CHAPTER XII: HUNTED

"Shh, shh. It's alright, sweetie."

Peli hushed the strange green infant after it toddled out of the Mandalorian's ship. Its eyes were big and wet, and its tiny mouth opened wide with a cry. It had been only a few minutes since he made his appearance, and Peli didn't mind. He was a sweet enough child, just scared to death.

"Hey! Give him to me!"

The mechanic spun on her heel, coming face-to-face with the blonde woman who had accompanied the Mandalorian off of the ship. Her arms were outstretched towards the baby, and the creature mimicked her gesture, pinching his little hands open and closed to indicate his desire.

"Calm down, missy! I wasn't the one who left him alone in the ship and didn't tell anyone! He woke up when I tried rotating the cylinders for the landing gear." Peli set her hands on her hips, but settled at the frantic look in the woman's eye.

"I know. I just- we weren't going to be gone long." She stuttered, one hand coming up to cradle the back of the Child's head as it nuzzled her shoulder.

This woman was definetly someone who looked to be able to hold their own, but something about her reminded Peli of herself. She took a step back. "Well, he's sweet. You have a lot to learn, but at least he's good. Been cryin' for you since he woke up."

"Thanks for taking care of him. I'm Zakia, by the way." The woman extended a hand in Peli's direction, to which the mechanic shook firmly.

"Peli Motto." She returned. "I've started work on the fuel leak and the landing gear. There are a couple hold-ups we'll have to address though."

Zakia sat on a metal crate, reaching a hand out to the pit droids as they dared to come close to her. The Child grasped weakly at her shirt when she shifted, eyelids heavy with sleep.

"I'd help out but unfortunately, I'm not mechanically inclined. I can fly the ship, but that's just about where it ends. Mando takes care of everything else." Zakia explained. Her voice lowered as the Child looked to be slipping off.

Peli smiled at the interaction, wiping her hands on a rag and approaching the younger woman. "I can wait for him. There's a nice couch in my office over there if you want to lay him down. And I can give you receipts now."

Zakia nodded, "That sounds great."

Motto led the woman into her office, pulling a ratty blanket out of a long unused cupboard to cover the Child with. She noticed how slow Zakia walked, and how the blue of her eyes scanned every exit and every inch of the room they entered. It was the behaviour of someone who was all to familiar with fighting. Someone who was running from something.

"No one here but us." Motto assured without making eye contact. "Mos Eisley's population has been thinning out long as I can remember. Whatever you're hiding from- you're safe."

"Have I gotten that bad at hiding things?" Zakia groaned as she flopped on the couch beside the Child.

"It comes with motherhood." Peli said. "Trust me."

Zakia looked up. "You have children?"

"Had. I still know a thing or two." Peli gestured to the sleeping child. "Though I'm pretty certain you didn't make that."

Zakia chuckled. "Surprisingly, no. He was kind of dropped in our laps. It's a long-winded story."

"Everyone has their secrets." Motto told her, digging around on her cluttered desk. She had wrote up what parts they needed, but the office was an active disaster zone in which things disappeared easily. "Ah ha. Here's-"

"Hey!"

Both women jumped, and the baby startled awake with a cry. They looked out the hazy window that separated the office from the bay and could clearly see the Mandalorian towering over the pit droids.

"Where are they?"

Zakia sighed and scooped up the now-wailing child, following Peli Motto back out into the bay. The blonde rocked her adoptive son back and forth, shushing gently.

"You woke it up!" Peli cried, pointing a wrench at the Mandalorian. For his own dignity, she pretended not to notice when his shoulders relaxed at the sight of his shipmates.

"Zakia." He tipped his head and looked to the younger woman, who only rolled her eyes.

"I'm fine, Mando. Peli's been nothing but kind. Relax." Zakia stepped up, rocking the Child in front of her. It peered up at Mando, hands twisting Zakia's scarf between claws.

"Anyway." Motto motioned to the disaster of a ship. "I started the repair on the fuel leak. I just had a couple setbacks I need to talk to you about."

Zakia's brow furrowed as the Mandalorian walked up the jetway, following him into the ship. She watched him lift his bag- his job bag and held up a hand.

"What are you doing?"

Din paused. "This job. They gave it to Calican as a joke. He's not fully Guild yet."

"So what?" Zakia snapped. "Mando, Fennec can snipe you both from hundreds of meters away. Neither of you will make it."

The Mandalorian turned, heading back to the weapons cabinet. Zakia shouldered the Child, allowing him to gnaw on her scarf, and watched her partner.

"That's why I got this."

