One Step Closer

[Brent Warnel]

Apatros​

Apatros. Far in the reaches of the outer rim, a grim and barely hospitable world. The small town that had sprung up once cortosis had been confirmed on this rock still hung around, because cortosis could still be found here. It was hard to get too, it was hard to drill, and it was even harder to make use of it. One had to know someone who knew how to work the ore to get it to be useful.

If you could find someone who could do that, then the riches of cortosis were well worth the pain to get them. The mineral could literally be described to be deadly. The Jedi and Sith who liked to play with their fancy lightsabers and think they were invulnerable would come down to the level of any ordinary man once that was taken from them. They had the force sure, but if one knew how to fight a Sith or Jedi who was only relying on the force and not their material weapons, then you could figure out how easily they were to kill.

Jango Fett had once killed nearly a dozen Jedi with his bare hands. That story was told whenever some force user got a little to full of themselves, they weren't invincible, and Brent was on the path to make sure they knew that. The crushgaunts of old Mandalorian culture were a rarity, at one time they had even been outlawed, but Brent planned to make a pair that would rival any he could think of.

That's why he started his quest on Apatros, for the cortosis. Later he would go back to the homeworld of the mandalorians, and there he would finish this quest. One step closer to being able to figure out the mystery of his little brother.

 

[Brent Warnel]

Brent walked in the small town that was Apatros' only way of communication to the outside galaxy. He had to go to an office that was somewhere on this street that you could buy a mining permit from. The only way out to the mines on the outskirts of the habitable zone of this planet was to take a speeder, but they were controlled by the mining corporations, and if you were found to be using your own means of mining their cortosis...well you would be in for a rude awakening.

He walked down this side street looking for something that stood out from the rest of these rundown buildings, and towards the end of the street he found what he was looking for.

On the glass on the front of the door he saw graphics of miners in work and of mining equipment, and Brent knew this had to be the place. He went to the front door and walked in. The building smelled stale, like the front door hadn't been opened in weeks. He could care less what the place smelled like if the owner gave him a permit to work the mines and a ticket for the speeders.

He walked up to the counter, which was of course empty of any personel, and gave a tap on a small bell that was sitting on the front desk.

 

[Brent Warnel]

“What is it, what?” a Neimoidian said as he came out of the backroom and walked up to the counter and eyed Brent warily. “What do you need from me human?” the Neimoidian asked of Brent as he studied him and gave a small nod of what looked like approval.

“I need to get a permit to work the mines and another permit or ticket to use the shuttles to get out there. I’ll need equipment that will last for at least two days of constant use in the mines. I’ll be mining cortosis just in case that was your next question, and I have the credits to pay,” Brent told the green alien.

“Of course you do of course you do, but tell me human, what makes you think I will give you a pass to work in the mines. I run a legitimate business here and giving permits to off-worlders whenever they come to Apatros so they can steal our cortosis is bad for business…” the Neimoidian said with a slight sneer.

 

[Brent Warnel]

Brent pulled out nearly ten thousand credits and set them on the counter, “Money isn’t an issue. Skip the games green skin or I’ll go somewhere else with my money.”

The Neimoidian barked out a laugh and waved his hands in the air in a placating manner, “I was only playing friend, let me just fill out the paperwork and you can be on your way.”

The alien reached behind the counter and pulled out a small data-pad and started pressing buttons and after a few minutes brought up a screen that was labeled, “Working Permit.”

“Alright here, just fill this out as best you can and then I’ll transfer the finished permit to your data-pad and you can go anywhere on Apatros that you like,” the Neimoidian said with a smile.

 

[Brent Warnel]

Brent took the device from the outstretched hands of the Neimoidian and started plugging in a lot of fake information. Fake this and fake that, just faked the whole thing. He couldn’t care less if it got the alien into trouble or not, the green skin had more than enough credits to cover the cost of a fake working permit that some random off-worlder came and applied for.

“Here,” Brent told him, “All finished up. Now transfer it to me and get the equipment I’ll need or show me where to get it and I’ll be on my way.”
The Neimoidian looked over the permit with a wary eye, glanced at Brent, back at the data-pad, and then back to Brent with a smile from eye to eye.

