Archive of Our Own

Oops.

Din cursed and shut off the nanowave stove quickly, waving a washcloth over the top of it to try and disperse the smoke.

The child laughed at him as he tried to salvage what he could from the failed flatcake.

“You think that’s funny, do you?”

Din placed his hands on his hips and turned to the child. 

“You know that these are yours, right? I’m fine eating the burned ones.” Din said to the giggling child.

“Bue!”

Din rolled his eyes and sighed good-humoredly. “I suppose I could try again.” He pointed the cloth at the green creature. “But if I burn it again, then you’ll just have to grab something from the fruit box.”

And so, Din tried once more.

Luckily, he had enough sense not to burn the hell out of this flatcake.

It was crispy, but at least it wasn’t black like his previous attempts.

He poured a generous amount of the filreux berry-flavored syrup over the blue flatcake before placing it in front of the awaiting child.

“There. Maybe it tastes better than it looks.”

The child coos at him before digging into it.

While he eats, Din samples a piece of the flatcake from the burnt pile, slipping it underneath his buy’ce.  

His lips pursed at the bitter taste, but otherwise, it wasn’t bad. It just needed some work, that’s all.

He sent another glance at the foundling, his face was sticky with the syrup, but his eyes were alight with joy.

Din’s eyes softened.

It seems that he likes it.

He wet a washcloth with some water from a canteen.

He clicked his tongue. “You’ve got it all over your face, kid. Why don’t you slow down?” He suggested, amused as he rubbed the child’s cheeks, trying to clean his face.

The creature squawked in protest.

“Hold still.” Din continued wiping away the sugary substance, relieved that it came off easily. He knew that certain other syrups across the galaxy tended to be stubbornly sticky.

He stepped back and let the kid keep eating.

A beeping noise drew his attention to the cockpit.

Making sure the kid could be left alone for a bit, Din climbed the ladder and stepped into the cockpit.

A little light was blinking on the console, indicating a message.

He wasn’t sure who could be calling him. Not many people had ways to contact him.

Frowning, Din played it.

“My friend, if you are receiving this transmission, that means you are alive.” Greef Karga appeared on the holovid. “You might be surprised to hear this, but I am alive too. I guess we can call it even.”

Din is surprised to hear from Karga, but no, he’s not surprised he’s alive. After all, he shot him in the chest on purpose. The beskar ingots in his breast pocket lingered in the back of his mind at the time. 

Karga’s only alive because Din spared him.

“A lot has happened since we last saw each other.” The man continued. “The man who hired you is still here, and his ranks of ex-imperial guards have grown. They have imposed despotic rule over my city, which has impeded the livelihood of the Guild. We consider him an enemy, but we cannot get close enough to take him out.

“If you would consider one last commission, I will very much make it worth your while. You have been successful so far in staving off their hunters, but they will not stop until they have their prize.

“So here is my proposition: 

“Return to Nevarro. Bring the child as bait. I will arrange an exchange, and provide loyal Guild members as protection. Once we get near the client, you kill him, and we both get what we want.

“If you succeed, you keep the child and I will have your name cleared with the Guild, for a man of honor should not be forced to live in exile.

“I await your arrival with optimism.”

The holovid cut off.

Din clenched a fist. The flatcake he ate earlier soured in his gut.

So there it was. 

A chance to get all the hunters off his back and a way to keep the kid safe for good.

He didn’t like the idea of using the kid as bait. It sounded way too easy to lose him to the client once more.

The “loyal Guild members” is where Din hesitates. He knew that walking back into Nevarro would mean that he would be surrounded by the bounty hunters on all sides, not to mention the extra stormtroopers roaming about, but Karga was employing them as… what? Bodyguards?

That didn’t seem like something that they would agree with. There would be no price that Karga could pay them that would rival the price on the child’s head.

Meaning that there's no bounty hunter who would willingly protect Din and the child.

Din needed his own insurance. Someone trustworthy who would be able to watch his back in a city full of enemies.

The corner of his mouth twitched upward.

Maybe Cara Dune would be up for another job.

“Pa-too!” 

Din twisted towards the ladder.

“You okay down there?” He asked in response to the child’s exclamation.

“Bueh!”

He moved towards the ladder and smoothly dropped down into the cargo hold.

He stopped.

“How did you manage that?”

The child had the filreux berry-flavored syrup all over his face and up his arms.

The bottle sat innocently within his reach, currently tipped over and spilling the sweet liquid all over the table.

The child stared up at him sheepishly.

Din sighed. “Maybe we should’ve bought you more clothes instead of food.”

The Razor Crest arrived back on Sorgan in a different sector of the planet.

As far as Din could tell, Cara hadn’t left the planet yet. When he last saw her, she had no form of off-planet transportation, and she never mentioned having any acquaintances on the backwater planet who could give her a lift.

He hasn’t seen her in a few standard months.

He pinpointed her location to a cantina on the south side of the planet, in a small town called Kerac.

He approached the cantina hearing sounds of a fight within. 

Scenting the air before walking in, there was no telltale sourness indicating fear, so he assumed that it was safe to enter. There was, however, an overwhelming amount of cheering.

The child cooed from the birikad at his side as he opened the door.

He hears a familiar laugh.

“Alright, pay up, mudscuffers!”

Cara Dune stood in the middle of the open floor of the cantina, a light sheen of sweat on her face, but with a wide victorious smile.

People walked up to her and handed her credits, nodding to her in a congratulatory manner. She thanked them and nodded back, fingers eagerly grasping the credits.

It seemed that she was the one fighting. And winning.

Of course she would be participating in bar fights.

Din moved through the slowly dispersing crowd towards the alpha.

She caught sight of him.

“Looking for some work?” He asked her.

Her face lit up. “Hey, Mando! Another job already?”

She offered her arm and Din clasped it in greeting.

“Come on, let’s grab a table.” She said, leading him to one against the wall.

Din followed close behind and, once at the table, removed the child from the birikad and placed him on an open seat.

“You have a little bag for the child now?” Cara asked, tilting her head towards the cloth carrier.

Din nodded. “It’s easier to carry him around this way.”

She chuckled. “I can see that.” A server came by and placed a cup of, most likely, spotchka in front of her. She took a sip of it and sighed in appreciation. “Alright, so what’s the job?”

“I have an opportunity to get all the bounty hunters off the kid’s trail.” Din begins.

Cara puts down her cup. “Yeah? That’s great!”

Din tilts his head. “It is.” He agreed. “Except it would require me to bring him back to the client who wanted him in the first place. There, with the help of the Guild, I would kill the client and end it all.”

Cara’s smile slowly transformed into a frown. “And the client is the Imp you mentioned before?” She clarified.

“Yes.” He hoped that she would join him. He’d really appreciate an ally. “It seems like a straightforward operation. They’re providing the plan and firepower. I’m just the snare.” 

“You seem to be more than ‘just the snare’ if you’re the one tasked with killing him.” She commented, eyes flickering to the child. “And you’re willing to put your kid in harm's way to get the Guild off your back?”

Din exhaled. “No, not really.” He raised his head to meet her gaze through his visor. “That’s why I’m coming to you.”

Cara blinked, looking a little surprised. “You want me to help you protect the kid?”

Was that… not obvious?

“You’ve… helped me before. I was hoping you’d be willing to help me again.” Din responded. He sat back. Did she not want to?

He supposed it was a bit of a strange request. Not only that, but also very sudden. He wouldn’t blame her if she refused. Unfortunately, as of right now, she was the only person he could turn to.

The alpha leaned forward, eyes wide. “I-well, yes, of course.” She cleared her throat. “Of course I’ll help you.”

He blinked, relieved.

That confirmation took a load off his back.

As an ex-shock trooper, Cara is certainly an asset to have in the coming skirmish.

Not wanting to waste more time, the Mandalorian stood up. “Great. Do you need more time to prepare? Or are you ready to go?”

A grin slowly appeared on her face. “Oh no, I’m all set to go.”

Din nodded. “Alright.” Picking up the child, he safely stashed him back into the birikad. Brown eyes looked up at him and cooed almost questioningly. Din gestured to Cara, “You remember Cara, right?”

The large ears twitched upwards. “Bueh.”

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Din looked at Cara. She watched the interaction with an amused expression. “Let’s go.”

She followed him out the cantina, a step behind him.

“You got a ship then?” She asked.

Din hummed. “I do. The Razor Crest.” Never one to pass up singing praises about his ship, he continued. “She’s very reliable. Since she’s pre-Empire, she doesn’t show up on the scans.”

Cara whistled. “That sounds pretty nice. How long have you had her?”

“I got her about the same time I became a beroya. ”

“A bear… what?”

“ Beroya. ” Din repeated. “It means bounty hunter.”

“Oh,” she breathed. “So you speak Mandalorian then?”

“ Mando’a .” He corrected her. “And yes, all Mandalorians speak Mando’a. We were taught it at a young age.”

“Huh. How long you been a bounty hunter then?”

Din hesitated. He wasn’t really sure. All that time tended to blur together in a never ending cycle of ‘pick up bounty, hunt them down, obtain reward, give to covert, rinse, and repeat.’ He never stopped and he hardly ever took a break. 

The past few months have been a surprising change to his schedule and now he considered it his new normal. He didn’t know if he could go back to what he used to do now that he has the child. He couldn’t remember how he dealt with the emptiness of the Razor Crest and not having the child in his arms or at his side.

He didn’t like the sound of being alone again.

“Years.” He finally replied softly.

From the corner of his visor, he could see Cara shoot him a glance. She seemed to pick up on the change in his mood.

“Maybe you can teach me some words in Mando’a .” She suggested, veering the conversation away from that topic.

“I could.” Din agreed easily, grateful for the distraction. “ Mando’a isn’t usually taught to outsiders, but I could probably make an exception for you since you’re willing to help me protect the foundling.”

“What’s a foundling?” The alpha asked. “Is that what the kid is?”

“To the Mandalorians, yes.” The Mandalorian patted the child’s head, earning him a coo in response. “Mandalorians adopt orphaned children and those left behind, calling them foundlings. When they are of age, they can either swear The Creed or they are free to leave. This is how the Mando’ade have survived after the Great Purge.”

“I never knew that.” Cara responded. She seemed to make the connection between Mando’ade and Mandalorians without Din’s input. “People always wondered how you all survived without omegas for so long.”

Din turned his head towards her. “Without omegas?”

“Yeah, most Mandalorians people meet are either alphas or betas.” Cara explained, shrugging. “Everyone just assumed omega Mandalorians didn’t exist.”

The armored man huffed. “No, the Empire tried to wipe out all the omegas during the Great Purge. If they couldn’t kill all the Mandalorians, then they would just try to kill their primary way of reproducing. People don’t meet Mandalorian omegas because there’s not many left.”

The female alpha frowned. “That’s pretty messed up.” 

Din tilted his head. “It’s the Empire.”

“Fair enough.” She conceded.

They passed through the last of the trees, revealing the Razor Crest.

“There’s my ship.” He said to her, opening up the ramp using the controls on his vambrace. He walks up into the Crest. “It’s quite a bit of a ride, but I think we’ll make good time.” He paused when he realized that Cara wasn’t following him. He turns to look at her. She’s standing at the bottom of the ramp. “What are you doing?” 

She jolts slightly. “Oh, it’s just, most omegas are particular about having an alpha in their space and such.” She waves her hand around to try and dismiss the awkwardness she’s most likely feeling.

Oh. Right. He almost forgot.

He felt that way then he had to transport Mayfield and the other mercenaries, as people tended to ignore any established boundaries, but Cara?

Cara’s a friend.

The fact that she hesitated before entering his space shows that she’s respectful. She’s trustworthy.

“I already consider you a friend. No need to worry about that.”

Her mouth gapes before it slowly turns into a grin.

“Well, if you say so.”

She walks into the Razor Crest.

Din launches the Crest into space, setting them on course to travel sub-light for a time.

He picks up the child from the passenger seat and hops down the ladder to the cargo hold.

Cara sat down below on a crate.

She raised an eyebrow as he set the child on the floor. “He can’t be trusted up there?”

Din snorted. “If I can’t trust him with syrup, then I probably can’t trust him in the cockpit.”

“Is that some kind of metaphor?” The alpha asked, confused.

The Mandalorian shakes his head. “No, I just made him flatcakes for first meal and he made a mess of the syrup.”

Cara chuckled at that. “You cook then?”

“Well,” Din tilted his head, trying to find a way to not make him sound like a fool. “I’m trying to.”

She grinned. “That’s more than I can say for myself.”

Not wanting to discuss his less than mediocre culinary skills, Din taps a button on his vambrace and opens up his armory, putting his weapons on display.

He pointed to them. “Pick one.”

“Oh wow,” she gasped at his collection. “Really?”

He nodded at her.

Like a child in a candy store, she skipped forward and began checking out the different models of blasters and rifles that he owned.

“Does your contact need to vet me?” She asked, looking at a DH-17 blaster rifle.

“Doesn’t know you’re coming.”

“Really?” She asked, sparing him a glance. “That could be a problem.”

“It won’t.” Din assured her. “But if it is, that’s his problem.”

“You trust the contact?”

Din shrugged. “Not particularly.” He tried to kill him, but who hasn’t? “He and I had a run-in last time I was there on some Guild business.”

She looked at him in disapproval. “So then why are we going?”

“I don’t have a choice.” Din said, pacing to the side. “You saw what happened on Sorgan. They’ll keep sending hunters after him. The kid will never be safe until the Imp is dead.”

“Okay.” Cara acquiesced, switching the DH-17 blaster rifle with the Heavy Blaster Rifle on the wall. “I’ll do what I can to help.”

Din sighed. “Thank you.”

“Of course, what are friends for-” She cut herself off. “Is… something burning?”

Confused, Din sniffed deeply.

Something was burning.

Whipping around, Din looked for the nanowave stove that had to be the source of the smell. Nothing else in the cargo hold burned like that.

But he wasn’t cooking anything…

The child.

He’s been quiet for too long. When he’s quiet, then he’s probably doing something he’s not supposed to.

He spotted the green child.

A small three-fingered hand was messing with the settings on the nanowave stove.

Moving quickly, Din vaulted over a pile of crates on the floor to grab the child before he tried anything else.

“Hey, hey, hey, what do you think you’re doing?” He asked the giggling child.

Fwump!

Oh, the poor nanowave stove burst into flames.

“Dank farrik! Cara!” He shouted.

Dropping her newly acquired weapon, she darted to his side.

“Here!” Din shoved the child into her arms and went to grab a fire extinguisher that he knew was somewhere in the ship.

Locating it, he snatched it and sprayed the stove, spewing white gas at the flames and suffocating it.

Within seconds, the flames died down and all that was left was the sad black box of the nanowave stove.

Din stared at the portable stove in dismay. He had that thing for years. It was pretty ancient.

He supposed that it was just a matter of time before it gave up, but he had hoped that it would last for some time longer.

“Yeah, no, we need something to watch this kid.” Cara concluded, holding the child away from her at arm's length.

Din exhaled heavily, dropping the canister on the floor. “Yeah.” He’s also going to need to buy a new stove.

“You got anyone you can trust?”

He turned to take the child back from Cara. “Well… I might have one person.” Holding the child up to eye level, Din shook his head. “Kid, you can’t play with that. You hear me? You could’ve gotten hurt.” Instantly concerned, Din checked him over. “You’re not hurt, right?”

“Bueh.” The child replied, shaking his head. His ears lowered in apology.

Relieved, Din tucked him back into his elbow and wiggled his finger in his face. “I’m glad you’re not hurt, but don’t do that again, okay?”

“Mmphf.”

Convinced that the child understood him, he glanced at Cara.

She looked like she was holding back laughter.

“What?”

She guffawed, letting it out all at once. “He destroyed your nanowave stove!”

“Yes, we’ve established that.”

Cara slapped her knee, still laughing. “That thing is gone gone! Just look at it!”

Din groaned.

“A sad little black box!”

They entered the atmosphere of Arvala-7, returning to the place where Din found the child.

It was as bare and rocky as ever.

The only difference was that the Razor Crest was landing near the Ugnaught’s dwelling rather than out in the middle of nowhere.

Din set the ship down gently and opened up the ramp.

“So who’s this person we’re here to get?” Cara questioned, stepping off the ramp.

“An Ugnaught. He helped me find the child.” He replied, setting the child into the birikad.  

He spotted the Ugnaught rather easily as he was approaching the cooling ship.

He nodded at them and Din returned the nod.

“Come inside.” The Ugnaught motions for them to follow him into the short home.

The two warriors ducked under the low-hanging roof and settled themselves against the wall.

Din knelt down comfortably and pulled the baby carrier into his lap, displaying the child.

“It hasn’t grown much.” The Ugnaught commented upon seeing the child.

No, he hasn’t. It was strange considering the amount of food it eats. Where does he put it all?

“I think it might be a Strand-Cast.” It was the only other option. In all his travels, he has never seen another being that even slightly resembled the child.

“I don’t think it was engineered.” The Ugnaught mused. “I’ve worked in the gene farms. This one looks too evolved. Too ugly.”

Din frowned.

The child wasn’t ugly.

“This one, on the other hand, looks like she was farmed in the Cytocaves of Nora.” The shorter being said, turning to Cara.

Well, that was one way to describe someone.

“This is Cara Dune.” Din introduced her. “She was a shock trooper.”

While the two of them got acquainted, Din heard a familiar sound from the entrance.

Mechanical clanking.

In came the bounty droid.

Din jumped to his feet and snarled at it, brandishing his blaster.

He saw Cara mimic his movements, also getting to her feet. Her eyes flickered to him, alarmed at his reaction.

“Would anyone care for some tea?” The droid asked.

The Ugnaught came forward with his hands outstretched, oblivious to the scents dispersing in the air. “Please lower your blasters. He will not harm you.”

“That thing is programmed to kill the kid.” Din clenched his teeth, a growl rumbling deep in his chest. He pushed the bag back away from the droid, making sure that he was between the child and the droid.

“Not anymore.” The Ugnaught insisted. He immediately launched into an explanation on where he found the droid and how he brought it back to life.

Not that it mattered. 

It was still a bounty droid.

Din kept his blaster raised at it.

“Mando,” Cara said from his side. “We can keep an eye on it.”

“I don’t want it anywhere near the child.” He said firmly. He will not budge on that.

The alpha bit her lip and looked to the Ugnaught. “Is it still a hunter?”

“No.” He immediately denied. “But it will protect.”

Cara nudged Din’s shoulder. “He says it's fine.” She repeated lowly, trying to lower his hackles. “You trust him, right?

Din stayed in his stance for a few more moments before he gritted out, “Fine.” But he wasn’t about to forget that the droid tried to kill the child within the first minute that it saw him. He settled back down stiffly, moving the child into his arms to cradle him closely to his chest. 

“Tea?” IG-11 offered him a cup.

Too close.

Cara took the cup out of his face before Din could snap at the droid. “You might want to keep that thing from interacting with Mando for a bit, Ugnaught.”

“I have a name. It is Kuiil.” Kuiil said clearly.

“Okay,” Cara said slowly. Din could see her flash him a glance out of the corner of his visor. He was still staring at the bounty droid. “You should keep the droid away from him, Kuiil.”

Kuiil grunted. “You have grown much closer to the child than I expected that you would.” He waved at the droid until it retreated back to the wall.

Din tilted his helmet towards him, still feeling on edge with the droid in such close quarters. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Cara finally settled back down next to him, inching slightly forward to input herself between Din and IG-11. She’s keeping an eye on the droid, just like she said she would. Din is infinitely more grateful to her. He knows he can trust her to protect the child.

If the droid tried anything, Din could shove the child at Cara and trust her to protect him while Din dealt with the threat.

“You left here with the child to claim your reward. Yet you return here with the child many moons later.” The Ugnaught casts an appraising eye over Cara. “With another, no less.” Gaze moving back to Din’s visor, Kuiil questioned, “Could it be that you finally formed a pack, Mandalorian?”

Din heard Cara splutter next to him.

“I am afraid that I am unfamiliar with the proper usage of dynamic terms, but that is what I assume they are called, yes?”

A pack?

It’s been years since Din has thought about pack forming. He’s seen the clans within the covert, all the different aliit. For the armored people, packs and clans are the same. They are all aliit, family. Mandalorians form their packs out of family members and close friends who are not a part of other packs, either that they lost their clan in battle or they are a clan of one. Such as a foundling who had not been formally claimed. 

Such as Din.

New packmates who join different clans have the choice of taking on the Clan name or continuing with their own.

Aliit ori’shya tal’din, they liked to say. Family is more than blood.

Din had had a chance to be a part of a pack, a part of Clan Vizsla, one of the oldest and most renowned of the Mandalorian clans. Paz had offered him a place among them, when they were younger.

Din had believed that he would join Clan Vizsla once he got older.

But then he became the beroya.

Then he and Paz no longer talked.

And now, years later, did Din want a pack?

Could he form one with the child?

Din didn’t know. He traversed the universe alone. He always has and he always expected to. Then… he met the child. He met Cara.

Suddenly, all his preconceptions about his life were flipped onto its head. 

He spent weeks on Sorgan, getting to know Cara and fighting alongside her. He had forgotten what it was like to be with someone who had his back, on and off the battlefield. Someone who he could rely on. Someone who he could call a friend.

He spent the past months jumping from system to system, protecting and caring for a child, something he never thought he’d do. As an omega, it was expected of him to have and care for pups, and as a Mandalorian, it was expected of him to be tough and proud, never backing down and never giving up.

