He'd awakened some time around his namesake, rubbing the grogginess from his eyes with his right hand as he continued to hold Ruby in his left arm. While he made no move to get out of bed, Midnight simply stared at the roof of his MRAP for a few minutes, gently stroking his daughter's back while contemplating their next move. His brothers had their orders, to gun down anything trying to follow them, and the couple rapid bursts of fire he'd heard before falling asleep earlier had told him that they'd stood fast on those orders. The gentle rumble of his vic as it followed the convoy was a familiar feeling, from so much time spent in this vehicle and others throughout his time at war, and helped him somewhat to ease his mind and get a certain sense of clarity. Given night was already falling when they'd left, he could safely surmise that he hadn't been out very long, probably just long enough for them that a return back to the city wouldn't be a plausible option. Shutting his eyes, Midnight idly pictured the route on the map they were taking in his mind. They had the coordinates, but would have to go off-road for much of the journey, though that suited him and the others just fine. Would help with disappearing off the radar.
The Yachts would pull into a port town a few kilometers north of the covert and drop anchor there, the personnel on board would link up with the clones already on site and begin the transportation of supplies back to the covert. Until they could carve out a large enough space into the cliff and bleed the water from the shore into it, they couldn't risk bringing the Yachts themselves close to their new home since they would be too easy to identify. No, those boats would have to hold up off-site for awhile. As for the rest of their new fleet of vehicles? The clones had supposedly already cleared an outdoor staging ground for the vics, and once they arrived with the lien, they'd purchase the additional tools needed to cut into the mountain and build up their new home inside of it. Granted they already had some of the tools required to do such but not quite on the scale they were looking to operate.
"Sandstorm incoming. Close your hatches, everyone, keep your transponder online so we can continue to follow your signature even if we lose visuals." One of the Commandos up in the front spoke, with another dropping down from the top hatch and closing it behind him. A closer look around showed two of his brothers up front, one now sitting on the bed adjacent to his own after locking down the hatch, and the fourth sleeping in the bunk above the one his other brother sat upon. He didn't need anything more than that, as he trusted his brothers to get the job done regardless of the circumstances.
Finding no reason to pick himself up right now as he did honestly feel quite exhausted, Midnight laid his head back, and returned to sleep, recounting the many battles won and lost that led him to this point in his life...
*BEEP BEEP BEEP! BEEP BEEP BE-*
He'd been awakened by the blaring of an alarm, albeit not a loud one, and rose to the smell of bacon. Noticing the child absent from his arms, he brought both fists up to rub the sleep out of his eyes as he looked outside and saw some sunlight bleeding through thick clouds of sand. From the angle of it, he could make a safe assumption in declaring the early morning, maybe six or seven o'clock. Groaning lowly, Midnight picked himself fully upright, cracking his neck to his left and right before turning his legs off the side of the bed and observing the scene.
Just to his right, Ruby was cooking a couple items on a drop-down table that usually hung in the roof. It wasn't a standard item, rather a modification the original owner had made to make operating out of the vehicle for long periods of time more comfortable. Her back was turned to him, but he could smell sausage, eggs and rice, and there was already a jug filled with what looked to be freshly made orange juice. To his left, two of his brothers sat on the adjacent bed with helmets off, happily chowing down on respective plates of the aforementioned meal with bottles of orange juice already half-way empty. A look further left, his brother riding shotgun was also chowing down on a plate of food. He observed an empty tray in the washing bin under the adjacent bed, implying that the current driver had already eaten.
"Oh! Good Morning daddy!" Ruby called, seizing his attention back to his little girl and opting him to look down upon the plate she was turning with, seemingly enough for him.
"Good morning Ruby. You eat first, I have to get on the net and get a status update on our location and progress." He informed her, standing up and giving her space to sit down (since she'd evidently lowered the guards earlier). A swift reach under his bed, he pulled out his helmet and slapped it on, getting straight to business without hesitation. "Any station this is Midnight, comms check, over."
"Marcus to Midnight, hear you Lima Charlie, over."
