Summary:

Finding out the current location of Mayfeld was easy. But convincing him to join the cause of finding you was the hard part, considering that he and the Mandalorian weren't exactly in good terms from that prison incident. It might take a bit of persuasion, since the ex-empire sharpshooter is an essential asset for this rescue mission.

Side Notes: Let's just pretend Mando didn't get the baskar spear from the magistrate and got it in a different way. And let's also just say that Cara has some good connections with the New Republic as I didn't made her a marshal in my book. Like I said, I'm doing a lot of tweaking shh... 😂 Also, y/n won't be here very much, sorry! 

Word Count: 5000

***

Grogu winced, crying out in despair as he saw a vision of you and the Mandalorian duelling each other. It was no practice sparring whatsoever, it was genuine fighting. There was something else, he sensed something dark about you, but he couldn't think of exactly what effect it had on you. There was definitely a disturbance in the force. He could feel it in his very core. 

The Mandalorian came rushing by his side as soon as he heard Grogu wailing. He saw the little green creature curled up in a fetus position inside the floating orb, breathing heavily in between desperate cries. Being the adoptive father that he is, he picked up the little green bean in the stronghold of his arms, gently rocking him back and forth from his panicked state.

"I know, I know. I miss her too kid," he said in a hushed tone.

Within a few seconds, Grogu somewhat relaxed his posture, knowing that one of his parents was with him. He couldn't exactly explain to the Mandalorian what was going on in his mind, since he had a unique way of communicating. Besides, he knew perfectly well that visions provided by the force could be misinterpreted many times. Thus, eventually misleading that individual. It's difficult to know exactly about these visions. Oh how he wished someone as force-attuned such master Yoda were still around. 

Grogu was still considered as a youngling, and younglings didn't normally practice their meditation skills until they became padawans. It was through a bit of meditation where someone could somehow understand those visions, and not be mislead by impulsiveness. Whatver Grogu saw, he strongly wished for it not to be true. But no matter how much wishing he does, it doesn't remove the fact that there was indeed a disturbance in the force.  

He attempted to warn the Mandalorian that he might have to face you with as many gestures as he could, only for him to not have a clue as to what he was trying to say.

"I'm sorry, kid. I wish I could understand you, I really do. But you know only (y/n) can communicate with you by using the force, and I'm not force-sensitive like you two." 

The child slumped onto his father's chest, where he was sobbing quietly. The Mandalorian lifted him up, spotting the glistening tears that rolled down his green cheeks. If only he were able to understand Grogu, then he would probably know exactly what to do to comfort the little green bean. But he could only assume that he missed you, as did he and everyone else in the ship. 

The poor thing. The armoured man had never seen Grogu engulfed with such grief and distress before. He could practically feel his little heart speed up where he placed his hand near the child's cloaked chest. 

Their quick father and son bonding had been interrupted when a beeping noise was heard from the cockpit. The Razor Crest had jumped out of hyperspace, revealing a planet where Mayfeld was held as a prisoner. 

As the flying aircraft reached into the atmosphere, there was nothing to be seen except for piles upon piles of scrap metal from the field-sized junkyard. This placed served as one of the many consequences for the prisoners' crimes, where they had to sort, discard, assemble, and apart scrap pieces of metal parts. Guard droids with batons patrolled constantly, just in case any of the prisoners get any ideas. 

Finally landing on the landing zone, the crew had stayed in the ship while Cara walked around heaps of junk. The junkyard was a busy place with prisoners hard at work. A guard droid led the way, walking towards a certain bald male. 

"Inmate 34667," the droid called out, getting no response, "Inmate 34667."

"What? What?" Mayfeld groaned in annoyance, facing the droid as he removed his large pair of protective goggles. A beard had groan around his chin. Shaving was the last thing to prioritize while in prison. 

"Inmate 34667, descend and receive new instructions," the droid ordered. 

The ex-sharpshooter did as he was told, dropping his work and stepping down towards the droid. He raised his arms on his sides, looking unamused, "Can't you see I'm busy?"

"Inmate 34667, you have been released into the custody of ex-Republican shock trooper Cara Dune. This is affirmative and will take in effect immediately." The bald male looked at both directions from where the droid and Cara stood, clearly looking clueless. "Inmate 34667. Please follow ex-Republican shock trooper Cara Dune to transport."

