Finding this planet was easier than he thought. Getting in however was going to be different. Let alone getting out.
First off, this was a planet he did not recognize, for it was not registered in any system database. But he was here now and willing to do what he signed up for. After all if someone had a bounty on them, it would make sense they'd pick somewhere off the grid to hide. Taking in the sights he took another view of what awaited him below.
He had landed well outside the perimeter on a cliff overlooking a military base. So far no one had seemed to notice him, and by now he was lost amidst the jungle terrain and rocky cliffside. Hidden for now, he planned his next move.
Below on the installation were armed guards, watch towers and security. And that was all before he got into the base itself where clearance would no doubt be an issue. It would be hard getting in without a sound let alone finding who he needed. And that's not counting getting out.
"Gonna be tricky." Mando stated as he overlooked it all. Too many eyes with too little points of entry. He was starting to see what Greef meant and the high price was already starting to justify itself. Extraction alone was going to be difficult. Whatever uncertainty he had was made up with curiosity by Grogu leaning forward with wide bright eyes to take it all in.
Mando let out a sigh and then turned down to him. Despite the fact he was kneeling and Grogu standing, the small alien was hardly as high as his boot.
"Well that won't do." he said before swiping Grogu up in his hands. A distinct squeak was let out from him as he was picked up and repeated again when Mano put him in his seat back on the ship. He locked him in and the window closed over Grogu leaving him in his own little dome "Stay here." he commanded softly putting a hand up "Stay put and I'll be right back. Okay?" Grogu's head titled to one side and his long ears flopped down as he watched Mando walk away and leave him behind, disappearing into the foliage of the trees.
It was an easy decision to make for Mando. It sounded like this was going to be too dangerous for even himself, let alone the kid. So it was best to leave him there, take care of matters himself and then leave.
Mando found cover well enough from the dense jungle. Though, he found that the closer he got to the base the less he'd have. His descent down the cliff was slow perhaps, but it gave him more time to think about how he'd infiltrate the base. But even as he drew closer, he still had no sure idea how he would do it.
More parts of the towers could be seen pushing through the trees as he crept forward. He was now well within sight of the base but hadn't been noticed yet. Peering out from cover, he saw the gate and two armed guards standing before it. All across the base, and on the soldiers was an emblem. UNSC.
'Haven't heard of them.' Mando thought to himself. Some new remnant of the Empire, or perhaps a breakout from the New Republic?
He focused more on the base and what was before him. There was the gate, guarded by two guards. He was looking for perhaps a transport ship that would come by. One that he could use to get inside and through them, but no matter how long he looked nothing seemed to appear, save for some other vehicles on wheels. He turned his attention elsewhere. Looking up to the sky, he thought of his jetpack. Flying straight up and into the perimeter would be an easy way to get seen and shot at. But he rationalized it as an easy exit once he got out to the open. Getting out seemed to be solved, but not getting in. He was so focused on that he didn't hear the sound anyone approach him until a fallen twig crunched behind him.
Turning around in a flash Mando pulled his blaster out and pointed it only to see one of the soldiers standing beside him. He was armed, but did not seem to be threatening him. His gun was pointed down, and he was facing away from Mando, looking more like he was going out on a patrol when he stumbled upon him by accident. Despite that he did not seem worried by it, only by Mando's reaction to him.
"Whoa whoa easy big guy just me." he said putting his arms up defensively.
"Just you, huh?" Mando said gruffly keeping the gun up.
"Yeah." the soldier said with arms up "you-you can put that down now." He said. More like asked uneasily.
"Not likely." Mando replied coldly.
"Come on-nn-o need for that." he began to shake some more.
"We'll see." he said warily wondering when he'd raise the alarm on him. Looking at him, he thought of the New Republic soldier on the prison transport. A job was a job, but there was no need for this to get too messy. The soldier seemed to think the same.
"Come on." he seemed to whine and plead "We don't have time for this, sir. Besides Cortana's waiting for you right now."
Mando went stiffly silent at that. Did she? How did she know he was here? Well, it didn't matter.
"Me?" he asked confused "What for?"
"She wouldn't say. Only that it's classified." he told shakily.
"Classified huh?" he said slyly. The standoff continued with him keeping the soldier at gunpoint and never lowering it.
"So…" the soldier began but stopped short of a long uncomfortable pause "you want me to take you there?" Mando continued to eye him uneasily. What strange fortune was this? He would take him right to his target. But why? Were they expecting him? Maybe his employer whoever it may be had tried this already and thus was the reason for the extra security.
But then a stranger thought crept into Mando's head. One he got from the way the soldier sounded and acted around him. Perhaps he thought he was someone else? A friendly? Given the look on his face, Mando could tell he was genuine in what he was saying. So why not play along for the time being.
"Now you're making sense." he said trying to play everything off coolly as he holstered his blaster. The soldier let out a sigh of relief and dropped his arms. "Come on. Let's go." he said turning around but didn't move. He made it seem like he was waiting on the marine, but in actuality was waiting for in to lead the way.
