Dredd looked out, seeing Moff Gideon, his hands on his hips, just… waiting. He checked his Lawgiver, noticing the display read he was low on ammo, and no clips left. Drokk. He should have reloaded before going through Project Proteus. No use now.
The Judge looked over to the Mandalorian, seeing he was still trying to contact Kuill. Joe formed his mouth in a grim line, realizing that the stormtroopers most likely had the Child by now-
"Uncle Joe."
Joseph craned his neck to look at Ryan, seeing a determined look in his eyes.
"Let me go." Butcher offered. "Let me get him back."
Joe looked at him, dumbfounded for a moment, and glanced out the window.
"Ryan, their weapons-"
"I'll be fine." Ryan smiled. "Trust me."
Dredd looked down at the ground, realizing they were running out of time and options, and finally nodded. Ryan grinned, hovering a couple feet above the ground, and flying out of the window at an incredibly fast speed, as the Imps instantly began firing. Luckily for the supe, he was flying so fast, the blaster bolts didn't reach him, and Ryan flew back towards the Razor Crest, where hopefully, the Child would still be. Or at least, the troopers sent to kidnap him wouldn't be that far ahead.
Music: "The Checkpoint" from Mandalorian Season 1 OST
Ryan soared through the sky, arriving at the Razor Crest to see Kuill's body just a few feet away, laying on his stomach. The smoke that rose from his back was evidence enough that the Imps had caught up, murdered him in cold blood, and took the Child. Butcher felt his eyes heat up in anger, as he flew up higher, just barely being able to make out two scout troopers about a mile away. They were both sitting on speeders, and were pointing blaster pistols at the approaching IG-11, who had seemingly followed them on foot.
As Ryan began to fly towards them, he tapped into his superhearing, trying to listen to what they were saying.
"Hey, aren't IG's hunters?" one of the troopers asked.
"Well, clearly this one's a nurse." the other scout scoffed, as IG stepped closer. "I'm sorry nurse, but you'll have to get out of here."
To put more emphasis on the order, the scout fired a blaster bolt, hitting the ground right in front of IG-11.
"Are you refusing my request?" the IG unit asked.
"No, I'm telling you-"
Ryan suddenly landed on the ground, scattering bits of rock and dirt everywhere, before reaching up and grabbing one of the scout trooper's pistols. Using his superhuman strength, Butcher crushed the weapon with ease, before delivering a powerful kick to the trooper's chest that knocked him back several feet.
"What the-" the other trooper exclaimed, but IG-11 grabbed him by his helmet and smashed his head into the speeder, again and again, before finally letting go. Ryan listened to the troopers' heartbeats, finding they were both still alive, albeit unconscious. Good. The last time he almost killed someone…
Ryan shook his head, looking over to IG-11 picking up the Child from a brown satchel.
"I'm sorry you had to see that." the IG unit said mechanically, as it got onto one of the speeders. Before it sped off, the droid looked over to Ryan.
"Will you be coming with us?"
"No." Ryan told it. "Uncle Joe and Mando need our help."
"Very well." IG agreed. "I shall accompany you back to the city."
"Bring the kid back." Ryan ordered.
"Negative. That will leave the Child unguarded." IG-11 countered. "The best course of action would be to give the Mandalorian all the help he needs. Unfortunately, that also requires I take the Child with us."
Ryan glared at the droid, and looked back towards the sky. The droid had a point after all- and they didn't have time to argue.
"Fine." Ryan decided, hovering in the air. "Can you keep up?"
"I cannot." the IG-11 said truthfully. "You will have to slow down."
Butcher groaned, but nevertheless began to fly at a steady pace, so that the speeder could stay with him.
Back in the cantina, Dredd took a look outside, seeing Moff Gideon hadn't moved a muscle in all that time. Joe gritted his teeth, hoping that Ryan was doing a lot better than them.
"Is there another way out?" Cara asked.
"No, that's it." Greef pointed to the front door. Mando shook his head, looking around the room.
"What about the sewers?"
"Sewers?" Greef repeated in surprise.
"The Mandalorians have a covert in the sewers." Mando explained. "If we can get down there, we can help them escape."
"Yeah, sewers are good." Cara nodded in agreement.
"I'll check for access points." Mando declared, activating his wrist navigation, while Dredd and Cara stared out the window.
"What the Hell are they waiting for?"
As Joseph continued watching, two stormtroopers set down a large white case, taking out some kind of tripod, battery, and long barrel and coil.
"Hold up." Cara narrowed her eyes, realizing they were building something.
"They're setting up an E-WEBB."
