CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
THE AMENDS
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"ALL RIGHT, LET'S try this again."
Tess perked up from where she stood by the ladder leading to the hull of the Razor Crest, looking towards the Mandalorian a little ways away. Mando hit the controls on the ship, the many nets and roping which were barely holding them together slung around his broad-shouldered body. Tess rolled her eyes, shivering as the cold of airspace made chills rundown her spine.
It had been almost 24 hours since they had left the planet of Trask behind, the Mandalorian successfully helping Bo-Katan on her mission and getting the coordinates on where to take the girl and the child. They were supposed to be heading to the planet Corvus, where apparently a Jedi by the name of Ahsoka Tano would be able to help them. The only problem was that the repairs done on the Razor Crest were some of the worst Tess had ever seen, and ever since her run in with the mercenary's on the water planet, she'd been less than helpful with the fixes, her hands shaking with the feeling of her power exploding from her fingertips, as if a thousand supernovae had collapsed in on themselves, splitting her flesh with a fire untamed. It had left her exhausted, and she'd slept soundly for hours on end. Meanwhile the Mandalorian had tried to get their ships' controls back to proper function, but he'd found that without Tess' mechanical guidance, the process was incredibly slow.
However, now the girl was awake, though still groggy, and when she'd taken one look at the shoddy repair job on the controls, she'd stated plainly that this wasn't going to work. Ever the optimist, the Mandalorian had told her, and she'd responded with a quick nod, smirk playing on her lips. The Mandalorian had merely shaken his head and turned back to the front.
Since leaving Trask, finally having a direct course, the Mandalorian and the Mechanic had fallen into sync. After many days spent running from danger, getting caught in schemes that resulted in injuries and battles, Tess and Mando seemed to come to a silent understanding. The shift in their interactions wasn't that noticeable, but it was still there, as imperceptible as a change in the breeze.
Tess, still forever pessimistic and angry with the world, held the same frowns and blunt words she'd always had, but she also let the Mandalorian treat the wound on her face. She played with the child, rubbing it's head subconsciously while looking out at the deep vacuum of space, her eyes wide. It wasn't so much that Tess was a different person now, she just seemed to the Mandalorian a little more... soft. The Mandalorian now watched Tess, seeing that the girl was in fact a child, a girl of fifteen. He'd forgotten, when he'd first met her on Tatooine, not able to look past her wise eyes and air of heartbreak. She'd been through so much at so young that Mando had forgotten she was just like him; human.
The Mechanic and the Mandalorian were now a pair, whether they liked to think so or not, and they would continue to walk through the world with each other.
At the thought, the Universe cried out in joy, the stars twinkling brighter, the galaxy halting in it's tracks. Fate's plans had worked, the luck pushed upon the two as light as feathers had tipped the fate of the cosmos in favor of them. The girl of wires and machines was slowly softening, and the man of weapons and malcontent was lightening. Their equal burdens, the masks thrown over their slowly cracking features, was starting to pull back. For a while, the two would feel as if nothing could stop them. And for a while, nothing would.
(How were they to know that it would come to an end)
"This isn't going to work." Tess mused out loud, turning to the ladder. The Mandalorian's eyebrows knitted together under his helmet.
"It will." he called back. Tess didn't respond, but the Mandalorian could feel her glare boring into the back of his seat. "Okay, does he... does he have the wire?" Tess peered into the small hole tunneling through the inner workings of the ship, where far off she could see the child, green and clothed in tan cotton, holding two wires in his miniscule hands.
"Yes." she said back, then pointed to the child. "Okay, move the wire to the output." the child gazed at her with wide eyes for a moment, then hesitantly did what she said. Around them, an alarm blared, and Tess shook her head while feeling a prick of satisfaction in her stomach. She was right. Like always. The girl turned back around.
"No, nothing." Mando said, pressing to stop the alarm and spinning in his seat. Mando frowned when he saw Tess farther away standing by the hole, watching him carefully. He chose to ignore her knowing look and called the kid instead.
"Hey..." he said, stepping out of the seat and coming beside Tess. "Okay." Mando knelt down to eye level, Tess bending over with him. "Did you get the wire out?"
"This isn't going to work." Tess said again.
Mando made a pointed look at her, but Tess couldn't see it under his helmet. "I heard you the first time." Tess shrugged and looked back, where the child cocked his head to side, an innocent look on his wrinkled face.
