The night sky overhead glistened with stars. There was a small amount of light coming from the horizon where the sun had just set, but the planet was mostly cast into darkness.
I felt tense as I walked alongside my partner and the child. The mandalorian was confident in his strides as the clan made their way towards a large building.
Street Lights lit the path ahead of us. Lighting up their path and keeping us safe from the wildlife that roamed the area at night. Bright red eyes peered at them from the darkened areas, growling at them as they walked past. I fought the urge to reach for my blaster due to the sheer number of eyes I could see.
Graffiti littered the walls around them, different forms of artwork splattered together on concrete walls. The child made a small whimpering sound as he examined the area with wide eyes.
Din and I stopped outside of a door. An angry looking Twi'lek stood guard outside.
"I'm here to see Gor Koresh." Din spoke to the man
The man briefly looked down at the child before he glanced back up at Din, he stepped aside and gestured to the door.
"Enjoy the fights." The man said. The door slid open and they stepped through.
The noise of people cheering quickly reached my ears as I stuck close to Din's side. A large crowd gathered around a fighting ring that was in the center of the room.
Two Gamorreans fought each other with battle axes. They knocked heads as they tried to swing at each other and take the other one out. After a moment of fighting, one of them fell to the ground. Though he quickly got up again and began to fight the other.
People screamed and cheered as they watched the fight continue. I tried my best to not bump into anyone and stay out of their way. I don't want to start a fight before we even get to the guy we're here for.
Din walked up to a man who was sitting on a bench watching the show. He had one eye and wore a gray and white jacket. Din took a seat next to him and I sat on the other side of him.
"You know this is no place for a child." The man said to Din.
"Wherever I go, he goes." Din stated
"So I've heard." The man replied with a chuckle.
"I've been quested to bring him to his kind. If I can locate other mandalorians, they can help guide me. I'm told you know where to find them." Din stated
"It's uncouth to talk business immediately. Just enjoy the entertainment." The man said
I glanced towards the fighting ring where the two fighters clashed their axes together. I fail to see how this is entertaining.
"Bah! My Gamorreans not doing well. Kill him! Finish him!" He shouted. One of the Gamorreans almost brought their ax down on the others neck.
"Do you gamble, Mando?" The man asked him
"Not when it can be avoided." Din stated
"What about your girl?" The man asked, bending forward slightly so he could look at me.
"No." I stated firmly. Deciding not to bother correcting him.The man sat back up again and turned his attention towards the fight.
"Well, I'll beg you the information you seek that this Gamorreans going to die within the next minute and a half. And all you have to put up in exchange is your shiny beskar armor." The man said
"I'm prepared to pay you for the information. I'm not leaving my fate up to chance." Din stated
"Nor am I." The man said as he pulled out a blaster and aimed it towards the fighting pit. He shot at the Gamorrean and he fell to the ground with a loud thud.
Suddenly, several blasters from all directions were aimed at their heads. I glanced to my right and saw the end of a blaster in my face. I sighed and turned away from the man holding the blaster. Of course this went south.
The crowd quickly scattered. People were running out of the exits as fast as they could to get away from getting caught in the crossfire.
"Thank you for coming to me. Normally, I have to seek out remnants of you Mandalorians in your hidden hives to harvest your precious shiny shells." The man said. I glared harshly at the man.
"Beskar's value continues to rise. I've grown quite fond of it. Give it to me now or I will peel it off your corpse." The man said. My hands tightened into a fist as I fought the urge to grab my blaster and shoot the man in the face.
"Tell me where the Mandalorians are and I'll walk outta here without killing you." Din explained
"Thought you said you weren't a gambler..." the man said
A familiar noise hummed to life as Din flicked his wrist and activated his whistling birds. The child very quickly shut the doors of his pram once he noticed that.
"I'm not." Din said. Suddenly the small bullets flew out of his wrist and hit the men that had surrounded them. The quiet whistling noise flew past my ears as I ducked my head out of the way.
Din stood up and kicked the child's pram out of harm's way. He then grabbed my arm tightly and pulled me backwards as the Gamorrean lept from the fighting ring and attempted to flatten us. The Gamorrean landed heavily on the ground below.
