-The Deepfreeze-
"The speeder is toast, we have to walk." He began picking up their scattered belongings.
Aula continued to gawk back at him. "How far is it?"
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From his pouch, Leo whined.
"Oh, don't you complain, kid, you don't even have to walk," she muttered.
They trudged across the desert, carting their stuff with them, all the way back to where Peli and the Crest were waiting for them.
"All right, here's the deal," Peli told them, not seeming too concerned with the whereabouts or state of her only speeder bike. "A Mandalorian covert is close. It's in this sector, one system trailing. All I know is that the contact will lead you to them."
"How much will it cost me?"
"Well that's the great news: it's free."
"What's the bad news?"
"Nothing it's all great."
"Okay."
"However, there is one thing-"
Lore sighed. "Which is?"
"The contact wants passage to the system."
"Do you vouch for them?"
"On my life."
"Fine."
"And-" He whirled around to face her again. "No hyperdrive."
"You want me to travel sublight? Deal's off."
"It's one sector over."
"Moving fast is the only thing keeping us safe."
"These are mitigating circumstances."
"What do you mean 'mitigating'?"
Peli turned to the doorway of her mechanics shop where a woman who looked to be a frog-like creature was coming out.
Lore sighed. "I'm not a taxi service."
"I know, I know, I hear you. But I can vouch for her."
"What's the cargo?" Lore nodded to the container being carried on the woman's back.
Peli spoke to the lady in her language, really impressing Aula. "It's her spawn. She needs her eggs fertilized by the equinox."
"And how does she go about that?" asked Aula.
"Well, I don't know the specifics but I'm not going to ask - that's between her and her husband, I think."
"Yeah, good point. I mean, I know how reproduction works, don't get me wrong, I was just wondering how it works across different species, if it's different at all..." Suddenly she wished she could grab Lore's helmet and put it over her face to hide her intense blush.
"Anyway, she needs them fertilized by the equinox, or her line will end," Peli continued. "If you jump into hyperspace, they'll die. She said her husband has settled on the estuary moon of Trask in the system of the gas giant Kol Iben."
"She said all that?" asked Lore, surprised.
"I paraphrased."
"Is she sure there are Mandalorians there?"
Again, Peli spoke to the woman in her language. Then she nodded. "She said her husband has seen them."
"Do you know the husband?"
"No, I just met her ten minutes before you walked in."
"I thought you said you vouched for her on your life."
"I did. And what can I say? I have an excellent judge of character." Peli gave a self-satisfied smile.
"Come on, we have to help her and her babies," cried Aula. "Help reunite this family."
Lore gave his usual response - he sighed.
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"Hi, I'm Aula. Welcome aboard! Make yourself comfortable," she told the lady as they all boarded the Crest. The lady said something back, which Aula couldn't understand of course, but it sounded thankful.
"Now I'm gonna ask you to stay strapped in whenever you're seated," Lore instructed. "Traveling sublight is a bit dicey these days." She said something back in her language. "I don't speak whatever language that is. You speak Huttese?" He tried speaking a few words, but took the lady's silence as she didn't understand.
"You're guess is as good as mine," said Aula.
After setting their course, Lore and Aula headed down to the lower level to let the lady have some rest, and to get Leo to bed for his nap.
They found him sitting beside the lady's container-
He was eating the eggs!
"No!" Lore dove in, grabbing Leo. "That's not food!" He sighed and closed the container. "Kaysh guur'skraan - He loves his food."
And she was really loving all the Mando'a.
"Don't do that again. Nap time." He tucked the little bean into his hammock.
Aula winced. "What are we going to tell her when she notices some of her eggs are missing?"
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The ship was tossing and turning like you wouldn't believe!
"What the kriff are you doing?!" The door to the cockpit slid open and Aula appeared, sporting wide eyes and a wild bedhead. "Some of us are trying to sleep here!"
"We're being chased!" Lore cried back.
"By who?!"
"Razor Crest, stand down. We will fire. I repeat, we will fire."
"They're gonna fire!" she cried.
"I know! Just hang on!"
The poor lady was screaming, probably wondering what the hell she'd gotten herself into.
"Don't worry!" Aula shouted over the noise to her in reassurance. "He knows what he's doing - I think..."
She questioned her own words when, moments later, the ship took a plunge downwards.
"Now we're dropping!"
"I know! Hold on!"
"Come on Razor Crest, don't make us do it."
"Hold on-" called Lore.
"We are!"
CRASH!
Lore had flown them right into an icy canyon in a very bumpy landing.
"Are you okay?" Aula asked the lady who groaned in response. Then she started wailing, looking around.
"We'll find your eggs, don't worry - and we'll get some blankets," Lore assured her. He nodded to Aula and the two headed down the ladder, where they were not pleased at what they found.
The lower level was a mess of spilled cargo.
"Damn it," mumbled Lore. The lady called down to them from above. "Hang on, we're looking for your eggs!"
Leo cooed, an egg in hand.
"No! No, I told you not to do that!" More wails from above. "Found them!" Then he went back to whispering to Leo. "How many did you eat?"
Leo responded by giving a little burp.
Aula sighed, looking around them at the mess. "I can honestly say that this was a horrible idea."
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"As you've probably guessed, we're in a tight spot." Lore had no idea if the lady could understand a single word he was saying, but felt responsible to explain their current situation, their current predicament. "The main power drive is not responding and the hull has lost its integrity. I suspect the temperature will drop significantly when night falls. I'll have a better idea of our prospects at that time."
The lady said something to him, most likely something in protest.
"I'm sorry lady, I don't understand frog. Whatever it is, it can wait until morning. I recommend you get some sleep, which we all should do."
Somehow, despite the cold, he managed to fall asleep. He was awoken however, by movement and muttering beside him. Aula was trembling and mumbling in her sleep.
"Hey, hey - Aula!" he cried, shaking her awake.
"Bad dream," she explained. "The cold brings back bad memories."
"I thought you lived on a desert planet."
"I did." Then she noticed their position, sitting beside each other, leaning against the wall. "Was I leaning on you? Oh, gosh, sorry. Personal space, much? Was I snoring or drooling or something? You could have just pushed me off."
"It's fine, you were comfortable, I didn't want to disturb you. And you were shivering, so I wanted to make sure you were warm enough."
"Oh, well, thank you."
"Hear me, Mandalorian." Both jumped at the sudden automated voice. Lore whipped out his blaster. But it wasn't a droid, it was the frog lady speaking through the droid. "This cannot wait until morning. Do not be alarmed. I bypassed the droid's security protocols and accessed its vocabulator."
"Genius," breathed Aula.
"What the hell are you doing? That droid is a killer," cried Lore.
"These eggs are the last brood of my life cycle," she explained, ignoring his concerns about the droid. "My husband has risked his life to carve out an existence for us on the only planet that is hospitable to our species. We fought too hard, and suffered too much to resign ourselves to the extinction of our family line. I must demand that you hold true to the deal that you agreed to."
"Look lady, the deal is off. We'll be lucky if we get off this frozen tomb with our lives."
"I thought honouring one's word was a part of the Mandalorian code."
Aula was nodding. Lore turned to face her. "She's got you there."
(I loved this episode! I was laughing so hard during that whole scene where he was communicating with the X-wings - especially when he said 'May the Force be with you' XD Haha, Oh Din! I love awkward Mando!
Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :))