"Hey, Delmira, look at me."
Din's voice brought me back to the present. I looked up at Din to find his gloves around my cheeks. It was then when I realized that I was now on the ground on my knees. Tears were streaming down my cheeks.
"It's all right." He assured me.
Without thinking twice, I threw my arms around him. Din wrapped an arm around my waist, while his other hand rested on the back of my head. I felt him caressing my hair as he spoke, trying to calm me down.
"You're all right, cyar'ika." Din insisted.
Once I pulled away from the hug, Din moved his hands, placing them in mine. I forced a smile. "Thanks, I'm better now."
"What happened?" Cara inquired.
"Bad memory...this isn't the first time the Empire has tried cloning." I explained.
Reluctantly, I pulled away from Din, turning around to see the Mythrol behind the controls. At that moment, the Mythrol uncovered a transmission, revealing a hologram of an Imperial scientist. "Replicated the results of the subsequent trials, which also resulted catastrophic failure. There were promising effects for an entire fortnight, but then, sadly, the body rejected the blood. I highly doubt we'll find a donor with a higher M-count, though. I recommend that we suspend all experimentation."
"I fear that the volunteer will meet the same regrettable fate if we proceed with the transfusion. Unfortunately, we have exhausted our initial supply of blood." He continued. "The Child is small, and I was only able to harvest a small amount without killing him. The same for Lady Jinx. If these experiments are to continue as requested, we would again require access to our donors. I will not disappoint you again, Moff Gideon."
I glanced over at Din, who was looking over at me. I could feel his fear and worry, radiating off of him. We believed Gideon was killed after we left Nevarro, but was he really dead?
"This must be an old transmission. Moff Gideon is dead." Din argued.
The Mythrol shook his head. "No. This recording's three days old."
My heart clenched. Gideon's still alive. This isn't good at all. We need to get Kaytia and Selba off of this planet as soon as possible.
"If Gideon's alive then..." Din trailed off.
"Both Kaytia and Selba are in trouble." I mentioned, finishing Din's sentence.
"Over there!"
At that moment, we saw several stormtroopers at the entrance of the room. They pointed their blasters at us. Din, Karga, Cara, and I all hid towards the edges of the room, while the Mythrol behind the controls. Din, Karga, and Cara all took out their blasters, firing at the stormtroopers. I closed my eyes, sensing how many stormtroopers there were and where they standing. I then took out my lightsaber before igniting it, revealing the purple blade as it emitted the loud Krayt dragon howl, frightening the stormtroopers. I lunged towards the three stormtroopers, who were by the door.
I swung my lightsaber, striking the first stormtrooper in the chest. The stormtrooper let out a cry as he collasped to the ground. The second stormtrooper rushed towards me, I dodged him before spinning around, slashing the stormtrooper's stomach, causing him to drop onto the ground.
The third stormtrooper turned towards me, firing his blaster in an attempt to kill me. I swung my lightsaber around me rapidly, deflecting the blasts. A few of the blasts were thrown back and headed back towards the stormtrooper, killing him in a matter of moments. I then whipped around to find the rest of the stormtroopers taken down by Din, Cara, the Mythrol, and Karga. I turned off my lightsaber before putting it back in my belt.
"Delmira and I need to get Kaytia and the kid." Din mentioned.
"Jet back, you're faster that way. We'll head to the speeder and meet you in town." Cara informed us.
With that, Din and I ran out the room and into the hallway. As we rushed through the hallways, we came across several stormtroopers. Din and I used our blasters, taking down the stormtroopers before they could hit us. We continued running around until we reached the reactor chamber, where the lava was quickly rising up. It was only a matter of moments until the entire place would blow up. From the other side of the room, we saw a stormtrooper. He fired a blast, hitting Din's armor. Din quickly retaliated, hitting the stormtrooper, knocking him out.
"Look out!" I exclaimed.
Behind us, there were two stormtroopers, firing at us. Din quickly hit one of them before turning back to face me. "Ready to get out of here?"
"You don't have to tell me twice." I replied.
With that, Din scooped me up into his arms before he used his jetpack, flying up towards the top of the base as the stormtroopers continued to fire at us. Unfortunately, one of my shoulders wasn't shielded from Din's beskar, and a blast hit the shoulder. I let out a cry as I fell forth. I slipped from Din's grip, causing him to shout out.
"Delmira!"
I felt myself falling down the reactor towards the lava. I shut my eyes, waiting for to hit the lava, but it never came. I opened my eyes to see Din with his arms around me. I let out a sigh of relief. Once we were out of the base, Din flew us back to the city. As soon as we reached the town, Din and I landed on the ground. He then gently lowered me onto the ground.
"We need to get the kids." I protested.
"No, we need to get you a bacta patch first." He argued.
"But Din, Selba, Kaytia, and Ani-"
He cut me off before I could speak any further. "They can wait a little longer. Your wound however needs to be treated now."
I let out a sigh, knowing he was right. I gave him a nod. I sat down on the stairs of the outside of a shop. Meanwhile Din went to the marketplace to get a bacta patch. I took off my jacket, revealing the wound on my shoulder. In a matter of moments, Din returned with the bacta patch in his hand. My heart clenched as I watched him place the bacta patch on my shoulder. I knew I was wrong in fighting with him. Din cares about me...
"Din, I'm sorry...for arguing with you. I shouldn't have gotten angry at you, especially for not telling me of everything in your past." I mentioned. "There are things about my past that I haven't told you about, so I had no right to judge you."
After he was finished, Din looked up at me. He placed a hand on my cheek. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have snapped at you. I should've known you had your reasons for being secretive about the Force and the Jedi."
"I didn't want to overwhelm you. I was afraid that I'd frighten you and you'd run off." I confessed.
"Nothing you could say will make me run away from you." He assured me.
My heart fluttered at his words. I couldn't help but smile. I placed a hand on his helmet, where his cheek would be. Din then continued. "And I'm sorry for not telling you of my plans. We're a team, a family. We do things together...and to protect you, you need to know what's happening."
Din leaned his forehead against mine. After a few moments, we pulled our foreheads away from each other. Once I stood up, I turned back to face him. "Whatever happens, we must remain together."
Din gave me a nod. "Together."
With that, we made our way back to the school. Once we reached the school, we walked inside, causing the protocol droid to look over at us. Upon seeing the droid stop its lesson, all the kids turned to look back at us.
"Sorry to intrude. We're here to pick up our kids." I informed the droid.
The droid merely nodded before continuing on with the lesson. Ani immediately rushed over towards us. His tongue stuck out as he wagged his tail. I patted his head. "You did well, Ani."
"I'll get Kaytia." Din offered.
"And I'll get Selba." I replied.
With that, we split up, Din walked over towards Kaytia's desk, while I reached Selba's desk, which had a package of blue cookies that he was eating. Once I approached him, Selba turned towards me, letting out a coo.
"All right, Selba. It's time to go." I informed him.
After Selba grabbed his cookies, I scooped him up. We all met up outside the school, where Kaytia refused to leave. She turned towards me. "Mom, I don't want to go. I wanna stay here and go to school. I just made a friend..."
I let out a sigh. I wish I could give her a normal life, but for now, we had to leave. I gave her a gentle look as I placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Kay. We need to leave here."
"But why?" She questioned.
"Because it's not safe anymore." Din argued.
She must've realized what was going on, because her face fell. "Are the Imperials still after Selba and me?"
Din and I exchanged a look. I could sense that Din was surprised. Kaytia was clever, much like I was at her age. It was only a matter of time until she found out. I looked back at Kaytia, giving her a sad smile. "I'm afraid so, min turhaya."
Kaytia responded with a nod before lowering her gaze to the ground. My heart clenched upon seeing her state. I could feel her pain. I hated seeing her like this. I won't rest until every Imp was dead, so they'd leave both Kaytia and Selba alone so they could both have normal lives. As soon as we were in the cockpit of the Razor Crest and strapped in, Din took off, flying in Nevarro's skies. As he flew around the town, he spotted three TIE fighters above a canyon, trailing behind the Trexler Marauder. Din fired, taking down one of the three TIE fighters. Din glanced back at us. "Hang on."
Selba continued to eat his blue cookies. Din flew the Razor Crest up into the atmosphere after the second TIE fighter, Selba merely laughed as he threw his hands up in the air, while Kaytia wore a smile as she looked at Din, studying his movements as he moved the ship around.
My smile widened. Kaytia's definitely going to be a pilot. In a matter of seconds, Din blasted down the second TIE fighter. He then dropped the ship down before spinning the Razor Crest in circles, causing Selba and Kaytia to laugh. I noticed that we were heading straight for the third TIE fighter. As the ship reached closer towards the fighter, Din fired a shot, hitting the last fighter, obliterating it into tiny little pieces.
"Not too bad, huh?" Din asked.
"That was amazing!" Kaytia exclaimed.
Selba responded, by hurling over his tunic. I grimaced. "Oh no..."
"Oh boy." Din said.
Before I could do anything, Din took his cloak to clean up his vomit, causing Selba to whine. At that moment, we heard Karga's voice through the comm unit of the ship. "That was some pretty impressive flying, Mando. What do I owe ya?"
"With the repairs, let's call it even." Din mentioned.
"Can I at least buy you a drink?" Karga questioned.
"Sorry, I have some onboard maintenance I gotta take care of. Then we gotta hit the road before Gideon catches wise." Din informed him.
"Well, good luck flying, my friend." Karga replied.
•••
As we made our way to Corvus, Kaytia fell asleep in her chair. Meanwhile, Selba walked up onto the controls. Once Corvus was in sight, Din spoke up. "Corvus, this is the place. I detected a beacon. I'm gonna start the landing cycle. You better get back in your seat."
However, Selba remained where he was. Din glanced over at him. "Hey, what did I tell you? Back in your seat."
