A/N: All I'm going to say about this chapter is that it's more Ryan-centric, than Dredd or Mando. Enjoy.
Music: "Mando's Back" from The Mandalorian Season 2 OST
Unknown
One Week Later
The Mandalorian, Judge Dredd, and Ryan Butcher walked across a desert landscape, with The Child following them in its hovering cradle. The night air was cold, and Din's companions weren't entirely sure where they were, but they pushed on. They made a promise to help Mando deliver The Child to the Jedi, and they would keep it. And it just so happened that this was their best lead.
The group strolled into town, ignoring the fact that they kept ducking in and out of the lamplight, as Ryan and The Child looked around to see graffiti on the walls. Butcher wasn't entirely sure, but if he squinted hard enough, he could almost make out the image of a protocol droid-
"I'm here to see Gor Koresh."
Ryan's head snapped back to the front of him, seeing Mando speaking to a gray skinned twi-lek in front of a doorway. The twi nodded his head, opening the door behind him.
"Enjoy the fights."
Music: "Enjoy The Fights" from The Mandalorian Season 2 OST
Mando, Dredd, Ryan, and the Child moved through the doorway, hearing cheering on the other end.
"Didn't think there'd be a fight club in this universe." Ryan whispered to Dredd.
"Yeah." Joseph murmured in agreement. The subtle hint of annoyance was not lost on Butcher, but he kept his mouth shut. Unfortunately, Mando picked up on it too.
"There a problem?" Djarin asked. Dredd looked at the other warrior, a scowl plastered on his face.
"In Mega City One, perps would get twenty years in the cubes for illegal fighting."
"Welcome to the Outer Rim." Mando shrugged with indifference. The group continued their way in, finding a crowd of spectators cheering two gamorreans fighting inside a ring. The green skinned brutes with tusks wailed on each other with axes, while the crowd either cheered or booed. Mando paid them no mind, as he led Joe and Ryan towards a brown skinned alien with one eye. Gor Koresh, Dredd assumed.
"You know this is no place for a child." Koresh muttered, eyeing the kid.
"He goes where I go." Din told him.
"So I've heard." Gor nodded, as he turned to look at the Judge and the supe. "You didn't mention you were bringing other company."
"We're part of his crew." Ryan offered, while folding his arms over his chest. Gor chuckled, as the gamorrean fight continued.
"I've been quested to deliver the kid back to his kind." Mando explained. "If I can locate other Mandalorians, they can help guide us. I'm told you know where more are."
"It's uncouth to talk business immediately." Koresh chastised. "Enjoy the entertainment."
Ryan rolled his eyes, but stared at the ring, just in time to see one of the green skinned brutes knock the other down.
"Damn, my gamorrean isn't doing well." Gor grumbled. "Come on, finish him!"
Those last two words made Butcher snicker, earning the ire of Dredd, Gor, and Mando.
"What's so funny?" Koresh asked, raising his only eyebrow.
"Nothing." Ryan quickly said, taking a moment to show a straight face. Gor shrugged, before turning back to the Mandalorian.
"Do you gamble, Mando?"
"Not when it can be avoided."
"Well, how about I bet you your information for the gamorrean to die within the next minute and a half." Gor smirked. "And all you have to do is put up in exchange your beskar armor."
Mando slowly looked over to Koresh, glaring behind his visor.
"I'm prepared to pay you, but I will not leave my fate up to chance."
Gor smiled, as he slowly pulled out a blaster.
"Good, because nor am I."
Koresh stood up, shooting one of the gamorreans in the chest, and watched his body crumple to the ground. Mando was about to move, but Gor, as well as four other mercenaries, pointed their blasters at him and his allies.
"Thank you for coming to me." the one eyed alien grinned. "Normally, I have to seek out remnants of you Mandalorians in your hidden hives to harvest your shells. Beskar's value continues to rise, and with your friend's gear="
Gor nodded over to Dredd, indicating his armor and helmet.
