Blue swirls of light flashed past my eyes as I stood in the cockpit of an imperial shuttle. I hope that once this mission is over I'll stop having to pretend to be an imperial officer. If I have to see the interior of an imperial ship or base one more time I will scream.
"Moff Gideon is mine. Got it?" Bo-Katan asked
"He's ex-ISB. He's got a lot of information. I need him alive." Cara said
"I don't care what happens to him as long as he surrenders to me." Bo-Katan replied
"Prepare to exit jump space." Boba said over the comms.
"Copy that. Get the hell out of there as soon as they clear us to dock. And your shots have to look convincing." Bo-Katan said
"Power up those shields, princess. I'll put on a good show." Boba Fett said
"Watch out for those deck cannons." Bo-Katan said
"Don't worry about me. Just be careful in there." Boba replied, he was really starting to grow on me.
"Existing hyperspace in three, two, one..." Koska counted us down. Once she got to one she pulled us out of hyperspace and the first thing I saw out the cockpit window was a large imperial light cruiser.
I could hear Boba Fett firing at us from behind, though none of the shots had made contact with our shuttle. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath, reaching out for the child with the force to the best of my abilities.
"He's here. I can feel him." I said to Din. He turned his head to me and nodded.
"You can feel him?" Koska asked in confusion as she steered the ship.
"It's...it's a Jedi thing." I said hesitantly
"You're a Jedi?" Fennec asked in confusion
"Technically no. It's complicated." I replied
"Focus please." Bo-Katan said as she turned on the comms.
"This is lambda shuttle, two-seven-four-three. Requesting emergency docking." Bo-Katan said as the ship continued to swerve from left to right. My hand shot out and I grasped onto Din's arm to try to steady myself.
"We are under attack. Repeat, requesting emergency docking." Bo-Katan repeated
"Copy, Lambda shuttle. Request received." A female officer said over the comms
"Stay clear of the launch tube. Deploying fighter squadron." The woman added. I felt myself tense up, that was where we were supposed to be landing.
A TIE fighter shot out from within the light cruiser and headed straight for us. I couldn't help the way my heart leapt in my chest at the sight. We swerved sharply and I leant up against Din to stop myself from toppling over. His arm wrapped around my waist automatically to keep us both steady.
"Request denied! Please clear the launch tube until fighters deploy!" The woman said over the comms
"Negative! Negative! We are under attack!" Bo-Katan replied as another TIE fighter flew past us.
We were getting closer and closer to the entrance of the launch bay. I could hear the loud blaster fire behind us from both Boba Fett and the TIE fighters.
We approached the entrance and began to fly into the light cruiser. My heart was beating aggressively in my chest as we got closer and closer.
"Hang on!" Bo-Katan yelled to us as we attempted to land. I grunted as the ship crashed into the side of the launch tube. Din tightened his grip on my waist as he leant up against the wall.
Suddenly, we hit the floor of the light cruiser. The whole ship shook violently as we skidded along the ground. I could hear the sound of metal grinding against metal as I tried my hardest not to fall to the ground.
After a moment of sliding harshly across the landing bay, we finally came to a stop. I let out a sigh of relief, thankful that the ship had stopped shaking and jolting. Unfortunately, that wasn't even the hard part of the plan.
Bo-Katan, Koska, Cara and Fennec all stood up and exited the ship, leaving Din and I behind. The women disappeared from our view and the familiar found of blaster fire quickly followed their retreat.
"Are you ready for this?" Din asked me
"Yes. I think." I replied honestly. I tried to sound determined but I could feel the nerves swirling around in the pit of my stomach.
"We've got this." Din said encouragingly. The sound of blaster fire suddenly stopped.
"Let's go." Din said as he turned on his heels and walked out of the cockpit. I turned around and quickly followed after him.
Din pulled his blaster out as we approached the hatch. I followed his lead and pulled out my own blaster as we walked down the ramp Into the imperial hangar.
