Ooof I am waaaay overdue in posting this! Some life things got in the way. Apologies for the long delay, and I will endeavor to get the last two chapters up in a much more timely fashion!
It was nearly midday when they made their way back to the castle, Winta scheduled to meet Kanata for lunch. As the day before, the cantina was much livelier by that time than first thing in the morning, and the kid hopped up on her tiptoes beside him, trying to spot their small host amongst the growing crowd. Din decided to help her out. It was much easier to see from his height, although Kanata had a way of disappearing amongst the taller patrons.
Winta tensed in the split second before Din saw her. Fennec Shand. Standing at the bar in Kanata's castle. She looked up as they approached, and Din had his blaster drawn and Winta behind him before the assassin could make a move. And move she did, although only to step back from the bar, hands raised.
"Relax, Mando." Her voice was as confident as ever, drifting across the open space, past the other patrons who had turned to look. "I'm no threat to you here."
"I don't believe you," he retorted.
Shand lifted her shoulders in a slight shrug. She'd made no move for her own weapon. "It's the truth."
Din felt Winta's fingers curl around the upper part of his free arm, just beneath his shoulder pad. He knew, somehow, that she was telling him that Shand spoke the truth. Not that he was ready to let his guard down, however.
"Put away your weapon, Mandalorian." The voice belonged to Maz Kanata, who had entered the cantina and was regarding him with a look of disapproval. "No harm will come to the girl, you have my word."
After a moment of hesitation, in which Kanata looked at him expectantly and Shand looked amused, Din holstered his weapon. "She followed us here," he said then, addressing their host.
"I didn't," Shand corrected. "Pure coincidence."
"I don't believe in coincidence," Din growled.
"I only just arrived," she told him. "I didn't know you were here."
"She's after the kid," he hissed at Kanata, not wanting to speak too loudly. He didn't need anyone else in this place to know that the kid might be worth going after.
"The Force has other plans for Winta," Kanata said, holding Din's gaze. "And Fennec Shand will not stand in the way of her destiny."
It sounded a little ridiculous, in Din's opinion. He wasn't about to trust the kid's safety to the whims of some mystical power, but Kanata had a manner of speaking that made it difficult to argue. In the meantime, Shand had turned her back on the conversation completely and was ordering a drink.
Kanata approached Winta, offering the girl an arm and steering her towards a table. Winta glanced back at Din, perhaps slightly uncertain, but Kanata seemed to be allaying her fears. With one final look at Shand, still busy at the bar, Din followed.
Din sat alone in the cantina, his back to the wall. He had a clear view of the door and, more critically, Fennec Shand, who was finishing a late meal on the far side of the room.
A view that was suddenly, if partially, blocked by Kanata, who had appeared on the opposite side of the table. She opened one hand and dropped something in front of him. A room key.
"For the room next to Winta's," she said.
Winta had gone to bed a short time before, and Din had insisted on walking her to her quarters. He thought she'd appreciated it, never mind that both she and Kanata seemed less concerned about Shand than he, and then he'd returned to this spot to keep an eye on the assassin. Just in case. He'd intended to retire for the night once Shand did, although he wasn't sure that he wanted to be so far away as the Crest. Kanata had apparently solved that problem for him.
He inclined his head in a nod.
One thing was for certain, he wasn't leaving Takodana while both Winta and Shand were still there.
"She won't be any trouble."
Kanata had followed his gaze to the woman across the room. Shand, catching his eye, raised her glass in greeting. Din huffed, turning to look at their host.
"You can be sure of that?"
She nodded. "I can."
"She offered to buy the kid, on Tatooine," Din explained. "And when I refused, she tried to take her by force."
"I know," Kanata affirmed. Din wasn't entirely surprised, although he wasn't sure how she knew. Did Winta tell her, or Shand? Or did she just sense it? "Fennec Shand has an Imperial price on her head, and she'll take any opportunity she can get to clear it. But she will abide by my rules, and she has agreed to leave Winta be."
Din still wasn't entirely sure he believed it. From Kanata's offering of the room key, he suspected she knew that. She turned to go, only to be stopped by his voice.
"How do you plan to get her to the Alliance?"
Kanata paused, turning back and clearly assessing him. "I've arranged a rendezvous with one of their ships in a nearby system."
"When?"
"Three days time," she explained. "About a day's journey from here."
"I'll do it," he asserted. And then, in case she wasn't sure what he meant: "I'll take her to them." If the kid wanted to go, that is. If she didn't, he certainly wasn't going to make her. He could… Din honestly had no idea what he'd do with her otherwise, but he'd figure it out.
Kanata didn't look the slightest bit surprised. She also didn't immediately agree, and Din suspected she had sensed the tenor of his thoughts. She looked at him hard for a long moment and then, apparently satisfied by what she saw, nodded.
"Then it's settled."
She took her leave, and Din, with a glance to Shand still across the room, lifted the key off of the table and tucked it into his pocket.
