I arrived at the main Death Watch base by transport. It was on the other side of the moon from the training camp, and on the eastern edge of the equatorial forested zone. It wasn't too far from Concord City, the capital of the Moon and seat of Governor Vizsla. Maybe if I could escape and reach the city, I could go to him and seek asylum while he mobilized the guard to wipe Death Watch out.
That glimmer of hope is the only thing that's keeping me from completely falling to despair over what happened. Every time I close my eyes, I see her face the moment before she was shot every time I close my eyes. I hear her voice saying my name every time it's quiet.
Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum. Kal'ad, Berdor Ordo, Sakyl Ordo, and all the children murdered by the instructors. Let me focus on the tour I was given rather than letting my mind dwell on the kyrayc.
The central point of the camp was a set of three barracks structures. They were identical to the ones at the training camp on the outside, but had separation walls inside for privacy. I was assigned a bunk in the first and dropped my gear before beginning the tour proper. What I did see was that I had a bunk, locker, and a chair in the small room. I was next to the refresher, but there was no smell like the one in the training barracks.
The command structure had a lounge in the central corridor with a communications room to one side and a briefing room and quarters for the commander to the other. The middle of the lounge had a holoprojector on a mobile base. The communications room had a single station and various sensor display screens on mobile posts. The station was an actual chair and console with computers. It was definitely more intricate than the military-grade comlink at the training camp.
To the eastern edge of the mine was a maintenance shed with various bits and pieces of speeders and other gear spread around it after having been stripped for spare parts. The main mechanic wasn't much to look at, even in the same armor of everyone else. The biggest difference was that his knee plates had dirt ground into them and his coverall was stained. I didn't know it was even possible to grind dirt into beskar.
To the north was an armory with all of the gear you'd expect to find here in Death Watch. There were shelves for pistols, carbines, sniper rifles, grenades, macrobinoculars, comlinks, jetpacks, a locked area with missiles and grenades, and all forms of replacements for the armor. The man running the stores was as laid back as Dush used to be. He was firing a training pistol at a printed picture on the wall. It turned out to be Dutchess Satine Kryze from Mandalore, but was visually modified to show her without clothing.
Finally, to the western side were a simulator and the motorpool. The simulator was identical to the one at the training camp. The motorpool, however, was indoors and filled with only speeder bikes. I saw a couple of charging ports on the outer wall for landspeeders and one larger one that must have been for one of those CIS tanks.
Things got really interesting when we went underground, though. Not only was the mine active, but it was making beskar'gam. There were mining droids active throughout the tunnels gathering ore. The ore was processed in the central room of the mine and sent right into a fabricator. It was an older fabber, too, able to completely melt and form the beskar ore.
When we returned to the surface, there was another transport on the field. My guide told me that the boss had returned and it was time for me to meet him. Apparently, being the primary comm operator meant I would be having a close working relationship with the man in charge. It didn't really matter. The first time I was assigned any kind of a patrol, I would be off and to Concord City before anyone even realized I was gone.
My heart dropped and my feelings fled the moment I entered the commander's office. Sitting behind the desk was the familiar face of the governor that I learned about from mother's classes. He wasn't smiling, though. He was looking over a datapad report with a bit of a sneer. I am glad that I was wearing a helmet as it saved me from explaining my scowl.
Pre Vizsla was a little intimidating. His armor was colored differently and he wore a cape over his shoulder. There was also something on his back that I couldn't identify. It was sheathed in a port on his back armor. Otherwise, he was in the same armor as one of the other warriors, right down to the twin pistols.
The conversation didn't last very long and was entirely one-sided. His official title among Death Watch was Al'akaan, roughly translated to War Leader. I was expected to do my job, learn the comm system, and keep it in order. If I could do maintenance, fine; if I couldn't, then I'd have a month to learn. Failure meant that I would be assigned to a suicide mission or just outright killed. I was also expected to be loyal and not repeat anything I heard; comm operator was a position of responsibility and discretion was necessary. Finally, I would have other assignments according to my skills.
I was dismissed and went to the comms room. The warrior currently on duty handed me a couple of datapads and told me that I was expected to be up to speed on the system by the end of the week. At least that meant I wouldn't have a lot of free time to think about… … to think about Kal'ad.
I got some chow from the autochef unit in the barracks, yeah that's a thing here, and went back to my bunk to start reading. Unlike the training barracks, this one is heated. It also has a wall mounted table to go along with the chair beside the bunk. I guess it's time for me to start studying for my life. I'm sure I'll be able to escape soon. I hope.