Chapter Four: The Hunt and the New Comrades:

Din didn't fall down into bed though. First, she actually picked up each piece of armor and clean and polished each piece until it shone and no longer smelled of Sulphur. She took her clothes and left them in the sonic shower downstairs and brought the clean garments up the ladder to put away in the chest. Once that was done, she climbed back down the ladder to open the special valve that would warm her bed up. She filled the slow-cooker with frozen casserole-like dish that would be her breakfast for when she woke up again, adding enough water to cover the bottom of the cooker. Then she went back up the ladder to her bed. Right now, she was still a little warm from Nevarro, but she knew that soon enough, she would be shivering. It had been a long day, productive and interesting, but still long. She fell asleep once again, under the covers, between one deep breath and another.

~/~

Reviews: Thank you for the questions:

There were a couple of questions from Clare Prime of Ultra:

"So the Covert is coming? Yay! Will Din break it to that Nurse that 'He' is a She? IS this how she meets Qin from Episode 6? That's kinda neat but a little late. I though she met him in her teenage years. Either way, I am hooked!"

~ The Covert will be coming; they are just not for a while. As for Din breaking it to the Nurse: not exactly. As for Qin being met a little late – not really. She knows Qin already; she did run with the group for a few months while she was helping the Rebellion before she saw what kinds of jobs, they were looking at doing. She got out before it got too dark, she wanted to retain her honor, but this is alluding to the supposed betrayal that Mando did to Qin.

Now on with the Journey: In a galaxy far, far away…

It was sometime later – hours later – that Din woke. She had dreamed again, a more peaceful one than the last. Of times gone by, of family and friends long gone onto the Great March. It made her heart ache. Sighing, she levered herself out of her comfortable bed and shivered a little. She had forgotten what extreme temperature differences could do to a person. A planet like Nevarro could wreak havoc on her internal thermostat for a whole week, if she wasn't careful.

Stretching, she made her way down to the lower deck, where her breakfast was waiting for her. The casserole-like dish actually comprised of spiced up mash that had on the top most layer, spicy sausage, peppers and cheese. It was delicious to have, spicy enough for herself and warming for someone who just wanted to go snuggling back up in the bed. She couldn't rest though, she had work to do.

As she ate, she had the bounty puck play the information that it had available. Not much in the way of background, but it was enough to tell her exactly who was the bounty. An old friend. Qin the Twi'lek used to be comrade of hers, before the group that she had run with for a time had gotten more jobs that were Imperial-like. The job on Alzoc III had been the last shot for her. Qin and his sister Qi'an were both crazy nuts. The only one left alive from the former group that she was aware of still living, was Ran. The rest probably found out the hard way, why she had left when she had.

As the information played out about the charges, she shook her head in disgust. Qin hadn't changed one bit it seemed. Always had been and probably until the end of his days, be a treacherous little amoeba-slug that was born on a dead TomTom.

She finished her food and turned the puck off. The tracking fob was still on the pouch. Din put the dishes into the sink and started it. Going over to her computer storage, she saw that the download was complete. In the week to come, she would look into all the information she had acquired. Some she would no doubt sell to the nearest information broker, others though, she would keep to herself. Din had no intention of letting some of the information too classified out in the open yet.

She went back up to her personal quarters to get her training tools and change into a body suit. The sleepwear wasn't designed for training in mind. Din would do this training almost every waking cycle while she was in hyperspace. The longer the journey, the longer she would train. By the time she got out of hyperspace and was down on a planet, she would feel ready to run a Rebel Caper again. She carried the tools down and began to sort them. The specialized weighted harnesses actually tripled gravity on her, while the heavy blunted weapons would be just as heavy. Well after she triggered them of course.

She first donned the weighted harness. It was mostly circuit boards, magnets and straps, didn't look like anything anyone would assume was anything other than some weird full-body weapons harness crossed with a mesh tunic. It went over her entire torso down to her knees and extended down to her wrists. The thing could be voice activated and had a built-in heath monitoring system. It wouldn't do for her to die because she over used this equipment. It was also one of the last things her and her Buir had worked on together, before he died.