"-I'll get paid double."
Mando took a deep breath, audibly exhaling from his helmet.
"Tell me where the Mandalorians are, and I'll walk out of here without killing you."
Gor let loose a booming laugh, causing the other mercenaries to chuckle with him.
"I thought you said you weren't a gambler."
Several seconds of silence passed, until Ryan heard a faint humming noise with his superhearing. He looked down, seeing several tiny glowing projectiles were activated on the Mandalorian's wrist. If his memory was right, Din had explained to him and Dredd days ago that they were whistling birds, forged from excess beskar. The Child knew what was about to happen as well, as he activated the protective covering around his crib, sealing himself from the outside world.
"I'm not." Mando replied, just before four of the birds fired up and struck the four mercenaries. Just as Gor was about to pull his trigger, Ryan reached out, grabbing the blaster and crushing it with his bare hands, while Dredd got up and punched the twi-lek from earlier, who was now running towards them. The still living gamorrean leapt out of the ring, forcing Mando to kick The Child's crib away and move out of the way to avoid him belly flopping onto the floor.
Joe whipped out his daystick, smashing the blunt weapon into an oncoming zabrak, while Mando headbutted a mercenary that tried to ambush him. The gamorrean attempted to get up from the floor, but Ryan kicked him in the face, hard enough to knock him out cold. Din looked up, seeing Gor scurrying out of the fighting pit, and picked up his blaster to follow. Dredd and Ryan calmly walked outside after Mando, seeing him fire a cord that wrapped around Koresh's legs, causing him to trip and fall. The beskar wearing warrior didn't waste any time, dragging Gor across the ground, until he hung him upside down from the street lamps.
"Uncle Joe, he has another blaster." Ryan noted, utilizing his x-ray vision. Dredd patted down Koresh, eventually retrieving a hidden blaster pistol from his waist, much to Gor's dismay.
"Okay, okay. You win." Koresh grumbled. "I'll tell you where he is. But you must promise that you won't kill me."
Mando raised an eyebrow behind his helmet, slowly nodding.
"I promise you will not die by my hand. Now where is the Mandalorian you know of?"
Gor struggled, trying to wriggle himself from his entrapment, but to no avail.
"Tatooine." Koresh groaned. "The Mando I know of is on Tatooine."
"You're lying." Mando accused. "I've spent much time on Tatooine, and I've never seen a Mandalorian there."
"My information is good, I swear." Gor insisted. "He's in the city of Mos Pelgo. I swear it by the Gotra."
"He's telling the truth." Ryan spoke up.
"How do you know?" Mando asked.
"I can hear his heartbeat- it's beating normal." Ryan revealed. "Besides, if it's who I think it is…"
"Tatooine it is, then." Mando decided, beginning to walk off.
"Wait, Mando!" Gor shouted. "You can't leave me like this! Cut me down, damn you!"
Mando sighed, pulling out his blaster.
"That wasn't part of the deal."
Din shot at the light above Gor, bathing him in darkness. As Dredd and Ryan followed after the Mandalorian and The Child, they could hear growling, accompanied by glowing red eyes all around them.
"Wait, Mando! I can pay!" Gor pleaded, as the growling got louder. The group paid him no mind, as they continued walking out of town.
"Who do you know is on Tatooine?" Dredd frowned, glancing at Ryan. "We've been there before."
Ryan simply smirked, looking over to his father figure.
"Let's just say you two have something in common, Uncle Joe."
Tatooine
The Razor Crest flew into the desert planet's orbit, landing in docking bay 3-5. The moment they touched down, the ship's ramp lowered, and Mando, Dredd, and Ryan walked out, seeing pit droids running towards them. Or more accurately, towards the ship.
"Hey, hey!"
Ryan looked up, seeing the old woman from last time running up to them.
"He doesn't like droids, remember?!"
