Across the Universe | D. Djarin

The Survivors

I reached my hand up and placed it against the side of his face. Din sighed and lent into my palm, his eyes fluttered shut for a moment before he opened them again to stare deep into my own. We stayed like that for a moment before he leant forward and pressed his lips against my own. I sighed softly and kissed him back. The pace was slow and passionate as we enjoyed this moment of being alone together. We hardly ever had the time to just be together without Grogu or another Mandalorian around us.

My hand slowly trailed up from his cheek to his thick brown hair, my fingers tangled into his curls and he sighed into the kiss. After a moment, I had to reluctantly pull away, the need for air was battling for my need for him. Din shifted slightly and began to trail kisses down my jaw and neck. His hand that was on my thigh slipped lower and the air in the cockpit began to get dense and hot, maybe even hotter than the geysers just outside the steamed up glass of the cockpit window.

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It was the next morning, and the intense heat on my cheeks was slowly dissipating. The mocking jokes from Bo-Katan about the purple bruises down my neck had caused both Din and I to feel slightly flustered. Luckily for him, his armor and clothing hid any and all the marks that I had left on his tan skin.

Bo-Katan's ship flew just above the stormy atmosphere of Mandalore. I stood just behind the seat that I would usually sit in as it was occupied by my son and his new toy. I'm still not sure how I feel about IG-12 and the continued No's that I've been getting, but I'm glad that he can communicate with us with more ease.

"Scouting party descending to surface." Bo said over the comms as we began our descent into Mandalore. The other Mandalorians were below the cockpit, ready to be dropped onto the planet's surface.

"We'll lose comms shortly." Bo-Katan said to both the armorer and I.

I held onto the back of Grogu's seat as we began to descend through the thick, stormy clouds of Mandalore. Thunder crackled and wind rushed past the ship, causing it to sway and shake. Alarms in the ship beeped in warning and flashed bright red.

Once we began to clear the intense upper atmosphere, the door behind me whooshed open and Din stepped through. "They're ready."

Bo-Katan nodded and reached up to the controls above her head. She pressed something on the keypad. "Secure infil zone." She said to the scouting party over the comms. An alarm beeped after a few moments, alerting that the scouting party had been deployed down to the surface of the planet.

After a few minutes, Axe Woves spoke over the comms. "Gauntlet, landing zone secure."

That was our queue to land on the surface of Mandalore. Even though it wasn't the first time I had been here, the feeling still felt exciting and new. Once the ship touched down, the remaining group of us got up and headed to the exit of the ship. Din and I walked off the ramp with Grogu following behind us in IG-12. The armorer and Bo came out last.

"Somewhere below is where our ancient capital once stood. We'll survey the surface until we find the Forge and create a safety zone. Only then will we begin to bring down the settlers. We start by scouting in that direction. Form up." Bo-Katan said.

The scouting party all turned and began to walk alongside Bo. My eyes darted across the wide landscape with caution as we began our trek. There was no telling what sort of danger lay ahead for us.

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My feet were starting to ache from how far we had walked. I wanted to sit down for a few minutes, but I wasn't about to slow down the party. I felt exhausted from being on alert the entire time, my senses were screaming at me as I tapped into the force and reached out for any signs of life. If a creature were to come along and attack us, I would like to know about it.

So far I had only felt the presence of animals and creatures that were too small to be a threat. The occasional larger life form was usually too far away to be of concern. But I suddenly felt something coming towards us, and the force signature seemed to be humanoid of some form.

"There, on the horizon." Din stated, clearly spotting something as well. My hands hovered near the hilt of my sabers as the ground began to rumble.

"Nite owls." Bo-Katan stated

"Flanking left." Axe Woves said as he moved to the left and raised his blaster.

I pulled my sabers off of my belt and held them in my hands as something grew closer. Both Din and I moved to stand in front of Grogu to keep him safe. As the object moved closer, I could make out the shape of massive wings. It looked like a large, wooden ship that was moving on land.

Before it could reach us, it slowly pulled to a stop. I could see people shuffling about on board and then someone called out to us. "Do you have food?" The man's voice echoed.

"We do." Bo-Katan called back cautiously

"You wear the crest of the Nite owls?" Another man called out

"I should hope so." Bo-Katan said

"They're Mandalorians." The armorer said

"Is that the voice of Lady Bo-Katan Kryze?" A man asked

"It is." Bo-Katan replied. At her words, three Mandalorians flew up from the ship with their jetpacks and began to head over to us. I watched curiously as they carefully landed in front of us. The three men then removed their helmets and bowed their heads to Bo-Katan.

"We knew you would not forsake us, Lady Bo-Katan. We have failed you, but our blasters remain at your service." One of the men said. I felt myself relax and I placed my blasters back on my belt again. Hopefully these Mandalorians would be able to point us in the direction of the Great Forge.

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The sun had fallen over the horizon and the bright moon had risen into the night sky. The Mandalorians all sat around a table together as they spoke about what had happened long ago when the planet had fallen.

"They intercepted any ships they saw leaving. They took no prisoners. They bombed every surface twice over. They punished us as a warning to the whole galaxy because we refused to surrender." One of the Mandalorians said 

"That's not true. I did surrender." Bo-Katan admitted. Her statement caused the others to look at each other in shock.

"After our forces were annihilated in the Night of a Thousand Tears and defeat was imminent, I met with Moff Gideon. The ISB had reached out to me to negotiate a cease-fire. In exchange for submitting to the Empire and disarming, all remaining cities and Mandalorian lives were to be spared. That is how Moff Gideon came to possess the Darksaber. I didn't trust him, but it was the only chance I had to save our people. And then he betrayed me and we were helpless to resist the Purge of Mandalore." Bo-Katan explained sadly.

My heart broke for her at her recount of what happened. Both the Mandalorians and the Jedi have been through so much at the hands of the Empire. Both have almost been wiped out to extinction.

"How did these others survive?" One of the Mandalorians asked

"We were hidden on the moon of Concordia." The armorer explained

"Are you Death Watch?" The man asked

"Death Watch exists no longer. It shattered into many warring factions." The armorer stated 

"Our people have suffered time and again. From division and squabbling factions. Mandalore has always been too powerful for any enemy to defeat. It is always our own division that destroys us." Bo-Katan explained. Hopefully, this time around they will come together and bring back their home world. The galaxy needs the Mandalorians more than ever.