Din grunted from beside me, I quickly spun around to see that a man had wrapped his arms around his shoulders. He lifted him up off of the ground. Din flailed and grunted as the man held him up. I backed up slightly to avoid getting accidentally kicked by him.
Another man rushed in and punched Din in the face. Which very quickly backfired, his head flung backwards and knocked into the man holding him. He grunted In pain and let go of Din. The beskar helmet almost knocking him unconscious.
I pulled my blaster out of my holster and shot the man who had punched Din. The bolt hit him in the shoulder and he fell to the ground.
I turned back around to see Din fighting off a man who was wielding an ax. Luckily he was protected by his armor, the blade of the ax hit the beskar but never broke it.
I saw the one eyed man running out of the stadium. I sighed and clenched my jaw in anger. Din threw a vibroblade at the man with the ax, it landed in his chest and he fell to the ground with a loud thud.
The room fell silent, which made it easy to hear Gor Koresh's footsteps as he ran out of the room. Din and I stared at him as he ran around the corner.
"Let's go." He said to me as he picked up his blaster. I nodded to him and the two of us strolled out of the fighting arena in the direction of the retreating coward.
The two of us stepped outside and saw the man running as fast as he could. Din raised his right arm and aimed his fist at the man, wire shot out of his vambrace and wrapped around the man's ankle. He yelled as he face planted on the ground.
Din then began to pull on the wire and drag the man along the ground. He thrashed as he was pulled towards them. Once the man was close enough, Din tossed the wire upwards so it wrapped around the bright lamp post above them. He then pulled hard on the wire and the man shot upwards.
Din tied the wire around the base of the lamp post, leaving Gor Koresh dangling upside down from his leg.
"All right, stop, stop! I'll tell you where he is." Gor Karesh yelled. "But you must promise that you won't kill me."
"I promise you will not die by my hand." Din stated. I raised a brow at his choice of wording. "Now, where is the mandalorian you know of?"
"Tatooine." Gor Koresh groaned
"What?" Din asked in confusion. I looked at the man skeptically.
"The Mando I know of is on Tatooine." Gor Koresh said
"I've spent much time on Tatooine. I never saw a Mandalorian there." Din said
"My information is good, I tell you. The city of Mos Pelgo. I swear it by the Gotra." Gor Koresh said.
"Tatooine it is, then." Din said, he then began to walk away from the dangling man. I raised a brow and began to follow after him.
"Wait, Mando! You can't leave me like this. Cut me down!" Gor Koresh yelled after them.
"That wasn't part of the deal." Din said. He then stopped and turned around, he aimed his blaster at the lamp post and shot the light out. Casting the dangling man into darkness.
"Wait, what are you doing? Mando! I Can pay! Mando! Mando!" The man yelled as the two of them walked away from him with the child in tow.
He then began to scream loudly as the growling creatures closed in on him. Looking to him for their next meal.
I looked over at Din with raised eyebrows. He could feel my gaze on the side of his helmet so he turned his head to look at me. He tilted his helmet subtly at my expression.
"What?" Din asked me. "I said he wouldn't die by my hand. I kept my promise."
I smiled in amusement at his nonchalant tone. "I know."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The bright light from Tatooine's twin suns shone through the Razor Crests window. I watched the vast desert flash past as we flew towards the city of Mos Eisley. I could see the city in the distance as they began to approach it.
The ship flew over to a familiar mechanic bay, one that I hadn't seen since that mission with Toro, the man who had betrayed us for money and the guild. No loyalty among thieves, huh?
The landing gear clicked loudly as it lowered from the bottom of the ship. Din slowly lowered the crest until they landed with a small thud on the sandy grounds of Tatooine.
I stood up from my seat and picked up the child, the child looked up at me with wide eyes as I held him. Din stood beside me with a brown satchel bag slung over his shoulders. I gently placed the child into the bag before the two of us stepped down the ladder and walked over to the ramp.
As Din and I stepped out onto the ramp, I noticed that Peli's mechanic droids were rushing towards the ship.
