"Wedge formation—I'll break the wind!" Max Vizsla leapt out of the hatch and fired up his jetpack.
"Roger!" Christopher Rayne and Kaelden Johnson jumped after him.
Max Vizsla was brimming with confidence about this racing contest on the edge of the galaxy. People might be deceptive, but flying creatures? You can judge those by appearance. Just look at the Rishii—average aerodynamics, lots of drag. No way they could be that fast.
What, you say Mandalorians don't look any better—maybe worse? That's a different principle: brute force beats physics. A Z-6 or JT-12 jetpack at full thrust could accelerate a Mandalorian to a max level-flight speed of 145 km/h—slower than an Alpine swift on Earth, faster than a peregrine falcon.
As for maximum dive speed… that depends on how much nerve—and how many spare lives—the diving Mandalorian has.
"Kree-eee-ar~!"
The moment the three Mandalorians dove out, the three Rishii ahead—who'd slowed down when the T-6 shuttle slowed—instantly got excited. They threw their heads back and let out piercing cries, like a red-tailed hawk on Earth, sharp enough to seem to cut the sky.
"Uh, Chief… this doesn't look like a straight-line race. It's a free chase."
Up ahead, after nodding to Max's trio, the three Rishii whistled and happily plunged into the cloud layer below.
"Stay on them." Max Vizsla pitched down into a dive.
"Roger." Chris and Kaelden followed tight.
…
After messing around for half the day, the Mandalorian trio hadn't even brushed a single Rishii feather—literally hadn't touched a single feather.
The Rishii's instantaneous turning and sustained turning were absurd. It made the Mandalorians' speed advantage meaningless. One tight-radius turn was enough for the Rishii to ditch the clumsy Mandalorians by a huge margin, leaving Max with the helpless feeling of trying to dogfight a MiG-29 while flying a MiG-25.
("Want to catch those damn birdmen? You know… the power of the dark side…")
"Hah…" Max Vizsla exhaled long and slow. "Chris, Kaelden—BZ. Boom and Zoom: high-speed dive, one strike, disengage, climb, repeat."
"Understood."
Chris and Kaelden instantly got it. The trio began climbing for altitude. If they couldn't make up for their disadvantage in horizontal maneuverability, they'd maximize their edge in speed and vertical maneuverability.
"Three," Max Vizsla said. "Three chances. If we miss all three passes, we take the loss."
"Roger."
"Boom!" Max growled, and the trio dove at full speed.
A new tactic produced a new outcome.
This time, they truly did touch Rishii feathers—on the third missed pass, the high-speed airflow blasted several feathers off one of the Rishii. As they pulled up into the climb, Max's reflexes flashed—he snagged a single feather with the Force. If he went home without touching even one feather, his mind would never settle.
"Hah…" Max exhaled again. "Hover. Helmets off. Wait for our hosts to come over and exchange greetings. Wenban, bring the shuttle closer to our position."
"Roger."
…
"Chirpy!" the Rishii shouted excitedly. "H'kig! Flying H'kig!"
"We're not H'kig. We're Mandalorians."
"Mandalorians?" The Rishii circled the trio. "Mm. A little different. Not H'kig. No wings. But their butts can breathe fire, and they can fly like Rishii. Mandalorians."
"Mandalorians flew here from other stars?" another Rishii asked—and then spotted the feather pinched between Max Vizsla's fingers. "Chirpy! Mandalorians fly well!"
Before Max could speak, the warm, hospitable Rishii extended an invitation on their own:
"Mandalorians fly from other stars. Mandalorians tired. Rishii invite Mandalorians to Rishii nest—rest, visit!"
"Thank you. The Mandalorians accept the Rishii invitation." Max nodded with Christopher and Kaelden. "Now, the Mandalorians would like to invite the Rishii to ride a shuttle."
"Shuttle?"
"This," Max said, pointing at the T-6 shuttle sliding in from the left, "this winged, fire-breathing craft is called a T-6 shuttle—it flies much faster than Rishii and Mandalorians. Please."