Music: "The E-WEBB" from Mandalorian Season 1 OST
"A what?" Dredd asked, just as they began to put the pieces together to form a kind of turret.
"It's over." Greef muttered, seemingly ignoring Joe's question. Meanwhile, Mando's heads up display highlighted a sewer grate in the corner, behind the wall he was looking at.
"I found the sewer vent." the Mandalorian announced, running over to the back of the room.
"Then let's get the drokk out of here." Dredd exclaimed, as he, Cara, and Greef followed their armored friend to the back, ripping away one of the table booths to reveal a metal grate. Mando reached down, attempting to pull it out with brute force, but to no avail.
"Stand back." Cara told him, lifting up her blaster rifle and firing at the grate. Unfortunately, the blaster bolts only heated up the metal, but didn't melt the bars.
"They have it assembled." Greef called out, eyeing the E-WEBB being fully functional.
"Armor piercer." Dredd tried, hearing the electronic hum, and fired four shots. Even that only dented the framework, as well as depleted the last of his armor piercing rounds.
"Drokk."
Mando was about to try one of his own weapons, when they all heard Gideon speak.
"Your astute panic suggests that you understand your situation. I would prefer to avoid any further violence, and encourage a moment of consideration. Members of my escort have completed assembly of a heavy E-WEBB repeating blaster. If you are unfamiliar with this weapon, as I believe your new friend Dredd is, I am sure that Republican shock trooper Carasynthia Dune of Alderaan will advise you she has witnessed many of her ranks vaporized mid descent, while facing the predecessor of this particular model.
"Or perhaps, the decommissioned Mandalorian hunter, Din Djarin, has heard the songs of the Siege of Mandalore, when gunships outfitted with similar ordinance laid waste to fields of Mandalorian recruits in the Night of a Thousand Tears. Now, I advise the disgraced magistrate Greef Karga to search the wisdom of your years, and lay down your arms, and come outside. The structure you are trapped in will be raised in short order, and your storied lives will come to an unceremonious end."
Mando, Cara, and Dredd all looked at each other, wondering how this Moff Gideon knew so much about them all. Meanwhile, Greef looked outside, tempted to accept whatever deal he was offering.
"What do you propose?"
"Reasonable negotiation." Gideon called back.
"What assurance do you offer?" Greef pressed.
"If you are asking if you can trust me, you cannot." Gideon said smugly. "Just as you betrayed our business arrangement, I would gladly break any promise and watch you die at my hand. The only assurance I give is this: I will act in my own self interest, which at this time, involves your cooperation and benefit. I shall give you until nightfall. After that, I will have the E-WEBB open fire."
Dredd watched out the window, as Moff Gideon began walking away, flanked by a few death troopers.
"I say we hear him out." Greef suggested.
"Hell no." Cara scoffed. "We open that door, we're dead."
"We're dead if we stay here." Greef argued. "At least out there we have a chance."
"You have a chance." Cara corrected. "I'm a rebel shock trooper, they'll hook me up to a mind flayer."
"Those aren't real." Karga rolled his eyes. "That's just wartime propaganda."
"Yeah, well I don't want to find out." Dune shot back. "I'm shooting my way out."
"What about you, Mando?" Greef asked, looking over to the Mandalorian.
"I know who he is." Mando murmured. "It's Moff Gideon."
"First you, now the kid?" Cara asked in disbelief. "Moff Gideon was executed for war crimes."
"Ryan has superhearing." Dredd scowled. "He must've heard the creep say his name."
"It's him." Mando agreed. "He knew my name."
"Mine too." Dredd added.
"So?" Greef asked in confusion. "What does that prove?"
"I haven't heard that name spoken since I was a child."
"On Mandalore?"
"I wasn't born on Mandalore." Din revealed.
"But you're a Mandalorian."
"Mandalorian isn't a race." Cara pointed out.
"Yes." Din nodded. "It's a creed."
Music: "A Thousand Tears" from Mandalorian Season 1 OST
19 BBY
Din Djarin hugged his father as tight as he could, wrapping his small arms around his neck, as he parents ran through their village. Everywhere he looked, there was death and destruction. Din looked up, seeing a dark blue disc shaped Separatist gunship fly past them, raining down balls of fire upon their fellow villagers. On the ground, the dark gray humanoids, the super battle droids, fired bolts of scarlet plasma from their wrists, gunning down their neighbors left and right. Din shut his eyes, blocking out their faces. But he couldn't silence their screams.
His parents arrived at their home, throwing open the doors of their cellar, and pushing him inside.