"Alright. Hey, hey, hey! Sorry, gang. Come on. You know he doesn't like droids." Peli shouted at her droids who froze and turned around to stare at her.
"May as well let them have at it. The crest needs a good once-over." Din Said to the mechanic.
I smiled gently, I knew IG had changed his perspective on droids, even though it was only a little bit.
"Oh! So he likes droids now. Well, you heard him. Give it a once-over." Peli ordered her droids. The three of them scuttled back over to the crest with their tools in hand.
"I guess a lot has changed since you were last in Mos..." Peli trailed off as Mando swung his bag around and revealed the child to her. Her expression softened at the sight of him.
"Oh! Thank the force! This little thing had me worried sick." Peli exclaimed as she took the child out of the satchel and held him in her arms.
"Come here, you little womp rat." She chuckled happily.
"Looks like it remembers me. How much do you want for it? Just kidding. But not really. You know, if this thing ever divides or buds, I will gladly pay for the offspring." Peli said. I raised my eyebrows and smiled in amusement at her antics.
A strange bang followed by hissing air could be heard from the ship. I turned my head to see one of the droids holding a pipe from the crest.
"Hey! Oh, jeez! Watch what you're doing up there. He barely trusts your kind. You want to give all droids a bad name?" Peli yelled at her droid who had been knocked to the ground by a pipe that was flailing around.
"Thank you!" Peli shouted as the droid tried to catch the pipe but it got stuck on its eye. The droid struggled to get it off and I couldn't help but laugh at the strange scene.
"We're here on business. I need your help." Din said
"Oh, then, business, you shall have.care for me to watch this wrinkled critter while you seek out adventure?" Peli asked
"I've been quested to bring this one back to its kind." Din told her.
"Oh, wow. I can't help you there. I've never seen any like it. And trust me, I've seen all shapes and sizes in this town." Peli chuckled.
"A Mandalorian Armorer has set me on my path. If I can locate another of my kind, I can chart a path through the networks of coverts." Din said
"You've been the only Mando here for years from what I can tell." Peli replied
"Where is Mos Pelgo? I'm told there's one there." Din asked her
"Oh, boy. I haven't heard that name in a while." Peli said
"It's not on any of the maps." Din said
"That's because it was wiped out by bandits. Once the Empire fell, it was a free-for-all. I didn't dare leave the city walls. Still don't." Peli explained
"Can you tell me where it used to be?" Din asked
"Depends on who's asking. You want to see it? R-5! Bring the map of Tatooine." She shouted
An astromech beeped and slowly began to roll over to them. "No, take your time. Seriously. You just can't get good help anymore. I don't even know who to complain to." Peli said
"Let's go, let's go." Peli said to R-5 as he stopped in front of them and beeped.
"Waiting. Okay." She said as R-5 finally showed a holographic map of Tatooine.
"This is a map of Tatooine before the war. You got Mos Eisley, Mos Espa, and up around this region here, Mos Pelgo." Peli pointed to the areas on the map.
"I don't see anything." Mando said as he stared at the map. I nodded my head in agreement. It didn't look like there was a town there.
"Well, it's there. Or at least, it used to be. Not much to speak of. It's an old mining settlement. They're going to see that big hunk o'metal long before you land." Peli told us as she bounced the child gently.
"You still have that speeder bike?" Din asked her.
"Sure do. It's a little rusty, but I got it." Peli nodded.
She led us over to a familiar looking speeder bike that was parked outside of her mechanic station. It was One of the ones that Toro had brought us.
"Thank you." I said to her with a smile as Din readied the bike.
"It's no problem." Peli said happily.
Din gently attached the bag with the child to the side of the speeder and made sure that it was secure before he swung his leg over and sat on the speeder bike. I swung her leg over the bike seat behind him and settled myself in. I wrapped my arms tightly around his waist as he started up the bike.
Din didn't get as tense as he used to when I did this, though I sometimes felt his muscles tighten from the close contact. Din nodded to Peli before he pushed the handlebars and they shot forward. The child shrieked excitedly as we moved with speed along the sandy dunes of Tatooine.