"The red wire, kid." Tess called. Mando placed a hand on the rim of the small open panel. The child cooed and held up a blue strip, which made the Mandalorian sigh and Tess snort, raising a hand to cover her smile. The Mandalorian wished she wouldn't, but said nothing and continued to speak to the child.
"No, no, no." he said, exasperated. "No, the red one. Show me the red wire." He spoke slowly, enunciating each word so that the child would hopefully understand what he was saying.
"He's not gonna get it." Tess muttered. This time the Mandalorian reached up and pushed her shoulder. The girl gasped, but said nothing more.
"The red one." Mando repeated .
The Child cooed while Tess continued to shake her head, but she was surprised to find that after a moment, the little thing rose it's hand up, with the correct wire plucked in his little fingers. Mando let out a short laugh, and his head turned to the side, triumph emanating from beneath his beskar. Tess scowled at him, but couldn't deny that the child had done well.
"Okay," Tess said apprehensively. "Now plug the red wire where the blue wire goes in the board." the words were stilted, and Mando couldn't help but wince at her tone.
"You have to be gentle." he told her scoldingly. Tess simply raised an eyebrow, not familiar with the term. Mando had to agree, it was a bit of a stretch. Tess Oprin was anything but gentle. She was harsh and cruel, with no soft edges in her nimble body. The Mandalorian didn't even know why he had said that, understanding immediately that Tess wouldn't comprehend the notion of being gentle.
She frowned deeper, looking back to the child peering at the two from within the ship. Mando did the same. The child held up the two wires, crimson and sapphire, glinting in the dim light of many beeping and whirring machines. His eyes glistened with confusion, and Tess puffed out an annoyed breath while Mando gently pushed her out of the way for his entire head to outline the small panel.
"Put the red wire where the blue wire goes in the board, okay?" Mando repeated Tess' words to the child, only he spoke calmly, soft, like a feather gliding over crystalline waters. Tess frowned, not quite understanding why they needed to talk to the child as if it were a baby, when she specifically knew how old the thing really was.
The child nodded and moved his hands up, but Tess blurted out at the end. "Don't let them touch!" the child jerked back at her words. Mando sighed as he almost dropped the wires to his feet, and the man looked up at Tess. She did the only thing she could in that moment; she shrugged.
"See where you took the blue one off?" Mando asked the child, and he nodded when the creature held up the cerulean wire. "Yes, now put the red one..." but trailed off as the child did the exact opposite.
Tess groaned in frustration. "This is useless." Mando heaved a breath. "Why did we send him in there again?"
"He was the only one that would fit!" Mando replied, then swiveled back around to the child. "Don't put the blue one back. Put the red one where the blue one was." Tess was growing tired of the babyish tones the Mandalorian was using on the child, and quickly massaged her hands to keep from throttling him.
"And," Mando finished. "Put the blue one where the red one was." Tess shoved the Mandalorian over again, and he staggered a little before letting her kneel down beside him. The girl winced only once as her rusted metal leg hit the bottom floor. The child turned to face them, holding the wires up to his face, gazing at them confusedly. Tess bit the inside of her cheek, trying to refrain from screaming at the little creature.
"But be careful." Tess told it. The child cooed louder, tucking his chin into the collar of his tunic.
"They're oppositely charged," Mando said. "So keep them away from each other." Tess stiffened. "Make sure you hold them apart from..." the child didn't listen. "No, hold them apart!" the child didn't listen to them. .
Tess winced as the creature put the two wires together, sparks flying about his face as the ship gave a shudder. Mando and Tess sighed simultaneously as smoke billowed out from the hole in the ship. Tess coughed alongside the child, waving a hand about her face. They both peered in to look at the green creature.
"Are you okay?" Mando asked the child. The creature responded with a quiet sneeze. Mando and Tess sighed again. The girl struggled to get up, her limbs creaking. She crossed her arms as Mando waited for the child to crawl out of the hole.
The man looked up at Tess. "Well, it was worth a shot." Tess snorted disbelievingly.
"It wasn't going to work." she told him. Under his helmet, Mando rolled his eyes. The child went gratefully into his arms, tugging on his thumb, and he stood up, facing the mechanic. She stared up at him, and for a while, they both just challenged each other, seeing who would break first. Both already knew the winner, but it still stung as Mando reluctantly turned away, his eyes burning. Tess grinned a little in victory.
Mando turned around to the ladder, and turned his head to side, speaking to the brunette over his shoulder. "Hungry?"