"Good to hear your voice, Marcus. Gimme a sitrep."
"Copy Midnight, we're deep inland and far off any roads. Low visibility, but the storm should clear in another hour or so. Estimated arrival at New Mandalore, 18:00 hours."
"Roger Marcus, 18:00 hours. Keep me posted."
"Copy that Midnight, if we have any new developments, you'll be the first to know." With that, the conversation came to end, with Midnight turning his eyes back to the front of the MRAP. He could just barely see a few vehicles distance ahead of them, and his helmet did a lot to help in that regard. Suboptimal conditions for anyone else, perfect for the Mando'ade.
"Dad! I'm making your breakfast now!" Ruby announced, and a quick look over his shoulder revealed her setting her plate and utensils in the wash bin and zipping back over to the table she'd been cooking on. He was honestly surprised at how quickly she'd wolfed her food down, but assumed she must not be fully relaxed yet. He couldn't blame her, but he did hope to at least give the girl a room of her own once those were being established at the covert. He opted to just return her a nod of thanks, before drawing forth the katana he'd sheathed last night for a proper cleaning. Beskar or not, if you failed to clean and maintain your equipment, it'll break. Simply one of the many facts of life.
After a couple short minutes, Ruby slid his plate into his lap, and handed him his bottle of orange juice. It had a lot of pulp, something he was used to, but it tasted good nonetheless, and the food was amazingly done. He remembered Ruby had mentioned that her mother had taught her how to cook, and idly mused that she must've been a helluva chef and an amazing teacher, considering her daughter is as good as she is. However, with breakfast done and over with in just a few minutes, Midnight stowed the plate in it's appropriate place to wash later, wiped his face off with a wet wipe, and slid his helmet onto his head.
With a quick jerk of his head as he poked his head up front, his brother acknowledged, allowing the one in shotgun to grab the wheel while he pulled himself out to allow Midnight to take over. With a full night's rest, he felt more than good and awake enough to drive without any issue. Best to take over now and allow all his brothers to get some shut-eye while he and Ruby took the front. As soon as he was in the drivers seat and had taken the wheel, his brother in shotgun nodded in confirmation, let go and climbed into the back, clearing way just enough to allow Ruby to pass to the front with her father.
"Daddy, can we listen to the radio? It's kinda dull without a little music..." Ruby complained a little, pointing to the radio in the middle of the dashboard between himself and her.
"This far out, with the storm interfering we wouldn't be able to pick up any signals, and even if we did, it wouldn't be anywhere remotely near clear. Besides, while unlikely, a radio receiver can still be traced, and that's not a risk we can take right now." He explained, but raised his brow as she shook her head and reached down into a compartment in the console. A moment later, she emerged with a CD simply marked "Guitar Tracks."
"Would this be fine, then? Just using the stereo with this, right?" He shrugged at that, before taking a hand off the wheel to flick the stereo online and gesture for Ruby to do as she wished. A small squeal of delight emerged from behind her mask, as not a minute later, the soothing sound of a six string guitar playing beautiful tunes began to fill the air. The ghost of a smile eased into his neutral expression as he half-listened to the music, more focused on the tasks at hand than anything else but still enjoying the music nonetheless...
He whistled in an impressed manner as his vehicle was finally ground guided into it's respective spot in the staging grounds, allowing him, his brothers and his daughter to disembark from the MRAP after they'd shut it down and observe the covert. It was well hidden, and all their new supplies and weapons from the Venator had long since been staged, organized and consolidated. Inside the limited space they'd already drilled out, the Engineers had established a proper armory, and a large, circular room for the Armorer to establish her forge within. There was a rotational guard shift for all the exposed supplies, but they weren't too worried about thieves this far out and in this remote a location. Living quarters had yet to be established, but they had found a rather cutout in the mountain that was relatively flat, where the clones already brought the wounded for triage. Thankfully, surgical droids had survived the destruction of the Blackout, along with plenty of medical supplies and plenty of gurneys.
