Beskar
- Mandalorian Iron
Arminius had taken the boys into town early that morning to see the goran. They picked out pieces of iron to use in the making of their armour, and were then prompted to pick colours for it. Darius chose blue, and Doug chose black and red-orange. They were given paint, and after a messy ordeal, Arminius and the blacksmith helped them paint their new armour, along with their helmet. When the paint had dried, and the individual pieces were stuck on the armour's under suit, Arminius helped them in putting it all on.
"Buir, this stuff is heavy." Little Doug'ika said under his helmet, which nearly dwarfed the size of his own head. It looked rather cute, as though it were a costume rather than an actual uniform suit of Mandalorian armour.
"Yah, and what about when we get older? Aren't we gonna be too big for it?" Darius asked.
"Ha, kids." The blacksmith chuckled, walking out of the paint room and back to another project.
"It can be resized as you get older." Arminius said, walking over and taking off Doug's helmet, placing it at the boy's side under his arm. His son smiled as his father tussled his hair.
"You'll have to get used to the weight. Come, let's go home. Sucellos is going to be visiting." Arminius said. With that, Arminius and his sons walked back home.
"Buir, why did we paint it?" Darius asked, as they trudged over a green hill.
"Lots of reasons. Personal deeds and sentiments, your clan, rank, and terrain."
"What's terrain?" Doug asked.
"It's the land your in. If you want to hide from someone, you paint your armour the colour of the terrain. If you're hunting an animal in the forest, you paint it green, brown, and black. It's camouflage. Camo for short."
"Forest camo?" Doug asked, unknowingly putting the pieces together.
"You could call it that. What's black that you can hide with?" Arminius asked to the boy, referring to his armour's colour.
"I don't know…the sky?"
"How about shadows?" Arminius pointed out. Doug blinked, and looked forward again, thinking about it.
"So it keeps us safe?" Darius asked.
"Good. It's resistant against lightsabers, the force, and blaster fire."
"The force? And light sabers?"
"You don't need to worry about that now. Just know that the armour is part of our culture. You'll see why."
It was mid-afternoon when they arrived back home. They found that Sucellos, Athena and Arminius' first son, had already arrived, and was plowing the field via native Mandalorian Yak. Sucellos stopped what he was doing for a few minutes to come and greet his father, along with his two brothers.
"Buir, these my new brothers?" Sucellos asked, smiling as he removed his gloves to shake their hands.
"This is Doug, and Darius. Boys, say hello to your older brother, Sucellos." Arminius said, as the young man shook their hands. Still timid around strangers, the young boys gave a light shake to their older brother. Sucellos didn't mind though, as he was relatively new to them.
"Boys, go on inside and change, and then go help your brother in the corn fields." Arminius said to them. They waved to their older brother, than ran on inside. Arminius turned to Sucellos, and they walked on, talking about the times.
"Mandalore is making preparations, buir. He's had scouts in the Outer Rim for a year or two. I think he'll launch the next Crusade soon." Sucellos said. Arminius could still fight, but he considered himself a relic, one of the original Crusaders. This new Crusade, with the "Neo-Crusaders," didn't seem right to him. His true brothers were the ones who had fought and died alongside him on Basilisk, Cinnagar, Foerost, Coruscant, Ossus, and Onderon. Those were the old times, with Te Kandosii Mand'alor, Kun, and Qel-Droma as their leaders. But those times were past, and all his leaders and most of his friends were now dead. Yes, he was going against the Mandalorian way (philosophically, and by not falling in rank with the new Mandalore) but he was an old man now, past his prime. All he wanted to do was raise his new sons, live with his wife, and die happy.
"I heard talk in the ranks the Sith are involved. As though they're goading us to do this." Sucellos said, continuing.
"Not the Mandalorian way." Arminius replied.
"I know, and I don't like it. But anyway…we're going to start in the Outer Rim, outside Republic space. Eventually, we'll move against them, but, we'll see." Sucellos said, ending the topic as his two younger brothers returned back outside.
"Alright boys, go on with Sucellos." Arminius said to them. The boys looked to their older brother, and went with him off to the corn fields. Arminius took a quick moment to reflect on what Sucellos said, and his own thoughts, then walked over to the Yak and began plowing the field.
***
After dinner, Sucellos settled into his old room, and Arminius and Athena settled their youngest sons into bed. They then headed off to their own room. As Athena fell asleep, Arminius stayed up, still thinking about his conversation earlier in the day.
"Honey? What's wrong?" Athena asked, turning over as she noticed that her husband was still awake. Arminius lay silent for a few moments, then spoke.
"A war is going to begin soon. I want to be here, with you, and with our sons."
"Honey, do you really think Mandalore is going to go after one old Crusader? You've earned all this, and most of the clans from the last war he's already brought to Dxun. It'll be ok." She said reassuringly. Arminius thought about that for a moment, then turned to his wife.
"I love you." Arminius said. Athena smiled and kissed him.
"I love you too hon. Now get to bed, it's late."
With that, they turned off the lights, and quickly fell asleep.