Kasari sits to the left of Mando holding tightly to the child as the Mandalorian avoids shots from the bounty hunter chasing them. He expertly evades the blasters, but the Razor Crest still takes a hit.
"Hand over the child, Mando." The bounty hunter says over the comms, "I might let you live."
Kasari grits her teeth, "Yeah right. He'd happily kill us all."
The Mandalorian continues to attempt to evade shots, but they take another hard hit. Kasari grunts with the impact, she tightens her arms, holding the child more securely. The child whimpers at the shaking of the ship.
The Mandalorian continues to fly, but the bounty hunter hits one of the engines, causing alarms to ring throughout the cockpit.
"Hold on." Mando says as he pulls back the controls and expertly maneuvers the ship away from the blaster shots.
"Come on." He says.
"I can bring you in warm or I can bring you in cold." The bounty hunter says.
Finally, Mando reverses the thrusters of the Razor Crest, hitting the ship behind them, and coming out free behind the bounty hunters ship.
He takes aim and shoots, "That's my line."
The ship disappears in a blast and Kasari can't help her exclamation of joy, "You did it!"
The Mandalorian tilts his head in her direction, "Was there any doubt?"
She laughs, "For a moment there, yeah. You even got to say a cool one liner before shooting him." She pauses, "Did he really steal your line?"
The Mandalorian stays quiet.
"Oh come on, Mando." She pitches her voice low, "I can bring you in hot or I can bring you in cold." She mimics.
"It's warm." He responds.
"Ha! So it really is your line. Do you say that to all your bounties?" She chuckles, "You have to say it a lot for them to be able to quote you like that."
He ignores her and continues piloting the now broken Razor Crest.
She sighs, "Alright, I'll let it go." She looks around the ship for a moment, listening to the alarms, "Are we gonna stop nearby for repairs?" She asks.
He nods his head, "We're losing fuel."
Just as he says that, the engine powers down and everything goes dark. The child giggles in her arms. The Mandalorian presses buttons and switches on his dash, turning around in his chair trying different things, but nothing is working.
He sighs and turns to Kasari, "Can you press the switch behind you?" He gestures to a big red switch, "It's the backup power."
She nods and flips the switch and some red lights come on. The Mandalorian flips a few more switches on his console and the systems start to return. The lights come back on and he starts moving towards the closest planet.
He turns on the transponder, "This is Mos Eisley Tower. We are tracking you." A voice says through the radio static, "Head for bay three-five, over."
"Copy that." Mando responds, "Locked in for three-five."
They make their way through the planet and land in the designated bay. The child fell asleep on the way and snuggles into Kasari's arms.
Mando looks at them for a moment and sighs, "Let's lay him down," he says, "we'll go talk to the mechanic together."
Kasari nods and they place the child carefully in the sleep chamber.
She turns to Mando once the door closes, "Can you afford repairs?" She asks.
He shakes his head, "I have some credits, but I may need to find work."
She nods her head in acceptance and they open the hangar and exit the ship. Three droids start making their way to the ship and the Mandalorian wastes no time giving them a warning shot.
Kasari chuckles, "You really hate droids."
He ignores her and puts away his gun as a woman calls out to them.
"Hey!" She says, clearly upset about Mando nearly shooting her droids. "Hey!"
She comes out of her office, "You damage one of my droids, you'll pay for it."
"Just keep them away from my ship." The Mandalorian says.
The woman, an older lady with curly brown hair looks up at the Razor Crest, "Yeah? You think that's a good idea, do ya?" She walks around, "Let's look at your ship."
Mando and Kasari follow her around as she starts banging on parts of the Razor Crest, "Oof! Look at that." She says.
She pulls out a scanner, "Ugh, you got a lot of carbon scorin' building up top." She keeps looking around, "Yeah. If I didn't know better, I'd think you were in a shootout."
Kasari smiles, this woman was amazing.
The woman looks back at them and then continues her look at the ship, "Special tool for that one." She sighs, "I am gonna have to rotate that." She calls back to them, "You got a fuel leak. Look at that, this is a mess. How did you even land?" She turns back to them, "That's gonna set you back."
"I've got 500 imperial credits," Mando says.
"That's all you got?" The mechanic says, taking the credits. She turns to her droids, "Well, what do you guys think?"
The droids chatter and the woman turns back to them, "That should at least cover the hangar."
The Mandalorian nods, "I'll get you your money." He says to her.
