Suggested Listening:
Rock Monster - David Newman (from Galaxy Quest) |
...the crash
Silver Leaves - James Newton Howard (from Treasure Planet) |
...getting back those land legs
Serenity - David Newman (from Serenity) |
...another goodbye


We're going down! Holy Hoth, after all that, I'm gonna die in a fiery wreckage on a damn moon, I thought to myself. Sure enough, we were plummeting down to the watery surface of Trask, flames of atmospheric friction wrapping around the hull of the ship.

"Once we're through to the atmosphere, there should be enough fuel to slow us down… if we don't burn to a crisp…" The Mandalorian's warning echoed in my head. I hadn't thought he meant literally burn to a crisp, and yet here we were, actually on fire, and headed straight for collision because the landing gear had been too badly damaged on the last planet. The Frog Lady gripped her eggs, terrified. The kid, who had been peacefully asleep in my arms just moments before, was shaking.

"Come up here," He instructed now. "I need your hands!"

I unstrapped immediately and joined him at the dash.

"This lever needs to stay back," he said, pointing to a massive switch. "Can you do that?"

"On it," I said, and yanked it back, firmly.

"Keep it steady," he said, returning his hands to the knobs and switches in front of him. "Here we go…"

We burst through the streaks of cloud and a sprawling coastal scene emerged below us.

"Razor Crest, do you copy?" A woman's voice came through the radio.

Pieces of the ship were breaking off and flying away from us, causing it to rollick and roll as it careened down.

"Hold on!" Instructed Mando.

"Razor Crest, this is Trask Flight Control," said the voice, now with an edge. "Please reduce your speed to port protocol"

"I'm trying my best here," responded Mando. Then, to us, "Engage reverse thrusters — brace!"

We stabilized ourselves as best we could, and I muscled the lever, trying not to get thrown off of the dash by the ship's bucking.

"Razor Crest, you're coming in too fast, you have to—"

Flight Control was cut off as the ship finally engaged its landing gear with a great quake, just before impact.

"Here we go," said Mando as we drifted downward. "Nice and easy…"

I relaxed my grip and cast him a wan smile of relief, but the ship had other plans — just before it could make contact with the dock beneath us, it shuddered to the left and we tumbled straight into the sea with an almighty SPLASH.

"I'm starting to think," I muttered from the floor of the cockpit where I'd fallen upon impact, as we bobbed like a cork. "That perhaps me or her should be driving."

The Frog Lady croaked — I chose to think it was a croak of agreement — and hoisted herself back onto her chair.

"Everybody okay?" Groaned Mando. The Frog Lady croaked affirmatively. Mando spun around in his chair, searching for the kid. He squeaked from down on the floor. I clambered onto my knees and scooped him up to his feet.

"I think he's okay," I replied, examining him. Mando put a gloved hand around the back of his shoulder plate, like his shoulder had been jostled in the fall.

"How about you," he asked me in a softer voice. "You alright? Anything hurt?"

"I'm fine," I responded, rubbing the elbow I had landed on. "Nothing that won't wear off. You?"

"Fine," he said matter-of-factly, and swiftly dropped his hand from his shoulder. I narrowed my eyes as he turned away to look out the viewport at the lapping waves.

Not the type to complain, then, I thought, and a pang of care coursed through my chest.

Mando reached over to press the radio button and cleared his throat.

"Um… Mayday."

After a minute, we rose out of the water, lifted by a massive aquatic crane. The whole dock had gathered to watch our barely-surviving ship, now exorcising dirty water out of it's many holes and gapes, be slumped onto dry land.

I avoided eye contact with the many gawkers as we made our way onto the dock, the kid drifting beside us in his bassinet. My legs felt heavy and a little stumbling on the hard, wet asphalt. I took a refreshing gulp of the thick, salty air and surveyed the port — a little fishing village, with traders and sailors hard at work in the dense fog. Quite the change of scenery from the desert, I thought to myself.

A Mon Calamari in mechanic's garb approached us, hands on his suspenders.

"So, how can I help you?" He asked. I looked back at the crumbling ship, then at him again, trying to discern if he was being facetious.