"Is somebody gonna tell me what's going on?"

"Let's go! You have a job for us to do." His ankle restraints were immediately removed once Cara had spoken those words. 

The bald male still stood in place, allowing himself to process the events that were unfolding before him. 

"Inmate 34667, please follow ex-Republican shock trooper Cara Dune," the droid instructed once more, raising his baton in front of him.

"Where is she takin' me?"

"Inmate 34667. You have three seconds to comply with your new directive," the droid's raised his baton as it electrified. 

"Okay! All right. All right," Mayfeld raised his arms in a form of surrender and walked towards the built woman, "Hey!" You gonna tell me where you're takin' me? Hello?"

The ex-shock trooper just kept walking, paying no mind to the bald who constantly asked her questions. 

"I mean, it's a common courtesy, a common courtesy to tell somebody where it is you're takin' them. I don't think that's so hard to ask, do you?" Mayfeld complained.

Cara stopped in her tracks as they finally reached the Razor Crest. The ramp door of the ship was opened, revealing a certain Mandalorian that had stricken fear into the heart of the ex-sharpshooter. 

"Mayfeld," he shivered from the modulated voice that he knew all too well. It brought traumatizing memories back from the only mission he did with the armoured man. It obviously did not go too well for him. 

"H-hey, Mando. Long time," he stammered. "So what, you came here to kill me?"

"All you need to know, is that I bent a lot of rules from the connections I have to bring you along," Cara hissed at him. 

Mayfeld tilted his head to the right, gazing right at the ex-shock trooper, "Why am I so lucky?"

"Because you're Imperial," Cara said almost fuming from that very word. 

"Hey, that was a long time ago all right?"

"You still know your Imperial clearances and protocols, don't you?" The Mandalorian suddenly asked. 

Cara and the armoured man turned on their heels and walked inside the flying aircraft, fully aware that Mayfeld still knew everything. 

***

The atmosphere was awkward now that Mayfeld was on board. The ex-shock trooper glared at him, and it took everything in her not to tear the ex-imperial to pieces. Greef Karga had never heard of the man, so he stayed with Grogu and tried to keep him entertained. 

"We need coordinates for Moff Gideon's cruiser," the Mandalorian said trying to break the ice.

"Moff Gideon?" Mayfeld scoffed at his comment, "Yeah, forget it. Just take me back to the scrapyard. I'm not doin' that."

"They have his girlfriend," the ex-shock trooper finally answered for the armoured man. 

"The Jedi girl?" 

"Yeah, 'the Jedi girl.'" Cara repeated back at him. 

"So, I help you guys get him back, and you let me go?"

"That's not how it works," the built woman grinned slyly at him. 

"Well, then what's in it for me?" Mayfeld asked defensively. 

"You get a better view."

"All right. But here's the thing, I can't get those coordinates unless I have access to an internal Imperial terminal." The Mandalorian averted his gaze at him, hoping that there had to be another way, "I believe there's on on Morak." 

"Morak? There's nothing on Morak," the armoured man stated sounding so sure of himself. 

"It's a secret Imperial mining hub, okay? If you can get me in there, I can get you the coordinates."

The Mandalorian spun his chair around, punching in the coordinates in bound for Morak. A hologram image of the planet appeared, it seemed that the armoured man was scanning it.

"Well, it turns out that it's a lot harder to get to that base than it looks." Din pointed to an area of the hologram, "They have anti-aircraft cannons protecting it, and also a platoon of security forces. So we go in quiet. Let's go get a closer look."

The armoured man toggled onto the switches until the ship jumped to hyperspace once again. A few hours had passed until the planet Morak appeared before everyone. Mayfeld was right. If you weren't Imperial, chances of knowing about a secret mining sight was zero. The planet was surrounded by lush jungles and wildlife. No one in a million years would think that Imperials were mining a deadly explosive known as rhydonium. An explosion from several of those canisters would be enough to blow up entire fleets of ships. 

While the crew thought it was best for Greef to stay in the ship to watch over Grogu, Mayfeld was busy leading the Mandalorian and ex-shock trooper onto a hillside with a better view of the large vehicles transporting the explosives as they disappeared inside a tunnel.

