Mando had been acting really weird since our talk earlier; well, weirder than usual. I had a nap on the cot, only to be woken up once we landed on an unfamiliar planet- unfamiliar to me anyway. Mando was stone-cold silent, guiding me along without so much as even looking at me. I on the other hand, was less than impressed with our surroundings. And here I thought the castle was rough; at least the castle was cool and colourful inside. The bristliest looking individuals you'd ever seen lined the streets; none of them were friendly. Mando made me wear the dark blue cloak again, which I happily agreed to; anything to draw less attention to myself.
We walked through these two gigantic pillars onto this main-looking street. Of course, just like at the castle, some eyes wandered over to us; I tried to ignore anyone sneaking a peak our way. I just stayed close to Mando; he eventually led me down this quiet, steep staircase. I didn't even have to ask to know that this was shadier part of the area. The mood felt very tense; like awkwardly, uncomfortably so. The Mandalorian wouldn't even look at me, which only made things worse. He had this sort of upset vide about him; kind of angry. Though I had no idea why. He's a bounty hunter; he's about to get a huge payday. What's there for him to be mad about?
I knew he was angry by the way he pounded on this one door with his fist. This scary eye techo thing instantly came out of the walk, speaking to Mando in a foreign language. Mando held up some ID tag that the robot scanned. It then went back into the wall and the door slid open. After a second these two weirdos in white suits stepped out. Oh great, more helmet people. They gazed at the Mandalorian, then at me. For the first time since we stepped off the ship, Mando peered over at me ever so slightly- judging by the motions of his head- and back the strangers.
Without a word transpiring between any of them, they motioned for us to follow them inside. One white guy went in first, followed by me, then Mando, and helmet man number three bringing up the rear. The door shut behind us without any of them having to do or say anything. Not scary at all- insert eyeroll here.
While walking along, I couldn't stop my eyes from exploring around the place. It was grungy and had this odd, almost greasy smell. I guess the white guy leading me didn't like me glancing about. Without warning, he reached over to grab hold of my wrist. I blinked straight at him in surprise and dismay; so did the Mandalorian. "Easy," he told the guy presently dragging me along. "You take it easy," white guy shot back, though his tone wasn't too aggressive. Another door opened ahead of us and they brought us into this warehouse like room. There was a desk and two men inside; one wearing a fancy coat and the other in a lab suit and glasses. They both looked real glad to see me….. for some reason.
"Yes!" Coat man cried for joy as we entered through the threshold. They came immediately towards me as white man let go of my wrist. "Yes, yes, yes; here you are. Here you are at last!" The one with glasses proceeded to hold a red, beeping light up to my eyes, inspecting each one thoroughly. I could tell by the Mandalorian's body language that this annoyed him. A sickening grin bloomed across glasses guy's face. "Very healthy." His hand then reached over to take hold of my jaw. He moved his thumb in such a way that my mouth was made to open. Before I could react, he took a peak inside. Luckily, he removed his hand before I had the chance to shove it away; needless to say, I glared at the two unimpressed with their conduct. They're treating me like cattle at an auction. And they weren't done yet- oh no.
"Very healthy indeed. And young; I'd say about thirty. She's young and strong." "Excellent! She's in perfect condition," the fancy one exclaimed. "She doesn't look much like Anakin," glasses guy crossed his arms while still staring at me. "She's not a Skywalker. Qui-Gon Jinn's great niece," he replied. My mouth dropped open gobsmacked. They know who my relation is? "Great uncle….." I whispered unthinkingly out loud to myself. Both their heads turned back to me like I'd grabbed their attention; glasses guy wasn't smiling any longer now. He scanned me over several times.
"She's not as strong as Anakin was," glasses guy announced like this was a bad thing. Fancy man waved him off. "She's strong enough. Now that Yoda's gone, she's the best we've got." "Y-you know Master Yoda?" I asked, speaking for the first time in a very shaky voice. This caused them to stare at me but not give me an answer. Instead fancy man took a step my way. I could practically hear the Mandalorian's muscles tense in response.
"No, this is better. She's young and her skills have not entirely developed yet. She's malleable." "That's true," glasses guy thumb ran under his chin in a contemplative manner. "What's your name?" Fancy guy was the first to speak to me directly in the room. "S-Saoirse," I leaned back a little. This whole experience was terrifying to be honest. Fancy man grinned at me before flashing his hand at glasses guy.
"Dr. Pershing, would you please take the asset to the lab. I'll inform the others of her arrival." "Come, child," glasses guy, who I'm assuming is Dr. Pershing, took me securely by the wrist. I looked back at the Mandalorian as I was drug out towards a door at the other end of the room. I had to look at him; I wasn't sure if I'd ever see him again. Mando's helmet followed me wherever I moved; he was still as stoic and silent as ever. But it was obvious to me that he wasn't happy right now- I don't know why. He was about to be praised by the big boss in the room; he was grinning over at my abductor. "Your repetition was not unwarranted." I don't know if Mando liked hearing that from him or not. His body language was still tense.
"How many fobs did you give out?" Mando finally spoke, questioning fancy man. "This asset was of extreme importance to me; I had to ensure heh, Saoirse's delivery." After coolly stating this, fancy man went over to his desk to pull out this heavy sounding white, metal box. "But to the winner go the spoils." A press of a few buttons and the sides opened up to reveal more currency blocks inside. So I was right- Mando was selling me to these people. The Mandalorian slowly walked over to the desk, picking up a few blocks in his hand. Fancy man watched him with a sick, twisted grin; one I had the misfortune to see before I was taken away. "Such a large bounty, for such a small package," his voice had a disgusting turn to it. That's when Mando gazed up to see Dr. Pershing finally dragging me into the back through the door. My mouth opened to say something as my brain tried to comprehend that this would be the last moment I'd ever see him. I wanted to say something, say goodbye but there was no time. There was simply no time. The door shut behind me and that was that. I truly believed in that instance that I would never see the Mandalorian again.