The DL-44 blaster pistol had a lot of unnecessary kickback to it. Despite barely being able to pierce Stormtrooper armor, it didn't pack much of a punch when you truly needed it to. Durasteel or spirits help you Beskar made the DL series of pistols look like an ad'ikas plaything rather than an intimidating weapon. If you weren't careful every repeat shot would miss wildly due to the recoil making a scope practically useless. He much preferred the IB-94 because of how smooth it was in combat. A user didn't need an obnoxious scope attacked to it because the pistol reliably hit its target every time. As long as you knew how to point and shoot that is. However, a bounty hunter like him needed to train with all weapons on the market to know how to use them. A situation could arise he had to use someone else's blaster, so it was better to train at all times.
He was starting out relatively simple to get the hang of the blaster. Three lightly armored tin cans at his thigh height configured in a loose triangular formation. Each represented an Imperial Stormtrooper coming to grab him. The first shot was easy, a simple flick of the wrist to pull the blaster and a finger squeeze against the trigger. Not too hard as to make the trigger lock up on him in the future but, not to light as to make the mechanism not recognize what he was doing. For the next tin can, he had to tilt his wrist down to act as a counter to the recoil. At the same time, he had to aim for the target as to not waste a good shot. He could occasionally pull it off though the third can always seemed to allude him. Twisting the wrist back and forth at such a rapid pace seemed impossible. As a result, his last shot went wide hitting the muddy cave wall for a fifth time.
A deep chuckle that usually made his stomach do flips just annoyed him this time, "Another miss, careful Din'ika, too many of those and you might start a cave in."
Din ignored him walking towards the tin cans to pick them back up, he may have purposely bent over knowing who was looking, "I swear you just come in here to look at my shebs. Otherwise, you'd give me advice rather than just mocking me."
"No, I am not." Paz said though Din didn't find it terribly convincing.
Pa Vizsla joined the Children of the Watch about a week ago and already Din found himself drawn to the other twenty-year-old. He was confident, maybe a little arrogant, tall and obviously muscular under all that armor. He distracted Din merely with his presence, but he liked it. The fact that Paz seemed to gravitate towards him as well gave Din the hope that the feelings were mutual. That said, the two of them were far too young to consider a relationship. Removing Beskar in the presence of another was a onetime deal per the teachings of the Mand'alor. Maybe someday, if they still felt the same way about each other, they could retire together. For now, though, it was a fantasy he got to think about all by himself.
Din put up the two cans he shot off getting ready to practice again, "Well, some actual advice would be nice then. I want to be ready when The Armorer picks me to go out on a hunt."
"Why don't you step aside and let a professional show you how it's done?" Paz offered with that smug tone that should annoy Din but just made his heart skip a beat instead.
Din offered the pistol in his direction sporting an amused tone, "Go right ahead, I won't mock you endlessly when you make yourself look like a di'kut."
Instead of taking the pistol, Paz stood in front of the firing line wielding a portable E-Web blaster cannon. Before Din could point out that he didn't want help shooting with that thing, Paz merely started shooting. Blaster bolts scattered haphazardly across the ground making his accuracy surely go in the negative if anyone was paying attention. A second later though and all of the wooden posts used to hold up the tin cans had caught fire resting against the dusty cave floor. He had the nerve to pose afterwards with the massive weapon over his shoulder and one leg propped up on a few crumbling rocks. Din wanted to point out that his little demonstration taught him nothing yet at the moment he couldn't help but to check him out. The cocky di'kut knew exactly what he was doing, and it was making him tongue tied.
"Told ya, I'd show you how it's done." Paz declared before marching to loom over him placing a warm gloved hand on his shoulder, "Din, play to your strengths so that you don't have to worry about your weaknesses. It doesn't matter how you get the job done as long as it happens-"
Din cut him off as soon as he said that last part, "I mean technically that's not true. We get less credits for doing things differently than the employer wants. You know, dead or alive is a thing in most contracts. And if we get less credits, we won't be able to feed everyone that week."
While he was rambling, he hadn't noticed Paz taking another step towards him, "Osik, you are insufferable sometimes. I need you to listen to me Din, you aren't good to anyone dead. A messed-up contract just means we pick up the slack for the next go around. A mistake that gets you killed means...means I can't admire those shebs whenever you get back."
It was as though that admission had lifted a thousand-pound weight off his spine, and he could take a deep breath again. He knew somewhere in the back of his mind that Paz was attracted to him in the same way he felt yet, he hadn't been certain. Sure, the constant hanging around together could certainly be a clue to everyone else in the Watch though Din assumed he just needed help getting accustomed to the covert. He instinctively let his hand rest against his chest to feel his heartbeat for the first time. In turn, Paz slid one of his thick arms around him to touch his lower back. Paz was the first real crush Din had ever experienced; it was enough to make him want to melt.
A voice from deeper in the cave network made them jolt apart as though nothing happened, "There you are, you weren't at dinner gathering so some of us were curious."
Din rubbed the back of his neck before he stood at attention, "Commander Ordo, sir! I had a large lunch, so I was going to let an ad'ika have my dinner portion."
Commander Ordo bowed his head in acknowledgement, "Very admirable of you. I'll be sure to put that in my report instead of messing around with blasters alongside the new recruit here. Nevertheless, The Armorer has asked me to tell you your presence in the meeting hall is required. Apparently, someone has requested your services for a job personally."
Din blinked wondering if anyone could feel such a whirlwind of emotions in the same two-minute period. The desire to do something forbidden with Paz replaced by a different kind of nervous anticipation. Din had been a part of several jobs before with Commander Ordo though this sounded like he was being tasked to do something on his own. A lot of responsibility rested on his ability to provide for the Watch but, he was ready to prove himself. All this training night and day for the past ten years shaped him into the weapon he was today. He pushed his DL-44 back into its holster telling himself over and over again that he was ready for this. He was surprised to see Paz getting back to work ignoring him though, he thought at the very least the man would tell him goodbye. Din couldn't worry about the why right now though, he had a client to meet.
Once they were deep enough in the tunnel to leave Paz behind, Ordo tilted his head towards him, "Word of advice?" When Din nodded acknowledging the question he continued, "Don't get attached to anyone, it never ends well in your family."
Din wanted to ask him what that meant but another voice caught his attention from further along the tunnel, "This is insane Luthen. He's not ready for this."
"If not now, when? You can't keep hiding him forever." The gruff voice of a man named Luthen replied.
The voice he soon recognized as their armorer answered, "I haven't been hiding anything, he's been on missions just as you requested. But this..."
"This is the best chance we've had at the capital in years. I can establish myself there." Luthen stated rather plainly as if there was no need for debate.
The Armorer's voice was growing louder even though they were still a few turns away from their destination, "At what cost Luthen?! I have not hid for twenty years just to-"
Ordo cleared his throat seeing as Din was listening to the conversation, "That's Luthen Rael, he's one of the few Patrons that the Watch has left. He and The Armorer don't always see eye to eye, but I wouldn't worry about it."
Din felt his earlier pride at being chosen for a mission slowly evaporate. It wasn't The Armorer's choice for him to go out and prove himself to the rest of the Watch, in fact she didn't think he was ready. Some rich bureaucrat from the core worlds wanted the cheapest muscle he could find meaning Din drew the last straw. What had he done so wrong for The Armorer to think so little of him? Ordo supposedly reported Din had done a tremendous job every time the two of them went out on assignment. Did she just not listen to what her lieutenant had to say? Or was there something about Din's personality that made her believe he wasn't ready for the work? Technically she didn't have much choice if the patron insisted that he was the right one for the job but, it didn't feel good to be chosen due to a technicality.
He snorted rubbing the back of his neck, "Easy for you to say, you obviously earned The Armorer's trust years ago."
"Hey." Ordo turned to him forcing him to stop, "This isn't about trust, The Armorer knows you're capable. She just cares about you..." He turned to keep walking only leaving Din with more questions.
As the two of them made their way to the meeting hall Din spotted The Armorer placing a necklace in another Human's hand. He was tall with short blonde hair though probably the oldest among them wearing a brown coat. Even though he had a cane, Din could tell Luthen could handle himself easily in a fight. His stance made it clear he had carried many on his back already with a mixed bag when it came to the success rate. There was nothing truly remarkable about the necklace, just an iron chain housing an opaque blue crystal. What Din did find odd was the way she forced his fingers to close around the necklace making him keep it. The action was strangely intimate for a woman who was known to be cold as ice itself.
Ordo stood at attention elbowing Din to do the same, "Ma'am, I found Djarin practicing his blaster skills in the training area."
The Armorer practically transformed into another woman standing straight with her arms behind her back, "Very good, that will be all Commander." Once he left the room she continued, "Din Djarin, I am pleased to report our patron has taken an interest in you. May I introduce you to Luthen Rael, you will-"
Luthen interrupted her clearly not one for pleasantries, "How good are you with that blaster son?"
Din pretended not to notice the way he subtly shifted the necklace from his hand to his coat pocket, "Good enough. What's the puck?"
Luthen shifted uncomfortably tapping the cane on the ground, "We're going to find that out together when we get there."
Din blinked not quite sure how to respond to that. Despite having never gone on a mission by himself before, he knew that was an unusual request for a Mandalorian. How was he supposed to prepare if he had no idea what he was doing? What if it was something he didn't even know how to do? The worst possible scenario popped into his head thinking that the puck had to do with gardening or construction. A part of him felt bad for judging what The Armorer was saying since he agreed with her now. Being asked to kill someone was one thing, he had time to get the layout of the location and prepare a line of attack. Improvisation on the other hand asked him to wear a lot of different hats all at once that he barely trained in.
He tilted his head to The Armorer, "Ma'am?" It was a way for him to ask if he could get out of this as well as simultaneously what was going on.
She took a deep breath standing resolute, "Our patron has a desire to...ingratiate himself with the Empire. We're his way in."
"I thought the Empire was the enemy?" Din responded feeling an anger like a dragon inside of him boiling beneath the surface of his thoughts.
Luthen nodded in confirmation of his sentiment, "They are. But sometimes you can't defeat your enemy with a frontal attack. Sometimes you have to earn their trust so you can stab them in the back when they least expect it."
"So, I'm bait?" Din asked feeling the weight of the assignment crashing down on him.
Luthen took the opportunity to correct him before The Armorer could say anything, "You're a shiny object for them to play with while the real work of undermining the Empire happens under their nose."
The Armorer looked down at her boots for a moment, "If you are uncomfortable with the assignment Djarin I'm sure som-"
Din was the one to cut her off this time, "I'll do it."
Luthen grinned as though a contract was just signed, "Good. I'll be along in the morning to take you to Coruscant. Pack your things, it might be some time before you return."
"I pack light, I'm ready to leave now if you're able." Din declared flatly willing to go as soon as possible.
Luthen toyed with his cane as if he was lost in thought, "Bull rushing into things achieves nothing but pain. We leave in the morning."
