8 Foundlings

STAR WARS: INCEPTION

Episode I

The Ghost of Mandalore

Tyranny reigns on the planet Mandalore. Once, the planet held an uneasy alliance with the Republic during the Clone Wars, but now it has been enslaved by the Galactic Empire. Unknown to the Imperials, some groups of Mandalorians, the ones who stayed true to their culture before the Empire, went into hiding in underground catacombs, attacking Imperial Outposts without warning in an attempt retake their homeworld. In one of these hideouts, a group of young Mandalorian children are being trained to continue this fight…

12 years earlier

The planet Mandalore

A sharp banging echoed on the door to the foundlings' sleeping chambers, waking up most of them.

"Everyone up, time to get going!" yelled a voice from the other end. Quickly, everyone got out of their bunks and began putting on their armor and gear.

One of them, a boy named Dak Allistair, noticed his bunkmate was not fully awake and violently shook him.

"Keel, wake up! We gotta go!" he shouted. The boy, Keel, woke with a start and, when he realized what was happening, shot out of bed and began putting on his own armor. All he managed to say was: "Thanks Dak. I owe you one!"

Dak just smiled: "No problem," He said before putting on his helmet and running to join the others foundlings. An older Mandalorian led the group through a maze of hallways that made up most of their underground hideout until they finally entered a large room that had a series of targets on one end, scorched from use, and a table laden with small blasters on the other.

The older Mando lined the children up near the table and began: "As you know, weapons are a major part of our creed, so it seems fitting that we get you accustomed to them at an early age. Some of you may have already used one. If this is the case, then consider this practice." Then he walked over to the table and picked up a small pistol from it. Showing it to the foundlings, he continued: "For your training today, you will use one of these. They have been dialed down to non-lethal so no one gets hurt. Your challenge before breakfast is to hit the targets over there as many times as you can and as close to the center as you can. Whoever gets closest gets front of the line at breakfast."

That seemed motivational enough. Each of the children eagerly grabbed a pistol and waited at the firing line, each fingering their trigger impatiently. At the signal from the instructor, the foundlings raised their pistols and began firing at the targets. The instructor looked on silently. As he watched, one of the students, a young girl in deep pink armor, had already hit the ring next to the bullseye, with filled him with pride; he always enjoyed seeing foundlings become proficient early.

But then he turned his attention to the boy in the silver armor, Dak, who still had his gun raised, but had not yet fired a single shot. Just as he was about to say something, Dak fired three times. Looking at the target, the older Mando was nearly blown away; all three bolts had hit the target dead center. Seconds later, the girl hit the bullseye. After a few more minutes of practice, it was time to head to the mess hall for breakfast.

The Mando instructor lined up the students for release, but then pulled Dak and the girl aside.

"Impressive shooting, everyone! He said, "I saw some good shots from everyone. These two in particular though," he said pointing two the girl and Dak, "hit dead center; clearly, they have practiced before. Hopefully, with enough training, you will all eventually be able to do the same. You two head to the front of the line now. Dismissed!"

As the foundlings headed for the mess hall, Dak felt a tap on his shoulder from the girl behind him. He looked back at her.

"Yeah?"

"Hi, just wanted to say nice shooting back there." the girl said.

"Thanks. You too."

"Thanks."

"I'm Dak, by the way."

"My name's Sabine. Nice to meet you, Dak."

"You too, Sabine. Hey, want to sit together at breakfast? I can give you some pointers on hitting the bullseye faster."

Sabine seemed to like that idea: "Sure!" she said. With that, the two finished leading the way to the mess hall.