Chapter 43

-dinner-

After getting set up in the guest rooms of the massive suite apparently set aside for the Chief of State, they met with their hosts again in the main sitting room. Han and Leia sat on a sofa beside a little boy that looked a few years younger than Winta. When they walked into the room, Din still wearing his helmet, he gaped at them.

Omera, on his arm as they came into the room, smiled down at him. "Is this Ben?" Leia had mentioned her son as they had walked through the city.

"Yes it is!" She kissed the side of his head. "Say hello Ben." After scrubbing her kiss away with a little fist, he squinted up at Din.

"I've read about Mandalorians. Have you ever fought a Jedi?"

A small laugh made it through his modulator. "Yes. But she wasn't my enemy so…" He shrugged as he helped Omera sit and sat beside her. "I don't know who would have won."

"I bet you would have, Dad. Although, could she do that magic hand thing like when Grogu caught me when I fell?"

Winta leaned over the back of the sofa, sliding her arms around his neck and pressing her cheek against the side of his helmet.

"Magic hand thing? You mean use the force." Ben was leaning over the edge of his seat, giving Winta a sidelong look. Winta only shrugged, ignoring his tone. "Wait, how do you know, Grogu?"

He couldn't see her face but he could hear the smile in her voice. "Grogu is my brother! My Dad rescued him ages ago and adopted him and they lived with us for a while before he had to go live with the Jedi because that's what he's gonna be when he grows up. I'm gonna be a Mandalorian like our Dad."

"My Uncle Luke is going to start training me to be a Jedi with Grogu soon."

"Cool!" When she pulled away from him, Ben caught sight of her scarred cheek. His eyes widened comically and, not as polite as his mother, he asked her about it.

"What happened to your cheek?"

As far as Din knew, this was the first time anyone had asked her this. In the covert among the Mandalorian children, scars weren't even questioned. It might have been strange to have one on your face, but they were a race of warriors after all.

Rather than shy away from the question, she sat up so the other child could see it better.

"A really mean lady tried to hurt me but I'm pretty sure I broke her knee before Momma blew her up." She smirked when Ben's jaw hung open and Din could only shake his head at her obvious pride. It still hurt him to look at it, but she clearly didn't view it with the same shame that he did. Suddenly he remembered how she used to ask him about his with such wide eyed interest and realized that to her, it was probably just the first of many scars to be proud of.

The rest of his clan joined them for dinner. While they ate, Leia asked them for more details about their system, their people and what exactly they needed. Din knew he needed to get used to talking to people if he was going to lead all of Mandalore, but he would never like it. Without his helmet, he felt even more uncomfortable. Thankfully, Omera was beside him and here they were a team.

"So you plan to take back Concord Dawn first? Do you have any idea how large a remnant is stationed there?"

Din nodded. Bo-Katan had, on his orders, gone twice to the former Mandalorian planet for this very information. "Three hundred troopers and a handful of officers. It's a farming planet, not much to guard."

She nodded and looked thoughtful as she took another bite. "You said you've already cleared the remnants from two other planets. Were they around the same size?"

"Nevarro was smaller but the mining operation on Morak was bigger. We weren't trying to wipe them out, we just needed something. Migs blew the base as we left."

Brow knit in confusion, she turned to Migs. "They were mining rhydonium, which if you don't know is highly unstable and there just so happened to be a truckload of the stuff sitting out." He shrugged and paused to take a bite. "They trained me to be a sniper so I borrowed a rifle and blew it up. Took the whole place down with it."

Nodding, Leia turned back to Din. "So you have some experience dealing with them already. How many fighters do you have?"

"As of now, five hundred and fifteen."

Leia arched a brow. "That's more than I imagined were left, but will it be enough to retake Mandalore?"

Paz set his fork down and glared at her across the table. "Five hundred fully trained and armed Mandalorian warriors are worth more than triple that number of stormtroopers. I know it's been a while since we were an organized fighting force, but we didn't gain our reputation for nothing."

"I apologize, but weren't they fairly effective at wiping your people out?"