As Din Djarin… he was an unholy combination of the two, one part unceasingly protective of the child and another being firmly attentive to the health and wellbeing of others like himself.

He was walking the precarious line between a definition of weak and a definition of strength.

So now, is he unintentionally forming a pack?

The child as his pup and Cara as a fellow protector?

Is the omega within him that desperate for connections?

…the answer remains unclear.

Cara stares at him intently, awaiting his answer.

“I… No. No pack.” He eventually answered. Not yet.

The alpha next to him seemed to look both vaguely disappointed and relieved.

“I see.” Kuiil sounded contemplative, as if he didn’t believe Din’s response. “Then why have you returned to Arvala-7?”

“I’ve run into some problems. I would like to hire your services.”

Kuiil joined them on the Razor Crest, along with three blurrgs that somehow fit in the cargo hold.

Din checked and rechecked his armory to make sure he got all the weapons he could comfortably carry.

Something tugged at his cape.

Turning and looking down, the child had three fingers curled around the dark fabric. Din knelt down to get closer to him. “What is it, kid?”

The child whined at him, ears lowering.

“Are you hungry?”

A small nod.

Din sighed fondly. “Alright, but you know where the food is. You can go grab yourself something.”

A pout.

The Mandalorian frowned. He’s not sure what that means in regard to food. The child never turned it down. “I’m… not sure what you mean.” He admitted.

The child huffed, then he held his arm out, face scrunched in concentration.

What is he-

Oh.

With a crash, the cookbook that he bought on Lluxuvis-8 came hurtling out of a crate that held his personal belongings.

It zipped past Cara’s head, who squeaked in surprise, and flew towards the child’s outstretched hand.

Din reflexively caught the hefty book before it collided with the child. “You want me to make you something?” He asked, surprised.

The child cooed in response.

“I would, but you broke the stove earlier, kid.” Din tried to explain to him.

“What the kriff was that?!” Cara exclaimed, approaching them. “Was that him?”

Din blinked. He forgot Cara didn’t know about the kid’s powers.

“Hmm. Very curious.” Kuiil hummed from where he was tending to the blurrgs. “The story you told me of the mudhorn now makes more sense.”

“Mudhorn? What mudhorn?” Cara asked, watching the child.

“The kid saved me from a mudhorn on Arvala-7 when I got him. He lifted it up using those same powers.” Din summarized, picking up the little foundling. He tilted his buy’ce towards Kuiil. “So do you know what he is?”

“What he is, I don’t know, but what he does… I’ve heard rumors of.” Kuiil responded. “There were beings who could move objects with only their minds. They learned to use the source of energy around us called the Force.”

“The… Force?” Something about that sounded vaguely familiar, but Din couldn’t place where he could have heard it before.

Kuiil nodded. “Yes.”

“Okay, so what does that mean?” Cara cut in, crossing her arms. “The kid can use this Force and move things around. You don’t exactly hear about this kind of stuff a lot.”

Din shrugged. “No, but it gives us a start to finding out what he is.” He had hoped for a little more than that, but he’ll take what he can get.

Conversation over, the Mandalorian now had to tend to the hungry child who sat in his arms with his ears lowered and eyebrows drawn, making his displeasure known. He knew the child wouldn’t stay quiet for much longer, so he moved towards the cabinet that held the food supplies.

Maybe he could put something together that didn’t involve a nanowave stove.

Not wanting to be rude, he glanced at the other two in the small area. He should at least offer, right?

“Does… anybody else want something to eat?”

He was met with two surprised looks.

Nevarro looked the same as it did when he left all those months ago. Not that he expected it to change much anyway.

Greef Karga and three other people were waiting for them when they landed. Din suspected that they were the security detail that Karga mentioned in his holovid.

The three of them mounted the blurrgs and walked out of the Razor Crest. The child rode in his new pram, courtesy of Kuiil.

Din wasn’t a fan of the child being apart from him, but he supposed that in the event of a fight, the capsule would offer him a form of protection. But still. It gave him a sense of comfort to know that the child was at his hip, safely stashed in the birikad.  

“Sorry for the remote rendezvous, Mando,” Karga called out as he approached them. “But things have gotten complicated since you were last here.”

Din’s sure that it has, but he stayed silent.

“It appears that introductions are in order.” The man said, noticing Cara and Kuiil. “It seems we’ve both provided a security detail.”

No response. Karga will just have to deal with it if he wants this to work.

The beta frowned slightly at his silence. He gestured to Cara. “I recommend the shock trooper guards the ship. These lava fields are lousy with Jawas.”

Yeah, Din isn’t taking a chance with those Jawas. He remembers what they did to the Razor Crest on Arvala-7 so he left the bounty droid to defend the ship. Not that Karga needs to know that.

“She’s coming with me.” Din said firmly, raising his chin. He’s not going to risk leaving behind one of his most valuable assets.

“But the town is now run by ex-Empire.” The man protested, trying to change Din’s mind. “If a Rebel Dropper is with us, they’ll all get their hackles up.”

The Mandalorian’s eyes narrowed. Karga is trying to get him to leave Cara behind. That means Cara is going to interfere with the plan Karga has. Or she’s making it harder for the Guild to betray him.

“She’s coming.” Din repeated stubbornly.

Karga stepped back, raising his hands. “Fine, fine. At least cover your tattoo. No need to flaunt it.” Then he clapped his hands, lips twitching upwards in a smile. “Now, where is the little one?”

Din grimaced and exchanged glances with Cara. 

He doesn’t want the child anywhere near him and the alpha next to him seemed to hold the same sentiment. But as much as he didn’t want to do it, he needed to show that he was committed to what they were planning. He needed to show some form of cooperation.

Raising his arm, he pressed a button on his vambrace, moving the capsule out from behind him and closer to Karga. Another tap opened up the pram.

He watched the beta move closer to the child, instincts on alert and ready to react at a moment’s notice. From the corner of his visor, he saw the alpha tense up as well.

Cara will help protect him. Cara will help protect him should something go wrong. 

The air grew uneasy as Greef approached the child. 

He didn’t like not knowing what the man was going to do, not with the child so close to him. He wasn’t close enough to tell the dynamic of the bounty hunters behind the beta, but he watched them carefully.

His hand slid down to the blaster on his thigh.

One wrong move and Din was going to shoot the man.

“So, this little bogwing is what all the fuss was about.” He reached for the little child, lifting him up from under his arms. “What a precious little creature.” Din wasn’t sure if the man meant what he said and he didn’t care. He needed to watch him closely as he handled the kid. “I can see why you didn’t want to harm a hair on its wrinkled head.” 

The beta slowly lowered the creature back into the pram.

Din released the breath he didn’t realize he was holding. He relaxed his hand.

“Well,” Karga said, putting his hands on his hips. “I’m glad this matter will be put to rest once and for all.”

Din retracted the capsule back to him and behind the line of defense that was formed by the three blurrgs.

“We can walk for a spell, camp out at the riverbank, then make our way into town at first light.” Karga said before turning away and walking in the direction of the city.

Giving the other two a quick glance, they followed after him.

The journey was filled with awkward silence.

Din, Cara, and Kuiil trailed behind Karga and the bounty hunters, making sure they didn’t try to pull anything on them.

Cara was the first to notice Greef Karga slowing down to get closer to them. She whistled softly to get Din’s attention where she then raised her eyebrows at the man.

Din was grateful that Cara was so alert. He was trying to check on the child to ensure that he was comfortable.

Karga seemed to have noticed that they were watching him because he spoke. “So, Mando, you have been taking bounties from me for several years.” He said conversationally. 

Where was he going with this?

“How come no one knew that you were an omega? I always assumed that you were a beta.”

As did many others. They believed what he wanted them to believe. That’s what kept him safe. He didn’t need to spill his life out to this man.

“That’s none of your concern.” Din said bluntly.

“Oh, come on, Mando,” the beta pressed, “Surely you can give me something. We’ve worked together for a long time.”

“That doesn’t warrant you anything.” Din reiterated. Karga was an equally stubborn man and most of the time he would always get his way.

No problem. Din was equally stubborn.

“I’ve always given you the pick of the bounties and I even raised your price. That has to get me some form of credit.” Karga pressured him. The other bounty hunters had their heads turned to listen to the conversation.

“ He said that’s none of your business.” Cara bristled, teeth bared. Her fangs were on display and her scent wafted around her, close enough that Din could smell it. A sharp, spicy scent that indicated anger. He almost flinched back. He hadn’t seen the alpha angry before, she was always laid back and unbothered by just about anything, even in the midst of a battle.

And yet, the scent was distinctly Cara. She has proven her integrity and loyalty many times. Din couldn’t help but feel safe by her, even in the presence of her ire.

But what was she irritated about?

Karga raised his hands in surrender and moved back to join the other hunters in the front of the group.

Cara huffed. “He needs to learn when to keep his mouth shut.” Then she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “You good?”

Din blinked. “Me?”

Her sharp scent dissipated once he answered.

The alpha rolled her eyes and the corner of her mouth twitched up. “Yeah, you. I assumed that you didn’t want him prying anymore, right?”

“Oh.” She wasn’t wrong. “Right.”

“You are an omega, Mandalorian?” Kuiil asked from his other side.

“I am.” Din confirmed. He forgot the Ugnaught didn’t have a dynamic. He just seemed like another person who didn’t give much thought into the biological hierarchy. 

He grunted. “Your caring for the child makes more sense now. You two have grown close because you each had what the other lacked.”

“What does that mean?” 

“I have spoken.” Kuiil simply replied. 

They made camp at the riverbank, just like what Karga said they would do. The two of the bounty hunters went out to kill a qartuum that they saw earlier and dragged it back to the campsite to cook it on a spit.

The two groups arranged themselves on opposite sides of the fire. They all took pieces from the sweating meat and sat back away from each other, enjoying the pieces for last meal.

Din sat by the capsule that held the child while Kuiil fed little pieces to the small green creature. Cara sat not too far away from them, lounging back against a rock and snacking on her own piece of the qartuum.

Karga had settled himself down next to Din before Cara could take that place. Cara may not be as close as she wanted to be, but Din could tell that she wasn’t any less observant from her supposed relaxed position.

“I guess the little bugger’s a carnivore.” Karga commented, pointing at the child happily eating pieces of meat.

Din figured that out a long time ago when he saw the child swallow a whole frog.

“Never seen anything like it.” He continued. “They were ready to pay a king’s ransom for that thing. Must be for some kind of highfalutin menagerie.”

The Mandalorian needed to steer the conversation away from that. It was horrifying to think of the client wanting to keep a child in some collection, but he knew the reason for them wanting the kid was for his powers. The ability to manipulate the Force.

“Let’s go over the plan again.” Din changed the subject.

Karga sighed, either in annoyance or exasperation Din wasn’t certain. “We both enter the common house. We show the client the bait. We join him at the table. And you kill him.” He summarized shortly.