"Can you fix it?" Asked Mando, bluntly.

"Fix it?" Replied the Mon Calamari with a hoarse chuckle. "Nah. But I can make it fly!"

Mando put a few credits in his outstretched hand.

"Do what you can," he murmured. The Mon Calamari's fingers closed around the coins and nodded, leaving us.

We walked further along and I found myself feeling a little awkward. I was prepared to start over anywhere, really, as long as it was out of the way — and this tiny seaport was certainly out of the way — but I hadn't accounted for how it would feel to get a little used to traveling with companions.

The Frog Lady croaked, nervously, as she scanned the crowd. Mando stopped and I watched him watch her, closely. I remembered what he and Peli had discussed — "the contact will take you to them", she had said. He had come hoping to find more Mandalorians, and The Frog Lady's husband was the key.

Suddenly, the Frog Lady's face lit up. She ran forward, arms outstretched, and I followed her gaze to a Frog Man, emerging enthusiastically from the nautical crowd. They embraced, tenderly, and I couldn't help but feel a little overcome. I looked at Mando, a small, moved smile tilted on my face. He looked over at me, quickly, his expression obscured by his helmet — I wonder if he was touched, too, or if he was really as stony as he seemed to want to come off.

The kid moaned and looked up at Mando, sadly.

"I know you're hungry," Mando soothed. "We'll get you something to eat."

The Frog Man came over to us and shook Mando's hand in thanks.

"You're welcome," said Mando. "I was told you could lead us to others of my kind."

The Frog Man nodded, enthusiastically croaking, and pointed at a run-down-looking building beyond the dock.

"The inn?" Asked Mando. "Over there?"

The Frog Man nodded. Almost imperceptibly I heard Mando take a deep breath as he looked at the inn, like he was trying to steady himself.

"Come on," he murmured. The group began to head over, but I stopped.

"Actually, I think I'm gonna leave you all to it." Even as I said it, my stomach twisted with a sharp twinge of something… sadness, I realized. All the more reason to cut this off now, I thought to myself, firmly.

"Oh," said Mando, clearly taken off-guard.

"I just don't want to intrude," I reassured. "And I've got to get started looking for my next move."

"I see," he said. "And… you're gonna be okay? Here?"

For a second I contemplated asking him for yet another ride — even in that battered old tin can he was planning on continuing to call a ship — but I nodded briskly and gave him a confident smile.

"Oh, here's perfect." I looked around at the busy crowd. "Plenty to do."

"Okay," he said, still sounding unsure. "I…" He started to speak, then paused, like he was contemplating what to say. Finally, he murmured "Thanks."

"For what?" I chuckled, incredulously. "You gave me safe passage, saved my life, I owe you thanks, not the other way around!"

"To be fair, I also put you in an ice cave full of spiders."

"That's true, I'm deducting points for that one."

I looked down at the kid, who was gazing up at me from his little sphere with curious eyes. I held my finger out to him and he once again grabbed it in his tiny green fist.

"You take care of him," I said to the kid, swallowing the lump that was appearing insistently in my throat.

"I will," said Mando.

"I was talking to the kid," I laughed again. I heard the smallest chuckle buzz out of Mando's vocoder — it filled me with a feeling of accomplishment.

I straightened and turned back to Mando. For the briefest moment, I considered giving him a hug — which would've been the first I'd given in a very long time — but instead I stuck out my hand. He shook it, wordlessly, his large, gloved hand enveloping mine with a firm grip.

"I hope you find them," I said in a low voice. "The other Mandalorians."

"I appreciate that," He said, sounding a little surprised that I'd retained that information. His hold on my hand lingered for just one extra moment, but it was enough.

I had to go. I had to rip the bandaid off or this would be impossible.

"'Bye," I said to him, then turned to the Frog Lady and her husband. "It was a pleasure. Lovely to meet you."

Just like the last time we had landed at a port, I vanished into the crowd in a few quick strides, only this time I looked back, craning my neck and squinting my eyes — just in time to see them disappearing into the inn.

Enough, I thought to myself, sternly. Time to move on.

I pulled my jacket tighter around me and strode into the fog toward the town.