I like how I said this would be out in June and then died. but now it's out! I've been working part-time wage at full-time hours so I just, don't have the energy to write and edit really. So thank you for being patient

There was something mesmerizing about the Darksaber, that was something Plo was willing to admit.

But that didn't take away the fact that Plo knew Moff Gideon was holding one of the most dangerous weapons between the three of them in his hand. And Plo wasn't sure if he would have enough time to stop the Moff if he decided to kill Grogu. So, he remained still as Din moved into the holding cell, blaster fixed on Gideon.

Gideon seemed unbothered by Din, however.

"Drop the blaster," he told the Mandalorian, and at the Din's hesitation, he lowered the Darksaber closer to Grogu. "Slowly."

Din set his blaster on the ground.

"Now kick it over to me."

He did as told before Gideon's gaze moved to Plo.

"The lightsaber. Drop it."

Plo was silent for a moment before he let the cold metal of the lightsaber slip through his fingers and drop to the floor of the ship. It rolled out of immediate reach, though Plo was hardly worried as his other one hung hidden under his cloak. Gideon seemed pleased at that, meaning he hadn't seen the other lightsaber.

Or he simply didn't care enough to demand that he drop that as well.

"To think a relic from such a long time ago managed to survive," he mused before Din cut in.

"Give me the kid."

Gideon rolled his eyes. "The kid is fine where he is," he told them, moving the Darksaber slowly over Grogu. "Mesmerizing, isn't it? Used to belong to Bo-Katan."

Din looked up at that and Plo raised a brow. Of course, Gideon would figure that out somehow.

"Yes. I know you've been traveling with Bo-Katan. A friendly piece of advice, assume that I know everything."

Plo caught the flicker of unease in the Force around Gideon, saw his eyes flicker to him for a split second. Certainly, Gideon had known and calculated for many things but hadn't expected Din to bring along a former Jedi. He either had expected them to stay on Tython or hadn't expected any Jedi at all to still be around and independent from Luke Skywalker and the New Republic.

"Where is this going?" Din asked, wary and Gideon inclined his head slightly.

"This is where it's going. I'm guessing that Bo-Katan and her boarding party have arrived at the bridge, seeking me or, more accurately, this." the Moff held up the Darksaber before he continued. "But I'm not there. And I imagine that they've killed everyone on the bridge, being the murderous savages that they are. And now, they're beginning to panic. You see, she wants this."

He held the Darksaber up again, tilting his head to indicate what it was in his hand with more emphasis.

"Do you know why? Because it brings power. Whoever wields this sword… has the right to lay claim to the Mandalorian throne."

"You keep it," Din told him, "We just want to kid."

Grogu tilted his head, looking up at the Moff as he turned to look at the two of them standing in the doorway. There was a moment before Gideon deactivate the Darksaber.

"Very well," he said slowly. "I've already got what I want from him. His blood."

Gideon's gaze flicked to Plo again as he spoke. "All I wanted was to study his blood. This Child is extremely gifted… and has been blessed with rare properties that have the potential to bring order back to the galaxy. Something that I'm sure your Kel Dor friend behind you knows all too well."

Plo remained silent, remaining alert as Din looked at Grogu. Grogu looked at the two of them, ears moving a bit and Gideon tilted his head back again, gazing at Din.

"I see your bond with him. Take him," he told the Mandalorian. "But! You and your friend will leave my ship immediately and we will go our separate ways."

Din seemed to agree, moving forwards slowly to pick Grogu up and Gideon kept an eye on Plo, and Plo on him, as he moved past Din. Plo knew what he was planning before he even saw the Moff's thumb on the ignition.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he warned calmly but Gideon only tilted his head back, jutting his chin out a bit before he ignited the Darksaber and swung it at Din.

Plo threw his hand out, grabbing Gideon with the Force as he hit Din in the back and Din stumbled forwards, bracing against the cell's bench and keeping Grogu between his arms as Plo yanked Gideon back and out into the hall with him. He let him go as soon as he was out of the cell, before meeting the Darksaber head-on, creating a barrier between Din and the Moff.

