CHAPTER SEVEN

" WALTZING ON THIN ICE "

          The sun began to descend on the planet of Navarro. The gradual darkness about to ensue reflected the aura the two bounty hunters brought as they marched back to the client. Back to the child.

          Arista and Din made it to the client's building and began to scout out the surroundings. Looks as if no one was around the building and won't be for a while.

          The two then circled to the back where they found a heartbreaking sight. The child's pod was thrown into the garbage. Just thrown away.

          Arista and Din both stared down at the discarded pod. The hunters felt the wave of anger wash over them. Arista clenched both fists in an attempt to calm herself but the sight empowered her anger more. Her breathing became heavier and her shoulders heaved up and down at a more forceful pace. She then looked away when she felt and hand wrap around hers. She looked down and up and saw Din clutching onto her hand. Din saw what the sight was doing to her and he felt the same anger and guilt that was taking over. Din wanted to reassure and calm her down yet, he also clutched onto her hand to calm himself as well.

          "We're going to get the kid back." He spoke. Arista then looked up at him.

          "I know we will." She nodded.

          They both agreed in taking some higher ground for extra recon. Of course, after Din shot down Arista's idea of just barging in and shooting everything that moved.

          Both hunters sprawled out on top of an adjacent rooftop. They pulled out their rifles, set their scopes to thermal, aimed at the building and suddenly voices were coming from the comms that wasn't theirs.

"I don't care. I order you to extract the necessary material and be done with it."

          The client.

          Arista's jaw clenched at the sound of his voice. Static then overtook their audio and visuals on the client but cleared before Dr. Pershing could respond.

"He has explicitly ordered us to bring it back alive." Dr. Pershing responded.

"Finish your business quickly, as I no longer can guarantee your safety."

          The client finished speaking and walked away from the Doctor.

          Arista had a feeling that they knew the hunters were coming. For their sake, they better be ready. 

          The plan was ready to be executed. Mando walked to the front door and knocked heavily on the door. The "eye" of the door spoke again in Huttese but was cut off from Manda grabbing it and ripping the eye of its handle. Mando and Manda then made their way to the back of the building, leaving the door sparking. From behind they both heard the door hiss open and a Stormtrooper speaks, "check the perimeter."

          The pair cautiously rounds the corner, hands at their blasters if need be. Manda went behind an adjacent building's corner as Mando set up a bomb on the back wall. He initiated the bomb and met Manda behind the corner. A few beeps later and a loud explosion could be heard, seen, and felt by anyone in proximity. The building's alarm began blaring as the two entered in through the smoke.

          Two Stormtroopers came towards the large opening of the wall to investigate the explosion. As they walked past some stacked cargo cases and close to the hole, they were each met with a blaster shot to the back. Manda and Mando emerged from behind the stacked cases with their smoking blasters in hand. The door then hissed from behind and the two quickly went back into hiding.

          A lone Stormtrooper slowly walked further to the laid out bodies of the other troopers. Before he could do anything Mando appeared and used his rifle to smack the gun out of the hands of the trooper's and then jab him in the gut. Mando threw him to the wall where Manda then emerged and activated the 'Dragon Fang' blade from her vambrace. She then grabbed the trooper from the wall and forcefully penetrated the blade through the trooper's throat then extracting the blade, leaving him to bleed out. The low groans from the trooper earned him a blaster shot to the chest from Mando.

          Manda and Mando both entered through the open door, blasters guiding them through. They both cleared a room before moving on to the next. They both walked in and saw a single Stormtrooper. Manda squatted down and used her grappling hook and shot at the back of the trooper. Manda then stood as the grappling hook dragged the trooper to them. Mando grabbed him by the shoulder and used his vibroblade to stab him in the back while Manda used her Dragon Fang to stab him in the chest.

          They continued their trek to the room at the end of the hallway. Mando blasted the keypad to the door and it hissed open. Suddenly a stormtrooper shot out to Mando's shoulder. The sound of a blaster ricocheting against Beskar instinctively triggered Manda to shoot and kill the lone trooper. The hunters then entered the room and turned towards the Doctor.

