"Watch your back," warned the Mandalorian as Doc hit the button to open the ramp and leaned against the frame of the Crest.
"Always," she said. "I'll be right behind you the whole time. Comm me if you need backup."
Doc watched from the side as Cara, Kuiil, and the Mandalorian all exited on their blurrgs with the Child's crib gently floating after them. Their tracking and vital signals began to light up on her bracelet as they got farther away.
"IT, what are the odds we all make it out of this alive?" Doc asked grimly. The droid's head components whirled around.
"I am uncertain you want the answer."
Doc's heart sank. It wasn't the answer she wanted, but it was the one she expected. She watched the fleeting figures as they approached their rendezvous point across the lava fields. It was possible she could never see one – or all – of them again.
She waited until the party was over a mile away before she started her pursuit. Nala trailed close behind her, the hairs on her neck standing at alert. They weaved over lava fields and behind boulders, being sure to stay out of sight. Soot and singe began to collect on her clothes. Bubbles of hot magma burst in her direction, sending bits onto her clothes and Nala's fur. The smell of sulfur was suffocating. Doc kept her neck scarf tucked up and over her nose and mouth to mitigate the fumes.
Her steady footprints were left in ash, tentative to not step in a magma pool. Nala navigated with ease, and Doc followed in her steps. They traveled with the sun towards the horizon, the earth below beginning to glow a soft red as the sun disappeared. She took up a vantage point next to a lava pool and above where the others had made camp. Nala laid down next to her, eyes fixated on the camp below.
Doc gave a battery to Nala for her to gnaw in and she took out a ration pack for herself. She took her canteen and dumped some water in the bag and the bread grew to life. She gnawed on it for some time, gazing up to the stars for entertainment.
Out here, despite the unfortunate sulfur smell, it was peaceful. When she finished her bread, she sat back up. Doc closed her eyes and tried to relax.
She could hear Nala munching beside her and the low bubble of the magma. She could feel the soft breeze drifting the smoke against her cheek. She let her mind clear of the haze that had been sitting over it for the past decade, but when the mist cleared, all she saw was nothing. She remembered a time in her youth where she could feel the heartbeat of the world around her, the surrounding Force that bound them all. After years of running, perhaps she had run too far after all.
Nala growled to her side, forcing Doc out of her trance. Nala's ears were back and her teeth barring into the darkness. Doc squinted into the haze, the waves of heat distorting anything on the horizon.
A great, flying beast dove past her head. And then another. And another. They were heading for the campsite.
"Shit," said Doc, springing up. Chaos erupted in the campsite below. Doc pulled out the blaster the Mandalorian had insisted she take with her, but she stayed her hand. If she gave away her position, the safety net plan would fall apart.
"Nala, let's go," said Doc. They sprinted off over the ridge to where Doc was certain they wouldn't be seen. Doc pulled out one of her three detonators and threw it into a lava pool. The resulting blast shot lava high into the air and knocked back Doc off her feet. She heard a screech behind her and the vigorous flapping of wings.
"Run!" she cried to Nala. The two of them took off sprinting in the opposite direction. She could hear the winged beasts' flapping and screeches growing louder. Every step was an opportunity for her foot to sink knee-deep into molded earth.
Doc ran. Her hair flapped behind her. Nala sprinted along, snapping at any who dared come close. One of the beast's claws hit Doc in the shoulder. She saw a cave in the glow of the fire and made a beeline for it.
"Time to charge up, old girl," she called. Nala barked in confirmation and zoomed ahead, sparks gathering on the ends of her fur. A bold creature swooped down. Nala barreled into their side, paralyzing and sending them tumbling into the flames. Two more followed behind closely, taking swipes at both Nala and Doc.
They crossed the ridge where the tunnel entrance lay. Nala and Doc rushed in, hugging the walls of the passageway to avoid the river of lava. Doc threw up another charge to the roof of the tunnel as they passed underneath. It blew, sending debris tumbling down on the winged creatures and barring off their escape route. The force was enough to send Nala and Doc flying forward onto the platform.
Doc sat up and held her head in her hand, head throbbing.
"You alright?" she asked Nala. The dog stood and shook herself off, fur matted with soot. Doc used the wall to support herself as she stood, trying to ignore the pain in her shoulder. She checked her bracelet. All three of their vitals were still good, though they all had elevated heartbeats. Her tracker indicator gave off gravely slow beeps.
