Clan of Three

Part Forty-Seven

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For the entire journey to Tatooine, Rael had barely said a word.  When Din had tried to ask what happened between her and Bo-Katan, she mumbled, "Nothing." The Mandalorian decided not to press her and made no attempt to question her about the metal case that sat in her lap. Grogu had even tried to get a laugh from the young woman by making her hair float around her face, but only got a tiny smile in return.

As the N-1 starfighter touched down in Peli's hanger, the mechanic could be seen shooing away a couple of Jawas before hurrying over to greet them. "Whoo-hoo! You hear that? She's purring like a nuzzle shrew!", the curly-headed woman shouted happily as Din released the canopy. As the ship had shut down Din replied, "No complaints. Still faster than I know what to do with."

This made Peli beam with pride as she waved him off, saying, "I'll tune her up just the same... So, where's my guy?". On queue, Grogu popped out of Din's lap and made Peli's smile grow as he launched into her arms. "Who taught you to leap like a Lurmen? Huh?", she asked the kid with a laugh. Grogu babbled a bit and made her grow even more excited. Din took the chance to climb out of the ship and turn to offer Rael help with the case.

"I got it. Thanks", Rael told him quickly as she clambered to the ground, gripping the case's handle tightly. Din watched with furrowed brows as the Jedi held the case in front of her, clearly not wanting to set it down. "Rae, are you alright?", he asked her quietly as Peli continued to fawn over Grogu. "Mhm, yea.", The young woman forced out unconvincingly. The Mandalorian  studied her for a moment and become even more concerned when he thought he saw something close to fear glint in her eyes.

"Did you hear that? He said Peli!", the mechanic exclaimed, pulling Din's attention away from Rael. "We're here on business.", The man said as he headed over to her. "Oh are the Hutts back? Are you takin' out Boba Fett?", Peli asked sounding intrigued. "We need a droid part.", he said plainly. The woman huffed and turned to her pit droids, "Ugh. Boring. Hey! Get the Jawas back in here before they hit the cantina!". 

"You know how Mos Eisley gets during Boonta week." Peli chuckled towards Rael with a wink. The young woman gave a her a smile back before shifting her grip on the case. "I'm looking for a replacement IG memory circuit." Din told her. "Oh. Hey, grandpa. They haven't made those for a while." The mechanic snorted. Instead of rolling his shielded eyes, Mando's ears peaked up at the sound of Rael huffing out a small laugh at the comment. 

Just then, A group of three Jawas came hurrying into the hanger. Peli met them half way and began asking the group about the requested part in Jawaese. But not a moment later, the Jawas turned and left. "Sorry, pals, no chance cubes." Peli sighed. "They can't find the part? I need my droid fixed now.", Din asked. The woman just shook her head no and said, "Which is why I think you should buy this beauty here."

They watched as Peli slapped a hand on top of an older astromech droid and sparks flew out of it. Rael grimaced as Din watched, seemingly unimpressed. "I can't use an astromech. We need a droid that's rated for spelunking." He explained. Peli chuckled as she asked, "Spelunking? What are you spelunking?". Rael felt the case in her hands grow heavier as Din replied, "We're going to Mandalore. We need a droid that can explore ahead of us and test the atmosphere, make sure it's safe to breath."

The astromech shuttered nervously at his words and backed away a bit, before Peli stopped it and said, "Get back here, scaredy droid. This R5 astromech is built for adventure! It was built to pilot starfighters and fight tyranny across the galaxy!". Din shook his head as he motioned towards the R5 and said, "This thing is falling apart, and besides there's no room for it on the N-1." Peli waved him off as she switched Grogu to rest in her other arm, saying, "Nonsense. R5-D4 is as good as the day it came back form serving in the Rebellion. And I'll reinstall your droid port and this little baby here can even co-pilot. And since it's Boonta, I'll give it to you for half off."