Two years ago [in transit from Tatoonie to Coruscant]:
"We should be there soon." Din Djarin said to Wyb as he adjusted the controls of a small clunker of a freighter he had borrowed from Peli Motto for the short trip. As short as it was, it seemed long and tense as he turned his head slightly to check on his passenger.
"Are you cold? There's some blankets in the racks Peli packed." Din asked as he watched him hug his arms slightly around himself.
The kid hadn't said much since they had left Tatooine. He was as thrilled about the trip as Din was. Being shipped off to New Republic Capital for a better life. Or at least that was Lenore's hope. The last few months, let alone years, had been hard. Jord had been killed in an accident and the forgotten had disbanded shortly after. It had just been Wyb and Lenore for the last few years. He never dreamt she would send him away. Give up on them. Perhaps it was losing Jord, but Wyb was angry and did not understand why she insisted on sending him to the capital.
"Hungry? They might be a little stale," Din asked, pulling some small blue cookies from his utility belt. He hoped a snack would ease the tension in the cockpit. He wasn't use to dealing with teenagers but the trick had worked on younglings, one in particular.
Wyb shook his head as Din slowly put the cookies away, lost at what to do. He was a bounty hunter not a nurse droid. He sighed frustrated. How did he head up in this situation? A chauffeur for an ex-imperial who he had hired to chauffeur him around in search of a new ship. The irony of the galaxy never surprised Din, but he had decided he had had enough of the teenage antics.,
"That's enough sulking. I get it. You're…." Din had never been good at small talk,"...upset. But Lenore just wants what's best for you."
"This would've never happened if you didn't show up at the shop that day," Wyb angrily said. "This is all your fault."
"That's a bit dramatic," Din adjusted his controls. He didn't blame him for taking his anger out on him. He remembered when he was his age and a foundling once.
"If you didn't hire us to take you to the colonies looking for a ship, then Lenore and I–"
"The colonies was Lenore's idea," Din cut him off. His patience had its limits.
"You're stupid dark saber? Why did the Sevvets want it? They nearly killed us! And don't even get me started on Boba Fett?! She lost her hand because of him. You're why I'm stuck on this piece of junk!" Wyb yelled and kicked the pilot seat.
"Hey!" Din snapped and turned around.
He stopped as saw the boy was on the verge of tears. Wyb fell quiet, worried he had crossed the line. After all, Din was a bounty hunter. One of the best in the guild according to Lenore. There was no telling what he was capable of.
"She's the only family I got," Wyb confessed as he felt his stomach turn and his eyes burn. He didn't want to leave. More importantly he didn't want to cry in front of the bounty hunter. He closed his eyes trying to calm himself but his mind raced back to his last conversation:
"I don't need to go to the Academy. I fly better than anyone we know."
"Hold it there hotshot. You need to adjust the attitude. I was hoping we'd talk about wants and opportunity. You've peaked here with me. I have nothing more to teach you. You'll spend the rest of your days jumping freighter to freighter dodging blaster fire rescuing the enslaved,"Lenore said as she laid down recovering from her hand being severed.
"So? We're helping people. Isn't that what you always say we should do, help?"
"There are many ways to help Wyb. You have the talent and now the chance to do more. Think of the good you could do in the New Republic."
"What if I don't like it? What if I'm not good enough? What if something happens to you again?" "If you truly don't like it you can always leave. I can assure you, you aren't good enough. That's the whole point of being there. To learn to be good enough. And as far as me, well I got R3 to protect me." Lenore's astrodroid R3 beeped in agreement and nudged Wyb affectionately. "Wyb, fear is a powerful motivator. It'll help you survive but it won't help you live."
"I know you care about her. She cares about you too," Din said calmly, taking a gear shift head from his belt and handing it to Wyb. Wyb held it confused looking at the man hidden behind the Mandalorian helmet. "I know what you two are going through. I had someone once…a kid, a foundling like you. When it came time to say goodbye, for him to follow his own path, it was harder than I anticipated"
Wyb wished he could see Din's face. Who was he? Was he telling the truth? Could he really be trusted? As they stared at one another uncomfortably, Din continued to speak.
"… Change is hard but necessary. Lenore will be fine. You'd do her proud by making the most of this opportunity. Ok?"
"What if she's not?" Wyb asked worried.
"Then I'll check in on her," Din offered.
"Why?" Wyb asked, surprised. He had a feeling the Mandalorian felt more than he was letting on but then decided it was best to not know. Instead Wyb smirked tossing the gear shift up and down in one hand. "Cus this is the way?"
"Few more minutes," Din snatched the gear shift head back and looked forward. He sighed with a slight annoyance in his voice. "I'm taking you to Cara Dune who'll get you sorted."
"Sure thing, beskarhead," Wyb muttered.
"Don't call me that." Din replied.
"Lenore does."
"Are you her?" Din replied.
"You like her don't you?" Wyb teased. Din tilted his head and turned uncomfortably in the pilot chair. His silence spoke volumes as Wyb smiled knowing he had outwitted a bounty hunter even in its smallest measurement. "I think she likes you too. She'd never send me with anyone she didn't like or trust."
"The meiloorun doesn't fall far from the tree." Din commented on the boy's sass which he clearly had learned from his mother.