She was much farther away now.
She looked around at the lava tunnels. They were shaped, as though man-made. Steel pipes occasionally making an appearance along the walls confirmed her suspicions. There was only one town for hundreds of miles in these lava lands. If she followed these tunnels, she would find it.
Or so, she hoped she would.
"Looks like we only have one way forward," she said to Nala. They began to traverse the tunnels.
The tunnels were abysmally hot. The left side of her face burned as though she were on fire, and she had to shield her eyes against the intense light. She kept her scarf pulled up to help protect her skin, tempted to wrap her shawl around her face.
The concept of time eluded them. It was perpetually dark and light always. Had they walked one mile or ten? She wished she hadn't left her canteen somewhere in the wastelands.
They came across twists and crossroads. Doc used the tracking device on her wrist and followed the direction of the beeps. Slowly, the duration of each silence began to slim down. Every step closer was another step closer to getting out of the lava pits.
Her comm buzzed.
"Doc? Are you there?" came the fuzzy voice of the Mandalorian. The signal must have been bad.
"I'm here," she said. "But not exactly... there."
"What? Where are you?"
"I'm in the lava run-off tunnels."
"How the hell did she manage to get in those?" a voice Doc recalled asked through the link. Greef Karga.
"Listen, Doc, we've had a change of plans. I need you to meet Kuiil back at the ship," said the Mandalorian.
"No can do, I'm afraid," she said. "Entrance is cut off. This tunnel is a one-way ticket."
There was a brief moment of silent deliberation on the other line. "Alright, try and find a way into the city and we'll rendezvous with you there."
"Copy that."
The only sounds that bounced off the walls were the quiet bubbling of the lava and their footsteps. The green blips were now at what they had been before she had separated from the group. She was close.
Their pace picked up. Around the next turn, there was a dead end with a ladder leading up to a hatch. Doc climbed up first and it took all her strength to turn the hatch open. She climbed back down and took Nala on her shoulder, for the jump was too high for the hound to make herself. They both peeked into the next room, only to find another empty tunnel.
"At least this one doesn't have lava," said Doc. They hugged the wall as they traveled hurried down. Doc could see light coming from vents at the very tops of the walls. She gave herself a running staff and leaped upwards, catching one of the vent's bars. She peered out into the courtyard, only to be met with dozens of stormtrooper's shoes.
Not good.
She kept peering and could just make out the sheen of the Mandalorian's shin guards as they walked into a building. Bingo.
She jumped down and she and Nala scurried around the halls. There must be a vent system somewhere that would let her get in that building.
At the end of this tunnel, an open staircase led itself out into the open. They came out in an alleyway next to the courtyard filled with the Imperial guardsmen and slunk around the side of the building. With the help of a few crates, they scaled the walls of a nearby building and had the birds-eye-view.
In a fortuitous twist, there were no soldiers on the roofs. Only in the alleyways below. They timed their hopping between buildings for when the passing guardsmen below had their backs turned in each direction. They landed on a building – undoubtedly one of the biggest ones in the town – and the tracker light turned solid green.
She began looking for an entrance when blaster fire began to reign down below. She peaked over the side of the building to see lines of stormtroopers gathered and shooting into the open window.
"Mando? Are you there?" she called into her comm. All of their vitals still checked out.
"Doc? Tell me where you are right now."
"I'm right above you," she said, her and Nala's eyes scanning the rooftops. "Are there any ceiling vents?"
"No, you need to get out of here," he said, his voice sounding urgent. "You need to get out of the town and get as far away as possible. Find a way to contact Kuiil on the Crest and get the hell away."
"I'm not leaving you and Cara to die," said Doc, watching as two TIE fighters landed in the sea of white. A great sense of dread flooded the pit of her stomach.
"Oh, yes, you wi-" Doc shut the comm off. If she left, whoever was in those TIE fighters would kill them. They would kill him and take the child.
A man emerged first. He was dressed in high Imperial garb with a dark cloak flowing behind him. A woman emerged out of the other, her entire face and body covered by a black cloak. As she looked up, Doc only saw holes of black where her eyes should be.
Out of the corner of her eye, Doc saw a flash of red come from her band.
Kuiil.
His lifeline just went out. Doc hit her bracelet a few times, as though it were a malfunction. She didn't have long to mourn before the cloaked man started talking.
