𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐘 • 𝐝.𝐝

011 | the imperial base

He held his hands up in surrender, noticing how touchy he got about the girl and walked over to the system. He started to fix it, the others guarding the door.

When he finished, he shuffled back round, "It's gonna blow, let's get out of here!" He exclaimed.

They all started to run in the opposite direction because if they didn't get out by the time that the machine went off then they would all burn to death.

"How long do we have?" Cara questioned, looking back at the group as she kept running.

Allana lookd down at her watch and then back at the room, "Ten minutes at most," she stated.

The group entered a room and noticed that there were two scientists banging on the table, destroying the evidence of something.

When they noticed that the group had interrupted them, one of the men told the other to destroy it as he started shooting. Mando took them both out instantly.

She couldn't understand what was so important that the men had to destory bur when she walked down the hallway, noticing what it was, she gasped in shock and horror.

Allana took a step back, bumping into Mando accidentally as she tried to teat her eyes away from the deformed bodies floating in the tanks

"I thought you said this was a forward operating base," she said, looking over at Greef and Cara.

"Thsi isn't a military operation is a lab," Mando said, looking at the bodies and then back down at Allana.

He knew that she wouldn't hesitate to kill someone and wouldn't flinch as their blood splattered but he had never seen her look so horrified at the sight of bodies.

"We need to get into the system and figure out what is going on," Cara said, rushing to the tabl that the scientists were trying to destroy. Mythrol started to hack into it and acce anything that hadn't been destroyed by the scientists in their last moments.

"I don't like this," Mando said, looking around the room again.

All of their heads whipe around at the sound of some man's voice and they started to watch a video of some scientist talking about a new donor.

Allana looked back at Mando and sh could tell under his armour that he had tense up, almost like he recognised the man.

"The child was small and I was only able to harvest a limited amount without killing him," he explained.

That made sense now, this wasbthw scientist who wanted the child, "Mando," she said, her voice quiet as they looked at one another.

"We need access to the donor, Moff Gideon," the man said before the recording vanished.

Her heart sped up in her chest at the idea of someone wanting to hurt the child and Harvest something from him, especially if it was Moff Gideon.

"This recording is only three days old," Mythrol stated, watching the wave of terror wash over the group.

"If Gideon alive then-" Allana started to say when the stormtoopers rushed into the room and started shooting.

After the half a dozen stormtrooper were dead, Mando looked for a way out, "I need to get the kid,"

"You jet back, we'll take the speeder and meet you there," Allana suggested.

"Come with me?" Mando asked, in all honesty, he didn't need ner there but he had to make sure she was okay, "I need your help,"

Allana nodded, wrapping her arms around him as he jetpack up. He let out a scream at the initial force but got used to it as they quickly landed by the school.

She rushed in, Mando standing guard outside, and grabbed the child before thanking the teacher and making a run for it.

"Lets get back to the ship," she said and with the child in one arm, she grabbed onto Mando again as he jetpack halfway across the city to their ship.

As soon as they got onto the ship and strapped in, they noticed the tie fighters coming in through the atmosphere and looked at each other with a knowing look.

They followed the tie fighters across the planet to the lava caverns where they were chasing the others in some landspeeder.

Allana held onto the child, initially worried that he wouldn't like the flying but he loved it, his little arms thrown into the air with joy.

"Hold on," Mando said before accelerating into the atmosphere to the follow the last two tie fighters and destroy them

When the battle was finally over, he looked over at the child and Allana, a smile on his face as he knew they were going to be alright.

"Not too bad huh," Mando said jokingly and she shook her head.

That's when the child threw up onto his shirt. Allana chuckled, gently wiping the blue liquid away with a napkin as she looked up at Din.

"Thay was some pretty impressive flying Mando," Greef said over the intercoms, "What do I owe ya?"

"With the repairs, let's call it even," he said, listening to Greef chuckle on the other side of the line.

"Are you coming back, Allana?" The man asked into the comms.

She looked over at Mando and then back down at the child. This was where she belonged, she just hadn't admitted it to herself yet. This was her little family.

"Maybe another day but I think they need me. Thank you for helping Greef," she said, a smile on her face.

"Safe flying, all of you," Greef said and Allana repeated the sentiment before they flew into hyperspace.

When he looked over at her in the cockpit, her arms wrapped around the child as she spoke to him, he felt a pang of pain in his chest.

Mando had never felt the loneliness of his job before he met Allana but whenever she wasn't there, it was like there was something missing from it all.

But now that she was back on the ship, he would follow her anywhere. Wherever she went, he felt a need to be there too.

He couldn't figure out what she meant to him. He couldn't figure out that soft ache in his chest whenever she wasn't around.

Being a Mandalorian meant that they taught him how to be strong and fight but he didn't know how to deal with these feelings brewing in his chest, especially to a non-Mandalorian.

So he shut off the emotion and focused on the mission ahead, protecting the child from everything that could go wrong; and protecting her.

1593 words