"Hmm. I've heard that before." She responds.
"You have our word." Kasari says.
The Mandalorian nods, "Just remember.."
"Yeah, no droids. I heard ya. You don't have to say it twice." The woman responds.
Mando nods and turns away, Kasari follows, but hears the woman's grumbling.
"Jeez. Womp rat." She murmurs and Kasari snorts.
"So, where are we going?" Kasari asks Mando.
"I'm going to find work. You are staying here with the kid." He responds.
Kasari grumbles but nods, "Yeah, okay. You're right. I'll stay here with him, but don't be too long."
The Mandalorian nods his head and leaves the port. Kasari sighs and turns back to the mechanic.
She walks over to her with a smile on her face, "Don't mind him." She says, pointing back to where the Mandalorian just was, "He's not much of a talker."
The woman chuckles and smiles at Kasari, "What's someone like you doing traveling with a Mandalorian?"
Kasari chuckles and crosses her arms over her chest casually, "We share the same priorities at the moment. I wasn't too happy about joining him at first, but he's not too bad once you get to know him."
The woman nods and holds out her hand to Kasari, "I'm Peli."
"Kasari," she responds as she shakes Peli's hand.
Just as they finish introductions, the hangar door opens on the Razor Crest and the kid walks out.
"Oh! You're awake." Kasari says as she goes straight to him and picks him up.
Peli looks at them confused, "The hell is that thing?" She asks.
Kasari chuckles, "We're not sure what species he is, but he's a kid."
"Your shared priority?" Peli asks.
Kasari nods, "Yeah. We're trying to keep him safe. It's harder than it looks actually." She smiles at Peli, "Would you like to hold him?"
Peli nods and carefully goes to grab the child, she holds him at arms length, "Let Peli take a good look at you." She says.
The child coos at her.
"All right, there you go." Peli says as she starts to hold the child closer.
Kasari smiles as Peli holds him close, "Alright. Now, would you two like some food?" Peli asks, then looks at the child, "Are you hungry?"
Kasari chuckles, "He's always hungry, and we would be extremely grateful for some food. Thank you."
Peli looks back at her, "So long as the Mandalorian pays, I don't care what you two may need."
Kasari snorts, "Fair enough."
They walk together into Peli's office as she talks to the child.
Peli turns to the droids, "Get us something to eat," she orders.
The droids chatter before heading off to do what she says.
Once inside, Peli hands the child back to Kasari and they chat while waiting for the Mandalorian to return.
"So is the kid yours, or his?" Peli asks.
Kasari shrugs, "He's not really either of ours. He ended up in both our hands around the same time and we agreed to protect him." Kasari sighs and looks at the child in her arms, "Really, he's neither of ours, but he's also both of ours. It's a complicated situation."
Peli nods, "And you and the Mandalorian? Are you together?"
Kasari laughs, "No, nothing like that. We're sticking together because we both refuse to leave the kid alone with the other." Her shoulders slump, "I'm not sure the Mandalorian likes me very much. Heck, I despised him the first time I saw him." She sighs, "Like I said, our situation is complicated."
Peli laughs, "Ain't it always?"
They laugh for a moment as a few droids come in with some food. Peli shoos them away and they start eating in relative silence. After the child eats he settles into Kasari's arms and falls asleep.
Kasari sits back in her chair and closes her eyes as Peli leaves the office for some repairs. She doesn't wake when Peli returns to the office.
Kasari and Peli wake with a jolt as the Mandalorian yells, "Hey!"
"I'm awake! I'm awake!" Peli startles.
Kasari settles back into her seat and soothes the child that woke up crying, "oh." She shushes him and rocks him as she stands up.
"Where are they?" She hears the Mandalorian yell.
Kasari sighs and looks at the child, "Looks like Mando's looking for us."
She smiles and exits the office, still soothing the child.
"We're right here Mando. We fell asleep in Peli's office. You woke us up." She accuses.
The Mandalorian sighs with relief and reaches for the child. Kasari happily hands him over and crosses her arms at him.
"Did you expect us to stay on the ship while you were gone?" She asks.
The Mandalorian gives her a look, "It's not safe for either of you to be out in the open."
Kasari rolls her eyes, "We clearly weren't out in the open if you couldn't find us 25 feet from the Razor Crest."
Peli comes out and chastises the Mandalorian, "You know, you have an awful lot to learn about raising a young one. You can't keep him locked up in your ship. Even when Kasari is with him. A child needs to stretch his legs and get fresh air."