"You have something I want," he began, his voice booming and commanding. "You may think you have some idea of what you are in possession of, but you do not."
Doc looked down and saw the stormtroopers scrambling below to assemble something. Doc didn't recognize what it was, but she did not have a good feeling about it. Whatever it was, she needed to get down from her vantage point. She could hear muffled gunfire in the room below, though the soldiers seemed unphased.
"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 the assembly of an E-Web heavy repeating blaster. If you are unfamiliar with this weapon, I am sure that Republic Shock Trooper Carasynthia Dune of Alderaan will advise you that she has witnessed many of her ranks vaporized mid-descent of this particular model. Or perhaps decommissioned Mandalorian hunter, Din Djarin, has heard the songs of the Siege of Mandalore, when gunships outfitted with similar ordnance laid waste to fields of Mandalorian recruits in The Night of a Thousand Tears –"
Doc had heard enough. She had heard of the E-Web, or at least seen what it did to the people it left behind on the battlefield. She couldn't count how many soldiers she had treated who had been mutilated by that machine.
There had to be a door or a window she could climb into, one that wasn't guarded by fifty stormtroopers. She crawled to the back of the building and peered over. Five soldiers stood there ready to storm the door. If she made too much noise, the rest of the battalions would rush her.
"Nala, you got one more punch in you?" she asked. Nala gave a low growl. "Aim for the middle of their formation. Mando? Are you still alive in there?"
"Doc, I thought I told you –"
"Get ready to open the south door. On my mark," she gave a nod to Nala. Nala jumped down, fur buzzing, and slammed into each of the troopers in the blink of an eye. "Mark."
Doc jumped down to join her as the door opened. The Mandalorian, Greef, and Cara were all ready with their blasters pointed straight at Doc.
"Quick, help me move their bodies," she whispered. They each grabbed a body and drug it into the storage component of the bar, locking them away. Doc went back outside.
"Doc," hissed the Mandalorian. "Get back in here."
"I have to cover the tracks," she whispered back with a harshness. She pulled her shawl off and crisscrossed it in front of her in the ash to cover any imprints made in the earth that may have implied a struggle. "If they think there was a struggle, they'll rescind the standoff. This just makes them look like deserters."
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw more troopers rounding the corner. A strong hand reached and grabbed for her arm and pulled her inside the bar. His hands gripped her arms tightly and close to his body.
"That was the stupidest thing I've ever seen," he said. "You could've gotten yourself killed."
"It was either die of suffocation in the lava tunnels or get shot. Getting shot is a quicker death," she said. "Now will you let go of me?"
The Mandalorian eased his grip and mumbled a low apology. Cara and Greef came over.
"You said you were a doctor, right?" asked Cara.
"Good to see you, too," said Doc with a triumphant smirk. "Now, is there a reason we're all sitting in here waiting to get shot?"
"We're stuck," said Greef. "All of the exits have a squad ready to take us out and the air vent is sealed shut. You wouldn't happen to have any charges, would you?"
"Sorry, I used my last ones to take care of the flying lava demons."
"That was you?"
"Well, they weren't just going to leave you alone," said Doc. "Can I see the grate?"
"It's almost sundown," said Cara, peeking out the window. "They're gonna light that thing up any minute now."
"They think we still have the child," said the Mandalorian.
"No, they know we don't have it," said Doc, looking at the sawdering on the grate. "Kuiil's gone, and I doubt it was from a heart attack."
"Then why not shoot us?" asked Cara. Doc shook her head.
"Something else might have happened. They might not have the kid either."
"Hail his comm again," said Cara. "Someone else might have picked it up."
The Mandalorian buzzed in. "Come in, Kuiil. Kuiil? Nothing."
"They could have jammed the link."
Gurgling and cooing noises came from the comm.
"Kuiil has been terminated," they all heard IG-11's voice clear as day.
The Mandalorian shifted. "What did you do?"
"I am fulfilling my base function."
"Which is?"
"To nurse and protect."
They all heard the artillery fire in the distance. The Mandalorian rushed over to the door on the east side of the building. He readied his blaster, as did everyone else. They knew it would come down to this. She could feel his eyes peering down into her consciousness.
"Cover me," he said. Doc and Greef followed right after him, blasters blazing. The Mandalorian drew the attention of the initial onslaught, the blaster bolts ricocheting off his armor. Doc aimed her blaster at anything moving that she couldn't immediately identify.