"Heya Mid, we got this entire area locked down and squared away. All supplies and salvageable equipment has been brought over and organized, but we lack the proper means to create a lot of space in any timely manner." Mickey saluted him as he approached, receiving one in kind as Midnight gestured for him to walk and talk with him.
"Everyone already knows that immediate sleeping arrangements are at the discretion of the individual, at least for now. Marcus is reaching out to his contacts to hook us up with some mining and construction droids, said he'll have rooms carved out within the week. Davian is heading out with his fireteam to the nearest major city to secure other vitally important supplies tomorrow morning, and Rikka is seeing about lining up work for the Mando'ade at the capital tomorrow. Bounty Hunting, Grimm Hunts, anything we can use to further sharpen ourselves against and get paid in the process of doing." He explained, earning a quizzical look from Mickey that was somehow visible through his helmet.
"If our clan already has roughly a hundred million in this world's currency, currency that can apparently get you more than a credit can on a one-to-one comparison, why bother with earning more money at the immediate moment?"
"I know we were never given a finances class but I'll be ensuring all my brothers receive one before the year is out. If we get more money, it hurts our reserve less when we have to make large purchases. For the welfare of the clan, a grand total of about 200 Mandalorian infantrymen can bring in millions of lien in a relatively short period of time, but things like food, medical supplies, automated support, fuel, ammunition and raw materials can burn into that reserve very quickly. best to have a large reserve and constantly expand it than let it dwindle." Midnight explained, receiving a couple nods of understanding from his brother.
"Alright, I getcha... by the way, there's several cave systems around here, and they run pretty deep. While our living arrangements are getting mined out, I suggest we send a couple survey teams down them to see if there's anything good in 'em."
"Good idea, Mick. I'll inform the Armorer, then we can start surveying the caves in the morning. Now, was there any other significant developments I need be aware of?" Midnight inquired, receiving a quick nod in affirmation before watching him gesture to the cliff face now beneath them as they stood at the edge.
"Pilots want a hangar prioritized, get a proper space to land in and take off from, as well as do all their maintenance, fueling, etcetera. Additionally, our tankers want a place to do the same latter actions. Something like a lower level with a heavy-duty lift so they can travel to the hangar for gunship transport." Mickey began, before gesturing to the south and pointing out a small town a ways out. "The locals have been friendly so far, but do know of our presence. However, as there's very little presence from any of this world's "hunters" around these parts, they've agreed to keep our location a secret so long as we defend them and the couple other towns in the region from raiders, bandits and Grimm."
"Secrets for protection, huh? Is that all we get out of this arrangement?" Midnight scoffed, crossing his arms with a displeased tone, however Mickey shook his head once more.
"They said they'll pay us too, offer civil cervices and act as a front for any large purchases, such as large shipments of raw resources or droids."
"That's more like it. Well, As soon as we've the means of clearing out such large spaces in the rocks with any efficiency, we'll get on clearing the pilots their hangar. Contact the nearby towns to outsource for manpower if the engineers and grease monkeys are short-staffed, I've a lot on my plate for the next few hours." Midnight finished, returning the salute Mickey gave him before his departure. He'd left Ruby to play with Mercury and some other foundlings for the time being, as at this moment, he was many things, but "unoccupied" was certainly not one of them...
Night had come and gone faster than any of them could've anticipated, leading the Armorer to explore one of the caves with a handful of their Remnant-born brethren following suit for security's sake, not that she particularly needed it. Still, Midnight's child accompanying them wasn't something she was expecting, so the extra security for the girl's sake was good to have. As they descended further and further into darkness, she made sure to regale to Ruby the stories and history of their people, the legends of old and the events of new. The girl seemed to be quite attentive, something she herself found rather endearing...
Nevertheless, she was glad that Midnight had ordered this survey, if only for the fact that they may well have found the absolute jackpot. Normally, she would've scoffed at the notion of "destiny," but she couldn't deny that from their string of victories, the amazing fortune they've had in recruitment and resource gathering, and now the unique iron that was so plentiful in this cave... not to mention, the Mand'alor's own semblance being appraised as the "Destined Son's Haki," or, aura, in another term, that the rise and success of the Remnant Mando'ade might well have truly been destiny. It wasn't lightly that she said this of course, but after examining the iron in this mine, she'd been given more than enough reason to doubt her previous certainty in its nonexistence.
