6.
Then it was her turn to walk away. Mando's visor followed her as she slipped into the refresher. He was not used to being dismissed so abruptly, especially in his own ship. The towel he had spoke of was neatly folded just like his blanket and resting on a small shelf next to a bar of soap. She kicked her boots off and placed them along with the rest of her clothes in the sonic washer next to the vac tube. She hoped the small machine would be strong enough to get the polluted stench of Levine out of her clothes.
She was somehow not surprised when no hot water came out of the shower. "Should've taken my chances with the Marshals. At least prison ships have hot showers, " she thought gritting her teeth as she stepped under the frigid water. On the positive, the Crest's recycled water smelled clean unlike the vapor showers on Levine that smelled like ship fuel. Seeing no option she used Mando's bar of soap to wash her body and try to get her hair into a more manageable mess. The soap was the nicest thing about the frigid shower. It was an herbally, masculine scent that surprised her. She left her clothes in the sonic for another cycle, along with Mando's towel per his instructions and decided to try and get some rest.
The echo of the Razor Crest's engine cycling down woke her sometime later. Her ears popped as the ship dropped from space into a heavier atmosphere. She found her now clean clothes neatly folded next to her boots when she scooted out of the small sleep pod. Eira ran her fingers through her sleep-messed hair and wondered again how he was so quiet in all that metal armor. She slept litely and could not stand the tight confines of the pod with the hatch shut and she still had not heard him moving about and folding her clothes.
She found the door to the cockpit sealed and just caught herself before pressing the controls to open the hatch. She remembered his instructions to announce herself and knocked instead. "Mando?" She called through the door.
She heard shuffling from the other side of the door and a firm, "Wait!" The voice was different deep, husky and definitely not modulated. She waited, suddenly intrigued by the voice under the helmet and what the man it belonged to might look like. "Come in." His voice returned a moment later back to its normal, flat tone. Mando was sitting in the cockpit readying the ship for landing. The cockpit smelled of kaffee and an empty mug sat on the floor by his feet. "How close to town do you want me to land?" He asked business as usual.
"Can you find somewhere on the outskirts? I don't need to draw any unnecessary attention." She asked him. He nodded wordlessy and touched some controls on the panel in front of him. A digitized map of the local area appeared and they scrutinzed it for a moment.
"Looks like a good place here," he pointed to an area on the map. "There's a canyon, towns about ten kilometers away."
She nodded, "Sounds good. I'll get my things and your Beskar. Thanks for the lift."
"You don't want me to wait?" He asked as he finished programming the landing sequence.
She paused at the hatch and turned back to face him. He picked up his empty mug and stood. "So this won't be goodbye?"
He sighed, "If I left you here it could take a while to get a ride off this rock."
She smiled, "Wait for me until dusk. If I'm not back by then, I'm not coming back."
The ship landed a few minutes later on the hot sun-baked floor of the canyon. Mando watched as she double checked her blasters, the knife in her boot and her stash of credits as the ramp lowered. "Here," she said handing him a heavy case, "In case I don't come back..your payment."
A metallic screech echoed off the canyon walls sending a nesting flock of Aiwa vultures squawking angrily into the sky. Mando let out a disgusted growl. "Feri'fek Jawa." He muttered as a giant Jawa Sandcrawler trundled into the canyon, like they had been waiting for someone to land there. Eira gave a surprised laugh at his sudden outburst. It was the most emotion, the only emotion she had seen from him. The Sandcrawler lurched to a stop and a dozen Jawas began immediately offloading their wares setting up a makeshift trading post a few feet from the Razor Crest.
"Ah come on, Mando." Eira said nudging him playfully with her shoulder. "They aren't that bad."
He sighed, "No. They're worse…"
She shook her head and ambled down the ramp towards the Jawas. "I like Jawas." She called over her shoulder.
"No one likes Jawas." He sourlyn retorted following her down the ramp. Eira hailed the Jawas in their native language and perused the various items they laid out. A speeder bike caught her attention and she kneeled in front of it checking for faults. "That things gonna blow up the minute you try the throttle." He warned her. A group of Jawa swormed the Mandalorian cursing at him in Jawaese.
Eira laughed again, "I wouldn't piss them off. They can be fiesty in large numbers." She found no outward defalult in the bike and leaned down to haggle with the closest Jawa. "How much?" She asked. The litte creature considered for a moment and gave her a reply. She stood and dusted the dirt off her knees exclaiming, "M'gahsa! That's ridiculous. That ship isn't even mine."
"Get away from my ship!" Mando yelled behind her as a group of Jawa slunk closer to the Crest. He let out a warning burst from his flamethrower and they scattered.