"I don't think we've had the chance to meet," Greef said beside her. "Name's Greef Karga."
"Oh, we met," said Doc, taking cover behind a barrel. "You shot at me once."
"Oh, well, don't take it personally."
Doc leaned over and took out two troopers on their way to flank Greef. "People call me Doc." They gave a slight nod of acknowledgment to one another before continuing their fire. It felt fundamentally wrong to be shooting at these people. They were faceless to Doc – people with their own stories, even if they had been brainwashed by the Empire. But she couldn't dwell on it now. The child's life was at stake. She continued to fire at their knees and shoulders, shots hitting every time.
IG-11 came in guns blazing aboard a speeder bike. He made up for any aiming inaccuracies that Greef, Cara, Doc, or the Mandalorian shared. Strapped to his front body component was the child.
Nala stayed in the bar with Cara. Doc could hear the battle continuing inside as they attempted to hold down the only safe spot they had. Amid the chaos, Doc caught sight of the cloaked woman once more. She was just standing in the middle of the battlefield, all shots seemingly avoiding her. She was staring straight at Doc.
A huge explosion erupted on the western side of the bar, knocking everyone onto their backs. Doc wheezed and nearly choked on ash. She pushed herself up and rushed into the middle of the fray. The Mandalorian lay on the ground, unmoving. Doc grabbed under his arms and pulled him into the bar with Greef covering any oncoming gunfire. Cara helped Doc pull the Mandalorian onto a piece of fallen debris inside the bar. Smoke was everywhere. Doc could hardly see with the amount of soot in her eyes.
"We're gonna get you out of here," stated Doc, as though no other answer was acceptable. The Mandalorian's head rolled to face her.
She heard IG-11, Cara, and Greef talking about clearing the grate.
"I'm not gonna make it. Go." For the first time since they met, Doc heard fear in the Mandalorian's voice. She reached into her pockets and scrambled for med packs, but she was all out.
"Would you just shut up and let me help you," she said. "Besides, it's not that bad." She reached around to the base of his neck and felt a warm, sticky goo coat her fingers. When she pulled them back, they were crimson.
"Yeah, see? Not that bad." Her tone of voice betrayed her inner panic. She threw off her shawl and pressed it firmly to the back of his neck. She could feel pools of liquid soaking into the material and onto her hand. His helmet was getting in the way.
"I need to take this off," she said, putting a bloodied hand on the side of his helmet. His hand gripped hers with whatever strength he had left.
"You need to leave me," he said, his chest gasping wildly for air. "You make sure he's safe. That's what it's always been about. Here," he pulled off a charm from around his neck and wrapped it into Doc's hand. "Take this to the Mandalorian covert and show them that. Tell them Din Djarin sent you and that the foundling was in his protection. They'll help you."
Doc heard the clinking of the grate being opened beside them.
"Let's get moving!" said Greef.
"Let me have a warrior's death," pleaded the Mandalorian.
"I'm not leaving you."
"This is the Way."
Something inside Doc clicked into place. She couldn't look him in the face. She felt so much anger and frustration that she didn't flinch when the front door was burst down in a tornado of flames. The world around her was quiet, tranquil. Chaotic. She felt the pull of the Force as it guided her hand. She felt her own push against that pull.
And so the flames never touched them.
This is the Way. She had heard it a dozen times come from his mouth, and she hated it each time. It didn't have to be this way. There were millions of paths their lives could have taken and yet here they were. She felt a decade's worth of rejection, of bargaining, of resentment wash away. She wanted to change the way it was going to be. She pushed back against the flames with such a force it sent the trooper flying back into the streets.
"If you say 'this is the way' one more time," she said, looking back at him. "I'm going to lose my shit. Cara, Greef, IG - get the kid out of here. We'll follow behind you."
"What the –" began Cara, but Doc's intense glare made her think twice about arguing right now. IG-11 scooped up the child and the four of them disappeared into the sewers.
"You too, Nala," said Doc. "I need you to make sure they're okay." The dog whined before complying, following the rest of the team into the sewers. Doc turned her attention back to the Mandalorian.
"We need to have a talk after this," she said softly.
"This whole time..." he said.
"It's complicated," she tried to explain. "I'll explain everything later. Right now I just need you to relax."