“Looks good. Come to the back and I will get you what you need.”

 

[Brent Warnel]

He waved a hand for Brent to follow and disappeared into the backroom through a small curtain that hung in the frame of a doorway. Brent dutifully followed and swept the curtain aside and walked into the backroom of the Neimoidian’s place of business. There were jacks all along the walls and different pieces of equipment that went to them. Replaceable heads and what looked like small motors and all kinds of other stuff that Brent had no idea of.

“If you’re going for two days then you’ll need several jack heads and possibly even a replaceable motor. We’ve come a long way since the old days, you can replace all that stuff right there in the mine with no knowledge of mechanics. It makes the process a lot smoother. So I would suggest you get a jack, one motor replacements, and at least a half dozen jack heads. Those are easy to replace, I’ll send a small manual with you just in case, on me of course,” the Neimoidian said as he laughed.

 

[Brent Warnel]

Brent grabbed a bag from the lineup and stuffed what he would need in it and then grabbed the jack itself, which was heavier than he thought. Holding this up for hours on end was going to end with muscle cramps from the darkside.

“That should do it my friend,” the Neimoidian told him as Brent hoisted the bag up and over his shoulder and let it fall to the small of his back and secured the strap across his chest. Brent grabbed the jack and hefted it onto his shoulder and started back through to the front room.

“The next speeder leaves in ten minutes, on the edge of town. You should hurry if you want to get to the mines today!” the Neimoidian yelled as Brent roughly shoulder the door open and started walking to the designated area where the miners were waiting for their turn to get on the speeders.

 

[Brent Warnel]

The mines of Apatros were barely workable conditions. The mining companies didn’t care about the workers they used to get their cortosis quota. Men died on a regular basis, that much hadn’t changed since the opening of these mines. Brent tried not to think about it too much as he hoisted his jack up again and kept pounding into the vein of cortosis that was in front of him. He had been mining for nearly ten straight hours and he nearly had enough cortosis, or so he thought. He wanted to make sure that he did not have to come back to this place, and so he kept mining.

He had already gone through three drill heads, and the fourth was started to wear down as well. He had two more though and that should be plenty. Mining cortosis was one of the hardest things he had done before. He was no stranger to physical hardship, but the dullness of this life got to him on a level he didn’t understand. To be stuck here in this place was something that he couldn’t fathom. So he used that as fuel to keep mining until he had what he needed.

Hours later and he was still going, but he was down to the last drill bit and nearly complete. He had a substantial amount of raw ore and he thought it would be enough for the gauntlets he intended to create. He hoped it would be, it had to be. He could already see in his mind’s eye what glory these would bring his family. He would need a smith, a Mandalorian smith, but he knew where he could find those. He would need beskar, but luckily he was a Mando, and his people shared what small wonders they held upon their planet. The drill bit snapped off and with it a small chunk of ore tumbled to the ground. Brent loaded up the ore and left the mining equipment with another miner whose drill seemed to be near its last days. He hefted his load of ore and began his way out of the mines and back to the landing where the speeders had dropped him off nearly a day before. He was exhausted, but it was worth it when he knew what would come of it.

 

[Brent Warnel]

Brent made his way back to his ship with his load of ore. It filled up several crates and he strapped them to the deck of his old freighter and made his way to the cockpit of his ship to begin his journey back to Mandalore to start the actual process of forging the gauntlets. He punched in the coordinates and manually steered his ship out of the gravity well of Apatros before turning it over to the auto-pilot and headed back to refresh himself after his time on the small rock of a world.

After he had cleaned himself he went to the cargo bay and cracked open one of the lids of the ore and looked inside. He could see the veins of cortosis woven into the rock that he had chipped free, and a small sense of euphoria came over him as he knew what would come of it once he was able to implement this ore with Beskar to make gauntlets that could stop a lightsaber.

