Private Another Adventure

[Casany Praxor]

Spoiler: Music OOC

In derelict ships. In ruins and the remnants of civilization. Casany had been given necklace as a gift from her endeavor with a man one previous evening, but today she reclaimed the gifts of the Mandalorians, and theirs were no mere trinkets.
She came away from that planet in her possession with a necklace worth more than the weight of a thousand of what she had. She had a beskad. Now she had another. Beskar was the biggest bounty but the overall cargo would be evaluated later. The Mandalorians had to go.

“Oh, also,” Cas added after Adi thanked the marooned scavengers for their service. “If you encounter either of us in the future, either gunship, remember our guns, and know my symbols: a gold sun and a black anvil. For I am Casany of Clan Praxor. Remember my words or I’ll have to remind you of them.”

That door closed, another one would open up.

“They can fire blasters,” Cas shrugged regarding the rakghouls. “But only a few of them did and I don’t think their intelligence peaked to what it could be.” That was definitely a good thing. That would have led to a whole other problem in this galaxy.

“Shuttles aside, how about we kiss those troubles goodbye and find a place to unload? What are you feeling? Get a drink? Got a hideout or something?”

Adi'ka Awaud

 

[Adi'ka Awaud]

"Oya, vod! Hyperjump, a sonic shower, counting the riches and then party!"

Adi'ka was baffled. "No hideout, but my ship. Nomad clan, you know. Where I lay my helmet, there is my home.
Any suggestions? Do you have a hideout? A smithy or something?"

The Lepi was young and restless. The idea of a permanent home was foreign to her.

As she spoke, she admired an old positronic droid brain she has scavenged from a destroyed Basilisk. This would be a fine addition to the computer systems of her ship. Such gadgets were beyond modern engineering. Iskalonian tech refined by Columni microcircuits. It would make her gunship into an own sentient being. A Mandalorian being.

Casany Praxor

 

[Casany Praxor]

Spoiler: Music OOC

One thing Casany never really found baffling was battling. Hideouts, however, were another story altogether. The bounty hunter, Anvil or whatever, was always on the move. Her ship was her hideout, in a manner of speaking, as much as her home. It wasn’t much but it was enough. Apparently Adi wasn’t much different on that note. What she spoke was something that Casany must one day quote. Where I lay my helmet…there is my home.

“The Praxors are from Mandalore,” Cas called across the coms while typing this and clicking that. "Our ancestors were. Forged In Fire. Those are our words. Following the Purge, however, we moved to an abandoned asteroid station named Kad-Stor. That, too, was abandoned when Clan Praxor was attacked, and our home was left all on its own."

Memories took her back. Memories bled into the present, unbidden, unbeckoned, but it just tended to happen. She remembered doors. Floors. Corridors and more. Recalled conversations. Paintings. Murals of the ancients. Mirrors since forsaken. Broken. Cracked like glass. Into pieces. Like fragments of memories.

“I haven’t been there in…” Her companion couldn’t see her countenance, of course, couldn’t read it with or without the helmet from their distant ships, but she could hear it. “...Forever. For years. But I wonder…”

Cas wondered whether this was just the leftover madness from the rakghoul attack but…whatever.

“...What would the skeletons of mine own home think of the plunder I bring?” She clicked her teeth as if beckoning some steed, that she might ride the galaxy on it, and let it beat with the wings of her Hammer. “Will you find out with me? Will you join me, Adi’ka Awaud, to explore the ruins of Clan Praxor?”

Adi'ka Awaud

 

[Adi'ka Awaud]

"Gal, ori'skraan, riduur, yaim' dab'ika. I would be honoured." The Lepi fall silent for a moment. "Perhaps ... perhaps there are survivors like you who found their way to Kad-Stor. Perhaps they have left messages for others of your clan. Are you ready to lead them? To guide them to the way of the forge?

I ... I know I am only a foundling and without tradition of my own to lecture you, but you are still a human female in your prime, right? Having whelps or scrap together worthy foundlings for your clan would be Resol'nare, right? Giving them a safe home and an education to be a Paxor and a Goran. Cin vhetin for veterans and foundlings alike. You do not have to be the last, but the first, to bring the dar'manda to a new generation."

Obviously, Adi'ka was torn between having her heart on her tongue and respecting the decisions of her vod.
"Never mind a silly rabbit! Give me the coordinates or if you prefer to keep them secret, do slave my navicomputer to yours. I give you access to it."

She could have waited for the hyperjump for her speech, but that was not the way. If Casany would be offended by her words, she could say it now and kick her fuzzy butt.

