*** There is an Author Note/Message at the end of this chapter. ***
….
Chapter: Stripped Starship
…..
…..
…..
It was quiet.
Too quiet for the Mandalorian and Lucina.
The egg shaped cradle floated and followed them. The Mandalorian managed to program the cradle system with an activation of a control on his gauntlet.
The cradle floated between the two adults. They were walking through canyon pathways.
There was a disturbance in the air which drew Lucina's attention. Her eyes moved around their surroundings until her eyes met the Mandalorian's stare. His head was turned toward her. There was more than one presences around them. Lucina made an eye gesture toward the cliff wall over her left shoulder. The Mandalorian gave her the tiniest of head nods.
Lucina stared forward. She saw a shadow pass over them from above.
The child's attention drew upwards. Even the child sensed a presence.
The next moment happened fast.
A Trandoshan warrior jumped down from above and they swung at the Mandalorian. Lucina stayed with the child, but the cradle was pushed back by the Mandalorian. Lucina ducked when two more Trandoshan warrior appeared from the crevices of the canyon. They were trying to take her down.
Lucina pulled out a dagger from one of her over the knee leather boots and she sprinted forwards. She kicked out the legs of one of the Trandoshan and then sliced them down. She ducked under the Mandalorian's swing of his Amban rifle toward another Trandoshan. Lucina jumped upwards to deliver a hard kick across the face of another Trandoshan warrior. She landed and ducked down as the Mandalorian electrocuted the Trandoshan she kicked with the Amban rifle. Lucina twirled on the heel of her boots. She spun around and against the Mandalorian's back to kick the legs out at the other Trandoshan warrior he had been fighting. She stepped aside as the Mandalorian brought down the end of the spiked Amban rifle on the Trandoshan and shocked them.
The sound of footfalls behind the Mandalorian and Lucina made them to look. There was one Trandoshan warrior left, and the Trandoshan charged the child with a knife raised above their head.
Lucina threw her dagger, and watched as the dagger embed in the back of the Trandoshan thigh. The Trandoshan staggered, but did not give up. But due to Lucina's quick reaction, it had given the Mandalorian enough time to aim his Amban rifle at the back of the Trandoshan. With a single shot from the Amban rifle, the Trandoshan disintegrated. There was nothing but torn up rags left in the Trandoshan place.
Lucina walked over to the child and she checked to make sure everything was okay. But her attention was drawn over to the sound of beeping. She saw it was a fob. One of the Trandoshan had it. Her eyes moved away from the fob to stare at the Mandalorian.
The Mandalorian stared at the fob, but then he stared at her.
Both the Mandalorian and Lucina knew there were more than one bounty hunter coming after this child.
…..
…..
…..
The three stopped for the night after they climbed out of the bottom of the canyon.
Lucina was checking around the area while the Mandalorian was watching the child. She made her way back over to them.
There was small lantern set up by the Mandalorian. As Lucina got closer, she realize the Mandalorian was hurt. The Mandalorian was trying to seal up a slash across the bicep of his left arm.
"You were injured?"
"It is nothing."
Lucina knew down beside him and smacked his hand away from the wound. She snatched the device from him, and she began to zap the wound shut for him. But then she felt a tickle in the back of her mind. She paused in her work to look behind her. She heard a coo sound.
The child escaped the cradle and came to stand by the Mandalorian and Lucina. Lucina saw the child bring up its hand toward the injury. Immediately, Lucina knew the child was going to attempt to heal the injury. But was unable to do so when the Mandalorian stood up and he picked the child up. He brought the child back to the cradle and set it back inside.
"I can do it." The Mandalorian stated when he sat down in front of Lucina again.
"It is fine." Lucina said lowly.
She resume her work on zapping the wound shut.
The whole time she thought about using her unknown abilities and see if she could attempt to heal his injury. Yet she resisted.
Lucina grew up with curiosity about who she was. She could do certain things no one else could do. As she grew, she studied more into her dreams. There was a point she came across an unknown ability known as the Force. She began to believe what she can do was called the Force, but she was not completely a hundred percent sure. Although during her studies, she came across the history of the Mandalorians. There was one battle between the Mandalorians and the Jedis. She noted how the Jedi people were also known as Force-sensitives. This made her even more curious since the history pointed out the moves the Jedi could do.