Reluctantly, Selba made his way back to his seat. As Din began the landing cycle, I watched as Selba used the Force to grab the small ball from the joystick amongst the controls. I couldn't help but smile. He's quite mischievous. Once we landed, Din, Selba, Kaytia, Ani, and I walked out of the ship. I glanced around to see lots of trees with no leaves, barren plains, and giant creatures in the distance. Din turned around to see Selba with the ball in his hand.
"What did I say about that?" Din asked. "This needs to stay on the ship."
Din grabbed the ball from Selba, causing him to whine. Din then placed the ball in his pocket. I looked around again, letting out a sigh. How are we going to find Ahsoka Tano? There's barely anything here.
"There's not much to see out here." I mentioned.
"Why don't we head into town? See if we can pick up a lead." Din suggested.
He then scooped up Selba, placing him in his bag. Once we made our way towards the town, we saw a giant gate with several guards with helmets that looked like mercenaries around an alarm. Amongst them there was a man without a helmet.
"State your business." The man ordered.
"Been tracking for a few days. Looking for a layover." Din explained.
"Nice armor." The man said. "You're a hunter, then?"
Din nodded. "That's right."
"Guild?" The man inquired.
"Last I checked." Din replied.
The man then glanced over at me. "What about you?"
"I am also part of the Guild." I assured him.
"Open the gate." The man ordered.
At his command, they opened up the gate, allowing us inside the town, Calodan. Once we were inside, I glanced around, seeing people walking around with their heads down and some shops around the place. I noticed there were guards and droids with blasters, roaming around. We then approached an woman vendor with a table filled with junk.
"Pardon me, vendor, have you heard of anyone..." Din trailed off.
The vendor didn't even look at us before walking off. Din let out a sigh. I furrowed my brows. "This is strange..."
Din nodded. "Very strange."
I then noticed a man talking to two kids in the alleyway near us. Maybe, he'll help us and tell us what's going on here. With that in mind, I walked over towards them with Din, Ani, and Kaytia trailing behind me.
"Hey, you there. We need some information." I mentioned.
"We're looking for someone." Din added.
Upon seeing us the children grew terrified. The man turned towards the kids. "Okay, bye."
Once the kids left, the man turned towards us. I could sense fear, radiating off him. "Please do not speak to them, or to any of us."
"But why?" Kaytia questioned.
"Look, I just need to know..." Din began.
Din didn't get to finish his words as two guards with masks approached us. One of them spoke up. "The Magistrate wants to see you."
Reluctantly, we followed the guards throughout the town. As we reached a villa, outside the doors we saw people inside cages, which electrocuted them every few seconds. As we passed them, the prisoners begged. "Help us."
"Help us. She'll kill us all." Another prisoner pleaded.
Kaytia looked around, horrified. I placed an arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer towards me as I whispered. "It's all right."
Once we reached the doors, they opened, allowing us inside into a courtyard. The courtyard had a pond on both sides of the courtyard, several trees filled with green leaves, and a small walkway, leading to another building, where a droid guard stood. In the middle of the walkway stood the Magistrate, a woman with light skin, green eyes, and brown hair that was pulled back in a ponytail. She wore elegant Imperial clothing. I already knew that I couldn't trust her.
"Come forward." The Magistrate commanded.
Once we approached her, the Magistrate turned around to face us. "You are a Mandalorian?"
"Yes." Din confirmed.
"I have a proposition that may interest you." The Magistrate mentioned.
"Our price is high." Din informed her.
"This target is priceless. A Jedi plagues me." She informed us. "I want you to kill her."
My stomach dropped at her words. Could it be this Ahsoka Tano that Bo-Katan mentioned? I knew Din must've thinking the same thing as I felt his bafflement.
"That's a difficult task." Din mentioned.
"One that you are well suited for." She retorted. "The Jedi are the ancient enemy of Mandalore."
"As he said, our price is high." I echoed, repeating Din's words.
The Magistrate seemed to notice me for the first time. She glanced over at me. "And who are?"
"I'm Helia Halcyon." I replied.
"She's known as the Shadow Bonzami." Din added.
I then noticed the Magistrate inspect me from head to toe. It wasn't long until she saw the lightsaber which lied around my belt. "Where did you get that lightsaber."
I did my best to remain calm and collected as I responded. "It once belonged to a Jedi. I killed him and took his lightsaber as part of my reward."
A smile appeared on her face. "Then this job is for you."
The Magistrate turned around towards the droid, giving it a nod. The droid handed her a spear. Once the droid handed it over towards her, the droid returned to its post. The Magistrate turned back towards us.
"What do you make of this?" She inquired.
I could sense that Din was surprised upon seeing the spear. He then took the spear from the Magistrate. He hit it against his armor, which clanked as soon as it hit his armor. My eyes widened. The spear's made of Beskar.
"Beskar." Din stated.
"Pure Beskar." She informed us. "Like your armor. Kill the Jedi and it's yours."
"Where do I find this Jedi?" Din asked, returning the spear to the Magistrate.
I was taken back by Din's words. The Magistrate's smile grew.
~Translations~
Min Turhaya----My bright star (Old Corellian)
Cyar'ika---Beloved (Mando'a)