Zakia watched Mando withdraw a rifle from the locker she had never seen before. It was sleek and black, with a bandolier full of silver cartridges wrapped around it. She reached out to touch the could steel, running her fingers down it gingerly.

"It's the newest model. Full thermal and night vision, outfitted to adjust even with flash charges. Accurate up to four thousand meters. Outfitted for regular or disruptor cartridges. A new take on the Imperial E-5s." Mando laid down the statistics, and Zakia set the Child down to toddle around their feet.

"Where'd you get this?" Zakia took the rifle from him and held the scope to her eye.

"The Underworld guy you mentioned? Turns out it's not just under-the-table work he offers." Din reached down and pulled her wrist straight. He detached a small piece of metal from his belt and wrapped it around her wrist until it beeped to ensure its security. "That syncs to the rifle and your comlink."

Zakia chewed on the inside of her cheek. "You want me to help you capture Fennec."

"The kid is giving us all the credits. Her bounty is imposed by the New Republic. Fifteen thousand if we can catch her. I think we'd be able to with flash charges and speeder bikes, but having you would make me feel better." He shifted. "I know you and Shand are friends, and that lately-"

"She lost my loyalty when she went to work with the Hutts. Called me a hypocrite for not supporting her because an ex-Hutt smuggler taught me how to shoot." Zakia pursed her lips and glanced down at the Child. "I don't have, or want anything to do with Fennec anymore. Turning her in doesn't bother me in the least."

"Good. Then you'll come." Mando picked up the Child and walked down the hatch to where Peli stood. Zakia stared after him, reining in the frustration.

Peli was already after Mando, telling him about the extra problems. "...But I figured you were good for the money, since you have extra mouths to feed."

Zakia padded down the ramp after snagging her black jacket out of their quarters. Din was handing the Child off to Peli, heading for the hangar door.

"Good, then you'll come." Zakia mocked Din before thanking Peli sincerely for watching the Child. She stomped childishly across the dirt to the door. "Stupid men."

She exited the hangar with rifle on her shoulder and jacket in hand. Toro was waiting outside, two speeder bikes hovering just beyond the overhang of the roof. The cocky young man leaned up against one, arms crossed. Peli was watching rather disapprovingly, and Zakia shrugged.

"Men. Am I right?" The blonde stroked one of the baby's long ears, eliciting a chuckle from the mechanic

"And the lady as well. Consider me honored." Calican drawled.

Zakia rolled her eyes, walking to the bike Mando had been inspecting and tossing her jacket onto the back. "I'm glad you're happy."

As the men turned to mount the bikes, Zakia put her hand against Mando's stomach and pushed him back. The Mandalorian tilted his head at her in a silent question Zakia didn't need to be very intelligent to read. She threw a leg over the front of the bike, boots coming to rest on the accelerators.

"If I'm getting dragged into this, I'm driving."

They rode until Zakia spotted a pair of Bantha on the horizon. Their riders dismounted, the beasts idly trod about in the sand. Tusken Raiders could be vicious when provoked, and she knew better than to ride into their territory unannounced.

"Tusken Raiders." Calican concluded as he looked through a shiny set of binocs. "I heard the locals talking about this filth."

Zakia looked over her shoulder at Mando, who still had one arm firm around her waist. "Tuskens think they're the locals. Everyone else is just trespassing."

Toro scoffed at Din's comment. "Well, whatever they call themselves, they best keep their distance."

Zakia smirked as two Tusken Raiders shuffled from behind a nearby dune, closing in on Calican. She wasn't sure they understood his words, but they knew who the threat was. They glided silently across the sand, weapons pointing at Toro.

"Yeah?" Zakia chuckled. "Why don't you tell them yourself?"

Toro turned to face the Raiders, hand reaching towards his blaster. Mando untangled himself from Zakia and hauled his stiff body off the bike. Though they were notably xenophobic towards outsiders, Mandalorians and Tuskens had a strange history, of which Din had never really explained to her. All she knew was that her Mandalorian was fluent in their language, and it had come in handy frequently in their hunts.

"Relax."

Zakia watched over the sandy wasteland as Mando negotiated with the Tuskens. Her eyes lingered on a ridge of red rock far in the distance. If she was hiding in the wastelands of Tatooine, that's where it would be, and she imagined that Fennec would have the same idea. At their angle, it would be impossible to approach without being picked off the bikes. Zakia tapped her foot against the bike's sidebar, and idea forming in the back of her head. She looked between the Sandpeople and their Bantha.

"Mando?"

He turned away from the odd-looking people, sending a placating gesture in their direction that Zakia assumed meant 'hold on'. "What's wrong?"

Zakia ran her tongue across her canines, nodding to the ridge where it peaked over the dunes. "See that ridge? If it were just me and my rifle on the run, I'd be up there. It's the highest ground."

