After a couple of hours worth of walking, the group of Jedi and Clones were now deep within the deadly nest. Their encounters with Kinraths were few and far between, proving that they weren't yet deep enough to be considered "in danger", at least, not to an extent they couldn't handle. Not long after entering the hive, Gram took point, with Mona not far behind. Just as Master Varun had predicted, Gram had sensed his crystal the moment they had crossed the threshold of the hive and had been leading them through the winding passages for the last hour and a half.
As they continued on, Mona thought about her recently discovered heritage and wondered if her brother had known about it when he set up the waypoint in the Shadow's system. If he did, it would explain why the vehicles he made were so heavily armed, but by that same thought process, it didn't explain why he went out of the way to give all of them stealth capabilities. There was nothing more frustrating to her than the mystery of her brothers life. It seemed like the more pieces she uncovered to the puzzle, the less it seemed to make sense. He seemed to adhere to the Jedi Code, yet he had a close bond with her and Jenoria purely because they were family and wasn't afraid to express his love for them. He also made no effort in hiding that his saber training was incomplete, yet showed a strange proficiency in combat scenarios, especially against other Force users. It was almost as if he had found another teacher in his exile, one who taught him to defend against other Force users rather than saber wielders.
She was shaken from her thoughts at the sound of combat ahead, causing her to move up and halt Gram. He cooperated without much resistance and she moved ahead to the next fork in their path. Following the sounds, she peered down the left path and saw a lone Mandalorian slaying a horde of Kinraths. He made broad, sweeping motions with his flamethrower, only allowing a few of the braver bugs to plough through, which he then killed with quick, precise attacks to preserve his energy for the rest. She didn't know why, but Mona wanted to learn from his moves, rather than simply analyse them. She chalked it up to some dormant instincts from her father and carried on. Now that the stronger Kinraths were dealt with, he shut off his flamethrower and retracted the blade he had been using thus far. He pulled out what looked like a custom blaster as the horde closed in. Mona could only watch in pure fascination as he deftly dodged their stingers and threw the clumsier ones into the sturdier ones. In some instances, he threw a Kinrath into another that was just striking. Some would chalk that up to a lucky break, but Mona knew better. With most Mandalorians, there was no luck, only skill. To prove that, he didn't fire his blaster at all unless he knew it would kill. With all those factors, it was no wonder that a battle that would otherwise take a few minutes with casualties on both sides ended in just a few moments with one side having what can only be described as a perfect victory. With the battle won, the Mandalorian holstered his weapon and surveyed the carnage. Then he spoke.
"You're not as stealthy as you think," he turned to look in Mona's direction, "It's safe now. You can come out."
Mona signalled for the group to remain close, but stay out of sight, and approached the Mandalorian.
"I wasn't exactly trying to hide," she responded.
"And your friends?"
"Soldiers. Trust issues. You know how it is."
"Not really. Been here my whole life. Worst I've seen is whatever the planet throws at me. Not to mention the Clan Creed dictates that we watch each other's backs. But I thought you of all people would know that?"
"And why's that?" Mona snarkily asked, already suspecting the answer.
"It may be more defined, but I never forget a face," he began, catching Mona off guard as her expression softened. He then said what she was expecting, "You're the Clan Leader's daughter."
It took a few moments for the words to register for her, but she soon steeled her resolve and signalled for the others to come out. They did so, weapons drawn, but a secondary signal from their commander convinced them to put their weapons away, or at the very least, her clones. Varuns clones were still poised to strike, but a signal from their general changed that.
"You know me?" Mona asked as the group reached her position, save Gram, who walked toward a dead Kinrath.
"Know you?" The Mandalorian chuckled, "My mother delivered you. And I gotta say, your mom had quite the colourful vocabulary for a Jedi."
That news floored Mona even more than the news of her paternal heritage, "My mother was a...?"
"You didn't know? Didn't you ever think it was odd that both you and your brother were Force Sensitive? Unless..." He looked at Varun, "The Jedi have been keeping secrets." He turned back to Mona, "Exactly how much of your heritage did you know about before today?"
"None," Mona stated with venom in her voice.