"I'm not gonna need long inside," Mayfeld informed them, "so once I get the coordinates, you guys get me the hell out of there."

"All right. Mayfeld and I will swap out for the drivers in the tunnel," Cara stated.

"As much as I'd like to take a road trip with rebel-dropper here, that's not gonna work."

"Oh yeah? Why's that?" She asked, her suspicions increasing by the second.

"Well, because these Remnant bases are set up and run by ex-ISB. If you get scanned and your genetic signature shows up on any New Republic register, you're gonna be detected, and it's guns out."

"You sure know a lot about Imperial Remnants."

"Hey, if you wanna accuse me of something, then just say it," the bald male choked out. 

"We don't have time for this," the Mandalorian interrupted their 'civil' conversation, "I'll go with Mayfeld."

Mayfeld bit his lower lip, unsure if the plan will still work, "Hey, buddy, I might be good at fast-talking, but I don't think I can explain away a guy in a Mando suit to Imperial guards. So, unless you're gonna take off that helmet, it's gonna be me goin' in alone. Or say goodbye your Jedi girlfriend."

Mayfeld going in alone did not sit so well with the rebel-dropper, considering that he was ex-imperial and could still betray them in the end. He would be hailed as a hero from his former comrades. She was seriously considering taking him back to the scrapyard.

"You're not going alone. I'm coming with you," the Mandalorian insisted, "But I won't be showing my face."

The three of them transferred to an area closer to where the large tanks were driving by. They hopped off of the ridge of the tunnel, landing on top of the roof of one of the tanks. It was timely that the vehicle had gone inside the tunnel, making it the perfect time to take out the driver and his companion. 

Cara jumped inside first, her boots thudding loudly onto the metallic floor. 

"What the-?" The rebel-dropper cut the two troopers off with heavy hits and punches, grabbing them both and slamming their heads onto the switches and levers of the tank. 

With the oblivious troopers successfully knocked out unconscious, Cara pulled onto a lever, making the tank abruptly stop in its tracks. 

The two males then made their way inside, dragging the bodies of the knocked out troopers outside.

"Oh my God, this guy reeked. His gloves are still wet. Ugh!" Mayfeld gagged while slipping onto the Imperial uniform. 

Looking up, the bald man spotted the Mandalorian walking from behind Cara. Only, he looked nothing like a Mandalorian now. He felt like he was dragging himself from dead weight of the Imperial uniform. The only advantage about it was that his face still remained hidden under a helmet, Imperial or not. 

"Look at this," Mayfeld almost snorted from the sight, "Oh, the shame. Now, that right there is worth a price of admission."

"Wish I could say it looked good on you, but I would be lying," Cara said, trying to suppress her laughter as she felt her lips twitch to a smile. She felt very strongly about the empire, and not in a good way for obvious reasons.

"Just make sure you take out the rooftop gunners, or we're never getting out of here," the Mandalorian's voice nearly squeaked from the embarrassment that washed over him. 

"I got you," Cara assured him. 

Din handed out a large bag that held his priceless beskar armour. In which the ex-shock trooper took with care, "Take care of this. Keep it safe."

"I will." 

"Hey guys. Still on the clock," Mayfeld interrupted his two companions. 

Din nodded a dismissal gesture towards Cara, climbing into the tank and sat on the passenger's seat beside Mayfeld. 

The ex-sharpshooter looked around the controls of the vehicles, toggling on the switches to get a feel and freshen up his memories from years ago of service with the empire. The engines of the vehicle started as it powered the whole thing up.

"Yes! There we go, there we go!" A sigh of content escaped from his lips. 

The eight-wheeler began to move as the light at the end of the tunnel grew brighter. It wasn't the fastest moving vehicle out there, but it was their best shot to get inside the base undetected.

"Hey, how's it feel? Huh?" He asked, attempting to make small talk with the Mandalorian.

Nothing. Just silence from the armoured man. 

"Hey, come on, you still get to wear a helmet, right?" 

Din continued to stay silent, not even bothering to look towards Mayfeld's direction. 

"All right. You know what? I'm taking this thing off. I can't see anything." Mayfeld removed the unbreathable headwear with one had as his other hand stayed glued onto the levers. He inhaled in fresh air, not the from the breath his was breathing out. "I don't know how you people wear those things, and by 'you people,' I do mean Mandalorians. 