The Mandalorian set his hands on his hips. "We were planning on heading in that direction."

"You won't make it within two thousand meters of her. And once we get across these next couple hills, we'll be ripe for the picking." Zakia looked towards the Sandpeople and acknowledged them with a nod.

"Unless?"

Zakia stood from the bike, adjusting her new rifle. "See if our friends here will take me to the far end of the ridge where it picks up. Shand probably bartered her way out here as well, and I doubt she's concerned with them. If they can get me to the high ground, I can pin her down"

The Mandalorian hesitated for a moment. "You're sure about this?"

"More than sure." Zakia rolled her neck. "Besides, all the Tuskens will want is something shiny. And I'm a woman. You know they hold their own women in high regard."

Din sighed, but his head dipped. "Alright. Get your stuff and come here."

Zakia did as he said, staying near his side as they approached the Tuskens. The Mandalorian signed to Zakia and then Calican, communicating their plan. The two Raiders looked between each other- they had probably never received such a strange request. They signed back, motioning at Calican and then at Zakia.

"Let me see the binocs." Mando said to Toro, "and one of your blasters, Zak."

The blonde raised a brow, but didn't argue. "You better buy me a new one."

Both items were tossed to the Tuskens. Toro complained aloud, but neither of the older hunters paid him any mind. One of the Raiders motioned to Zakia, beckoning her towards them. Din left Calican with the speeders and his confusion.

"Stay with the bikes. I'll be back." Mando said over his shoulder.

Zakia kept pace a few steps behind the Tuskens, trying to avoid staring at the strange masks and armor they wore. Din caught up to them as they neared the Banthas. The Sandpeople shuffled through their packs stuffed on the animals as Din caught Zakia by the shoulders.

"They're going to disguise you as an Uli-ah." Din informed her.

Zakia's jaw dropped. "As a child?"

"It would be strange for two to share a Bantha without good reason. But they agreed to take you to the ridge. These two seem hospitable enough, and shouldn't bother you at all." Mando explained. He reached a hand out to tap the comlink under Zakia's headwrap to make sure it was on. He then lifted the small bracer she wore, typing in a short code to sync it all together.

"Thanks." Zakia pressed her palm to his helmet and smiled with pursed lips. "I'd stay off the link in case she has something that can pick up the frequency. I don't want my cover blown."

Din gave her a half-hearted salute. "Yes ma'am."

"Be careful, Din." Zakia warned as the Tuskens approached them, hands reaching towards her.

"I will." Mando paused, and Zakia could hear the smile in his voice. "They think we're married, so act sad if I get shot."

A guffaw broke out of Zakia's mouth at the quip. "You're ridiculous."

Mando gave her one last squeeze on the hip before turning away. "So you've said."

Riding a Bantha had not been high up on Zakia's to-do list, and her mind had not changed since the Raiders boosted her onto one. The creatures, quite frankly, scared her to death. Their riders weren't much better.

The two Tuskens had shown her canvas-colored robes that she was to put over her own clothes, and one produced a mask to conceal her face. The same one then mounted his Bantha, and helped Zakia on behind him. She fisted her hands into the strange, hairy beast and stayed there until daylight had slipped away.

They reached the ridge at dusk, and the two Sandpeople paused. They turned to look at their passenger, gesticulating up towards the ridge. Zakia held up one hand, hoping they would recognize it as a sign to wait, and pulled the rifle from her shoulder. She stayed low, but brought the lens to her eye. Zakia clicked the scope until the darkness was highlighted with thermal vision, and stood shakily on the Bantha's back.

"Come on." Zakia murmured. She scanned across the ridge slowly, with no indication of life. Praying silently that she hadn't been wrong about Shand's hiding spot, Zakia upped the magnification until her bracer beeped at its maximum.

"Damn it!" She growled. About to give up and radio Din, her bracer made a strange noise.

'Heat signature detected. Five thousand yards.'

Zakia's heart skipped a beat. It was barely a speck, but a red and orange spot stood out from the blue of the desert ground. She put the weapon down and clambered to sit on the Bantha. Zakia strapped her gun back onto her shoulder and drew in a breath before catching the attention of her escorts. She motioned in the correct direction and the Tuskens took her about four thousand meters, keeping a large rock formation between her and what she assumed was Fennec.

After scrambling from the Bantha's back, Zakia removed the robes she had been given and returned them to the Tuskens. She bowed deeply to them, but they simply tugged their steed's reins and trodded off. Zakia looked up at the rocks, making sure the rifle was tight to her shoulder. She found a foothold and began hauling herself up. The structure was probably fifteen or twenty meters high, and it took Zakia a few minutes to get close to the peak.

