Walking through the filth of Nevarro feels different. The girl's pace has slowed considerably while the Child coos nervously in his cradle. Mando tries not to notice the fear in his eyes or the way his ears flatten against his head. Mando also tries to ignore the girl's tight grip on the cradle as she eyes the patrons staring at them.
"Hurry up," Mando says as he leads them. He isn't worried about the girl running. With this many people, it would be impossible for her to get away with the Child safely let alone get off the planet.
The trio turns down an empty street, and the girl stops just before their destination, making the cradle stop as well. Mando takes one look at her face and knows she wants nothing more than to grab the Child and run. But she stays back, her gaze flickering between him and the door.
He knocks.
A droid eye extends from the wall, and he holds up a card. The door opens to reveal stormtroopers, their guns at the ready.
When the first one takes a step out, Mando notices the girl take a small step back as if readying herself to fight. Her hands still remained bound and resting in front of her, though her fingers twitch with each passing second.
She closes the Child's cradle when she finds the soldiers staring at him.
One stormtrooper waits outside while the other guides them in. "Come on," Mando says, motioning for the girl to walk ahead of him.
Her eyes remain on the ground as she steps forward, her hands inching closer toward the cradle as it moves next to her. He can't imagine what's going through her head as they walk down the dark corridor.
The leading trooper takes a hold of the cradle, opening it and tilting it down. Mando throws a hand out before the girl can pounce, snapping, "Easy with that."
"You take it easy."
Mando grimaces as the girl falls in step with him, her eyes on the Child. Despite the metal armor, he can feel the girl's clothing brushing up against him repeatedly as she inches closer, avoiding the dank walls and the stormtroopers around them.
When they reach the main room, Mando has to tug the girl in as the client stands to greet them with his doctor beside him. "Yes!" The client exclaims with a tracking fob in his hand. "Yes, yes, yes. Yes!"
Dr. Pershing raises a tool, and the girl steps forward. All of the stormtroopers raise their weapons in response as the client and doctor flinch away. "Don't worry," Dr. Pershing says. "Just checking his vitals."
It is strange to him—to see such war-ridden individuals scared of such a seemingly harmless girl. He knows better; she is far from harmless.
He tugs her back to his side, hoping the tilt of his helmet indicates his need for her to behave. With a clench of her jaw, she takes a step toward him, her eyes darting from gun to gun.
Her hand that wraps around his wrist almost makes him jump.
Tap.
He frowns.
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
What is she trying to tell him?
Tap.
"Now, the girl." The client's voice brings Mando's focus away from the repeated taps: six in a row, then a break before repeating.
Dr. Pershing approaches with his tool, shining the red light on the girl's face. She flinches away and tries to blink through it, but she ultimately fails. Not once does she stop tapping.
"A bit malnourished," the doctor comments. "but otherwise healthy."
"Your reputation was not unwarranted," the client says with a smile that makes the girl's grip tighten.
"How many fobs did you give out?" Mando asks.
"The assets are of extreme importance to me. I had to ensure their delivery. But to the winner..." The client walks over to his desk, pulling out a container Mando only hopes is the beskar rightfully belonging to his clan. "...go the spoils."
When the container opens, Mando walks forward, ripping his hand from the girl. So much beskar...They never deserved to have it. This was the rightful property of the Mandalorians, not the Empire. He picks up a brick.
"Such a large bounty for such a small package." The client's eyes move back. "Incapacitate her."
Mando spins around, but he's too late; the girl gasps in shock as a stormtrooper removes a syringe from her shoulder, taking a step back. She swings her hands around but stumbles over her own feet, blinking quickly as she looks around the room before three of the nearest troopers sit her in a wheelchair, uncuffing her only to secure her arms and legs to the chair itself.
Her cloudy gaze drifts up to him as both she and the Child are escorted out by Dr. Pershing. Despite the scrunch of her face and the probable confusion in her mind, she taps the chair six times, her eyes on his helmet.
The Child cries from his cradle as the door shuts behind them.