Din closed her eyes and wrenched her mind from that depressing line of thoughts. Maybe one day, she could think of her adopted father without feeling like screaming to the stars in anguish and massacring anything that even looked Imperial, without being in meditation. But that day wasn't today and she knew that he would scold her for wasting valuable training time with thoughts that wouldn't help her focus.

"Oya," the ancient word of Mando'a and a flick of turning the power on, was the start of her training that cycle. For two hours, she stretched, did calisthenics and gymnastics. There wasn't enough room to run, but constant pace-sprinting would do in a pinch. The next two hours saw she refamiliarizing herself slowly with every weapon she didn't regularly use: the kad [sword], the bes'bev [the Mandalorian War Flute], and what her Buir had affectionately called "the Dinuir Haran Redalur" [Almost Literally: Give Them Hell Dance].

That martial stance had only ever been used a couple of times in combat and only once with witnesses. It had been one of the closest calls during her time with the Rebellion. Almost all her comrades were too wounded to either fight or flee from the oncoming Storm Troopers. A surprise ambush on some back-water planet during a supply run. She could have run with a few others, but it was not her Way to abandon even comrades who doubted her like they had. The squad of had watched with stunned amazement as she ripped through the Stormtroopers like they were standing still. The blaster fire never seemed to touch her. They couldn't lay a hand on her. And when she added the beskad of her Buir, the sixty Troopers seemed go down in a blink or two. It was also the only times she would really use her trump card in combat, as subtle as possible. It wouldn't have done to be known as a Force-user. The squad-mates that were able to survive their injuries treated her from then on with fearful respect and never spoke in detail about the fight – or she never heard any rumors suggesting that they had.

"Sha'kajir," she gasped. That command was for taking the extra-gravity off, lightening her to the point that she felt that she could float. Translated into Basic it meant Truce or cease-fire. Flicking the power off and laying aside the weapons and the harness, she went through a cool-off workout that included stretching and gymnastics that allowed her to stretch parts of her body that would tighten up if she wasn't careful. Din heard her stomach growl slightly. She knew from experience that eating right now, would not go over well with her body just yet.

So, Din ignored her hunger for the moment and gathered up the training supplies. She carried them up to her personal quarters to store them away. Din hopped into the sonic shower, clothes and all and let the thing clean her up. If she didn't have to, she would subject herself to a chill that would happen if she trained to the point she sweated in space. It only took a minute or so, before Din was walking out of the shower and making her way back down to the lower deck. On the way, though, she scooped up the data-pad that had been attached to her stand-alone in her room and her belt that still held her pouches and blasters. Din carried them down the ladder and activated the table and the bench-chair beside it. Setting the belt and data-pad down on the bench, she activated one of the table's main settings, on a hidden part just where the table was attached to the wall. There a cord ran to her big computer on the lower deck, through the ceiling, so she could actually read the information while sitting down doing something else. She usually didn't have to do this. Most of the time, the information that she had available for her Hunts could fit on a holo-disk. Now, though she had to go through two data-chip blocks. That could take more than the week she had getting to Qin.

'Well,' she thought to herself as she got up to get something to appease her stomach – which was now feeling like it was yanking on her spine. The mental image of her stomach pulling at her spine like a Noble Lady ringing a bell-pull, with her brain the ever patient, ever-put-upon butler; it nearly made her choke with laughter. 'might as well serve double duty: serve the ravenous lady and look at the information from the blocks.'

The meal turned into a dish of meat – that tasted like venison – with a kind of bean and oil dressing over a heaping pile of greens; with a jar of water. Din ate as she read. There was some information she skimmed and marked as 'Archive – Useful Junk?', because there was no interest to her there. It was mostly schematics for the facilities themselves. There were some nuggets of information though. Some that actually be of worth later on.

She finished her meal and put the dishes by the sink. – It still had clean dishes from earlier in it – and began to put up said-clean dishes. Putting the dirty dishes in, she decided not to start it yet. Din was still working on that jar of water after all. So, she went back to looking at the information.

The Imperial installations turned out to be important in only one way. It had been set up only two standard years before the Fall and had been part of a plan to set up a colony – and bases – on the planet below. The plan had never come to fruition, according to the reports. While the planet could sustain life and did, and had tons of natural resources to be harvested; the Imperials were being distracted by the Rebellion and in-fighting too much. So, projects like these simply fell by the wayside and most of the men were withdrawn to work on other "worthy" projects, until a more peaceful time. The ones that had remained – at least the officers – were those that had somehow pissed off a superior officer in some minor way. Din would see if the personnel files included that.

