~~~~~
After the Jawas had finished feasting on the egg, they had loaded the Mandalorian's ship parts onto the cart and they were on their way. The journey had been silent for the most part, aside from Kuiil asking if the child was awake yet. Rael was thankful that neither the Ugnaught nor the bounty hunter asked for more explanation on what had happened.
It took the rest of the day and on into the night, but the group finally arrived at the ship. "There's no way we're gonna get this to work without a full maintenance facility. This is gonna take days to fix." The man sighed as he climbed off the trailer and surveyed his ship.
"If you care to help and allow the Rael to be free of her cuffs, it might go faster." Kuiil called as he set up the spotlights he had brought. "Rael?" he questioned and looked towards the girl. "That's my name. You'd know if you'd thought to ask, Mando." she sassed. The man stared at her without saying something before shaking his head and pushing a few buttons on his vambrace.
A second later, the cuff on her right wrist unlocked and disconnected from the cuff on her left and fell to the ground. "Better than nothing." She sighed and rubbed her sore wrist. "Well, let us begin. There is much work to do." Kuiil said as he handed her a wrench and and a exterior panel. "Try not to mess up my ship." The Mandalorian grumbled and stalked up the loading ramp.
~~~~~
After a long two days of work, the ship was finally repaired and ready for travel. "I can't thank you enough. Please allow me to give you a portion of the reward." The Mandalorian said. "I cannot accept. You are my guest and I am therefore in your service." Kuiil responded with a shake of his head.
"I could use a crew member of your ability, and I can pay handsomely. It wouldn't hurt to have an extra set of hands now that I have two to watch over." The man offered and cut his eyes over at Rael, who was sulking in the corner and glaring at him with the still sleeping child floating in his carriage next to the girl.
"I am honored, but I have worked a lifetime to finally be free of servitude." Kuiil replied and sent Rael a sympathetic look. "I understand. Then all I can offer is my thanks." The Mandalorian told him. "And I offer mine. Thank you for bringing peace to my valley." Kuiil said and walked down the ramp to his blurrg.
"And good luck with the child and the young one. May you survive the journey and receive what you are after." Kuiil called before urging his blurrg forward and heading back to his home. Rael sighed as she watched her only chance for help disappear over the ridge.
The bounty hunter closed the ramp and turned to face the young woman. "Come on." He grumbled and pulled her up by the cuffs on her wrists. After the ship had been repaired, he had put the other cuff back on her. "Have you figured out what you will do with me?" She asked annoyedly as he made her sit down in the co-pilot seat.
"I'm still deciding." he said as he flipped a few switches and the engines powered up. "My friends will begin to worry. I should have returned to them with the child days ago. They will come looking for me." She warned. The man said nothing and turned his head towards her.
"You have the ability that the child has, don't you? You helped him with the mudhorn." He said lowly. Rael remained silent and held his invisible gaze. "And I'm guessing the power coupling you wear on your neck belongs to the weapon you claim is broken." He continued.
Rael hesitated before pleading, "Whoever is paying you has evil intentions. There are those who are seeking after young ones, like the child, and they wish to do... horrible things. Please, allow me to take the the child and you will be compensated." The Mandalorian stared at her for a few seconds before turning his seat around and guiding the ship off the ground and starting their ascent into the sky.
"I'm with the Guild. I can't go back on my word. It would ruin by reputation and ability to get jobs. I'm taking the child to the client and then I'll figure out what to do with you." He decided as they broke out of the planet's atmosphere and he entered the hyperspace coordinates.
Rael felt her shoulders sink at his words and glanced over at the child, who had yet to wake up. "I won't give up." She barely whispered as she leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. She felt the ship prepping to enter hyperspace as she drifted off into some much needed sleep.
~~~~~
Rael woke up with a dull ache coursing through her body. She slowly blinked as she glanced around the dark ship. After the blurriness left her eyes, she noticed that not only was she alone, but she had been buckled to the chair and her cuffs remained on her wrists. "That nerfherder shocked me again." she growled and struggled against the straps.
She fought against the restraints for a few more seconds before letting out a frustrated sigh and slumping against the chair. 'Clear your mind. You've gotten out of worse.' She thought and closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. Rael willed her mind to calm and summoned the Force to wrap around the cuffs on her wrists.