“Tell me about his reinforcements.” Din persisted. Karga was being strangely vague about all this. He made the plan seem so straightforward without any elaboration.

“They’re all ex-Empire. As soon as they lose their paycheck, poof, they’ll all scatter.” 

“And what if they don’t?” There’s always a possibility of something going wrong in a plan that undetailed.

“They will.” The beta insisted, flapping a hand.

“That’s not good enough.”

Karga sat up and faced him. “If, for argument's sake, they don’t realize that I’m their best path to alternative employment and elect to react impulsively, then these three fine Guild Hunters,” he swept a had to broadly gesture at the three sitting across from the fire, “along with your battle-hardened shock trooper, will cut down anyone who bucks.”

He said it so nonchalantly as if nothing could go wrong.

Din needed more information.

“How many will there be?” 

“No more than four.” He replied dismissively. Din raised an eyebrow at that, tilting his helmet to show his skepticism. It must have translated through because the man continued, “He travels with, at most, a Fire Team. Trust me.” He stood up to retrieve more to eat. “Nothing can go wrong.”

As is jinxing all of them, a screech shattered through the air, sending Din’s nerves on end.

A body swooped through the air, stealing the meat from in front of Karga. The man cried out and fell back.

The hunters scrambled for their weapons as Din quickly closed the pram, securing the child within. 

He drew his blaster and joined the others in shooting at the reptavian harassing them.

As they fought back, another winged creature pounced on one of the bounty hunters and carried him off into the night.

They were stuck shooting blindly into the dark, not knowing where the reptavian would strike next or how many there were.

The Ugnaught began shouting as one carried away a blurrg and another one injured the other helpless creature before getting shot down.

Din heard a shriek before claws crashed into his beskar’gam, scratching at his breastplate and throwing him to the ground. He grunted as the impact knocked the breath out of him and dangerously sharp nails scrabbled at him, trying to get a grip on his shiny covering.

He heard Cara cry out, but he couldn’t hear the words as the shrill sound of claws against beskar rang throughout his head.

Blaster fire from Cara’s heavy blaster rifle pelted against the reptavian to scare it enough to let go of Din.

He rolled out from under its claws and to his feet, activating his flamethrower to cover the creature in the hot licking blaze.

It screeched and flew away, flames highlighting its position in the dark.

From the sound of it, the creatures ceased attacking, either satisfied with what transpired or sufficiently deterred from the campsite.

Everyone waited in tense silence, expecting the reptavians to come back for another round.

Fortunately, it seemed that they lost interest.

Once the group allowed themselves to relax, Din rushed back to the child to make sure he wasn’t hurt. Fortunately, the capsule was relatively undamaged. He opened it to see the child unharmed.

He breathed out a sigh, feeling the adrenaline drain from his body.

He picked out the green creature and cradled him in his arms.

Then, Greef Karga dropped to the ground with a groan. He propped himself against the rocky outcropping while gasping.

Cara moved over to him to check on him, pulling at his arm and displaying gashes for everyone to see.

She moved quickly by unbuckling a medpac from her belt and grabbing a hypo-injector, pressing it into Karga’s arm.

“Hold still,” Cara commanded as she used a towel as a makeshift tourniquet. “They got you good.” She muttered.

“How bad?” Din asked her. Those reptavians’ claws can carry a death sentence if enough venom got into the blood.

“Bad.” She answered him. “The venom’s spreading fast.” Cara grabbed a towel and used it as a makeshift tourniquet. 

“So this… this is how it happens.” Karga groans.

“Don’t be so dramatic.” Cara snapped. But Din could hear an undertone of concern in her voice. The injury is bad. “I need another medpac. Got any other medpacs?” She asked the other bounty hunters who just shrugged. “Anyone?”

“I’m guessing that’s a ‘no.’” Karga breathed. His fear was expressed in the air. The beta knew his situation was bad which was picked up by everyone else. The scent set Din on the edge. While he and Karga were not friends, he still felt the twitching need to help him.

Cara hovered the portable scanner over his arm and cursed. “It’s still spreading. This isn’t working.”

Din watched on as Cara worked, she probably had more medical knowledge than anyone else here, having been on the frontlines herself.

The child squirmed in Din’s arms. While he wasn’t a fan of letting the foundling out of his grasp after the reptavian scare, he gently set him down.

The kid made a beeline for the injured man.

“Get him out of here.” Cara hissed to Kuiil as the creature reached a hand forward.

The Mandalorian took a hesitant step forward. The kid acted the same way back when he first found him. The kid was full of surprises, so Din wasn’t sure if he should let him be, or pick him back up. 

“Wait.” The Ugnaught breathed.

The child placed his hand on the open wound and closed his eyes. He seemed to be concentrating.

It was a similar sight to what Din saw him do on the Razor Crest and with the mudhorn.

This must be the child using the Force then.

The group watched with bated breath as the little creature concentrated.

Din moved closer to watch as the gashes on Karga’s arm slowly knitted themselves together.

Din’s eyes widened. It was a miracle.

The child began trembling and he fell over, exhausted. Even as he took his hand off the man’s arm, the wound continued to heal itself.

Instantly concerned, Din scooped the child off the floor and cradled him in his arms. He was sleeping, just like after he lifted the mudhorn to save Din. He hoped that passing out like this won’t affect his health later in life.

“W-What was that?” Karga asked, astonished. He ran a hand over the now unblemished skin. “How did it…?”

Din stepped back and held the child closely. “I think you’ll be fine now. You should get some sleep.”

“Wait! But what just happened?”

“He saved your life.” Din settled himself and the child back down next to the pram.

After seeing what the kid could do, there was no way he was letting the child out of his sight lest the bounty hunters try to get ahold of him themselves. He’s not sure how ‘loyal’ they are, but he’s not going to take any chances.

Cara seemed to understand what he was getting at and she moved to his side. “It’s been an eventful night, so we should try to get some rest before morning comes.”

As the alpha acted unperturbed, Din could see that she was a bit unsettled due to the child’s abilities.

Karga seemed hesitant to drop the subject and there was conflict in his eyes. Eventually, he frowned and nodded, shifting to find himself a comfortable position.

The other bounty hunters migrated back to the other side of the fire, continuing to keep an eye on them and potentially on the child most of all.

Din swallowed a growl at their wandering eyes and buried the child under the cover of his cape.

“We’ve lost two of the blurrgs in the attack.” Kuiil said, returning to his side after checking on the remaining blurrg. He sat himself on Din’s other flank.

Din nodded. “I’m sorry.”

The Ugnaught nodded back. “Nature is a tough and merciless force. I mourn the loss of my blurrgs, but accidents were bound to happen on journeys such as these.”

“Okay, so not only can the kid move things around with his mind, but he can heal people?” Cara whisper-shouted from Din’s other side. “Did you know about this?”

“I did not.” Kuiil responded, lifting the edge of Din’s cape to check on the child underneath. “It seems that there is more to this creature than I know of.”

“Full of surprises,” Din said softly, allowing himself to caress the sleeping child’s soft cheek with orange tipped fingers. “Now that we know he’s capable of more than we originally thought, I need to make sure the client doesn’t ever get his hands on him.” He looks up to meet the eyes of Kuiil and Cara. “We need to end this tomorrow.”

They set out at first light.

They didn’t talk about the night before and Karga seemed to drop the subject. As they got closer to the city, Din saw Karga talking with the bounty hunters.

“You think they’re having second thoughts?” Cara whispered to him, also noticing them chatting.

“Could be.” Din acknowledged. If, of course, they were planning on going through with this arrangement at all. He still had his doubts that this was a legit operation. “I need your eyes.”

“I’m watching.” The alpha confirmed with a sharp nod. 

They made it to the top of a plateau that overlooked the city.

Din felt the presence of the two bounty hunters behind him.

“Well, I guess this is it.” There was a tone of finality in Karga’s voice that Din wasn’t a fan of. This moment could either show that they were set to move forward or Karga planned to betray them from the-

The beta whipped around with two blasters in his hands, shooting the bounty hunters behind them.

Din and Cara froze with their own blasters already in hand.

Karga lifted his blasters up. “There’s something you should know.” He confessed. “The plan was to kill you and take the kid.” So originally it wasn’t a real plan, Din mused. “But after what happened last night, I couldn’t go through with it.”

The child saved his life. Of course he wouldn’t be able to sell him out to the Imperial remnants. 

He and Cara still didn’t move. Din was still contemplating if they could go through with the plan. He needed to stop the Imp from sending more bounties after the child. The kid will never be safe if the client continues to live.

“Go on. You can gun me down here and now and it wouldn’t violate the Code.” Karga cautioned them, “But if you do, this child will never be safe.”

“We’ll take our chances.” Cara asserted. 

“The imperial client is obsessed with obtaining this asset.” The beta argued with the alpha. “You tried to run, but where did it get you?”

“This is ridiculous.” Cara hissed, fingers gripping the blaster tightly.

“Perhaps you should let him speak.” Kuiil chimed in from the back of the blurrg.

“Listen,” Karga stepped forward. “We both need the client to be eliminated. Let me take the child to him and then you two-”

“No. Let’s just kill him and get outta here. We need to protect the kid and we can only do that by leaving now.”

Din sighed and lowered his blaster. “He’s right.” They need to take out the client.

Cara’s eyebrows shot up. “What are you doing?”

“As long as the Imp lives, he’ll send hunters after the child. You know this.” Din said to her. “We have the opportunity to end this today. I think we should take it.” He looked at Karga. “Bring me.”

“Bring you?” He asked, surprised.

“Tell him you captured me.” Din explained. “Get me close to him and I’ll kill him.”

They hastily enacted the improvised plan. Din sent the child with Kuiil to head back to the ship while Greef Karga and Cara escorted him to the city along with the empty pram. He handcuffed himself with the binders that he finally bought not too long ago after that Davan incident.

While it was Din’s idea in the first place to send the child back to the Razor Crest, he felt… uncomfortable being away from the child. He knew Kuiil would protect the little one, but he just had a bad feeling about all this. It might be his instincts telling him to keep the foundling with him, after all, Din took him everywhere with him for the past few months. The child was practically glued to his hip anytime they were planetside. 

Din just hoped nothing happened to the young creature while he was in the city.

Before he gave him to Kuiil, he held the baby close to his chest. “I’ll see you soon. This will all be over before the end of the day.”

How true that was.

The group approached the city, getting noticed by shoretroopers by the entrance.

“Chain code?” One of them asked.

“I have a gift for the boss.” Karga replied, gesturing to Din.

“Chain code.” The shoretrooper asked again.

Karga sighed and pulled out his ID, handing it to the armored man.

While one ran the chain code, the other looked at Din, scanning him. His black visor met Din’s T-shaped one.

“An omega Mandalorian.” He said contemplatively with a slight tinge of surprise. “Where did you find this one?”