Black and blue clashed as Gideon bore down with both hands, but he was no sword fighter, that much was obvious as Plo pushed him back. The two of them clashed again but he easily blocked and countered each strike, silent before he twisted to avoid another. He spun, slamming the heel of his boot into Gideon's chest, sending him back and into a wall.

The Moff, to his credit, was still on his feet, albeit dazed, but he seemed to be watching him carefully as he advanced. Gideon at least knew that he was outmatched, it seemed.

"I had been under the assumption that the Empire destroyed the likes of you, tell me, how is it that you survived? Did the Clones not destroy relics such as you?"

"I suppose I got lucky," Plo said flatly and Gideon's lips twitched. Perhaps amusement, perhaps anger. Plo didn't care.

"I see. And as long as you exist there is chaos within the Galaxy."

"I think that depends on how you see order and disorder."

Gideon was silent for a moment before he surged forwards, striking with the Darksaber. He deflected it, bringing his saber back up to strike. but Gideon was quick, backing up and out of range. But Din was there, his beskar spear flashing and clashing with the Dark Saber.

And for a man who had admitted to him that he had limited skills with a spear, Din was rather fluid in how he used it. Fighting was second nature to him, and Plo knew that he must have trained with the weapon when he was younger— he just preferred Blasters, charges, and vibroblades now.

The two clashed again, Din flipping the spear to block a strike from the Darksaber as Gideon pressed and forced him back. Gideon kept an eye on Plo, however, as he pushed Din back.

And he was rightfully wary, but this was as much Din's fight as it was his— more so, even.

Gideon had been hounding Din for the Child for much longer than Plo and the rest of the Tython group had known the two. He would only interfere again if he needed to do so.

Din and Gideon clashed again, saber against spear as Din pressed forwards, twisting his spear and sending the Darksaber into the wall. Gideon pushed back and pressed forwards despite that, sparks lighting up the hall as he cut through the wall and forced Din to back up and lose the ground he had just gained.

The Mandalorian pushed back, throwing Gideon off of him and thrusting his fist forwards, wrapping the Moff in his grappling wire, only for Gideon to cut through it easily. The two clashed again, Gideon's strike forcing Din's spear arm back, but he caught the Darksaber on his gauntlet. He kicked Gideon back, striking with his spear, and perhaps it was luck, or perhaps Din had just known, but the Darksaber flew out of Gideon's hand.

Din continued forwards, kicking Gideon back and the Moff stumbled, on the defense but there was a look in his eyes that made Plo tense just a bit.

The Mandalorian advanced, but Gideon wasn't done, pulling a Blaster out and leveling it at Din.

He didn't get a chance to fire it as Plo moved.

"Din!"

Din startled and dove to the side as Plo surged forwards, but he didn't strike with his lightsaber.

There was a surge in the force as he called upon it instead.

A tingling, searing heat arced up from his spine, traveling across his nerves and sparking across his fingertips.

Electric Judgement.

It was something Plo never used flippantly, for many reasons, but the die of judgment had been cast. He had been a Jedi once, and he still walked with the light, but he was also a Baran Do sage.

With the sharp scent of ozone and the crackling of electricity, emerald bolts shot from his hand. Gideon was thrown back, twitching and jerking a bit as lighting coursed through him.

Plo canceled the bolts as soon as the blaster had clattered from Gideon's hand. Din approached the barely conscious man, careful as Plo held his hand out, calling the Darksaber into it easily.

The Mandalorian weapon was light in his hand, not too unlike a lightsaber but wasn't that just what it was? A lightsaber with a different form and crystal?

"What should we do with him, Plo?" Din asked as he approached. Plo raised a brow.

"Cara Dune said that she wanted him alive," he told the Mandalorian simply, handing the Darksaber to him. The force around the weapon itself sang out for Din, and Plo wasn't going to stand between that— he had no use for a Mandalorian weapon either way.

Din nodded, absently taking the weapon as Grogu peered out from the holding cell. "We'll take him to her then," he decided as he turned and the Moff gazed up at Plo.

"You're sparing my life?" he wheezed out, still twitching from the aftershocks of Electric Judgement. "Well— this should be… interesting."

