21 | KRAYT DRAGON

Turns out, that creature was a Krayt Dragon. It had been attacking the town for ages, and it was beginning to become a severe problem. Cobb was having trouble killing it alone, as he simply did not have the supplies or manpower to destroy it. Cobb quickly took Mando over to where the dragon lived, as Mando left Celeste behind in the town. She needed sleep. She was so exhausted from the trip, there was no way she would've made it with Mando to scout where the dragon lived.

On top of the exhaustion, she was abysmally hungry. The rodents weren't enough to suffice her on the trip to Mos Pelgo. Plus, it wasn't very appetizing, either. As soon as she found a small restaurant to eat at, she darted there. "I would like a Bantha steak soup, some Eopie cream pie, fizzwater, flatbread--"

The waiter interrupted her, "what kind of flatbread?"

"I want all them," she waved him off, "oh! And some blue milk!" She finally finished her order.

The man was impressed by the intensely long order the woman had just asked for. He wondered if someone would be joining her to eat, but she was alone. "Is that... all?" The man asked, scared she'd ask for more.

Celeste looked up at the man. "I should get more, right?" She had interpreted his question as a question of how little she was ordering. But, she couldn't be farther from the truth.

"No, no, I mean--"

"Okay, fine! I'll have some womp rat stew as well," she sighed, her stomach rumbling just thinking of all the food coming her way.

"Will you be able to pay for all this?" The man had never had a customer order so much before. Their little village had so few people, and most of them didn't have much money. No around those parts could afford to order so much.

Celeste dug in her pocket and pulled out a pouch of currency and tossed it at the man. The money had come from Mando, of course. He caught it, swiftly, and was astonished by the amount of money she had just given him. It was a lot more than the cost of what she had ordered. "Should that cover it all?" She asked.

"Y--yes, your food will be out quickly!" The man scurried away to place her order and get her food out to her as fast as he could.

She enjoyed her meal and ate every last scrap of it. Once she finished, she found a local that was willing to lend her a bed so she could nap while Mando was gone. After all that eating, she slept so well that she even drooled a little bit.

* * *

It took Mando an entire day to return to Mos Pelgo. Fortunately for Celeste, she didn't miss him too much as she slept most of the time away. Mando quickly found her in the pub. "You find the dragon?" She asked him as he took a seat beside her.

"We did a little bit more than just scouting out the dragon. We allied with the Tusken Raiders, they want to kill the dragon, too. We made a plan, but, we can only follow through with it if the town helps out," Mando spoke lowly so no one else could hear their conversation.

"Okay, that's simple enough. What's the catch?" Celeste inquired.

"The village doesn't like the raiders, they've been fighting for a while now," Mando muttered.

Celeste was going to comment, but, the bartender brought over an appetizer that Celeste had ordered. "This one eats very well," the man mentioned to Mando as he began to walk back behind the bar.

Mando turned his head to give her a questioning look. She simply shrugged, brushing it off as she began to snack on the fresh food brought to her.

* * *

That same afternoon, Vanth gathered the entire village to speak to them about the krayt dragon they were going to have to help kill with the sand people. The villagers weren't exactly ecstatic about the news, however,  they eventually obliged after hearing some wise words from Mando and Vanth.

As the villagers packed up supplies, the sand people arrived in the town with their pack of banthas they were going to use as transport. Tension rose between the groups as they stared each other down before returning to work. Still, tensions remained as the groups packed up the supplies.

Soon enough, everyone departed toward the dragon's cave. Celeste joined, only because no one else remained back at the village except for the children and a few women. Also, because she wanted to see this dragon one more time.

A tusken raider headed to the mouth of the cave, checking if the dragon was sleeping. Sure enough, it was, queuing the people to begin setting up. Celeste helped dig a hole right before the entrance of the cave to bury the explosives in. With the numbers they had, they worked quickly and efficiently. And, soon enough, they were ready. Celeste headed back to stand far away with Mando, who held the detonator for the explosives.

The sand people began to agitate the dragon as they screamed into its tunnel. The dragon did not hesitate to respond as it charged out of its home to chase the sand people. It eased its way out as the villagers shot arrows at the dragon--a bad idea as it forced the dragon to retreat into its cave. "Dank Farrik, it's going back in," Mando cursed under his breath.

The sand people tried to draw it back out but to no avail. "It's retreating."

"Hit it," Vanth ordered Mando.

"No, we only get one shot. We have to get it out."

The people down the hill below the three began shooting their blasters and throwing rocks at the dragon to anger it. They were doing anything they could to get it to come out far enough for the explosives to make a sufficient impact on it.  Fortunately, the people's attempts to pull the dragon out further worked. And Mando was quick to trigger the explosion of the bombs.

The explosion was bright and loud. Celeste was sure it would have killed the dragon. But, instead, the dragon let out a roar of pain and retreated into his cave. There was silence for a few seconds... then, a loud rumble. The dragon made its way out of his cave through the top of the mountain that held the entrance of the cave. It let out a guttural screech, terrifying the villagers. "I don't think it's dead," Celeste sarcastically mentioned.

Mando spun on his heel and reached for his blaster before using his jet pack to take off toward the dragon. Vanth followed his pursuit and Celeste watched from afar as they used their tiny blasters to piss off the dragon more. Their blasters were no match for the dragon's thick skin. The dragon turned its attention to Vanth and Mando. This time, charging at the two. Mando thought quickly at the moment, and as the dragon rushed toward him, Mando led it toward him and a bantha that was strapped with dozens of explosives. The dragons opened its jaws wide and seemed to have swallowed Mando and the bantha whole. Celeste held her breath, somehow knowing Mando would make it out--he had to have had a plan.

The dragon emerged from the sand after having swallowed Mando, then Celeste saw Mando fly out of its gaping jaws. Celeste let out a sigh of relief. Then, Mando pressed a button on the detonator to let out one final explosion, this time coming from within the dragon, finally killing it.

* * *

The cleanup process was simple for the villagers as the sand people took care of the carcass and skeleton. Mando packed up from dragon meat as Vanth handed the Mandolorian armor over to her to hold. "This was well earned," Vanth told Mando as Celeste held the armor in her arms.

"It was my pleasure," Mando spoke as he shook the man's hand.

"I hope our paths cross again."

"As do I."

"And you tell your people I wasn't the one that broke that," Vanth pointed to the crack in the beskar armor.

Mando nodded, looking down at the helmet of the armor. "And thank you," Vanth turned to Celeste, causing her to send him a questionable look.

"I did nearly nothing," she chuckled.

"You brought great business to my town, we were really needing it," he informed her before heading off.

Mando glanced at Celeste, wondering if she would elaborate. But, once again, she responded with a mere shrug.