Chapter 11: Uncertain Future

As the shockwave from the explosion faded away and the debris slowly spread and fell to the planet's surface, Rex looked up from the controls.

"What now?" he asked.

Mando just shook his head - slowly. Every inch of his body hurt and the inside didn't fare much better.

"I don't know. He's gone and I have no idea where they may be taking him."

"You took a good beating down there. If you have any medpacks you should go and find some bacta and patch yourself up."

"Yes… I believe the beskar'gam held. Both the ribs and the spline managed. I think. What were those creatures?"

Rex shrugged: "We've heard rumours of something the Empire called darktroopers. They were not used during the war but obviously they have been launched at some time. I bet one of my blasters that we've met some, -first hand."

Mando rose stiffly from his seat: "You have the controls, I'll go and do some patching."

…

He'd been thoroughly beaten up before, and a closer examination didn't reveal any life threatening injuries. He would certainly have a rather multicoloured skin tone for the next days with the multiple bruises that covered his body, but he was quite certain he would heal in due time.

Inside it was…different. He was pretty sure his internal organs were undamaged, but when it came to the rest of it he was a mess.

The feeling of loss was overwhelming and when he saw the little hammock rigged above his own bunk he felt his eyes water a bit. For a few month's he'd almost been happy. Almost. He hadn't known, or at least wouldn't admit, how much he'd longed for a family and somehow the kid had become just that: family.

"A clan of two," the Armourer had said. She might as well have said: "A family of two."

That was what he felt deep inside.

The weirdest family in the galaxy.

He'd never seen that coming. The first time he'd seen the little creature he'd felt something inside. A need to protect, and contrary to his better judgment he'd acted upon it. It had cost him the life he knew, many of his friends and his tribe.

He didn't regret it.

The day the separatist troops came to his town and his parents hid him in the basement he knew that his life would be changed forever, and when the strange armoured man picked him up he knew that this was his best chance of a life. The war-ridden town that had been his home through his childhood was gone, torn to pieces after the separatist's attack. So was his childhood.

His parents were gone too.

He didn't know how he knew, but he did. Where there had been love and care, there was now emptiness.

So he followed the stranger willingly enough.

He adapted well to the tribe's customs. If this was the way he would survive, then so be it. To his own surprise he had some talent for combat and he soon excelled among the his age mates in both hand combat and the use of various weapons. He would forever be grateful to his surrogate father who took him in and gave him a new life, but something was missing. The tribe became his new family and yet…not. The aching hole inside was always there and in the dark hours of the night the first year he'd often laid awake and wept silent tears. The tears stopped as he matured, but the empty feeling was always there. Something was missing. He became one of the tribe's best warriors and when he realised he could earn good money as a bounty hunter he chose that profession. If that meant he could bring credits back to the tribe and support their survival, then he would gladly do so. Knowing that he gave something back somehow kept the hole at bay. It didn't heal, but at least it didn't grow either.

And then he met the kid, and for a few precious months it had been like the hole had disappeared and been replaced by a warmth he didn't know himself being able to possess.

He'd not been alone. If he'd been able to return the kid to his kind he would gladly have done so. It would still have hurt, but at least he would have known that the little one was safe and happy. Now that was but an illusion. Nothing, absolutely nothing, good could come from the mechanical monstrosities they'd just encountered, nor from Moff Gideon. Taun We's story had confirmed his bad feelings about the intentions of the man.

But there was no way in the entire galaxy he could fix this. No way at all. The kid was gone, and there was no trace left of him.

A deep sigh escaped him, straining sore ribs and muscles as he stood up and staggered back to the co-pilot's seat.

Rex looked up when he entered.

"You OK?"

"Yeah. Mostly. I'll survive. "

"Good. I did some thinking while you were away. I have acquaintances in the former rebellion. I think we should go there and see if they can help us get your kid back."

"Us?"

"Us," the older man confirmed, "you cannot fix this alone, son. It's too much for one man, and after what we heard on Kamino, even I wouldn't let the little guy stay with those beasts longer than necessary. I have friends at Seelos. We can contact my…other friends from there while we stay out of sight. What we really need is a Jedi but they are kind of hard to find these days…"

"You really believe in the Jedi?" Mando asked.

"I do. I fought with them through the Clone Wars and I saw the best and worst of them, I think. They were always there when you needed them, but in the end one of them also performed the worst betrayal this Galaxy has ever seen. Before his turning to the dark side he was the most loyal friend and General you could ever imagine, and then in a blink of an eye that changed."

"What happened?"

Rex gave him an incredulous glance: "You don't know? Didn't you hear anything out in the outer rim?"

"Not…that. We had other things on our minds. Mandalore."

"Right. Guess it makes sense. Well, Vader turned to the dark side of the Force and joined the Emperor. And in that moment he betrayed us all."

"Dark side of the Force?"

"Yeah. I'm not the slightest bit Force sensitive but as I understood their explanation the thing they call 'the Force' is dualistic, with one light side and one dark side. The light side is unselfish and giving, while the dark side is more selfish and focus on personal gain and possession. Until the Empire day the Jedi were always working in favour of the light. They weren't necessarily infallible, but their intentions were good."

"And after?"

"They died. Vader took out some, we clones took most. We were programmed from our creation to obey a command to kill the Jedi. And the command was given."

The old clone Captain sighed: "I …escaped. One of my brothers discovered that we had implants that would override our free will. I believed in him and I had mine removed, before…it happened."

Mando nodded. The little he'd heard about Jedi before had not been in their favour. Now it seemed as they were as much victims as the Mandalorians. His heart ached a little more for the little Jedi-to-be that had been snatched from his hands before it could learn to know it's own kind. On the other hand - finding said kind would certainly not be an easy task if they had all fallen as victims for genocide decades ago.

A tiny hope fluttered inside him. Maybe, if he actually could find and save the kid, he would be allowed a few years more raising the little one before he had to let go.

As if! Finding a tiny creature in the entire Galaxy was a near impossible task.

…

They never made it to Seelos. As they dropped out of hyperspace for their next change of co-ordinates Rex' commlink was beeping loud and clear. The small, blue figure who appeared was unmistakably Sabine.

"Where have you guys been? I thought at least you would come back Rex, and what in stars hells are you doing in Razor Crest?"

"We had some complications… Are you OK?"

"Why wouldn't I? Yes, I'm fine. Everything has been calm around here, well…except…Dume has been crazy. It has been 'wolf night' ever since you left. I think you should come back. Something is going on but I cannot figure out what."

A distant howl emphasised what she was saying.

"I think," she continued,"it has something to do with the kid so if you're all on board Mando's ship, I think you should come back here. Dume became more active the evening Mando and the kid came here so I believe it has something to do with either of them. He's never done this before as long as I've been living in this place. It's very out of character for him."

"Well, there's a problem with that…"

"What?"

"Kid's gone. We were on Kamino when a bunch of dark troopers dropped from a cruiser and attacked the cloning facility. They took the kid. We were thinking of going to see my brothers for a while until we'd figured out what to do to get him back."

"And Mando?"

"Thoroughly beaten up, but alive. Mostly bruises. I've volunteered helping him getting the kid back. Or at least trying to find him. That's too much for a single man."

"Count me in," Sabine said. "Another reason for you to come back here. Should I contact Hera and inform her that the dark troopers are more than a rumour? She can hand the information over to General Organa and Skywalker. Maybe Skywalker can help finding the kid, too."

"Yes, do that. We'll change co-ordinates and return to Lothal."

The transmission ended and the two men looked at each other.

"Guess it's Lothal again, then," Rex stated.