~~~~~
Rael was glad she had traded a villager an extra holster she had in her pack for a pair of goggles. With the speed Din was going, she would have had to ride the whole way with her eyes closed to keep the sand out. Although the piercing sand didn't seem to affect the child, who had been cooing happily the entire ride.
The young woman had loosened her grip on the Mandalorian and was looking around the desert planet, when she felt a sharp prick through the Force. Rael snapped her head towards the small rocky canyon they were about to enter. "We need to go around! Din!", she shouted over the rumbling speeder and wind. But the man didn't hear her in time.
As soon as they passed the first set of boulders, a rope popped out of the sand and the speeder ran right into it. The collision sent Din flying into the air, followed by Rael and the kid. The Mandalorian was able to activate his jetpack to help him land on his feet, while Rael threw out her hand to soften the child's impact. The young Jedi hit the ground hard, getting the air knocked from her.
There was a loud explosion as the speeder burst into flames and their few belongings landed around them in the sand. Rael's instincts took over as she forced herself to stand and catch sight of the small green child. She could hear blaster fire behind her and the familiar sound of bolts bouncing off beskar. But she knew Din could handle him self and ran to the child.
"Get the the girl and the child!", someone shouted as Rael scooped the kid into her arms. She got distracted looking the little one over for injuries that she didn't notice the person who had snuck up behind her. In a second, her attacker had her held against their chest with a knife digging into her neck. Din took the last two aliens who had him pinned against the canyon wall in time to see it happen.
"Wait! Don't hurt them.", he said, raising his hands and taking a step forward. "You put one mark on either of them and there's no place you will be able to hide from me. We can strike a margin. There's a lot of value in this wreckage. Take your pick. But leave them." Din said firmly. The rodian shoved Rael to kneel in the sand, still holding the child, while he shouted something at the Mandalorian and waved his hand at him.
"Ok. Here. It's yours. Take it.", Din said as he slowly removed his jetpack and placed it on the ground in front of Rael and the kid. The rodian eyed Mando carefully and kept his knife pointed at him menacingly. He said something in his native tongue before forcing Rael to fully sit in the sand, before snatching the jetpack and hurrying off.
The kid hopped out of Rael's lap and scurried to Din with his hands reaching for him. "Are you both ok?", he asked as he picked the child up and looked towards Rael. "Fine. Just feel stupid. I should've sensed him.", The young Jedi grumbled as she brushed the sand from her pants. "It happens to the best of us, Rae.", he reassured her as he looked at the retreating rodian.
"You're not really letting him leave with that, are you?", she asked, tying her hair up with a strip of leather. The Mandalorian huffed out a laugh and said, "Of course not." He pressed a button on his vambrace and they watched as the jetpack ignited, taking their attacker shooting into the sky. Rael brought her googles back over her eyes to help shield them from the sun as she watched Mando make the jetpack do loops in the sky.
It didn't take more than ten seconds before the rodian lost his grip and plummeted back to the sand. Rael grimaced at the thud of his body hitting the ground. Din only shrugged and piloted the jet pack back to him. "I feel like there was a better way to do that...", Rael sighed as he reattached the jet pack. "Maybe. But that was the fastest. And the most entertaining." He replied as he began to gather their things. The girl arched her brows at this and hummed, "Sometimes I forget you were a lethal bounty hunter."
The Mandalorain chuckled as he started to tie things to his Amban rifle. The air between them had changed a lot since their run-in with Din's old crew. He could tell that her referencing his past was her way of teasing him. Not like it had been, when she was fearful of what he had done before they met. "And sometimes I forget you were the most annoying captive I've ever had." He retorted.
Rael snapped her head towards him, her mouth open in shock. "There is no way I was the most annoying!", she exclaimed. Din couldn't help the smile that took over his face as he listened to her object to his claim. "You may have been neck-and-neck with a talkative Mythrol. He tired to escape saying he needed to use the evac-tube. Had to carbon freeze him." He said as Rael coaxed the child to get back in his sling.
"Hey! You didn't have to freeze me. I'd say that would make him the worst." She complained as she slung their pack of spare items and the kid's sling over opposite shoulders. Din rolled his eyes, even though she couldn't see, as he said, "Alright. He was the most annoying captive I've had. But you're second." Rael grinned as he balanced the loaded-down rifle on his shoulders. "I'll take it.", She announced before marching off in the direction they had been headed in.
~~~~~
After dragging Peli out of the cantina, and losing 500 credits to cover her opponent in cards in exchange for a contact with information , they were all back at her hanger. Rael was sitting on the ground holding the child as he cooed and reached for the meat that was being roasted by Peli's droids. "Hey! I like my meat red! Don't over cook it!", the mechanic shouted at the droids as she walked out of the covered shop.
"Alright. There's a covert in the same sector, one system trailing. The only catch is that the informant wants a ride to the system." Peli announced. "I'm not a taxi service." Mando grunted. "Hey, come on. You've already got two passengers. What's one more?", she said, trying to sell the man on the deal. "Fine." He relented, moving to go to Rael the plan, but Peli stopped him. "One more thing. You can't go into hyperspace."