The large vehicle had finally exited out of the tunnel, with Cara on the hillside keeping an eye out. The ground from the outside was much different than it was from inside the tunnel. It was thicker, and somewhat muddy from the layers upon layers of soil. Palm trees along with other trees and plants stood tall and aligned along the sides of the muddy road. 

"Feels better when it's off," Mayfeld breathed out.

The Mandalorian slowly turned to face the driving male, giving him a deadly glare under the large headwear. Removing that helmet was seriously the last thing he would do. 

The bald male gave him a forced smile, knowing that it might be the end of him if he kept forcing the armoured man. 

The tank approached along thick terrains of lush jungles and wildlife heard in the background. While Mayfeld continued to drive, he leaned forward and spotted a few tanks that looked like might have crashed from the rhydonium that most likely might have exploded. But some of the crashes looked intentional. 

"Juggernaut Four, you're running hot," a man radioed over. "Be sure to watch your cargo heat limits and speed."

"Don't worry about the rhydonium," the Mandalorian finally spoke up, "As long as you drive steady, you'll get us to the refinery."

The ex-sharpshooter said nothing back, but acknowledged the armoured man's advice as he steadily drove the eight-wheeler. Mayfeld blared the horns of the vehicle warning locals to stay out of the dirt road.  

"Look out! Get to to safety!" A woman yelled out to the rest of the people as they all scurried to the sides.

The residents expressions were filled with grief and fear as they eyed over the large vehicle passing by. These people looked extremely outsourced and malnourished, most definitely from the Imperial mining operations. They were barely just trying to get by. 

The Mandalorian leaned over towards his side of the window, spotting a few children looking at them as if their souls have left their very bodies. They seemed used to the fact that their enemies had taken over their planet. Guilt washed over the armoured man. Why did these innocent people have to go through all of this?

"Yeah. Empire, New Republic," Mayfeld interrupted the Mandalorian deep in thought, "It's all the same to these people. Invaders on their land is all we are. I'm just sayin', somewhere someone is this galaxy is ruling and others are being ruled. I mean, look at your race. Do you think all those people that died in wars fought by Mandalorians actually had a choice? So how are they any different from the Empire?"

The armoured man said nothing yet again. But he couldn't help but ponder from his companion's questions, considering that he actually held some amount of knowledge in that thick bald head of his. He contemplated in his mind, but no words would actually come out of his mouth. 

"If you were born on Mandalore, you believe in one thing, if you're born on Alderaan you believe in somethin' else. But guess what? Neither one of them exist anymore." Mayfeld shrugged over at the Mandalorian's silence, "Hey, I'm just a realist. I'm a survivor, just like you. 

"Let's get one thing straight," the armoured man blurted out in a blunt tone, "You and I are nothing alike."

"I don't know. Seems to me like your rules start to change when you get desperate. I mean, look at ya. You said you couldn't take your helmet off, and now you got a stormtrooper one on, so what's the rule? Is it that you can't take off your Mando helmet, or you can't show your face? Cause there is a difference." Again, no response from the Mandalorian, "Look, I'm just sayin' we're all the same. Everybody's got their lines they don't cross until things get messy. As far as I'm concerned, if you can make it through your day and still sleep at night, you're doin' better than most."

"Control, this is Juggernaut Three. We might be coming up of some route interference. Control! Control! We need a new-"  The pilot's message was suddenly cut of by the sounds of screaming and blaster fire.

An explosion was seen not too far out in the front of where they were driving. The flames and clouds ascending up to the skies.

"Juggernaut Four has been destroyed," control radioed over. 

"Destroyed?!" Mayfeld screeched.

"The rhydonium is still stable," the Mandalorian said, leaning over the screen to observe the canisters state. 

"Juggernaut Five, maintain speed and course. Proceed with caution."

"Control, this is Juggernaut Three. Requesting- ABORT! ABORT!" The noise of more blaster fire had cut off their communication.

Mayfeld steered to the right to avoid one of the tanks that had just exploded. Coming from behind, a few raiders stood on a hovering vehicle and jumped onto the rooftop of the their tank. The impact was hard, making a loud thud and prompting the two passengers to look over to the screen where they could see who was responsible for the explosions.

