Hawke's War
Chapter Two: Clanless
Mandalore, 18 Years Before the Battle of Yavin
Hawke didn't know how long he had been limping through the now snow covered terrain before he had arrived at the abandon mining shaft, but he was now here. The twenty five year old Mandalorian had made it to his clan's fallback point after what felt like a lifetime of walking, clutching his injury the whole way. The abandoned Beskar mine was transitioned into a fallback point for the Trakyr Clan by Ori Trakyr several years ago.
The mine lied several miles away from the remnants of the Trakyr Clan's homestead and if any other Trakyr members survived Captain Raine's Imperial assault, they would be there, waiting to regroup with any other survivors. Though Hawke had found the bodies of many of his fellow clan members, but he hoped that some had survived the firefight.
The entrance to the mine-shaft was carved into the side of a small mountain, which had been strip mined for any valuable Beskar years ago, abandoned after several months of failure led to the bankruptcy of the small company that held the mining rights to this particular site. With no one else left to claim it, Ori Trakyr claimed it as his own and hid a starship inside the large entrance, with foliage covering the entrance, along with a security system designed to recognize non-members of the Trakyr Clan.
As Hawke pushed his way through the thick, snow covered brush that covered the entrance, he removed his helmet to be recognized by the automated turret that protected the cave. A loud bell sound was emitted, indicating that the system had recognized Hawke. Hawke dropped his helmet to the ground, almost collapsing as he stumbled forward, finally entering the large cave, free of the immense amounts of brush.
Inside the cave, an immaculate hideout laid before Hawke. Among the stone walls, floodlights hung from the side of the cave, constantly lit up, rendering the cave usable at all times. Several pallets were held within the cave, containing boxes of food and other numerous supplies that would be needed during a state of emergency. All of this surrounded the centerpiece of the large cave.
An eighty two meter long Kuat Systems Engineering designed Wayfarer-class Medium Transport, which had been considered a marginal failure upon release, sat as the centerpiece of the dugout cave. The hull of the ship was a dull brown, with dents and scratches from previous usage scattered across the ship's hull. Near the front of the freighter on either side, the Trakyr Clan's Slice Hound tooth symbol was painted on the hull, indicating who the ship belonged to.
Hawke, however, did not have time to focus on the ship.
It didn't take long for the twenty five year old to notice that the cave was devoid of any other life besides himself. There were no Mandalorians arming themselves to counter the Imperials, Ori was not shouting orders from atop a crate, there was no one else in the cave. Hawke slowly slumped against the side of a nearby durasteel crate after dropping his brother's LD-1 Blaster Rifle and his own Adostic Arms Scattergun, grimacing in pain from his wound as he dropped to the gravelly floor of the cave.
The Mandalorian coughed painfully, clutching his left side when he did. Hawke didn't know what to do other than wait in hopes that another one of his clansmen would wander into the cave, though Hawke knew deep down that the odds of that occurring were incredibly slim. The Mandalorian took a long moment to rest, breathing laboriously as he clutched his wound tighter and tighter.
Finally, Hawke forced himself upwards, using his discarded scattergun as a support to get him to his feet and moving. Painfully, Hawke knelt down and grabbed his brother's blaster, placing it carefully atop a nearby durasteel crate, before continuing up the Wayfarer's entry ramp, clambering into the ship's interior. The entry ramp brought Hawke into the ship's port-side detachable modular cargo bay, which had been the main marketing focus when the ship line had first launched. Though exciting at first, the ship did not accept most standard modular units, being compatible with only Kuat Systems Engineering built pods.
Upon entering the ship, the lights automatically flickered to life, illuminating the spotless interior of the ship. As opposed to the outer hull, the appearance of the ship's inner-workings were impeccably clean, as if a maintenance crew was aboard the ship at all times. Hawke set his weapons aside, limping through the ship in search of medical supplies.
He stumbled from cabin-to-cabin, unsure of the exact layout of this particular ship class. He only knew of the Wayfarer-class based upon the specifications that Ori Trakyr had supplied to the Trakyr Clan to familiarize them with the ship. It wasn't until he came upon the captain's quarters of the ship that he found what he needed.
Within the rather spacious captain's quarters, several things were prominently displayed that acquired Hawke's attention, the most important of which was a large medical kit mounted onto the wall next to the entrance. Hawke scrambled to open the kit, unclasping its bindings to retrieve the supplies he required to treat his wound.
