Balance || The Mandalorian [ON HIATUS]

✦ Ten

Inhaling a faint earthy scent from the trees, I ambled over to Cara, who was gazing at the distant forest. We stood side by side for a moment, observing the colorful birds and leaves that occasionally fell to the ground. 

"You are an unusual couple, you know." 

The statement caught me off guard. "What do you mean?"

Cara shrugged. "Don't get me wrong, you're great together, but two bounty hunters, one of which is a Mandalorian? You don't see that very often these days." She laughed softly and added, "Not to mention your little green son."

"Oh, uh, we're not... we're not a couple. And the kid isn't our son." I said quickly. Why would anyone even think that?

She quirked a brow with skepticism. "Really? I don't know, the look on your face..."

"I- We're not- No." She smirked at my discomfort, and I shook my head. Mando and I are... partners? Coworkers?  Even I don't know what we are. "We just work together."

"Whatever you say."

Later that day, Cara, Mando, and I left the child to play with his newly found friends and trekked through the forest in hopes of finding the raiders who ransacked the village. 

Following the trail of destruction they left behind, we encountered traces of a large object that was capable of snapping branches right off of trees. We eventually came across an indentation in the ground that resembled a massive footprint.  

 Just our luck.

It was an AT-ST. 

"AT-ST," breathed Cara in incredulity. I tried to fight the feeling of unease that grew in me at the mention of an Imperial remnant.

Mando inhaled sharply. "Imperial walker. What's it doing here?" 

"I don't know, but this is more than I signed up for." I wholeheartedly agreed, yet couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt - the villagers didn't deserve to be terrorized this way, or repaid for their kindness with bad news. What would their reactions be when we told them they needed to abandon their homes?

As it turns out, they were displeased, to say the least.

"Bad news. You can't live here anymore," announced Mando to the crowd of villagers who had come to hear us deliver our verdict. I winced at his bluntness, unsurprised at the instant uproar that followed. 

"What?"

"Why?"

"Come on!"

"Nice bedside manner," Cara muttered with a pointed look at Mando. I could only assume that he was rolling his eyes. 

"You think you can do better?"

"Can't do much worse." She stepped forward to address the villagers. "I know this is not the news you wanted to hear, but there are no other options."

"You took the job!" they cried in indignation.

I stepped forward as well. "That was before we knew of the AT-ST." The people seemed confused, so I clarified, "The armored Imperial walker."

"Which has two enormous guns that you knew about and didn't tell us," added Cara. The villagers' distress only worsened at our explanation. 

"Help us!"

"Please." 

"You're supposed to help us."

"But we hired you!" As much as we wanted to help them, we were severely outnumbered and did not stand a chance against an AT-ST.