Din thought he had probably spent more time in the cantina in Takodana Castle than any other singular place in the past several years. He could probably say the same about some of the other patrons. Unlike them, he was not partaking in the apparently excellent drink on offer, or particularly paying attention to the entertainment. It was just a place to bide his time in between conversations with Kanata, shooting practice with Winta, and keeping an eye on Shand. True to her word, and their host's, she hadn't made any trouble.
He was currently sharing a table with the kid, who was enthusiastically telling him about her training with Kanata earlier that morning. It was their last full day on the planet, they'd be leaving first thing the next morning to make the trip to the rendezvous point. Kanata had given him the coordinates the previous day.
His attention was drawn to Kanata, now, as she stood from a conversation a few tables over and hurriedly moved towards the cantina's heavy double doors. They were standing open, welcoming, a warm breeze drifting in from outside. The small woman peered up at the sky and, beside Din, Winta's storytelling came to an abrupt halt, her hand reaching out towards him in alarm. He caught it in his own before it landed on his vambrace and, stars forbid, triggered his flamethrower.
"Something's coming," she whispered, but Din didn't need any Force powers to tell him that.
He let go of Winta and stood, following Kanata to the door. Just in time to see an Imperial troop carrier clear the tops of the trees, making for a landing along the edge of the lake.
"Dank farrik!" He cursed. He glanced down at Kanata beside him. "They are after her. They must be."
But their host was shaking her head. "I'm not so sure. I don't have any reason to believe so."
Din huffed, gesturing at the approaching ship. "This is reason enough. A blockade we just happened to stumble upon, and now an Imperial assault on a neutral planet? Either Shand is responsible for this-" He drew his blaster. "Or it was your friend on Kijimi."
Had they been set up from the start?
"Not Orla." Kanata's eyes were trained on the carrier that was rapidly disappearing from sight behind the castle wall, almost to the ground. "And it would be foolish indeed for Shand to risk such a thing. But it's possible they may have sensed her." She rested a hand on his arm, a blaster in her free hand. Din honestly had no idea where she'd pulled it from. "You should get Winta out of here. We'll handle this."
Who might have sensed her, the Imperials? He wanted to ask, but it wasn't the time. "Are you sure?" He questioned instead, not wanting to leave their host to an Imperial onslaught. "You may be in for a fight."
"Nothing we can't handle," she returned. "Get her safely off the planet and to the Alliance. We'll hold them off!"
"Alright." Din looked over his shoulder. "Kid!"
"And Mandalorian?"
He glanced back.
"May the Force be with you." Kanata glanced past him to where the girl had appeared at his side, her dark eyes wide. "Both of you."
With a nod to Kanata, Din seized Winta by the arm and towed her out the door.
"Everyone," the Pirate Queen called out behind him. "We've got company!"
"Where are we going?" Winta demanded, practically jogging to keep up with his long strides. "What's happening?"
Din glanced back to see what looked like every occupant of the cantina charging through the front entrance, blasters and rifles and assorted other weapons in hand. For all of the faithful following of Kanata's no-weapons rule, there clearly hadn't been a single one of them who was unarmed. Din chuckled under his breath at the sight.
"To the Crest," he told her. They were nearly to the mouth of the entrance path, Kanata leading the haphazard, but surprisingly enthusiastic, defense force just behind them. A part of him wished he could join them for the fight, but he had to stay focused on what was important. He had a job to do. "A platoon of Stormtroopers just landed."
"What?!" She turned, panicked, but Din propelled her forward.
"Keep moving."
He took a split second to assess their surroundings before they cleared the safety of the castle walls. He hustled Winta into the trees opposite, keeping them under what cover there was until they could reach his ship. The Crest was in the opposite direction of the troop carrier, but they wouldn't be out of the woods until they were in the air. At lightspeed, even, as he assumed there were Imperial craft overhead.
Blaster fire echoed in the distance. Din kept them moving, focusing only on getting to the Crest. They were nearly there when he spotted them. They'd unfortunately spotted him, too, the several Stormtroopers raising their blasters.
"Drop your weapon," one ordered. "We have you surrounded."
Din dropped to his knees, instead, pulling Winta down with him. He curled his body over hers, protectively, and hit the button on his vambrace. The familiar sound of whistling birds filled the air, followed by shallow gasps as the Stormtroopers collapsed where they stood. A rustle in the bushes drew his attention to two more on approach, and he scrambled to his feet, leaving Winta in the dirt behind him. A blaster bolt clanged off his beskar before he reached the trooper who'd fired it, twisting their gun arm one way and their neck in another. The trooper dropped with a pained cry, but Din was already on to the next one, flipping them off their feet and on to the ground before they knew what was happening. He put a blaster bolt in each, just in case.
Winta was getting to her feet when he turned back, a slightly awed look on her face.
"Let's go," he ordered sharply, and she hopped to attention, scrambling to his side.
He thought that might be it, but they'd only made it another few yards when yet more troopers appeared amongst the trees, between them and the Crest. He hauled Winta behind the nearest tree and, shielding her with his body, peered around it for a better look.
Dank farrik. There was a platoon of Stormtroopers on this side, too.