“Oh, you know,” Karga waved a hand in the air, “he was just skulking about.”

The shoretrooper running the chain code handed the card back to the beta and snorted. “‘Skulking about?’ Yeah, I’m sure he was just trying to find himself an alpha or a place to lay low. It could be that time of the year for him.” The other trooper snickered at that. The first shoretrooper nodded at the city. “Go ahead.”

Din, used to all the jabs at his dynamic, ignored them and moved forward easily. Cara, however, growled lowly.

“Easy.” He muttered to her as they walked past the guards.

“I’m killing those two later.” 

“Later,” Din agreed. “But you need to calm down. You’ll attract attention if you get worked up at something like that.”

As they walked through the streets, they saw groups of stormtroopers milling about and moving in and out of buildings.

Their new, bright white armor stood out against the dull tan of the rock and building walls. They were relaxed, leaning against structures and chatting amicably with each other.

“You said four.” Cara hissed at Karga. “There are definitely more than four troopers here.”

“Four guarding the client. Many more here in town.” Karga clarified. “Things got really heated once Mando crashed the safehouse.”

“Slip him his blaster.” 

“Not yet.”

Din really appreciates Cara looking out for him, but he doesn’t think he could be slipped his blaster in broad daylight in the sight of dozens of troopers.

Karga directed them to the cantina that he once used as the Guild’s headquarters. “Here we are.” They entered the cantina and immediately saw the client with his guard of stormtroopers. “You see? Four.”

The beta cleared his voice and smiled at the Imp. “Look what I brought you.” He gestured at Din. “As promised.”

The client moved close to them, looking over Din’s beskar’gam. “What exquisite craftsmanship.” He ran a wrinkled hand over his breastplate and briefly touched his buy’ce. Din forced himself not to react. “It is amazing how beautiful beskar can be when forged by its ancestral artisans.” The Imp leaned in closer and took a deep sniff. His eyes slowly moved to Din’s visor. It was hard to tell what the man was thinking. His facial expression didn’t change, but his eyes didn’t move when he backed up and said to Karga, “Can I offer you a libation to celebrate the closing of our shared narrative?”

“I would be obliged.” The man nodded.

“Please, sit.” The client gestured to the booth. Karga shuffled Din forward and ushered him into the seat. He settled himself across from the man who was so desperate to obtain the child. He leaned forward, focusing on Din. “It is a shame your people suffered so.” He began. “All those lives lost,” His eyes narrowed, “So many omegas gone. Just as in this situation, it was all avoidable. Why did Mandalore resist our expansion?”

Din was a little lost. What did Mandalore have to do with the child?

“The Empire improves every system it touches. Judge by any metric. Safety, prosperity, trade, opportunity, peace. Compare Imperial rule to what is happening now.” The client’s eyes flickered to the windows. “Look outside. Is the world more peaceful since the revolution? I see nothing but death and chaos.”

Din was never a part of the revolution. He has nothing to say about the other side, nothing to comment on. He disliked imperial rule, he avoided it at all costs, but that doesn’t mean he joined the New Republic. He had to do what he could to survive in this universe. He looked out for himself and his Tribe. He wasn’t too interested in politics or stuck up people talking around a table.

Not that the client needed to know any of that. Din wasn’t even on Mandalore during the Age of the Empire, nor was he there for the Great Purge.

Why did Mandalore resist Imperial rule?

As far as Din could tell, the answer was easy.

Mandalorians did not want to be controlled. They could not be controlled. They were independent of the other systems and wanted to stay that way. They did not want the aruetiise on their planet.

The Mandalorian stayed silent. He didn’t need to say anything to a dead man.

“I would like to see the baby.”

Ah, kriff.

He didn’t have his blaster back yet.

Din rotated his head a bit in Greef Karga’s direction.

The man noticed his movement. “Uh…” His hand shot out as the client leaned forward. “It is asleep.”

Nice going, Karga.

“We all will be quiet.” The Imp responded. “Open the pram.” He eyed Karga.

A moment passed in tense silence as no one moved. Din’s fingers itched for the comforting grip of his blaster. He could’ve just shot the client right now if he had it.

A stormtrooper approached them and whispered into the man’s ear. His facial expression hardly changed, but he blinked and sat back. “Don’t think me to be rude. I must take this call.” Then he got up and retreated to the bar.

Now.

Din leaned closer to Karga. “Give me the blaster.”

The weapon poked him in his hand as the beta handed it over to him.

“You get one shot.” He whispered back.

Just as the blaster was transferred over, the door opened and more stormtroopers walked in and lined the room.

“This is bad,” Cara muttered. “You said four.”

“Well, there are more. What can I tell you?”

Something was up. 

Din’s eyes scanned the room as he slowly removed his binders.

Those new stormtroopers were waiting for something and that call was to be important enough to pull the Imp away from the prospect of seeing the asset he spent so long trying to obtain.

Before he knew it, blaster fire was shattering the windows and mowing down the client and the stormtroopers in the room.

It was only due to quick reflexes and muscle memory that Din was able to flip the table onto its side for cover before the bolts hit them.

Who was shooting at them?

Before he could even try to figure that out, the firing stopped.

Din raised his head and, after a quick glance to make sure the other two were okay, he cautiously made his way to the windows, staying behind a stone wall and taking a peek outside.

Death troopers stood lined up outside the cantina, blaster rifles held at the ready. They looked to be… waiting for someone.

What was going on?

There seemed to be more to this debacle than meets the eye.

A transport appeared into the clearing and unloaded dozens of stormtroopers. They moved quickly and purposefully, forming a barrier behind the dark colored troopers.

Din’s heart sank.

They were trapped.

It’s not going to be easy to get out of here, if they were going to be able to get out in the first place.

“Four stormtroopers?” Cara mocked. “There’s a whole army out there! This is really bad.”

It is. It really is.

Din pulled out the commlink and brought it to his buy’ce. The kid needed to get out of here. He needed to get off this planet if he’s going to stay away from the Imperial remnants. “Kuiil? Are you back to the ship yet?” There was no response. Please, Kuiil. “Are you there? Do you copy?” He tried again.

“Yes!” He could hear the buffeting wind through the comm. 

“Are you back to the ship yet?” Din asked again. 

“Not yet!” The Ugnaught answered.

“Get back to the ship and bail. Get the kid out of here!” Din said to him, worry seeping into his voice. He won’t let the imps get the child. 

The sound of a TIE fighter broke through the tense air.

Quickly glancing at the sky, Din spotted the vehicle soaring through the sky, slowing down. To his dismay, it landed in front of the cantina, behind the formation of troopers.

Watching from his place by the window, the omega could see a man exit the TIE fighter and make his way to the front of the line.

Some kind of commander maybe?

He carried himself purposefully with an air of superiority.

“You have something I want.” He announced with no greeting or introduction.

Cara frowned. “Who’s this guy?”

Great question.

“You may think you have some idea of what you are in possession of, but you do not.”

This isn’t looking good.

“Kuiil, are you back to the ship yet?” Din asked through the comm. Say yes, Kuiil. Say that you’ve gotten the child back to the ship.

Protect him.

“Kuiil, come in! They’re onto us!” Din said again, concern mounting in his voice. The Ugnaught should be responding.

“In a few moments, it will be mine.” The man outside says forebodingly. 

A chill goes down Din’s spine.

No, no, no no no nononono!

That better not mean what he thinks it means!

“Kuiil, please respond! Do you copy?”

“It means more to me than you will ever know.”

“Kuiil!”

He’s not responding, he’s not responding.

The kid.

Don’t tell him they have the kid.

Din looked up, making eye contact with Cara. 

Her lips were set in a straight line, but worry was swimming in her eyes, similar to his.

Worst case scenarios flooded through Din’s brain. Anything could have happened.

Maybe Kuiil just dropped the comm?

Or maybe… maybe he was…

No. Kuiil can hold his own. His blurrg is fast.

He has to put his trust in the Ugnaught.

“Is there another way out?” He asked Karga who was taking cover behind the bar.

The man shook his head, pointing towards the door. “No, that’s it.” He replied regretfully.

Din thought as much, but… “What about the sewers?”

The man’s eyebrows shot up. “The sewers?”

The Mandalorian nodded his head. “The Mandalorians have a covert down in the sewers.” They did. He’s not totally sure if they’re still there. “If we can get down there, they can help us escape.”

“Yes, sewers are good.” Cara inputted.

Din activated his sensors on his visor and began scanning the room. “Checking for access points.”

“What the hell are they waiting for?” Karga hissed as Din looked for any vents or tunnels that led into the sewers.

“Hold up.” The fear in Cara’s voice made him pause. “They’re setting up an E-Web.”

An E-Web?

Blinking, he realized he located an entry point.

“I found the sewer vent.” He announced. They needed to get out. Now.

They scrambled to find a way to open up the sewer vent. The one time he’s out of charges is the one time he really needs them.

Cara tried a last ditch effort to open the vent by shooting it with her heavy blaster rifle.

The grate still held up strong.

Dank farrik.

How is it so strong?

“Your astute panic suggests that you understand your situation.” The Imp directed at them. “I would prefer to avoid any further violence, and encourage a moment of consideration.”

Din gritted his teeth. This isn’t working and the Imp outside knows it.

“If you are unfamiliar with this weapon, then I am sure that Republican Shock Trooper Carasynthia Dune of Alderaan will advise you that she has witnessed many of her ranks vaporize mid-descent facing the predecessor of this particular model.” The man continued.

He’s trying to intimidate them. He’s showing them that he knows more about them than they know about him.

“Or perhaps the decommissioned Mandalorian hunter, Din Djarin, has heard the songs of the Siege of Mandalore, when a gun outfitted with similar ordnance laid waste to fields of Mandalorian recruits in the night of a Thousand Tears.”

Din froze.

He knew his name.

That wasn’t possible. No one outside of the Covert knew his name. 

No one except…

The ISB Officer.

Moff Gideon.

That Imp was supposed to be dead. But Din knew it was him. He’s the only person outside of the Tribe who would’ve learned his name.

“I don’t care to find out. I’m shooting my way out of here.” Cara’s growl broke through his thoughts.

“What about you, Mando?” Karga asked him.

“I know who he is.” Din said instead. “It’s Moff Gideon.”

“Moff Gideon was executed for war crimes.” Cara said, moving closer. “How do you know it’s him?”

“He knew my name.”

“So? What does that prove?” Greef asked.

“I haven’t heard that name spoken since I was a child.” Din told him.

“On Mandalore?”

“I was not born on Mandalore.” Din rolled his eyes.

“But you’re a Mandalorian.” He protested.

“Mandalorian isn’t a race.” Cara explained to him.

Din nodded at her. “It’s a Creed.” He explained to them that he was a foundling, how the Mandalorians took him in and raised him and once he was old enough, he swore the Creed. 

