THIRTY-NINE.
the disagreement
🔹️🔹️🔹️
"I was a foundling -- they raised me in the Fighting Corps. I was treated as one of their own," Mando announced. "When I came of age, I was sworn to the Creed. The only record of my family name was in the registers of Mandalore. Moff Gideon was an ISB Officer during the Purge. That's how I know it's him."
"That's how he knows who we all are." Cara said, walking away to collect some more rifles.
"He says he still needs us after getting a hold of Adalyn, which means the child got away safely," Mando said as Greef poured himself a drink to ease his nerves. "I was worried when the Ugnaught didn't respond but if they'd captured the kid too, we'd already be dead."
"Hail them again." Cara replied, carrying some weapons to a corner of the room. Mando took out his comlink and spoke into it.
"Come in, Kuiil."
No response.
"Kuiil?"
No response.
"Nothing." Mando shook his head, looking at his two other teammates nervously.
Cara sighed, holding a rifle close to her chest as she took a peek at all the troopers outside. "They might have jammed the link."
Just then, the sounds of the child cooing could be heard through the comlink. Mando immediately snapped his head back to look at the com.
Unfortunately, the voice that spoke through the comlink did not belong to the Ugnaught. It belonged to.. IG-11.
"Kuiil has been terminated."
Mando hesitated for a moment, anger rising up inside of him as he thought about how Adalyn would've reacted if she heard that. He growled into the comlink, "What did you do?"
"I am fulfilling my base function."
"Which is..?!"
"To nurse and protect."
• • •
《 Adalyn's P.O.V 》
• • •
"Let's talk," Derek dragged a chair and placed it in front of me. He sat on it and smirked, "Just like the good old days. Right, my princess?"
We were inside of an empty building while Moff Gideon was in another. We weren't that far away from the cantina.. but it certainly felt like we were.
My wrists were binded to the back of my chair while my ankles were tied together. Derek had taken possession of all my weapons, so I couldn't escape.
I rolled my eyes; this whole situation was giving me deja vu. I sighed, "I'm not sure I wanna listen."
"Well, you're gonna have to," He frowned for a moment before shrugging. "Look, I'm an honest man so I'll speak the truth. I have no intention of killing you whatsoever -- it'll be useless if I did. I know just how strong of a Force user you are, and I want to use that to my advantage."
I avoided any eye contact with him as I stared out of the building's large window. Outside, I could see the cantina where all my teammates were trapped inside of. I pursed my lips.
"So..?"
"Just imagine how great of a duo we could be -- 'The Strongest Force Users Alive to Rule the Galaxy'." He said, clenching his fists and punching the air. "Join me and nothing will ever get in our way. What do you say?"
".. Well, I think you're having a hard time understanding the meaning of the word: no." I spat, turning my attention back onto Derek. "I'm not interested."
He abruptly stood up, and the chair he was sitting on fell to the floor. I flinched. He walked over to me and leaned in closer until he was only inches away from my face. I stared into his blue eyes as he stared into my own.
Derek had very sharp and calm-looking features, but his soul was so ugly. It was all because of the darkness that was bottled up inside of him. I couldn't believe how twisted he'd turned since the last time I'd saw him. He used to be so sweet and determined but.. the Dark Side just ruined him.
"And I don't take no for an answer." He said huskily. He leaned in a bit more. I quickly turned my head to the side, trying to avoid whatever he was going to do to me. He sighed in response, running a hand over the scars on my left collarbone and shoulder. "You know what? I'm starting to lose my patience here, my princess."
I stayed silent, shivering at his touch; I was extremely uncomfortable. But there was only one thing on my mind: Mando.. Din Djarin.
My head started to hurt badly. I bit my lower lip as I grew more anxious. I looked over at the stormtroopers lined up outside of the cantina.
I had to get to my teammates and help them.
He noticed my staring, so he took a step back with a scowl. "Don't even think about trying to escape. It'll only make things worse for the both of us."
"For you, maybe," I replied, shifting my gaze onto him. "But that's not the case for me--"
"Now listen here, princess," He slammed a hand on the back of my chair and leaned in. He took out his lightsaber and activated it, drawing it closer to my face. I grimaced as he snapped at me, "I didn't spend all this time searching for you, so you could just break away from my grasp.. my control! Look, we can either do this the hard way or the easy way."
I gulped, 'I have to get out of here quickly or else Derek might..'
"Hard way it is--"
That's when I heard the sounds of what seemed to be.. a speeder bike? My ears shot up as I heard the sounds of shooting and explosions outside. The stormtroopers that were lined up around the cantina turned their attention onto what was driving through the streets.
Derek shifted his body over a little to look at what was happening outside. The speeder bike's sounds grew louder as it came closer to this area.
