

[Tal Kaja]

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Tag: @Darasuum

A lone HWK-290 freighter jumped out of hyperspace. It stopped some distance away from Mandalore’s surface. Inside the cockpit the crimson armored Mandalorian sat in the pilot’s seat. He held the controls with each of his hands while staring at the scarred world before him. Through his t-visor the warrior stared for minutes rendered silent in absolute awe with only the clicking from the ship’s console making noise.

Subsequently he reverently bowed his helm. Despite its scars and the constant tragedies befalling it Mandalore was beloved by him. Long he heard the tales and legends of the clan regarding this place. It was one thing to hear but to finally lay eyes upon the birthplace of their people was whole thing entirely. The young Mandalorian slowly but surely lifted his gaze to Mandalore once more, declaring in the old tongue.

“De juvntirka Ni vercopaanir at haa'taylir eak.”(By the homeworld I hope to see one day.)

Then as it to stir him from this contemplation the console’s comm beeps repeatedly. Pressing the button a hardened voice came on the other end.

“Attention unidentified craft! Declare yourself and state your intentions or we will use force.”

Clearing his throat the young armored man quickly replied.

“I’m Tal, a son of the Clan Kaja. My purpose is pilgrimage to our ancestral world.”

To emphasize the point Tal gave proof sending a signal with the old chain code and signature of the Kaja Clan. Their family hadn’t been to Mandalore for generations but their chain code would be genuine. Soon enough the other warrior answered back through the comm channel.

“Acknowledged. Morutar yaim vod(Welcome home brother). Head for Sundari we could use some extra hands with rebuilding.”

Smiling underneath the helmet, Tal Kaja flew the ship forward. Minutes later the craft was entering the atmosphere. Diving through clouds he finally saw Mandalore’s surface. Hard, battered and yet with life. In a way it reflected them he silently admitted. Further reflection was distrubbed when he picked up a flight of seven Kom’rk Class Fighters flying in an arrow formation toward the north east away from Sundari. More starcraft followed with a dozen Fang fighters escorting five Aka’jor shuttles in a protective formation heading the same direction.

Tal blinked as more starfighters and bombers and transports appeared. Was there an attack or a civil war? He got his answer via comms.

“All available warriors rally to Forge Master Solus to the following coordinates.”

Transmitting the directions to his database Tal took a deep breath before releasing it. Then he laughed outloud to himself.

“What a homecoming!”

Without another moment of hesitation he increased thrusters following the war party. He didn’t know what was going on but all Tal knew was that his kin called for aid and so will answer it.

 

[Hauron Solus]

Spoiler: Music

Song

This was the second trinitaur attack in as many months. They needed to come up with a way of protecting the city from the monstrous creatures. The native fauna were titanic in size and as a result, could devastate an unprotected city. The increased traffic on Mandalore may have something to do with the rise in trinitaur activities. But Hauron was not a zoologist or anything that could confidently suggest any theories.

He was averse to killing the trinitaur outright. The animal called Mandalore home and did not exist anywhere else besides Mandalore as far as the Mikkian knew. Mandalorians had long since lived among dangerous terrain, flora and fauna. It served to dissuade invaders and in turn protect the planet. Killing the trinitaur was a last resort but it may end up being a necessary one unless he could come up with a better solution.

Hauron recalled reading about a monster of similar proportions running amoke on Coruscant at one point in time. A zilo beast, which had been native to malastare, was neutralized with ion weaponry on a massive scale. The Group Leader of Rancor Squadron hoped that he would be able to prove his theory correct. The safety of his people was paramount.

There was more than just Rancor Squadron present, rallying to the Forge Master's call. But a disorganized assault would lead to needless death and confusion. <"Maintain a high altitude of at least one kilometer."> He advised all pilots. <"If you get its attention, draw it away from Sundari."> But he doubted they would be lucky enough to just bait the trinitaur away. Despite the immensity of the trinitaur, it was as capable as a krayt dragon when it came to burrowing under ground and just as sensitive to flying threats. When Mandalorians had previously fired at the trinitaur it had not so much as made superficial markings and done no real damage. The thing was probably even resistant to lightsabers. Anything short of a turbolaser barrage would not kill the beast if he had to wager a guess and even then, the Group Leader was not certain it would be felled.

