Chapter 5

All over the galaxy people talked about Moka's First Hunt, which many saw a political ploy for the Mandalorians, in particular, the newly independent government of Kahlua, to showcase their power by broadcasting Moka's hunt to the whole galaxy. What's more is, it worked, well.

Everywhere, people were digging up any and all information on clan Kahl, only to realize, there was nothing. All anyone know about clan Kahl was that they were mandalorian, rich enough to own the second moon of Mandalore, and the crown prince was once trained as a Jedi youngling. That was it. The power they showed and all of the mystery surrounding them quickly put their popularity through the roof. But it was Moka that people mostly focused on.

The Oath he pledged showed them as strong but honorable, as mandalorians used to be. This was only enforced when they saw Moka risk his life to save a cute little dragon. The Gifting showed their financial wealth. It might have seemed like it was just Moka receiving an iron suit, but even just his suit was expensive enough to buy a small fleet of ships, just because of the beskar it was made with.

The fact that every last person in the room wore one and they presumably had such great access to enough of it that they were able to mine it in great numbers, made everyone's seat just a little wet. That included the Republic as well. But the First Hunt took the cake. If a little 6 year old child could show this much prowess, what could the rest of the clan do? That was the question ringing everyone's heads at the end of the broadcast.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

(Somewhere in Coruscant in the Jedi Temple after the broadcast)

"See? This is what I was talking about! I told you that boy was full of hate, and what does he do? Uses darkside powers right on an intergalactic broadcast! I say we send a squad of Jedi with some troopers, and handle this issue, now!" Mace Windu said, heated, a few murmers in the room agreeing with him.

"Hrrrmm, start a war with mandalorian royalty, we will not. Calm down and think clearly, you will, Master Windu. The same as we saw the broadcast, the whole galaxy did. Very popular, this young one and his clan will become. Great trouble for the Order and the Republic it will be if we provoke them, as they have done no wrong." Master Yoda said, closing his eyes in thought.

"Master Yoda is right. The second we go after them, we'll have every royal family in the galaxy at our necks, banding together from fear that we'll go after them next. Such actions could even turn to the whole republic against us. With the troubles already plaguing our Order, I agree with our Grand Master, to where we don't make any more trouble for ourselves at this time." Said Master Kitt Fisto looking pointedly at Mace Windu, earning a glare in return.

Mace was exasperated at the lack of caution from his fellow council members. "So what? We just wait as him and his clan grow bigger and stronger? And I'll remind you, both of which harbor deep hatred for the Order over a minor oversight?" Mace asked, incredulous.

"I wouldn't exactly call letting a youngling get kidnapped from within our very walls, letting him be experimented on excessively, then put him in even more danger with a botched rescue, and when his own 'royal' family rescues him, we threaten both the boy and his family. I would be even more suspicious of the boy, Moka, if he didn't have some hatred for our Order after that." Said Master Plo Koon, earning an even deeper glare from Mace Windu. Murmers broke out across the room from most of the council agreeing with master Plo Koon. Some even proposed more attention on the investigation of how Moka was able to be kidnapped in the first place.

The ruckus in the room was broken by the hard tapping of a wooden cane, all eyes falling to its owner, Yoda. "Enough. Fight among ourselves, we will not. It has been decided. We will not take action against the innocent child, Moka and instead will try to rebuild our connection with him and his family. Much help they could bring both the galaxy and the order, I feel. Even return to the Order one day, young Moka might. Powerful in the force, he has shown, but also good of heart he has shown as well. Not many there are, who can use such a pure healing force. Rebuild and work on relations for now. Dismissed!" Master Yoda said as he tapped his cane on the ground once more, calling an end to the meeting. As soon as the meeting was over, Mace Windu left the room in a huff, earning a wary glance from all of those in the room, his old master, Yoda included.

~ ~ ~ ~

(9 years later, somewhere near Naboo)

Blaring alarms were all Moka could hear, besides the constant nagging of his new crew's resident medic, Jona. He had been begging his Aunt Roz for years to let him go out and explore the galaxy, and on his 15th birthday, she finally agreed to his wishes, making him the happiest person in the whole outer rim. That is until she said that he wasn't allowed to leave without a personal Royal Squad guarding him at all times. Though that definitely dampened his mood, essentially being assigned glorified babysitters, it's who she assigned him with that made thing so much worse.

Jona Kahl, though she has no blood relation to Moka, like most in House Kahl, she has been a part of his life ever since he came to Kahlua. Though they were the same age, from the moment they met, Jona was constantly acting like a disapproving mother to everyone, but especially Moka. She stuck to him like glue, constantly nagging him on what he can or cannot do. "Moka, don't run in Death Forest by yourself!", "Moka, stop trying to conquer every group we meet!", "Moka, stop trying to peek on women changing!", It was suffocating!

And now he was forever stuck with her, at least until she ended up getting killed somewhere for running her mouth, though Moka highly doubted that. He had a strong feeling she'd be like a cockroach and outlive everyone. Her green and red armor will make sure of it. Despite her overbearing nature, Moka was glad to have her around, though he'd never admit it. Her medical skills were some her most redeeming qualities, besides her pretty face, fiery red hair that goes perfectly with her pale skin and green eyes.