But when Lucina met this particular Mandalorian, he appeared different from what she imagine. He saved the child's life and appeared to be effected by the child.
Lucina will admit she was fearful for her secret to appear.
After she studied the Mandalorian and Jedi battle, she dug more into the Jedi. It led her to read and hear about the tragic history of the Jedi and the Jedi Order. If she was found out about, she was afraid a bounty would be placed on her head. Yet, here she was traveling with a Mandalorian. But she continued to think about her dream. The Mandalorian was in it, but after they found the child, she began to believe both the Mandalorian and child were her answers.
A cooing sound made her to stop what she was doing. The Mandalorian let out a tire sigh. Lucina could not help but snicker a little. The Mandalorian picked the child up and he held the child in front of him. It was clear he did not know what to do with a child.
"You do know the child is not going to bite you, right?" Lucina pointed out.
"I know that."
"Then stop holding the child as if they are covered in Blurrg vomit."
"You had to bring up those Blurrgs." The Mandalorian muttered while he set the child back into the cradle.
Lucina shrugged her shoulders with a smirk.
The Mandalorian sat back down. He began to work on a piece of his armor. Lucina laid back onto her back. Her hands were clasped together on her stomach as she stared up at the night sky.
"You said you had dreams. That I was a part of them." The Mandalorian started.
"Yes." Lucina turned her head to stare at the Mandalorian.
"What else?" The Mandalorian paused in his work.
Slowly, Lucina pushed herself up with her hands pressed behind her. Her eyes turned away from the night sky and settle on the Mandalorian. Her eyes glanced at the child. The child was staring back and cooing.
"It contained this planet and you. My dreams usually show answers or have some sort of hidden meaning. Everything happening thus far has happen in my dreams. There is something more though, and I do not know what. Then this child, well, I can tel this child is special."
There was no reply.
Lucina stared at the Mandalorian. He was staring at the child, but his attention came back onto her.
"This child is a bounty. The child will be gone soon."
A small snort could not help but escape her. Her reaction made the Mandalorian to tilt his head.
"This child is special, and this child is more than a simple bounty." Lucina stated firmly.
The conversation would turn into one which would make her upset. She did not want to continue the conversation. She laid back down and she stared up at the night sky. Her head turned from the sky to stare at the child.
The child cooed and then climbed out of the cradle again. She heard the Mandalorian sigh. The ground crunched beneath his boots as he was about to stand up.
"Don't." Lucina held a hand up at him.
The child walked to her and then sat down beside her. She smiled at the child when the child laid its head on her outstretched arm. The child let out a small yawn and then began to fall asleep.
"Cute." Lucina whispered.
She stared at the child until she felt herself drift off.
…..
…..
The moment the sun came up and the suns rays casted over the land, Lucina woke up. The first sight to welcome her was the child. The child was sleeping on her arm. The second sight was a blanket over them. But it took a moment for Lucina to realize it was not a blanket. It was a familiar worn, torn charcoal gray cape.
A small smile appeared on her lips.
Lucina picked up the child with carefulness and then she picked up the cape. She set the child into the cradle before she turned away to stare at the Mandalorian. The Mandalorian stood at the top of the hill and stared out at the landscape. As if he sensed her awake, the Mandalorian turned around in his spot and he began to walk down the hill and toward her.
The cradle began to move along with the Mandalorian. Lucina walked toward the Mandalorian. She clenched the dark, charcoal gray cape to her chest. The polite gesture of the cape from the Mandalorian made Lucina to believe the Mandalorian was not a coldhearted bounty hunter. Underneath the beaten and hard armor was a Mandalorian with a heart.
Lucina stepped in front of the Mandalorian and she held out his cape.
"Thank you." Lucina bowed her head a little.
The Mandalorian accepted the cape back and he gave her a simple nod. The Mandalorian turned from her and he clipped his cape back onto his armor.
There were no words exchanged on their walk back to the Mandalorian's ship. Most of the travel was walking in silence.
Lucina did try to make small talk, but the Mandalorian would make short answers. It usually ended the conversation, which made Lucina to roll her eyes.
Lucina turned her attention onto the child. The child always looked at her whenever she would do the occasional glance to make sure everything was all right. The child would make a happy sound, and at times, the child would make attempts to grab the pouch on her right hip. The action made Lucina to raised her eyebrows. She wondered if the child could sense something about the mysterious crystal.
