Athena watched as the Asset chased the frog, little cries of excitement escaping its tiny mouth. The frog jumped on her boot and she smiled as little hands followed before the frog jumped away.
"This is what was causing all the fuss?" Kuiil asked as he looked down at the Asset.
"I think it's a child," the Mandalorian explained.
"I'm shocked," Athena shot back.
"It is better to deliver it alive then," Kuiil agreed.
"My ship has been destroyed. I'm trapped here."
"Stripped. Not destroyed. The Jawas steal. They don't destroy."
"Stolen or destroyed, makes no difference to me. They're protected by their crawling fortress. There's no way to recover the parts."
"Apparently even a Mandalorian can't defeat Jawas," she drawled.
"You can trade."
"With Jawas? Are you out of your mind?"
"I will take you to them. I have spoken."
The Asset let out an excited squeal, drawing the attention of the three adults. It had finally caught the frog and now the animal hung halfway out of its mouth.
"Hey, spit that out!" The Mandalorian barked. It simply giggled and swallowed the frog whole. Athena let out a surprised laugh at its little burp and the satisfied look it sent them.
Her laughter was short lived because a storm blew in as they rode over the desert. For such a dry planet, the rain came down heavily. Unlike the Mandalorian and the Asset, Athena had no armor that deflected the rain or a pod that could close and block it out. So she sat on the sled with her knees pulled up and her head tucked into her chest in a futile attempt to stay dry and warm. She didn't even realize she was shivering until a heavy weight fell across her shoulders. Through the rain and the orange tint of her goggles, she could see that the Mandalorian had shifted closer to her and draped his cape over her shoulders in an attempt to help.
While she normally would have made some scathing remark, the former Imperial soldier kept her mouth shut and instead burrowed into the slight warmth the fabric provided.
/
The Jawas shrieked and raised their weapons as they approached, probably in thanks to the Mandalorian's rifle work.
"They really don't like you for some reason," Kuiil announced.
"Well, I did disintegrate a few of them."
"You need to drop your rifle."
"I'm a Mandalorian. Weapons are part of my religion."
"For Maker's sake, I think you can still take on Jawas without your rifle," Athena groaned. She tossed her own blaster and spear into the back of the transport, getting off so she could stand next to the Asset and lean against the transport. It looked up at her with curious eyes and she shrugged before looking back at the negotiations. A shot of flames extended from the Mandalorian's fist at the Jawas and Athena winced as they screamed and scattered while Kuiil stopped him. She felt a little bad for Kuiil, knowing that he had to put up with the stubborn and reckless girl she once was and now having to deal with the equally stubborn Mandalorian.
"Mando is just so silly, isn't he?" she cooed to the Asset.
The sound of steps made her head swing back towards them and she straightened up as two Jawas approached them. They babbled something at her in Jawaese and reached out to touch her and the Asset. Before Athena drew one of her blades, the Mandalorian shouted from where they were negotiating.
"Get away from them!"
The Jawas started chanting something and the two men turned their heads to look over at the retired bounty hunter. Even with her face covered, they could see the unimpressed look she held.
/
"An egg," she commented dryly as they approached where the Jawas had directed them to go.
"I'll even fry it for them if it means getting my parts back," he grunted. Her lips quirked up into a smirk.
"Is that a joke I hear, Mandalorian?"
"Stay here with the Asset."
She kneeled down near the Asset's pod and loaded up her rifle as he geared up to go in. The retired bounty hunter set the rifle over her knee and waited for a sign that she should get involved.
It came soon enough.
Blaster shots echoed in the cave and then the Mandalorian came flying out, landing in the mud. Athena readied her rifle just in time for the Mudhorn to slowly make its way out. It let out a deafening roar that echoed through the canyons before lowering its sights on them and charging. Athena grunted as her back hit the ground, her rifle flying out of her hand.
As quickly as she could while drenched in mud, she scrambled to her feet and grabbed her spear off her back just as the Mandalorian sent the Asset away from the Mudhorn's charge. It turned and headed back towards the Mandalorian, providing Athena a clear shot to its hide. She jammed her spear into its back leg and it roared, shaking furiously as she clung on. The Mudhorn launched itself against the rocky wall, throwing her into the hard surface and she slid down with a grunt.
The Mudhorn charged the Mandalorian again and almost plowed into him if he didn't spray it with a blast of flames. It screamed again and backed up, giving him time to send a snare into its nostril. It yanked the Mandalorian along the muddy ground and then circled back to gain traction. Athena rushed over next to the bounty hunter, her hands gripping the hilt of her vibroblades.