Slowly, the cuffs began to pull apart and she heard the electricity buzzing as it tried to shock her, but Rael remained focused and kept it at bay. A second later, the cuffs had opened enough for her to quickly move her wrists upwards and out of the cold metal's grasp. She let out a sigh of relief as the cuffs snapped closed and fell into her lap.
The young Jedi wasted no time and unbuckled herself and began to search the ship for her saber. "He had to have stashed it somewhere." she grumbled as she dug through different compartments. The more she searched, it dawned on her that her saber was nowhere to be found. 'Well, I'm not leaving without it.' She thought and went back to the bounty hunter's armory she had stumbled upon.
Rael pulled out a small blaster and a knife to replace the ones the man had confiscated from her when they first met. Once she was satisfied with her weapons' stand-ins, she pulled her scarf up to act as a hood and hurried down the ship's ramp. Her feet had just hit the dusty ground when she heard someone clear their throat.
She turned to the left and saw the Mandalorian staring at her. Rael summoned the blaster to her hand and aimed it at the man as she growled, "Where did you take the child." The man tilted his head as he studied her, but didn't say anything. As she stared back at him, she noticed that he was wearing a shiny new set of beskar armor. "You've already given him to the client and claimed your payment." She observed coldly.
The Mandalorian huffed before reaching behind his back and tossing Rael her saber. She clumsily dropped the blaster and caught her saber with wide eyes. "We're gonna go get him." The man stated plainly and nodded his head for her to follow. It took Rael a few seconds to process what was happening before she jogged to catch up with him.
"Wh-what?" She stuttered and looked at where his eyes were shielded by the visor... that was, if he was human. "The client works for the Empire." He said lowly as they hurried through the small towns streets. "The Empire?" Rael hissed in disbelief as she reattached the power coupling to her saber's hilt and reattached it to its holster on her back. "I think he was a highly ranked officer and he has a scientist with him, along with stormtroopers. We'll have to fight our way in." The Mandalorian explained quickly as they turned a corner into a small alley.
Rael stopped in her tracks as she realized how crazy this whole situation was. "And why should I trust you. You've held me captive for the last cycle and turned the kid over for some beskar." She ranted and her hand ghosted over the blaster on her thigh. The bounty hunter turned and came face-to-face with her. "I'm the only one who can help you get the kid out. You don't have any other choice, but to trust me." He said firmly. Rael narrowed her eyes at him before saying, "Fine, but I'm watching you. And, I'm calling you Mando, since it's clear you won't tell me your real name." The newly nicknamed Mando shrugged at her demands and carried on.
They silently walked deeper into the alley and something caught Rael's eye. "No..." she breathed and reached into the dumpster and pulled out the metal carriage the child had ridden in. Mando looked over her shoulder and let out a quiet sigh before mumbling, "Come on." and heading back to the main street. Rael gently sat the carriage back down before hesitantly following the man.
He led the way through the busy streets and up a small ladder that put them on the roof of the building across from where Mando said he handed the child over. Rael followed his actions and laid down on her stomach while he pulled off his Amban sniper rifle. He raised the scope up to look though it and twisted a dial on his helmet as he pointed the rifle towards the building. "What are we doing?" She asked annoyedly. "I have a long-range listening device incorporated into my rifle's muzzle. Now, shut it." He snapped.
Rael rolled her eyes, but remained quiet, hoping he was going to be able to hear something that would give her hope about the child's well-being. After about a minute, the Mandalorian moved to a crouching position and swung his rifle onto his back. "The kid's alive. But we need to move quickly." He relayed to her and headed for the ladder with Rael close behind him.
"This cannot be the plan!" she hissed as they stopped at the compound's front entrance. Mando ignored her as he grabbed her wrist and pulled her up the steps and turned her to where she had her back against the door. "Stay." He ordered. Before she had a chance to snap at him, Mando banged on the door and a surveillance droid popped out of its compartment next to them.
Mando grabbed ahold of the droid, before it could turn their way and pulled it in half. "Cause they're not gonna notice that's broken." She mumbled and pushed herself off the door and hurried after the man. As they slipped around the corner of the building, the door slid open and two stormtroopers came out. "Check the perimeter." One of the troopers ordered.
The two unlikely partners slinked around the building and arrived back in the alley where they had found the carriage. The man pulled out a charge and stuck it to the wall before activating it. The charge began to beep and Rael's eyes widened. Without a word, he grabbed her wrist again and dragged her behind a wall as the beeping increased. Just as they took cover, the charge exploded loudly and destroyed the concrete wall.