Tess said nothing, but the grumble of her empty stomach said it all, and Mando laughed as Tess glared and hurriedly went past him down the ladder into the belly of the ship.
Several minutes later Tess sat on the ground, back leaning against the wall of the ship, a bowl of warm broth in her hands. Across from her, the child sat on a stool, sipping hurriedly at his soup, looking at his two caregivers every once in a while. Mando was stoic beside the creature. The bowl of soup was still untouched in his hands, and Tess could feel tension cutting through the air.
When she'd finished off her bowl, Tess cast it aside, looking up at Mando. He peered down at her, but said nothing. Tess bit her cheek. She knew she should have just turned away, letting the Mandalorian lift his helmet to eat, but something kept her watching him, a question that had been plaguing her mind ever since she'd met the warrior.
"Have you ever told anyone your real name?" she blurted out. Mando's head jerked up with a snap, turning to face Tess, who's cheeks immediately turned pink, and not from the cold.
"What?" Mando asked, his voice hoarse.
Tess tried to recover, stumbling over her words, wondering why she'd said anything at all. "You're name... it obviously isn't Mando..." she stuttered. "So... I guess... do you have a name?" she finished, not able to meet Mando's eyes.
The warrior shared the same perplexed expression. He watched Tess, mind whirring, alarms blaring across his temples to avert the question. It was dangerous, going against everything he'd lived for. Murderous, a traitor's fantasy, leaving a vile taste in his mouth. Tess knew this, and shame boiled inside her bones. She didn't even know where the question had come from. It was true that the thought had been plaguing her mind for a while, but Tess was good at keeping things to herself, and this was one thing she had promised to never ask out loud. Yet something inside her had just snapped, her mind no longer in control of her mouth, and the words rolled off her tongue, forever out there in the world. She couldn't take it back, and that made it all so much worse.
The silence was dense, like wading waist deep in quicksand.
Then his voice pierced the quiet, a blunt dagger. "I have a name." Tess had never heard him sound so... tender. She forced her head up, despite wanting to fall through the floor and float forever in the darkness of space.
He turned to her, and Tess could see his shoulders sag at the thought. "I do have a name."
"I didn't mean..." Tess felt she needed to say sorry, and it was on the tip of her tongue. An apology. A simple I'm sorry. She was so close to speaking it out loud, utterly numb seeing the Mandalorian so deflated. Yet she kept these words to herself. The apology felt too raw, too filled with emotion that to speak them out loud would be like treason. So Tess simply trailed off, and after several moments of the deafening, roaring silence, both returned to their bowls of soup, Tess turning away, shutting her eyes tight as she heard the Mandalorian do the same, pulling his helmet up a bit to get the soup into his mouth. It was the same routine they'd done for a while, after Tess had asked Mando if he ate at all while they rode on the banthas towards the Krayt Dragon's lair.
After he placed the helmet back on his head, mind still whirring, the Mandalorian changed the subject immediately. "There's no way we're making it to Corvus in this shape." he told both children in front of him. Tess nodded in agreement, but her hands shook, thoughts still going back to her ridiculous question. For once in her life, Tess couldn't meet the Mandalorian's eyes.
Mando sighed and turned to the child, who stared up at him. "You know, I think we need to visit some friends for repairs." Tess' eyebrows scrunched in confusion. "So how'd you like to go to Nevarro?"
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Nevarro, it turned out, was an old Bounty Hunter hive, reformed after the Mandalorian had apparently caused havoc when he'd rescued the child from the old Empire trying to take the creature for themselves.
When the Mandalorian told her this, Tess' mind had strayed back to the two men in the alleyway, and their chilling words still swam over her. A knife forever dangling over her head, a secret straining to burst from her carefully constructed walls. She knew the bounty was still placed on both Mando and the child's head, and people were still hunting for them. It was a frightening thought, and one that threatened to swallow her whole if she dwelled on it long enough.
Instead, she pushed everything away to focus on the Mandalorian and their broken ship descending into the atmosphere. The ground was rough and painted with umber and crimson, old and weathered rocks taking up most of the terrain. The fluffy white clouds swept past them, and Tess' eyes widened at the beauty of the fresh, clean planet.
"Hold on." Mando said curtly as the landing gear opened, and the ship lowered gently to the ground. The metal creaked and groaned, the ropes holding it intact, barely withheld from snapping. Tess bit her lip as the ship rested on the floor, heaving a relieved sigh as Mando turned the engine off swiftly.