This made him stop in his tracks. "You want us to go sublight? No way. No deal. Going fast is the only thing keeping us safe."Din said firmly. "Uh too late. Contact is here." Out of the shadows came an amphibious female with a tank strapped to her back full of orbs. "Her spawn have to be fertilized by the equinox or her line ends with her. If you go into hyperspace, they'll die. Her husband has settled on the estuary moon of Trask in the system of the gas giant Kol Iben."
The frog lady squeaked out something before making her way to the Razor Crest. "And she's sure there's Mandalorians there?", Din asked, glancing over to where was laying in the dust letting the child climb on her, giggling loudly. "She said her husband has seen them and I vouched for her didn't I?", Peli replied. He continued questioning, "Do you know the husband?". Peli scoffed and said, "No. Just met her ten minutes before you lot walked in." Din glared at the woman behind his helmet as he said, "You just vouched for her." The mechanic only shrugged and said, "I'm an excellent judge of character."
Din let out a begrudged sigh before walking over to Rael and the kid. "So we have another passenger, I take it?", Rael asked as she she sat up with the kid in her lap. "Unfortunately." He huffed as he helped the girl stand. She could already feel the tension flowing from the Mandalorian. "What is it?", Rael asked. "We have to travel sublight. If we jump to hyperspace, her eggs will die." He explained as they walked to the Razor Crest.
"Well, that's not ideal..." She sighed as she waved goodbye to Peli and the ramp closed. "No, far from it.", he grunted as he placed his Amban rifle in the armory. "But, not impossible. We'll get her to her husband. Then we'll find the covert and they'll help us." She said as she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Din turned to look at her and was met with a her usual smile and the kid's huge eyes peering up at him.
"We've dealt with harder things." she told him with a wink as she let her hand drop and headed up the ladder. Din let out a sigh, feeling his shoulder sag a bit as the Jedi disappeared into the cockpit. Ever since the battle on Nevarro, all he could do was worry about those two. And this whole situation isn't helping to ease his nerves at all.
~~~~~
After many failed attempts at trying to communicate with the frog lady, Mando gave up and decided it was time for everyone to get some rest. "Rael. Hit the rack." He ordered as he set the ship on auto pilot. "No. You need it more. I'm going to try and meditate for a bit. Maybe reach Luke, wherever he is." She told him as she dropped down into the cargo bay. The next thing her heard was, "No!", making him jump down the ladder to see what was wrong.
"What? What happened?", he asked rapidly as his feet hit the metal floor and he turned to see her holding the child. "That's not food! Don't do that again!", she was scolding him. "He ate one of her eggs! Who knows how many has had!", she hissed at the man. Din was glad the Jedi couldn't see how amused he was. Rael looked distraught while the child just smiled up at her and pulled at some of her hair.
"Come on, kid. Nap time.", He said as he took the child from her arms. "Make sure your lock the door! He's knows how to open them." Rael said exasperatedly as she walked away from them. "I've never heard her get on to you before. Welcome to the club." He said to the happy kid. "I heard that!", Rael shouted from the other end of the cargo hold. "Busted.", he sighed before shutting the sleeping compartments door and locking the button with a code so the kid couldn't sneak out.
~~~~~
Once she was sure the both Din and the kid were asleep. Rael sat down on the floor with her back to a crate with her legs criss-crossed. "Ok. It'll be fine.", she told her self as she took a few deep breaths. The few times she had tried to reach Luke after Nevarro, she had failed and that scared her.
The girl took one last deep breath before reaching into the Force and the world around her melted away. 'Luke?', she said and waited for a reply. After a few minutes of complete silence she tried again. 'Don't you miss the feeling, child? All that power at your fingertips?' a chilling voice hissed in her ear. "No", Rael said firmly as she gritted her teeth, trying to push away from the coldness that started to creep over her.
'But you will need the power, child. How else will you protect the ones you hold dear? How will you protect the child? Protect him?', The voice said in a sickly sweet tone that made fear surge through the girl. 'Luke!', she called out again, begging him to answer her, but still no answer came. 'There is no use in fighting-', the voice purred but was cut off by a familiar person.
'Rael. Remember what Obi-wan said. You are already strong. You don't need their power. We're right here with you. Luke will find you.' The voice of Anakin Skywalker told her gently as she opened her eyes. 'Be brave, my Star.' She heard her grandfather whisper as her vision refocused. "I'm trying." she sighed and leaned her head against the crate and decided she did need some sleep.
~~~~~
A/N
Ok so I had a much longer chapter prepped but I guess my computer glitched because it got deleted:( I might come back and redo this one a bit at some point, but I really wanted to get something out tonight in honor of season 3 starting tomorrow! So, here is part of what I had planned. Next part coming very soon...
- hawkins_2000