๐ก๏ธ This is the Way.
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
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โ โ๏ธ MANDALORIAN CONTRACT BOARD โ๏ธ โ
โ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโฃ
โ Objective: Launch the story into hyperspace โ
โ Reward: Extra chapters for the crew โ
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โ Review Bounties: โ
โ โข โญโญโญโญโญ = +1 bonus chapter โ
โ โข โญโญโญโญ + โญโญโญโญ = +1 bonus chapter โ
โ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโฃ
โ 2โ3 lines is enough: โ
โ โข "I loved ___ becauseโฆ" โ
โ โข "Best scene so far wasโฆ" โ
โ โข "My theory isโฆ" โ
โ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโฃ
โ Thank you for backing Max Vizsla and the โ
โ rise of Mandalore. โ
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This is the Way.
If you use the term "Outer Rim" broadly to refer to all the vast space beyond the Mid Rim, then the Kamino system can be considered part of the Outer Rim.
But strictly speaking, the Kamino system isn't actually part of the galaxy at allโit's extragalactic. Kamino's star lies beyond the galactic disk. The outer reaches of the Kamino system overlap slightly with the edge of the Rishi Maze (star chart coordinate: S-15) at the galaxy's rim.
At 12:00 on August 4, Galactic Standard Calendar Year 4, after departing Roon and making a series of "short-hop" hyperspace jumps, the Mandalorian Armed Forces Navy First Fleet arrived at the outer edge of the Rishi Maze and shifted to realspace travel.
At 15:00 on August 4, as the First Fleet reached the edge of Rishi's gravity well, Max Vizsla delivered a brief speech:
"Officers and crew of the First Fleetโthis is Max Vizsla."
Snap. The entire First Fleet came to attention.
"Ahead of us lies the planet Rishi. This is the edge of the galaxyโbut it is not the end of the First Fleet's journey."
"To the south of Rishi, twelve parsecs beyond the galaxy, there is a planet called Kamino. There, a lost Mandalorian awaits. There, lies a key factor that will determine the future of the Mandalorians. To bring back our lost compatriot, to seize hold of the Mandalorians' future, I, as Supreme Commander of the Bespin Mandalorian Armed Forces, issue this order:"
"First Fleetโsouthward, beyond the galaxy, advance! Find the Mandalorian Jango Fett. Find the planet Kamino." Max Vizsla thrust his arm up and roared, "For Mandalore!"
"This is the righteous path!!!" The entire First Fleet answered in a thunderous chorus.
"Commander," Max Vizsla turned, saluted Tracy Reevesโthe captain of the Vast Silence and commander of the First Fleet. "I'm handing command of the First Fleet to you."
"Yes, Chief." The towering womanโhalf a head taller than Maxโsnapped to attention, saluted, and watched the young commander leave the bridge.
"Chris, take Wind Team," Max Vizsla said as he walked. "Come with me."
"Yes, Chief."
Max Vizsla intended to personally lead a team down to Rishi to handle a diplomatic mission.
Finding Kamino wouldn't be quick. If they could uncover even a hint within one or two months, that would count as blazing-fast progress. But if they couldn't locate Kamino within a month, the First Fleet would have to turn backโbecause that was the outer limit of a Gozanti-class ship's endurance.
If they could secure water and food supplies on Rishi, they could extend the mission windowโat least somewhatโand raise the odds of locating Kamino.
The problem was: Rishi's inhabitants were all weirdosโboth the natives and the settlers. Max Vizsla trusted a rookie captain to command the fleet, but he didn't trust the brutes under his command to negotiate with Rishi's weirdos. He had to go in person.
Rishi's surface rose and fell in rugged relief. It was a world of windโgales constantly threading between towering peaks and low, swampy valleys.
On the high peaks lived the natives of Rishiโthe Rishii.
The Rishii were avian humanoid sapients evolved from carnivorous birds: birdlike heads, bestial tails, powerful rear legs like those of great raptors, and forelimbs that were strong wings ending in three-fingered talonsโcapable of grasping and using tools with dexterity not inferior to human hands.
Their intelligence was on par with humans, and they had a startling gift for languages. Anything they heard once, they could mimic and repeat perfectly. But that talent could easily irritate first-time offworld visitorsโimagine that every time you spoke, a strange bird-creature repeated your sentence right next to your ear.