They wouldn’t in and of themselves bring any great destruction to the universe, but they served his purpose more than adequately. Some lightsabers had lens’ that could stop the effects of cortosis, but even then, if he was close enough to grab onto the blade of a lightsaber and pull a force user in close, it was probably going to a tough fight for them.

 

[Brent Warnel]

[SIZE=18pt]Mandalore[/SIZE]​

​

Home, he was finally here. But he wasn’t finished just yet, almost, but not quite. He made his way into the streets of Manda’yaim and walked around the city of his people. He had not been raised here, he had been raised in the streets of Coruscant. He had never lacked for anything, and he had a good life in the core worlds. But the life of a Mandalorian was an upfront and honorable thing, if one was a true Mando and not a aruetii. Like the Death Watch, they had tried their best to make his people fall, but they had failed, and with their tails tucked between their legs they had fled and now his people chased them around slaughtering them wherever they were found.

But those thoughts had nothing to do with why he was here, he needed to find a smith and he needed them to forge his gauntlets. It was more of a retrofitting than anything else, they weren’t making anything from scratch. Merely reinforcing the ones he already had, but it was extensive work and he had to have it done.

He made his way to the forges of Mandalore and where the secrets of working Beskar were closely guarded. He had a friend who worked here, if he was here. He was a great smith, one who could turn Beskar into near anything, if he wasn’t at the forges here then he was working in the comfort of his own ranch in the outskirts of a small town due south of here. Brent entered the forges that were off near the works of MandalMotors and looked for his friend, Logan. Finding no sign of him he stopped a fellow Mando and asked him of Logan’s whereabouts.

“He hasn’t been back to the forges in nearly a week, said he had some special project at home,” the man said as he walked away.

Brent nodded slowly to himself. That meant at least if Logan agreed to help him they would be in a remote part of Mandalore and wouldn’t be disturbed, that's if Brent could get him to do it, it may come down to getting someone else to help out he thought in the end.

[member="Anija Betna"]

 

[Brent Warnel]

Brent sped into the countryside of Mandalore on a rented speeder with his cortosis in tow and hoping that Logan would be there. His friend was a Beskar smith that Brent had helped in the past with a few small things here and there. Brent knew next to nothing about forging but with Logan’s help he was hoping he could learn a few things about the metal he was going to be working with.

He was also hoping Logan would adapt some other stuff to his gauntlets and make them more deadly. He was thinking of making some beskar blades reinforced with cortosis so he could better combat enemies with lightsabers. He was thinking of all of these things as he went through the countryside of his ancestral homeland and at first didn’t notice the beauty of it.

It had changed much in the thousands of years of war and invasions. From Vong formation to destruction rained on it by the Death Watch or other forces over the ages. But there were still parts of it that were untouched by either and had survived the years of war and destruction.

 

[Brent Warnel]

He drank in the sights of Mandalore and thought about his culture and how these crushgaunts that he was going to help forge needed to be forged here, on Mandalore. He knew Logan was working on some special project and he wanted to know if he could help him. Maybe if Brent helped him with whatever he had going on, Logan would agree to forge this for him.

He also would pay for his services if his old friend wanted that. He owed him more than he was willing to admit, and he would do what he could for his old friend to pay those favors back.

Hours later he came upon Logan’s residence. It was an old house built way out on Mandalore’s plains, nothing special about it. Just somewhere you could go to relax and think about your life. Something that most people would kill to get in this galaxy.

 

[Brent Warnel]

He killed the speeders engines outside his old friend’s residence and took in the surrounding. It was well cared for still, although maybe a little let go in the last few days. If what the other Mando at the forges had told him was true though, then Brent was sure there was a good reason. He opened the door of the speeder and got out and adjusted his weapons on his belt.

No matter where you were, there was always a chance of something happening. That’s why Brent was always armed wherever he went. He had known too many people to get hurt while they were out and about just doing something small. He held no fear about Logan doing something, but one could never be too careful.