          The two aimed their blasters at Dr. Pershing as he then begged for his life, " no, no, no, no, please. Please. No. No, no." In the room was an interrogation droid and it began to float over to the bounty hunters. Manda and Mando simultaneously blasted the droid, emitting a small explosion. "No, please. Please don't hurt him. It's just a child." Dr. Pershing cried out.

          Mando marched over and pushed him out of the way of the child. "It's your own life you should be worried about." Manda spat to the fallen Doctor with her blaster aimed right at his head. As she stared down Pershing, she took notice of the patch stitched into his clothing. The Doctor trembled from the other side of the blaster's barrel. Mando and Manda looked over at the child. The child was barely moving but it seemed to be asleep and drowsy. Manda immediately went to work on getting the kid out of the medical table.

          Mando was then the one to point his blaster at the Doctor, "what did you do to it?" Mando spat. The Doctor shook in fear and didn't answer. "What did you do to it?" Mando repeated firmly. "I protected him. I protected him. If it wasn't for me, he would already be dead!" The Doctor hunched over in fear. Manda was able to unlock the scanner and detach all the tubes from the child. She then held the child close to her and she grabbed onto Mando's hand. He looked back and saw the child in her arms. "I got him. Let's go." Manda said to him.

          Doctor Pershing then shakily looked up to see that the hunters were gone and left with the child in their possession.

          Mando turned the corner with a blaster in hand to guide the three of them out. Suddenly another door opened. Mando gently grabbed onto Manda with the child in her grasp and pulled them all behind more stacked cargo. The Stormtroopers walked by and continued down the hall. With the coast clear, Mando and Manda emerged from hiding and continued their escape.

          The three entered through another room when the front door opened and four Stormtroopers entered. Mando instinctively shot one down. Manda took a glance behind her and noticed a control panel, she used her elbow to knock out the power to the room, leaving them in darkness. Mando and Manda went back into hiding behind more storage crates.

          "Split up. We'll flush them out." One Stormtrooper said. "Copy." The other troopers responded.

          Manda kept a close eye on the trooper's location without giving up theirs. As the troopers got closer Mando quickly hid them to move out of the line of their lights. Without negotiation, Manda then moved to circle the troopers and set up an attack from behind. Mando reached out for her but she moved too quickly, Manda unaware of his attempt to stop her.

          "Give it up. There's nowhere to..." The Stormtrooper never finished his sentence as Mando attacked him. Mando punched the blaster out of the trooper's hand, punched him in the stomach, and tossed him aside. Manda then attacked a trooper that struggled from behind. She extended out her Dragons Fang blade and slowly snuck up behind the trooper. When near she tucked the child away in her right arm and impaled her blade into the base of the troopers neck. The troopers let out a guttural cry of pain as the blade exited his neck and his body fell to the floor. Manda caught the sound of Mando taking out another one. She saw the last Stormtrooper closing in on Mando. She quickly retracted her blade and unhooked her rifle from her back. She took a quick look at the child still sleeping in her arm. She was glad to know that the child remained unharmed.

          "Hey!" The Stormtrooper yelled out from behind Mando.

          The Stormtrooper was then lit up by the blue electrical stun of two rifles from in front of him and behind. The trooper's now lifeless body revealed to Mando that Manda and the child were the ones who attacked from behind. Mando walked over the body to Manda. His eyes raked all over her body to check for any injuries of any sort. He then moved his eyes over to the child, still asleep and unharmed. "We have to keep moving," Manda spoke to break his worry about their well being. Manda then took the lead off the escape as Mando took one last look at their handy work.

          Manda held her blaster in hand as she walked through another threshold. A sudden blast was shot from behind her as another Stormtrooper entered. She instinctively shot the trooper right through the helmet. Unbeknownst to her, a second trooper emerged from behind. A crimson bullet ran past her head causing her to duck down and cover the child. She landed down on her knee and spun around with her blaster at the ready. Before she could get the chance to execute the kill, bright orange flames engulfed the trooper. Manda looked over her shoulder to see Mando aiming his vambrace towards the trooper with long flames burning the enemy to a crisp. The trooper's screams must've woken the child. Manda looked down to see the child coo and move in her grasp. She moved her hand over to the back of the child's head and held it closer to her chest to block its view from the hell she was seeing.