"Stay in the shadows." he said lowly as they stepped into the compound through the newly made entrance. The sound of approaching footsteps made Rael comply without an argument and duck behind a stack of cargo containers. Mando hid opposite of her and they watched as the two troopers walked past them and investigated the breach in the wall. Just was they stopped at the gapping hole, Mando jumped out shot each trooper with a single blaster bolt.
The troopers feel to the ground with a thud and the Mandalorian motioned for Rael to follow. Another trooper came running through the doorway in front of them with his blaster raised. Rael threw her hand up and deflected a blaster bolt before flicking her wrist and sending the man flying into the concrete wall, knocking him out. "Huh." Mando mumbled before walking forward again and peering around the corner.
"Can you, ya know-" he muttered while making a motion with his arm and pointing at the trooper standing at a control panel. "You want me to pull him towards you?" Rael whispered with an arched brow. Mando gave her a short nod and moved to stand in the doorway. Rael sighed and reached out before making a fist and pulling her hand back quickly. The trooper let out a surprised sound as he was dragged backwards by an invisible pull. Mando lunged forward and put the trooper in a head lock and slit his throat with his knife.
Rael cringed as she heard the man gurgle and fall to the floor. "Do we have to kill them all?" She asked quietly as she hurried after Mando. "They won't show us mercy, so we can't afford to either." He told her firmly before shooting a doors lock pad and it slid open. A trooper came into view and shot at the Mandalorian but his beskar armor deflected it easily. Rael force-pushed him into the wall and Mando finished him of with a blaster bolt. The two then turned their attention to a terrified man,
"No, no, no, no, please!" The man cried as Mando shot down the surgeon droid that was hovering above the unconscious child strapped to a table. Rael drew her blaster and aimed it at the man, who Rael was guessing was the scientist that had mentioned, while Mando stalked towards the man. "Please don't hurt him. It's just a child." The man begged and shielded the kid, making Rael tilt her head, confused.
Mando ignored him and shoved him aside and looked down at the kid. Rael turned her gaze towards the kid and felt her heart hurt when she saw its pained expression. "What did you do to it? What did you do!" She demanded as she stormed towards the scientist with her blaster aimed at him once more. "I protected him! If it wasn't for me, he would already be dead!" The man cried out and held his hands up in surrender. Rael was about to ask what he meant by that but Mando had already picked the child up and was peeking around the door.
Rael sighed and lowered her blaster before running after him. They snuck around the hallways and avoided as many troopers as possible, but they got overrun in a corridor. "Take the kid." Mando said as he shoved him into her arms. Before she knew what was happening, Mando had taken down three troopers in hand-to-hand combat and flamed the last one. Rael was staring at him with wide eyes when he called for her to hurry up.
As they slipped outside and Mando checked their surroundings, Rael felt the child shift a bit in her arms and she looked down to be meet with his big eyes. "Hey, little guy. It's okay now." She whispered and brushed a finger across his cheek gently. "Stay close. Word spreads quickly here." Mando said lowly as they walked side by side through the once busy streets. She nodded and pulled her scarf down and refashioned it so it covered her nose and mouth, shielding her identity.
The closer they got to the ship yard, the more bounty hunters began to slink from the shadows with their tracking fobs beeping. When they reached the big archway that lead to the ships, a man appeared and called, "Welcome back, Mando!" Rael's hand ghosted over her blaster as she saw more people surround them. "Now, ask your friend to put the package down." "Step aside. We're going to my ship." Mando replied as his hands also rested on the hilt of his blasters.
The man chuckled a bit before saying, "She puts the bounty down and perhaps I'll let you pass." Rael glanced around and started to count how many bounty hunters hey were up against while Mando declared, "The kid's coming with us." The man shook his head and replied, "If you truly care about the kid, then you'll put it on the speeder and we'll discuss terms." Mando was quite for a second and Rael brought her gaze back to him.
"How do I know I can trust you?" The Mandalorian asked. "Because I'm your only hope." The man called with a small smirk. Mando hesitated before gently taking the kid from Rael's arms and she stared at him in disbelief. "Get ready." He barely breathed and moved towards the speeder. Everyone watched the beskar-clad warrior in a tense silence as he stopped in front of the speeder.
Suddenly, Mando drew one of his blasters and shot down three bounty hunters that had been right next to him and threw himself and the child into the speeder for cover. Rael wasted no time and drew her blaster, shooting down a few advancing towards her and deflecting bolts when they got too close for her comfort as she backpedaled towards the speeder. She hoped in just as Mando threatened the droid at blaster-point and the speeder began to move.