When the three of them walked over a large hill, the Mandalorian's starship was in sight. However, there was also the presence of a large sandcrawler beside the starship. The Mandalorian's starship was partially stripped of anything valuable.
Lucina knew by the sandcrawler, the small figures walking around and carrying pieces of the starship, that these were Jawas.
"Well, that does not look good." Lucina said dryly.
The child made a coo sound as if agreeing with Lucina.
The Mandalorian pulled his Amban rifle off his back and he gone down on one knee. He pulled the scope off the top of the rifle to look through it. The Mandalorian let out a frustrated growl. He placed the scope back on top of the rifle and he began to take aim at the Jawas.
Without anymore hesitation, the Mandalorian began to fire and reload the rifle. The attack made the Jawas to drop whatever they had and run back inside their sandcrawler. The sandcrawler started up and began to drive off with most of the Mandalorian's starship pieces inside.
The Mandalorian did not waste any time to stand up and take off running after the sandcrawler. Lucina cursed beneath her breath and she ran after him. She scooped up his Amban rifle off the ground since he threw it to the ground to run. The child's cradle floated behind Lucina.
"Seriously, we can wait until they stop!" Lucina shouted after the Mandalorian.
"No!" The Mandalorian shouted.
Lucina shook her head. She continued to run, but she watched as the Mandalorian grabbed the sandcrawler. Lucina ran at a pace where she would not leave the child behind, especially with other bounty hunters looking for the child. She was watching the Mandalorian climb up the sandcrawler, but at the same time, wincing when Jawas were throwing random items at him.
"Oh my…" Lucina gasped when the Mandalorian tossed a Jawa off the side.
The Mandalorian was getting closer to the top, but fell back down when the Jawas cut his climbing wire.
Lucina held her breath, but she let out a sigh of relief when he caught himself. The Mandalorian finally got to the top of the sandcrawler with his blast pistol drawn.
"Oh good, he managed to get to the to—" Lucina words died when the Mandalorian became stiff as a board on top of the sandcrawler.
The Mandalorian tilted backwards and fell off the side of the sandcrawler. He landed back first in the sand dune, and he was not moving.
"No, no, no." Lucina ran faster until she slid down onto her knees beside the Mandalorian.
There was an electrical current spreading through his body. Blue sparks erupted from his armor.
The child's ears dropped.
Lucina reached out and waved her left hand over the Mandalorian's body. Almost immediately the electrical current disbanded. With the current gone from his body, Lucina reached forward and she placed her hand against the side of his helmet.
"You do not get to stop here, Mandalorian. Get up you stubborn man."
It was quiet for a second until the Mandalorian let out a grunt. He started to sit up, but struggled to do so. Lucina helped him sit upright. He was panting heavily behind his helmet. His head turned into the direction of where the sandcrawler had gone. His attention then turned to the child. The child's ears moved up at the sight of him awake and alert. Soon the Mandalorian pivoted his attention onto Lucina.
"Now that you had the shock of your life, shall we think of a plan. And next time you should not drop important tools." Lucina stated and she pushed him in the chest causing him to fall back into the sand.
Lucina stood up and she dropped his Amban sniper rifle beside him. She walked away from him and the child. Her mind was set to continue to walk and to head in the direction of the Mandalorian's starship.
The walk back, Lucina stayed in front. Her mind was racing with all the possibilities of the Mandalorian thinking about how the electrical current vanish from their body so quickly. She knew she was probably being paranoid, but she knew this Mandalorian was smart. Lucina noted he said nothing to her about the electrical current, and he did not attack her. Thus, she was taking this as a good thing. Or maybe he was thinking, but was in complete shock to not do anything.
Lucina shook her head and she told herself to stop being paranoid.
The arrival back to the stripped starship was quiet. Lucina sat herself down on the ramp with the child's cradle beside her. The Mandalorian walked into the stripped starship to assess the damage. Every so often she could hear his frustration. The child slipped out of the cradle and stared behind her.
Lucina glanced behind her to see the Mandalorian.
"Kuiil?" Lucina suggested.
"Yes." The Mandalorian nodded and he picked the child up.
"Sounds like a plan." Lucina was about to stand up, but she stopped when there was a gloved hand in front of her.
Her eyes traveled up the hand and toward the owner of the said hand. The Mandalorian stared down at her, or she believed he stared at her. Without any comments, Lucina placed her hand in his and allowed him to help her up from the ramp.
