The following night
As they walked through the canopy, Hamar checked his gauntlets one last time when they reached the mining site they were tasked to covertly destroy. Since the Wookiees could not risk getting caught fighting the Trade Federation with a full-scale attack, they would have to do this alone. The initial plan was to destroy the central computer which relayed orders to the droids, but that was quickly scrapped when they found out that after the failed Invasion of Naboo the Trade Federation had upgraded their droids to be able to operate autonomously. However, the failure of that invasion also weakened the Trade Federation's hold on many planets, and the destruction of the mining operation would be more than enough to drive them away. Arriving at a large branch near the edge of the mining site, they took a moment to study the place. There were at least 30 droids patrolling the site as well and an AAT near the main gate, and it was impossible to determine what laid inside the mine itself.
"The trees chose you, not me. Good luck," Hamar said. Karel nodded before jumping down from the branch and past the fence surrounding the complex.
Sneaking through the patrols and avoiding the searchlights, Karel set up charges on the fuel tanks next to the landing pad, on the power generator, and on the central computer, before entering the mine through an air duct to avoid being detected. Barely able to fit through the duct, Karel began to understand why he was the one chosen for this. He crawled for a few minutes more before finding an exit at what appeared to be an empty storage room. He silently opened the vent and jumped from the ceiling and into the room. Just then, a young male Trandoshan entered the room and Karel quickly hid behind an ore shipment, holding his breath in fear of being spotted. Seeing that nothing was out of order he turned to leave, until he spotted the open air duct in the ceiling. Through his species' infrared sight the Trandoshan could detect a faint signature somewhere in the room. As he walked to where Karel hid, the boy's comlink chimed off.
"Karel? Do you hear me?" his father asked through the comlink. Karel scrambled to turn it off as the Trandoshan walked around and spotted him hiding behind a cart of ore.
"Hey! What are you doing here?!"
The Trandoshan hissed as he launched to grab Karel. Knowing he couldn't win in a straight fight and using his superior agility and smaller size, Karel managed to avoid him. He unsheathed his small knife fashioned from a katarn's claw and evaded several other attacks from the taller and slower opponent before slashing him on the leg, bringing him down to a knee. Enraged, the Trandoshan caught Karel and slammed him on a box, knocking the knife out of his hand.
"Jetar madle!" the Trandoshan yelled, cursing Karel in his native tongue.
He growled, raising his clawed hand to kill the boy. Glancing to his side, Karel grabbed a small piece of the ore and hit him on the head as hard as he could with the punctured end of the rock, drawing blood from his forehead. The unexpected attack made the Trandoshan release his grasp on him and knocked him to the ground, stunning him long enough for Karel to pick up his knife. The Trandoshan quickly recovered and hissed at him, standing on all fours and ready to charge at him. But the boy did not falter as he waited for the perfect moment to strike on the only vulnerable spot his enemy had. That moment came when the Trandoshan launched at him and Karel stabbed him through the neck without hesitation, twisting the knife as he pulled it out, killing him in an instant. As his opponent's lifeless body laid in front of him, Karel reached for his comlink and contacted his father, who was frantically calling for him.
"Karel? Karel, do you copy? Are you there, son?" Hamar asked, panicking through the comm.
"I'm here. I'm okay. I just had some... delays," he replied as he panted for air. Crawling through the duct and his brief exchange with the Trandoshan had left him exhausted.
"Has anyone seen you?" Hamar asked, the relief in his voice loud and clear.
"Yes, but I just took care of it," Karel replied, his tone implying what he had done. On the other side of the transmission Hamar was smiling under his helmet as he held back a laugh. Karel started searching the Trandoshan's body and found some sort of key, which he promptly took.
"Well done. Hurry up, only four charges and you're done," Hamar said, cutting the transmission.
Karel pocketed his comlink before stepping out of the room. He sneaked through the empty hallways until he reached the main section of the mine. As he finished setting the last charge on one of the support pillars, Karel heard a low growl nearby. It wasn't from a Trandoshan, but from a Wookiee. As he approached to investigate, he saw a group of enslaved Wookiees on the platform in front of him with shock collars and chains. They appeared to be somewhat young for Wookiees, around 200 years old, but one was significantly older, probably around 350 years old. As he was about to approach them, a pair of Trandoshans arrived to supervise their slaves. The oldest Wookiee tripped over while moving some ore and the Trandoshans laughed at him as one of his companions helped him get up. Eventually, one Trandoshan left and the other seemed to be distracted, so Karel moved up to help the Wookiees. As he sneaked on the Trandoshan from above, one of the younger Wookiees saw him and stopped what he was doing. Karel put a finger over his mouth, miming a signal to stay quiet. The Wookiee nodded slightly in return.
"Hey! Stop standing around and get back to work!" the Trandoshan yelled. He pressed a button on his gauntlet, shocking the distracted Wookiee.