Mando runs his thumb over the Imperial mark. "What are your plans for them?"
"How uncharacteristic of one of your reputation. You have taken both commission and payment." Mando glances around as more stormtroopers enter the room. "Is it not the Code of the Guild that these events are now forgotten? That beskar is enough to make a handsome replacement for your armor. Unfortunately, finding a Mandalorian in these trying times is more difficult than finding the steel."
Mando cannot bring himself to nod. He simply closes the container and walks away, with the echo of six taps on his wrist.
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Karnac. He just has to get to Karnac and forget anything ever happened. New beskar, new job, new place. Perfect.
Mando starts his ship, clicking buttons all over the console. When he goes to pull back a lever, he pauses. The ball at the top—the one the Child enjoyed—sits just off to the side. He screws it back on slowly, each twist irritating his wrist more.
Those six taps haven't left his mind in the time since he dropped off the bounty. Now, this?
His eyes move between the ball and his wrist. He shouldn't have taken the damn job. He shouldn't have taken them in alive. He can't do much now. Can he?
He shouldn't.
But he will.
Shutting down the ship, Mando walks back onto the soil of Nevarro, walking a hair faster than usual as he meanders through the market, slipping down an alley in the center of town. He dares not go near the Imperial hideout—not yet. Instead, he walks up and down the surrounding alleys, checking every dark spot he can find.
Eventually, he comes upon a dumpster and something catches his eye. As he approaches, he recognizes the Child's cradle along with his own handcuffs wrapped with the Child's blanket.
He assumes the worst. They wouldn't kill them; they wanted the Child and the girl alive. Sometimes, being alive is worse.
As the sun begins to set, Mando climbs atop a nearby roof, his rifle aimed at the hideout. "I don't care," he hears the client say. "I order you to extract the necessary material and be done with it."
Static makes him frown as he adjusts the settings on the rifle.
"He has explicitly ordered us to bring it back alive. The child as well as the girl." The doctor sounds scared.
"Finish your business quickly as I no longer can guarantee your safety."
That's it.
Mando makes his way to the entrance, knocking and ripping the droid apart. As the door opens, Mando walks away and ignores the stormtroopers who step out to investigate. He makes his way around the building, sticking an explosive on the side.
There's no going back as the wall explodes, giving Mando time to sneak in, easily taking care of the measly two troopers sent to investigate. A third comes; he is down within seconds.
Mando makes his way through the building, his gun drawn and ready. He impales a fourth stormtrooper before it knows what's happening as he continues to the locked door; shooting the controls, the door slides open for a stormtrooper to shoot. The shot hits the beskar, and Mando retaliates.
The doctor begins begging, pretty pathetically. Mando raises the gun, shooting the droid hovering beside him, but his eyes are already drawn to the Child. Strapped to the bed like an animal, completely passed out. No sign of the girl.
"Please, no!" Dr. Pershing cries. "Don't hurt him. It's just a child." He continues begging even as Mando throws him to the side, the gun still trained on him.
"What did you do to it?" Mando asks; he gets whimpers in response. "What did you do to it?"
"I protected him. Him and the girl. If it wasn't for me, they'd be dead. Please! Please. Please."
"Where's the girl?"
Dr. Pershing frowns, despite the rising hysteria. "Down the hall. He wanted them separated."
Before the doctor can look up, Mando has the Child nestled in his grip and is already following the directions. Two troopers wait outside the door, but Mando takes care of them quickly. Another three inside, but a blaster shot takes them out.
The girl lies on a metal bed, a droid frozen beside her. The droid drops the needle and backs away, but Mando does not waste time. Shooting it down, he gets to work freeing the girl from her numerous restraints, turning off the energy field around her.
Heaving her over his shoulder, he finds it surprisingly easy to keep her steady with a blaster in his hand while the Child remains asleep in his other arm. It may be difficult, but Mando is confident in his abilities. Hopefully, the girl wakes soon.