She removed her shawl from his neck and let her fingers make contact with his skin and hair. She could feel the curls of his hair through the clumps and she gripped him firmly. She placed her other hand over his heart. His gloved hand snaked its way up and interlocked with her own.
She could feel the energy flowing from her body into his own. His pain dripped away into the oblivion, leaving nothing but the impression of near-death in its wake.
"Well, isn't this sweet." A voice behind Doc made her jump out of her skin. She spun her head around so fast it made her feel as though she would vomit. The cloaked woman stood in the doorway, face illuminated by the flames. Her black eyes peered relentlessly, outlined by a network of scars. She took a few steps forward. Doc could feel the dark energy emitting off her.
"Can you run?" murmured Doc as she dropped his necklace back into the palm of his hand.
"I think so."
Her hand trailed down to his thigh, eyes never leaving the figure. She began to undo the locks that kept the plate of beskar in place.
"I must say, I was rather surprised when I sensed your presence here," she continued with a twisted smile. "Two Force wielders for the price of one. The Masters will be quite pleased."
It was difficult for Doc to stay focused. So much of her energy had gone into healing the Mandalorian that the corners of her vision began to blackout. She could still feel the sting of the claw marks deep in her shoulder. She fumbled with the last lock and slid her finger under the plate.
"Kid's not for sale," growled Doc.
The woman clicked her tongue. "So much anger." She dropped her robe to reveal Doc's greatest fear: a lightsaber.
"Run." Everything happened in the blink of an eye. The Mandalorian made a beeline for the grate, expecting Doc to follow him, but she was too preoccupied. The woman had pulled out her saber and lunged for Doc. Doc held up the beskar plate in defense. The red saber clashed and sent red sparks flying.
"You're weak and you know it," seethed the woman. A blaster bolt went flying towards her, and she let go of her assault to deflect it. Doc saw the opportunity and scrambled from underneath her, pulling out her blaster and cranking the power output to overload. She threw it back behind her and tackled the Mandalorian into the grate before the explosion set off. It threw them into the tunnel, tumbling over one another. The Mandalorian held onto Doc's head and kept it tucked against his chest. The entrance was full of debris – enough to buy them some time.
"Here," said Doc as she sat up. She handed him his thigh plate. "I'm sorry I had to borrow that."
"Who was that?"
"I have no idea," Doc coughed. She tried to stand up. "But I don't care to stick around and find out."
"You weren't going to tell me you were like the kid?" He asked, helping to support her body weight with her good arm thrown around his shoulders.
"It's more complicated than that," she said, just trying to keep pace. "I wouldn't have been able to protect him. Not like how I was. And surely not how I am right now."
"Which is?"
"Weak."
They rounded a corner and saw the rest of the crew in the hallway. Cara helped take Doc's body weight.
"Do you know where we're going?" she asked.
"I don't know these tunnels," said the Mandalorian. "The compound entrance was on the street."
"We need to find the lava tunnels," said Greef. "They feed outside of town."
"Nala, go scout ahead," ordered Doc. The hound kicked off in a flash. They came around a corner and the Mandalorian grew stiff.
A pile of Mandalorian helmets lay in the center of the room. There must have been hundreds of them. The Mandalorian let go of Doc and crouched down to pick one up, staring wordlessly into the other visor.
"You go. Take the ship. I can't leave it this way," he said, still holding the helmet. His head snapped towards Greef. "Did you know about this? Is this your doing?!"
The Mandalorian squared up Greef. Greef put his hands up in defense.
"No, no! When you left the system and took the prize, the fighting ended and the hunters just melted away. You know how it is. They're mercenaries, not zealots."
"It was not his fault." A woman clad in golden Mandalorian armor emerged from the darkness. "We revealed ourselves. We knew what could happen if we left the convert. The Imperials arrived shortly thereafter and this is what resulted."
"Did any survive?" asked the Mandalorian.
"I hope so. Some may have escaped off-world."
Cara helped Doc sit down against the wall and handed her a spare blaster. Doc couldn't tear her eyes away from the pile of helmets. They were dark and void of any life. Everyone piled into the room the woman had appeared from and Doc caught bits of their conversation. Her head was feeling better, but man, did her body ache.
She heard them discuss the Child and his extraordinary abilities. The Mandalorian left out any information that may give away Doc's secrets. She heard the word Jedi being thrown around. It was a word she had long pushed back in her memories.