Smoke clouded the air around us, the walls were a sleek black that mirrored every other Imperial vessel I had seen. Stormtroopers lay on the ground with blaster bolts burning through their plastoid armor. The wall in front of us held several dormant TIE fighters. The sight was unsurprisingly ominous.
Din and I immediately headed in the direction of the brig, where they were holding the child. This wasn't the first time we had to break him out of an imperial institute, though this time was definitely worse than the first. I had really hoped that we wouldn't have to do this again.
The two of us slipped quietly through the shadows, hiding behind pillars and walls in an attempt to go undetected. My blaster was raised up in front of me as Din and I carefully paced down a long, dimly lit corridor.
"We're heading to the bridge now." A stormtrooper suddenly said. Din and I quickly ran to the side and hid behind the wall. My back pushed up against the wall as the two troopers quickly jogged past us. I relaxed slightly as they passed by us without a second glance.
The two of us stepped out from behind the wall and started to walk down the corridor again. We turned right at the end of the dark corridor only to be met with an identical dark corridor.
I swiftly made my way down the corridor while staying close to Din's side. Once we made it closer to the next corner, he gently put his arm out and ushered me to stand by the wall. I held my breath as I listened out for what it was that had stopped him, the sound of a droid speaking a different language immediately caught my attention.
Din held his blaster out as the silver droid wandered past us. However, It was completely oblivious to our position and we had no need to take it out. I watched the silver droid disappear down the next corridor before I turned to begin moving again.
Din and I turned the corner but immediately had to back away as several troopers came running down the corridor. I pushed my shoulder up against the wall and prayed that they didn't see us.
Din took a hesitant look around the corner to check if it was clear. He raised his free hand and gestured to me that it was clear. The two of us began to treck down the long corridors again. We turned the corner were the troopers had come from and started to walk in that direction.
When we turned the next corner my heart dropped. A set of doors were slowly beginning to open, letting out a platoon of dark troopers. Seeing those droids again almost made me freeze up.
"No, no!" Din said as he ran forward and stuck the code cylinder into the control panel. The door began to slide shut and Din fired his blaster at the oncoming droids to try and slow them down.
To my dismay however, one of the dark troopers managed to grab onto the door just before it shut. The droid began trying to pry the doors open, I could hear the hinges creak as the droid pulled them apart.
Suddenly, the doors fully opened and the dark trooper punched Din in the chest, hard. Din went flying across the ground like someone had force pushed him. He groaned heavily as he fell to the ground and I had to bite my lip to stop myself from calling out to him.
The dark trooper stepped through and the doors slammed shut, lucking that meant we only had one to deal with. On instinct, I ran towards Din and put myself between him and the dark trooper.
Instead of using my blaster like I had done when they had taken the child, I raised my hand and took in a deep breath. I focused intently on the feeling of the force flowing around me. I pushed against the dark trooper and he stopped moving towards us.
I clenched my jaw harshly as the droid began to push against me, trying to break free of my hold. I tried as hard as I could to keep my focus and keep the droid from reaching us, but it was hard when I could see the other dark troopers trying to punch through the glass doors. A few blaster bolts hit the droid as Din attempted to shoot the dark trooper.
"Din! The airlock!" I called out to him through gritted teeth.
Din quickly moved past me and ran towards the control panel. Suddenly, the dark trooper turned around and began to chase after Din. I tried to hold on but the dark trooper managed to get loose. Just before Din could grab onto the switch the droid grabbed onto his leg and swung him across the floor.
Din attempted to get up but the droid kicked him firmly in the chest, sending him skidding across the sleek floor again. My heart was beating rapidly in my chest as I tried to think of a way out of this. The dark trooper shot at Din with its sleek black blaster.
Din flicked his wrist and activated the whistling birds. I tried to stand as still as possible to avoid getting struck by one of the small explosives. The whistling birds aggressively hit the dark trooper, it stumbled everytime one of the explosives made contact with it.
The dark trooper kept following after Din, who was stumbling backwards. He was trying to keep a distance between himself and the droid.