Sensing the growing tension, Din held a hand up before either Paz or Asta could respond. "Yes, she's right." He turned to the princess. "But it wasn't easy even with our people so divided. They had to invent new weapons and rain fire down from star ships to destroy our planets to defeat us."

She seemed satisfied with his answer and nodded again. "I want you to know that I'm on your side. The outer rim was a problem for the Old Republic and it's a problem for us now. Without the iron military grip of the Empire it's nearly impossible to police and spending time searching for remnant groups that are hidden and scattered is not something we can deal with at the moment. To be honest we have no real or feasible plan to deal with these problems as it has been difficult to get enough planets to agree. That's why I was so glad to hear from you."

Omera met Din's eye before turning to Leia. "You have something in mind." It wasn't a question: that the new Chief of State had a plan was obvious.

"What do you plan to offer in return for the help you need clearing your sector of remnant forces? Few would be willing to entertain the idea of helping you for nothing and there are some that would see you as a threat."

This was something they already knew. Din and Skord had discussed it and what little they had to offer. "Anything our people might have once had to offer was destroyed during the purge. All we have now is our people, and not many of them."

Taking his hand, Omera added her thoughts. "We will need more than just a few starfighters to help rebuild Mandalore but Din is right, the only thing we have is our people. We have discussed how they may be a valuable asset to the New Republic but we will reject any deals that would not allow us to remain sovereign."

Folding her hands in front of her, Leia gave them an appraising look before nodding and sharing her idea. "Of course. As I said, we are struggling to police the outer rim as it is. What I suggest is that in return for helping you clear the Mandalorian sector of remnants, you help us track them down in other sectors. Your numbers are few no matter how skilled you may be but if we work together we might keep the galaxy safe from any kind of Imperial resurgence."

Sighing, Din looked to Omera. This was more or less what they had already decided. After all, it was all they had to offer. Neither of them liked the idea of so much fighting but their people were warriors. This was a way to hold onto that part of their identity without making war on other people for no other purpose than for war itself.

"We were thinking of something similar. But we can't have our entire adult fighting force out patrolling the outer rim constantly. Our entire infrastructure will need to be rebuilt and our population is a fraction of what it needs to be." He sighed and looked intently at his wife for a long moment.

"Nevermind defending ourselves. As far as we know the Empire strip mined Mandalore so the beskar'gam my people wear is the only remaining source of Beskar steel. We'll be stronger together but once the wider Galaxy knows about us… I won't leave the more vulnerable members of our number alone on Concord Dawn or even Mandalore. They wouldn't be safe."

Leia nodded in understanding. "You are in a very difficult position. If your warriors are as skilled as the stories, perhaps only two hundred would be needed to help scout the outer rim. Less once we're confident any Imperial influence is eradicated."

That sounded like a deal he could live with. He met Omera's questioning gaze and nodded. She smiled slightly and turned back to Leia as he finished his meal.

"That sounds more than reasonable. How likely do you think it is that it will be accepted?"

Her friend smirked. "Well, if I suggest it as Chief of State, I think we stand a good chance."

Omera squeezed his hand and smiled at Leia. "Thank you again for your help, Leia."

She smiled. "Nonsense, we're friends and we're helping each other."

DO

After Migs asked Han whether or not he still had the Millennium Falcon and Din had realized he'd heard the name before, they had taken the children to see her. Asta had gone along too. Just in case Migs hurt his knee and needed help.

Omera had noticed Migs had gradually been less distant with Asta over the last two months. They had even gone together with Din the last time he had visited another covert. According to Din, they were talking more and had spent so much time watching each other when they thought no one would notice that he wanted to lock them in a room for a few days and have done with it. It was obvious he had forgiven her and that they were both interested, Migs just needed to get over whatever hang up he still had and kiss her already.

With everyone else gone, Leia and Omera had the chance to catch each other up on their lives. Leia had certainly had a much more exciting decade, but she was genuinely interested in Omera's story.