Casany Praxor

 

[Casany Praxor]

Casany considered her partners words for a moment. She hadn’t even wondered whether other survivors of her clan might have made it back to their home of Kad-Stor—if not their homeland. The question was intense. Am I ready to lead them? To guide them to the way of the forge?
She had no immediate answer to that question. No answer to any of her companion’s words. But she listened to her. She heard.

The Praxor heard past, present and future in that small handful of sentences. She heard wonder. Promise. Potential. Terms of Mandalorian. Mando’a. Possibility. As much as doubt. Shrouds. Faded memories and broken dreams. Maybe that was a good thing, really. Maybe the true Mandalorian was the one who weighed reality with fantasy in order to find her way.

“Silly rabbit? You’re no kid. It’s no trick.” Casany sent Adi the coordinates the next moment. “And it’s no secret. Not for you, vod.” Mandalorians. Sisters. Not of flesh and blood but in spirit. They had access to each other’s past, present and future. “And we’re off.”

To the Outer Rim. Away from planets. Closer to the edge toward where few have ventured before. There was a sun in the distance, brightest, the sol of a solar system, but it was indeed distant. It was not the sun of Mandalore. It was not the star in Clan Praxor’s signet.

Closer to their ships, after exiting hyperspace, there was a rock. An asteroid. With a base, a facility, a building, nestled on it. It drifted in an asteroid belt of other rocks just like it, but nobody knew where to find this one. Except them. Except our enemies. Except the ones who drove us from our home…our home…our home of—

“Kad-Stor.”

Adi'ka Awaud

 

[Adi'ka Awaud]

An asteroid Belt. The outer halo of most systems. The border to the dark void of interstellar space. The sun only a distant twinkling. Very much like the home colony of the space born Lepi in the overcrowded Coachelle System.
"Like my birthplace, but solitary. Coachelle's belt is completely settled. This is soooo much more room to fly."

Adi'ka was curious like a kid. "And? Do you read any life signs? Some radio signals? Or is the absence of it a sign of silent running? A sign someone lives there and does not want to draw attention to himself?

Do you think it is deserted or if your people have not claimed it again, could invaders or scavengers dwell there now?
Are there automated defences? Do we need some coded clearance?"

Casany Praxor

 

[Casany Praxor]

Distracted, taken back to bleeding memories yet again, her companion brought Cas back to reality. “Life signs. Let’s see.” She checked her systems. “No life signs. Cross-reference.” Adi would ping back the same readings, or lack thereof. There was nothing. So radio signals. Nothing. Only silence. Only solace. Or some semblance of that which once was.

“I don’t read life signs. I don’t see signs of life. But maybe somebody is inside. I don’t see ships on the outside but that doesn’t mean anything. No automated defenses. No coded clearance. Not when we left it, anyway.”

It was so long ago. Though, being here right now, it felt like yesterday. Maybe that’s what Casany was wrestling with. Not the remnants of a rakghoul presence in her mind but reliving those moments all over again.

“Anyway I’m not waiting. Best way to find out if anyone’s inside is to head inside. Let’s do this.”

At that, Cas cracked the whip and took her ship in. There was no resistance. No cannon attacks. No one getting on the communication system asking for identification. Only silence. Only stillness.

Her Hammer drifted toward the asteroid base. Toward Kad-Stor. She did have one code saved from long ago. A code to open the hangar door. It worked. We’re in. I’m in. All this time… I’m heading inside…

“Follow beside or behind, vod, this is it. Game face on.”

Her ship found purchase inside the hangar. Hammer's Lights lit up the darkness. Typical environment. Plenty of space. But only silence. Only stillness. Only the movement of the door as Casany closed it behind both Mandalorians

Adi'ka Awaud

 

[Adi'ka Awaud]

The Parsniper Mork landed beside the Hammer in the cavernous hangar with a resonating ringing, as it activated the magnetic clasps. Her strong searchlights illuminated a wide area.
Almost in the moment of landing, the airlock opened and a small Lepi pirouetted with boot rockets out of it. Spaceborn indeed. The zero-g did not impair her a bit.

"Give me the map of the station on my HUD, vod. Let us find the reactor and the controls for the life support. Let us restore the air cycling and the artificial gravity first. And then the communication arrays! Your clan should know, their home is back online and their forge is hot again."

The small Mandalorian had surely enough energy in her to power the whole station. And she flew fast. Perhaps one of the species with lightning reflexes who could fly pod racing. The laser light show of her scanners brought colour to the dark station.

