Harvesting in Sundari Desert [Mandalore]

[Laira Darkhold]

After Larraq cleared the bridge it was only a half hour before we were well under way and ready to begin the process of drilling down to the beskar vein. Having been told the massive mining laser would have little to no effect on the ore was hard to believe, but I had mined Phrik in the past and seen veins of that exposed by turbolaser fire without damaging the valuable ore within those asteroids, so the man’s proclamation could be possible. “Sir,” spoke the helmsman, “We are ready to begin drilling.”

“Good, fire it up and let’s get started. The man said an hour or two and I want it done in an hour and a half.” Without having to process the ores between us and the Beskar vein would hasten the process rapidly, but it felt like a waste. I would be sure to have the ores we were discarding placed where they could be readily accessible for later, in case they were needed. “Have the tractor beams move the debris into a pile nearby. MandalHypernautics may change their minds about leaving all that iron and lommite sitting out and come back for it.” I ordered, knowing it would be done easily. With five thousand men currently on active duty and the droids prepared for the laser fire to cease, I waited for the mining to finally commence.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

The massive machine shuttered as the laser came to life, searing out with the power of a small star into the rock at the base of the structure. It almost roared like some colossal beast of legend, breathing a torrent of fire at a long lost mythical hero. The first minute ticked away quietly on the bridge, only the occasional status update from some of the operators. I could feel the power of the beam, as when it shut off for the first time, it felt like the behemoth mining vehicle relaxed from having exerted itself. Small tractor beams began swiftly clearing the debris around the decent sized hole in front of the Harvester. Large chunks of rock were cleared rapidly from the mine shaft and after seven minutes of work from the tractor beams the beast we were controlling roared back to life, piercing the very earth we stood upon, destroying the minerals between us and the precious beskar like it had committed a personal affront against the monster. “How is she holding up helmsman?” I ask, breaking the silence that had overcome the bridge. I couldn’t believe that there were no systems malfunctioning or not operating a peak efficiency given the size and complexity of the Harvester.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

The helmsman turned and replied keeping one eye forward, “Everything seems to be holding fine sir, we should make your deadline with time to spare.” He said quickly diverting his attention back to the controls he was overseeing. With a weapon as powerful as the mining laser it was unsafe to take your attention from the controls for very long. “Surface temperature at the drill site is heavily increased, but it’s within the expected range. It hasn’t increased enough to hamper the nearby equipment or apparatuses we will be using.” He finished giving me the requested status report.

“Alright, Good work. Keep me informed and keep up the pace.” I said, congradulating the bridge staff on what would be a record mining operation at this rate. It seemed that the longest part of the project would be setting up the behemoth. She relaxed again as the power from the laser drained off and tractor beams went back to clearing the debris. It wouldn’t be long now until we were ready to begin the process of physically mining the ore from the ground. I could see through the view screens, chunks of rocks being piled up a safe distance away from the mining site, and the ore processors currently still idling within the beast.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Here comes the good part yet again. The weight of the massive metal monstrosity of MandalHypernautics shifted forward again, warning of an imminent laser blast about to commence. This would be the fifth one since starting and we were already approaching the halfway mark. The powerful laser bored ever further into the crust of the planet. I was glad to be a part of this operation, and hoped I would get more opportunities to work alongside the Mandalorians. Hopefully a good business relationship would lead to a good relationship on the battlefield and I would eventually have the honor of fighting alongside members of the warrior race. Once again the Harvester relaxed, almost resting on its haunches as smoke trailed up from the ground and dust began settling again. It wouldn’t be long now, a few more pulses like that and the craft will have cleared a hole down to the beskar we were after. “Status update helmsman.” I ordered. He was a good sharp lad and good to have on the helm of this beast.

“All systems normal, one or two more blasts and we should be able to start waiting for the metal to cool to mine it safely, sir.” He responded sharply, just as I had come to expect from him in the past hour.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

A few more minutes ticked by and the final laser blast fired away with a terrifying roar of the generators. I kind of wanted one of these for my mining complex on Roche that I would be opening soon. My thoughts escaped to my own company’s future. We were still struggling and could use new and more lucrative contracts. This one would go far in our plans to expand again, but we would still be waiting on having the money to expand to Roche. Once I had that cash I would inquire about purchasing the schematics to this beast to build on of my own, or purchasing a spare MandalHypernautics might have.

“Alright boys, hold her steady and comm me if anything changes, even if it is still within the expected range. Any significant change, got it?” I ordered. The helmsman gave a nod and the foreman who would be taking my place on the bridge responded with a degree of snark.

“Yes sir, will do. May I ask where you are going.” He said inquisitively. He wasn’t an idiot, but he did have some gall, interrogating a superior, but then again he was Mandalorian, people known for crusading across the stars.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

“Absolutely, [member="Captain Larraq"] asked to see me when my duties where completed and by the time I get to my cabin on this beast, they will be. I hate to keep the man who signs my pay check waiting longer than he has to.” I said, looking the man over. He was someone who might have had my job had I not been hired and he might resent me a bit for it. Not that it mattered at this point. The hard part was done and the process of having mining droids extract the metal was soon to begin.

