Perseus

Much like Clan Wren, Clan Seidon had a stronghold. However, theirs was on Mandalore. It was made up of rectangular structures of durasteel and glass that stood on durasteel stilts over a large saltwater lake. Although the lake was vast, one could see the opposite shore from the Clan Seidon Stronghold. The Stronghold housed almost all of Clan Seidon, although there were a few buildings atop the cliffs two hundred meters away. A plasma bridge connected the Stronghold with the plateau and acted as a draw bridge (however it wasn't the most effective since most people who would attack them had jetpacks). The Stronghold itself was made in a sort of ring with a central courtyard in the middle. Across the plasma bridge, there were a few buildings that housed a few other members, a forge (it produced too much heat to have it located within the main complex), a few storage garages, and the Gauntlet Fighter landing pads. The living quarters of Perseus, his siblings, and his parents were on the side opposite of the bridge, giving them the greatest view of the lake.

Perseus walked out of his private quarters and onto the balcony he and his brother shared. He wouldn't be up yet, considering it was about an hour before dawn. Perseus wasn't wearing his armor; just a pair of loose-fitting pants and a tunic (both dark blue). With his arms exposed, one could see the trident and twelve bars etched into his inner left forearm with black ink. The trident represented his Clan, and the bars represented the years since he adorned his armor for the first time. Not all Mandalorians kept up this old tradition, but everyone in Clan Seidon did. There were also two rings of waves wrapping around both of his biceps.

He leaned his elbows against the railing and looked up to the night sky. One thing he particularly liked about the Clan Seidon Stronghold was that it emitted no ambient light between midnight and dawn. Because of this, he could see all the stars in the sky. His father had taught him all of the major constellations when he was young. Above the horizon, he could see the constellations that depicted Mandalore the First slaying a Mythosaur. Directly above him was one of a jai'galaar, and to the east was Tarre Vizsla, holding the Darksaber above his head. To the northwest, Concordia was nearing the horizon. The wind tousled his hair, and although it did have a chill to it, Perseus didn't shiver. He just inhaled the salt-imbued air. He drummed his fingers on his knuckles and shuffled around. He looked to the water's surface, which reflected the sky almost perfectly. The only sounds were the wind and the waves crashing against the stilts and the cliffs below.

That relative quiet was disturbed when Perseus heard the engines of a Gauntlet Fighter. He looked towards Concordia to see a ship of that class approaching the Clan Seidon Stronghold. As it neared, Perseus realized it wasn't one of theirs. He bolted into his room, throwing his armor on. Once, it would've taken him almost ten minutes. Now, he was fully geared up in less than a minute. He strapped Shonar to his belt as he returned to his balcony and climbed up to the roof. As he ran along the rooftops towards the landward side, the Gauntlet Fighter flew overhead. He crouched when he got to the edge and watched the ship land on a vacant landing pad. There were about four hundred meters between him and the ship, so he pulled a monocular out of his utility belt and held it to his visor. He could now see the boarding ramp of the fighter lower and a few Mandalorians walked out. They were all female, and all of them had antennas on their helmets. Three of them began to walk towards the plasma bridge emitters (which were powered off at the moment) while the other three stayed with the ship. Two of them were pushing crates that were hovering with some sort of repulsorlift devices. Perseus focused in on the one in the lead. Her armor had virtually no decoration, exposing the pure beskar of her armor. There was, however a black arrowhead painted on her right pauldron. She had a bow and quiver on her back, a black sash, and a silver Kama on her hips. Perseus realized who this was and looked to the others. The Mandalorians behind her were carrying spears over their shoulders, and they both had jetpacks. He zoomed out slightly to see that they were almost at the emitter. Perseus stood up and made his way to the security center, which meant that he dropped down and slid through the open window of the building he stood atop. For the two Mandalorians manning the station, this wasn't out of the ordinary for Perseus.

"Standby," one of them said into the microphone jutting out next to the bridge control lever, "awaiting authorization." He stood and seemed startled that Perseus was already there.

"What's going on guys?" Perseus asked.

"The leader of Clan Emis and two of her clan members are here," one of them said.

"I was just about to go get your father to check for his authorization," the other one explained.

"Well, still go get him, but only to meet with them in the courtyard because I'm authorizing their entry," Perseus said, stepping forward. The second one nodded and bolted for the quarters of Perseus' parents as Perseus approached the microphone. "Why do you guys feel the need to come so early in the morning?" Perseus asked into the microphone. The remaining Mandalorian next to him lightly facepalmed.

