A Good Thing

-preparations-

Chapter 48

-preparations-

Every day since returning to Batuu had been busy and stressful and Din dreaded the day he had to leave. Closing the door on the chaos that was preparing for battle and being Mand'alor to immerse himself in the very different chaos that was his family every night was keeping him sane. He still trained with Winta every day, two hours every morning before he had to oversee things and talk to an endless stream of people.

Thankfully, being that they were Mandalorians and the raising and educating of children was deeply ingrained in their culture, his people understood and never questioned it. In fact he was pretty sure they appreciated how dedicated he was to his family. Skord said it set the tone for their society going forward. He wasn't sure it was that important but he took the older man's word for it. They would have to push population growth pretty hard once things were settled so he supposed that if Skord was right, it was a good thing.

The New Republic officers sent to coordinate with them did not share the Mandalorian outlook. For the first three days, they tried to bother him while he was with Winta and once after he'd retired for the night. Not until he finally lost his temper did they get the message. Just because they were there to help, did not mean that he was beholden to them. In fact, Din knew that Skywalker had given them explicit instructions that they answered to him until he arrived.

By now though, everyone seemed to be working together more or less. Things were on track and they would be leaving for Concord Dawn the morning after next. Bo-Katan had been dispatched with Moff Gideon's light cruiser to bring the two larger coverts and Skywalker had commed that morning that his starfighters and ground troops would be departing that night.

Din sighed as he made his way to the forge. The Armorer had been working every day since she'd arrived, repairing and reforming the armor for those that had lived without a Mandalorian Smith for more than a decade. Now that they were about to launch a small scale war, she had been working nearly round the clock.

He had asked her to take on apprentices and she had eagerly done so. Traditionally, the secrets of the Mandalorian forges were closely guarded within particular clans. But she was the last of her clan and likely the last Mandalorian Smith in the galaxy. Passing on her knowledge—never mind because she needed to share the workload—was of particular importance.

Acrid smoke filled the air when he stepped into the forge. The Armorer stood beside a rack of tools, a slender hammer in her hands. A young male Din recognized to have recently come from one of the smaller tribes but whose name he did not know, stood beside her. A teenager—likely only recently sworn his vows—that had come from the same group watched from his side, gaping at the hammer in the Armorer's hands.

When she noticed him, she handed the hammer to the older of the pair and inclined her helmet in his direction. "Mand'alor. "

An amused half smile lit his face when the other two whipped their heads around to face him, immediately imitating the Armorer's greeting.

"Mand'alor!"

Folding his arms, he gave the Armor a questioning expression. "I have done as you requested, Mand'alor. These will be my first two apprentices. When we are settled, I will take on more." She indicated the older of the two. Realizing she wanted him to introduce himself, the young Mandalorian straightened and faced Din fully.

"I'm Bren Skaussi, sir. I came with my tribe a month ago from Andelm IV. This is my vod, Wil."

Din nodded. "How old are you, Bren?"