"Stay here. You'll be safe." his father had told him, kissing his head. "Don't come out until you hear it stop."
Din nodded, wanting nothing more than to get away from the carnage, but did as he was told. Once he sat amongst their stocked supplies, his parents had shut the cellar doors, only for Din to hear their screams shortly after. For what seemed like hours, the young Djarin sat there, until he heard the very ground shake, and a super battle droid ripped off the cellar doors. The monstrosity aimed its wrist at Din, making the boy shut his eyes and look away, when-
Din heard a blaster bolt get fired, but he didn't feel injured. The child looked up, seeing two more bolts crash into the super battle droid's body, but the bolts weren't the same color as its wrist blaster. No, these bolts of plasma were the color of a son, and as the metallic body fell, a new one appeared, wearing all blue armor. Upon its head was a helmet of the same color, with a visor shaped like the letter T.
"Come." the savior beckoned to Din, reaching down and pulling the boy out. Din looked around, seeing many more of these armored warriors fighting back against the Separatists droids. One such warrior, being helmetless to reveal a bald head with a jagged scar across his left cheek, wielded some type of energy sword that was black in color, which he used to slice the droids in half. The man paused for a moment, turning to look in Din's direction, and signalled upwards. The man holding onto Din nodded, and after making sure he was holding on tight, used the jetpack on his back to fly up, leaving the village below. As they got higher and higher, Din noticed the village becoming smaller and smaller, but even from where he was, he could see the droids had lost.
Now
"I was a foundling." Mando explained. "They raised me in the fighting corps. They treated me as their own. Their leader, Pre Visla, raised me as his son. When I became of age, I was sworn into the creed. The only record of my name was in the registers of Mandalore. Moff Gideon was an ISB officer during the Purge. That's how I know it's him."
Dredd looked down at the ground, realizing he barely knew what he was talking about. Perhaps Ryan did, but he wasn't here right now.
"That's how he knows who we all are." Cara grumbled, looking over to Dredd. "Including you, somehow."
"Yeah." Joe nodded. He still wasn't sure how that was possible. As far as he knew, neither he nor Ryan had even heard of Moff Gideon until today.
"He sounds like he needs us." Mando pointed out, as Greef grabbed a jug of blue alcohol. "Which means the Child got away safely. I was worried when the ugnaught didn't respond. But if they'd captured the kid, we'd already be dead."
"Then hail them again." Cara suggested, as she took cover behind the cantina's door. Din reached for his belt, pulling out the comlink, and held it to his helmet.
"Kuill, come in."
Nothing. Still silent.
"Kuill, do you copy?"
"Didn't you hear Ryan?" Dredd asked. "He's dead."
"Or they jammed the link." Cara said desperately. The comlink suddenly activated, and a baby's voice could be heard squealing. The Child's voice.
"Kuill has been terminated."
Din glared behind his helmet. That was the voice of IG-11. The droid.
"What did you do?!" the Mandalorian demanded.
"I am fulfilling my base function." IG replied.
"Which is?"
"To nurse and protect."
"Is Ryan with you?" Dredd asked hopefully.
"Yes. He is flying right next to me. How considerate of him to slow down so that I may keep up."
Music: "Nurse and Protect" from Mandalorian Season 1 OST
Ryan flew next to IG-11's speeder, dashing towards the entrance of the city, and firing lasers from his eyes in short bursts at the stormtroopers guarding the front. IG responded with firing the speeder's cannons taking down the troopers, as they both sped through the town, shooting down Imps left and right.
Inside the cantina, the small group noticed the stormtroopers suddenly look off to the side, before beginning to run out of view.
"What's going on?" Cara frowned. Deciding to let his stony expression crack, Dredd's face pulled into a smirk.
"They're here."
Back outside, IG-11 pulled out twin blasters, turning the Child around and out of the line of fire, as he and Ryan fired laser blasts at the horde of troopers in front of them. Along the way, Butcher felt several bolts bruise his body, but he ignored them for the time being, flying straight into one trooper and pushing him away, using his strength to send him flying. IG jumped off the speeder, skidding across the ground, as he whirled his arms around, shooting down anyone wearing plain white armor.
Dredd and Mando watched, as the speeder flipped on its side and exploded, forcing them to duck behind the door.
"Cover me!" Din shouted to Cara, prompting her to stand up and rapidly fire from the heavy blaster rifle. With the distraction provided, the Mandalorian stepped outside, shooting a stormtrooper in the face that tried to sideswipe him, before kicking the Imp in front of him away. Dredd and Greef followed soon after, firing their respective weapons at their attackers, while IG and Ryan continued their own fighting. During the battle, a death trooper approached Mando, who punched the black clad Imp, but another tried to attack. That's when Dredd intervened, firing his Lawgiver, only to see the bullets bounce off the armor.