Rancor Squadron possessed a dozen bombers, each of which had been fitted with ion bombs and electro-proton bombs. The crews of each ship were given strict orders to hold onto their payload until they could be certain there would be no collateral damage. Sundari's infrastructure was only just being rebuilt and he would hate to lose any progress made thus far to reconstruct their home. 6 H-wing escort starfighters and 6 Y-TIE starbombers maintained a safe distance.

Shared coordinates with the planet's defenders pointed north-east away from Sundari. Seismic readings at least served to be a decent warning system thus far. But the closer to the desert wastelands that were all too numerous across the planet the harder it was to pinpoint the trinitaur's location. It was there that the titanic creatures usually retreated after their rampage. That was where Hauron was headed now. At the moment, there was no sign of the trinitaur on the surface but it would just be a matter of time.

Tapping the necessary controls onboard his light freighter, Hauron looked over his shoulder at the back of the cockpit. But he looked ahead again a moment later and spoke to the Mandalorians that had joined him. <"This is Forge Master Solus. Form up on me. Shout if you spot it."> Out of sight, distributed among the various cargo compartments of the light freighter transport were bombs like the ones carried by the bombers. One hundred and fifty tons of potentially monster stunning weaponry was stored in the light freighter, the Antillean Wedge. He could feel the ship handling differently with a full load of cargo.

The Mandalorain spotted a transponder code that he did not recognize. Sure enough, a HWK light freighter joined the hunting party. He doubted they were carrying the firepower necessary to make a dent in the monster. <"Firefist, you sure you want to join in this hunt? Your laser cannons aren't going to be much use against a trinitaur.">

@Minuteman75

 

[Tal Kaja]

It wasn’t long before Tal found himself flying behind the squadron of bombers and starfighters. From his readings those ships were packing a lot of firepower. Meaning what they were hunting was a true challenge. He kept his craft on course with them, wanting to be in the action.

Soon however, he realized a call from the Antillean Wedge. In reaction Tal bit his lower lip with frustrated embarrassment. Next chance he was going to upgrade the armaments. Yet all the same the Son of Kaja didn’t want to turn back.


“Regardless, I will join you all the same. We are vode. Perhaps I can distract the creature or at least help protect the bombers if nothing else.”

Tal now understood he was way in over his head, big mistake or not he believed in seeing this through. The rookie would rather be seen as stubborn than a coward. Looking down at the surface he next checked his scanners for any signs of this great beast.

@Darasuum

 

[Hauron Solus]

Hauron nodded in the cockpit of the Corellian light freighter. The Solus could hear the resolve in the Kaja clan member's voice. <"Very well. Mind your spacing."> The last thing they needed was for a mid-air collision. As long as Tal did not get in their way he was a welcome addition to the strike group.

For a few minutes the only sound would be an occasional check in or mention of positioning from the other pilots. The atmosphere of Mandalore made it hard for long range scanners to accurately penetrate the surface. Additionally, it interfered with long range communications. The updates from Sundari were garbled at best.

<"I see it. Relaying coordinates and heading."> Hauron's keen vision however spotted something on the surface as they approached a mountain range. The natural border was probably hard for even a trinitaur to cross without being noticed. Either they were likely to go under it or around it rather than bring themselves to the surface. Rocks and boulders the size of hoverbuses were thrown skyward as a gigantic mass surged at the base of the mountain range while still in the lowlands. From the bird's eye view it appeared the trinitaur was heading due east now.

<"Don't release your payload until we have it fully surfaced. Our best chances are to hit it directly when its fully surfaced."> He ordered the crews of the other starships. The green crystal trinitite that covered much of Mandalore's surface was strong and the hide of the trinitaur also afforded the gargantuan animal a great deal of protection. They could not afford to waste their munitions on simply carpet bombing the whole area. It needed to be surgical and precise.

<"I have an idea."> It was something the Forge Master came up with on the spot and would likely only work thanks to the unplanned arrival of the Firefist. <"Bombers, increase altitude and slow your approach. I'm going down to the surface ahead of the trinitaur. Firefist, follow me. You're going to be my ride."> The plan involved sacrificing the Antillean Wedge but that was the plan from the get-go anyways. He gunned the engines and accelerated to max speed to head the titanic animal off. The trinitaur was big, but it was not stupid. Briefly, Hauron wondered if it was old enough to remember the Night of a Thousand Tears. Perhaps it hated bombers for that reason. Regardless, the trinitaur continued to burrow and seemingly swim beneath the surface of its homeworld. This was going to be far from easy.

@Minuteman75