I took in a deep breath and started to move forward, my intention being to jump on the dark trooper and hope for the best. At least Din would have a moment to think. Luckily, my reckless plan was stopped when Din shoved his beskar spear through the droid's neck. I stopped in my tracks and watched as the droid sparked.
Din whipped the beskar spear upwards and pried the trooper's head off of its body. It fell to the ground with a loud thud and I quickly turned back around. The other dark troopers were very close to breaking through the glass on the door. I ran quickly over the control panel and pulled down on the lever. The door behind the dark troopers opened up and they were sucked out into space.
I let out a sigh of relief as they vanished from view. I heard Din breathing heavily and I immediately turned back around to check on him.
"Are you okay?" I asked him as I gently placed my hand on his arm.
"Yeah, I'm okay. Are you?" Din asked me
"Yeah." I nodded gently.
"Good, let's go." Din said. I nodded and the both of us began to walk down the corridor again. I took in several deep breaths to try and calm my racing heart. My fingers twitched by my side as I ached to reach out and take his hand. Having him beside me made me feel the slightest bit better. It's like he is an anchor holding me down, grounding me.
We came up to another corner and Din held his hand out to me. I flattened my back up against the wall behind him as he looked around the corner. He took a glance and quickly turned back to me .
"We're at the brig. There's two troopers on either side of the door." Din said in a hushed voice.
"One each?" I asked shortly and quietly. Din nodded to me once and immediately shot out from around the corner. I quickly followed after him.
Din went up to the trooper that was closest to us and hit him over the head with his beskar spear. He spun his spear around and pierced the other trooper in the chest, killing him instantly. I stopped walking and raised my brows, what happened to the plan? Din wrapped his arms around the first trooper and held his spear against the trooper's throat.
The trooper struggled and choked as Din held him off of the ground. He moved the spear around in a sharp motion and snapped the trooper's neck. I couldn't help but flinch at the sound as the trooper fell to the ground.
Din stepped away from the trooper and quickly walked up to the control panel. He plugged in the code cylinder and pressed the button to open the door.
It slid open and my eyes immediately fell on the child. He looked unharmed from where I was standing and he had a very small pair of handcuffs on. My relief didn't last very long when my eyes quickly fell on Moff Gideon.
He was holding what I assume to be the darksaber. And he was holding it directly above Grogu's head. Grogu cooed sadly and held his little hands out towards us, causing my heart to break.
"Drop the blasters." Moff Gideon said to Din and I.
"Slowly." He added in a low town. I slowly lowered my hand down and placed my blaster on the ground.
"Now kick it over to me." Moff Gideon said. I straightened my back with my hands raised slightly. I looked down at my blaster and kicked it with my foot. Both of our blasters skidded across the ground towards the Moff as we kicked them at the same time.
"Very nice." Moff Gideon said. I couldn't help but glare at the man.
"Give us the child." Din said
"The kid is just find where he is." Moff Gideon said. I had to hold myself back from attacking him. I felt anger surging through my body and I tried to take a deep breath in. I can't let anger consume me. Not after what Ahsoka told me. The child cooed over at me and dropped his ears even lower, I knew that he could feel me fighting against my own emotions.
"Mesmerising, isn't it?" Moff Gideon asked as he swished the darksaber
"Used to belong to Bo-Katan. Yes. I know you've been traveling with Bo-Katan. A friendly piece of advice, assume that I know everything. Like the fact that your wrist launched has fired it's one and only salvo." Moff Gideon said
"Where is this going?" Din asked in annoyance
"This is where it's going. I'm guessing Bo-Katan and her boarding party have arrived at the bridge seeking me or, more accurately, this." Moff Gideon said as he held up the darksaber.
"But I'm not there. And I imagine they've killed everyone on the bridge, being the murderous savages that they are. And now, they're beginning to panic. You see, she wants this. Do you know why? Because it brings power. Whoever wields this sword...has the right to lay claim to the Mandalorian throne." Moff Gideon said. I wasn't too surprised to learn that. It made sense that Bo-Katan wanted it back when she wanted to take back the planet.