"So, who are these people again?" Tess asked as Mando stood up from his chair to grab the child. She followed him down the ladder into the belly of the ship, hissing as her leg gave a painful twinge. When Mando got to the bottom, he held out a hand for her, and after a hesitant moment, Tess begrudgingly accepted his help. The Mandalorian smiled softly at her apparent hatred for other people's aide, knowing all too well what that was like. He'd lived his whole life in fear of trusting anyone but his own kind, and now, after his meeting with Bo-Katan, he wasn't even sure he could trust other Mandalorian. The only ones he knew would have his back were the two people they were about to meet up with.
"Their names are Cara Dune and Greef Karga." Mando told Tess as he went to lower the ramp. "They helped the child and I back when the Client was still searching for him." Tess nodded, remembering Mando's story.
"And you trust them?" she asked. Mando paused for a moment, wondering is by some unseen force, the girl had read his thoughts.
Swiftly he answered, so as not to appear hesitant. "I do." Tess nodded. That was all the confirmation she needed.
When the three emerged from the belly of the ship, making their way down the ramp, both Cara and Greef stopped in surprise. Their gaze landed haltingly on the girl atop the ramp. She held their gazes, eyes raking over the older man with salt and pepper beard and crimson robes, then to the strongly built woman with a strange tattoo encircling her arm. Greef eyed the girl with mild amusement, then looked to Mando immediately when she locked eyes with him.
Cara Dune was much harder to break. She placed a hand on her hip and stared at the girl, small and lean, with a face of hard edges that looked as if they could cut glass. Her chestnut hair had once held an abundance of curls, but as she grew, they had begun to die down. It wasn't the fact that the girl was new to being with the Mandalorian that made Cara on edge, nor was it the fact that she obviously was not equipped for the sort of danger they would get into.
No, the thing that made Cara keep her gaze locked on the mysterious girl was her eyes. The girl's eyes were unlike anything Cara Dune had ever seen. As unpredictable as a sandstorm and as sharp as a dagger. Her eyes were shrouded in mystery, in cold hard tragedy that seemed to suck life from whoever gazed into them long enough.
The ramp they walked upon halted halfway down, and Mando sighed before jumping the rest of the way, turning to help Tess. The girl grimaced as she landed on the rocks, hand gripping the Mandalorian's tightly. Her metal leg twinged against the unfamiliar terrain, drawing the eyes down to where the glint of steel could be seen where her pants ended near her ankle.
Mando let go of Tess' hand, and they all walked up towards the two ahead of them. The man Tess assumed was Greef Karga spoke up, his voice deep and baritone.
"Looks like someone could use some repairs." he said with a laugh, then trailed off as the girl burnt holes into the side of his head. Mando said nothing, but the two grasped each other's arms in camaraderie. Tess crossed her arms and raised her brow slightly.
"How's my credit around here?" the Mandalorian asked.
Greef turned to Cara. "I think something could be arranged, isn't that right, Marshal?" Tess tensed at the word, and images of a thin man with sculpted features finding a home inside her head. A pang of something unfamiliar twinged in her gut, and Tess frowned, looking down to her shoes.
Cara smiled. "I'm sure something can be arranged." the woman then stepped forward to rub the child's ear, the grin still plastered on her face as she moved back, and the glaring situation laid before them was finally addressed.
Greef placed both hands on his hips and gave Tess a warm smile. "And who might you be, young one?" he directed his question directly to her, and Tess stared at him blankly, alarms blaring inside her head for no apparent reason. Her mistrust had grown deep ever since the attack on Trask. Tess could still feel the smirking man pinning her down, laughing at her, yelling about how they were going to kill Mando in front of her.
The power she'd released on them danced inside her fingertips, and Tess curled her hands into fists, gulping softly. The silence which filled the air stabbed at everyone present. Even the child seemed to understand what was happening, and reached out for Tess. However, she could do nothing but stare at the strangers.
Mando cleared his throat after a moment and stuttered. "This is Tess." his coarse voice relieved the tension, and Tess looked back to the Mandalorian, who under his helmet, gave her a sympathetic look. As of she could read his features, Tess scowled softly, pink growing on her cheeks.
"Um," Mando continued. "Tess has the same powers as the child. I'm taking her to the Jedi." Greef made a shocked sound while Cara said nothing. Tess fidgeted from one foot to the other.
"Ah," Greef said. "So you can make things move with your mind?" his tone was light, trying to make easy conversation with the girl. She looked at him quizzically and rubbed her toe with her metal leg.
