Under the Helmet ~ (The Mandalorian x Male OC)

Chapter 47: The Plan

Daedalus woke with a raging headache. Covering his head with his pillow, he felt around his bed, half expecting Din to be lying beside him.
Finding himself alone, he placed a hand over his eyes and got up from bed, feeling around for his helmet. After blindly stumbling for a few moments, he found it and placed it on his head, immediately turning down the brightness of his visor. The bright lights made his head throb.
He got dressed and made his way to the cockpit, where he found Din dozed off in the pilot's chair. His helmet was off, and it appeared as though he had cut his hair last night. It was pretty much the same, just shorter on the sides and back. It looked good.
Daedalus took a seat beside him. His boyfriend looked nice in the glow of the hyperspace lane. He must have gotten up early to pack up and set a course for Zygerria, hence the reason why he was sleeping in the cockpit.
The Foundling left the cockpit and climbed down to the lower level. He wandered around the empty floor, and ended up pulling out Grogu's Jedi learning book. He thought they had given it back when they gave up the Child, but apparently had not. Turning open to a random page, he was met with the sketches of many different creatures. Some reptiles, bears, but the one that caught his eyes a golden bird in the center of the page. It was a Starbird, also known as a phoenix. The bird was supposedly immortal, but would renew itself every so often.
Daedalus liked the idea. Phoenix. Perhaps that would be his new alias. The Phoenix.
He put the book back and went back to the cockpit, where he found Din stirring to consciousness.
"Morning babe," Daedalus cooed, running a hand along the Mandalorian's shoulder.
He shot awake instantly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to fall back asleep."
"You're fine."
"Why are you wearing your helmet?"
"Hungover as hell. Why did you let me drink so much?"
Din chuckled. "You would've had more if it you had your way."
"Well, thanks I guess," the Phoenix sighed. "How long until we're to Zygerria?"
The Mandalorian turned to the control module. "29 minutes. Are you sure you want to do this today? If you're not feeling good we should put it off until tomorrow. This isn't necessarily a mission you get a second go at."
Daedalus weighed his choices. He didn't want Rotella to suffer any more than she had to, but if the two of them failed, she would have no chance of getting out, and the Mandalorians would be sold into slavery, most likely to never see each other again.
"I don't know, maybe we just make today a recon day. Just walk around the city or something."
Din nodded. "Good idea. Where do you think she's being held?"
"Either in her room in the palace or in the dungeon, it really depends how badly her family wants to punish her."
"And the fact that you're her husband doesn't help in this situation?"
Daedalus thought about it for a second. "I'm not sure. Technically she has to do whatever I say, but if her family is holding her captive, it really doesn't matter what I say. Breaking her out is our best bet."

———

Din and Daedalus had just landed on the planet and were making their way to the city. Instead of going for any disguise, they donned their beskar. Zygerria had become an off-the-grid bounty hunter hideout ever since the princess's bounty. Plus, Daedalus had never worn his armor in the city, so no one would recognize him.
The Mandalorian had never gotten a good chance to explore the city, besides his brief grocery run for Lyra. Even now, he was just as disgusted as he was the first time. Slave trades and sheer humiliation of less-developed species went on all around the pair. Greedy merchants even tried to get them to partake in the sales, begging for bids. The two of them had more than enough money since they took over Lyra's ship, but both were highly opposed to slavery, so it was never a discussion between them.
"Shame we can't free all of them, isn't it?", Daedalus chided. "It's almost a disgrace being a prince of this Maker-condemned place."
An idea struck Din. "What if Rotella became queen, then what?"
Daedalus leaned back in confusion. "What?"
"It's a stretch, but if she were to inherit the throne, could she put an end to all of this?"
"I mean, I don't know. Are you suggesting we kill the royal family?"
The Mandalorian didn't like the idea, but it was definitely on the table. "If you were to, she could free herself and try to put an end to the slave trades. "
The Phoenix shook his head. "And you think that the whole kingdom is just going to abandon their century old ways?"
"I don't know, a lot of these cultures have to follow their ruler's biding," Din shrugged.
Daedalus chuckled and shook his head. "You do realized that I would be king then, right?" he started. "But if it would stop even one of these poor souls from being abused, I'll do it."
The Mandalorian was proud of him. "If we're really going to do this, we need to have a plan. A solid one, at that."
"I actually have an idea. I wouldn't call it solid, but it could work," Daedalus quipped.
"I trust you," Din chided. "Where do we start?"