"You keep it. I just want the kid." Din said
Moff Gideon looked from the darksaber to Din like he didn't believe him. "Very well."
He pressed a button and the darksaber retreated into the hilt. "I've already got what I want from him. His blood. All I wanted was to study his blood. The child is extremely gifted...and has been blessed with rare properties that have the potential to bring order back to the galaxy."
I felt myself tense at his words. Bringing order back to the galaxy sounded a little too close to bringing the Empire back.
"I see your bond with him. You are like his parents. Take him, but you will leave my ship immediately and we will go our separate ways." Moff Gideon said.
I shuffled on my feet nervously before Din and I started to walk forward. Moff Gideon eyed us as he walked away from the child and past us. We got close to the child and Din bent down to pick him up. I suddenly had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I furrowed my brows in concern just as I heard the sound of the darksaber again.
Din grunted as he was shoved forward by an extreme force. Moff Gideon had brought the darksaber down on his back. I gasped as Din backed up and held his arms in front of him. He just managed to block Moff Gideon's second blow which landed on his vambrace.
Moff Gideon continued to slash down at Din and my heart raced painfully in my chest. I suddenly remembered what Bo-Katan had said about the weapon. It can't cut through pure beskar, and my mandalorian is covered in it. He has a better chance at defending himself against Moff Gideon than I do.
I took in a deep breath before I decided to turn around and reach for the child. I quickly wrapped my hands around him and lifted him up in my arms. I felt so glad to be holding the child again, he was safe and okay. I quickly pushed the small button on the handcuffs and pulled them off of the child. He cooed up at me with wide eyes.
I turned around to look for Din and Moff Gideon. They had brought the fight outside of the brig. Din was continuously blocking Moff Gideon's blows with his vambrace. He ducked down and spun around Moff Gideon.
Din reached up and grabbed his beskar spear, holding it out in front of him. The two of them then began to fight one another with their weapons. The darksaber hit intensely off of the beskar spear over and over again.
I lost sight of them as they went further down the corridor. I wanted nothing more than to run out of the brig and help him, but I knew that I had to keep the child safe from the intense battle that was happening. So I waited with baited breath as I listened to the fight from outside.
My heart was beating harshly in my chest as I waited for the fight to be over. The child cooed worriedly for his dad, his ears lowered as he stared intently at the open door.
After what felt like an eternity, the noise of the fighting stopped. I hesitated for a moment before I stepped out of the brig and into the hall. I felt myself relax as my eyes fell on the scene before me. Din was standing over Moff Gideon with his beskar spear aimed at his head.
"You're sparing my life? Well, this should be interesting." Moff Gideon said.
I looked down at my feet and saw the hilt of the darksaber laying on the ground. Din had disarmed him. I raised my hand out and focused on the feeling of the force. The darksaber shot up from the ground and landed in my hand.
I tightened my grip on the hilt and walked over to Din. "If it were up to me, I'd stick this through your heart."
Moff Gideon smiled, but I could see a small amount of fear in his eyes that he was trying to hide from me. I felt a small amount of pride for being the one to put it there.
Din pulled a pair of cuffs from his belt and tossed them at Moff Gideon. "Cuff yourself."
Moff Gideon reluctantly picked up the metal cuffs and placed them on his own wrists. He held his hands up to show us that he was complying.
Din lowered his beskar spear slightly. I held my hand out and offered the darksaber to him. "I think this should be in the hands of a mandalorian."
Din looked down at the weapon before put his beskar spear on his back and took it from me. His attention immediately went from the darksaber to Grogu. "Is he okay?"
"From what I can see? Yes." I said gently as I smiled down at the child.
"Good." Din said, he held out his hand and gently stroked the child's ear. Grogu cooed up at us happily. I couldn't help but smile. We were together again. The child was safe. All we have to do is get out of here.