"Drokk."
Joe's death trooper grabbed him by the throat, while Mando kicked his dead and shot him in the chest, and Dredd was lifted up in the air. As he began to choke, the Judge shakily pointed his gun at the trooper's head.
"Hi-Ex."
The gun electronically hummed, and Joe squeezed the trigger. A second later, the entire left half of the death trooper's head exploded, leaving behind a shattered helmet and a smoking crater where pieces of his head used to be. Joseph groaned, getting down on one knee, and checked his ammo. Empty on Hi-Ex rounds too now.
Dredd and Mando looked around, seeing that IG-11 was struggling to get back up, taking excess blaster bolts to his back. Ryan fared no better, as the bruises from earlier were beginning to take a toll, followed by even more hits from the surrounding troopers. Thinking quickly, Mando ran over to the E-WEB, ripping off the blaster barrel, and began firing at the swarm, mowing down any stormtrooper in his vision. Greef, Ryan, and Joe grinned. They were winning. They were actually winning-
Boom!
Mando suddenly looked back at the cantina, seeing Cara thrown forward by an explosion. The back door had been blown off, and two death troopers had already made their way in.
"Ryan-" Dredd was about to say, but was cut off.
"On it!" Butcher shouted, speeding towards the cantina and threw the back door, picking up a death trooper and throwing him across the room, while Cara shot down the other.
Moff Gideon made his way through the line of stormtroopers, pulling out a blaster pistol and shooting Mando in the back. The beskar held, but it still made him stumble. Din quickly turned around, aiming the E-WEB at Gideon, but the Imp officer had already shifted his aim to point at the turret's battery, firing off a shot that caused a fiery explosion, throwing Mando.
Joseph was the first to run over to Mando, checking to see if he was still alive. Thankfully, he was, but he wasn't moving.
"Damn." Joe grimaced, as he tried placing Din's arm around his shoulders. Cara ran out of the cantina, firing a blaster pistol, and grabbed Mando's other arm, leading them back inside, while IG-11 and Greef followed them.
"What happened?" Ryan asked, seeing Mando's limp body being carried inside. Before anyone could answer, Butcher heard Moff Gideon speak via his superhearing.
"Burn them out."
Ryan's eyes widened, looking towards the grate in the corner.
"Shit. We need to go. Now."
"Then can you move that grate?" Greef asked desperately. Ryan quickly nodded, walking over and grabbing the metal vent. Butcher grunted, using his strength, as he slowly ripped the grate off, creating a rectangular hole.
"Stay with me, buddy." Cara told Mando, as she and Dredd laid his body on the floor for a moment.
"Not… going to make it-"
"Shut up." Cara interrupted. "You just had your bell rung. You'll be alright-"
Cara stopped, feeling something sticky on her hand. She pulled back, revealing her palm was coated in blood. His blood.
"I'm going to need to take this thing off-"
Dune went to lift Mando's helmet, but he feebly grasped her hands, forcing them down.
"No. Leave me." Mando insisted. "Protect the Child. Here-"
Din ripped off a trinket, looking like a skull with two tusks pointed inward, and placed them in Cara's hand.
"When you get to the Mandalorian covert, show them that. Tell them it's from Din Djarin. Tell them the foundling is in my possession, and they'll help you."
"We can make it." Cara told him. "Come on, let's go."
"I'm not going to make it, and you know it-"
Music: "A Warrior's Death" from Mandalorian Season 1 OST
A stream of fire blazed through the cantina, forcing everyone to take cover. Ryan looked up, seeing a stormtrooper with red stripes and pauldrons outside, holding onto a flamethrower weapon, and his eyes began to burn scarlet.
"Protect the Child." Mando repeated. "Let me die a warrior's death."
"I'm not leaving you." Cara told him.
"Neither will I." Dredd added.
"This is the way." Din said weakly.
The flametrooper entered the cantina, causing everyone to brace for a fiery death. Ryan was prepared to fire his lasers, when he noticed the Child walking forward, raising his arms. The trooper fired a steady flame, but it was suddenly stopped by an invisible barrier. Everyone watched, awestruck, as the baby lifted his hand up, and the fire was sent back at the trooper, engulfing him and exploding the fuel tank on his back, propelling him back outside. Once he was done, the Child sat on the floor, losing consciousness.