The other members of his team actually weren't that bad. There was Rust, the big guns, as well as the lead tactician, thanks to him being a veteran with a lot of years under his belt. He used to be a part of Roz's crew, but after Rust saved Moka during the now infamous First Hunt, Rust has become a mentor to Moka, training him in every aspect of combat and tactics, and now he was Moka's right hand. Rust wore a thickly armored rust red armor with an unnecessary amount of weapons attached to his suit. Though he was excessive when it came to weapons, his experience and wisdom has saved Moka and his crew countless times, despite them only being a crew for a few months.

The other member of the crew is a droid prototype that Moka actually built himself. Moka has started many hobbies and business ventures over the years, anything from entertainment to producing new mandalorian ships. But this droid, Silent Killer 8, or designation SK-8, was Moka's masterpiece. Realizing that there were not enough mandalorians, and that there were not enough of them to protect themselves and their loved ones, Moka got to work on building the first Mando Droids, built to look like a suit of mandalorian armor, though instead of being made with pure beskar, they were made with a beskar alloy, making them equally as defensive, but less expensive.

Unlike easily destroyable B1 droids, the MD1 droids were ingrained with Kahlua's Mandalorian Code, and programmed to never attack any true mandalorians, unless Moka himself orders it. Unlike the MD1 droids, SK-8 was built for close-combat and assassinations. All black armor, flexible movement, padded feet along with rollers for fast, silent movement. He's equipped with a beskar electro blade, but also has dual blasters for backup.

The last member is called Rain. She's a gorgeous woman with a frightening love for explosions. She got her name, Rain, because she loves raining down whistling birds upon her enemies and carries a repeating rocket launcher for backup. She has sleek, feminine armor that was painted black and purple. Even through her armor, Moka couldn't help but admire her, sending his teenage hormones all out of sorts. But he knew better than to try to pursue her. He had heard plenty of rumors about a few guys cheating on her and her using so many explosions on them, that not even their beskar would be left. Now the only guys that make an attempt to pursue her are the extremely dumb or extremely horny. And unfortunately for Moka, when it came to beautiful women, he was both.

Trying his best to ignore the bleating alarm and Jona's chirping, Moka struggled to keep his light freighter that he made himself, the XMD-20, that he named, the Tempest, running after their run-in with pirates. Though they were able to kill them all thanks to the Tempest being like anything else mandalorian, having an unnecessary amount of weapons, they didn't escape the pirate fleet unharmed.

Though Moka was considered an ace pilot, even from a young age, he was having trouble flying, and doubted they would last much longer without any repairs. Seeing no other option, Moka made a decision. "Our ship is in need of repairs, and we're low on fuel and supplies. As much as my nuts are telling me it's a bad idea, we have to land at Naboo to make emergency repairs." Moka stated as though he ate a mouth full of sand.

Moka didn't like Naboo even on the best of days. Pacifists and True Mandalorians don't mix well. Moka refers to himself as a "True Mandalorian" thanks to the clan wars that started a few years ago on Mandalore. Though Kahlua had been independent for several years now, it's thanks to that independence and other factors leading to this war. The main participants of this war are the "New Mandalorians", the weak pacifists that want to give up the old mandalorian ways, and the "Old Mandalorians", who claim to fight for old mandalorian traditions, but are nothing more than common thugs and killers for hire, as they lost their honor long ago.

And though they aren't participants in this war, many look to and call the Mandalorians on Kahlua, the "True Mandalorians", as they practice the old mandalorian ways without losing their honor. Many people admired the honorable warriors of house Kahl and hoped they would end this war and unite the clans together, but Queen Roz had no interest in being Mandalor. Moka on the other hand, had different plans.

"Naboo?! Why there? They'll never let us through, they've publicly said how much they hate mandalorians and called us common thugs!" Jona complained, throwing her hands in the air.

"They weren't talking about us, they meant the Old Mandalorians that pretty much are common thugs at this point. Everyone loves House Kahl, we've done nothing wrong!" Moka said, defending his people. But then miss bombshell had to live up to her name and rain on his parade.

"No, I specifically remember watching their last ruler call you, what was it again?" Rain asked to no one in particular. "A brute and a ruffian." Rust finished for her.

"That's it! A brute and a ruffian that loves nothing but perversions and conquering." Rain finished, nodding her head as she remembered the answer. Moka was hurt and began sulking.

"I don't love conquering that much." Moka said under his breath.

Jona looked at him incredulously. "What do you mean you don't love conquering?! You just tried to conquer the damn pirates as they were attacking us! How do you think we got in this mess?!" Jona squealed, as she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Though it was hidden by his sleek black and gold mask, Moka turned to look at Jona in disgust.

"You know, you'll never find a man if you're always nagging like this." Moka said, not even caring that he just lit a fuse to the powder keg called, Jona. The rest of the flight until they landed, all that could be heard was Jona screaming at Moka. Moka couldn't even hear when the Naboo port authority came on the comm link to ask for clearance. But when they saw who he was, and how he was getting yelled at, they just let him through. Pity clear in their eyes.