This chapter is in the Mandalorian's POV.
Aster isn't answering. Neither is Kuiil. They're probably dead now. The Imperials probably have the Child. Once it's delivered safely, they'll kill us.
"Is there another way out?" Cara's question interrupts my thoughts. I was raised a warrior, but the front door simply isn't an option. Not with fifty troopers surrounding us in addition to a Tie Fighter and better guns.
"No, that's it," Karga murmurs, sweat trickling down his forehead.
"What about the sewers?" I peer over my shoulder as I speak, glancing at the Imperials.
"Sewers?" Of course. Karga wouldn't know of the hidden world of Mandalorians below.
"The Mandalorians have a covert down in the sewers," I explain quickly. "If we can get down there, they can help us escape."
"Yeah, sewers are good," Cara agrees. Anything is better than facing the Imps.
"Checking for access points," I mutter as I scan the room.
"What the hell are they waiting for?" Cara dares to take another peek. She hisses in a breath. "Hold up. They're setting up an E-Web."
"It's over," Karga states with a grave finality.
I refuse to give up. If Aster were here, she would never forgive me for giving up on the Child. I rest my gaze upon a disheveled sofa. My helmet beeps, and visor highlights an area behind the couch red.
"I found the sewer vent."
"Let's get the hell out of here."
I dash across the room, ducking low so I'm not visible through the open widows. I shove the sofa aside, revealing a small vent. I tug at the grate covering the vent with all the strength in my body. It refuses to budge. Cara scurries over to help, but it's useless.
"It's assembled!" Karga's voice wobbles in a way I've never heard it before. "How long until that thing's cleared?"
"Blow it," Cara demands.
"I'm out of charges."
"Get out of the way!" Cara begins firing at the edges of the grate. She kicks at it wildly, grunting desperately.
"Your astute panic suggests that you understand your situation." The Imperial commander's voice floats through the open window. "I would prefer to avoid any further violence, and encourage a moment of consideration." Of course he can hear us just as clearly as we can hear him. "Members of my escort have completed assembly of an E-Web heavy repeating blaster. If you are unfamiliar with this weapon, I am sure that Republic Shock Trooper Carasynthia Dune of Alderaan will advise you that she has witnessed many of her ranks vaporize mid-descent facing the predecessor of this particular model." He pauses dramatically. "Or perhaps the decommissioned Mandalorian hunter, Din Djarin, has heard the songs of the Siege of Mandalore, when gunships outfitted with similar ordinance laid waste to the fields of Mandalorian recruits in The Night of a Thousand Tears."
My heart sinks at the grim reminder of my people's pain and suffering. And here this man is, relishing in it.
"I advise disgraced Magistrate Greef Karga to search the wisdom of his years and urge you to lay down your arms and come outside. The structure you are trapped in will be razed in short order and your storied lives with come to an unceremonious end."
"What do you propose?"I can't tell if Karga is stalling or seriously considering this man's offer.
"Reasonable negotiation."
"What assurance do you offer?"
"If you're asking if you can trust me, you cannot," the Imp says with a laugh. "Just as you betrayed our business arrangement , I would gladly break any promise and watch you die at my hand. The assurance I give is this: I will act in my own self-interest, which at this time involves your cooperation and benefit." He glances up at the setting sun. "I will give you until nightfall, and then I will have the E-Web cannon open fire."
"I say we hear him out," Karga whispers.
"The minute we open that door, we're dead." Cara is right, of course.
"We're dead if we don't," Karga protests, eying the troopers. "At least out there, we've got a shot."
"That's easy for you to say," spits Cara. "I'm a Rebel Shock Trooper. They'll upload me to a Mind Flayer."
"Those aren't real. That was just wartime propaganda."
"Well I don't care to find out. I'm shooting my way out of here."
"What about you, Mando?" Karga glances over his shoulder to look at me, still desperately kneeling next to the vent.
"I know who he is." The words pain me to say. Memories come flooding back, ones that I've held at bay for a long time. Both Cara and Karga turn to look at me in disbelief. "It's Moff Gideon."
"No," Cara protests. "Moff Gideon was executed for war crimes."
"It's him. He knew my name." I haven't told anyone my name. Not since it all happened. Not even Aster, although I have been tempted to. Now I'll never get to tell her.
"So? What does that prove?" Karga asks.
"I haven't heard that name spoken since I was a child." I explain.
"On Mandalore?" Karga furiously wipes at the sweat beading his brow.
"I was not born on Mandalore."
"But you're a Mandalorian."
"Mandalorian isn't a race," Cara explains.
"It's a Creed." I murmur as another memory surfaces. It's the same one that haunted me at night for weeks as a child.
In my head, I can still see it all. Me clutching onto my mother, not knowing it was the last time I would ever hold her. Ships soaring overhead, firing down on our small village. People desperately screaming, begging anyone for helpless. But it was all useless. We were all doomed.
I saw people get gunned down in the street. I felt the smoke fill my lungs as I choked on debris. I saw the droids lumber closer, their red eyes glowing, completely void of remorse.
I still remember my mother's last words, whispering to me that she loved me. I'll never forget the bomb that shook my entire world, blowing her to pieces. More than anything, I remember my saving grace, the Mandalorian that took my head and carried me to salvation.
I shake my head vigorously, trying to forget what can never be forgotten. I've never told anyone this, not even Aster. I'm not about to tell anyone now.
"I was a foundling." I say simply. "The raised me in the Fighting Corps. I was treated as one of their own. When I came of age, I was sworn to the Creed. The only record of my family name was in the registers of Mandalore. Moff Gideon was an ISB Officer during the purge. That's how I know it's him."
"That's how he knows who we all are." Cara says grimly.
"He says he needs us, which means the Child got away safely." I pray with ever fiber in my being that Aster is safe too. "I was worried when the Ugnaught and Aster didn't respond, but if they'd captured the kid, we'd already be dead."
"Hail them again," Cara demands.
"Come in Kuiil. Come in Aster." I wait for few , heart-wrenching moments. "Nothing."
"They might have jammed the link," Cara says hopefully.
The com link crackles. I hear the Child cooing happily. My heart soars in a way that I didn't think was possible.
"Kuiil has been terminated." I recognize the robotic voice of the IG droid instantly.
"What did you do?" I hiss through the com link, not caring who hears me.
"I am fulfilling my base function."
"Which is?"
"To nurse and protect." I can vaguely hear a motor in the background. Then the sound of blaster fire accompanied by the Child's laugh. I'm desperate to ask about Aster, but I'm also too scared to know her fate. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.
I hear loud blaster fire in the distance. Not over the com link, but here. Suddenly, the guards shift directions as a series of explosions comes our way.
"Look!" Cara says, as Karga takes a swift shot of liquor.
We peer out the narrow window to see two speeders racing toward us. On the first one is IG-11, with the Child strapped to its back. On the second one is Aster.
They fire wildly, taking out troopers left and right. Although Aster is shooting like a Mandalorian, she's badly outnumbered. So, Cara and I do the thing we do best: fight.