[SIZE=11pt]He walked up to the front of the establishment and rapped on the door several times. He waited for what must have been a minute or two and knocked on the door again. He waited and waited and hung his head in defeat. Logan wasn’t here, that was the only explanation he could come up with, because this was his spot.[/SIZE]

 

[Brent Warnel]

He walked back to his speeder and put his hands on the hood and looked out into the sunset of the world he called home. It was nothing like Coruscant, no high rises in this part of the world. There weren’t thousands of speeders roaming the skies going from one place to another. Mandalore was still wild, and it was this reason that Brent found it so appealing.

“Put your hands where I can see them,” a voice said from behind him.

Brent raised his hands and stood stock still. The voice wasn’t his friends, and he had no armor on that could stop a blaster round if one was fired. He had to play this one well, otherwise he would end up dead here on the plains.

 

[Brent Warnel]

“Throw your gun out to the side and run back to the nearest city with just your skivvies on boy,” the voice said.
Brent smiled slowly to himself and turned around with his hands still raised. There Logan stood in front of him with a voice distorter in one hand and a very familiar gesture in the other.

“You know Logan, you almost had me. But only you would like to see another man running nearly naked through the plains,” Brent chided him
.
His friend laughed and walked forward and grabbed Brent in a hug. Logan was a near average size human with a good, if sick, sense of humor. He was just a little younger than Brent, and they had been friends for a long time, as soon as Brent had come to Mandalore it seemed Logan had been there. Brent liked to think he got a lot of his sarcasm from this man in front of him. Hell he got a lot of things from this man.

[SIZE=11pt]“How have you been you old devil?” Logan said to Brent after he released him from his hug.[/SIZE]

 

[Brent Warnel]

Brent laughed and push his friend off and stood back staring, “Good brother, very good. How have you been, how’s the wife?”
“I’m fine you brute!” Came the call from the front door.

“Martha!” Brent called out to her, “why are you still dating this old shriveled man when you could have a young strapping lad like myself?”

“In your dreams Besom,” Martha called back out with a smile, “Now bring my husband inside and yourself as well. Whatever you have to say can be said over some food.”

Brent grabbed Logan around the shoulders and steered him towards the house, “Your wish is my command Martha,” Brent said loudly as he walked.

“I’ve been fine as well Brent, we both have. We’re glad to see you my friend. It’s been too long, years even. Why haven’t you come back?” Logan asked.

 

[Brent Warnel]

“I’ve been hunting him again Logan, and this time I know where to go. But there’s some stuff I need to take care of before I go or I won’t be coming back,” Brent replied.

“Well let’s get some food and we can talk it over my burc’ya.”

Brent pushed Logan forward into the house and followed him into the small common room where Martha was fixing him a plate of food.

“Martha I can take of myself you know that,” Brent said and pushed her into her seat, “I’ll dish out the food and clean up after we are done, now sit the both of you.”

Brent brought out some plates and gave them both portions of food and then served himself last and sat down. Just some vegetables and meat on a plate and some good Mandalorian ale in a mug next to him. He settled himself down and began to eat, along with the other two, talking could come next.

“What have you found out about him Brent,” Logan asked as soon as they finished eating.

Brent finished his drink before he answered, and when he did he was very somber.

 

[Brent Warnel]

“I was helping someone with a task, a young man whose father had helped me years ago. This man was hunting the same Sith I was long before I was. With his help we tracked him to Onderon, that’s when this happened,” Brent said as he tapped his foot. “This man’s son I took back there to help him find his father’s armor, and where we found his armor we found a holocron. A holocron this Sith had made, and its leading me to a planet, somewhere I’ve never been. But somewhere I know I must go.”

“If you need me to go with you Brent, you-” Logan began but Brent cut him off.

“No Logan! I will never put you in danger with this, you have too much to think of back here. I came here because I need you to adapt my gauntlets into crushgaunts, I think I might need them to combat this Sith. I know you keep beskar here and I am asking you for your help, I brought cortosis to be laced in with some blades that will be attached to blades that eject from the gauntlets. I will pay you for every drop of sweat, and the cortosis left over is yours if you choose to help me.”