The Jawa squaked lowder, its little hands moving animatedly towards Mando. "The Mandalorian isn't mine to trade either...look I got this-" She pulled a blaster from her satchel. "This is Imperial design, good stuff. The sight is perfect, full plasma cartrige. It's worth five of those speeders." The Jawa agreed on the trade and they sealed it with a hand shake. Within moments the Jawas packed everything back up and left the canyon. "See, thats why I like Jawas. Got rid of that shitty Imp blaster and now I don't have to walk to town."
"I thought you said the blaster was good." Mando stated.
Eira shrugged, "Depends on your definition of good...it's got a least one good shot left in it. Not that it could hit the broad side of a Star Cruiser if you try and use the sight. Have you seen Imps? It's like they're trying to miss everything." She straddled the speeder bike and gingerly squeezed the throttle as if she were afraid it might blow up like Mando warned. The bike started with only a small cough of black smoke. "I'll be back before dusk. Hopefully…" She revved the bike once then took off following the trail the Jawas had taken out of the canyon.
The town was little more than a settlment, a hodgpodge grouping of burned out buildings, crashed TIE fighters turned dwellings and flimsy stands sellings handmade goods. Eira stopped by a few stands picking up items she sorely needed, mainly clothes and a few toiletries. Not that she minded Mando's soap but between that and the scent of him permeating the blanket she slept with it was a bit distracting. The shopkeepers were also good sources of information and she innocently asked a few if they knew of a man known as Jotho. Their downturned eyes and frightened pale faces told her all she needed to know. The intel was good. No one would tell her exactly where to find Jotho but after more than one wide eyed glance towards the far side of town where a giant AT-AT lay on its side she knew exactly where to go .
A few dozen men, some still partially dressed in their Stormtrooper armor lounged outside the blown out belly of the AT-AT. "State your business, sweetheart!" One trooper hailed her as Eira pulled up on her speeder bike.
"I'm looking for Jotho. I've come to trade!" She called out as she walked closer. She pulled another blaster out of her satchel and waived it in front of the Stormtrooper. He reached for it and she yanked it back teasing, "No,no, no.. I only deal with Jotho." The Trooper gestured his head for her to follow and they walked through the make-shift camp and into the dark recesses of the AT-AT. He dropped her off at a sealed hatch and disapperared wordlessly back the way they had come. The hatch slid open and Eira stepped inside. The large room had once been the command center for the all-terrain transport vehicle now it had been turned into an extravagant office. Stacks of fresh, sweet smelling fruit and tapestries richer than anything she had seen at the bazaar were strewn here and there. Apparently trading in stolen weapons was treating Jotho and his Remnants well.
"My Troopers report you have a Mandalorian Disintegrator to trade-" Jotho stepped out of the shadows. His Imperial officer uniform was frayed and torn, not near as lavish as the rest of the items in the room. "That is quite a rare item indeed." He eyed Eira in a way that made her stomach turn.
"I hear you specialize in Mandalorian tech." Eira said, her voice low and sweet as he stepped closer. She tried to keep her face passive, eyes unreadable as they roamed over the child-sized helmets that were lined up in a neat row on the glass canopy. The sunlight filtering through the large window perfectly illuminated the cracked T-Shaped visors, blaster holes and dried blood. Something very bad had happened here and this man was responsible for it.
"I do indeed." He took the blaster out of her hand and inspected it humming approvingly under his breath. "And what are you looking to trade for?"
"Information."
Jotho set the blaster on the table behind him and ran his fingers through her silver hair, "You're from Crann-Bethadh. Such a rare item…I'm sure we can come to an agreement that suits us both."
She smiled, her cold grey eyes betraying the sincerity of the action. "My mother was a child of Bethadh. I was raised elsewhere." She said quietly. "My ride's waiting. I have to be out of here before dusk if you don't mind-" His eyes bulged in surprise, lips sputtered spastically as she plunged the electro-dart into his neck "-I'll just cut to the chase."
Mando paced restlessly. He should have followed her even if backup wasn't part of their deal. She hadn't even asked for his help. She simply left, hoping for the best but prepared for the alternative.
Rhabat's piercing white sun sank lower on the horizon as he climbed the canyon wall, looking for higher ground and a better view of the direction Eira had gone. He found the town with his electrobinoculars. It was nothing more than a small, scavenger town set up around a former battlefield. He couldn't see anything that would be worth trading an entire ship and fifty Beskar ingots for. He tucked the binoculars back into his belt and turned to hike back down the canyon when an explosion rocked the ground he stood on. He spun back towards the settlement, his binoculars pressed against his visor. The settlement still stood, he saw dazed people stumbling towards the center of town pointing to the distance. Beyond the town the fallen AT-AT was now nothing more than a smoking crater. A small, fast object blurred out of the black smoke. Red blaster fire followed the speeder bike as it raced through the settlement. "Shit." Mando sighed.