"Vod, when you want it, I could ask my dad, if Clan Awaud could help you restore the station. He would surely like a friendly shadow haven for his fleet in this sector. Perhaps he would have foundlings or warriors who would join your clan. We have evacuated more war orphans in the last years as we could handle."

So many ideas, so much youthful optimism!

Casany Praxor

 

[Casany Praxor]

Adi did not need to tell Casany twice. While the Lepi could not see it behind her visor, there was a smile on the Praxor’s lips as much as in her eyes. Already had these two Mandalorians showed their worth to each other. There was no way Casany would have invited Adi’ka Awaud along if not for her trust in her. In her vod.

“Sent. Confirm.” That confirmed, both of them would be sharing in this experience with the same map, the same readings, the same abilities and the same mission: Assess the status of Kad-Stor and decide whether it could be Casany Praxor’s new hideout. Of sorts.

“Have to say,” Cas waved. “Your energy is as encouraging as it is contagious. Glad you’re here. Now let’s do this.”

What Casany didn’t say is she wasn’t so enthusiastic about the possibility of her clansmen being present in this galaxy to begin with. They were scattered remnants a long time ago. What are they now if not simply dust?

Adi flew. Casany followed. Beside and not behind. The station was bereft of any presence, of life or otherwise, not even automated machines humming or blinking lights. All Cas really heard was the pumping of her blood, the adrenaline sending her to the objective.

“Ori’jate, Adi. If only the galaxy could see that Mandalorians can be as sentientarian as violent depending on the occasion.” War orphans. There were plenty of those lately. “Let’s see what we can see and I’ll give it a think.”

The pair stopped at a door. One that wouldn’t budge. It needed to open in order to turn life support back on. “Show me s’more of that bunny energy, Adi?”

Adi'ka Awaud

 

[Adi'ka Awaud]

https://www.deviantart.com/olol66/art/Img001-2-857296005?ga_submit_new=10%253A160200775

"Just a moment!" Adi'ka reached at her shoulders and removed two balls from her backpack. She threw them to the ground, and the balls transformed into two tiny sabotage droids.
"These are EG-G1 and BN-N1, they will open this in no time", explained Adi'ka an affirmative "Beep-Beep" was to be heard on radio.

As the tiny droids crawled over the bulkhead and started to weld their way to the secured manual override, Adi'ka also started to jury-rig the armoured seal. Frightening fast the three opened the access to the hydraulic mechanism and the little nerd deactivated the magnetic seals of the bulkhead.
With a primitive lever and wench system, the Lepi opened the doors wide enough to let her even vod through.

"Tadaaa!" She said, as the way to the core systems of reactor and life support was clear.
The lagomorph and her tiny droids swarmed over the dusty controls and worked their tech wizardry. Minutes later, the humming of distant machines vibrates throughout of the asteroid. Lights sprang to life and good old monitors said they were ready to use.
"The central computer is online and awaits your clearance, ... alor."

The carefree Lepi was all business again and did a job which demanded normally at least five technicians. Her hands and even her feet rushed lightning fast over the input of the terminals. More and more light turned from red and orange to green and blue.
The automated systems of Kad-Stor awaited the commands of its new alor.

Casany Praxor

 

[Casany Praxor]

Yet again, Adi proved to be more than proficient with technology. It wasn't a gift that Casany personally shared in but that's why these two sisters were together to begin with; they complemented each other's strengths, filled in for one another's weaknesses. Hopefully Casany's exchange in abilities wasn't limited to limited information on rakghouls or anything.

"Ah, yes. I remember mention of these two in the cockpit before we tore up those di'kut pirates." That was as much fun as tearing up those rakghouls. The way opened, Cas dipped her head in a bow toward her companion. "This is the way."

As the station began to come to life, all those noises, the beeping and the buzzing, the humming and the purring, sounded like music to Casany's ears. Like lyrics. Instruments. Ancient music that once swept these halls of Kad-Stor as music swept the halls of Mandalore... Alor, her vod called her, but was she anymore? The leader of her clan after her father, her mother? Or am I just Praxor? Just Casany Praxor? Just a remnant member trying to remember?

"Alor..." It was a word that suddenly echoed, maybe just in Casany's skull, and sounded foreign, neither Mando'a nor Basic, but distant.

Saying nothing else, the Praxor walked to the station, feeling her vod's presence but looking at no one, nothing, except the central computer. Except the line that awaited her command.

"Alor Casany of Clan Praxor." She typed, she clicked, she inserted her name, her clan, her title, her authority, and watched and listened as Kad-Stor opened its doors. This her station, her home, her fortress, but she looked back up to her vod just then.