Hand hovering just below the top, a shot rang out, followed by an incredibly bright flash. Zakia heard it clearly, scrambling the rest of the way to the top. She found purchase on the red rocks, quickly setting up her rifle as another shot broke through the silence. Zakia spotted the muzzle flash far in the distance, and turned her scope towards the general area it had come from. Flash charges exploded in the expanse of sandy dunes but, true to Mando's words, her scope compensated for the light. Much to her relief, Zakia was elevated far above the heat signature that she hoped was Fennec.

Zakia turned from the sniper out over the desert. She could see one form that looked suspiciously similar to Mando climbing off the ground, but Calican was missing. A wave of panic washed over her, and she turned back to the ridge. This time there were two figures- one prone and one pointing a blaster from behind. So Calican had made it to the ridge.

She watched their blob-shaped figures move through the scope, engaged in a hand-to-hand fight. Zakia switched to night vision as opposed to thermal, then able to discern who was who.

"Shand." Zakia let the fight go on a few moments, impressed that Calican was holding his own as long as he had. Once Fennec began to get the upper hand though, it was time for an intervention.

Zakia dialed in close, placing her crosshairs on Shand's right leg. A bounty for the New Republic would bring in more money alive than dead. It was a low blow to wound an old friend, and a shot from that distance would probably disable the woman forever, but Zakia couldn't find it in her to feel bad. Fennec had chosen this life, and everything that came with it. Not to mention that she wouldn't need a full range of motion in a New Republic cell.

BANG.

The shot sliced through the night, shattering the relative silence that had stretched over the desert. Zakia grimaced as her face began to cramp from looking through the scope, but forced herself to stay and watch Fennec fall. The woman clutched at her now-useless extremity, and Zakia was able to see the third figure- Mando- join Calican on the ridge. The Mandalorian cuffed Shand, waving a hand in Zakia's direction.

"Where are you? I'll send Toro with a bike." Din's voice only soothed her nerves a little.

Zakia rattled off her general coordinates, climbing down from the rocks as her shot played over and over in her head. It was only a few minutes later when Calican arrived, and Zakia wordlessly climbed onto the bike behind him.

"Good shot." The young man said. "Took her right down. Surprised the hell out of both of us."

"Thanks."

Zakia dismounted the bike as soon as it came to a halt, just barely catching the reflection of Mando's armor in the moonlight. She braced herself for what she knew would not be a happy reunion, but trekked through the sand to stand beside the Mandalorian.

Fennec, apart from aging just as Zakia, looked much the same as the day she'd declared her plans for employment with the Hutts. Her dark hair was tied back into a braid, though pieces escaped near her face. Din must have supplied her with bandaging. Her right calf was covered in a bacta patch and a tourniquet was tied just below her knee. Though she was obviously in pain and full of rage, Fennec leveled her gaze on Zakia.

"Figures someone like you wouldn't have the guts to kill me."

Zakia sighed. "Don't try to be the tough guy, Fennec. You knew everything would end like this one day."

"Did you think you'd end up a traitor?" Fennec shot back.

"Who have I betrayed? I told you to come to the Guild- you didn't listen. All of this is on you." Zakia turned away, moving towards the bikes and pulling the rifle from her shoulder. Din followed, taking the rifle from her and laying it over his own shoulder.

"You're alright?"

Zakia nodded, making sure they were out of earshot. "Fine."

"Good. I'm going to get a dewback. We saw one wandering around on our way here. You can come with me or stay with the kid and Shand. It's up to you." Din explained.

"Well that's not a hard choice. Where is it?" Zakia asked.

Din nodded. "Straight out from the bikes. It'll probably take us a few hours."

The pair drifted back towards where Shand sat against a rock and Calican was propped up on a bike. Din moved towards Toro, while Zakia stepped forward to kneel in front of Shand. The dark-haired woman only smirked, fighting through the pain of her wounded arm.

"I bet that wound makes for hard shooting." Fennec nodded at Zakia's scar. "Looks deep."

"Right. And I'm sure that one's going to feel great." Zakia motioned to Fennec's leg where it was bent awkwardly in front of her and dripping blood onto the sand.

"I always knew you were a coward." Fennec looked to where the Mandalorian stood. "Never pegged you as one to shack up with a Mandalorian, though."

Zakia pinched her lips together. "What makes you think we're not just working together for the money?"

Fennec chuckled, but broke off with a wince when she tried to readjust. "I could always read you like a book, Kia."

Zakia raised her brows and slapped her hands against her thighs before standing. "Yeah, well. It's a shame this story turned out the way it did."