"Okay, we need to go! Right now!" Greef shouted, diving into the vents. IG-11 followed, picking up the Child along the way
"Leave me." Mando insisted, looking between Cara and Dredd. "Go."
Joe looked up at Ryan, sighing heavily.
"Go." Dredd told his stepson. "I'll stay with him."
"You better be right behind us." Butcher told him, before hurrying through the vent. IG was about to step in, when it looked back, seeing Cara still there.
"Go." the droid told Dune, handing her the Child. "I will stay with the Mandalorian."
"You bring him." Cara ordered, before heading through the vent. IG-11 stood over Dredd and Mando, waiting patiently.
"What are you doing?" Mando asked feebly.
"I will need to remove your helmet in order to help you." IG explained.
"No. It is forbidden." Mando denied. "No living thing has seen me without my helmet on. Not since I swore the creed."
"I am not living."
"He is." Din nudged his head towards Joe. behind his visor, the Judge raised an eyebrow in annoyance.
"You're willing to die as long as you keep your helmet on?"
Mando nodded, resting his head back.
"This is the way."
Joseph sighed, reaching up, and taking off his helmet. Din tilted his head, seeing a head of short black hair and hardened eyes that accompanied the square jaw.
"I was like you. Never removed my helmet." Dredd revealed, remembering his time as Billy Butcher. "But it took finding my wife to realize that some rules can be broken to save a life."
Joe reached out, gripping the underside of Mando's helmet, and lifting it up to see a man with a thin beard and messy brown hair, beaten and bloodied.
"Thank you." IG-11 said to the Judge, kneeling down and producing a small metallic tube. "This is a bacta spray. It will heal you in a matter of hours."
The tube hissed, and clear spray matted itself against the back of Din's head.
"You have suffered damage to your central processing unit."
"You mean my brain?" Din asked.
"That was a joke." IG told him. "It was meant to put you at ease."
Mando scoffed, looking to the side, as Dredd inspected the wound. The bacta spray was doing a decent job, but he was still bleeding some. Joe grimaced, opening up a dark green pouch on his belt, and pulled out a small tube.
"What is that?" IG-11 asked.
"Basic field dress." Dredd murmured, opening the cap and pressing the small tube against Mando's head. In an instant, a pink gel-like substance hissed out, cauterizing the rest of Din's wound, and Joseph took out a tiny staple gun, putting two stitches to the cut and watching the wires automatically close themselves together.
"You ready?" Dredd asked, putting away the kit and placing his helmet back on.
"Yes." Mando weakly nodded, as he placed his own helmet over his head.
"You look ready."
Music: "What Remains In The Tunnels" from Mandalorian Season 1 OST
Ryan, Cara, and Greef walked through the sewers, carrying the Child, when they heard a loud crash behind them. Butcher quickly stepped in front of the other two, just as three figures walked out from behind a corner. The supe grinned, realizing the three individuals were Dredd, the Mandalorian with his helmet light turned on, and IG-11. Cara ran forward, grabbing one of Din's arms from the droid, and led him over to Greef.
"Don't worry, I got you." Dune smiled, while handing the Child over to IG-11.
The group continued making their way through the sewers, taking several turns, while Mando was being carried.
"Do you know where we're going?" Greef suddenly asked.
"No." Mando admitted. "I've never been through the tunnels before. Only the bazaar."
"Well, if we smell sulfur, we're close to the surface."
"No, we need the Mandalorians to help us." Din insisted, before planting his feet on the ground. "Stop. I can stand."
Dredd and Cara let go of Mando, while he searched the ground.
"I'll look for tracks." the Mandalorian announced, staring intently at the floor. "This way."
Din pointed down one of the tunnels, and the group followed him, taking a few more twists, until Mando suddenly stopped at a pile of Mandalorian helmets. Djarin knelt down, gripping a blue colored head piece, and staring into the visor.
"We should go." Cara murmured.
"You go. I can't leave it like this." Mando told her, before angrily addressing Greef. "Did you know about this? Was this the work of your bounty hunters?!"
"God, no!" Greef exclaimed in denial. "When you left with the prize, the hunters just melted away. You know how it is. They're mercenaries, not zealots-"
"Did you do this?!" Mando yelled, standing up and approaching Greef menacingly. "Did you?!"
"No-"
"It was not his fault."
Everyone whipped their heads around in the direction of the new voice, seeing a female wearing a horned Mandalorian helmet and fur collar approach them.
"We revealed ourselves. I knew what would happen if we left the covert. The Imperials arrived shortly after, and this is what resulted."
Everyone stood, stunned, as the female Mandalorian placed pieces of armor into a floating crate.