"And Adi'ka of Clan Awaud. The first two women, the first two Mandalorians, to step into Kad-Stor, into the past after so many empty years, shall be its future."

Adi'ka Awaud

 

[Adi'ka Awaud]

"Oya!", said Adi'ka. The computer gave her access to restore power, gravity and life support. I was a long process. The dormant reactor needed hours to power up and maintain the energy for all the many systems of the base. But in the end, gravity returned and air howled out of the vents. The bitter cold of the base warmed slowly to a bearable degree, rim tawed and water dripped from walls and ceiling.

"Does your base have droids? They would be an enormous help to keep the asteroid running.

The hyperrelays are online. Is there a code I should send over proxies into the holonet only your clan would recognize? Should I hail my father and his fleet?

Hey, here is something called tracyn, fire! Is this the forge of Kad-Stor? Should I power it? It eats up much energy. I would guess beskar needs a hot forge, wouldn't it?"


Casany Praxor

 

[Casany Praxor]

Her vod’s energy and excitement and enthusiasm and everything in between was as contagious as it needed to be a bit contained, but definitely not in a bad way. As always, Adi couldn’t see Casany grin behind her visor, but she could surely hear it in her speech.

“So, one question at a time, sis. Last shall be first and first shall be last.” With each movement, each entry, each task, the station purred and whirred to life further and further. It was like a newborn babe growing up in the span of seconds, minutes.

“The Forge of Kad-Stor is a…spiritual…place as any daughter of Mandalore might expect. The hammer on that anvil is special to me so let’s hold off until the moment is right, okay, vod?
As for hyperrelays…I also want to wait on that one. Let’s get this station fully functional, make sure there are no hidden surprises, then…then I’ll consider it.
Okay. Droids. Now there’s something we can do right away.”

Casany slapped a hand on Adi’s shoulder, gripped the pauldron, made sure her companion knew every moment with her mattered. That, itself, was just as spiritual as the Forge of Kad-Stor.

“Light ‘em up, line’ em up!” Cas cracked her knuckles as this button was pressed and that key was tapped and, from a place where droids were stored, droids came to life. “Let’s put ‘em to work, sister!”

Adi'ka Awaud

 

[Adi'ka Awaud]

Adi'ka read the status of the charging stations. "The loaders and working droids are depleted, the Class I, II and II too. But the power droids are half chrged and could boost the first line of the workers while the charging stations maintain the rest.

Wow, I go in season! Your station has a hypermatter annihilation reactor core. Energy would never be a problem, it seemed. Your clan was clever.
And paranoid! A chain of four backup shield generators like some Mon Cal fortress. This station could weather the siege of a sector fleet.

Heheh, and your central computer is a racist, by the way! It asks why an animal is the operator and not the designated Mandalorian Ad'ka.
Who programmed it? A racist sith lord of old?

I AM ADI'KA AWAUD, MANDALORIAN WARRIOR!"

Proud and strong and a little bit pissed. Like a Mandalorian should be. She activated the audio:
"Affirmative!", the computer boomed. "It is the way!"

Satisfied the Lepi continued: "Your arsenal is dusty but functional. Some weapon emplacements are empty. Especially point defence, and of course all warheads are missing. Looted at the evacuation, eh? The supply vaults could be fuller, too.
I fear you must invest in it to sustain more than a skeleton crew, vod."

Casany Praxor

 

[Casany Praxor]

Spoiler: Music OOC

It was no surprise to find that not everything was going to be operational. That didn’t matter much at the moment. What was lost could be found, what was short could be added more, what was broken could be fixed. Whether that extended to the remnants of Clan Praxor, to other Mandalorians, to the Forge of Kad-Stor, well, maybe Casany was hesitating and just didn’t want to admit it.

“This is the way!” Again, Adi’s energy was contagious, and Casany couldn’t help but be affected by it. She slapped a hand on the computer as if to slap the artificial intelligence within it, and as if in a conversation with it. “That’s no bunny, baby. This is Adi’ka Awaud! My vod!”

Piggybacking off of Adi’s comment, Casany spread her arms to the ceiling and the stars beyond. “WE ARE MANDALORIAN WARRIORS!”

Anything and everything that Adi was checking so was Casany right beside her. The same fire burned between them for the future ahead. “Right now I’m not so focused on sustaining and maintaining this station. Maybe.” Her tone wasn’t blunt, wasn’t firm, was just honest. “Am I reclaiming Kad-Stor? Or rekindling the fire of its memories?” Of my mother…my father…my family… Rhetorical questions, maybe, spoken as much to herself in the open.