The Mando’ade taught him to fight and how to protect himself. They took care of him when he lost his parents and he will forever be grateful to them. To the Tribe. That’s why he spent all those years as their only beroya. He wanted to provide for them like they did for him.

“Moff Gideon was an ISB Officer during the Purge. That’s how I know it’s him. That’s how he knows who we all are.” Din turned back towards the window. “He says he needs us, which means the child got away safely.” He allowed that bit of hope to surface in his chest. He didn’t know what he would do if the Imp got ahold of the child.

Actually, he knows exactly what he would do. It just wouldn’t be pretty for anyone.

Hailing Kuiil again resulted in IG-11 responding.

Kuiil is gone.

He protected the child to the very end.

For that, he has Din’s utmost respect.

But now, he needs to go out and help the IG unit get into the safety of the cantina with the child.

It’s not an optimal situation by any means, but it’s the best they can do. The cantina could be destroyed and they were pinned down, but IG-11 is here with the child. They needed to get inside.

He glanced at Cara. “Cover me.”

Waiting long enough to see her nod, he opened the door and stepped out into the chaos.

He fought the stormtroopers, shooting white armor and kicking soft spots between the bright protective gear.

He fought to get the child to safety.

Din ripped the E-Web off its stand and began mowing down the hostiles.

While the weapon is indeed intimidating and formidable, it is a saving grace in the right hands. It’s a powerful weapon that Din was glad to have at the moment.

All until he was about to take out Moff Gideon.

Before he was able to shoot him, the Moff shot the battery for the E-Web.

It exploded and everything abruptly went black.

His senses slowly came back as if he were emerging out of water.

There was ringing in his ears and his vision was blurry.

It was hard to see.

“St- me!” Cara’s voice faded in and out and he was roughly positioned on an inclined surface.

Pain blossomed in the back of his head and he could feel the warm stickiness of blood coating his face. The barest wisp of fog touched his visor as his breaths became more labored, the filter struggling to provide air.

A scent brushed his nose.

Soft. Neutral. It smelled like the sun on his face and a slight breeze through his hair. It gave him the sense of… home. 

A brand new home that he found in the past few months. A presence that filled the once-lonely interior of the Razor Crest.

A scent that now mingled with his on the surfaces within his ship.

The child.

Din needed to protect his foundling, he had too. He was right there. But his vision was blurry and it was getting spotty. He couldn’t tell what he was looking at. It was just all colors and shapes. But he could still scent. He could still smell those in the building with him.

He knew Cara was in front of him through her scent. She smelled worried, panicked.

The omega in him wanted to comfort the alpha, to do his duty and soothe the distressed, but his head pounded terribly and it was hard to focus.

He… wasn’t going to make it.

He didn’t carry bacta patches and the only medkit Cara had was used for Karga the night before. 

He tried to tell Cara this, he tried to tell her to take the foundling and flee, to protect him when Din couldn’t.

“S-Shut up. You just got your bell rung. You’ll be fine.” Cara stuttered out. He felt her hand touch the back of his head. Her breath hitched.

That confirmed it then. 

It was bad.

He’s not going anywhere. He’d just slow them down.

He could smell concern from his child. The little precious foundling that he promised to protect. He couldn’t do it. He can’t protect him.

“Leave me.” He coughed out. “Make sure the child is safe.” The child is all that matters. He can’t let the Imps have him. His limbs resisted his commands, but he managed to reach up to grab the Mythosaur pendant. He ripped it off and shakily held it out to her. “Show this… to the Mandalorians. Tell them that… that Din D-Djarin sent you. And that the foundling was in my protection. They… will help you.” He prayed to Ka’ra that his Tribe was still within the sewers. He prayed that his vode would help them.

“We can make it!” Cara insisted. She pulled at him to try and get him up.

The moment he raised his head, his vision spun viciously and nausea pounded at him relentlessly.

“I’m not gonna make it and you know it.” He batted at her arms. “I’ll just slow you down.”

Din felt a small hand on his leg. The child was just a little green blur in his gaze and yet, the sight mean everything to him.

The child was alive and, as far as he could tell, unharmed.

It was a relief to see.

The foundling placed a small hand on his leg, but before anything could be done, the door burst open in a torrent of flame, searing heat blasting into the room.

Din swallowed a whimper at the sudden change in temperature agitating his battered body.

Cara threw herself over him in an attempt to shield him from the worst of it.

When she withdrew, Din saw the child stand up in front of them, raising his small hands into the air as the stormtrooper prepared another round of flames.

As the heat came again, it was stopped by an invisible force before it reached them, then it was deflected back, exploding against the stormtrooper and throwing them out of the building.

The child collapsed in exhaustion.

He was just close enough to touch.

With a shaking hand, Din scooped his foundling into his arms, hugging him close. He painfully peeled a glove off to expose his wrist gland. In jerky, uncoordinated movements, he clumsily scented the tired child for the first and last time.

“My… ad’ika. ” He panted in uneven breaths into the child’s head. 

I’m sorry. I can’t go with you.

He could only hope that the child could feel his apology.

Slowly raising his head, he met Cara’s distraught gaze, filled with unshed tears.

“Cara,” he rasped, strength fading fast. “Please, take him. You… protect him.”

This time, she acquiesced, leaning forward to gather the child into her arms, taking him from Din.

The small weight was removed from his grasp.  His omega cried out at the loss of his child. He scented him. The child was now his to care for and protect.

But Din was letting him go. He couldn’t follow his child now. He would slow them down. He would be a liability. He couldn’t be the reason that they get caught. 

The mythosaur pendant would label the child as a foundling, a youngling who needs protection, but Din’s scent on him would label him as Tribe . As their omega’s pup.

A tear rolled down Cara’s face, almost mocking the teardrop tattoo under her eye. “O-Okay,” she breathed. “I got him, don’t worry.”

She slowly stood up and backed away.

Din felt the loss of her and the child by his side like a physical blow. His instincts whispered and pleaded for them to come back. 

Don’t leave him here.

Bring back his pup.

His heart wanted to go with them, but his mind knew he needed to stay.

The shouting from Greef Karga indicated that they finally got the grate open.

“I will stay with the Mandalorian.” A robotic voice reached his ears.

“Bring him.” The alpha commanded. “ Promise me that you’ll bring him.”

“You have my word.”

After that, Cara and the child’s scents faded, leaving just a lingering touch that showed that they were once there.

The clanking of IG-11 moved towards him. The droid towered over him in the haze from both the heat and Din’s murky vision.

The smoke wasn’t helping his dry throat.

“Do it.” He choked out.

“Do what?” The monotonous voice asked.

“Get it over with.” Din decided. “I’d r-rather you kill me than some i-imp.”

“I am no longer a hunter.” IG-11 said, moving closer. “I am a nurse droid.”

If Din had the energy, he would’ve scoffed at that. IG units are all hunters, he would’ve said.

Instead, he coughed wetly.

His fingers were growing numb. It was getting harder to concentrate.

“I need to remove your helmet if I am to save you.” The droid said, reaching out.

He can’t. His Creed forbids it.

Din knew what he was getting into when he swore the Creed. He knew in a life or death situation, the answer was to fight until he died, with his buy’ce firmly upon his head. Once his life was over, he would march ahead and join the other Mando’ade who had already moved on.

But he hesitated before answering.

It may be due to his clearly damaged skull, but the offer was enticing. 

He didn’t want to die here. He wanted to go with Cara and the child. The child he claimed as his own just moments before.

The small green creature changed his life so drastically. With him, Din saw a new side of the galaxy, both good and bad. But with the child, it felt like everything would be okay as long as they stuck together.

The child saved him in more ways than one.

He scented him while he was unconscious. The foundling wouldn’t know what became of him. Din wanted…

Din wanted to scent the child properly. To show him that he cared for him.

They may have only met a few months ago, but the child was his.  

The child was his pup.

He needed to protect him.

Din needed to live for him.

“You are dying.” The droid stated. “Let me help. I have a bacta spray to heal you. I need to remove your helmet.”

Din tilted his head and the world spun nauseatingly. Warm blood dripped down the back of his neck, soaking his kute.

“Do it.” The Mandalorian whispered.

IG-11 pulled his buy’ce off, exposing his face to the elements. The bright flames burned his eyes, no longer dulled by his visor and the acrid smoke assaulted his nose.

His headache grew stronger.

Din gasped and shut his eyes.

The cooling spray of bacta was registered on the side of his face.

“This may sting.” The droid cautioned. “Your injuries are extensive. You may need more than one infusion of bacta.”

The spray was numbing the pain, making him feel lightheaded.

“Just…” Din swallowed thickly. “Do what you can.”

There was no verbal acknowledgement, but IG-11 continued to spray his injuries until the bacta ran out.

Only feeling slightly better, Din placed his buy’ce back onto his head and went to push himself up.

“We’ve… wasted time.” He panted, feeling like he traveled across the Dune Sea without transportation or water. The droid helped him up, steadying him. “The… Imps will be here… soon.”

Din moved on shaky legs, leaning heavily on the mechanical figure and being led to the sewer vent.

“Watch your step.” The droid said, maneuvering him into the vent.

They moved through the tunnels slowly.

Din’s vision was still blurry and he stumbled with every other step, but at least the pain and nausea was gone.

For once, he was glad his immediate companion was a droid. Any other sentient being would be frustrated at their slow progress.

As the tunnels darkened, Din switched on his helmet light. It didn’t help much because his vision had yet to clear, but he’d like to think it helped the droid.

The droid seemed to know where to find the others because eventually, they turned a corner and were greeted by the sight of Greef, Cara, and the child in the tunnel.

The child.

Din sighed in relief when large brown eyes found him.

The foundling warbled in distress and reached his hands out to him.

Cara made a beeline to him with the child in her arms.

“H-Hey, kid,” Din greeted the pup, offering his own trembling hand to him. Little clawed fingers grasped his orange-tipped fingers, squeezing slightly.

For the second time in his life, a jolt raced through the contact.

Relief at the child being unharmed swept through his body, causing him to sway dangerously on his feet.

“Whoa! Hey, Mando,” Cara moved in to steady him. “IG, hold the kid.” She handed the precious bundle to the droid and pulled Din’s arm around her neck, securing her arm around his waist. “Here, I got you, buddy.”

“Glad to see you back on your feet, Mando.” Greef greeted him from further ahead. “Well, more or less. But do you know which way to go from here?”

Din blinked a few times to try and focus his vision, looking around the tunnels.

“I don’t know these tunnels.” He admitted. “I’ve… only entered from the bazaar.”

Not for the first time, he regretted not spending more time on Nevarro. He could’ve wandered these tunnels, memorizing the layout and the quickest routes to escape.

Hindsight is 20/20, as they like to say.

“If we get the smell of sulfur and we follow it, it’ll lead us up to the plains where the river flows.” Greef suggested, moving forward.