It charged at them and lowered its sight on Athena but the Mandalorian pushed her out of the way, letting his armor take the hit while she rolled to the side. The Mudhorn charged her again and she stabbed one blade into its already damaged eye. It shrieked and grabbed onto her arm with its blunt cusps of teeth, shaking and throwing her like a doll next to the Mandalorian. Her vision blurred as her head collided with the mud and her whole body ached something fierce but the Mudhorn wasn't done yet.
They slowly picked themselves up to face the snarling beast who didn't look fazed at all, even with a spear sticking out of its ass. The Mandalorian, having taken the harder hits, could barely stand and remained kneeling. Athena carefully positioned herself in front of him just so that he wouldn't notice but the hit would take her out first, giving him more time to potentially get out.
Just as the snarling beast came inches away from them, it suddenly stopped and began to float, snarling and screeching into the air. Athena reached up to wipe the mud off of her goggles before she looked over and saw the Asset with its hand outstretched and eyes shut.
The Asset collapsed back against its blankets and the Mudhorn hit the ground. Before it could launch itself on them, the Mandalorian stabbed it directly in the neck. It let out a final roar and collapsed, almost on top of Athena if the Mandalorian hadn't wrapped his arms around her and yanked her to the ground on top of him. Goggles met visor and they both breathed mutual sighs of relief and pain once they realized the Mudhorn wasn't getting back up.
"Thanks," she murmured as she rolled off of him. "Good?"
"Okay. You?"
"It'll hurt like a kiss from a Hutt in the morning," she grunted.
She slowly got to her feet and hurried over to the Asset, kneeling in front of its pod. She ripped off her mud soaked glove and pressed her hand to its forehead, letting out a sigh of relief when it breathed easy at her touch.
"Its okay. The Asset is okay. I think its just sleeping," she informed the Mandalorian as he walked up behind her.
"Good. I'm going to get the egg."
While he was gone, Athena pulled the little pod behind her as she approached the dead Mudhorn. Grabbing her spear shaft with a tight grip, she yanked it out of its hide and slid it onto her back before pulling on her glove once more.
/
The Jawas practically exalted as they cracked open the egg and scooped out the inside. Athena shuddered at their actions, causing the Mandalorian to let out an uncharacteristic chuckle.
"The kid eats a frog and you laugh but an egg is where you draw the line?"
"It's gross," she muttered, turning back to check on the Asset.
The entire ride back to the Razor Crest involved her worrying over the small green child. Her head never left its position watching over it and making sure it was still breathing, even while Kuiil and the Mandalorian talked about what it had done to the Mudhorn. It let out soft snuffles and snores, reassuring her but she still worried.
Her worry turned to determination once they got to the Razor Crest and night had fallen.
"There's no way we're gonna get this to work without a full maintenance facility," the Mandalorian commented. "This is gonna take days to fix."
"If you care to help, it might go faster," Kuiil drawled. The Ugnaught tossed Athena her bag and she set it down, pulling out her go to tools. She immediately climbed up the ramp and started her work on wiring as she blocked out the clangs of metal striking metal from the men.
By the time the sun came up, she was practically wilting. Kuiil paused his work to chastise the woman.
"You need sleep, Athena. The Mandalorian and I can handle the rest. You rewired the ship and replaced the carbonite spray. Now rest. It has been a long time since you were in battle."
"I can work. I'm fine," she protested.
"Go rest near the child. I have spoken."
The normally stubborn and fiery woman wordlessly agreed with his order and curled up next to the Asset's pod using her bag as a pillow. The Mandalorian looked over at her and then back at the Ugnaught.
"She said she met you in a prison camp."
"Yes, I taught her mechanics before the Imperials took her from the camps. She was very eager to learn."
"And then she joined the Imps?"
"No. Never joined. Forced. They were losing soldiers and fast so they didn't care if a few Arkash children died on the battlefield. She was fourteen. Years later and she was the only one to survive the first round of children that were taken."
I'm not a big fan of Imperial scum like you. I never, ever hurt a child. Not once. I did what I had to do to survive. Nothing more, nothing less. Her words ran through his mind and he thought back to the tales of her helping stormtroopers wipe out villages. Children were the only survivors. Children were always the ones that escaped. None were ever captured or they wouldn't have been able to seek help and tell others. The great daughter of the Empire wasn't a figurehead of Imperial power who sought out the blood of enemies, she was a young girl forced to grow up fighting to survive.
And suddenly the Mandalorian felt very, very cold.