"Eh, might as well let them have at it." Mando shrugged, holding onto a satchel, as they came to the bottom of the ramp. "The Crest needs a good once over."
"Oh, so he does like droids now?" the mechanic raised an eyebrow. "Well, you heard him. Give it a once over."
The pit droids nodded, running over to the ship, while Din shifted his satchel to reveal The Child inside.
"Oh, thank the Force, this little one had me worried sick!" the mechanic smiled, holding onto the kid. "What brings you all back here?"
"We're here on business." Mando explained. "A Mandalorian armorer has quested me to return him to his kind. If I can find another like me, I can network the covert."
"You've been the only Mando I've seen in years." the mechanic shook her head.
"What about Boba Fett?" Ryan suddenly asked. "Ever heard of him?"
Everyone stared at Butcher curiously, until Dredd cleared his throat.
"That's the one you knew of?"
"Yes." Ryan nodded. "He was a bounty hunter for Jabba the Hutt."
"I didn't know half the bounty hunters working for that slug." the old woman scoffed. "Besides, they all crawled back into their holes after he died five years ago."
"Where's Mos Pelgo?" Mando asked. "I was told there's one there."
"It's in the outer region. Hey, R-5!"
A red and white astromech droid slowly rolled up to the group, before activating a brown colored holographic map.
"Okay, here's Mos Eisley, Mos Espa, and up there, Mos Pelgo." the mechanic pointed to various settlements of the planet.
"But there's nothing there." Mando frowned behind his helmet, seeing empty space where she was pointing.
"Trust me, it is." the old woman insisted. "It's been wiped off the map after the fall of the Empire. But they'll see your ship coming from a mile away."
"Yeah…" Dredd murmured, looking back at the Crest. "Do you still have the speeders?"
The mechanic handed The Child back to Mando, as her lips parted into a grin.
"Damn right I do."
Music: "The Marshal's Tale" from The Mandalorian Season 2 OST
The Mandalorian and Judge Dredd zoomed across the desert on their speeder bikes, with Ryan flying up above them. The Judge looked up to the supe, giving each other a nod, before Joe revved his engine and surged forward. Eventually, after an hour or two of travelling, they arrived at a small village, and Joseph and Din slowed their speeders down. Ryan lowered himself to the ground, and the three of them walked into one of the buildings, which Mando identified as the cantina.
"Can I help you?" the bartender, a brown skinned weequay asked.
"I'm looking for a Mandalorian." Mando requested, resting his palms on the bar.
"Well, we don't get a lot of visitors in these parts." the weequay scoffed, pausing to clean a glass. "Can you describe him?"
"Someone who looks like me." Mando said bluntly. The bartender stared at him quizzically, before widening his eyes in realization.
"You mean the Marshal?"
"Your Marshal wears Mandalorian armor?" Din asked. The bartender nodded, looking to his right.
"See for yourself."
Mando, Dredd, and Ryan turned their heads, seeing a man in green armor over a red garb appearing in the doorway, with a green helmet and red trimmed visor. Indeed, it was Mandalorian armor that he was wearing. And very familiar at that…
Wait. Ryan squinted his eyes, using his x-ray vision to see a face with a gray haired head and beard beneath that helmet.
"This was the one you knew of?" Dredd frowned.
"No." Ryan groaned, as the man walked forward.
"What brings you strangers here?" the man, whoever he was, asked.
"I've been looking for you for many parsecs." Mando revealed.
"Well, you've found me." the Marshal shrugged, walking up to the bar. "Weequay, four shots of spotchka. Why don't you all join me for a drink?"
Behind his visor, Dredd raised an eyebrow, as he, Ryan, and Din joined the Marshal at a table in the corner.
"You know, I've never met a real Mandalorian before." the man smiled. "I've heard stories, though. Heard you're good at killing, and you're probably not too happy that I'm wearing this hardware. So I'm thinking, only one of us is walking out of here alive. But then, I see the little guy, and maybe I pegged you wrong."