“The Imps will catch us before we make it to the ship.” Din interjected. Cara pulled him forward as well, following behind the beta. “We need the Mandalorians to escort us to safety.” He glanced over his shoulder to make sure the child was nearby.

Sure enough, IG-11 trailed behind him, barely a meter away. The droid seemed to understand Din’s need to have the child within reach.

The small foundling watched Din with worried eyes as Cara helped him limp slowly.

“Having an escort doesn’t sound like a bad idea right now.” Greef commented, turning down another tunnel.

“As long as we can find them before the Imps find us.” Cara added.

Din didn’t say anything to this. He’s not even certain the covert was still here, but it was a risk he needed to take.

He wasn’t in any shape to fight stormtroopers so he held the hope that someone would be here to help them.

He focused on putting one foot in front of the other, trying not to hinder the alpha’s movement. Most of the pain was gone, but his body felt heavy and sluggish. His balance was… skewed. There was a dull ache in the back of his head that he could continue to ignore, but once the bacta spray stopped working, he may be incapacitated. It was hard to measure the amount of damage he sustained from the explosion of the… ammo? Battery? 

He couldn’t remember what happened too well.

“How are you holding up?” Cara asked him lowly.

“I’m…” Well, he’s definitely not fine. “I’ve been better.” He replied, voice still a little rough.

“Do you need a break?”

“No.” He answered quickly. They couldn’t afford to stop. Not for him. They needed to get off the planet. He needed to get the child away from the imps.

“Are you sure?” Cara asked once more. “You aren’t looking too hot.”

His legs were trembling.

He hoped she hadn't noticed that.

“We… can’t stop.” He panted. Cold sweat was building up on his forehead and his beskar’gam was growing heavier.

He may have had a bacta treatment, but he still shouldn’t be moving so soon.

Cara watched him with attentive eyes. She bit her lip.

“Okay.” She eventually acceded. “But if you need a break, just say so.”

Din nodded with more effort than it should’ve taken.

Din was surprised that they haven’t run into any imperials yet.

Not that he was complaining. 

The tunnels were beginning to look slightly familiar. Greef seemed to catch some scents if he was able to lead them so close to the covert.

Din couldn’t smell anything except his own blood that was no doubt encrusted on his face.

He couldn’t tell if the bacta infusion was working or if it wore off. He was still cold and the tips of his fingers felt like they were dipped in iced water, but some of the fog started to clear from his mind. 

His vision was no longer blurry and he felt stable on his feet, although he was still tired. His body was slow to respond and, while he was no longer limping, they moved at more of a shuffle.

Din blinked as he recognized the tunnel they just entered.

“Wait.” He stopped, looking around to ensure he correctly identified the corridor. “We’re close.”

“Thank the Maker.” Cara murmured.

“Turn here.” Din instructed them. They were so close. 

Another turn and-

There was a pile of beskar’gam on the floor.

Din’s heart dropped and the air in his lungs disappeared.

He struggled out of Cara’s grasp, surging forward and falling to his knees in front of the pile.

“Mando-”

“N-No,” he gasps out. “ Ner vode. ” With a trembling hand, he picks up the buy’ce atop the heap. Colored red and yet he could still see the dried blood on it. All their scents have already faded. “They’re gone.” He coughed out, chest constricting in grief.

His head bowed down, barely brushing the buy’ce of the fallen warrior in an informal kov’nyn.  

He felt a hand rest on his shoulder, but he barely felt it.

His inner omega cried out in anguish, for these were the warriors he provided for, for so many years. The Tribe was his family and they risked everything to help him escape Nevarro all those months ago.

While he was traveling the galaxies with his foundling, he left them to fight without him. So many were slaughtered and he didn’t even think to check up on them.

His eyes burned.

He knew his people were strong, they were tenacious and experts in adapting and surviving. But he also knew that their numbers were dwindling and contact between coverts were sparse, if they existed at all.

He should’ve done something. Help them escape, contact them to make sure they were alright. He was their omega. He should’ve been there for them.

He lifted his head abruptly, frantically scanning the beskar’gam, looking for the familiar blue buy’ce of his ori’vod or the light training ones belonging to the foundlings of the covert.

“ Nu kyr’adyc, shi taab’echaaj’la. ” A feminine voice says from the side tunnel.

Cara jolts next to him, hand flying to her weapon.

Din turns his head to the Armorer and her iconic golden buy’ce.

“Our verda are already ahead of us.” She says.

The omega dips his head at the familiar saying. “ Gar serim. ” He replies, briefly closing his eyes. She was right. They’ve moved on without them. Just as Din planned to do himself not long ago. But still, he had to know. He needed to know if he caused this. “What… happened?”

The Armorer strutted forward, pushing a hovercart. “We revealed ourselves. We knew what would happen if we left the covert.” She turned to him. “The imperials arrived shortly thereafter.” Her gloved hand gestured towards the mass of shaped beskar on the floor. “This is what resulted.”

Din’s mouth was dry. “Did… any survive?”

If the Armorer was here, then that meant that she was still melting down the unoccupied beskar’gam. Paz’s beskar… could already be gone.

“I hope so. Some may have escaped off-world.” Her voice softened a smidge, enough that Din noticed the change. “But do not fret, Din Djarin, I saw Paz Vizsla help the foundlings escape. He told me that it was what you would have wanted.”

Paz… Vor entye.

Cara kneeled down next to him, replacing his arm back around her neck. “Come on, they’ll be here any minute now, we’ve got to go.”

Din grunted as he was hauled to his feet. He met the visor of the Armorer.

She would not leave.

He knew this.

The Mando’ade could not afford to lose the precious beskar, even as there are fewer and fewer of them to wear it.

“Come.” The Armorer beckoned them, pushing the hovercart now laden with the protective apparel. She led them back through the side tunnel into the forge, the blue flames humming monotonously. Din was transported back to when he watched the Armorer forge his current armor. The humming filled the air and calmed the raging waves of his soul. “Show me the one whose safety deemed such destruction.” She commanded, placing a pauldron into the blue flames. The metal sizzled loudly.

Din nodded to IG-11, who stepped forward with the child.

“This is the one.”

Her golden helmet turned to the creature, tilting curiously. “This is the one that you hunted, then saved?”

“Yes.” Din affirmed. “He saved me as well.”

The Armorer hummed. “It looks helpless.”

“He’s tired, but he is not helpless.” Din couldn’t help but feel slightly offended on behalf of the child. “His species can move objects with their mind.”

The Armorer moved back towards the forge. “I know of such things.” She pushed a green chestplate into the hungry flames, the thin covering of paint melting off and evaporating instantly in the high temperatures. “The songs of eons past tell of battles between Mandalore the Great, and an order of sorcerers called Jetii that fought with such powers.”

Din’s eyebrows rose behind his visor. “He’s an enemy?”

“No. It’s kind were enemies, but this individual is not.”

“Then… what is he?”

The golden buy’ce turned to him, her voice sounding amused. “He is a foundling. By Creed, he is in your care.” Her head tilted towards the child once more. “I see you have already claimed him as your own.”

Suddenly feeling self-conscious with his decision, he stuttered, “I… needed to show that he was Tribe.”

“And Tribe he is.” The Armorer approved. “But he would not survive the training to be one of us. He is too weak.” Her visor turned to him. “You must reunite him with his own kind.”

Din pressed his lips into a firm line. Deep down, he knew this to be true. The child would not survive the rigorous training that it takes to become a Mandalorian. Even as a fifty-year old child, his growth makes him too young. He could live for centuries, centuries that Din does not have. He needed to be with others like him.

“Where would I find his kind?” His voice cracked. He wasn’t sure if his modulator smoothed it over.

“This, you must determine.” The Armorer replied.

“I don’t mean to interrupt,” Cara said from beside him, “but we need some form of escape plan. The Imps will be here any second now.”

The Armorer nodded at the alpha. “If you follow the descending tunnel, it will lead you to the underground river. It flows downstream toward the lava flats.”

“Let’s get moving.” Greef spoke up from the doorway.

Before Cara could help him in the direction of the exit, the Armorer stopped them.

“Wait.” She moved quickly, preparing beskar and molding it into a shape he couldn’t identify. “Din Djarin, you will protect your foundling and care for him, just as you have done for this covert. By Creed, until he is of age or reunited with his own kind, you are as his buir.

“This is the Way.”

She turned back around, holding the shape in her hands. “You have earned your aliik. ” She moved swiftly and elegantly, with practiced ease. The Armorer welded the thin beskar onto his right pauldron. “You are a clan of two.”

Din looked down at it. A mudhorn.

Clan Mudhorn. Clan Djarin.

He has formed his own pack.

The implications of that were clear to the Mandalorians, less so for the others within the room.

Din is the head of a newly created clan, an omega-led pack. One of the few left in existence. If they were on Mandalore, the clan name would be added to the register and their creation would be celebrated.

Din could not hope to convey his gratitude in words, but he could try. “ Ori’vor’e, goran. I will wear this with honor.”

The Armored stepped back. “As you should. Omega-led clans are not to be taken lightly in this time and age.” She raised her head. “Uphold your values and listen to your instincts. They will not lead you astray.” Snapping her gaze to the open tunnel, she directed the droid. “IG, please guard the outer hallway. A scouting party draws near.”

The droid handed the child to Greef who spluttered, “Hey, wait a minute-” and pulled out its guns, stepping into the hallway.

“I have one more gift for your journey.” The Armorer said, unhurriedly. She walked to the wall and picked up something off the far table. “Have you trained in the Rising Phoenix?”

Is that-?

“W-When I was a boy, yes.”

“Then this will make you complete.” She showed him the shining beskar sen’tra .

Din knew that she had to be smiling under her buy’ce.  

He thanked her for the generous gift.

“When you have healed, you will begin your drills. Until you know it, it will not listen to your commands.”

“I understand.” He replied, itching to try it out.

Shooting sounded from the outer hallway.

They were here.

IG-11 fended off the first wave of stormtroopers, but more were bound to come.

The Armorer wasn’t going to leave the sewers until she had claimed all the leftover beskar. He reluctantly had to accept this. The weight of his fallen comrades sat heavily in his chest, but he couldn’t do anything to fix what he had caused. He knew it was their choice and he needed to acknowledge that.

The time in the forge helped him immensely. He no longer needed Cara’s assistance to walk, but she still lingered nearby.

They restocked their ammo and Din picked up more blast charges.

Once they were ready to leave, the Armorer handed the sen’tra to IG-11 for it to carry.

Before they left, the female Mandalorian stepped forward, clasping his arm. “ K’oyacyi. ” She said to him. “Paz is out there with the foundlings. I will find him and establish a new covert. You will find us when you are ready.” Before Din could respond, she stepped back. “Now go.”

The omega nodded to the Armorer and exited the forge.

They followed the Armorer’s directions and moved swiftly through the descending tunnel. The hallway deposited them at the lava river which will hopefully take them away from the imperial forces.

