THE LOOTING

The dessert of Arvala 7 was as bleak as the ice planet Fil had spent his childhood on. There was no change in scenery for hours, only the same blend of browns and scorching sunshine. Fil's throat was sore and rough like sandpaper; what only got worse from the actual sand the hot billowing breeze was shoveling into his face.

But the thought of finally leaving this godless planet behind was enough to keep him going. His body was begging for a pause and something to drink. Although he felt better than the day before, he was still recovering from being held as a hostage. From time to time, he glanced at the man who had helped him out of his misery.

The Mandalorian withstood the heat and exhaustion, untiringly marching on his destination firmly in view.
He hadn't spoken much since their departure in the early morning's sunrise, almost as if he was avoiding the younger man and his curious gaze. Fil didn't mind the silence, though. His attention laid exclusively on making step after step and the hovering orb by his side, which had become his main priority rather quickly. The child was content as usual and probably the one one of the three who wasn't sick of the planet and his climate condition yet. At least the ice planet had provided enough to drink.

After what felt like an eternity of more and more sand, there was finally a sparkle of light in the distance, resulting from the sun hitting a hunk of shiny metal. Fil sighed in relief, his gaze immediately darting for the Mandalorian who sped up his pace, heavy boots marching over the sand with ease. Fil admired the other man's stamina as he struggled to keep up, his own feet sinking in over and over again. But he pushed through, getting closer and closer.
As they made it up another dune, the Mandalorian stopped again, letting out a grunt of disapproval. Fil could see why and he couldn't help but have to feel disappointed. A sand crawler and Jawas were taking the spaceship apart that wasn't much more than a shell now. So much to get off this planet. The Mandalorian dropped to the floor, loading and aiming his big gun. Before Fil could grasp the idea of what he was planning to do, he fired, vaporizing a few Jawas on the spot and making the others flee in panic, retrieving back to their crawling fortress.

Fil was dumbstruck as the hefty man started to run after the Sandcrawler in agony. "What on Tattoine is he doing?" he asked the little one on his crib, but the child just giggled and looked at him out of big, dark eyes. As usual, the child was bright and happy about being with him, and nothing else mattered to the little creature. It couldn't understand the worry in Fil's eyes as he watched the Mandalorian attempting to climb the crawler in the distance.

But the young man knew that idea was a lost cause. Jawas might be tiny, but they always came in significant numbers, and a dozen guns were something worth more than an experienced fighter. Also, he could see the mab struggle to keep his balance in his heavy beskar armor that was just not suitable for climbing.
Mandalorians had jetpacks for that. But not this one. This one just continued to baffle Fil with his strange behavior. As the Sandcrawler was out of sight, he looked at the child again. "I think we should go help him out." Another giggle agreed. With a sigh, Fil started to sprint after the metallic colossus. His body was thrilled about the familiar rush, happy to give its reserves a bigger purpose. As usual, his feet brought him far quickly, easily catching up with the pace of the machinery.

The Mandalorian had managed to climb it halfways, but the obstacles got higher as the Jawas had to begin throwing trash at him, and not all of it was bouncing off his armor. The hidden doors cluttered all around the walls opened and closed, leaving the warrior with a sleek surface and hitting him in the face with an object the next second. He dodged, then slipped, climbed up again, and got pounded over and over again. Small grunts of frustration echoed through the air paired with the mocking chattee of the jaws. They were laughing at him, cursing and calling him names.
The Mandalorian's Jawa was bad, but that even he understood. He continued to make his way up regardless, trusting his robe in getting him to his destination.

These tiny creatures were not going to defeat him. But they were tough. Instead of junk, electro shockers were held outside, hitting the man right under his chest plate, into his ribs. If they were a more intelligent species, they would have known that making a Mandalorian angry was never a good choice because they became ruthless. So the warrior snatched the next Jawa out of its door and threw it over his shoulder like it was nothing. Now the laughter had ended, and the jaws yelled in anger as they tried their best to get the robe cut to save their skins. Asit finally snapped, the Mandalorian let out a yelp of surprise.
With that, the Jawas were sure they had won the battle yet underestimated the other's skills set. What didn't kill a Mandalorian only make him stronger.

So the man had caught onto the metal and pushed himself up, throwing another unfortunate Jawa down into the abyss. With a huff, he drew his gun, ready to get his will heard. Instead, he was shit by a dozen electroshocks, and with a grunt of pain, fell unconscious while dropping backward. Was this his end?

His body jerked softly as it was caught mid-air, the blacked-out warrior dangling mere inches above the floor for a brief moment then dropped down like a stone. "Don't worry. He'll be alright.", Fil whispered towards the child in his crib, the young man already dropping to the floor beside the man, lifting his head carefully. Softly, he placed it on the only soft surface he could provide: his lap. The crib hovered closer, slowing the little one to get a better look at the warrior. His ears flapped downwards as he realized that the man wasn't moving.

" He is alive.", Fil assured it again, putting his palm on the man's chest, slipping it under the armor. He closed his eyes, feeling into the heartbeat that echoed through his body. It was steady and robust. He felt closer, trying to connect to the man's mind to wake him up. The dessert was no place to rest.

A comfortable warmth spread as he could sense the Mandalorian's mind answering his call to return. And with a gasp, the warrior woke. Fil withdrew his hand, a content smirk spreading on his lips as he noted to the child: "Look, he's fine. We got him in time." The Mandalorian stared at him, and the young man could tell he was confused. "That was very bad Idea.", Fil told him, his eyes twinkling with golden aspects in the sunlight. " They threw you off like a whom rat." The Mandalorian remained silent. "Now we have to find another way to get off this planet. I'm getting sick and tired of all that sand.", the other added. It seemed like he had hit a nerve as the other man rose into a sitting position rather quickly. "How's the ship?" he asked, briefly checking for the young one. "I don't know. I was busy running after you." Fil shrugged. With a sigh, the Mandalorian got up to his feet again.

Together they wandered back to the gutted gunship that looked by closer inspection even worse than from afar. Fill was good at fixing things; he had always been, but even he could not see how they could make that hunk of junk fly again. There were just too many parts missing. As the Mandalorian started the engine, only a dry cough escaped the power units. Fill let his gaze roam around the spacious cockpit. This ship must have once been beautiful. Now there was a part of the wall missing and wiring visible everywhere he looked.

With every missing part the Mandalorian spotted, the man grew more and more frustrated. Fil didn't dare to interrupt him as he wandered the ship, huffing and sighing, and no with no doubt internally cursing the Jawas. It was like he needed to see everything in order to understand the full scope of what had happened. The Razor Crest was his home and seeing her mistreated like that must hurt.

As he checked the weaponry, that had been completely emptied, the warrior called out in agony. That was all. He then turned around, marching down the ramp again, gesturinhg for Fil to follow him and the crib. "I know someone", he briefly explained. And Fil got along with it.What else was he supposed to do?