"Did any survive?" Mando asked, finding his voice.
"I hope so." the female shrugged. "Some may have escaped off world."
"Come with us." Mando offered.
"No." the armorer denied pushing the crate into the forge room. "I will not abandon this place until I have salvaged what remains."
The group followed her into the forge, where the female began placing pieces of the armor into a giant furnace.
"Show me the one that has deemed such destruction."
IG-11 stepped forward, having the Child's satchel strapped to his chest.
"This is the one." Mando told her.
"The one you hunted, then saved?" the armorer asked.
"Yes." Din nodded. "He also saved me. From the mudhorn."
"It looks helpless."
"Injured, but not helpless." Mando revealed. "It's species can move objects with its mind. One of my companions calls it the Force."
"I've seen such things." the armorer mused, dipping a forge tool and pulling out molten metal. "Songs of the past tell of wars fought between the clans of Mandalore and ancient sorcerers known as Jedi, who fought with such powers."
"It is an enemy?" Din asked.
"No." the armorer shook her head, as she made her way towards an open cabinet. "It's kind were enemies, but this individual is not. It is your foundling. One that you must reunite with its own kind. Until then, care for it like you are its father."
"Where?"
"This you must determine." The armorer poured the molten metal into a small tray.
"You expect me to search the galaxy and deliver this creature to a race of enemy sorcerers?" Din asked incredulously. The armorer paused, looking back at Mando.
"This is the way."
Cara and Ryan looked around the room, growing restless.
"Look, we need to go." Dune declared. "In a few minutes, these tunnels will be crawling with Imps."
"She's right." Ryan murmured, using his x-ray vision. "They're right on top of us now."
"I'm staying." Mando told everyone. "I need to help her."
"You go." the armorer insisted. "Reunite the foundling with its kind. This is the way. But first, you have earned your signet."
The armorer took a small torch, walking over to the Mandalorian and striking the right pauldron, into an image of a skull with a large horn was burned on. If Dredd had to guess, it was supposed to depict the mudhorn that Mando kept mentioning.
"You are a clan of two."
Din looked down at his shoulder, nodding with respect.
"Thank you. I shall wear this with honor."
The armorer nodded, just as they heard an explosion.
"They're here." Ryan announced, using his x-ray vision to see several stormtroopers turn a corner.
"IG, please guard the hallway." the armorer instructed. The droid obliged, handing the Child to Cara for the moment, before he and Greef left in opposite directions.
"There is one more gift I can give you." the armorer told Din. "Have you trained in the Rising Phoenix?"
"When I was a boy."
"Then this should make you complete." The armorer picked up a jetpack and handed it to Mando. "When you are healed, you will begin your drills. Until you understand it, it will not listen to you."
"I understand." Mando nodded. The sounds of blaster fire were suddenly heard, before silence soon after. A few moments later, IG-11 returned, carrying his blaster pistols.
"You are protected."
"You should go." the armorer declared. "Down the tunnels, and through the river."
"Then come with us." Din insisted, holding out his hand.
"My place is here. Restock your munitions." the armorer replied, before handing the droid the jetpack. "IG, until Din Djarin is healed, keep it safe."
The IG unit took the jetpack, before he, the Mandalorian, and the rest of their gang left the forge, with Din being the last to leave.
The group made their way down the tunnel, coming to a lava river with a ferry boat. Attached to the boat was a red colored R4 astromech, which was unfortunately non functional.
"Damn, the ferry droid's fried." Mando grumbled.
"We can push it along, then jump in." Greef suggested. "It'll carry us down stream."
"It looks old." Dredd pointed out. "Can it take the heat?"
"You got a better idea?" Greef snapped, getting down and pushing the boat. Mando, Dredd, and Ryan joined in, and with their combined strength, the ferry was dislodged from the platform, floating slightly on the lava.
"Get on." Dredd ordered, as he and Ryan hopped in. Cara, Mando, and Greef followed suit, with IG-11 mechanically stepping in. Just as the boat began floating downstream, the R4 unit's lights lit up, and four appendages extended out, startling everyone.
"Well… how about that." Ryan raised an eyebrow.
"I don't suppose any of you speak droid?" Greef asked sarcastically, hearing the R4 making electronic chirps.
"I believe he is asking us where we want to go." IG stated.
"Down river- to the lava flat." Greef quickly said. The R4 pulled out a rusty pole, dipped it into the lava, and began rowing the ferry down river, giving everyone time to rest.
After what felt like hours, Greef finally noticed a light at the end of the tunnel, as the ferry continued being pushed down river.