"Chirpy! Rishii thank Mandalorians!"
"Wenban—push it all the way."
"Got it!"
Under the guidance of a Rishii whose name sounded like "Gejiujiu," the T-6 shuttle carried four Mandalorians plus three Rishii and arrived above the mountaintop where Gejiujiu's nest was located, causing a noticeable stir.
"Hiss—" "Chirpy!"
The hatch opened. Gejiujiu and the others sprang out, thrilled, chattering excitedly with their kin.
"Wenban, don't shut down the repulsorlifts. Hover—don't land. Don't crush the Rishii nest."
"Roger."
"Chris, KJ—out with me."
"Roger."
As the three Mandalorians jumped out, a Rishii leaning on a wooden walking stick—or maybe a staff—approached amid a crowd. He handed the staff to someone else, spread his arms (wings?), and said in a hearty voice:
"Friends, Mandalorians from far away—Black Feather Nest welcomes you."
…
Max's negotiation with Black Feather Nest went far more smoothly than he expected—and the outcome was even better than he'd dared hope.
He'd assumed there would be language barriers and they'd need gestures just to communicate the basics. Instead, the Rishii's language-learning ability was so strong that nearly everyone in Black Feather Nest spoke Galactic Basic.
"H'kig came to Black Feather Nest long ago, preached," the chieftain "Black Lightning" explained. "Two came. Stayed five months. Taught us Basic."
With no language barrier, Max Vizsla having done his homework and brought gifts the Rishii liked—lots of artificial diamonds (one box on the T-6, and a full ton aboard the Vast Silence)—and the Rishii being genuinely peaceful and friendly, the talks went far beyond expectations.
Max explained he had a little over three hundred people who needed drinking water and food, and he hoped to trade gemstones with Black Feather Nest. Chieftain Black Lightning gladly agreed—and offered a plan far better than Max had expected.
"Drinking water—mountain not easy. You must go to lowlands to get."
"Food—Black Feather Nest can hunt for meat, gather fruit. But…" Black Lightning raised his staff for emphasis. "You have too many people. You need too much. Black Feather Nest cannot supply it alone—we cannot overhunt or overgather. That would damage this mountain and nearby lands."
"We will help you contact all nests we know. Many Rishii hunt and gather across a wide region. Then your needs can be met, and the environment won't be harmed."
Max Vizsla abruptly hugged Black Lightning, so grateful he nearly teared up. If you applied certain game-style formulas, Max would be getting absurdly high reputation on Rishi.
"One gemstone fills one shuttle. One box of gemstones fills one of your big ships." That was Black Lightning's price.
"Brother—Brother Black Lightning, you're my real brother!"
PS: 145 km/h is the official maximum level-flight speed for Mandalorians using a Z-6 or JT-12 jetpack.
Official sources don't specify Rishii flight data; the author plans to use Earth peregrine falcon data as a reference.
PPS: Rishii like decorating their nests—inside and out—with shiny objects.
--
-
-
🛡 Star Wars: The Rise of Mandalore
📢 For Mandalore! 📢
Star Wars: The Rise of Mandalore is now available with 100+ chapters ahead on Patreon! 🛡🔥
Witness the resurgence of Mandalorian power long before public release.
🛑 Also available on Patreon:
Cyberpunk: The Relentless (500+)
Dragon King of Ice and Fire (200+)
Cyberpunk: Lucy Adopted Me and I Got a System
My Cyberpunk 2077 Simulator
My Girlfriend's a Cyberpsycho—Who Knew?
Game of Thrones: Secrets Beneath the Dreadfort
The Rebirth of Harry Potter
Star Wars: Relics of the Past
R18: Reincarnated in Her World
🔗 www.patreon.com/c/MrMagnus👤 SrMagnus🐦 https://x.com/SrMagnusBook
⚠️ The novel with the most Power Stones rises first!