"Anyway," Peli begins, "I started the repair on the fuel leak. I had a couple of setbacks I want to talk to you about." She starts messing with equipment. "You know, I didn't use any droids, as requested, so it took me a lot longer than I expected." The Mandalorian hands the child back to Kasari and heads into the Razer Crest. "But I figured you were good for the money since you have that little one." Peli says as the Mandalorian returns with his bag.
"Thank you." The Mandalorian says to her.
Kasari looks at the Mandalorian, "Did you find a job?"
He nods and they start walking out of the port. Peli following close behind.
"You know, it's costing me a lot of money to keep these droids even powered up." Peli says.
They make it outside and find a young man leaning against a speeder bike with another next to it.
"Hey, Mando, what do you think? Not too shabby, huh?" The man says.
Kasari looks at the man and then the two speeders, "Mando, where are you going?" She asks.
He sets his bag on the second speeder, "I got a bounty." He begins examining the speeder.
Kasari blinks, "Yeah, I figured, should I grab my bag?"
Mando shakes his head, "You're staying here with the kid."
Kasari shakes her head, "No, come on Mando. I proved to you on Sorgan that I can shoot a blaster, there's no reason for you to leave us behind."
He shakes his head, "This isn't an easy bounty. I'm not bringing you or the kid near the target. Stay here." He says.
He looks at the man after examining the bike, "What'd you expect?" The man says, "This ain't Corellia." He nods at Kasari, "Ma-am."
Kasari scoffs and the child coos, "You're seriously leaving us?"
Mando doesn't respond as he climbs onto the speeder.
"At least tell me how long you think you'll be gone." Kasari says as they start the bikes.
The Mandalorian sighs and turns to look at her for a moment, he lightly touches the child with his finger and then speaks, "If all goes right, a day or two at most."
Kasari sighs, but nods, "Okay. But be careful."
He hesitates for a moment, "If someone comes for you, you leave. Take the razor crest and go. Don't go into town, stay out of sight, and stay safe. There are extra blasters on the ship. Carry two with you at all times. Don't let the kid out of your sight."
Kasari swallows the lump in her throat, "We'll be fine. Just come back to us soon."
The Mandalorian nods and Kasari stands with Peli as they watch the speeders take off.
She turns to Peli and sighs, "I'm not a mechanic, but I know enough to be at least a little helpful, and I'm a quick learner. I'd be happy to help with the Razor Crest or any other projects you have."
Peli smiles at her as they head back into the port, "I'm sure I can put you to work somewhere."
They get started right away. Kasari helps where she can and follows Peli's directions and they're able to get things fixed much faster. The child plays with the droids while they work.
As the sky starts to darken, Peli turns to Kasari, "I can set you up for the night inside, or you can sleep in your ship." She says, "I'll feed you both before we tuck in."
Kasari smiles, "I appreciate that, thank you. It would be nice to stay inside if you have an extra bed. The Razor Crest doesn't have the best sleeping arrangements.
Peli laughs and they head inside for food and rest.
The next day consists of finishing the repairs and spending time with the child. They're able to get everything done quickly and Peli heads into town to replenish her supplies while Kasari stays behind with the child.
The Mandalorian hasn't returned yet, but when Kasari hears the telltale sound of a speeder arriving she jumps to head straight to the door with the child. Happy to see the Mandalorian back safe.
Kasari's smile falls as the door opens and the man that left with the Mandalorian comes in alone.
She looks at the man puzzled, "Where's Mando?" She asks.
Her hand hovers near one of the blasters as the man smiles at her, "One of our speeders got shot. He'll be here eventually. He had to find another ride."
The man pulls out his blaster and holds it loosely in his hand as he speaks, "I heard some interesting stuff about you and the Mandalorian." He aims the blaster at her and she lifts her free hand up in surrender, worried he may shoot them if she even tried to go for her blaster, "Something about a Mandalorian shooting up the guild on Nevarro. Taking two high priority targets with him. A woman and a little green thing."
Kasari glares at him, "Where's Mando?"
"I told you, he had to find another ride, but don't worry, I haven't killed him yet." He smiles and moves closer to her, "We're going to wait here for him together."
He keeps the blaster aimed at her as he walks closer and removes the blaster from her side. He tosses it away and moves behind her, keeping the gun to her head. Kasari thanks her luck for hiding a small blaster in her boot. At least she's not completely defenseless even with a gun to her head.