"Look, we're almost free!"
Mando looked ahead, zooming in with his helmet, and turning on his thermal vision.
"No. We're not."
"What?" Cara frowned.
"Stormtroopers." Ryan muttered, having squinted his eyes and using his x-ray vision to see what Mando was seeing. "They're flanking the mouth of the tunnel."
"Then he needs to stop." Cara widened her eyes, walking towards the ferry droid and touching its dome. "Hey, stop-"
The dome popped off in a shower of sparks, landing into the lava below them.
"We're still moving." Dredd noted, seeing the mouth of the tunnel get closer.
"Then we fight." Cara said grimly, pulling out her pistol.
"There's too many." Mando shook his head.
"Well, I can't surrender-"
"I can go out there." IG interrupted.
"Not a chance." Din told him. "You won't make it three feet, much less fire a shot."
"That is not my goal." IG-11 stated. "I still have my manufacturer's failsafe of self destruction to prevent me from being captured."
IG reached out, handing Mando the jetpack.
"I can no longer carry this for you. Nor can I watch over the Child."
"But… you can't self-destruct." Mando protested. "Your basic command is to protect the Child. That supersedes your manufacturer's protocol, right?"
"That is correct." IG agreed. "However, victory through combat is impossible. The Child will be lost. Sadly, there is no scenario where the Child is saved and I survive."
"No, we need you-"
"There's nothing to be sad about." IG interrupted. "I'm not alive."
"I'm not… I'm not sad." Mando bluffed.
"Yes you are." IG insisted. "I'm a nurse droid. I analyzed your voice."
IG-11 paused, reaching out to stroke the Child's ear, before stepping into the lava. Despite Greef's protests, the droid walked through the lava river and out the tunnel, where Ryan faintly heard his final words.
"Manufacturer's protocol dictates I cannot be captured. Initiating self destruct."
The IG unit exploded, instantly killing all the stormtroopers flanking the tunnel and rocking the very ground itself. The ferry safely made it outside, but a high pitched screech was suddenly heard. Everyone looked up, seeing a tie fighter swooping towards them, firing massive green bolts.
Music: "Mando Flies" from Mandalorian Season 1 OST
"Damn, it's Gideon!" Cara shouted, firing her blaster rifle at the aerial vehicle. Dredd pointed his Lawgiver at the cockpit, lining up a shot.
"Incendiary."
The gun hummed electronically, and Joe squeezed the trigger, firing off his final round. The incendiary bullet collided with the tie fighter, showering the wings with what should have been deadly flares, but other than that, the vehicle was unharmed.
"Drokk. I'm all out."
"At least you made him miss." Greef told the Judge.
"But he won't next time." Mando grimaced.
"And our blasters are useless." Cara muttered.
"How about we have the baby do the magic hand thing?" Greef asked hopefully, looking down at the Child and forming his hand into a three fingered claw. "Hey baby, do the magic hands!"
The Child simply raised his hand, almost in a waving motion.
"I'm out of ideas." Greef shook his head in disappointment.
"I'm not." Din declared, putting on his jetpack just as the tie fighter came back for another round. Gideon began firing, and Djarin blasted upwards, flying up just above the tie, and shot out a wrist cable at the cockpit, latching onto the top.
Dredd and Ryan watched the tie fighter fly away, with Din hanging on for dear life.
"Help him Ryan." Joseph told his son. The supe looked over at Joe, nodding, and flew up, giving chase.
Din reeled himself onto the cockpit, pulling out his pistol and trying to shoot his way inside. Noticing this, Gideon swerved the tie, causing Mando to grip the hull with all his might, as he pulled out two explosive charges, and stuck them to the wing connectors. With the explosives set, Mando let go, allowing himself to fall, as the tie flew away.
In the cockpit, Gideon stared at his diagnostics screen in horror, realizing what Din Djarin just did.
"NO-"
The right wing of the tie fighter exploded, causing Gideon's ship to spin out of control. Dredd, Cara, and Greef watched, as the tie spun towards the ground, before unceremoniously crashing. Meanwhile, Ryan had caught up to Din, catching him mid air, and gently setting them both on the ground a few feet away from the rest of their friends.
"That was impressive, Mando." Greef grinned, while Dredd went over and patted Ryan on the shoulder. "I'd say your Guild rates have gone up."
"Any more stormtroopers?" Mando asked.
"I think we cleaned them all up." Cara smiled, setting the Child down. "But I think I'll stick around just to make sure."
"And why wouldn't she?" Greef smirked. "Now that the scum and villainy are washed away, Nevarro is respectable again."