“You’re right, though. The Praxors of Kad-Stor were clever. Had to be to keep hidden from the overwhelming enemy. That was our way to ensure future generations after the Purges.”

Cas turned to her vod, gazed into her face behind the helmet. “If I do, if we do, reclaim this station and make its memory breathe again today, you will be its supervisor if I am to be its governor. This I promise.” Fist to pauldron. “For Kad-Stor will no longer be a refuge for Praxor only.” And maybe, with her words, Casany is no longer hesitating.

Adi'ka Awaud

 

[Adi'ka Awaud]

"Oya, vod, I will help you! At least till you have an administration up and running. I am not good as a politician or armchair officer, you know? I long for the stars, ever the nomad. Furthermore, I led a squadron of rookies once, so a bit of that stuff I understand.
But I am much too young to be the senior officer you deserve.

But I can help with the stuff I know. Computers and droids are my playground since I was a kid. And I was born in space and know what a station need. Watersuppy, hydroponic farms, mining ships to claim resources in the belt. That stuff.
I could upgrade your station to something shiny.

It would be nice to build a shadow haven for people like us. To relax and recover. We will breathe life in it, and it could be a neutral ground for true Mandalorians to restock, recreate and perhaps even raising their foundlings and kids."

The air was breathable in the meantime. Adi'ka removed her helmet. Her breath was still condensing, but she smiled as she inhaled deeply, "Perhaps someday I raise my own kids here. Someone should always build something, remembering it is for the next generations too."

Casany Praxor

 

[Casany Praxor]

Oh if only Casany had meant her words to the letter. In truth, Adi’s being supervisor might just be as out there as Casany being governor. Even though she spoke those words, as if a promise drifted from her lips for the future of Kad-Stor, she was ever unsure of it.
Maybe, in the end, this station would only come to life by the time Adi was old enough to change her mind. The home of the nomad Praxors after Mandalore was a secret their alor wanted to keep and maybe that shouldn’t change despite their enemies or today's age.

“First things first, my vod,” Casany took her helmet off. A bundle of long brown hair tumbled out of its bundle, became a single braid that draped over a shoulder. “We got the lights on. We got droids making noise. I say we finalize just getting this station alive enough for two persons, two Mandalorians, grab a bite, and worry about the future later. Oya?”

Adi'ka Awaud

 

[Adi'ka Awaud]

"Oya, sorry, you are totally right! We should do that the clever way. Making it widely known could bring unwanted attention. I saw Mandalorian fight Mandalorian about resources. That would be too bitter.

Besides, I do not even know who the Mandalore is at the moment. To openly announce a Clan Fortress could drag you into politics or even war. It happened before. Clan Awaud knows.
The other clans could even band together and claim your birthright by the law of Might makes Right."

The cute, fluffy bunny grinned. "Wise choise, alor! No better leader, but a thinking one. After we have this base - this secret base - up and running, we should search for survivors of your clan. Perhaps we could gather with them at meeting points like the bounty hunter guilds or the Galactic Wheel or something.
Should I arrange a meeting with my dad? Not here, of course. You will need allies among the clans. And you could become more familiar with him and could decide if you could trust him."

Casany Praxor

 

[Casany Praxor]

“Now that sounds like a grand plan.” Raising the Praxor banners at Kad-Stor might draw unwanted attention so early in, yet venturing out to find clansmen was a different endeavor. That was one way to assess someone's character and caliber as to whether they would be a good addition to this station’s restoration.

“I would be honored to meet your father, Awaud. With or without support for Kad-Stor, I am sure he has wisdom to offer me simply as Casany Praxor. Besides, maybe he has uj cake. The traditional way. Not some cantina knockoff.” She grinned, all too visible as she stood helmetless if with helmet held at hip. All these sweet ideas running through Casany’s mind was giving her a sweet tooth.

“He shall be the first Man I meet but perhaps not the last. We shall see. Let’s finalize things at this station, get it going without getting it noticed then we can have that meeting.” She might have left it at that but added: "Agreed?"

Adi'ka Awaud

 

[Adi'ka Awaud]

"Oya, let's do it!"

And they did it! It was a hard work at first, but as more and more droids were charged, the station became more and more alive. There would have been supply runs with the Hammer and the Mork. But in the end the furnaces of Kad-Stor were hot again and the forge ready.

In the vast void of space and the endless asteroid belt of an insignificant system, an old Mandalorian bastion awoke. A new chapter in the glorious history of the Mandalorian clans began.

Casany Praxor