"Something like that." she finally spoke up, and though they didn't show it, both Cara and Greef winced. Her voice was like ice, cutting through their bones viciously and without remorse. The Mandalorian could see Tess and the others slipping away, awkwardly inching back. He frowned.
Before he could say anything, however, Cara stepped forward.
"What's it like, leaving Tatooine to be with Mando?" she asked sternly. Tess took a step backward, accidentally backing into the Mandalorian, who held the same confusion on his features. Greef looked between the two, taking in Tess' shocked expression and Mando's raised shoulders.
"How did you know I was from Tatooine?" Tess asked harshly, her words piercing the air. Cara didn't flinch, only smirked a bit. Her demeanor showed a threat, but Tess could see no hatefulness in the woman's eyes. How strange.
Cara shrugged. "All Tatooinians look the same when they leave the planet for the first time." she didn't say anything more, ending the conversation before it had really begun, but something had changed in the air. It was as if speaking of Tess' home had somehow lessened the tensions, the taut rope falling slack between them all. Mando gave a confused look to Tess, who's shoulders eased. Her face softened, something Mando only ever saw when she was angry or sad.
Tess didn't really know why Marshal Dune's words had given her a reason to trust the two, but it just did. Perhaps it was the fact that something about Cara reminded Tess of Jynna, back on her home planet, hot tempered and weathered to stand any storm. Perhaps it was the oddly comforting looks both Greef and Dune gave her, letting her heart squeeze ever so much at their warm smiles. Whatever it was, Tess both equally despised it, and was grateful for the release. A heavy weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
Greef laughed jovially when he saw the girl's frown disappear into a thin line. "Well then," he said loudly, clapping his hands together. "I'll get my best people on it." Mando sighed while Tess looked around at their surroundings. Greef waved to the two mechanics farther away from them.
"Hey fellas!" he called. "Let's fix this man's ship! I want it as good as new." the man and the humanoid with red skin and wide eyes nodded, speaking in a foreign tongue. Greef turned back to them.
His eyes landed on the little child, who cooed at the old man in recognition.
Greef's smile returned. "And you, come here, little one!" Tess' eyebrows twitched as Greef took the child into his arms, rubbing the baby's ear. "Has Mando been taking good care of you, huh?" then he looked at the Mandalorian sternly. "Have you been taking good care o' him?" Mando nodded softly while Tess gave Greef a puzzled look, intrigued by the slight change in his demeanor.
As if in response, the child gurgled. "Yeah?" Greef asked it. "Yeah! He said 'yeah!'" Greef turned away from them, still holding onto the child. Tess cocked her head to the side, and despite trying not to, she held a soft smile. Mando noticed, and did the same, but soon it was gone in a flash, just like always.
Tess turned fully to the Mandalorian, gesturing to Greef walking away from them. "Is he always like that?"
Cara chuckled softly while Mando sighed.
"Unfortunately." the woman said. With that, she turned away, following after Greef. Tess let out a breath and turned to the Mandalorian, a question in her eyes. The Mandalorian simply shrugged, and the two walked after them, side by side, into the bustling streets of a reformed planet.
Little did they know of the treachery occurring behind them. Red skin and wide eyes looked after the girl and the Mandalorian, and after a moment, stuck their hand under the ramp of the ship.
The doom of Tess Oprin and the Mandalorian was set down, a trap ready to spring. And it was only a matter of time before the two were caught up in it together.
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AUTHOR'S NOTE.
hellooooo people! And welcome to the incredibly short, not at all the best, first chapter of act two of Short Circuit! I hope you all enjoyed this introductory chapter. As you might notice, this is a bit shorter than the others, and that's because I've decided to try and shorten the length of each chapter in this story, because I know I don't necessarily like super long chapters, and have absolutely no idea why I made the ones in the first act so lengthy...
ANYWAYS, what did you think of this chapter? Did you like Mando and Tess' new kinda banter and relationship while trying to get Grogu to fix the ship? What did you think of Tess' question to Mando? It's incredibly telling of what's going to come later on (hint hint: Tess asking Mando about his helmet). AND FINALLY, we met GREEF AND CARA! The King and Queen have arrived, and they have met Tess! What did you think of their meeting, was it good enough, up to your standards on how you thought they would interact? I HOPE SO.
As always, don't be afraid to comment, vote, and (if you want) give me a follow!
Love, Mal