"Clan Leader's not gonna like that. I'll escort you to the settlement. Keep that one close," he gestured to Varun and turned around, spotting Gram as he was about to touch the dead Kinrath, "Woah, kid! Kinrath venom has acidic properties, especially in large quantities. I doubt your gloves can take it." As Gram backed away, the Mandalorian cut into the Kinrath and rooted around its innards, "Now, given the fact that you're not a clone, I can only guess that you're that guys apprentice," he stopped as he found something that clearly didn't belong, "which can only mean," he pulled out his closed fist and flicked the excess venom off his hand, which sizzled on the cavern floor, "that you," he pulled something out of his hand and flicked the remaining venom off of both it and his hand. The object was revealed to be a glittering Kyber Crystal, "are looking for this." He offered the crystal to Gram, who carefully grasped it. The Mandalorian stood up and turned to rest of the group, "Let's move. Won't take long for Viper Kinraths to come investigating the noise."
The Mandalorian started walking, followed closely by the two Padawans. As the rest of the group followed, Mona gave a signal and the ARC Troopers trailed behind, one of them grabbing Varuns lightsaber as he passed. When he turned to question them, he was met with their blasters trained on him.
"Sorry sir," one of the troopers said, "but with everything that's come to light thus far and how suspicious you're acting, you had to know this was coming."
The other trooper prodded him with their blaster to get him moving and he huffed a bit, but complied. One of his troopers prepared to shoot the insubordinate troopers, but Varun stopped them. He had in fact seen this coming and knew full well that it was deserved.
...
By the time they exited the hive, it was already dusk. They followed the Mandalorian up a steep hill as the smell of seering meat filled the air. It filled Mona with a phantom sense of nostalgia.
"Smells like we're just in time." The Mandalorian said with a content sigh.
"In time for what?" Mona asked.
"It's not everyday the Clan Leader's kids come home. Soon as we got word of your brothers ship arriving, the Clan Leader sent me into the hive to clear a path, just in case."
"So that's why you were in there. By the way, I never got your name."
"Never gave it. Frik Minara." Mona gave him a look, "My father, your," he held up his hands and fiddled with his fingers, trying to figure out the exact relation, before giving up, "distant cousin, kicked something that was a lot harder than he was right as the nursing droid was waiting for a name for me."
"I'm sorry."
"For what? It's his embarrassment, not mine. Regardless, Welcome to Clan Minara."
Mona looked ahead and saw the settlement beyond a distinguished archway emblazoned with a crest that looked like the skull of a long dead people mounted on a lightsaber like a pike. She stopped and stared at the crest for a few moments when Frik noticed.
"Yeah, the Clan crest is really something. Ichas Minara earned it when he killed a Sith Lord with his own blade. After the clan became more established, we separated from Mandalore and established our own Creed. Speaking of which, you won't have to worry about anyone glaring at you for not wearing a helmet, we're more lax than other Clans about that." They passed through the archway and Mona could only stare in awe at the size of the settlement. It was practically a large village. "Minaras, each and every one of them, by blood, marriage, or adoption." He nudged her arm to get her attention, "Come on, I'll take you to the Armourer. She's been waiting for you."
Mona started to follow, but stopped and turned to the group.
"We're guests here," she explained, "if they offer you food, take it. And remember your manners."
...
Back at the hill overlooking the Shadow, the girls had hunkered down for dinner, eating the Horned Kath Hound that had attacked them earlier over an open fire.
"How much longer do we have to wait?" the younger of the girls asked before sinking her teeth, which seemed to have a much more balanced ratio of sharp and flat teeth than other humanoids, into a juicy slab of meat.
"We've already waited two days, we can wait one more." The older one responded as she ate, her long hair blocking most of her face while her mask sat beside her.
"Still, I don't like camping so close to the guy on the cliff," the girls glance over to the cliff, where another campfire could be seen, "he creeps me out."
"Yeah, me too," she looked down at her food before looking back at her companion, sapphire orbs peering through her hair with a steely expression, "but our dads wouldn't give up because of a creepy guy, so we can't either!"
The other girl looked at her, considering her attempt at a pep talk, and responded with another bite of her meat, causing the speech giver to slump down and grumble about how she thought it was a good one.
...
Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you all. I got a new laptop, so now I can get more writing done on the weekends, rather than hoping for inspiration to strike during my half hour breaks at work.
That aside, we will hopefully have only one more chapter learning about the Minaras with Mona, then we'll be back with Jenoria and the plot will really kick off.
If you have any Mandalorian OCs you would like to add to Clan Minara, the door's wide open because, as mentioned in this chapter, it's a large village worth of Mandalorians.