Joseph followed the man's gaze, seeing that The Child had entered the cantina, looking into a pot. Before either him or Mando could speak, Ryan stepped forward.
"What did you do to Boba Fett?"
"Who?" the Marshal frowned, taking a moment to sip from his drink.
"Boba Fett. The man who's armor that belonged to." Ryan elaborated, taking another step forward. "What did you do to him?"
"Whoa, easy there." the Marshal told him, placing his hands up. "I traded with some jawas for this armor. I had no idea who they scavenged from."
"Who are you?" Mando asked, stepping forward to be right next to Butcher.
"Name's Cobb Vanth, Marshal of Mos Pelgo." the man smirked, downing the rest of his alcohol. Din stayed silent for a moment, before glaring at Cobb.
"Hand the armor over."
"Yeah, no can do." Vanth smiled smugly. "I'm sure you call the shots where you're from, but around here, I do."
Ryan narrowed his eyes, before reaching out and grabbing Cobb's collar.
"He said take it off." Butcher growled, allowing his eyes to glow red. "Or I will, piece by piece."
Vanth's eyes widened, seeing Ryan's eyes become crimson orbs, as his grip felt like iron.
"Ryan."
The supe looked over his shoulder, seeing Dredd slightly shaking his head. Butcher blinked a few times, feeling his eyes cool down, and let go of the Marshal.
"Sorry." Ryan murmured, averting his gaze. "I just… I lost control-"
"No." Joseph shook his head. "You got angry. Happens to all of us, but don't let it get to you. Remember what I told you?"
Ryan looked back at his father figure, nodding his head.
"Anger and control. Anger is fuel, but without control, it's nothing."
"That's right." Joe nodded again, while Cobb rubbed his throat. Just as he was about to speak, Ryan's ears perked up, hearing a distant rumbling. Within seconds, the rumbling became loud enough for everyone else to hear, as well as shake the entire cantina.
"What's happening?" Dredd asked aloud, as he, Vanth, Mando, and Ryan rushed to the doorway, just in time to see… something moving beneath the sand. Butcher used his x-ray vision, seeing what looked like an incredibly large lizard creature, who knocked over moisture vaporators and other structures in the town, before it's maw rose up and engulfed a nearby bantha, completely swallowing it whole. But the thing that shocked Ryan even more was the distinct whooping sound it made.
"Is that… a krayt dragon?"
Cobb grimly nodded, before turning to Mando.
"Maybe we can work something out." Vanth told the warrior. "That creature's been terrorizing these parts long before Mos Pelgo existed. I've worn this armor to protect the town from raiders and sand people, but I can't take on a krayt dragon alone. But if you help me kill it, I will give you the armor."
Mando stared at Cobb for a moment, looking away.
"Deal. I'll get back to my ship, blast it from the sky, and you use the bantha as bait."
"Not that simple." Vanth chuckled. "It'll sense the ship's vibrations and stay underground. Luckily, I know where it lives."
Dredd and Mando zipped through the desert on their speeder bikes, while Cobb kept up in his personal landspeeder, and Ryan Flew right next to them. Despite the wind whipping their faces, Vanth began to speak.
"You don't know what it was like- after the second Death Star blew up." Cobb declared. "The Empire was just pulling out of Tatooine, the occupation was going to be over. We didn't even have time to celebrate, when the Mining Collective showed up.
"I got lucky enough to get out of the bar before they saw me, took a comtax container from their speeder, and bolted out of town. I wandered the desert for days, with no food or water. And then, the jawas found me. Turns out, that comtax I had was full of silicax crystals, and they offered their finest to trade. But amongst their crafted weapons, and flashy astromechs, one thing stood out."
"The armor." Ryan realized, seeing Cobb nod out of the corner of his eye.
"Damn right." Vanth agreed. "But those crystals, they bought me more than that. They bought me my freedom."