"Bo-Katan is no ruler, we both know that," he told Gideon easily as Din retrieved Grogu, fiddling with the Force Suppression Cuffs.

Gideon wheezed out a scoff. "So you knew?" "Abut the conditions of the Darksaber? Of course. I am old, Moff Gideon. I have read many things, including rites and rituals of other cultures."

He reached down grabbing Gideon by the arm and hauling him to his feet as Din walked over, Grogu in one arm and the Darksaber hooked on his belt.

"Don't try anything funny again, Moff," Plo added as Din grabbed the Moff's wrists, cuffing him. "I would hate to break my promise to Marshall Dune and kill you."

(x)

There was tension on the bridge when Plo and Din arrived with Grogu and dragging Gideon behind them. Bo-Katan would not be pleased to know that Din had won the Darksaber, but Plo could honestly care less.

He knew about the Mandalorian civil war, about Deathwatch, and about how Bo-Katan worked with them and Maul for a while.

And he knew that if Bo-Katan became the ruler of Mandalore that the fragile state of the New Republic would be tested far too much for it to handle.

And Mandalorians like Din and his people would be marked as extremists, while former Clones like his sons and Boba Fett would be looked down upon.

Din might not be a ruler, and in truth, he might not wish to rule the Mandalorians, but Plo Koon knew that the Darksaber would be treated well in his hands. The Darksaber was still a lightsaber at its core— no matter what color it was and how the Mandalorians saw it. It was a weapon that could cause much more damage and bring forth tyranny. It belonged to the Mandalorians now, yes, but in the hands of someone who knew compassion, and who knew how to be humble. And if Plo Koon was honest, Din would have made a wonderful Jedi had his Force Sensitivity been higher.

Nonetheless, those were thoughts for later as Plo moved over to Kit and the Pack. Din pushed Gideon over to Cara as Bo-Katan turned and the others moved over to the Mandalorian— or at least, she, Cara, and Koska did.

"So, did you win the Darksaber and give it to Din or did he actually disarm Gideon?" Kit asked as Plo pulled his hood back up.

"Din disarmed him," he said simply in return, "Though I did use Electric Judgement on the Moff."

Kit chuckled at that. "Was he found guilty?"

"Absolutely," Plo chuckled a bit as well. It was known that Electric Judgement among the Kel Dor was a form of Judgement from the Spirits used by the Baran Do in order to cast a swift punishment on a criminal. Kit knew this, Plo had told him, and thus it was a little bit of a joke between them whenever he used the said emerald-colored bolts against an enemy.

"Why don't you just kill him now and take it?" Gideon said, making both Plo and Kit look up and over to where the others were.

Din looked at Gideon and the Moff inclined his head. "It's yours now."

"What is?"

"The Darksaber, it belongs to you."

Din scoffed, sheathing the black blade before holding it out to Bo-Katan. "Now, it belongs to her."

Gideon chuckled from where he was on the ground— Cara must have pushed him down while he and Kit had been talking.

"She can't take it," Gideon said, his tone oddly gleeful and this must have been what he had been hoping would happen. For Bo-Katan and Din to destroy one another for the Darksaber.

Din looked over at Plo, as if asking him if Gideon was telling the truth and Plo sighed, tusks flexing a bit as he nodded.

"He speaks the truth, for once," he told Din, "The Darksaber is something that must be won in battle— for Bo-Katan to wield it again, she has to defeat you in combat."

Din snorted, holding the weapon out to her again. "I yield," he said, "It's yours."

Gideon chuckled again "Oh, no. It doesn't work that way."

"Unfortunately, the Darksaber itself does not have power," Kit spoke up. "It's the story behind it that does."

"The amphibian is correct," Gideon sneered. "Without that blade, she's a pretender to the throne."

Din was silent, gazing up at Bo-Katan as Kit's tresses flicked. Plo's own tusks flexed a bit as well, it didn't take a genius and being on the run from while fighting against the Empire to understand the undertones of Gideon's words. They were two non-humans in a room full of them.

The Empire had promoted human superiority, it wasn't a secret how Gideon felt about being bested by not just two Jedi but two non-human ones.