When she pulled up the personnel files, she was surprised that they included pictures for the Stormtroopers. She knew that the Stormtroopers had been made up of clones, but she had no idea that there were so many types being used. As she looked at them though, she saw that there were parts of their disciplinary and medical records that didn't make sense. Din looked at them and couldn't quite piece it together. Something was there in between the words put into reports. They were vague, not specific at all. Whatever it was, it slowly put her hackles up. Something was really rotten here; she didn't know if it was just generic Imperial stench or if it was something else even worse. The officers' files had her wrinkling her nose in disgust. One – the one she had caught sleeping – was an abusive bastard to his troops and coworkers and had actually been demoted on the charge of disorderly conduct. Imperial Code for a drunkard who showed his ass to the wrong person. The other was a lazy somebody who had cost a group of fellow officers personally some credits in an unbecoming pastime. In other words, a gambler who lost big time.

Din shrugged and put the Officer's files in the 'Archive – Dead Meat', the Stormtroopers she put in the 'Archive – Mystery'. That archive was a little bigger than she liked. Some of the things she had seen even before the Rebellion – even before that Night – didn't make sense, didn't Feel right. The next bit of file she pulled up was communication files. That was where she struck another mystery. She knew that the Empire wasn't as gone as it seemed to be, but the communication files showed that it wasn't even hiding the fact that is still existed. There were more communication going on in the span of last standard year, than there was before the Fall of the Empire. Those files gave coordinates as to where they went. She didn't think she would have the time to read those right now. She had a whole week. But the coordinates, those she put in a list format.

This was when she pulled out the data-pad that she had gotten from the New Republic, to see if there were some matching coordinates. And there was, quite a few. About ten percent of the locations on the data-pad matched the list completely. Those Din marked to review, first. Closing off the table-top's holo-disks, she got up and unplugged the attachment from computer to table. That deactivated the connection and allowed her to turn off the big computer. 'There were no locations on the way to Qin, but if I take another scenic route on the return, I could take on a supposed abandon factory. If I do, I will need to refuel before I take off for the return flight.'

Din put the refueling station and storage facility that had been taken care of into the Archived part on the data pad. 'Two down, a galaxy to go,' she smirked to herself. When she looked up the alarm and saw that she had a few more days left in traveling time before she even got to the planet Qin was on, she decided that she would eat another meal. Another meal, that was a quick ration soup supplemented with some frozen spices and vegetables, under her belt; Din decided to practice using the trump card until she went for another sleep cycle.

Putting the dishes in the now-full sink, she started the sonic function to start cleaning them; then putting away the bench-chair and table, she made it a clear space. With everything put up, she went up to the personal quarters. Changing into sleep clothes and laying the body suit out, she snuggled into the bed-nest. Laying out flat, she folded her hands over her heart. Breathing in deeply, then out, she started working on the mirror-diamond state.

The Mirror-Diamond state was a mental shielding technique that allowed any stupid darjetii to come looking for her and never find her. It was two-phase technique. The first part a series of mirrors, shaped in a way to reflect what was around her physically and metaphysically. The second part is to make them as multi-faceted as a diamond and just as hard. She had been practicing this technique for years after she witnessed a phenomenal event, where a crystal seemed to vanish in thin air. Din had looked around it and finally had to touch it, for her to believe that the crystal was still there and not somehow somewhere else.

Back then, she had still had her Buir, crippled as he was from that Night, and it was he that helped her create this state from the inspiration that the crystal gave her. Din had Felt the Searcher before, had Felt them come closer to finding her and had been frightened near out of her wits. Her Buir, who knew more about the Lore of Mandolore than most other Mandalorians, insisted she master a technique to hide herself from the Searcher. He had told her of the darjetii that seemed to be in the shadows – if not also out in the open – manipulating things so that the Mandalorians could be their tools. She could hear in this state his lecture on such things: "The darjetii are called the Sith by aruetiise. They are an ancient evil that has been around before even the Old Republic. Before the first of those who would become the first Mando'ade first came to Mandalore, the Sith had already started their campaign to control and use us. Their enemies, the jetii – an order of powerful sorcerers – would become our enemies. There were some among the jetii who were honorable though. One Mando'ade actually became a jetii, before coming back home to Mandalore…"