"Pirates. Keep driving. I'll take care of it," the Mandalorian said, sticking out half his body and shooting at the thieving pirates.

"Are you seriously shooting a blaster near rhydonium?" Mayfeld shrieked in bewilderment, "Get these guys off us!"

The armoured man crawled his way to the rooftop, spotting the pirates place some sort of detonator where the explosive canisters were placed. He was able to shoot the bomber off as it exploded on the ground before it made contact with the rhydonium. 

"You should've left me in prison!"

Seemingly endless amounts of pirates came before the Mandalorian could close the hatch of the roof and all jumped on board. Din aimed the pistol blaster at them, only to run out of ammo. It seemed that close combat fighting was the only option he had left as of now. 

The armoured man was indeed skilled in close quarter combat, but there was only one of him and a seemingly unlimited quantity of them. 

"Mayfeld! Drive faster!"

The ex-imperial did as he was instructed, only to see that the rhydonium would become unstable if the vehicle were to go any faster. With that, Mayfeld had slowed the tank down.

"What are you doing?!" The pirates were then able to catch up with their pace, fighting the Mandalorian head on once again.

The armoured was holding himself quite well. That is, until he got pinned down. One of the pirates managed to place a detonator on the rhydonium, gesturing his companions that it was finally time to leave. But the Mandalorian still had some fight left in him, as he managed to get away from their grip and in turn, throwing the detonator back at the pirates as it exploded, killing them all.

But the pirates who were supposedly dead appeared from the smoke of the explosion. All of them held detonators and growled in their native language, ready to blow up the tank. Before they could do anything, two incoming tie fighters had opened fire, knocking the raiders off of their hovering board. 

As the vehicle neared the refinery, a squadron of stormtroopers rallied together and blasted at the pirates. It wasn't the kind of help that they were expecting, but help was still help. 

Troopers saluted and waved as the tank drove past them, happy that at least one tank was able to make it without being blown up. 

"Never thought you'd be happy to see stormtroopers," Mayfeld saluted back at them. 

The vehicle had finally arrived inside the refinery, stormtroopers and mechanics surrounded the tank, cheering for their success. 

"Glory to the Empire!" Some of them chanted.

"Okay, all we gotta do is find the terminal," Mayfeld whispered, "It's probably in the officers' mess."

The two men walked along the crowd of cheering troopers, leading the way towards the mess hall. Mayfeld leaned in closer, spotting the terminal in the far left corner. 

"There it is."

"Goodluck."

The bald male walked in the mess, but walked back out right after seeing the face of a familiar high ranking officer.

"I can't go in there?"

"Why not?"

"It's Valin Hess. I used to serve under him."

"Will he recognize you?"

"I don't know."

"I was just a field operative. But I'm not taking the chance, it's over," Mayfeld walked away, but was stopped when the Mandalorian grabbed him by the arm. 

"Let's just do this quick, and we can get out of here."

"We have to abort, I'm sorry."

"No! We can't. If we don't get those coordinates, I'll lose my girlfriend forever." The Mandalorian hastily grabbed the data stick and walked inside the mess, saluting Valin Hess and other officers.

Once Din had arrived at the terminal, he began downloading the coordinates, but was unable to since he still had his helmet on.

"Error. Error. Facial scan incomplete. Ten seconds to system shut down."

The Mandalorian wasted no time in removing his helmet. He would do anything just to get to you. Before the system had shut down, the terminal had successfully scanned his face, and the coordinates were downloaded. But it had attracted unwanted attention from a certain officer. 

"Trooper!" Valin called out to the Mandalorian, getting up from his seat and walking towards him, "Trooper. Pay attention when a superior officer addresses you. What's your designation?"

The armoured man gulped nervously, trying to think of what to answer to the officer. 

"Transport crew."

"What?"

"My designation is transport co-pilot."

"No son. What's your TK number?"

"My TK number is-"

"This is my commanding officer. TK-593, sir," Mayfeld suddenly walked in with the answer, "I'm Imperial Combat Assault Transport Lieutenant TK-111, sir. I'm afraid you're gonna have to speak up to him a little bit since his vessel lost pressure in Taanab."

"What's your name, officer?" Valin asked in a louder tone. 

