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3983 BBY, Mandalore System, Prudii Forest, Concordia

Dalla Skirata

Her quarry was a monster.

The pathway to its lair was thick with undergrowth that knotted and tangled around her feet. She winced every time she put her foot down and heard a twig snap sharply beneath it. Although far worse was the sound of crunching and cracking when she put her foot through one of the many bones of fallen warriors, or the creature’s prey, that were scattered across the pathway. The air was thick with the stench of death.

Dalla put the macrobinoculars to her eyes and scanned the lair again. The creature was an almost invisible hunter when it wanted to be, and the girl had no way of knowing whether it knew she was there. In fact, for all Dalla knew it could be in the trees above her. She couldn’t help herself.

Dalla looked up.

There was nothing there. The afternoon sun glinted through the treetops overhead, casting dancing shadows. There was no sound but the wind rustling the leaves above. Dalla slowly breathed a sigh of relief. But the relief was still short lived, while she wasn’t facing her foe immediately, she was still going to, and soon.

She sat back and stretched her aching and tired muscles, taking a long swig from her canteen. Dalla considered her target.

It was a beast, a forest born creature called a Nexu. A massive feline with four eyes and a mouth full of sharp teeth. The trees of the Prudii forest were a perfect hunting ground for it, it was agile, able to use its long tail to swing from branch to branch. It thrived on ambush tactics, quickly tearing apart its prey with razor sharp claws and teeth. Dalla would need to be strong to kill it.

Killing the Nexu was to be Dalla’s aka, her mission. Her trial that if she succeeded in, she would be a true Mandalorian. At ten years old, Dalla had been training for this day for nearly six years. That training had made Dalla strong and despite her youth, she was already taller than both of her brothers, she felt ready to face the beast.

Most adults in the wider galaxy wouldn’t even consider looking at a Nexu through several metres of duraglass, and even Mandalorians would think twice about going up against one, especially in its natural habitat. But Dalla had opted for the Nexu as her quarry, she wanted them to see that she was as skilled as her brothers, if not more.

Dalla was the youngest child of Kaid Skirata, the leader of the Mandalorian clan Skirata. She had two older brothers, Maxx and Jarik. The two of them had both completed their aka and were fully fledged Mandalorians within the clan, with their parents proudly showing their support for them.

For Dalla however, support was rare and recognition even more so. She was brilliant with a blaster rifle and even better with the pair of WESTAR – 23 pistols holstered to her thighs. But even that wasn’t enough to bring her out from beneath her brothers’ shadows. They were brilliant warriors, even as young teens they’d already proved themselves in battle. Plus their skills had always come so naturally to them whereas Dalla had always had to push hard to get where she was.

For that reason, she had also opted to only carry the two pistols for her hunt that day. The Nexu was fast and Dalla would need to be as fast and adaptable to bring it down, a bulky weapon like a rifle would only slow her down. She checked the charge packs on the blasters, even though she knew they were fully loaded. She took the opportunity to run a cursory glance over her body armour too, checking the dark mottled green and brown plates were still in place. The camouflage likely wouldn’t save her against the Nexu, especially not with her fiery red hair also on display. Even pulled back in a ponytail the colour would stand out she knew. But at least the armour provided a level of protection against the cold of the forest floor and the damp plants as she moved along her hunt.

Something snapped off to her left and Dalla gripped her blasters tightly, dropping low into the brush, she doubted it would be enough to hide her from the Nexu if it was on the prowl, but still she dared not move.

She lay there for what seemed like an eternity, barely even breathing, just praying to hear or spot a bird or other small creature that may have made the noise. But nothing appeared. She took a long breath and listened, trying to hear the sounds of anything moving nearby, but she heard nothing. In fact, there was no sound at all coming from the forest around her, almost as if it was being deliberately quiet. Like animals hiding from a predator. Realisation and the cold wash of fear washed over Dalla and with a gulp she looked up again.

Just in time.

With a screeching roar the Nexu pounced down at Dalla and she rolled forwards, its claws slicing through the log she had been leaning against hardly a second before. She snapped her arm up and pulled the trigger. A bolt leapt from the barrel of the weapon and slammed into the beast’s shoulder, causing it to yelp in surprised pain. Clearly the beast wasn’t used to having its prey fight back against it. It spun and lashed out with a razor-sharp talon and Dalla leapt backwards as it whooshed through the air just a few centimetres from her chest. Dalla wasn’t certain that her body armour would even slow the claws down now that she saw them up close.