 

[Brent Warnel]

There was silence as Logan looked at him and then at Martha, and then he barked out a laugh, “Of course I’ll help you. Pay me what you will, I’ve always helped you and you me, and that won’t stop now. When do you want to start?” Brent looked up at his friend with a genuine smile on his face, “Whenever you can, I am ready.”

“Well let’s start tomorrow. Tonight, let us tell stories and drink, I haven’t seen you in some time,” Logan said as he went back into the kitchen to grab more ale.

In the morning Brent brought in the supplies and cortosis, and waited for Logan to get the forge set up and his beskar ore and supplies.

 

[Brent Warnel]

Brent brought in his gauntlets and gave them to Logan to look at to see if he could just reinforce them Beskar. Logan looked them over before giving his verdict, “I could reinforce them yes, but it wouldn’t be nearly as strong as beskar forged gauntlets, and the modifications that I would have to make to put the blades in these gauntlets would render the technical reading in your left gauntlet useless. Our best bet is to just forge brand new gauntlets and then add the stuff as we make them.”

“Well you are the expert in this field not me. Can we add an interface on the gauntlet that will link up with the helmet just in case I slave a weapon to the armor?” Brent asked.

“Yes, it’ll be hard but we can do it, I’ll take the system out of this armor that you have and implement it into the gauntlets I am building. Watch and learn my friend,” Logan said as he began to work.

Logan began with the beskar ore he had, he smelted it and dumped it into a basin that once cooled they would be sheets of beskar. Logan made Brent put on a durable glove that would protect his hand from the metal and heat, and he placed a mold over his forearm and began to get a mold form in the shape of Brent’s body.

He did that with his forearm and then his hand and finally fingers as he made each piece of armor uniquely fitted to Brent himself. He did that with one side and then the other, the hot metal behind Logan filling the air with an arid smell as Logan did his work. He then did something that Brent had no knowledge of, he did something to the Beskar that later Brent would find out Micronized it and gave the wearer its strength. After the micronized Beskar was forged, he roughly shaped out the gauntlets and then hollowed out a piece of the gauntlets where he would put the hidden beskar blades laced with cortosis. He forged the blades next, hammering out their shape in a rhythm and unique way that Brent knew none other than beskar smiths themselves knew how to do.

The cortosis laced blade he put into the gauntlets attached to some contraption that could spring out on contact and be retracted into the gauntlets.

With the palms of the gauntlets he also put cortosis into them. If Brent was too come into contact with a lightsaber that wasn’t protected from cortosis then it would short circuit. The gauntlets themselves were coming along marvelous, and the hide he used was rough and bumpy, but very durable Brent could tell just by looking at them.

“What is the leather you used?” Brent asked.

“Zakkeg hide, from the moon of Dxun,” Logan replied with a smile and gleam in his eye.

Brent would have to look a Zakkeg up when he got the chance, he had no memory of the beast or hearing anything of it.
It took a long time, but the gauntlets were nearing completion when Logan implemented the electronics in it and linked the circuits up with the rest of Brent’s armor. When everything was finally said and done he held up the gauntlets and gave them to Brent to try on.

Brent took them and tried them on. They fit into his hands perfectly, and he could feel the strength of them. He walked outside and grabbed a large stone in his hands and used his newly forged gauntlets to see what they were capable of. It took little effort for the rock to shatter into pieces in his hands and Brent smiled with satisfaction.

“The blades are linked into your armor’s systems already, all you have to do is give the command verbally or through your armor’s HUD and the blades will spring forth. Or you can do it manually here,” Logan said as he showed him a button on the side of his wrists of both gauntlets, “This will spring the blade out of the armor, and to put it back you just have to push them against something and they will retract.”

“I can never thank you enough my friend, this might just keep me alive.” Brent told Logan.

“I’ll take the cortosis and your thanks Brent, that’s always been enough for me.”

“You can have that and this my friend,” Brent said and handed over thirty thousand credits to Logan.

Logans eye widened and he reached out and took the money, “I would try to argue, but I know what you would do. So I will settle with just a thank you.”

Brent put his hands on Logan’s shoulders and looked him in the eye, “No my friend, thank you.”