Few things in life have the ability to renew Din's hope in the world. Seeing the people of Freetown come to help them—exactly as Alora said they would—started a flame in his chest. Then the Mods arrived, and they all started squabbling. Like some messed up group of misfits.
He has yet to hear word from Fennec or Alora, but he called out many times, telling whoever could hear that they were pinned down. More Syndicate members come, and they do what they can, but it won't be enough.
A not-so-distant roar makes Din look up. Krrstantan emerges from a side street, throwing Syndicate members down and shooting anyone else. His chest tightens when he realizes Krrstantan came alone. The Wookie limps his way across the battlefield but falls just short of where they are.
Fett rushes out and with Din's help, they manage to drag him behind their blockade. "Welcome back, Santo," Fett says. "I have to confess, I thought you were gone. I owe you a nice long soak in the bacta tank when this is done."
"What about Alora?" Din asks. "She went to help you. Where's Alora? Tiri, I mean. Is she alive?"
Krrstantan looks up at him and says something. Never had Din wished he learned other languages more.
"They're falling back!" Someone yells before cheering erupts from their side. Din cannot shake the feeling they are celebrating too early. Something is wrong.
He steps forward and presses a button on his helmet. His view shifts and just turning the corner, he sees a large battle droid coming their way. "I wouldn't celebrate yet," he says. "We got problems." A second droid also appears, both now marching toward the small group. "We got real problems."
Forcefields appear around each of the droids a second before Din starts shooting. Each hit just bounces off of the shield as the droids continue marching forward. Fett launches his bazooka at the droids and fire explodes in front of them. Smoke billows up between the buildings, obscuring any damage done. A red light shines through before the droids walk into view, shooting back at them.
"Run!" Fett shouts. "We'll distract them!" Everyone scatters just before Freetown's tank is blown to bits. Din takes one of the droids, aiming his wrist flames at the shielding while Fett distracts the other.
Din quickly realizes his weapons are useless, so he leaps to Fett and brings out his last resort: the Darksaber. Heavy in his grasp, Din slices forward, but it bounces off the shield. "I can't get through," he says before he and Fett dart to the side.
"These two will destroy the entire city!" Fett yells.
"Our energy weapons can't get through and our kinetic weapons have too much velocity."
"Move!" Fett throws them both away. "Can you protect the others?"
"I can distract them for a spell. Why?"
"We need reinforcements."
"From where? You've run out of friends unless you can find Alora."
Fett sighs. "Protect the others." He takes off into the skies, leaving Din to run away.
With everyone scattered, it is easier to separate the droids. One follows after Din's incessant attacks that do nothing while the other wanders further away. Alone, Din cannot keep track of both, so one will have to do. Din runs through the streets, shooting back every so often, just enough to keep the droid on his tail.
"Mando! We found you!" A familiar voice yells over the thumping of the incoming droid. Mando spins around to see Peli on a makeshift throne run by droids. "I got a surprise for you and your girlie!"
"Turn around!" Din yells, but she obviously cannot hear. "Turn around!" As the droid rounds the corner, Din starts to shoot again, even as he finally hears Peli and her throne turn. He races after the vehicle and leaps on the back as the droids drive through the city. "Can this thing go any faster?"
"Go faster, you bucket of droids!" Peli shouts before tossing a wrench at the driver. Even with the towering droid following, Peli smiles up at Din. "Hey, Mando, look who's here!" She pulls away the blanket at her side to reveal a small, cooing green head.
"What?" Din completely disregards the chase and leans over Grogu. "Hey, what are you doing here?" Grogu blinks before he leaps into Din's arms. "Oh! Ok, little guy. I'm happy to see you too. I didn't know when I'd see you again. It's ok. Yeah, I missed you too, buddy. But, uh, we're in a bit of a bind right now, and Alora has disappeared. You be careful. You keep your head down. Stay hidden until the fight's over." Grogu's robe slips to reveal a beskar shirt beneath. "Hey, that's the shirt." The shirt he left with Ahsoka on that planet. "You got the shirt—"
A blast hits close enough to almost knock Din off the cart. "Save your tender moment!" Peli yells. "We've got a Scorpenek droid chasing us."
"What is he doing here?" Din asks as they shoot back.
"The Force works in mysterious ways."
All of a sudden, the driver droid falls over itself and the whole cart lurches forward. Everyone flies out of the cart, and Din reaches for Grogu. As suddenly as it started, they slow in midair, gently landing on the dirt as the cart explodes ahead.
"Hey!" Relief fills Din when he hears Alora's voice. "Get the fuck away from him!"
The looming droid pauses, taking its time to turn around. What the droid does not notice is the small, slow grenade that used to line Din's belt rolling to a stop at its feet. When it explodes, the shield around it flutters, knocking it off balance.
A body flies through the smoke, landing atop the flickering shield. The robe flicks in the wind as a beam of yellow light stabs into the shield, shattering it to pieces. The body falls directly on top of the droid with that yellow weapon roaring and slicing straight into the eye.