"That's 'cus they grow on bushes," Wyb corrected.
"We're here."
Wyb started out the side window to see the skyline of Coruscant as they descended. It was larger than any city had ever seen. Fear shot through him like lightning. He felt the shiver of doom as he did the day he was led onto a slaver freight. His future was unknown and it would be up to him to make his way through the New Republic.
"Wyb?! Hello?" Soni waved her hand in front of his dazed face.
"Sorry," Wyb apologized as he shook his head. "Spaced out for a second."
"I take it things didn't go well with Loncak," Soni remarked.
"It wasn't that bad. I think it's just upcoming exams and me being gone for a month," Wyb admitted. "A lot to catch up on."
"Well you've been the top cadet for the last two years, not like you really need to study," Soni smiled and took a sip of her beer. "Maybe you need a drink to take the edge off."
"That seems to be your answer for a lot of things lately," Wyb chuckled and looked around the crowded Naval bar. It definitely was Liberation week. "Nobody has a clue do they?"
"What do you mean?" she said as she watched the New Republic Senate streaming on the hologram entertainment screen around the bar–
"When we look back upon the war against the Empire—upon the billions of lives lost—sometimes it seems as though nothing could ever have been worth the terrible price we paid. But when we think of those people who perished in the conflict–
–"Hey Brix! Isn't there something else on?" Soni called over to the bartender.
"'fraid not," Brix the bartender shuffled through the hologram caster. "It's on every channel. I'll get the band to start early."
"Did you plant a smoke bomb in the lavatory like when we were first years again?" Soni laughed, turning her attention back to her partner.
"There's turmoil in the outer rim," Wyb began. Perhaps this was his chance to get Soni caught up with what he was dealing with.
"Isn't that the norm? Not even the Empire could get a grip on it," Soni brushed off the remark. "That's why the mandos love it so much out there. Can set up their own shop and do things their own way."
"Soni," Wyb said seriously, "something happened when I was at home."
"Now we're getting to the juicy stuff."
"Lenore and her unit found something on the star destroyer they took down," Wyb lowered his voice even though he knew no one was in earshot or could hear over the chatter of the pilots. "Information on a project that's experimenting on kids. The empire is using slavers to hunt and funnel force sensitives to their facilities."
"Did you tell Loncak?" Soni asked. Wyb looked away toward the senate broadcast. "Why not? Wyb, if you have that sort of information you should give it to the people who can help."
"That's the thing Soni, I don't know if Loncak can or would. You ever think about how he ended up here? He was an ambassador turned naval captain. Isn't that a form of political punishment?"
"Depends on your point of view I supposed," she said, turning her attention back to the bartender. "Brix come on get the music going! I can't watch this any longer. It's Liberation Week is it not?! To the Republic!"
"TO THE REPUBLIC!" The bar echoed in unison raising their drinks.
"Wyb, whatever information you have, it's best to hand it over to command. They'll know what to do." Soni finished her drink and pulled him toward the dance floor.
"Brix wait!" Wyb shouted as he saw a familiar face appear on the Senate broadcast.–
"-let us remember that they died for justice. For liberty. For the extraordinary peace we now enjoy. This is what we fought for." Tai-Lin Garr said as the senate applauded his well scripted speech. "Not for everyone!" yelled a female rodian shouted.
"Who's that?! And why is she in Senator Organa's pod," yelled another senate.
"The Empire is not gone! You all sit here congratulating yourselves on a lie. "Who are you?! The senate will not sit still for these false accusations?"
–"Well finally. Something exciting," Soni said.
"Shh," Wyb shushed her.
"Since when do you care about politics," Soni frowned.
"Quiet," Wyb scowled. He watched the rodian continue to protest. He knew her.–
"My name is Jin Ronax. I am from the Outer Rim, and with the assistance of Senator Organa, the only member of this so called senate to reply to my call for help, I come before you to tell you your celebrations are in vain."
"Get security at once," the senator spoke to his assistant.
–"Jin," Wyb whispered.
"You know her?" Soni placed her drink down and changed her tone. Wyb nodded. He had known her from the forgotten when he was a boy.–
"My twins have been missing for six months and I've written to every single senator from the outer rim and six from the core. What is this assembly for if not to solve the problems your citizens face!"
"Organa, always indulging agitators" another senator muttered.
"Ma'am please, you are making a scene, we are live," the senate said.
"Good!" Jin cried. "Let everyone know you are all talk. All of you! Putting on a show while innocent children are being stolen all over the galaxy. Being used for god knows what. The Empire is not gone."
–"Why are there so many twins in the galaxy?," Soni joked but stopped when she looked at Wyb.–
"Ma'am come with us," two security guards boarded her pod and took her into custody. "Do something!" Jin protested. "You cowards! Do something! Isn't that what the senate is for?!"
"Enough! Let's go," the security guard slapped binders on her wrist as the senate began to applaud the guards swift action. "We are the forgotten! We are the forgotten. Shame on you all! Shame on the republic!" Jin screamed as she was dragged from the Senate. The senators uneasily stirred and the transmission cut to an "off air" graphic.
–"The Forgotten?" Soni questioned curiously."You ok there?"
"No," Wyb said, knowing he had to get to Jin. " because I remember."