My eyes widened. I caught glimpse of the figure on the speeder bike riding past us. It was IG-11 with the child right next to him. He really was a protector..
'Perfect timing.'
I swung my body up and, being careful of where his lightsaber was, I kicked Derek in the stomach while he was distracted. He stumbled back, holding his stomach in pain. At that exact moment, I smashed into the ground, breaking the chair into small pieces.
I jumped up, swinging my binded wrists under my feet. I couldn't really do much since my ankles were also binded; I just had defend myself for the time being.
"Guess I underestimated you, but what more could I expect from my princess." Derek chuckled to himself, adjusting the position of the lightsaber in his hands. "Fine, if a fight's what you want, I'll just have to give you one!"
He used the Force to slam me into a wall. I grunted as my back made impact with it. Derek began running towards me, about to make an attack.
But I was already one step ahead of him.
Right as he was about to swing forward with his lightsaber, I jumped. Instead of cutting off a body part, he sliced through the binds on my ankles and wrists. I did a front flip and landed on the ground behind him. Just as he turned around, I winked at him.
"Gotcha."
He stood astounded for a moment. He shook his head and ran towards me again. I dodged all of his attacks effortlessly. While he was recklessly swinging his lightsaber around, I glanced down at his emissary belt and saw that my lightsaber was dangling off of it. I quickly grabbed for it.
Luckily, I obtained my lightsaber and wasn't injured during the process. I was so happy, that I kissed my lightsaber's hilt. I muttered to myself, "Oh, how I've missed you!"
I activated it, glancing over at what was happening outside. I saw that Mando, Greef and IG-11 were all fighting the troopers on field while Cara was shooting at the bucketheads from inside the cantina. I smiled.
'I'm glad they're safe..'
Derek barked, "I'm not done with you yet!"
I furrowed my eyebrows. He attacked, but I blocked it in the knick of time. We continued to fight; I dodged all of his attacks and made some moves, but I was slowly losing my stamina.
He immediately kicked me down, and I groaned in pain. However, I was quick to notice that his lightsaber's hilt was unguarded. I smirked at Derek and sliced his lightsaber's hilt in half, tearing it into pieces. Derek's eyes widened.
"How'd you--"
I used this opportunity to use the Force and push him away from me. He flew a good distance away and was thrown into the wall, leaving a huge indent behind him. He groaned as he tried to get back up, but he was also losing energy.
That's when I noticed Mando was being attacked by multiple troopers at once and was thrown onto the floor outside. Ignoring Derek, I tried to rush out of the building and help him.
But before I could even take a step outside, a strong force pulled me backwards, and my back landed against Derek's chest. His non-mechanical hand grabbed a hold of my arm as he threw my lightsaber out of my hands.
He whispered, "Not so fast, my princess."
I gasped as he held a dagger against my neck with his mechanical hand. I was slowly losing all the strength left inside my body.. I was about to pass out.
"D-Derek--"
"I didn't want to have to come to this, especially since--" Derek stopped himself from speaking any further, digging the dagger deeper into my skin; I didn't even try to move. He cleared his throat, "Forget it! You're coming with me whether you like it or not."
I glanced down at my lightsaber on the floor. I closed my eyes and focused on pulling my lightsaber towards me with the Force. I took a deep breath in, placing all of my remaining energy into my hands. I ignored everything that was happening around me as I only focused on the Force.
'Just one more time..'
That's when I felt the cold metal of Beskar make contact with my hands. I smiled, gripping onto my lightsaber and activating it.
With one swift movement, I sliced Derek's mechanical arm off. He screamed in pain, holding the stub with his free hand. The mechanical arm must've been attached to his nerves.
"Oh, and one more thing.." I kicked him down as he yelled in agony. I looked at him with dark eyes. I ripped a piece of my shirt off and wrapped it around my bleeding neck. "I was never your princess."
Just then, there was a loud explosion from inside the cantina. My eyes widened as I realized Cara was in there. Gathering up all the energy I had left inside me, I deactivated my lightsaber and tucked it away inside my belt.
I rushed to grab all my other weapons from Derek's emissary belt, placing them back in my own. I reached for my blaster and held it in my hands. Derek looked up at me and grabbed my wrist.
There was something in his eyes that I couldn't quite explain. He had that look in his eyes.. was it hatred? Or was there something inside of him that was still kind and remorseful like his old self..?
I clenched my teeth, shaking my head, "Let me go..!"
"Adalyn, give it up already! Forget about your Jedi and bounty hunting days..! Start a new life with me. You'll only grow weaker if you stay like this." He gripped onto my wrist harder. "Ever since you killed your father; abandoned me.. you had already started down the path of the Dark Side. It's in your blood.. you're a true Force user of the Dark Side."
I scowled. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in, "You're wrong."
"What--"
"Because unlike you.. I have hope."