She'd been to other mines before, in her time upon this strange world. Examined ore deposits of many metals, iron, gold, silver, titanium, and many others. It was never anything out of the ordinary, but the iron here was an exception. It wasn't like anywhere else in the world, but it was like the iron found upon her home world and one of its moons... at least from initial observation, it was. She'd need to run a more detailed analysis later, but she was almost certain that this vein of iron, and maybe even more deposits of said metal within the region, were not just any random iron of some purity or another, but rather Beskar.
Thanks to it not being completely pure, the Beskar was weakened, and while not easily chipped, she'd managed to break a few chunks off with her hammer regardless. She'd run them under a more intense analysis later, but if her hypothesis were in fact correct, then the Remnant Mando'ade would not only have an ample reserve of current pure Beskar, but a stable source, too... truly, it did indeed seem to be destiny on their side.
"Your father declared this the Age of the Mando'ade. He's formed a clan of formidable size, and though our time together as one has been short, we have not merely thrived, but flourished under his leadership." The Armorer spoke, making Ruby perk up slightly as she followed behind the older lady. "I did not believe in destiny... he, and this journey have made me question that belief."
"He really is awesome... I wish my mom and dad and sister could've met him, though... I think they would've joined him." Ruby lamented, wiping away a few tears from under her mask as she followed the Armorer and their escort deeper into the cave.
"Perhaps. Perhaps not. Regardless, he does indeed live up to his title, and has proven himself more than worthy to lead. Mand'alor Midnight, of Clan Juggernaut. He adopted you as his own, albeit not officially... until the day he formally adopts you as his own, you will remain simply as Ruby Rose, of Clan Juggernaut." Her declaration brought a look of confusion to Ruby behind her mask, but she didn't voice said confusion, merely nodding as she followed along.
After about an hour longer in the cave, the narrow corridor opened up into a deep, dark and winding ravine. Their helmets gave them the ability to see clearly even in the pitch black darkness, and allowed them to pick out other openings into the area, albeit not all of them at the same elevation or even remotely close to each other. Some of the cave mouths were above them, some below, but within minutes of observing the area, she noted the presence of the other four survey teams emerging from some of the other entrances.
"Armorer, it seems many of these caves lead back to this... chasm. I don't believe I've ever seen a space quite like this, but I believe this chasm is connected to a larger trench found a few kilometers west under the waves." One of the survey team leaders hailed her, prompting her to scratch her chin in contemplation.
"If that's true, then why is this section of the trench not submerged?"
"Perhaps there's something blocking it off? It's just a theory, of course, but I believe it's worthy of examination." She merely nodded as she looked to the floor of the ravine, needing to actually zoom in to pick anything out with any clarity. Wherever they were, this chasm ran deep, perhaps even kilometers under the ocean floor... it certainly wasn't any location to take lightly, but it did present some opportunities.
"Did you take any samples of any ore deposits you might've crossed on your way here?"
"Yes, actually. The cave we took down here was incredibly rich in iron specifically, but it's... strange. Initial scans do confirm it to be iron, but it's unlike the readings of anywhere else in the world. Other teams have confirmed the same on their ends." The Armorer hummed slightly as she heard this news, more or less validating part of her theory. Still, she couldn't quite call it until she had a more thorough scan.
"Continue surveying and mapping out this cave network, but start marking any iron deposits you might find. If my theory is correct, we're sitting on a massive amount of natural Beskar." Her declaration brought total silence over their comms for a few moments, before eventually a different voice, this one female, broke it.
"Forgive me if I misheard you, but did you just say what I think you said? All this iron ore, is unrefined Beskar?"
"As I explained, it's only a hypothesis right now. I cannot confirm yet, but it would explain why this iron has such dramatically different readings than that found anywhere else in the world." She terminated the line after her closing remarks, before turning on her heels and gesturing for her team to follow her back up to the surface. If she was correct, then Midnight needed to know, and yesterday...