On the boat, Din took the child from Cara, to whom he was passed to when they tried to get the boat to move.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to carry him? You’re still healing.” Cara said when he took the child.

“I’m fine.” He responded, holding his foundling. The young creature cooed at him, grabbing at his fingers. “He isn’t heavy.”

Cara sighed. “You were ready to kick the bucket not too long ago, but if that’s what you want, then sure.”

“That’s it.” Karga pointed down the tunnel at the light at the end. “We’re free!”

Din moved to the front of the boat, scanning the supposed exit. 

Not again.

His visor displayed multiple heat signatures waiting for them just past the opening.

He hissed lightly. “No, we’re not.” He turned to the group. “Stormtroopers are flanking the mouth of the tunnel. They must know we’re coming.”

Cara tried to get the ferry droid to stop the boat, but even after she blew off its head, the lava current still pulled them forward.

The droid provided them with a solution.

IG-11 would sacrifice himself by self-destructing.

It was the best option that they had.

Din couldn’t help but feel a bit somber. He owed the droid his life. It saved him in the cantina and gave him the chance to continue on with his foundling.

He had his bias against droids, they killed his biological family and IG-11 himself tried to kill the child.

He supposed that Kuiil had a point when he said that droids weren’t inherently good or bad. They are who they are based on their programmer.

IG-11 was the last thing left of Kuiil’s values. The Ugnaught rewired him to be a nurse droid, to protect instead of kill.

Not dissimilar to Din’s own change.

He couldn’t stop IG-11 from getting out of the boat and stepping into the lava river. He watched the droid travel ahead of them and self-destruct, taking out the platoon of stormtroopers with it.

The boat came to a stop at the end of the river.

White-armored bodies were strewn everywhere. Some were still smoking.

Din could’ve sighed in relief. They were free to escape the planet.

Except the internal celebration would have been premature.

The sound of a TIE fighter broke through the air.

One problem resolved and another appears.

The ship circled around them and sped towards them straight on, shooting at the ground around them, thankfully missing this time, but circling back around.

“Our blasters are useless against him!” Cara shouted, sounding panicked.

“I’m out of ideas.” Greef said remorsefully. 

“I’m not.” Din said. If they couldn’t shoot down the TIE fighter, Din will have to go up there and take it down. It was a single crazy idea, but there were no other solutions. He turned to Cara and pushed his foundling into her arms. “Hold him for me.”

“What? What are you doing?” She asked, bewildered.

“Here he comes!” Greef yelled.

“Just hang onto him.” Din said quickly, hefting the sen’tra onto his back. It gave a satisfactory click as it magnetized to his backplate.

There was no time to explain.

He drew on his memories as he tried to remember how to activate the Rising Phoenix. He fingers flew deftly over the controls on his vambrace, priming the pack the burning through it’s first touch of fuel to warm the cylinders.

He kept his eyes on the approaching TIE fighter.

Moff Gideon was piloting. He needed to take him down so he could stop pursuing them and the child.

He needed to activate the sen’tra before the fighter flew over them so he was at the appropriate height to latch on.

He only had one shot at this.

The ship flew closer and closer until…

Now!

He was launched into the sky at an impressive speed and for a moment, the world went still as he twisted in the air, activating his grappling cable targeting the space where the TIE fighter would be.

His aim was true.

The cable latched onto the wing of the speeding ship and he has no time to regret his decision.

The cable snapped taut and yanked him. 

He grunted in pain as the cable pulled at his arm, straining his shoulder.

He reeled in the cable and activated the sen’tra for a spell to catch up to the ship.

Din grabbed ahold of the wing, gripping it tightly as Moff Gideon rolled the fighter and tried to knock him off.

Scrabbling blindly at his belt, he pulled his blast charges, activating them and slamming three of them onto the wing.

Confident that they were fixed in place, he let go.

His fall from the TIE fighter felt more peaceful than it should’ve.

Above him, the charges exploded and the ship spun out of control.

There was something beautiful in the way the TIE fighter fell with a trail of smoke. 

He was sure his fallen vode would agree.

Rightening himself and activating his sen’tra ensured a steady descent, but his landing could have been better.

“That was impressive, Mando. Very impressive.” Greef praised him, clapping his hands. “It looks like your Guild rates have just gone up.”

Din made a beeline for his foundling in Cara’s arms. “Any more stormtroopers?” He asked, taking the child.

“I think we cleaned up the town.” Cara said with a smile. “I’m… thinking of staying around just to be sure.”

Din raised his eyebrows. “You’re staying here?”

“Well, why not?” She asked, shrugging. “I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

Greef laughed and patted a hand on her shoulder. “Nevarro is a very fine planet. And now that the scum and villainy have been washed away, it’s respectable again.”

Din scoffed good-naturedly. “As a bounty hunter hive?”

Greef chuckled. “Some of my favorite people are bounty hunters.” He raised his eyebrows in Din’s direct, to which Din rolled his eyes beneath his visor. “And perhaps, this specimen of soldier might consider joining our ranks.”

Cara grinned at him. “Yeah. I’ve got some clerical concerns regarding my chain code.”

“And if you would agree to become my enforcer, clerical concerns would be the least of your worries. I’ve been meaning to get an alpha to put some people in their place.” The beta pointed at Din. “But you, my friend, you will be welcomed back into the Guild with open arms. So whenever you’re ready to return, you will have the pick of all quarries.”

Din nodded to him. “That’s very generous of you, Karga.” The child cooed in his arms, grasping his thumb. The Mandalorian looked down at him. “I’m afraid I have more pressing matters at hand.”

Cara stepped forward to rub the child’s ear. “Take care of this little one.” She says. “Make sure to also use another bacta patch on that head of yours. Whatever IG-11 did probably wasn’t enough for that.”

“Will do.” Din nodded and stepped back.

“And, hey,” the alpha added. “If you need anything, anything at all, you know where to find me.” Before Din could respond, she frowned. “On second thought,” she tapped at her comlink. “Here’s my com code. If you need help, or-or if you need someone to talk to, you can always reach me here.” She smiled sheepishly. “I’ll always answer.”

Din felt his lips twitch up in a smile. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Holding his foundling tightly, he activated his sen’tra and launched them into the air in the direction of the Razor Crest.

Touching down near the ship wasn’t a pleasant experience.

Kuiil’s body was on the cold ground near his blurrg.

He couldn’t leave the brave ugnaught like that. Not after what he did for the child.

Placing the foundling on the ground, he got to work.

The little creature watched him make a grave to honor Kuiil for his sacrifice.

Once he finished, he placed the aviator hat upon the stone pile.

He knelt down in front of the grave. The child joined him by his side.

“Should we say a few words?” Din found himself asking.

“Mmueh.” The child replied.

Now’s as good a time to remember those who have fallen. He doesn’t make a routine of this as he should, but with everything that’s happened, he feels the need to remember those he lost.

“ Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum .” He recites. He knows the phrase by heart. The Tribe used to recite the remembrance together after last meal. Then they would each silently recall the names of their lost loved ones. Glancing down at the foundling, he translates it. “I’m still alive, but you are dead. I remember you, so you are eternal.”

Din pauses to let the words sink in. Reaching out, he placed a hand on the child’s head.

For a few minutes, they stayed like that, each lost in their own thoughts.

Before long, Din decided that it was time to leave the planet.

“C’mon, kid.” He scooped the little one into his arms and made his way back to the ship. “Let’s get out of here.”

He lowered the ramp and climbed onto the Razor Crest. 

Once safely aboard, he closed the ramp behind him.

The stars blurred past in white lines and the child was sleeping in the passenger seat, cuddled up in the blanket that he bought from Lluxuvis-8.

Certain the child won’t wake up anytime soon, Din stood from his seat and made his way down into the cargo hold. He opened the door to the refresher and searched the shelves for his medpack. 

He snatched a bacta patch from the container and watching in the mirror, he slowly lifted his buy’ce off his head.

Ka’ra his face was a mess.  

Blood was encrusted around his nose and ears. Even more covered his neck, having dripped down from his ears. His eyes were slightly bloodshot, but that was more likely due to tiredness than anything else.

Carefully palpating the back of his head he winced and hissed at pressing too hard on the tender spot.

Now he understood why Cara was so worried about him back at the cantina.

There was a lot of dried blood there and he could only imagine what his wound would’ve looked like fresh.

He must’ve cracked his skull open pretty bad.

IG-11 really did save his life.

Din sighed and pulled out a rag.

There was a small wash basin in the corner of the refresher. He wet the rag with some water and began cleaning his mess of a face. He winced slightly at the scratches-turned-bruises and the potential fractures-turned-cuts.

He scrubbed away the blood caking the back of his head and neck with minor difficulty. He needed the area clean before he could administer a bacta patch.

Face clean and bacta in place, he replaced his buy’ce on his head. Now that he was properly attended to, he needed to get back into the cockpit before his foundling awoke and messed around with the controls. He hasn’t done that yet, but there’s a first time for everything.

Stepping back into the cockpit, the child cooed at him in greeting, still huddled within the fluffy blanket. Large brown eyes and oversized ears were the only things poking out of the soft cloth.

“Hey, kid.” Din settled himself down into the pilot’s chair. “How are you holding up?”

The little one blinked and cooed again.

Din hummed. “Looks like we’re on a quest to find more people like you. Jetii. ” He leaned back in his seat. “We’ll need to find some Mandalorians. Maybe they know where we can find some.”

“Bueh.” The child’s voice was muffled by the blanket.

Din chuckled. “Finding Mandalorians isn’t easy, but it seems like finding Jetii might be a new challenge.”

The child whined.

Din tilted his head. “What is it?”

The green creature whined again and pushed the blanket off. He reached out his arms towards him.

“Hm?” Din picked up the child and settled him in his lap. “Is this what you want?”

The foundling hummed, but tapped at his glove with tiny claws.

The omega blinked. Did he want…?

Slowly, Din grasped at his glove and pulled it off.

The child squealed in excitement, surprising Din. “What-”

He leaned over and rubbed his cheek against Din’s wrist.

The Mandalorian froze.

The child’s green skin was soft against his own.

The creature grumbled at his lack of movement.

Jolting into action, Din reciprocated the treatment by rubbing his wrist back against the soft skin. The child purred in contentment, ears flicking at the scenting.

Din found himself relaxing at the movement.

The adrenaline of the day’s activities was winding down and in the moment, his body was able to feel the full effects of the action.

He was tired.

They were safe.

Most importantly, the child was safe.

No more bounty hunters, no more imps.

He just needed to find some Jetiise.  

But there was no rush, right?

For now, he could enjoy the moment of scenting his foundling, feeling content for the first time in a very long time.

His chest rumbled in a purr, mimicking the sound of the child in his lap.

With that, his head tilted back and he drifted off to sleep, comforted by the fact that he was finally home.