"Time zones are hard enough on one planet," a voice from a girl his age said; one of the ones on the other side of the deactivated bridge. "We said 'forget it' when we left Tatooine and just came straight here."

"Apologies, young Perseus," an older voice said. Perseus knew it was the one in the front. "With your permission, we would like to make a delivery."

"I don't feel like turning you away since you're here now," Perseus said. He looked to the guard and nodded to him. The guard nodded back and pulled the control lever, causing the plasma bridge to power up. A field of teal energy appeared between the two projectors and the Mandalorians on the far side began walking across. Perseus exited via the stairs rather than the way he came in. He came out in the courtyard. There was a beskar statue of the ancient founder of the Clan (so ancient that it depicted a Taung instead of a human), Pont Seidon, holding a trident in the air with one hand and a net in his other hand. It stood in the center on a durasteel dais and the rest of the courtyard floor was transparisteel, allowing one to see the crashing waves about one hundred and fifty meters below. As he waited, he heard a door open towards the lakeward side and saw his father approaching, adorning his armor as well, minus his jetpack.

"Why am I not surprised that you're already up?" Pos asked lightheartedly, patting Perseus on the shoulder. From his voice, Perseus could tell that he was still partially asleep. Perseus shrugged and they turned back to the bridge, which the three female Mandalorians had finished crossing. The one in the lead held up her hand, and the ones behind her stopped. The Mandalorian on the left had some jagged black markings on her cuirass, an arrowhead on her right pauldron and the mark of Clan Kryze on her left pauldron. On her helmet were a few streaks of electric blue and a ring of gold all the way around at about the level where her hairline would be. She wore a black Kama on her hips and the clothes she wore underneath her armor were black as well. The Mandalorian on the right also had an arrowhead on her right pauldron, but that's pretty much where the similarities ended. She had simple yet ornate gold and purple lines on her cuirass, a few small gold marks on her helmet, the mark of Clan Wren on her left pauldron, and her tunic underneath was dark purple. The tip of her spear was also painted gold. Perseus thought he recognized some of the markings, but her spear confirmed to him who this was.

"So that's why Hylla said you weren't part of Clan Wren anymore," Perseus said to her. He chuckled as she stiffened slightly. "Good to see you again, Reyna."

"Likewise," Reyna -formerly Wren, now Emis- said, nodding.

"Hope you didn't forget about me, Kelp Head," the other one said, letting go of her crate, walking over, and rapping her knuckles on Perseus' helmet. She was angling her head so that her helmet blocked her downward view.

"How could I, Thalia?" Perseus said to his cousin as he swatted her arm away. He held his arm out and Thalia grasped his forearm. As they shook arms, their leader bowed to Pos.

"My apologies for waking you at such an early hour," she said.

"No worries, Arta," Pos said. He turned to Reyna. "I take it you just got back from a hunt for your newest initiate?"

"Indeed," Arta Emis said. "Reyna has proven herself to be quite ambitious. She had us go to Tatooine to kill one of the galaxy's greatest apex predators. She lead the others flawlessly; the only injuries were a few rolled ankles from the terrain."

Perseus and Pos both looked to Reyna, and she rubbed the back of her helmet. "I take it that that's connected with what's in those crates?" Pos asked.

"Yeah," Thalia said. "Krayt Dragon meat is delicious, but do you really think we need that much lying around?"

"Consider it a gift," Arta said. "One crate is refrigerated and contains dragon meat, and the other contains leather, scales, teeth, and bone pieces that I feel you could make use of."

"How much did you bring back?" Pos asked.

"A lot," Thalia answered. "We had to 'commandeer' a freighter to carry it all. We're probably gonna keep it."

"Of course" Perseus said. He turned to Reyna. "How big was the pearl?"

"As big as both my fists," Reyna said, wrapping one of her hands around the other. Perseus nodded, smiling at his friend from behind his helmet.

Arta nodded as well and then turned back to Pos. "If you'll now excuse us, we have another two crates in the Huntress that we need to take to Krownest."

"Of course," Pos said. "You have our gratitude for this gift."

"And congratulations, Reyna," Perseus said.

"Thank you, Perseus," Reyna said. She turned with her new family and walked back across the bridge. Pos and Perseus watched as they got to the other side, and, once they were a safe distance from the edge, the bridge was powered off.