The memory of that lecture, as he taught her how to do the first steps of meditation, led her down into dreams of training with her Buir, everything from hunting to weaving to forging to cooking to the most important – from a Mandalorian's perspective – art of fighting and war. Here, in her dreams, she could relive life with her Buir, her vod, and even her biological parents. Here, in the sanctity of her mind, she performed the Ritual of Remembrance and just before entering Deep Sleep, she would Echo out into the Void: Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum ner cyare'se. {Translation: I'm still alive, but you are dead. I remember you, so you are eternal, my loved ones.}

And so, the week passed, a small routine that would happen every time she went into Hyperspace for an extended period of time. The only things that Din did that was an exception to the routine was fabricate a holster for newly modified disrupter blaster and contact the Jawas on that second day. She apologized for not getting back with them sooner, but she was on the Hunt again. She explained that while she might not be able to meet them on Nevarro anytime soon, she would be going by an old Imperial factory that was supposed to be abandoned. Din expressed the knowledge that she didn't yet know if the was true or not, but asked if the Jawas wished to meet her there instead. Din sent the message along with the coordinates for her newest Imperial target. For the rest of the time, it was the routine of practicing, studying, eating and sleeping.

[The Planet]

It had been near the beginning of her waking cycle and drawing down to sunset on the surface, when Din landed in a hangar as close to the outskirts as she could manage. Telling the mechanic on duty that she only needed a refuel and he was to keep any droids away from her ship. Din handed over two-thousand credits and said, "There will be an extra thousand, if you are done by the time, I come back." With that she strode out the main hangar door. She knew that he was startled by the abruptness, but she wanted to get in and get out fast. Din also knew, that he would do as she had told him to, as he would want that extra thousand.

When she exited the hangar, she pulled the tracking fob out and looked at it. Holding it out, she rotated in a half circle slowly. Following the slightly faster beat, she put it back into her belt and began to stride down the near empty street. Din was on the lookout, because even without the fob, she could tell you where Qin liked to hang out. She headed for the closest Twi'lek healing baths. Some of them, doubled as exotic dance clubs, where the dancers performed all kinds of dances.

The fob allowed her to rule out the first one. That one was a legitimate establishment. The second one though, that one had the fob beeping so loud, she could swear that the occupants could hear the thing inside. When she looked around for a second entrance, she found it in the alley just ahead of her. Din knew Qin always went armed, she wanted to do this with minimum bloodshed.

Well, she had, until she saw who were dancing in the cages on the off stages. Then she damn near saw red. Slaves, Twi'lek slaves that looked to be teenagers, with barely anything on. Two females and a male. The pale-green little female had sparkling points on her face and there were welts on her back freshly bleeding. That. Was. IT!

Before her rage could overtake her, she reigned back in and made sure to spot her Prey first. There he was, eyeing the center-stage dancer, a red-skinned and tattooed Twi'lek female. Her disgust for him, high as it was, just left the atmosphere. The purple pig was drooling.

Din didn't care about giving honorable warning to prey like this. They weren't worth the effort. She moved. Qin didn't have any warning. She shocked him unconscious before he even realized there was someone behind him. The musicians playing in a corner halted mid-note, the dancers all stopped. There were about twenty or so patrons in the place. A hush fell on the room.

An overweight Twi'lek with dark purple skin stomped in from where the front would be and barked, "Whose causing trouble in here?" All the patrons were looking at me, while I was looking at the fat one. He saw me and his eyes widened. "You the Proprietor?" Din asked as calmly as she could. He nodded sharply. "Good." With a near blurred motion, her hand, which at first had been going for the cuffs to put on Qin, instead went to the newly modified disruptor blaster at the small of her back. Drawing it fast, she fired one shot, hitting the bastard right in the mouth. He vanished in a swirl of sparks and an echoing scream.