They both shot down bounty hunters as the droid drove them through the street and closer to the ships. Unfortunately, the man who had been talking to Mando shot the droid, making the speeder crash into some crates. "Dank farrik" The Mandalorian groaned as smoke rose up around them. The child cooed fearfully and Rael reached over cupped his cheek and said, "It will be alright, little guy." Mando peeked over the speeder and saw that there were way too many for them to take on and protect the child.
"I'll make an opening. When I do, take the kid and make for the ship." Rael said lowly and pulled her saber from behind her back. "You can't fight them all at once. Even with your... abilities." Mando said as he looked down at the scared kid. "I know that, but I can buy you some time. Now, get ready." She told him firmly and closed her eyes as she gripped her saber tightly. "I am one of the Force and the Force is with me." She breathed and summoned the Force to create a barrier between the speeder and the approaching bounty hunters.
Before the Mandalorian could stop her, Rael had flipped out of the speeder and force-pushed everyone a few feet backwards, even knocking some over. "What the hell." The leader said as he stared at the masked girl before his eyes trailed down to the ancient weapon she held. "Jedi..." he breathed before slowly backing up. Others were not as smart as he was, and charged forward. "I am one with the Force and the Force is with me." Rael said to herself once more before falling into her fighting stance.
If the sound of her double-bladed saber was not enough to stop the attackers in their tracks, then the odd, golden hue of the weapon was. The once confident bounty hunters faltered in their charge as they stared at the ominous weapon as the girl twirled it in her hand and stared them down. A Rodian was the first to charge forward and Rael cut him down with ease. This spurred all of the other hunters to charge forward. "Go!", Rael shouted over her shoulder to where Mando watched with the child securely in his arms.
But before Mando could even react, a new sound brought everyones' attention to the sky. Rael glanced up to see 15 if not more, Mandalorians flying towards them on jetpacks. The newly arrived warriors began to shoot at the bounty hunters, making them scatter. "Rael, let's go!!" Mando shouted after he and a heavily armored Mandalorian shared a respectful head bow. The Jedi deactivated her saber and secured it on her back as she watched the Mandalorians in awe. She had always heard the stories of the warrior people, but seeing them in action in such a number put those stories to shame.
A rough grip on her wrist snapped Rael out of her daze as she was dragged behind Mando as he headed for his ship. The girl pulled her wrist from his grip and glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one was following them. "Take the kid. I'll get us in the air." Mando said as she turned back around and he handed the child to her and headed for the ladder that lead up to the cockpit.
Suddenly, and arm wrapped around Rael's throat and put her in a headlock as she felt a blaster barrel rest again the side of her head. She gripped the child to her body tightly and called, "Mando!" The man spun around with his blaster aimed at whoever was holding her and the child captive. "I didn't want it to come to this. But then you broke the code." The man said and Rael recognized him as the leader from before.
Mando said nothing as he shot his grappling rope at a valve and the room was filled with steam. Rael elbowed the man in the gut and rolled away from him and shielded the child as she dove behind some crates. She heard the man fire his blaster erratically and ducked even lower. The chaos was ended when a single blaster bolt was fired through the steam and hit the leader in the chest, making him fall backwards and roll off the ramp and into the dirt.
Rael slowly stood up and loosened her grip on the child as she looked down at the motionless body at the bottom of the ramp. "Close the ramp." Mando called as he climbed up the ladder. Rael sighed and pulled the lever before following him to the cockpit. She sat down in the copilot seat and let the child rest in her lap while Mano fired up the engines and the ship lifted off the ground.
As they broke through the clouds, something caught her eye and she turned to her left and saw the Mandalorian that Mando had been talking to , flying next to them with his jetpack. "I think someone is seeing us off." She said and gave the man outside a grateful smile. Mando turned and the man gave him a salute before veering off and heading back to the surface. "I gotta get one of those." The man mused. Rael let out a small chuckle and leaned her head back.
The child slipped off her lap while she was distracted and waddled forward. He reached up and cooed at Mando. The man sighed and unscrewed the ball of one of the levers and handed it to the kid. Rael felt a smile grow on her face as she watched the simple but adorable interaction between the tiny creature and the stoic man. "Already wrapped around his finger." She hummed and closed her eyes. "Shut it." the man simply said as he guided the ship out into space.