The man is clearly inexperienced with this kind of thing. If Kasari can get him to move the gun off her head, she may have a chance of taking him down. For now she remains quiet.
He moves them into the Razor Crest and has her sit with the child while he keeps the gun trained on her. Kasari keeps her breathing even as she listens to the man.
"How'd you find out about us?" Kasari asks.
The man chuckles, "The target your Mandalorian was helping me with told me about Nevarro. Said that taking down this Mandalorian would make me a legend in the guild. Bringing in the targets he stole, killing the man that shot up the guild, and taking his armor for myself? I had to go for it."
"Did you leave the target with the Mandalorian?" She asks.
"Nope. I shot her and left her to the sands of Tatooine. Mando was getting a new ride while I stayed with her. I left the moment she hit the sands." He finishes.
Kasari scoffs, "You're despicable."
He shrugs from behind her, "The Mando is my ticket into the guild. You're just collateral damage."
Kasari snorts, "You clearly have no idea why the child and I are targets, do you?"
"Don't know. Don't really care." He responds.
They stay there in silence while the sky darkens and they wait for the Mandalorian to return. Eventually they hear him come in.
The man shoves Kasari to her feet, but not before she slips the blaster from her boot and hides it in her sleeve. The blaster stays trained on her.
The droids run around and hide as the Mandalorian comes in and looks around. The man tells her to keep her mouth shut, so she does, not wanting to test his trigger discipline.
"Took you long enough, Mando." The man calls from behind her.
He pushes her to walk with the gun to her back and the Mandalorian finally sees them in the hangar of the Razor Crest. Mando holds his blaster aimed at the man as he continues to speak.
"Looks like I'm calling the shots now. Huh, partner?" The man says, "Drop your blaster and raise 'em."
The Mandalorian eyes the child and Kasari, but complies to the orders. He places his blaster on the ground and places his hands behind his head.
The man takes the child from Kasari's grip, places cuffs in her hand, and forces her forward, "Cuff him," he says.
"You're a guild traitor, Mando." The man says.
Kasari moves towards the Mandalorian, moves behind him with the cuffs and notices a flash charge in his hand.
Kasari hides her smile as the man keeps talking, "And I know these two are the targets you helped escape."
Kasari whispers to the Mandalorian, pretending to use the cuffs, "I'm glad you're okay."
"Fennec was right. Bringing you in won't just make me a member of the guild. It'll make me legendary." The man says as he points the gun right at Mando.
Kasari closes her eyes as the Mandalorian presses the flash charge, blinding the man and pulling her with him to hide. The man shoots blindly as the Mandalorian stands, aiming his own blaster at him. Kasari smiles, holding her blaster from her boot in her hand, waiting to see if the Mandalorian will need her. She doesn't dare shoot while the man holds the child.
The Mandalorian has no qualms with it though, clearly having a much better aim than Kasari, and he shoots the man off the ramp to the ship. Kasari gasps as the man falls with the child in his arms. She hurries to run to him and the Mandalorian makes his way to them as well.
"Stay back." He tells her.
She ignores him, "I have to get the kid, Mando!"
They make it to the man and Mando pushes him over and they find the kid nowhere near him.
"Where is he?" Kasari asks, panicked.
They both look around frantically and sigh in relief as the child babbles at them and comes out of his nearby hiding place.
Kasari smiles, her eyes watery from her worry, "There you are, kid." She picks him up, "Oh, I'm so happy you're safe."
She holds him close, checking him over for any injury, "Thank heavens you're safe." She hugs him, "I'm so sorry he took you from me."
The child coos at her as Mando comes up behind Kasari and places his own hand on the child. Confirming his safety. He sighs in relief and then checks over Kasari.
"Did he hurt you at all?" He asks her.
She shakes her head, "No, just shoved me a bit."
The Mandalorian hums, "Where's the blasters I told you to have on you?"
Kasari sighs, "I put the one he didn't find back in my boot, I would've used it if I needed to, but I was waiting on a safe opening. Thankfully you came, so I didn't have to test my aim. My other blaster is somewhere over there," She points.
The Mandalorian nods, "And the mechanic?"
Kasari smiles, "She went into the town for supplies. She either got lost on her way back, or got into some gambling. She kept trying to get me to gamble with her, but as I have no credits to my name, I kept turning her down. She has a bit of a problem." She chuckles.
"You stayed here?" He asks.
"That is what you asked me to do." She responds.