The small band slowed down when they came to a canyon, hearing growling and roaring. Mando, Dredd, and Cobb dismounted their speeders, pulling out their weapons, as several four legged creatures with gray, leathery skin approached, baring fangs. Instead of firing, however, Mando stepped forward, making a roar that sounded almost exactly like a tusken raider.
"The Hell are you doing?" Cobb frowned. The Mandalorian ignored him, continuing to speak in tusken, as a pack of sand people, wearing robes and bandages to conceal their bodies, revealed themselves from the rocks.
"You mind telling me what's going on?" Cobb asked impatiently. Mando stopped, looking over his shoulder to glare at the Marshal.
"They want to kill the krayt dragon too."
"You think you can trust them?" Cobb scoffed. "They raided Mos Pelgo. I had to defend the town from their kind-"
Joseph suddenly punched Vanth in the face, making him stumble back a bit.
"Shut the drokk up." Dredd ordered. "If we fight amongst ourselves, that thing will kill us all. We need to work together."
"He's right." Mando nodded in agreement, before turning back to the tusken raiders.
"So… how do we kill it?"
Music: "Beneath The Ice" from The Mandalorian Season 2 OST
As the twin suns began to set, casting a reddish glow on the horizon, Joseph, Mando, Cobb, Ryan, and three tusken raiders sat on top of a cliffside, watching a lone raider leading a bantha towards a cave entrance.
"They say this is where it lives." Mando explained, looking through thermobinoculars. "In an abandoned sarlaac pit."
"I've live on Tatooine all my life, there's no such thing as an abandoned sarlaac pit." Cobb snorted.
"There is if you kill the sarlaac." Mando shrugged. As they continued watching, Ryan looked over to Joe, seeing him fiddling with the blaster pistol he took from Gor Koresh.
"Didn't think you'd snap at him like that." Butcher murmured, nodding towards Cobb. "I thought you'd agree with him about the sand people."
Joseph sighed, looking over to the supe.
"The raiders aren't perps." Joe told him. "And even if they were, it wouldn't be the first time I've bent my code."
Ryan wore a grim expression, knowing exactly what he meant. Over the last few years, Joe and Becca had told him about his life as Billy Butcher. How he had committed several shady, even illegal, acts that would have earned him a death sentence in Mega City One. Just one example was when he got his hands on a supe named Mesmer, and bashed his head to the point where his skull had caved in.
"We need to get back to Becca." Joe continued. "If this is how we have to do it, then drokk it, we will."
Butcher nodded in determination, as they all heard a whooping sound. They turned back towards the cave, just in time to see the krayt dragon emerge, completely ignoring the bantha and eating the tusken raider.
"Dang farrik." Mando growled, while Dredd looked at him curiously.
"Do you have a plan?"
"Yes." Din said begrudgingly. "We'll need reinforcements."
Ryan simply stared at the cave, before casting his eyes towards the ground, where their speeders were. A plan of his own was forming, a risky one, but would it work? Could it?
"How many explosives do we have?" Butcher suddenly blurted out, gaining everyone's attention. Dredd turned to look at his step son, confused, while Mando reached into his belt.
"A few thermal detonators, some disintegration charges…"
"And a spare missile from my armor's jetpack." Cobb added, detaching the missile from his back.
"Your speeder… can your engine spontaneously combust if hot enough?"
"Sure…" Cobb said slowly, beginning to get suspicious.
"What are you trying to do?" Joe asked.
"You've heard of the tale of Jonah, right Uncle Joe?" Ryan smirked. It only took Joseph a few moments to realize what he was implying, before shaking his head.
"No." Dredd said adamantly.
"Come on, Uncle Joe." Ryan protested. "Mom told me Stark did the exact same thing!"
"He had a suit of armor." Dredd pointed out.
"And I'm bulletproof." Ryan shot back. "Look, you want to see Mom, right? This is the quickest way. Just trust me."