A silent menacing turn of his head over his shoulder made the soldier scurry past him to lead the way.
"Right away, sir!" he said as he rushed by him.
The soldier took the first step and though he hid it as Mando followed right behind, he was uncertain of what would happen next. He just took in a deep breath and followed him. It was either he let him go and raise the alarm or use him to get as far as he could. And just take it form there.
Emerging from the jungle, Mando was out in the open now. In full range and full view. He knew they had taken notice of him for he saw many eyes glow up at his sudden appearance, but strangely many smiles speared. Some even cheered. They looked more like they saw an old friend than they did a stranger.
"Looks like they're happy to see me." Mando said dryly hiding his concern.
"They always are." the marine said chipperly beside him "I mean it's you!" They had now walked past the two guarding the gate "Ohh" the marine started to get a bit giddy "Just wait till I tell everyone I snuck up on a Spartan! They'll have to let me into ODST now!"
Mando was many thing, but her certainly was no Spartan. In fact, he didn't get confused for many thing to begin with, so it happening now was even more puzzling to him. Not that he could let that on.
"Don't let it go to your head." Mando chided.
"Right." the marine stiffened out and cleared his throat "Yes sir." Right as he did that they passed through the gate with it's two guards. It was the moment of truth for Mando, but all he got and continued to get was pleasantries.
"Good to see you sir." one said.
"Hey what is that? Mark 7?" the other asked but was given no answer. Instead, they walked by and entered the base.
Mando let out a sigh of relief that sounded like a thin huff in his helmet. Whatever sudden plan he had was working. And it seemed everyone else bought into it too. They all acted or at least appeared like they were familiar with him, and Mando was willing to keep up that act. But he couldn't help but feel apprehensive about it all, even though it seemed just as familiar as pretending to be a stormtrooper with Migs. The difference was he wasn't sure of who he was supposed to be posing as now.
Now inside the base he lingered for a moment to get a look at the interior and all the places he had to run. There were countless hallways and he wasn't sure where they all lead. Some to armories he saw as one door opened and closed. Another to a vehicle garage and another to a conference room. As Mando looked around the marine turned left and he followed.
"So.." he began unsure if he got Mando's attention but continued on after "Is that new armor?"
"Hm?" Mando turned a head to him.
"Is that a new armor class?" he asked more specifically. Now came the part where Mando had to play his part. Unsure of what to say, he said what he knew.
"No." Mando refuted flatly turning his head straight away from the marine.
"Oh." the marine let out sheepishly as they ascended the stairs "Well uh.. the cape is cool." he complimented.
The rest of it was quiet with thankfully less people as they got higher though those they did pass would turn their heads to follow Mando was they went. All the attention made him uneasy, but it seemed to be working so far since no one had tried to stop him. Having gotten so far with that he was thankful. But knew what would happen when it didn't.
Finally, the stairs stopped rising and they reached the top level to a door. Heading straight instead of up their was almost no one in the hallway save for this marine himself.
Thankfully, Mando had a plan for that.
They approached the closed door, and the marine spoke beside him "Waiting right in here sir." he said as if letting him know this was it.
"Got it." he said as he took a step forward and the marine did with him and for the first time Mando saw the need to play the part they thought he was a bit more actively. As fast as he had drawn his blaster, he quickly snapped an arm out stopping and startling the marine. "Why don't you let me go it alone from here." he said convincingly, and he saw some uncertainty in the marines face. "You know how she gets." he shrugged and with that comment says in a more familiar tone the marine smiled and nodded.
"Oh right." the marine said as if understanding and apologizing at the same time "You got it. Knock 'em dead sir." the marine cheered him on. Mando keeping up his role said no more and walked through the door alone leading him behind.
Mando may have made it inside, but that doesn't mean it was over yet, or that he was the only one trying to. For though he left him, safe and snug in their ship, Grogu had no intention of staying there.
He waited silently once he saw Mando disappear into the jungle. His wide black eyes locked on to where he last saw him, before he slunk behind a tree trunk and didn't reappear on the other side. He blinked a few times before looking around some more. Only more jungle and trees were to be seen on all sides. But Mando did not appear from any of them. Turning back around Grogu closed his eyes and lifted his arm. When he opened them again, he saw that the circular dome that was closed over his seat had opened. He was greeted instantly by the sounds of the wind rustling through the leaves and flapping his ears.
Cooing he poked his head out of the pod and looked to where the last time he saw Mando, but he still wasn't there. So he would go find him.
Crawling and then jumping out of his seat, Grogu landed on the ground with a near noiseless plop that was overshadowed by his small squeak. Picking himself up he looked around at the jungle which looked as vast and endless as space itself.
Grogu let out a soft babble as he then looked upwards. He blinked a few times before looking around some more. Then shuffling on his small feet he began to move across the ground and into the jungle following the trail of Mando.
