Pieces of the Future

[Bretak]

A'den and Mandalore had come through on their promises. Bretak watched through macrobinoculars as the huge pieces of metal were towed through the atmosphere. A freighter had already landed and was being unloaded, full of wires and computer components, and tools. Many, many tools.

The clouds boiled around the incoming ships, and he felt a swell of pride that the Mando'ade would rise again during his lifetime. And as long as his Mand'alor provided as she had already, he would follow her.

[Bretak]

The scaffolding for the first section was in place, finally. Huge trees had been felled, an enormous swath of jungle cleared for the undertaking, and the wood re-purposed into a giant structure that held up one cross section of a ship. If one stood at the apex of the durasteel hull the walls of Iziz were visible in the distance.

Bretak manipulated the controls of his jetpack, flying to the center of the ship where craftsmen were poring over the datapads which contained the blueprints. They were jatnese be te jatnese, the best of the best. As his feet touched the deck, he looked down to the ground where the basilisks roamed, their riders ever vigilant to attack.

The men in the ship saluted him, their hands over their hearts. Bretak wondered, not for the first time, how easy it would be to take control from Manda'lor. She was absent. He was present. Her power, and A'den's power, however, made it difficult to imagine crossing her, and surviving. He put away such thoughts and concentrated on the matter at hand.

The ship. Their freedom. Their return to the galaxy, built from the deck plating up with their own hands. Bretak was proud of what they would accomplish, but as he looked around at the ancient systems and dangling wires he was under no delusion that this would be easy.

They were Mando'ade. They took their future with both hands and would learn every centimeter of this ship as they put it back together. The systems were old - ancient even - but on par with what the Mando'ade were familiar with since their exile to this planet thousands of years ago. Not easy, no, but not impossible.