He sighs and places a hand on her shoulder for a moment before heading to the mans body. He searches him for a while before grabbing a bag of credits.
"This should pay for the repairs," he says as he stands.
Kasari smiles, "He ruined your bounty, huh?"
The Mandalorian nods and takes the child from her. They sit around for a while before Peli comes back.
"Mando! You're back." She calls, coming into the port. She pauses when she sees the body and sighs.
She looks at Mando, "I take it you didn't get paid then?"
The Mandalorian reaches for his belt and grabs the pouch he took off the man.
He dumps the contents into her hands, "That cover me?"
Peli's eyes widen, "Yeah. Yes, this is gonna cover you."
She nods at them as the Mandalorian turns to head into the ship.
Kasari looks at Peli and smiles at her, "Thank you." She says.
Peli smiles back, "Don't mention it. You take care of those two."
Kasari nods and enters the Razor Crest.
"All right, Pit Droids!" Peli calls, "Let's drag this outta here."
Kasari chuckles as she makes her way into the cockpit. She settles into her seat as the Mandalorian checks his systems with the child in his lap. He closes the hangar door and takes the Razor Crest into the sky.
Kasari sighs as they make it into space, she rolls her shoulders and smiles at the Mandalorian in front of her.
"Do you want to talk about what happened out there?" She asks.
"No" He responds.
Kasari huffs, "From what I can tell, your bounty got into the guys head, he got greedy for title, decided to shoot the bounty, and come after you instead."
The Mandalorian hums in acknowledgment.
"He didn't even know who wanted us, or why. He was just planning to take us to the guild and let anyone take us." She says.
"He wasn't going to take you anywhere." The Mandalorian says.
Kasari sighs, "That's not the point."
The Mandalorian turns around, "Why don't you get some sleep? We have a long trip ahead of us."
Kasari shakes her head, "You should be the one to get some rest. I'll keep an eye on things up here."
The Mandalorian sighs, "We can both sleep. The systems will alert us if anything happens."
Kasari nods, "Okay."
The Mandalorian stands and brings the child with him to the Hangar. Kasari follows behind.
"You can take the sleeper with the kid. I'll set up a bedroll out here." The Mandalorian says, handing her the sleeping child.
Kasari smiles but shakes her head, "It's your ship, Mando. I'm fine sleeping out here."
The Mandalorian ignores her, setting up his bedroll on the floor of the hangar. Kasari sighs, places the child comfortably in the sleeper, and retrieves her own bedroll. She sets it up on the floor not far from the Mandalorian.
"What are you doing?" He asks her.
She shrugs, "Just getting ready to sleep."
The Mandalorian sighs, "Take the sleeper, Kas."
She shakes her head, "I told you, I'm fine sleeping out here. You take the sleeper."
The Mandalorian sighs again and settles into his bedroll on the floor. Kasari does the same and they lay there in silence for a moment.
She sighs and steels her nerves, here goes nothing, she turns to him and blurts, "I want you to train me, Mando."
"Train you?" He asks turning to face her.
She nods, "I know a lot about science and the force, and how to clone people, but I know very little about ships, guns, and bounty hunting. Peli taught me some mechanical skills while I was with her, so I can help in that sense a bit more now, but I want to be a better fighter. I want to be able to confidently shoot down a man that's aiming a blaster at my head. I don't want you to have to protect me in addition to protecting the kid." She lets out a breath, "I want to protect the kid too."
He studies her for a moment before responding, "You can handle a gun already."
She snorts, "I can shoot a gun, yes, but I'm nowhere near as good as you. I can't trust myself not to miss when it counts."
"All you need is practice." He responds.
She sighs, "I understand if you don't want to train me, but I want to learn more than just shooting a blaster. Like, how do I get out of a hold when someone grabs me? How do I fight hand-to-hand? I want to help you with your work, and in order to do that, I need to be trained."
There's a long moment of silence before Kasari huffs and turns her back to the Mandalorian, "I'm sorry for asking. I'll figure it out on my own."
The silence continues for a moment longer before the Mandalorian speaks, "I'll train you." He says.
Her eyes widen and she turns back to look at him, "You will?"
He nods, "But if you want to help me on bounties, we need to get you some form of armor."
She smiles at him wide, "Thank you."
He nods, "This is the Way."
She smiles softly as he turns his head to look up at the roof of the Razor Crest. She burrows into her bedroll and falls asleep facing the Mandalorian.