Mando managed to make his way down the cliffside through the jungle, but Grogu had his own way of going down. Smaller than Mando was, he waddled forward, passing through grass taller than he was and ducking under a overgrown root that stretched above the ground or hopping from rock to rock or root to root. Grogu's pace was much slower than Mando's but if he ever got into a rut or something gave him more trouble than he could handle, he recalled his training with Luke.
Then he'd leap out, going farther and higher than he had before. He'd land softly but felt very tired by the end of it. He kept going though, and eventually that brought him down to level ground. Shuffling through tall grass Grogu would go unnoticed and would likely be confused for the wind if he had been seen. Peeking through the tall grass, he peered upwards and saw the semblance of something that was not a part of the jungle. Instead, it was a tall man-made structure. Exactly what he and Mando had been looking at from the cliffside.
But then he heard the rumbling of thunder. He rolled his head down to the ground. Peaking ahead through the grass, he saw it thinned out to form a small trail. Cooing he poked his small head to get a better look but the rumbling sound grew louder and he shrunk back into the grass from it. The tall strands of grass overtook his vision. The rumbling turned into a roar as he suddenly saw two great wheels plowed right before him before suddenly coming to a halt.
Grogu cowered deeper into the grass falling low to the ground. Yet high above him and coming from the direction of the wheels came voices.
"Heard something sir?" one voiced asked concerned.
"Yes." a low gravelly voice answered. Grogu heard the creak of metal and a great shift of weight before he saw two green boots stomp onto the ground indenting themselves into it. With them came the sound of metal crushing the ground.
"I don't see anything." another voice said somewhat shakily "Something on your HUD?"
"Affirmative." the low voice answered simply.
Grogu then peered ahead to see the two great green feet move towards him. A shadow was cast over the grass, and Grogu saw nothing but darkness all around. Turning his head up he looked to the sky to see where the sun had gone. Despite it not being there, he saw a shiny reflection high above him. Only it wasn't the sun, but a shining orange visor adorned on a green helmet.
"Got anything sir?" the first voice called from behind. Grogu could not see them for he was now too focused on the towering figure before him. Despite the fact he had never seen him before, the blank stare of the helmet and the gravelly voice along with it was familiar enough to make him poke out from the grass. Faintly, this armored figure reminded Grogu of all the other ones who were dressed like Mando.
"Something alright." the voice came from the armored figure above Grogu.
"A hostile?" he asked sharply. A silence overtook them and the green armored figure did not answer. The only sound below him was the babbling of Grogu whose head turned from one side to the other as he looked to him.
"No." he eventually answered. He then moved his hands away, and the outline of a gun could be seen from Grogu's eye level.
"Then what is it?" the other voice asked from behind.
"It's-" the armored man said but stopped when Grogu came forward to him happily and wrapped his arms around his leg. The visor followed him as he came forward and stopped to look down at his own left foot with Grogu tapping onto it before taking a seat on it "Something else." he eventually answered.
"Something else?" he was questioned from behind "What do you mean Chief?" he asked.
Slowly Chief bent down bringing his visor closer to Grogu.
"oohhh." Grogu cooed as he the shining visor came closer to his view overtaking it entirely, but allowing him to see his own reflection in it. But as that got closer so did an arm, that was taken off of the rifle to ease closer to Grogu.
Getting close to him, it took ahold of Grogu. Gently placed in his grip Grogu was lifting off the ground once again. His feet wiggled as he was, his arms were stretched out and he let out the faintest of 'wee's' as he was lifted up higher than before.
Sitting before the orange visor, it continued to study it just as Grogu tried to understand it himself.
"Chief?" a voice called from behind "What do you have there?"
Master Chief turned around with Grogu in one of his hands. Turning with him, Grogu saw two more soldiers, both of whom were still inside a vehicle. One seated and one standing in a turret. Confused by it all he continued to babble and squeak.
"Whoa!" What is that?!" they let out excitedly.
"I'm not sure." Chief said looking down at Grogu himself.
"Cute little bugger." the one from the turret said.
"Hey-" the one from the seat snapped "Point that thing somewhere else. You're scaring him!"
"Sorry!" he apologized and quickly moved away swerving around in the turret, but threw his head over a soldier to keep his eyes on Grogu "I didn't know there was anything living on this planet to begin with."
"None of us did." Chief answered looking to Grogu who at the sound of his voice turned up to him curiously.
"What do you think we should do with him?" one of the soldiers asked as Chief continued to look down. Both seem to be eyeing the other curiously. But only one of them could voice their intent.
"Take him to Cortana." Chief answered "She'd want to hear about this."
"You're telling me." the soldier in the seat said. Chief then moved to round the Warthog as the marines followed him. In his hand Grogu looked around some more.
"Well that makes it easier." the one from the turret said "She's expecting you anyway."
"You can give her that was a way of apologizing for being late." the seated one said jokingly as Chief hopped into the Warthog, his weight noticeably shifting it and Grogu let out the faintest of squeaks as he bobbed with it.