She couldn't help but release a loud, bellowing laugh as her equipment she'd used to scan the iron samples she'd taken from the cave in her forge confirmed her theory. Of course, this Beskar was filled with impurities, but removing impurities from metal was something every smithy could do without too much trouble. Now that she knew for certain there was Beskar beneath them, any remaining doubts of destiny's existence had been dashed. Midnight's sudden appearance, the adoption of the first Foundling, the redemption of Marcus, the founding of the first Clan, the boons of unyielding success, the declaration of the age of their namesake, the naming of New Mandalore, and now the Beskar that had long sat undisturbed beneath their very feet in the new home they'd named after that of their Ancestors? She hadn't any more doubts. This was their destiny.
"Send a message to Marcus, we'll need a far more than a dozen or two construction and mining droids, and tell Mrs. Black that I wish to pass down to her the secrets of working Beskar." She spoke to one of the four Commandos in the room, receiving a crisp salute in response before the clone darted out without a moment's hesitation. Just after he'd left, however, the Mand'alor himself stepped into the room, gently pushing passed his brothers before halting at her side, gazing down upon the results of the scanner.
"So, there's Beskar beneath our very feet, then." He mused, raising a hand from crossed arms to scratch his chin under his helmet. "Good call to have Marcus increase the quantity of mining droids we'll be ordering, and having a stable supply will go a long way... still, we must reclaim our birthright from the other factions upon this world. The Beskar belongs to the Mando'ade, and no one else."
"Agreed, Mand'alor. Nevertheless, this promised land for us... even if we are discovered by the wider world here, we cannot abandon it." She spoke simply, turning to look up into his visor. A simple nod was all she received in agreement, but couldn't help but feel as though there was something he hadn't said yet...
"This promised land is our land. Our home. Here, the Mando'ade will grow, thrive, and prosper... but we've a long way to go to make this place truly home. New Mandalore... we'll turn this small outpost into a thriving city, even if much of it will remain underground. Here we'll build the machines and weapons of war, and design new ones, too... and some day, some day we'll have a fleet of our own design... one to rival even that of Atlas in scale and numbers."
"This is the Way." All present in the room affirmed as Midnight finished his declaration, the clang of armored fists meeting their owner's breastplates resounding in turn...
After having climbed to the top of the mountain, Ruby zoomed in with the built-in rangefinder and magnifier in her helmet. She wasn't looking for anything in particular, more just trying to sate her boredom. Everyone, even her father was just super busy, and there wasn't much of any way she could help anywhere. Too much manual labor she wasn't strong or developed enough to lend a hand with. Still, sitting idle with nothing to do for the better part of eight hours since she and the Armorer had returned from the caves just didn't sit right with her, she needed something, anything to do to keep herself occupied.
It didn't take long to find something that captured her attention, that being a town not too far away, maybe just five kilometers out or so. She thought it was strange that five kilometers didn't seem like too long a walk to her anymore, considering just one she used to think was an absurd distance. This town was glowing rather brightly despite the rapidly darkening night, but she saw something specific there that she just couldn't ignore.
A shop, rather, another one of the chain that she'd built her new stuffed bear at shortly after meeting her new dad. Checking her pockets, Ruby noted that she had a few lien that Midnight had entrusted to her. Emergency funds for if they were separated and she needed to buy food or medicine... but there was nothing stopping her from using it for something else.
"Mmm... I'm sure daddy won't mind... right? Just five kilometers... I should be back before nine." She idly mused to herself, before ensuring she had her disruptor pistol and enough space tibanna gas cartridges. She also threw on a black cloak, conceal her weapon for the time being while still allowing her to easily draw it should the need arise. She was hopeful that she wouldn't run into any trouble, but after recent events, Ruby wasn't taking any chances...
A/N: Apologies if this feels a little rushed, been lacking some motivation lately and don't know when I'll be uploading again, so I just wanted to get this out before I'm possibly gone for a good while.