With a bacta patch in his possession, Hawke began taking off the upper part of his armor, starting, of course, with his helmet. Hawke was relatively clean shaven, with a short jet black stubble and his hair styled in a military-like high fade cut. He had a trio of scars running diagonally across the center of his face from his encounter with a Shriek-hawk, after wandering into a cave the creature inhabited several years prior.
Next, the wounded Mandalorian slowly heaved his chestpiece, which included his shoulder pauldrons, over his head, setting it off to the side near his carefully discarded helmet. The arm pieces of his armor came off separately, going into the same pile as the other pieces. Finally, his underlying lightweight durasteel armorweave came off last, revealing his wound.
It was a scorched wound, though the traveling had caused charred pieces of flesh to break away and begin bleeding, leaving dried blood around the blackened area of skin. Hawke grimaced as he readied the bacta patch, gently easing it over the blaster-inflicted wound. It didn't take long for the effects of the near miracle-like properties of bacta to kick in, leaving Hawke feeling better.
Stripped to his black undershirt and armored greaves, Hawke took this time to examine the captain's quarters he found himself within. The room was adorned with items that Hawke found both interesting and oddly out of place. The thing the Mandalorian noticed the most was a black colored deactivated droid in the corner of the room, attached to a wall charging unit.
He recognized that the model belonged to the IG-series line of droids, a line famous for skilled assassin and battle droid models. Nearby, a holocomputer sat atop a small desk. Hawke sat down at the terminal, powering the computer up. It didn't take long for him to uncover the fact that it had belonged to his father and was used as a personal terminal.
A several second long search led Hawke to find a personal journal of his father's. He started with the first entry.
Log Alpha One - Ori Trakyr
Hawke turned fifteen today. A man, as far as I'm concerned. He's learned more than I ever imagined he could, surpassing his brother and myself in his skills. I am proud. I purchased this ship today for a discounted price of thirty thousand Republic credits to replace the aging Barloz-class Freighter I had hidden away here. Used it in bartering for the Wayfarer, hence the reduced price. Decent enough ship, but I don't plan on ever needing it for its intended purpose. If the Trakyr Clan ever needs to evacuate in a hurry, she'll do the job.
End Of Log
Hawke closed the entry, skimming through several more, before finally stumbling upon a more recent log.
Log Delta Seventeen - Ori Trakyr
Returned from my so called adventure to Utapau today. Everything is in place for the evacuation and I've purchased this IG-86 Sentinel, which I plan on reprogramming to help our cause. I've spent twenty years, more years than I care to imagine, planning for an attack on my Clan. With the Rise of the Empire several months ago, I'm afraid it seems more and more likely that this will happen. I've trained Hawke and Leonidas as much as possible in hopes of continuing the clan, though I still fear that will not be enough to save us. The Imperials are already on Mandalore, taking our Beskar. It may come down to utilizing my supply caches as rearm points for an open insurgency against Palpatine and his boys in black. I fear for my family.
End Of Log
That was the last updated log in the list of Ori Trakyr's personal logs. Hawke remembered Ori traveling away two months prior for an extended period of time, but didn't know where or who he had been with during the time. It must have been the aforementioned Utapau trip.
Hawke continued searching through the computer's files, coming upon another shred of important information. It was entitled "To Leonidas and Hawke". Hawke opened it and was surprised to see his father in his full set of armor, minus his helmet, holographically projected in front of him.
"Leonidas, Hawke, my children. If you're listening to this, then I can only assume that I have perished and my fears have come true. If it was not the Empire, than somebody sought the destruction of the Trakyr name, and I fell at their hands. This is one of the few instances in which I cannot guide you. You're Mandalorians now. The decision of what you do after this is completely up to you. If any of the other clan members are alive, I would hope you'd choose to take responsibility and assist in rebuilding the clan. But, if it played out to my worse nightmare, than it is just one of you, hopefully both. This ship is yours, with a registry ready to be submitted. Name is of your choice, of course. Coordinates for the planet of Utapau and a specific location planetside are in the ship's navicomputer. After that, the choices are yours to make. Good luck. Ni kar'tayli gar darasuum, my sons." The projection suddenly disappeared, leaving Hawke to sit in silence.
His father had almost predicted, planned for, and expected this exact outcome. When the older Trakyr clan members spoke of Ori's levels of preparation, Hawke never envisioned something quite to this level. Left clan-less, fatherless, and alone, Hawke had little to do but go to Utapau, as his father had said in the message left to him.
Author's Note: This chapter felt kind of forced, but once I get this one out of the way, it should get things rolling in the idea department of my brain.