However, because the Rishii hadn't existed long as a civilization, their society had only advanced to a Stone Age level.
The Rishii loved the windโloved riding it in flight, loved hunting on the wing. They lived in family units. Multiple families living on the same peak or along the same cliffs would form a loose tribe called a "nest." The leader of a nest was called a "chieftain."
Even though they evolved from carnivorous birds, the Rishii were not bloodthirsty. On the contrary, they were extremely peace-loving. Every Rishii in a family lived and worked together peacefully, and a family would warmly welcome visiting members of other families. Likewise, a nest welcomed guests from other nestsโand that welcome even extended to other sapient species, like the strange people who lived down in the swamp valleys.
In the low swamp valleys lived a group of strange offworld settlers. They were Galandansโascetic monks of the H'kig sect who had fled religious persecution, leaving the planet Galand in the Core Worlds.
Sixty-four years before the Battle of Yavin, a Galandan religious leader named H'kig was executed by the Governor of Galand. H'kig's followers purchased two starships and fled Galand in panic. During their flight, to honor their martyred leader, they renamed their faith the H'kig sect. Sixty years before the Battle of Yavin, the H'kig sect's ships reached Rishi at the galaxy's edge.
After settling on Rishi, the H'kig sect clashed frequently with the native Rishiiโbecause the settlers misinterpreted the "rude, strange giant birds" as maliciously mimicking their speech to mock them. Once that misunderstanding was cleared up, the conflict ceased.
Later, some fanatic H'kig believers attempted to climb the mountains to proselytize. The Rishii hosted them with great warmth, but no one showed interest in the doctrine being preached. After that, the H'kig believers and the Rishii settled into a quiet, mostly separate coexistence, with little contact.
โฆ
"Chief, where do we go first?" asked Wenban Jaren, the T-6 shuttle's pilot. "Lowlands or highlands?"
"Lowlands first. The H'kig believers built a small spaceport down thereโeasier for shuttles to dock. Once we're done talking to the H'kig, we'll use jetpacks to go up and talk to the Rishii."
"This is the righteous path."
โฆ
Inside Rishi's atmosphere, a T-6 shuttle was circling.
"Chief, I'm not picking up any beacon signals. The monks' spaceport was probably abandoned," Wenban Jaren said, flying with one hand while scratching his head with the other.
"Alright, fine." Max Vizsla waved it off. "Just find a flat patch andโ"
Tap-tap, tap-tap.
The knocking cut him off. A giant bird was peering in through the T-6's viewport from outside. Not far away, two more strange birds flew in escort.
"Whoaโ" Wind Team's three members all jolted. Wenban Jaren snapped back to two-handed flight control. Christopher Rayne gripped his lightsaber hilt. Kaelden Johnson drew both blasters.
"Relax. They aren't hostileโthese are the Rishii I told you about."
As the Mandalorians spoke, the Rishii outside flew off, then came back, then flew off again, then returned again.
"Chief, what are they doing?" Christopher Rayne asked, confused.
Friendly attitude, bright, upbeat emotionsโthrough the Force, what Max Vizsla sensed was a flood of pure positivity. Watching the excited Rishii mugging and gesturing outside the viewport, Max suddenly understood.
"They're inviting us to race," Max Vizsla said.
"Hahโ" Wenban Jaren's eyebrows shot up, and he started to push the stick forward to accelerate.
"Stop!" Max Vizsla barked. "That's bullying. Wenban, slow downโopen the hatch."
"Roger."
"Chris, KJโcome out with me. We'll use jetpacks and give our hosts a proper match."
"This is the righteous path!"
โฆ
PS: One parsec is not "the distance light travels in one second." One parsec is about 3.26 light-years, or about 30.86 trillion kilometers.
The term "parsec" combines "parallax" and "arcsecond." "Arcsecond" comes from triangulation used to measure stellar distances. The parallax angle is defined using Earth's orbital radius (one astronomical unit, AU) as the baseline. When that angle is one arcsecond, the length of the triangle's side (the distance from Earth to the star) is defined as one parsec.
In the Star Wars universe, the parsec still uses Earth-based triangulation rather than Coruscant's, and the official sources don't explain why.
PPS: Galandans are not humansโthey are humanoid sapients. The H'kig sect accepts believers of any species.
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๐ก Star Wars: The Rise of Mandalore
๐ข For Mandalore! ๐ข
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