Blood and Money - The Mandalorian

The Tin Man

I could see Lanes shoulders moving from laughing as she had her back toward us. He didn't seem like he was proud of the fact that this creature had managed to get his ship and he sighed deeply again. I moved toward Lane and grabbed her arm.

      "Stop it." I whispered, she was holding her side as she continued to giggle.

     "I can't, I'm about to piss myself." She whispered back. Her laughter was infectious and I was doing my best not to show it. I turned around to face him as he stood there. I couldn't see his face, but if I had to guess, he wasn't smiling. 

      "I'm sorry, but you have to understand, we've had our fair share of Mul-raks and well, hearing that one managed to steal your ship with all these fancy weapons you have. Kinda makes a person wonder how he did it." I pointed out. "I mean, how did he get past you? It's not like he could blind you, you're wearing a helmet, so how did he manage steal your ship?" I asked a little curious. 

      "He slipped through his fingers." Lane chuckled again. I glanced back at her and moved in front of her so she was out of his view.

      "Are you going to be able to help me or not?" He asked apparently not finding it as funny as we did.

     "Probably not, Unfortunately I have a load that needs to be delivered and I can't get out of it." I walked away from Lane and over to a crate where I searched for a couple of tools that I needed and then headed over toward another panel near the ramp. "Not to mention, that if your ship has hyperdrive, this Mul-rak won't be getting close to the planet, they'll disable it before he does." I twisted the tool and bolted down the panel. 

        "I was told you're the only one that can get close enough." He replied as I worked on another bolt. I chuckled.

         "Let me guess, by the same man? I think I need to go in town and beat his ass for opening his mouth." I looked over at Lane, who had now got herself under control and was cleaning off a part and setting it down as she glanced over.

        "Well, this Mul-rak that stole your ship," She stated "He won't be getting onto the planet." She informed him. "The whole thing is surrounded by a maximum security shield with millions upon millions of gun turrets, nothing gets close enough to even see whats on it." I nodded in agreement.

     "And, you have to have a top security clearance to even get close enough." I added as I moved toward another hatch to check it. I glanced at him. "In fact, they'll probably just permanently disable the ship with an EM pulse and take the pilot and whatever 'cargo' they're trying to trade and they become a permanent resident of the planet." I added, then sighed. "So what's so important about this cargo that they're willing to trade for one of the prisoners?"

      "I don't know if that's what this thing is trying to do, so I can't tell you that." He told me. I sighed again and nodded.

      "If he's going to Solas Five, that's what he's doing. Trust me, no one goes there to just chat."

     "I still can't tell you." 

      "Okay, well then, you have a great day Tin man." I told him and I walked past him once more. "See ya."

       "I can't tell you what the cargo is, all I can say is it's very important and I need it back." He said "I just need you to get me there and I can take care of the rest." He pulled his bag off his waist "I can pay you for your time." He started to open the pouch. But I raised my hand stopping him.

      "Look, I get it, you really want your ship and cargo back and I would love to help you, but it's gonna take some time to even reach Solas Five and with my hyper-drive malfunctioning, we could end up shooting way off course, and have to turn around and go back, or we could end up smashing into something. Maybe you should ask someone else that could get you there faster."

          "You're the only one that can get me close enough to get my ship, I can only assume you have a security code for the planet." He told me, I stopped twisting the bolt and looked at him.

          "And why would you think that?" I never told anyone that.

          "You said it yourself, you have to have one to even get close enough to the planet, which means you have one to know you need one." He pointed out. He had me there, I glanced at Lane who smiled because she knew it too.

          "Yeah, well everyone knows you need one." I told him even though he sort of figured it out. "Besides, it's still gunna take time to get there." I reminded him. "And if this cargo is that important to you, I can't guarantee it'll still be there once we get there. Are you willing to take that risk on my slow ship?"

          "I'll trust you to get me there as fast as you can." He said. "I need my ship and my cargo."

I sighed deeply and glanced over at Lane once more who shrugged her response to me.

          "Alright fine, I'll take you, but I still need to drop this load off, like I said there's no way I can get out of it and it's gunna take time. Again are you willing to wait that long?"

         "What other choice do I have?" he asked.

         "Well, you can find another ride, take your chances at trying to get close enough which won't happen. But the good news is, it'll take him a while to get there as well, and he'll still have to drop out of hyperdrive way before he even reaches the planet, if not....boom." I moved my hands to show him the explosion. 

I could see him thinking and then he sighed. 

A/N I hope you are liking this so far, if so give a quick vote and let me know if anything doesn't make sense. 

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A/N Newer revised version. 

1777W