          The burnt blacken body landed on the ground with a loud thud that then reverberated throughout the room. Mando moved a hand to Manda's back to signal to her to keep moving. She was slow to get up to her feet, not because of the sight before her. No, she's seen and done much worse. But because of the small innocence, she carried close. She still held her blaster in hand as she then followed closely beside Mando as they cross another threshold and into another room.

          Familiar sights registered to their eyes. The hunters entered the room where the bounty had first begun. The two pointed their guns and scanned around the room for any more threats. When it was clear they began their pursuit towards their final exit. They stopped in their tracks in the center of the room as the hiss of the door sounded and six Stormtroopers entered and surrounded the three. "Freeze!" "Don't move." The troopers ordered the hunters, blasters at the ready.

          "Hands up. Drop the blasters." The trooper opposite to them commanded.

          "Wait. What she's holding is very valuable." Mando spoke aloud. He used his left free hand to grasp onto Manda's hand holding her blaster and lower it. "Here." He spoke again and knelt, dropping his blaster to the floor. Manda mirrored his actions out of hope. Hope that has some form of a plan.

          Mando then turned towards Manda and reached out to the child. Her head snapped towards his. He gently nodded to her. The silent communication between the two could only be taken as Mando telling her to trust him despite her reluctance. She handed the child over to him and he gently placed it on the ground.

          "Now turn and face me." The trooper demanded.

          The sound of Mando activating his vambrace made Manda evilly smirk. It was Mando's turn to use his new upgrades.

          "Stand up!" The trooper called out.

          The orders were never met. The Whistling Birds had been activated. The troopers that surrounded the three all perished from the small flying bullets that flew through the body of the failed soldiers. One by one, each body had fallen just as quick as the birds were released. The final body had dropped and then there was silence. The silence warranted the dead soldiers and the hunters stood. Manda gathered the child back to her grasp and her blaster in hand, once again. Mando regained his weapon and quickly glanced around to ensure the fatalities were complete. He then ushered Manda and the child out of the room and back to the streets of Navarro.

          Unbeknownst to the Mandalorian foundlings, the vast amount of other bounty hunters fob's began to beep simultaneously. Each corner of Navarro hosted its hub of active fobs now aimed towards the child.

          Even a fob belonging to one, Greef Karga.

          The hunters made their strides through the dark navy nightfall of dirt streets. Their pace was swift but meant to be undetected. All members of the Guild began to emerge slowly, one by one, making their presence known to the hunters now turned prey.

          Manda tightened her grip around the child when the familiar sound of the tracking fob finding its way to her ears. She got the eerie feeling that had run her spine cold. She ever so slightly moved her left hand to allow her fingers to graze the grip of her blaster.

          Mando caught sight of more and more members of the Guild appearing around every corner. He knew what was bound to happen. He moved his hand over to his blaster and looked over towards Manda and the child. He saw her adjust her grip on the child and move her left arm back. It signaled to him that she was well aware of the more than likely fate they were about to face.

         The Guild members then began to make it more apparent on getting their message across. As more and more entered the streets, some members had blasters aimed at the Mandalorian and Mandalarian.

          Mando and Manda had come to a halt when the other members of the guild had moved in with blasters aimed and encircled the three from trying to leave Navarro. They were surrounded.

          Greef Karga then emerged from the crowd and made his presence known, "Manda! Mando! Welcome back. Now put the package down." Greef moved his hand to his blaster at his hip. Manda then made her grip official to her blaster in her holster. Mando then spoke up. "Step aside. We're going to my ship."

          Greef chuckled at Mando's response. "Let Manda put the bounty down and perhaps I'll let you pass."

          "You let us pass and perhaps I'll let you live," Manda called out. Manda's words never held an empty threat. "The kid is coming with us," Mando said firmly.

          "If you both truly care about the kid, then you'll put it on the speeder and we'll discuss terms," Greef said pointing to the beeping astromech speeder next to them.

          "How do I know I can trust you?" Mando said. His words put slight worry into Manda. But she knew him well enough to know that he was already thinking of a plan to get them out.

          Greef Karga scoffed at his words, "because I'm your only hope."