"You must reunite it with its own kind," explained the woman. Doc almost laughed. Reunite it with Jedi. She was familiar with the stories of the Jedi. Her mother had passed them on to her and her sisters.
The Jedi were dead.
"The woman in the hall – some of the fighters came back and gave a description of such a woman traveling with you and the foundling."
"She is..." began the Mandalorian. "My companion."
"Then the three of you are as one."
Doc could hear footsteps coming from both ends of the hallway. On her left emerged Nala, who barked as if to tell her to follow.
"I'd wrap it up in there," said Doc, pounding in the wall. "We've got company." Doc saw the white helmets of the stormtroopers crowd into the hall. She began firing and they fired back, forcing her to take cover in the crook of the wall. IG-11 came and assisted her, drawing their fire.
The Mandalorian rounded the corner and helped Doc up. They were running after Nala, following her down the corridors until they came upon another hatch. The Mandalorian twisted it open and everyone jumped down. IG-11 was the last one down and sealed them in.
They were in the lava tunnels. A ferry boat with a quiet droid sat at the tunnel entrance.
"The River has a flow. We just need to kick it off and it'll float on its own," said Doc.
"Looks old. Will it take the heat?"
"You got a better idea?" asked Greef. They all climbed into the boat. Cara and the Mandalorian kicked off the side and the ferry began to gently float down the river.
"Watch your feet. It's molten lava," said IG-11.
"No kidding," said Cara.
The ferry droid whizzed to life, beeping and whirring as its head spun around wildly.
"I believe he is asking where we would like to go," translated IG-11.
"Downriver to the lava flat," said Greef. The droid chirped and the ferry picked up speed.
Cara sighed in relief. "We're free."
"No," said the Mandalorian. "We're not. Stormtroopers – they're flanking the mouth of the tunnel. Looks like an entire platoon. They must know we're coming."
The Mandalorian turned to the ferry droid. "Stop the boat. Hey, droid, I said stop the boat!" The droid continued chirping. "Hey, I'm talking to you. I said stop!"
Greef Karga looked over the edge. "We're still moving. Looks like we'll have to fight."
"We can't take on a whole platoon," said Doc.
"Then what do you suggest?" asked Cara. "Because I can't surrender." Doc saw the fear in her eyes.
"They will not be satisfied with anything less than the child," said IG-11. He handed the Child over to Doc. "This is unacceptable. I will eliminate the enemy and you will escape."
"You don't have that kind of firepower, pal. You wouldn't even get to daylight."
"That is not my objective. I still have the security protocols from my manufacturer. If my designs are compromised, I must self-destruct. I can no longer carry this for you. Nor can I watch over the child." IG-11 took a jetpack off his back and handed it to the Mandalorian.
"Wait. You can't self-destruct. Your base command is to watch the child," said the Mandalorian. "That supersedes your manufacturer's protocol, right?"
"This is correct."
"Good. Now, grab a blaster and help us shoot our way out of here."
IG-11's head components swirled around. Doc looked down the tunnel and saw the daylight growing brighter.
"Victory through combat is impossible. We will be captured. The child will be lost. Sadly, there is no scenario where the child is saved in which I survive."
"No. We need you," started the Mandalorian.
"There is nothing to be sad about. I have never been alive."
"I'm not sad."
"Yes, you are. I'm a nurse droid. I've analyzed your voice."
IG-11 walked past the Mandalorian towards the front of the ship. He walked straight off the edge, feet engulfed by the lava. He started talking about the manufacturer's protocol and avoiding capture on repeat. Everyone else readied their blasters. Doc kept the Child close to her chest. As they neared the tunnel exit, IG-11 exploded, sending stormtroopers flying in every direction. Everyone fired their weapons at whoever was left standing. A TIE-fighter buzzed overhead, its blasts nearly hitting them. Everyone jumped off the ferry onto the bank of the river.
"It's Moff Gideon!" cried Greef.
"He missed!" shouted Cara. Doc could see the TIE-fighter coming back around for another hit.
"He won't next time. Our blasters are useless against him."
"Can't you or the baby do the magic hand thing?" called Greef to Doc. He turned and looked at the Child and wiggled his fingers. "Come on, baby! Do the magic hand thing." The Child just cooed and giggled in response.
"It doesn't work that way," said Doc. "I'm fresh out of ideas."
The Mandalorian stepped up. "I'm not."