Joe looked at Ryan grimly, before reluctantly nodding.
"Okay. But be careful, Ryan."
Butcher nodded, before grabbing the explosives and flew down to Vanth's speeder, crudely strapping them to the sides with thick cords provided by the tuskens, and used his strength to push the vehicle towards the cave. The tusken raiders and Mando began loudly calling out, and sure enough, that whooping noise of the krayt dragon could be heard deep within the cave.
"Come on… come on…" Ryan coaxed, hearing the rumbling in the sand. Once the creature began to emerge, Butcher flew up in the air, prompting it to follow him up. Ryan flew higher and higher, until the krayt dragon extended itself out of the sand, opening its wide maw of sharp teeth.
"Smile, you son of a bitch!" Ryan shouted, flying straight through its mouth with the speeder, chucking the vehicle down its throat and blasting it with his heat vision.
Back on the cliff, Dredd's eyes widened, seeing Ryan disappear into the creature's mouth. Moments later, the krayt dragon's torso exploded from the stomach, coating the ground with its green blood.
"Grud!" Joseph exclaimed, as the body fell to the ground, revealing its lower half to be no more than bones. He took the thermobinoculars from Mando, looking through them to just barely see the form of Ryan, laying on his back.
"Get me down there." Joe ordered, grabbing Din's shoulders. The Mandalorian nodded, and his jetpack started up, thrusting them through the air and down to the ground. The moment his feet touched the sand, Dredd ran straight towards Ryan, checking to see if he was alright.
"Ryan!" Joseph shouted, approaching his son and shaking him on the shoulder. The supe groaned, opening his eyes, and slowly stood up.
"Damn." Butcher muttered. "I probably smell like bantha poodoo now."
It had taken an hour for the tusken raiders to completely skin the krayt dragon's body, but it was thoroughly gutted, Mando, Dredd, and Ryan were given a large chunk of meat that was bigger than their heads. As Din wrapped the piece in a cloth and placed it on his speeder bike, Cobb approached them, carrying his Mandalorian armor with him rather than wearing it.
"This was well earned." Vanth told him, placing the helmet on top of the jetpack. Mando slightly nodded, as the Marshal turned towards Ryan. "That was one Hell of a kill there."
Butcher grinned, nodding as well, but frowning.
"Sorry about your speeder."
"Don't be." Cobb shrugged. "That piece of junk needed to get scrapped anyway. But you mind if I borrow one of yours?"
"Have at it." Mando replied, shaking his hand.
"I hope our paths cross again." Cobb said optimistically. "Oh, make sure your people know I wasn't the one who broke it."
"As do I." Mando nodded, before the handshake was broken. Vanth mounted one of the speeders, taking off, while Din turned to Joe.
"Think you can take care of the other speeder?"
"Yeah." Dredd murmured, pointing to the jetpack. "Can you keep up with that?"
"Yes." Mando confirmed. Joseph nodded, as he mounted the speeder bike, with the krayt meat, the armor, and the Child in tow. He revved the brake engine once, before zooming off, with Ryan and Mando flying up in the air and closely following him.
As the four of them raced back to Mos Espa, none of them noticed a man watching them from a distance. The figure in question wore the robes of a tusken raider, with their native weapons strapped to his back, but when he turned around, his bald head revealed a slightly scarred face. The man had watched them make off with the second set of Mandalorian armor, and as the twin suns set, he walked off, vowing to get back what was rightfully his.
A/N: That bit about Ryan having a bit of a temper will come into play once he, Dredd, and Becca show up in Conflict and Restoration, once this story is over.
I was originally planning on writing and putting this chapter out on May 4th, but I didn't have the chapter done yet for Conflict yet, so I got sidetracked. Oh well. Better late than never.
Oh, I'm also going to start releasing two chapters of this story before I get back to Conflict, because I'm trying to fast track this one to completion. So, the next chapter after this will be up soon. Cheers.