All the patrons pulled back from her, where she still loomed over the slightly toasted Qin. Din looked up at the trembling Twi'lek on the stage. "Do you have access to the keys?" she tilted her head slightly in the direction of the caged teenagers, who were huddling as far from me as they could. The Twi'lek on-stage gulped, nodded and skittered off stage to get them out of the former Proprieter's clothes.

Din got the cuffs out and put them on Qin's limp wrists, securing his arms behind his back. The woman had found the keys and with Din's order to open the cages, did so with haste. The teenaged Twi'lek still huddled in the corners, eyes wide with fright. The older dancer said something to them too softly for Din's helmet to pick up, but whatever it was, was enough to get the trio out of their cages and onto the floor.

Din focused on the other patrons and the musicians who were stiff as carbonite statues, too petrified to move. "Will anyone of you say anything to anyone about this?" A mass headshake was her only answer. "Good. Now scram." There was a stampede out the various doors, mostly side entrances. She turned back to the red-skinned Twi'lek and the three youngsters. Her voice seemed to lose whatever edge of anger she had used on the Patrons and Proprietor, "Will you be safe here?" The quartet looked startled and the youngsters looked at the elder of the group. She shook her head and said, "I may be, but these three will not. They were orphaned slaves from the former Jabba the Hutt's crime empire. They were bought a few years ago and brought here."

Din thought it over, then "Gather your things, now," she ordered. The youngsters ran for behind the stage, no doubt where the slaves were kept. Din looked at the woman, who looked tearfully resigned. She begged, "Please don't take them away from me. They are the only people who I care for here. The others," she took a deep breath, "the others that were here are gone, one way or another." She might have continued to plead with Din, if Din hadn't interrupted her with a "That order was for you, too." The hope that shone from her eyes, made Din's heart ache for the woman. She was probably a slave too. It didn't matter that the New Republic was trying to stamp out slavery where they could find it, but Din knew as with all bureaucracy, it would take a lot of time, before it was even driven completely underground and beyond the Middle Rim. To what it was like during the Old Republic.

While the former slaves gathered their things, Din found another set of keys in the former Proprietor's garments. She opened the door that the Proprietor had come from, to find an obnoxiously decorated office. There were some real valuables in it though. Those could go to the former slaves for helping them on their way. She looked at the computer console. Opening it up, she found something that looked legitimate, but if you read between the lines, you would be able to tell that this "Twi'lek Healing Baths" establishment was part of a prostitution ring.

Din began taking snap shots from her helmet to look over later. It might help her in the long run someday. That took about as much time as it took the four Twi'lek to come out from behind the stage, each carrying a bag and with actual clothes on, even the little green-skinned teen with welts on her back. That wouldn't do, the injuries that is.

Din withdrew from her medicine pouch, a specialized bacta spray and tossed it to the woman. As she caught it, Din gestured to the younglings, she said, "Treat the wounds with that. It is a bacta spray. After that, come help me strip this office," turning back to the task at hand, she began opening chests. The two teenagers that weren't freshly wounded, shyly approached to help. They flinched a little when she made a sudden move to them, but she ignored it for now.

She never touched them, she would only hand them things. After a few minutes, the other two joined them and in ten minutes, the office was striped of anything valuable. Din returned and for good measure shocked Qin again. He wouldn't be waking before she put him in carbonite. He'd wake up feeling like shit only to be facing the New Republic. Turning to the four Twi'lek who were shifting from foot to foot, all watching her, Din told them, "I have to turn in this scum to the Bounty Hunters Guild. I will give you a lift off planet. I have to make one other stop before Nevarro. Will you follow me?" She lifted Qin onto her shoulder as if he weighed nothing. The oldest Twi'lek looked at her and said, "You really are a Mandalorian. We will follow you."

Din didn't wait for another moment, she walked out the side entrance. She led them through as many back alleys as she could, thanking her sense of direction, as the small group made it back to the hangar where the Razor Crest was, with very little sighting of other people. Knowing what she did about security and police forces though, she wasn't going to dawdle. Opening the hatch remotely, startling the mechanic who had been detaching the fuel pipe going into her hull, she smiled. Quick man.