I left the bridge under his command anyway, already having burnt most of the time the vehicle would still be under operation in this capacity explaining myself. I walked down the spacious hallways of the metal behemoth, and felt the beast ease after exerting itself one last time. My comm clicked and the foreman’s voice echoed from it, “Laser operation ceased, objective reached. Awaiting cool down.” Good, we were done for the day. Once it got dark we would go into the hole, working when it was cool during the night, rather than starting work under the blazing sun. I reached my quarters moments later and knocked, in case [member="Captain Larraq"] was within and required privacy.

 

[Captain Larraq]

There would be no answer to [member="Draco Vereen"]'s knocking. Instead, as he opened the door, he would find a small crate resting upon the floor, next to his bunk. The crate was about the size of a foot locker and, if an attempt to move or lift the crate was made, would reveal itself to be quite heavy. A set of small keys extended from the locking mechanism at the front of the crate, and only a slight turn to the right- no, left would open the crate. Within, Draco would find three things.

Resting atop the other contents of the crate was a simple, paper note, handwritten by Larraq.

Spoiler

Make it your own. I look forward to seeing what you can make of your potential.

Under the note, a thick, leather bound book would be found. The cover was in Mando'a, but opening the book would reveal that the rest was written in Galactic Basic. Flipping to the first page...

Spoiler

The Resol'nare.
The Culture and History of the Mandalorian People.
Common Mando'a Words and Phrases.
The Modern Mando'ade.

And under the book...

Spoiler

The black sheen of a T-shaped visor would stare up at Draco. Beneath it and the helmet that it completed was a full suit of Hyperion Beskar'gam. The helmet was beskar variant of the Hyperion Combat Helmet, and included with the armor was a beskar variant of the Hyperion Combat Power Pack.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

He gave me Beskar. I wasn’t expecting that, I was expecting something like the book. It was a cultural artifact that supplied me with a Mandalorian Dictionary, a composite of their culture and history, as well as information about what they had become, but Beskar in of itself was much more than I was expecting. I might just wear all of this soon, but I felt it would be wrong to go trouncing around in it on Mandalore the day I got it. He said to make it my own, and so I would later down the road. I resealed the crate and took the keys with me. There was still work to be done. Not as much as I had thought there would be, but still some.

Within a few minutes I had returned to the bridge, and reassumed command of the monster that was the Harvester. “Widen the hole some Helmsmen, Fire us back up and burn us away more. We need the Beskar more heavily exposed, but since we are here, turn on the ore processors. Small pieces of beskar might be loose already and we’d hate to waste it.” I ordered, hearing the entire behemoth return to life, as if taking a deep breath before pouncing on prey.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

The Harvester’s final roar echoed out for six full minutes, a mite longer than was normal, but the crew kept me properly updated on its systems, progress, and any possible sign of malfunction. We stood, minutes later staring down at a vein of invaluable beskar, deep into the earth, exposed after so many eons of life on the planet and mining, there was always more, as though half the planet’s crust consisted of this mineral. Even still, pieces of it glowed red hot from being touched by the laser, no doubt still far too solid to bend, but far too hot to touch. “Spray coolant into the hole and prepare the miners. I want to be mining by nightfall.” The crew scrambled to do as ordered and began pulling away blast shields and doors to expose mining tools, apparatuses and work platforms being prepared to begin the long arduous process of extracting the minerals from the ground.

“Sir,” spoke the helmsman gaining my attention. “Coolant released into the mine shaft, you can see the steam coming up now,” and he was right, massive clouds of steam billowed up from the mine shaft, tell-tale signs that the shaft had been unlivable moments ago. It would still be a few hours before we began, waiting until the sun dropped to cool off the desert before I made all the men go to work.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

As soon as the sun dropped behind the planet I released all the workers on shift into the shaft. Three thousand five hundred workers and an army of droids escaped the massive beast and dived into the hole in the planet’s crust. In eight hours the shift would change and another three thousand men would take their place. With such a workforce it would not be long before much of the precious ore was removed. I joined the workers in the mine shaft, a little uneasy with the monstrous Harvester looking down at us. “C’mon boys we have work to do, get that ore loosened and pulled free. MandalHypernautics needs this stuff as soon as possible.” I called to them, standing aboard one of the platforms to be used to transport the ore back to the Harvester. Other foremen commanded workers and droids at other parts of the mine, and sensor equipment was strewn everywhere in order to warn us in case of a collapse or toxic gases, or anything of the like. By morning we would be mostly finished and by the end of tomorrow this ore should be ready to pull out of the ground, ready to be processed by the Harvester and then forged into whatever ungodly creation MandalHypernautics were dreaming up.