Instinctively Dalla took another step backwards and suddenly she stumbled and fell, her ankle twisting as she dropped her foot into a pothole. The shock of the fall caused Dalla to tense, pulling the triggers on her blasters. Two bolts fired into the air, burning through a branch along the way.

Then the beast was on her.

The Nexu put a strong paw on the centre of her chest and forced her down, one claw piercing through her armour with ease and digging into her shoulder with a sharp stab of pain, causing her to cry out. Its tooth filled jaws prepared to snap down on her head. Nexu typically hunted by biting down on prey and thrashing their head, snapping the prey’s neck and it seemed this one fully intended to do the same. Dalla was unable to lift either arm to raise her blasters and shoot the Nexu, so strong was its grip on her chest.

But it seemed that the nature of Concordia itself was on the side of Dalla’s aka. Above her head, the branch her wayward bolts had weakened cracked and snapped off, dropping down onto the Nexu’s head with a crash. Nexu had weakened skeletons to allow for their increased speed and mobility, so the thick limb stunned it. Its grip on Dalla’s shoulder slackened and she rolled out from under it. Dalla snapped her blaster up and fired a bolt into its shoulder again causing it to stagger away from her. Then she quickly dragged herself to her feet and stood, taking aim again and firing. This bolt was far better aimed, putting out one of the Nexu’s four eyes. This time the beast roared in pain and Dalla didn’t waste the opportunity, lifting both her blasters and firing them both repeatedly, not truly bothering to accurately aim her shots.

She continued pulling the triggers until both of her blasters’ charge packs were spent, pain from her injuries, fear of the Nexu and rage at her foe and herself for being ambushed by the beast making her scream in rage as she carried on shooting. Then she took a step back, sucking in air and looking over her fallen foe. Smoke rose in thin trails from blackened fur and the air was filled with the smell of charred flesh. In hindsight Dalla could have stopped firing several shots earlier. With the fight over, pain flowed from Dalla’s shoulder, and she winced, collapsing back down out of pure exhaustion.

Four hours later Dalla watched the shuttle land in the open field in front of her from her position sat atop the dead Nexu. Her right arm was in a makeshift sling and a field dressing was wrapped around her injured shoulder. Nonetheless she was smiling from ear to ear as the ramp to the vessel lowered and her father and his entourage strode out onto Concordia’s surface. He looked around and spotted his daughter and her kill, but he didn’t even twitch. With a stab of rage Dalla realised that he planned on making her go to him and prove her victory on his terms. Cursing him all the while, Dalla slid off of her kill and wrapped her good hand around its tails, thankful for the fact that Nexu only had light skeletons as she dragged it across the field.

She reached her father and dumped the Nexu’s body at his feet, scowling up at him with her jaw set. Kaid Skirata didn’t disappoint his daughter’s expectations although a flicker of impressed surprise did cross his face as he looked down at the dark furred Nexu that she’d slain. But then he looked at Dalla, more specifically at her injuries and his dark steely eyes hardened into a look of disdain.

“Maxx and Jarik passed their aka without so much as a scratch.” He said simply, as if it were the only thing that mattered. Dalla knew she should keep silent.

But Dalla Skirata had never been great at doing what she should do.

“Maxx killed two Kath Hounds, Jarik fought a Laigrek. A Nexu is twice as powerful as any of them! And I only had two blasters!” She snapped out, stomping her foot down hard on the corpse of the beast. Her father just shook his head.

“Then you went into this deliberately under prepared, and you got lucky. Being truly Mandalorian isn’t just about getting the biggest kill. You may have passed your aka, but you still have much to learn.” Without any further discussion, Kaid Skirata turned on his heel and marched back up the ramp to his ship, his entourage following like trained hounds. Dalla knew it was pointless trying to get any more praise than that, her father had said his piece. Her aka was passed, no more needed said about it. Still, she pondered his words, as harsh as they had been, there had been an element of truth within them. Had she taken a blade, or worn a slightly more covering Beskar plate, perhaps she’d have fared better. It is about more than winning the biggest fight, it is how well you win it that matters too.

Deciding it was a lesson she shouldn’t forget, and partially from a sentimental want to remember this day in future, Dalla leaned down and with a heavy stomp, brought her boot crashing down on the claw that had pierced her shoulder, breaking it off. Picking it up, Dalla ran up the ramp of the shuttle and as it took off through the world’s atmosphere, she placed the claw on a string around her neck. Beaming she looked down at her trophy, the first of what she hoped would be many. It represented Dalla’s first true victory, it represented a lesson she didn’t want to forget and most of all, it represented that from this day forward, Dalla Skirata was a true, and proud Mandalorian.