Getting out is much easier than Mando anticipated. There was only one moment where he might have appreciated some help, but whistling birds did the trick. Once out in the open, he knows the Imps wouldn't dare go after him in public, not on this planet.
He covers the girl with a large blanket as he walks through the mostly empty market. What he does not anticipate was the sheer amount of bounty hunters now gunning for their bounties; just before he makes it to the edge of town, he has to stop, too many guns pointed at him from the shadows.
"Welcome back, Mando," Greef Karga says, stepping between him and his ship. "Now put the packages down."
"Step aside. I'm going to my ship," Mando replies, his fingers itching for his blaster.
"You put the bounties down, and perhaps I'll let you pass."
"They're coming with me."
"If you truly care about them, then you'll put them on the speeder and we'll discuss terms."
Mando turns his head to look at the speeder beside him, an R-unit beeping loudly. At least he has a ride out of the town square.
Suddenly, cold hands press against him, right between pieces of beskar armor. Through the cloth, he can feel how cold and how bony they are. The hands travel around his waist, and he knows where they settle, still hidden under the blanket.
"How do I know I can trust you?" Mando asks, trying to stall.
"Because I'm your only hope."
A shiver runs down the girl's spine as she grabs his rifle, shooting the nearest hunters before stabbing the next. Mando tumbles onto the speeder, shooting others as well while the girl rolls off his back and fights despite her obvious fatigue.
The few hunters who choose to go against her get shot down or stabbed within seconds. Mando shoots almost blindly as he presses the Child into the speeder before pointing to the droid. "Drive!" It shakes its head. "Drive!"
As it starts to move, Mando looks back to see the girl bring a dagger out of the body underneath her. "Hey!" He shouts.
Without looking, the girl shoots up above before diving into the speeder, the rifle shooting the whole time. He has to admit, the girl is talented.
Neither can stop the shot that kills the droid. The whole speeder screeches to a stop; the girl tumbles over Mando as he presses the Child further beneath him. The girl pants heavily but does not get up. Both know that there are just guns waiting for them.
The girl manages to get on her stomach, her hand held out for ammunition. Mando gladly gives and watches in awe as she shoots, disintegrating her targets as easily as he does until everyone is hiding.
"That's one impressive weapon," Greef Karga shouts.
"Here's what I'm gonna do," Mando says. "I'm gonna walk to my ship with the kid and the girl, and you're gonna let that happen."
"No, how about this? We take the kid and the girl, and if you try to stop us, we kill you and strip your body for parts."
Before Mando can respond, the girl jumps to her knees, kicking a bounty hunter who had snuck behind them before electrocuting a second one. She manages to duck before getting shot as Mando lets his flamethrower loose, scorching anyone who comes close until it sputters out.
The girl keeps shooting, still hitting each of her targets, as Mando leans over the Child, looking into his wide eyes, now open.
A loud boom makes him look up. Shots from all over destroy the remaining hunters as Mandalorians fly overhead, guns blazing. The girl continues shooting but wears a large smile on her face as she hops out of the speeder, hitting anyone who comes close enough.
A Mandalorian lands beside the speeder with a machine gun. "Get out of here!" He yells. "We'll hold them off."
"You're going to have to relocate the covert," Mando replies.
"This is the Way."
"This is the Way." Mando hands the Child to the girl before they both race towards his ship. He notices her stumble a bit and wraps an arm around her waist, holding her up, despite the low groan that escapes her mouth.
She moves further into the ship with the Child safe in her arms, almost collapsing in the back. A look of relief takes over her face before her eyes widen as she puts the Child behind her back.
"Hold it, Mando." Mando grits his teeth as he turns to face Greef Karga. "I didn't want it to come to this, but then you broke the code."
A smile spreads over his lips, not that anyone can see it. Mando lets the hook eject from his arm, hitting a control panel to release harmless gas into the ship. Greef Karga shoots but hits nothing as Mando stands in front of the girl and child.
One shot from Mando knocks the man off his ship.
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I'm so excited so the story to take off more :)
Hope you enjoyed!
-L