"He's right. They both are," Bo-Katan told Din after a moment. Din continued to hold the weapon out nonetheless.

"Come on, just take it," he started before an alarm started to sound at one of the bridge's console monitors. They all looked towards the noise, Fennec moving to the closest of the monitors.

"The Ray Shields have been breached," She told them, "We're being boarded."

"How many life forms?" Boost asked, moving next to her to look at the screen. Fennec just shook her head as she looked up at them all.

"None."

Plo glanced over to Kit, who nodded.

"Wolffe, if you and your brothers could please hold the line here with the others?" Plo said as he reached up, undoing his cloak and tossing it to the side. Kit did the same, shaking his head as the rest of his tresses spilled over his shoulders.

His eldest son looked over at him but nodded as he adjusted his blasters in hand.

Plo paid the others no mind as he and Kit moved past them, stopping only when Cara grabbed Kit by the shoulder.

"Are you two insane? Where do you think you're going?"

Kit tilted his head. "Those Dark Troopers need to be dealt with, don't they?"

Gideon chuckled. "Please, just the two of you against an entire Platoon? Or was almost dying when you faced off on Tython not enough for you, Kel Dor?"

Plo inclined his head. "Moff Gideon, I admit, my performance on Tython was less than satisfactory, even for me. But one should not suppose that every fight will be the same."

The Nautolan next to him grinned, teeth flashing in the artificial light. "And we forgot to introduce ourselves as well, Moff. I'm Former Jedi Master and Member of the Council, Kit Fisto."

"And I am Former Jedi Master and Member of the Council, Plo Koon of the Baran Do Sages," Plo said and the color drained from Gideon's face, the smug look starting to fall. Plo turned back to Din and the others.

"We will take care of the Dark Troopers, seal the Blast Doors behind us," he told them, and Wolffe, Boost, and Sinker all saluted as the others just gave them dumbfounded nods.

He turned, exiting the bridge with Kit right behind him.

"It's been a while since we've fought side by side, hasn't it?" Kit asked as the doors closed behind them and the sound of the Blas Doors sealing sounded. Plo just hummed as he pulled his lightsabers from his belt, blue and orange lighting up the hall.

"It's been long enough, at least," Plo agreed as twin green blades ignited in Kit's hands. "Shall we compete for score?"

The tight control that Kit normally kept on his Force Signature loosened as his tresses flared and teeth flashed as he grinned.

"I thought you'd never ask."

Plo's own tight hold loosened as well, static electricity building around him as he shifted. "Then may the best man win."

And like that, the two of them were off.

It had been a while since either of them had allowed themselves to go all out as they had on solo missions during the Clone Wars. Taking sentient life was not something that they liked to do, so against the Stormtroopers, there was always restraint.

When they were with their troops during the Clone Wars, there was always the warning feeling of losing themselves in the fight and being unable to protect their men. But here? With just the two of them, two powerful, former Jedi Masters against high-class droids?

It was almost freeing.

Kit slashed through the first two they met, though Plo was quick not to let his partner and fellow Master get too far ahead of him. He ducked under Kit, moving past him and striking the next two.

"Two!" Kit called.

"I as well," Plo mused before striking a third. "Make it three."

"Don't think you'll stay ahead, Plo!"

"Just because you're younger than I does not mean that you will pull ahead."

Kit just laughed as the two of them continued onwards, sabers cutting through Dark Troopers with ease.

There was no need to hold back, no worry about another getting through their defense to harm one who was less powerful or vulnerable than they were.

And only scrap was left in their wake as they continued onwards

As stated in the chapter, a lot of Plo's failure to protect Grogu the first time was just being worried about Wildfire and also not wanting to hurt Grogu. I have no idea if that vibe got through or if it was executed correctly because I'm pretty sure I'm getting sick again but oh well.

Mm, there's only one more chapter left and that's just aftermath stuff— and we finally get to see Agen and Voolvif. No Luke, though. Sorry, but with Plo and Kit and the boys there, Grogu has no reason to call out to Luke.

I also have no idea when that one will be done, I'm sorry.