Doc wasn't particularly sure when the Mandalorian got the jet pack. Her memories of the events of the last few hours were foggy at best. Had he always been able to fly? The Mandalorian soared through the sky like a bird. She could only catch glimpses of his armor flashing in the light as they continued their ground assault. Nala contributed, knocking down troopers left and right. The troopers retreated into the plains, wanting to live another day. The TIE-fighter came crashing down over the next ridge.
The Mandalorian flew down, nearly missing his step on the landing.
"That was impressive, Mando. Very impressive," said Greef. "The stormtroopers fled into the hills. I'm sure the local wildlife will take care of them. In the meantime, I'm thinking about staying around just to be sure."
"You're staying?" asked Doc, setting the Child down onto the ground.
"Nevarro is a very fine planet," defended Greef. "And now that the scum and villainy have been washed away, it's very respectable again."
"As a bounty hunter hive?" quipped the Mandalorian.
Greef stammered. "Some of my favorite people are bounty hunters. And perhaps, you specimen of soldiers would consider joining our ranks."
"Yeah, I've got some clerical concerns regarding my chain code," said Cara.
"Those clerical concerns will be the least of your worries should you choose to become my enforcer," said Greef. "Mando? Doc? Care to have your pick of quarries?"
"I think I'll have to pass," said Doc, stepping back and gripping onto her shoulder. "I've had enough bounty hunter excitement for today."
"Mando?"
The Child came over and tugged on Doc's and the Mandalorian's pant legs.
"We have more pressing matters at hand," said the Mandalorian, looking over at Doc. She gave him a half-smile. He leaned over and picked up the child off the ground.
"Take care of yourselves," said Greef. "You'll know where to find us."
Doc and the Mandalorian turned to leave. Nala frolicked ahead of them. The entrance to the city was not far from where the lava pit emptied. Doc walked over and got on a speeder.
"You should probably practice with that thing some more," she said, powering up the bike. Nala hopped on the back of her bike, teetering on the edge of falling off. "I'll see you back at the ship."
The Mandalorian jetted off with the child as Doc reared the speeder bike. It was remarkable how much land the bike could cover that had taken them days to traverse. Before she reached the ship, Doc stopped short and found Kuiil and his beloved blurrg's bodies. She pulled a shovel out of the side pocket of the speeder and began digging, grateful to find it was all solid rock buildup instead of lava. He was only a hundred yards shy of the ship, by the look of things.
She dug a hole big enough for him and his blurrg and pushed in the beast first before she gently lowered Kuiil down. The Mandalorian had offered to help, but she had just shooed him away. She piled rocks over the site and left his helmet and goggles on top to signify that this was his spot.
"I'm sorry I didn't get to make you that cup of tea, old man," she said, a small tear rolling down the side of her cheek. She quickly wiped it away. "Guess it'll just have to wait for the next life." She took off the bracelet that had kept track of their vitals and buried it into the ash before heading back inside the Razor Crest. The Mandalorian was waiting for her, watching from the top of the ramp. She stood at the bottom and looked up.
"I'm sorry," she said, shielding her eyes from the reflection of the setting sun off his helmet. "I'm sorry I lied."
"That scratch is going to get infected if you don't treat it soon," he said, stepping aside to let her pass. She smiled and stepped up into the Crest, Nala on her heels. The Mandalorian took care of the takeoff sequence while Doc tried to get a good look at the damage done in the reflection of a cabinet.
"Let me help you," said the Mandalorian, coming back down the ladder. He sat her down on one of the crates and unwrapped a bacta patch. He was struggling to keep the fabric of her shirt out of the way.
"Here," said Doc, taking the back of her shirt and pulling it up and over her neck. It left her back completely bare and exposed to him. He seemed a bit flustered at first.
"Like you've never seen someone naked before," said Doc. She pulled her long, sandy hair around to the front. The Mandalorian sat down on the crate and tentatively began applying bacta pads to her back. Doc's back arched in pain against the touch, and her knuckles turned white from gripping the side of the crate. What she didn't realize was how fixated the Mandalorian was on the tattoos that ran down the left side of her back from her arm to her leg.
"Allara," she said, as she turned back to him with a sigh.
"I'm sorry – what?"
"My name," she said. "I think it's fair if I know yours then you know mine, Din Djarin. My name is Allara."
She held out her hand and he shook it.
"Now, let's talk."