Eira skipped the speeder bike to halt at the base of the Crest's ramp just as Mando landed at the bottom of the rock wall. "Hey, thanks for waiting," She called to him as they ran up the ramp together. "We should probably go...I'm not positive I got all their speeders."
"Are you injured?" Mando asked, taking in her blood stained tunic. Her biometric readings seemed fine, except for elevated blood pressure and heart rate.
She glanced at her clothes, seemingly noticing the blood for the first time. "It's not mine." She replied simply. Blaster fire ricocheted off the Crest's hull stopping any further inquiry.
"Shit," Mando muttered again as he bolted up the ladder to the cockpit. "Strap in. She's a bit rough when I don't warm her up."
"Aren't all women?" Eira retorted. Mando's boot caught the edge of the chair and he tripped barely catching himself on the control panel. She couldn't hide the amused smile that played on her lips when he looked over his shoulder to check if she had seen him. An annoyed hiss escaped his helmet as more blaster fire bounced off the cockpits glass canopy. A half dozen soot covered Stormtroopers jumped out of a rickety landspeeder and fired shots at the Razor Crest. Mando sat heavily in his seat, rapidly pushing controls. The engines fired up and the ship took off in a hot blast making the Stormtroopers scatter. The ship punched through the atmosphere with a shudder and then they were free of Rhabat.
Eira rubbed her blood stained hands on her pants. The sudden silence of space was jarring after everything she had just been through. Through the ringing in her ears she thought she could hear laughter. A deep, rumbling laugh that burned through her. The feeling of a hundred eyes roaming over her exposed skin. The heart-wrenching sight of child-sized helmets, broken and bloodied had dredged up the worst of her memories. She had taken the rage burning through her out on Jotho. He'd eventually given her a name, Seraphine, but that's where his knowledge ended. It had taken a bit more persuasion to tell her about the Imperial Remnant base on Dodoma where she could find intact intelligence cubes. Cubes that could lead her to the Mof that had taken everything from her.
"Eira...Eira!" Mando repeated firmly. He a hand on her knee and she jerked away from him staring around the cockpit dazed, still stuck halfway in her memory. He leaned forward, not removing his hand from her knee. "You're safe, you're on the Crest." He said quietly, his modulated voice tinged with concern.
She nodded, licking her dry lips. She could not be sure how long she zoned out for but it must have been long enough to make the Mandalorian worried. "I know. I know where I am…" She said looking at the gloved hand that was still touching her. He withdrew his hand, placing it tensely on the armrest of his own chair. The touch had been...different. It definitely didn't make her stomach revolt the way Jotho's had.
"You looked far away." He said recognizing the look. He'd had it himself when a Bounty went wrong; when someone innocent or undeserving got caught in the middle."Where did you go?"
"Nowhere…" she pushed a wavy strand of hair out of her face and grimaced at the blood under her fingernails.
"What are you looking for?"
She shook her head, staring at his visor and seeing nothing but her own reflection. "I don't know how to anwer that...I need to go to Dodoma." She told him.
He sat back with a deep sigh, "That's on the opposite side of the Parsec-"
Eira chewed her bottom lip, "It's ok. If you could just drop me at the nearest star base. I'll pay you...I've got enough credits and I'm really good at cheating at Sabacc. I should be able to pick up my own ship pretty cheap this far out-"
"I need to refuel," He cut her off, "and it'll take a few days to get there even in hyperspace."
She gave him a grateful smile, "Thank you, Mando. I'm...I need a shower." He nodded and turned back to the console inputting directions to a refueling port he was familiar with.
She didn't stop directly at the refresher; instead, she headed below deck. Her parcel was undisturbed where she left it. She replaced the Disintegrator and removed a helmet from her satchel. The helmet, painted red and marked with a clan sigil she was unfamiliar with was marred with a ragged blood-caked blaster hole. The warrior that had worn this helmet had died brutally; very few weapons could tear a hole like that into Beskar.
She lay the helmet gently next to the small pile of Beskar ingots, med supplies and a wood box. She had nowhere near fifty more ingots and hoped Mando wouldn't ask for another payment. At least not until this was over, or until she figured out a way to explain to him what she was. It was a tricky proposition when it came to Mandalorians; he would either abandon her on the closest rock or be honor bound to kill her. Knowing what little she did about him, she favored the odds Mando would be the sort to do the later. Before she locked the parcel she opened the wood box and ran her fingers over the small object inside.The only reason it had not been taken from her, unlike everything else, was the Hutt she had been enslaved to saw it utterly void of value. Eira locked the safe with a penisve sigh, wondering again how she had got this far from the tenets she had been raised with.
Mando was still tucked away in the cockpit when she returned to the main bay. Eira dumped her satchel on her thin mattress with every intent to now take that much-needed shower. "Maker be damned if I have to take another cold shower on this antique, " she grumbled under breath , remembering the box of spare parts and tools she'd found while definitely not touching anything.