"I was so worried for you after Tauren died and you left. I know he hadn't been especially excited about you getting pregnant but at least you wouldn't have been alone. Where did you go?"

Omera sighed. That had been an understatement if she had ever heard one. She had loved Tauren, but not in the forever kind of way. Theirs was more a hot and cold three year affair as they fought against the Empire. When she had found out she was pregnant he had initially been angry. A baby was never part of the plan and he wasn't ready to stop flying for the rebellion so they could go somewhere safe. He was finally starting to come around to the idea before he died. Despite their strained relationship, it had still been a devastating blow when he hadn't come back from a mission—if only because it left her alone.

"I ended up on an outer rim planet called Sorgan that somehow evaded Empire notice. When I got there, almost as pregnant as I am now and alone, they took me in and gave us a home. I've spent the last nine years farming krill, brewing spotchka and raising my daughter."

Leia smirked. "Until that handsome Mandalorian landed in your life." She turned in her seat so she was facing Omera and tucked her feet under herself, taking a sip of her drink. "So, how did an outer rim single mom end up married to the sexy ruler of a nearly extinct race of warriors?"

"Well…" Omera sighed fondly, rubbing the side of her stomach. It was a long story and parts of it made her anxious at how different it could have gone. If any of the close calls Din had had the two times he was away from them had been fatal… But they hadn't been and he had come back to them and they were a family.

Leia listened raptly and by the end was smiling, cheek propped on her hand as she relaxed against the sofa. "And I thought my romance was exciting." Omera scoffed but couldn't keep from smiling too. "I noticed Winta calls him 'Dad'... it seemed like they are pretty close."

Adjusting how she was sitting to relieve her back, Omera nodded. "They are. If you meet him without a child in tow, you would never guess that he would be such a good father… but he loves his children so deeply. And Winta just adores him. She wants to grow up to be exactly like him."

Leia looked into her cup and swirled the contents. "Does that bother you at all? How much does she know about Tauren?"

Frowning slightly, Omera sighed. "Why would it bother me? She grew up without a father and now she finally has one. A really damn good one at that who would and has done anything for her… Why shouldn't she idolize him a little?" Rubbing at the growing tension in her back, she looked away from her friend. "I've told her about Tauren; that he was a skilled pilot for the rebellion, that we met when he rescued me, that she looks like him…"

"That's all?"

She shrugged. "Honestly he didn't want to be a dad and would have probably been in and out of her life—if at all—if he'd of lived. What else is there to tell her? That he didn't want her? That by the time she came along our relationship was mostly about relieving the stress of war and we fought a lot? That, as hard as it was to grow up without a dad she wasn't missing all that much?"

Leia set her drink down and reached a hand out to Omera. "Hey, you're right.. I guess it's just been so long I kind of forgot all the bad parts."

"Ya... I did too for a while. But now I know those nine years on our own were worth it because Din is… so wonderful to both of us. And you know… when I told him I was pregnant, we knew about all of this." She waved her hand around the room. "Mandalore and war and all this uncertainty was hanging over our future but he was so happy, Leia. He was happy and hasn't stopped being happy as our lives have gotten more complicated almost every day. Din loves Winta and this baby and he is so desperately happy to see his son tomorrow."

Taking her hand, Leia smiled. "I'm so happy for you, Omera. Really. But…" She frowned as Omera winced in pain. "Are you ok?"

Her back had been hurting off and on for the last couple of days. Din would massage it for her when they went to bed and she would sleep fine and wake up alright again. "I've been on my feet all day, that's all."

"Hmm… there's a large sunken tub in your room. Maybe a warm bath when your husband gets back?"

A/N So, this was kind of hard to figure out. In the show, it seems like the GNR is spread pretty thin and in legends it seems like policing the outer rim has always been hard. They have their whole massive army, but somehow not enough people to police the outer rim or hunt down remnants. I think part of it was that not everyone thought it was a real problem. AND in legends there are other skirmishes and stuff happening. I am pretending that those aren't happening. shhhhh. Just ignore it. I hope I have made something that makes sense.

Oh, that sounded wonderful.