Promises and Deals | The Mandalorian

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"Alora!" She glances up. "You coming?" Din calls out.

"Yeah," she replies weakly as she stands. "Yeah, sorry." She rushes herself and Grogu closer to the others as they continue stalking their way to the ships. As they approach, the mercenaries barely notice the two Mandalorians, Alora, and Grogu.

She elects to keep her hood off of her head and her weapons tucked at her back. They should know enough to be wary of her, and perhaps her luck of having Mandalorians underestimate her will continue.

She spots Axe sitting beside a few of the other Mandalorians, one of whom she recognizes as Bo-Katan's other companion from when they met. "Have you come back to join the mercenaries?" Axe calls out.

Bo-Katan's shoulders drop after a deep sigh. "I've come to reclaim my fleet."

"It's no longer your fleet, is it?" Axe asks as he raises his drink. "I'm now in command and grown quite fond of it."

Bo-Katan walks forward, leaving Din and Alora behind. "Then I challenge you, one warrior to another. Do you accept my challenge?"

Axe's eyes narrow as he stands. "I do."

Silence holds the plain until Axe throws his fist forward, firing a rocket from his armband, but Bo-Katan is already in the air with her feet aimed at his face. When her boot connects with Axe's cheek, Alora inhales sharply through her teeth at the impact.

Both bring out blades that slice through the air instead of each other. For a moment, it looks like Bo-Katan gains the upper hand, but then Axe barrels into her with his jet pack propelling him forward. Both slam against one of the nearby ships and onto the ground.

Grogu coos softly and closes his eyes as Alora forces herself to keep watching, to keep supporting her soldier in arms. Bo-Katan has fought everything to lead her people—she deserves this.

But that voice creeps back into her head. "Seek out your past. Seek out understanding." She tries to ignore it—ignore the rising pressure in the back of her skull—but the whispers keep coming and drawing her in.

"You are broken. Find your past, and find the solution."

In the blink of an eye, she is no longer standing on a field surrounded by Mandalorians. Instead, she stands at the steps of a once great Temple now burning with screams echoing in her ears. Another blink and the parapets are no longer consumed with flames; instead, they hold banners with the Imperial sigil as dark clouds approach overhead.

A cloaked figure stands at the top of the stairs, hands clasped in front of them and their hood obscuring any identifiable features. "Return home, child of the Jedi. I will be waiting. Delay, and risk shattering what little of you remains whole."

As the figure turns their back on her, everything dissolves in the blink of an eye. The Temple is gone. All that remains is Plazir-15 and the battle happening in front of her eyes. It is like no time has passed as Alora takes a gasping breath and stumbles back.

Din reaches out to her instantly, shielding her from view, although she doubts any of the mercenaries are watching them as Bo-Katan hurls herself at Axe once again. "Alora?" He whispers, his gloved hand cupping her cheek. "Alora, what's wrong?"

"It's fine, I'm fine," she insists, but a chill wraps around her bones. "I—"

"You're not fine."

"It doesn't matter now." She pushes him off as Axe and Bo-Katan fly into the sky overhead and land atop the wing of a ship. "Later, I promise."

She can feel Din's stare on her even as Bo-Katan and Axe return to the ground in front of them. Bo-Katan straddles Axe with a blade pressed to his throat. "Do you yield?!"