She ushered the quartet up into the ship and gestured for the mechanic to wait a moment. Din took Qin off her shoulder and shoved him in the carbonite freezer. Going off the ship to approach the mechanic, she saw that he was staring at her. Handing over two thousand instead of the promised one, Din simply said, "For your silence." And returned to her ship. Din wanted to get off planet as soon as possible. The carbonite freezer was done and Qin was completely secured. The four now-passengers stared at the slab with a kind of horror. Let them, she needed to start the ship.

Din climbed up into the cockpit and began the take off process. In a couple of minutes, they were leaving the atmosphere. Setting in the coordinates for the newest Imperial target, she started the calculations. Four minutes later, the blue whirling of Hyperspace surrounded her once more. The alarm said it would be half a day before they reached their next destination.

She nodded in satisfaction and made her way back down to the lower deck. Din ignored the four Twi'lek for now and instead went over to Qin. She took the slab and hung it on the rack made for such things. Turning, she walked over to the stove. Turning it on, she began to gather the ingredients to make a bigger portion of stew than usual. After all, she snorted mentally, she was feeding five instead of one – or two, in the case of innocent bounties on board as she started a second pot. This one of a grain that was filling and cooked well with water. Din would have made soup, but she didn't have enough bowls for that. Stew with the rice would be thick enough to be served on a plate as well as a bowl.

As the savory smells wafted through the silent lower deck, she heard stomachs growl. She didn't turn to look, but she thought that the young male was shifting nervously from foot to foot again. Only when the stew was starting to boil and the rice had been put on a less heated part of the stove top to cook the rest of the way, did she turn to the Twi'lek. The green-one was hiding behind the woman while both the deep-gold colored female and male looked at her with a little nervousness still in their features. Din looked at them and crossed to the old medical unit. She opened the door-hatch to reveal it. Gesturing inside, she said "There is more bacta in there for wounds still untreated. And blankets." Walking over to the hatch that led to the restroom on this deck, Din told them about what was in it, as well.

Looking over at the group, she said "You might want to move." That was when she activated the table and bench-chair. The chair that usually had prisoners, who she didn't freeze in carbonite, swiveled sideways to face the table. The Twi'lek had backed away from the table and seating with surprised looks. Din then opened her storage unit that held her camping supplies. A collapsible chair added enough seating for everyone to fit comfortably at the table. Might as well discuss what the former slaves wanted to do with their lives, where they wanted to go. The stew would take a little while longer.

Din looked at the oldest and gestured her to sit. She did. "The food won't be ready for a time, so we may as well discuss what you wish to do." The red-skinned woman looked startled. 'Why is it,' Din thought to herself in exasperation, 'that everyone seems surprised by me?' The woman seemed to shake her thoughts loose and said, "You should first know our names. I am Jiljoo'ame. The boy is Bril'ablen and his sister is Seela'ablen. The little one is Nima'ahan. They do not wish to be dancers, neither do I, not anymore. I don't know anything else though, so if I must, I will continue to dance."

She gazed at Jiljoo'ame for a long moment as her thoughts raced in a score of different directions. Din looked over at the three youngsters, hovering in the background. "What do you wish to do with your lives?" They looked startled and shrugged helplessly. The young man – Bril'ablen – said hesitatingly, "I would like to fly a star-ship," while his sister said almost too softly to heard, "I would like to stay with my brother." The pale-green youngster – Nima'ahan said nothing, but instead clutched at Jiljoo'ame's sleeve. A plan – not fully formed came to Din then – a way for each of them to get what they wanted, keep them protected, cash-in one of the many favors owed to her by a New Republican contact, and establish a legitimate line of investing for her almost innumerable accounts across the galaxy.

Din got up slowly and went over to the stove. The stew, when stirred, showed it was almost done, just needed a few more minutes to make doubly sure it was safe to eat. After that was done, Din turned to the group that looked nervous. "I may have a solution for all those desires," taking a data-chip from her pouch – she always kept a few on her to give out her contact information to those she felt would need it, use it and keep it secret – and held it out to Jiljoo'ame. As the Twi'lek took it, Din continued, "There is a New Republican officer who owes me quite the favor. I have no true need of it myself, but I need to cash in on it, while I still know where he is stationed. Right now, he is stationed on the planet, Naboo," here she pointedly looks at the sibling pair, "Part of his command is a courier system. There you can fly almost all the time, but if you find that space flying isn't for you and flying still is, Naboo has plenty of opportunities for such flyers. Your sister can remain with you as a co-pilot or just a companion for the journey to help keep things on track."