Karel pulled out the same katarn claw knife from before and jumped down on the Trandoshan, falling on his shoulders. Firmly wrapping his other arm around the Trandoshan's jaw to give himself some balance, Karel used the same move as before and stabbed him through the neck. He jumped down from the dead body and turned to the Wookiees as he sheathed the knife. The Wookiees were shocked to see someone, let alone a human boy so young, take out a Trandoshan like that with such ease.
"It's okay, I'm here to help you. Tarfful sent me. I'm Karel," he said, holding his hands in the air as he approached the first Wookiee, who kneeled for him to take off his collar. He quickly removed the collars and chains using the key he took from the body of the first Trandoshan. As he finished removing the last one from the older Wookiee, the other Trandoshan reappeared. Now free, two of the younger Wookiees ran to him and attacked him. They tore his arms off before one of them lifted the Trandoshan and tossed him into the smelter.
"Alright, now we have to get out of here," Karel said, before pulling out his comlink as two of the Wookiees picked up the Trandoshans' weapons. "Buir, we got a problem. There are some Wookiees here and I need a distraction to get them out."
Hamar sighed through the comm before answering. "Fine, I'll try to get their attention. Get out of there now, I'm not sure how long I can keep them busy."
As they were looking for an exit, an alarm shrieked through the halls. They quickly found a maintenance tunnel through which they emerged from the underground mine. Walking outside they found Hamar pinned down by a platoon of B1 battle droids as the AAT approached him. Reacting to this, Karel took the extra charge he had and ran to the tank from behind. Sliding down he planted the explosive on the underbelly of the tank before rushing to help his father and detonating all of the explosives at once. The combined explosions, plus the collapse of the mine, shook the ground with the force of a groundquake, stunning the droids long enough for the freed Wookiees to tear them apart. Karel helped his father get up as they saw the final droid be ripped apart by the same Wookiee that had thrown the Trandoshan in the smelter.
"You were supposed to be stealthy," Hamar jokingly admonished his son, but there was not a hint of resentment in his voice. He picked up one of the destroyed droid's arms and looked at it for a moment, before throwing it behind his back without looking and crossing his arms.
"Your call came at the wrong moment and I had to fight a Trandoshan. So I guess you're the one to blame," Karel replied. He grinned in victory and Hamar chuckled at the image of his son fighting a Trandoshan and winning, which made him smile under his helmet.
"Seems like I've taught you well. Come on, let's get out of here!"
The group disappeared into the jungle, where they quickly lost their pursuers. When they arrived at Kachirho, the entire city had gathered to greet them. Grorkhal ran to hug Karel and lifted him off the ground.
"Thanks for the welcome, buddy," Karel said as he returned the hug and Grorkhal put him down. They let go of each other once Grorkhal saw Tarfful and Grakabukk approach them. Grorkhal nodded to the two elders respectfully before returning to the crowd, next to his family.
"Word of your success has traveled fast among the trees, Mandalorian. Your actions only confirm your people's reputation," Tarfful said, bringing a hand to his chest.
"You have done our people a great service. We will never forget you," Grakabukk added, carefully kneeling down before Karel. All the other Wookiees kneeled as well and Karel turned to look at his father, who slowly took off his helmet and smiled proudly at him. Hamar kneeled too and Karel turned to look at the crowd assembled in front of him, smiling as he remembered what his father and grandfather had told him. He was a warrior.
**********
After almost an entire week of celebrations, it was time for the Mandalorians to leave the jungle planet of Kashyyyk. The Wookiees would have been more than happy to repay them for their services and give them a home among their people, but Hamar knew this was no place for them. Checking the supplies of their ship one last time, Hamar said goodbye to Tarfful and Grakabukk while Karel shared a last hug with Grok, as he had begun to call his furry friend.
"Oh, I almost forgot!" Karel ran back inside the ship and returned a few seconds later with his hands behind his back. "I want you to keep this."
He held the shyyyo bird feather in front of Grorkhal, who flickered his gaze between Karel and the feather. Karel smiled at him and motioned for him to take the feather. Grorkhal carefully took the feather and held it close to his face, analyzing every detail of it before he graced his fingers through it. He hugged Karel again and thanked him. Finally releasing him after a minute or so, Karel bid farewell to the two other Wookiees as well, before they boarded their ship and took off.
"I think saving an entire planet should count as my verd'goten," Karel said as they began rising through the clouds and the stars came into view.
"You're not even ten yet and the verd'goten is when you're thirteen," Hamar replied. "You should get some rest, I'll wake you up later."
Karel hummed in agreement, he was exhausted by all the feasts and dances the Wookiees had organized. He went to his quarters and fell asleep almost as soon as he collapsed on his bed. Back at the cockpit, a transmission arrived as Hamar prepared to make the jump to hyperspace. As the hologram came to life, Hamar instantly recognized the man that contacted him and said his name.
"Jango Fett."