          Manda's jaw clenched from hearing Greef speak. She then looked down at the child in her arm. It looked back at her and then looked behind her to see Mando and cooed. Manda looked back at Mando, she slipped her blaster out from her holster and nodded to him. It's now or never.

          She then quickly shot and killed a guild member from behind her and spun into the speeder. She was sure to land on her back and roll to her side, anything to protect the child. Mando shot two more down and followed behind her. Manda moved the child down flower into the speeder, out of the now line of fire from the shoot out. Manda then began to use her blaster to shoot more Guild members.

          Mando shot a member and then moved to the droid that controlled the speeder. "Drive." He ordered over the deafening sound of blasts. He droid beeped out in defiance of his request. "Drive!" He yelled and pointed his blaster at the droid. The droid beeped out in fear and began to drive the two traitors to the Bounty Hunters Guild.

         As they were driven towards the exit Manda and Mando shared crimson bullets with the Guild members. One by one, gradually the Guild were losing their prized bounty hunters to the two foundlings.

          It was then a blast hit Mando from behind. He turned around and looked up. Their enemies were now coming from above. Mando quickly shot down the attacker from above and watched the body fall. Manda continued her firing against the platoon of bounty hunters that had yet remained.

          Mando turned back around to help Manda against the increasing number of hunters still firing back. As the speeder kept advancing towards the exit, Greef Karga still hid away from gunfire but yet waited for an opportunity. The opportunity was then apparent when he aimed his blaster towards the droid. He aimed with precision and fired the fatal shot. The droid to the speeder screeched out and sparked from the mild explosion. The speeder then halted and fell to the ground.

          The Guild members took the chance to advance upon escapees but they weren't the only ones to advance. Two rifle barrels surfaced through the white smoke of the destroyed droid.

          Suddenly, two Guild hunters were incinerated to ash from the disintegration bullets. It wasn't long for others to meet the same fate as the first victims. Six more of the Guild had been left too ash with the rest going into hiding. Manda and Mando both paused, mainly due to the low amount of ammunition, but also since the battle at Navarro had come to a stalemate.

          "Those are impressive weapons!" Greef Karga yelled out. His call to Manda and Mando signaled to them of another possible negotiation. Manda and Mando both shared a look before Manda broke away to move her attention to the child.

          Mando then responded, "here's what we're going to do. Manda and I are going to walk to my ship with the kid and you're gonna let it happen." He made the first proposition.

          "No. How about this? We take the kid, and if you two try to stop us, we kill you both and we strip your bodies for parts." Greef called out, denying Mando. As Greef was talking, a Guild member was brave enough to try to attack the pair. Mando then kicked the barrels to knock down the attacker. Manda also caught sight and advanced with her rifle. The two set their rifles to electrocute. Mando electrocuted the main assailant while Manda shot the other down.

          Yet again, the second wave of gunfire ensued.

          The crowd of Guild members began to gradually step closer towards the speeder that held their targets.

          Manda shot down a member before ducking down besides Mando. More crimson bullets were shot their way but missed. Mando quickly turned to Manda at his side, "stay down." She nodded back to him and moved back to the child.

          Mando then ignited the flames of his vambrace and forced a retreat of the members. Manda rose from her position and used this opportunity to fire shots back, blatantly disobeying his order. As Mando fired his flames, Manda used her blaster and killed from beneath the flames. The flames then reached their end as Mando was only to ignite one full sweep. Even with the loss cover of the burning flames, Manda continued to rain down blasts.

          A Guild member landed a lucky shot to the Mandalarian helmet. Manda let out a grunt of frustration as she went to fire back but was then pulled down to her stomach. Manda looked to her left and saw Mando had pulled her away from the line of fire. "There's too many of them. They keep coming." The pained acceptance of defeat resonated in her voice.

          The once foundling's both laid on their stomach's side by side, shielding the child. The child was awake and cooed at the two who are risking everything to protect it. Manda reached out to the child and lowered the cloth to see its face. Her gloved fingers made contact with its soft green cheek and she heard the faint high pitched hum over the blasts.

          A second hand then moved next to her's. Mando moved his hand over the child and then glided it over Manda's. He then tenderly intertwined their fingers together and gave her hand a light squeeze. She took a last look at the child and moved her attention to him. Even though they have only been reunited for a short period of time, if she had to go she's glad that at least she's with him.