"We just call him Brown Eyes. Is that right, officer? Let's go fill up those TPS reports, so we can go recharge the power coils." Mayfeld said as they walked away.

"You're not dismissed." The two men turned slowly to face the officer once again, "You're the tank trooper that delivered the shipment of rhydonium?"

"Yes sir."

"Well, you two managed to be the only transport today to deliver their shipment." Valin slowly placed his gloved hands on their shoulder, "Come with me, hmm? Let's get a drink. Brown Eyes."

The two males nervously followed the Imperial officer as he led them to a table.

"So, what should toast this for, boys?"

"How about a toast to, Operation Cinder?" Mayfeld said.

"Now there's a man who knows his history," Valin smirked. 

"No, I don't just know it. I lived it. I was in Burnin Konn." 

"Burnin Konn? That was a hard day. I had to make many unpleasant decisions."

"Yes, you did. Entire city gone in moments, along with everybody in it. We lost our whole division that day. It was five to ten thousand people."

"Yep. All heroes for the Empire."

"Yeah, and all dead."

"Well, it's a small sacrifice for the greater good, son."

The Mandalorian sat there listening to the conversation. He could definitely pick up the tension that was rising especially from Mayfeld's end. His tense composure did not go unnoticed by the armoured man from the obvious wrinkles that formed on his head and the continuous tapping of his foot. 

Valin raised his glass, "To the Empire."

Mayfeld scoffed at his comment and aimed his blaster at Valin, shooting him as the officer dropped dead on the ground. A moment of silence had ensued when another trooper had witnessed at what had just happened. In which, Mayfeld shot him too. 

The Mandalorian picked up a blaster and shot the remaining troopers and officers in the mess hall. 

"You did what you had to do," the bald male grabbed the stormtrooper helmet and handed it to the armoured man. "I never saw your face."

The two men faced the window, kicking it down to escape as more troopers arrived. The both of them walked along the narrow ridges of the building. Their escape had been made easier as Cara had shot down the troopers going after them. When they finally reached the roof of the base, Greef was there waiting with the Razor Crest, allowing for both males and Cara to enter inside the ship. 

"Hand me that cycler rife," Mayfeld insisted, pointing the blaster towards the refinery blowing the entire place to smithereens. "We all need to sleep at night."

With the Razor Crest landing safely away from the refinery, it was time for the ex-sharpshooter to part ways with everyone.

"Well, I guess it's back to the scrap heap." 

"Thank you for helping," the Mandalorian uttered out. 

"Yeah. Uh, good luck getting your girlfriend back. All right Cara Dune, take me back." Mayfeld raised his arms towards the rebel-dropper in form of being cuffed together. 

"That was some nice shootin' back there."

"Oh you saw that? That wasn't part of the plan. I was just gettin' some stuff off my chest."

"You know, it's too bad that Mayfeld didn't make it out alive back there."

"Yeah, too bad," the Mandalorian added somehow sounding amused.

"What are you talkin' about?" 

"Looked to me like prisoner 34667 died in a refinery explosion in Morak."

"Does that mean I can go?" Mayfeld's face lit up from his question. In which, no one has done anything to stop him, "Cause I will."

He looked back at the Mandalorian and Cara, who still wasn't stopping him from leaving.

"All right," he chuckled, walking off in freedom.

"Did you get the coordinates for Moff Gideon?"

"We did."

"What's our next move?"

***

"Sir. You should see this," an officer nervously mentioned to the Moff.

A large blue hologram of the Mandalorian appeared before them, "Moff Gideon. You have something I want. You may think you have some idea what you are in possession of, but you do not. Soon, she will be back with me. She means more to me than you will ever know."

Moff Gideon felt uneasy. But he felt assured that you were now in his control, something that the Mandalorian was not aware of as of yet. 

He focused his gaze on your tensed form, "Patience, young one. You will have your chance to eliminate Din Djarin. I know you will not fail me."

"I will see that it will be done, Moff Gideon," you ignited your lightsaber, bowing down to the Moff.

Wow hey guys! Sorry that (y/n) literally only appeared in the very end 😂 But I promise the next chapter will be much more interesting, and that (y/n) will be there a lot more! Get ready for Mando to rescue his ghooorl 😌