"As a bounty hunter planet?" Mando asked incredulously.
"Well, some of my best friends are bounty hunters." Greef shrugged. Karga began to discuss Cara joining their ranks, but Din, Joe, and Ryan weren't paying attention. No, they were more invested in the fact that the Child had walked over to Mando and was hugging his leg.
"And you, Mando, take time off." Greef told the Mandalorian. "And when you come back, you can have the first pick of the bounties."
Music: "The Baby" from Mandalorian Season 1 OST
Mando stared at Karga for a moment, before reaching down and picking up the Child.
"I'm afraid I have more pressing matters at hand." Din murmured. Cara smiled, gently clutching the baby's ear.
"Take care of this little one."
"Or maybe… he'll take care of you." Greef said mysteriously. Din nodded, and turned to Dredd and Ryan.
"What about you two?"
Ryan looked back at Dredd, seeing him nod, and turned towards Mando.
"We'll stay with you until you find the Jedi." Butcher declared. "We'll help you in any way you can."
"Thank you." the Mandalorian mumbled, before activating his jetpack and flying off towards the Razor Crest. Ryan slung Dredd's arm over his shoulder, preparing to fly away as well, when Greef called out to them one last time.
"Good luck to you two travellers… wherever you go."
Ryan smiled at the name. Travellers. He liked it.
Butcher nodded, and flew up, following the Mandalorian back towards the ship, while leaving Cara and Greef in the flats.
Dredd and Mando finished piling rocks onto the makeshift burial for Kuill, finishing with placing his goggles on top. In all honesty, Joe was starting to get sick of funerals, having gone to over a dozen in the span of a few years. If he had been ten, or even twenty, years younger, he probably would've brushed them off. But now, after The Boys, his family… they all struck a blow to his heart. He couldn't imagine what Din must've felt, since their interactions implied they had met at least once before.
Joseph shook his head, following the Mandalorian back inside the Razor Crest, where Ryan and the Child were waiting. As Mando flipped a few switches, he turned around, seeing the Baby Yoda biting down on… something.
"What have you got there?" Din asked in confusion, grabbing the object to see that it was his Mandalorian pendant. "I… I thought I'd never see this again…"
Mando looked at the Child, before handing the trinket back.
"Why don't you hang onto that."
The Mandalorian continued preparing the ship, disabling the landing gear and starting the engines, while Ryan shot Dredd a grin.
"I think I know what I'd like my superhero name to be."
"Really?" Dredd raised an eyebrow behind his helmet. "And what would that be?"
Ryan's smile only widened, as he uttered two words:
"The Traveller."
The Razor Crest took off, flying away from Nevarro, and passing the ruins of Moff Gideon's tie fighter. Just as the ship blasted away, a black blade of pure energy stabbed through the side of the cockpit's hull, burning away the metal from within. The blade was dragged down, cutting out a rectangular piece, before being kicked away, and Moff Gideon stepped out. The black blade, attached to a small metal hilt, was held in one of his hands, as he stepped onto the cockpit, overlooking the lava flats. A thousand thoughts raced through Moff Gideon's head, mostly about the Child and the Mandalorian, but one stood out among the rest. Who was the individual in the red suit and blue cape? How could he fly, and seemingly shoot blaster bolts from his eyes? One thing was for sure: he could be the key to the Empire's return. More so than even the Child's.
Unknown
Becca Butcher felt the blue light fade away, looking around to find herself in some type of forest. At least, she thought it was a forest, it was hard to tell, what with all the fog. As Becca continued looking around, she saw a figure in a gray robe and hood dart from tree to tree, swinging around… beams of white light?
Butcher frowned, seeing the woman cut down shadowy figures, before suddenly turning towards Becca herself. Her eyes widened, raising her hands, as the woman pointed one of her energy beams at her. That's when she realized they weren't beams… they were lightsabers.
"What the Hell?" Becca asked out loud, as the woman pulled back her hood, revealing an orange colored face with white markings. In place of hair, she had horns colored blue and white, with thick tails growing down past her shoulders. It only took a moment for Becca to realize who was standing before her, and more importantly, where the time displacement device sent her, but the woman spoke first.
"Who are you?"
A/N: And that's the end of the Season 1 chapters! I won't be covering all the episodes in season 2, since I felt a couple of them were filler. Don't get me wrong, they were all great, but there were two in particular that didn't contribute much to the overall story
Even though Becca is now in the Star Wars universe, she won't reappear for another few chapters. The character she meets should be indication enough of how long though.
Until next time. Take care everyone.