          Her thoughts and attention were broken due to a sudden loud flying object from above. An explosion could be heard from above them mixed with the sound of screams. Everyone's attention was now to the sky as the covert Mandalorian's descended from their jetpacks. The shoot out was now tipped in Mando and Manda's favor as it now became the Mandalorian's versus the Guild.

          Unbeknownst to the battle, a certain Guild leader that had been taking cover, was able to slip through the gunfire and escape the scene undetected. 

          Mando and Manda took the chance to collect themselves and join the fray, yet again. Mando began firing as Manda gathered the child and used her free hand to shoot. Suddenly a bigger assault of blasts rained down. The blasts belonged to one, Heavy Infantry, as he then panned the blasts in sweeps across the street. "Get out of here! We'll hold them off!" He yelled over the deafening sounds of blaster fire. "You're going to have to relocate the covert," Mando responded.

          "This is the Way," Heavy said.

          "This is the Way." Both Manda and Mando said.

          Manda then hopped out of the speeder with the child in her arm. Mando followed closely from behind and the two broke out into a sprint to the Razor Crest. Luckily, the ship wasn't that far away from the entrance of Navarro.

          The Razor Crest's back hanger was already drawn down as the two hunters entered. Manda put her blaster back into its holsters and wrapped her free arm around the child, hugging it close to her chest. Mando was about to go to the cockpit when a loud thud made them both turn to the sound.

          Greef Karga.

          He emerged from his hiding position and aimed his blaster in the child's and Manda's direction. "Hold it, Manda." His voice made Manda turn slowly to face him and Mando instantly coming to her side with a hand at his blaster.

          "I didn't want it to come to this. But then you both broke the Code." Greef said. Mando became more and more agitated the longer the blaster was pointed at Manda and the child.

          Manda then readjusted the child in her arms so she can have a hand at her blaster while still shielding it with her body. She then spoke, "that's the difference, Greef. I knew, eventually, it would come to this. So, I knew we'd have to be ready." She then swiftly spun her blaster out of its holster, around her finger, and shot the air compressor which let out the thicker white steam. It created a foggy environment that allowed the hunters to disappear in the fog.

          Greef Karga lost sight of the hunters and shot a few cautious blasts through the fog. A single crimson bullet was fired back by Mando which resulted in Greef getting blasted out of the hanger and leaving his body to meet the dirt.

          "Let's get the hell outta here," Arista said.

          Din climbed the ladder to the cockpit with Arista close behind. When Din reached the top he reached back down and grabbed the child from Arista. With the child in one hand, he helped Arista up with the other. She thanked him and he handed her back the child and quickly went to starting up the Razor Crest.

          Arista slumped down in the passenger's seat and held the child in her lap and Din began to fly them off the planet of Navarro.

          As they flew at a steady pace through the clouded daybreak, Heavy came up flying with his jetpack beside them and gave them a salute before going back down.

          "I gotta get one of those," Din said. His comment made Arista laugh from behind him.

          She felt movement in her lap and then a tiny thud hit the floor. The child had gotten out of her lap and waddled over to Din's pilot seat. She leaned back in her seat and caught sight of the child's little green hand reaching up to the lever that had his favorite toy. Din then noticed the little hand reaching up and reluctantly unscrewed the nob and dropped it in his hand. The sound of the child's giggle brought a smile to Arista's and Din's face.

          As Arista watched a warm feeling in her chest grew. She felt a connection with the child, she already knew it. Whether she liked it or not, she understood why they had a connection. But with Din, it was different and new to him. It was almost foreign.

          Yet, they both had just gone against the Guild and risked their lives to save the child from the weak hands of the fallen Empire. Arista and Din knew there was no going back now. And they carried that with them in their minds as they then were thrust into hyperspace.

The hunters have now become the hunted.

- - - - -

YALL!
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 1k READS!! it really does mean a lot and just motivates me to continue to write.

starting off 2021 with a new chapter!

SO... now with s2 complete i have so many ideas that i want to write so bad!

i'm so glad to finally be done with episode 3 and now on to finish season 1

thanks for reading!

feedback is always welcome!