✓ The Mandalorian's Everything - Book One

Chapter 9

He bit his lip to stop himself from laughing and led you back into the barn, watching through his peripherals as you smiled at Winta and followed him in, then glanced up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I think you're going a little soft under all that armour," you observed, turning to face him with a gentle smile on your face.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

You hummed. "Sure you don't."

He watched as you led the baby back over to the crib and gently set him down, then walk over to the bed on the floor while rubbing your eyes. "You just gonna stand there and be all creepy, Ulysses?"

You laid down on your stomach with your back facing him, your hair spread out across the makeshift pillow and your arms resting comfortably underneath. He smiled, watching your breathing already begin to even out, then looked out the window. The sun was just beginning to set, but he knew you drained of energy from playing with the kids.

Glancing back at your sleeping form, he couldn't help the skip in his heart as he walked out of the barn.

---

"You got two problems here," the bounty hunter sighed to the group of villagers, who were all standing in front of him at the edge of the krill farm.

He glanced over at you, who was standing right next to him with the baby in your arms. You still hadn't changed (he remembered you scolding yourself under your breath for managing to bring the entire ship but not one pair of clothes for yourself). You put your hair in a half-up do that made it fall against your shoulders softly, effectively distracting him many times from his thoughts.

"You got the bandits, and you got the mech," he continued, looking back at the villagers. "We'll handle the AT-ST, but you gotta protect us when they come outta the woods. And I don't have to tell you how dangerous they are. Cara Dune here was a veteran. She was a drop soldier for the Rebellion, and she's gonna lay out a plan for you. So listen. Carefully."

"Now," she stepped forward. "There's nothing on this planet that can damage the legs on this thing. So we're gonna build a trap. We're gonna need to dig real deep," she pointed to the krill pool behind her. "Right here, so that when it steps in, it drops. The two of us will hit their camp, provoke them. That'll bring the fight out of the woods and down here to us."

"I'm gonna need you to cut down trees and build barricades along these edges," the Mandalorian continued. "I need it high enough so that they can't get over, and strong enough so that it can't break through."

Everyone nodded, and he turned back to you. "I've got a couple guns I can't fix."

"You want me to take a look at them?"

"Better. I need a bomb, possibly two. I'll give you more details later."

You nodded, and he turned back to the villagers. "Okay. Who knows how to shoot?"

Looking into the crowd, he watched as Omera was the only person who reluctantly put up her hand, and he internally sighed. This was going to take a lot more work than he hoped. He nodded his head and glanced at Cara, who nodded back at him.

They decided that their days would consist of training in the morning and setting up the barricades and the trap in the afternoon. So, they got to work with the training. Cara split the group in two, half of them going to work with her on combat skills while the bounty hunter took the other half - including you - over to the weapon crates.

You helped him hand out the different guns to everyone, smiling when they mumbled their thanks and led them over to the training area. You had hung up a bunch of pots and pans to use as practice targets, then stood back as everyone started getting in a line.