He could take them out, certainly, but likely not without leaving their current position. His armor would keep him safe enough, but moving would leave Winta unprotected. He couldn't guard her and go on the offensive. He was formulating a plan when a rustling overhead caught his attention. A familiar figure leapt from a tree, firing into the Stormtroopers as she descended. Several hit the ground before she did, and she gracefully tumbled into a roll and landed with her back against a tree just ahead. A spray of blaster fire rained down as the troopers returned the favor.
Fennec Shand's eyes met his. "Need a hand?" Din couldn't clearly see her face beneath her helmet, but he knew she was smirking.
"Did you have anything to do with this?" He challenged. If she had somehow brought the Imps here, to Winta-
"No." Shand shook her head. "I don't make deals with Imperials."
"Then what was that about, on Tatooine?"
Shand shot him a look. "Do you want my help or not?" She demanded. "Look, you can get out of here. I owe you from last time."
Din considered that. He sensed the offer to be genuine and supposed she did owe him, but there was the simple fact of how they'd even get to his ship. They could go the long way around, through the woods, but they'd lose valuable time, and who knew how many other troopers were out there.
"I can help." That was Winta, peering up at Din from where she was sandwiched between he and the tree. It took a moment for him to realize what she meant.
"No."
"Why not?" The kid demanded.
"I'm not putting you at risk," he said sharply.
"I won't be!" She insisted, faltering only slightly when he tipped his helmet in an obvious pointed look. "Well, not any more than I already am."
"Mando-" Shand started.
"No," he repeated.
"We need to get out of here," Winta insisted. "I can make them less…dangerous."
"That won't be hard," Shand quipped.
Din stared at Winta for a long moment. Maybe she had a point. And if it meant they could get off of this planet that much faster, then… to hell with it. "Whatever you do, you do from here," he told her. "You stay out of sight, that's an order."
Winta nodded. "I promise."
He inclined his head, as another spray of blaster fire came from the troopers. Shand settled against her tree and fired back, her shots finding their target with much greater frequency than their opponents'. Din watched as Winta took a deep breath and closed her eyes, and then he turned his own attention to the troopers, who were trying to advance.
At first, it was like normal. His accuracy and reflexes were excellent under fire, even faced with a seemingly endless number of Stormtroopers. And then, slowly, the troopers started to falter. Their shots went even wider than usual, and some of them ceased shooting altogether. One or two were actively in retreat. It made picking even a large number of them off so much easier, and Din and Shand made increasingly fast work of it. They were rapidly gaining the upper hand when he felt it, a burst of energy that flowed through his veins. It was like his focus sharpened, his stamina increased, and the last stretch felt like the easiest.
When the forest floor was a smoking ruin of Stormtroopers, Din stepped out from behind the tree, scanning for any remaining threat. Fennec extricated herself from her own defense position and walked out amongst the mess, looking around. Din turned back to Winta. She was leaning against the tree, her eyes open and watching him, but drooping heavily.
"Are you hurt?" He asked, scanning her up and down for any sign of injury.
Winta shook her head. "No. Just takes a lot of energy."
"Can you walk?"
She nodded, pushing herself off of the tree. She wobbled precariously for a second, and Din caught her just before her knees gave out. He lifted her into his arms with a sigh, adjusting his grip on his blaster. While the immediate threat appeared to be eliminated, he wasn't about to holster it just yet.
"I shouldn't have let you do that." Maybe he shouldn't take her to the Alliance, either, where they'd surely ask too much of her.
"I'm fine," she mumbled, leaning against his shoulder. "And I helped."
"She ok?" That was Shand, looking up as Din picked his way carefully through the debris. He really hoped Shand didn't intend to try to take Winta again, it'd be a challenge to face off against an opponent of her skill while the kid was practically asleep in his arms.
Shand seemed to sense where his thoughts were going and held up her hands. "I meant it when I said you could get out of here. Both of you. I won't stop you."
Din inclined his head. "Thanks for the help."
She smirked. "My pleasure. Until we meet again, Mandalorian."
He put Winta in the bunk before ascending to the cockpit. The kid was nearly asleep, mumbling something incomprehensible as he laid her down and headed for the ladder. In the cockpit, he went through the Crest's start up sequence on autopilot, all the while scanning their surroundings for more approaching troops and ships overhead. Especially ships overhead. The troop carriers had to have come from somewhere. He took off, flying low, just over the tops of the trees. Programmed in the coordinates for the hyperspace jump, the first in a series that would take them to the rendezvous point with the Alliance.
Ready to make the jump, he banked sharply up, gaining altitude. The trees and the lake grew smaller beneath the Crest. Growing larger were a couple of TIE fighters that had finally spotted him, streaking across the sky in his direction. At this altitude, he could now see the Imperial ship he'd been expecting, a smaller class of Star Destroyer perched high up, overseeing the ongoing battle below.
Din pulled back further on the throttle, the Crest soaring faster and higher into space. He wasn't interested in a dogfight this time. The TIEs were still in pursuit, fast but not fast enough. The Crest broke atmo and, with the pull of a lever, made the jump to lightspeed and out of reach.