Turning just as pointedly to Jiljoo'ame and Nima'ahan, "You may not wish to do exotic dances, but would you be willing to teach how to do such dances? Other dances you know? If not, can you teach stretches and help with massages?" Jiljoo'ame looked startled and said "Yes, I can do all of that. And would be willing to do that." Din nodded as she continued, "Until you know what you want to do Nima'ahan," she shrank back trying to hide behind Jiljoo'ame. Din took no physical notice, "I would recommend you stay with Jiljoo'ame."

All the Twi'lek looked at her with a kind of stunned awe that made her slightly uncomfortable to see directed at her. She turned to the stew and saw that it was done. Taking out the dishes and utensils – she barely had enough forks and spoons for everyone including her to use – Din began to ladle out the rice and put the stew on top of it. Sticking a utensil into each one, she placed the food on the table. Reaching over to the cabinet, she got out enough cups and mugs for them to drink from. She took them over to the table and told them the water from the sink was safe for drinking.

That was when Seela'ablen – the yellow-skinned girl – asked almost just as softly as before, "Are you not eating?" Din turned her head to look back at them and smirked. Turning back, she undid the connections that held her right thigh piece in place. She began ladling her portion onto the piece of armor. The group seemed to choke in surprise behind her. Her huff of amusement, followed by her statement "Mandalorians never eat with other people outside of their immediate family. I shall eat in the cockpit. Please, don't disturb me." And with that, she turned from the now off stove and climbed up the ladder.

A sealed door and blacked out windows allowed her to devour her meal in semi-peace. Not entire peace, because there were still four complete strangers that were not bounties on her ship. That didn't need to be really secured. She finished her meal and chewed the last bite with her helmet on. The personal quarters were hidden anyway. They had no way of knowing what was there and what wasn't. She didn't need to sleep yet, but they probably would feel an adrenaline crash soon.

With that thought in mind, she unsealed the hatch and came down the ladder. To her surprise the teenagers were curled up on the floor in a pile, while Jiljoo'ame was starting to wash the dishes. She looked up and smiled apologetically at her. "The children didn't wish to take your bed and I don't think you would wish to share with me." Din shifted uncomfortably. "I won't be using that bed anytime soon and if they feel like they can't sleep unless they are in a pile like that – well – I have a solution for that too."

Placing my thigh armor in the sink, closing the lid and starting the sonic function; Din went over to the table and seating and put them up. the sound of the things sliding back into their unused position had the teens shooting up, looking around wildly. She looked over at them, then turned to the camping supplies closet. Din placed the collapsible chair inside and got out the extra cold winter kit, which included a very thick mattress bag, that could either zipped up like a cocoon or unzipped completely to lie flat. That thing had been able to keep her slightly warm even on Hoth. As she laid that out on the floor, she gave no sign that she noticed the stares from the Twi'lek. Getting to her feet, she went back to the storage unit and got out a number of cushions and blankets. They were in various layers of thickness all of it and some were so old, they were near threadbare. But together they made a comfortable, if mismatched nest for the teenagers to sleep in.

Jiljoo'ame was told in no uncertain terms to go rest on the bunk and all three teens were told to back to sleep. Din reminded them all that there would be a stop before Naboo and that they would be settling down soon. When she had looked again at the coordinates, she had seen that there was a small wanna-be Canto Bight town. There they could sell the valuables they had taken with them; get credits they would need to live on Naboo for a while or even for a savings account or two. When asked where she would be going, she didn't imagine their uncertain worry when she said she would be running an errand or two that they really didn't want to know about. "It isn't anything to worry about," she tried to reassure the group as they settled down to nap, "I just have an itch for some violence, and there is a place near this town that just happens to supply the scratch."

Din didn't know why, but the Twi'lek as a whole did not look reassured at that either. She shrugged mentally as she got her thigh armor with the sonic sink and reattached it. It wasn't really her fault, if they looked uneasy as they settled to take their naps. Din went back up to the cock-pit. Sealing it back up, she looked at the alarm. About three or so hours to go. Plenty of time to get a little nap in herself. Din was looking forward to the Hunt.