If a droid could scream, that is what Din hears as the large structure falls to its knees, but Alora does not stop. With a shout, she keeps slicing into the metal again and again with a yellow glowing sword until there is nothing but scraps.
Slowly, she stands atop the pile of rubble she made before she turns to look at Din. "I thought you and Fett could handle this," she snaps as she finally makes her way toward them. "Obviously not..." She trails off as her expression falls. Her eyes fall on Grogu in Din's arms, and she goes still. "Kid?"
Grogu coos as he leaps from Din's grasp and goes directly for Alora. She lets her yellow saber fall beside her as she catches the kid and hugs him close, whispering something Din cannot hear.
"What the hell is he doing here?" She asks as she looks up to Din. He had moved closer at some point, but he cannot pinpoint when. "I thought he was with Luke. You were supposed to stay with Luke where it's safe."
Grogu's hand reaches up to Alora's face, and she stops asking questions.
The moment is enough to distract Din long enough for the large droid to stagger its way to its feet, red eye flickering as it approaches. "Alora, look out!" He lunges forward to grab and push her to the side, but something else stops the droid: a large rancor with Boba Fett on top leaps on it, crushing it completely.
Alora breathes heavily by his side. "Is that a fucking rancor?" She asks.
Din just shakes his head. "We gotta get to the other one before it kills everyone."
"The other one?!" Her eyes widen. "I leave for twenty minutes!" She shoves Grogu into Din's hands and takes off running as she shouts, "Fett, you get the droid, and I've got the Syndicate!"
Din and Peli follow after Alora, even at her speed. It's a wonder they can keep up, but Fett is still faster. By the time they reach the other droid, it is mostly destroyed. Alora skids to a stop as Syndicate members flee, followed by Din's own assault with his blaster and everyone else.
Din catches sight of Alora no longer running but walking forward as she slowly pulls the hood off of her face, her hands stretched at her side. Many of the surviving Syndicate members try to shoot at Fett's rancor, but Alora stops in the middle of the street and holds her hands up. The Pike Syndicate suddenly stop shooting, all of them rising just a few inches off the ground before muffled screaming echoes through the air. Their armor compresses into their faces and chests as their weapons fall to the ground.
By the time only corpses lie in the street, the rancor is nowhere in sight, and only Alora stands tall. Echoes of gunfire make her instantly ignite her sabers: one yellow and one the familiar purple Din expects. Both of them turn toward the chaos to see Boba Fett standing over Cad Bane who now lies dead on the sands of Tatooine.
"The rancor," Din realizes as he hears its cry through the city. Alora meets his gaze before they both take off once again. The rancor crawls up one of the large structures in town with their own troops shooting at it. "Stop shooting! Put your blasters down!" Din shouts.
"I have an idea, but I need to get up there," Alora says, eyeing his jet pack.
Din nods and takes out Grogu's metal ball before handing it to him. "It's going to be ok." With another nod, he turns to Alora with his hands outstretched. She simply walks into his arms, wrapping them around her waist.
They take off into the air. She inhales sharply and her grasp tightens before she unexpectedly leaps off of him and onto the rancor's back. With a tight grip on the chains, Alora presses her palm to the creature's forehead. In its attempts to swat at her, the rancor knocks Din from the sky, his body skidding along the ground.
Alora remains atop the rancor for only a second longer before it knocks her onto a nearby building. He shouts her name when the rancor's fist caves the building in. Din tries to take off again, but something jams his jet pack as he watches the rancor pick Alora up in its large claws and bring her close to its teeth.
By some miracle, she stops the jaw before it can close around her and once again places a palm to its nose. "Come on!" He can hear her scream. "Connect with me, damn it!"
Instead, the rancor slams her into the ground, enough to knock the air from her lungs. Din launches himself over her, even with a very twisted ankle. Blood covers half of her face as she blinks up at him slowly, obviously unable to focus. He has armor, and she doesn't, but she is the one who went head to head with a rancor.
The two of them lie stranded in the center of the road as the rancor advances on them. "Alora, we gotta stand up now," he says, trying to drag her away.
She just mumbles, unable to form a coherent word. Her attempt at speaking stops when she grabs his arm and points ahead of them.
Grogu waddles his way between them and the beast, watching as it roars. He holds his hands out, and all Din sees is the beast calm second by second, lowering its head until its eyes close. The child walks forward and places a hand on the rancor's face with a soft coo.
Alora lets out a heavy sigh as she relaxes against him. "Good job, kid," she mumbles as she closes her eyes and leans against Din's armored chest. "He did good."
"No, no, Alora? Hey! Stay awake, you're concussed." He grips her face, trying to coax her into keeping her eyes open. "Anyone have a med-pack?!"
Krrstantan rushes over with a roar, ready to help. Alora just cracks a smile and she lets herself fully relax. "Next time, let's have a better plan?"
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I'm almost done with writing up season 3! So hopefully that means you'll be getting more consistent updates.
Hope you enjoyed!
-L