"Thanks."
A small hum escaped him and he turned away.
"Let us move. Daylight is vanishing."
…..
…..
"I really wished a Blurrg would appear."
"I would rather walk." The Mandalorian mumbled.
A small snicker escaped from her, but she quieted up when the Mandalorian's head snapped toward her. She has a feeling he was glaring at her beneath his helmet visor.
The sun was almost set. The sky was a little lit for them to see in front of them. The sight of lights ahead made the Mandalorian and Lucina to know they were close to Kuiil's vapor farm. There were sparks flying from one of the towers on the land. Kuiil was doing some sort of wielding with the tower.
The Mandalorian stopped first and then Lucina. The child's floating egg shape cradle stopped beside the Mandalorian. All three stared up at Kuiil.
"I thought you two were dead." Kuiil turned away from his work to stare down at them.
Lucina shook her head while the Mandalorian stayed quiet.
Kuiil climbed down from the tower to confront them.
…..
The Mandalorian requested for a tool to fix and reboot his armor, since the electrocution from the Jawas effected his armor. Lucina sat on top of a boulder the Mandalorian rested his foot. He was cursing beneath his helmet while he was fixing his armor. Her eyes were on the child, who was out of the cradle and was trying to catch a frog.
"This is what was causing all the fuss?" Kuiil gestured toward the child.
"I think it's a child." The Mandalorian paused in his work to glance at the child before he focus back on his gauntlets.
"It is better to deliver it alive then." Kuiil stated while he walked toward his work bench.
"My ship has been destroyed. I'm trapped here."
"Stripped. Not destroyed. The Jawas steal. They don't destroy." Kuiil corrected.
Kuiil grabbed something off the work bench and he walked back over to the Mandalorian to hand the Mandalorian another tool.
Lucina let out a small amused laugh when the child almost had the frog, but missed. The child let out a loud whine and then moved as quick as possible after the frog again. Her laughter drew the Mandalorian's attention to stare at the child too.
"Stolen or destroyed, makes no difference to me. They're protected by their crawling fortress. There's no way to recover the parts." The Mandalorian said and he turned his attention off the child to his armor.
The child hopped on top of the frog.
"Oh, you got it, little one." Lucina chuckled toward the child.
The child appeared to smile and held up the frog to show it off.
"You can trade." Kuiil suggested.
"With Jawas? Are you out of your mind?" The Mandalorian asked loudly in disbelief.
Lucina stood up from the boulder and she glanced between Kuiil and the Mandalorian.
"I will take you to them. I have spoken." Kuiil ended the conversation.
Hearing a loud squeal from the child, Kuiil, the Mandalorian and Lucina looked back over to the child.
The child had the frog halfway in its mouth.
"Oh no! Do not eat that." Lucina cringed while she took a step toward the child.
"Hey! Spit that out." The Mandalorian said, but the child already consumed the rest of the frog.
The child smiled at them, but then the child let out a loud burp and then a small giggle.
Lucina glanced back at the Mandalorian and Kuiil.
"You know, it is weird to say but that was actually disgustedly cute." Lucina nodded her head downwards to the child who came forward to clench her right pant leg.
A sigh escaped from the Mandalorian with a shake of the head. Kuiil let out an amused short snort before he walked away to get ready to bring them to the Jawas.
…..
…..
…..
…..
…..
Hi Everyone,
Here was a new chapter before the New Year!
*** Also, I wanted to point something out real quick. I usually put this topic about myself in the beginning of my new stories, but I forgot to do so for this story.
I had dealt with this in the past, but English is my only language.
I should apologize for my grammar. There are times where I either struggle a little or a lot when it comes to my grammar. I mess up when it comes to tenses or too many commas and other things. I grew up and dealt with this issue, and there is some reason behind it, but it did not hold me back from accomplishments, such as graduating from college and entering my lifetime goals. So, I do apologize if my grammar is all over the place. It is not the first time, and I know it will not be the last time. But English is my only language. (Unless you count the one semester of Latin I did take, which I am glad I do not have to deal with it ever again…and never have to deal with Stat classes again)…Furthermore, I understand my grammar can be 'eh,' but English is the only language I know.
I hope you continue to read and enjoy the story.
Without further ado please enjoy.
Thank you!
And Happy New Years!