Under the Helmet ~ (The Mandalorian x Male OC)

Chapter 7: The Smuggler

The two left camp the next morning, and headed to a Spice Runners camp on the other side Sorgan. Daedalus had heard of smugglers selling spices on the black market, but had never really gotten involved in any of their schemes. Upon arriving to the camp, it was fairly easy to deduct that the camp had been abandoned. Trees and various vines grew around the fading buildings and collapsed tents.
The two walked down the center of the desolate streets, gazing upon the level of disregard presented here.
Din finally broke the silence, "I heard about this place back in the day. Sounded like a real hopping place," he remarked.
"It doesn't appear to have been abandoned for too long, a fair majority of the buildings are still standing," Daedalus implied.
"Probably raided by the New Republic. They cracked down on spice trades after the fall of the Empire."
The two continued exploring the camp, until they heard a agonistic scream coming from the direction of the Razor Crest II. The two looked at each other, then too off back towards the ship. On his knees and bowing before the ship, an emaciated Cerean man turned to face the pair.
"Thank the Maker! It's been years since anyone had come here!" The man was quite clearly insane, perhaps driven mad by the isolation presented on Sorgan.
Din stepped forward, placing himself between Daedalus and the Cerean, his hand resting gently over his blaster. "I'm sorry is there something you need? We'd like to get going."
The Cerean laughed and rushed towards Din. "In fact, there is something I need. I need to get home!" The man burst into laughter and continued, "If you can get me and my goods back to Cerea, perhaps I can arrange some...compensation?" The man began to run his hands along the edges of the Mandalorian's helmet.
Din swatted the man away. "Exactly what form of 'compensation'?"
The man broke off into wild laughter, "Why, spice of course!"
Din turned back to look at Daedalus. Not seeing any immediate harm in the excursion, he shruged and gave Din a nod of approval.
Din turned back to the Cerean. We have a deal, as long as we get 25% of the cargo," he demanded.
The estranged man became giddy and skipped around the pair giggling. "Why, let's go load the spice!" He said as he skipped into a nearby building.
Din walked back to Daedalus. "I have a bad feeling about this," he said to his partner.
The spirit of the crime excited the rookie. "I don't know, I'm quite excited honestly," Daedalus responded.

———

The Cerean didn't fool Din for a second. There had to be some catch, this job seemed too easy. Spice smuggling was no walk in the park. His new ship had  limited room to hide spices aboard, but he doubted pirates would be hanging around this far in the Outer Rim territories.
The madman had a fair amount of spice hidden throughout the camp. It seemed to be the supply left behind in the New Republic raids. They loaded it into the ship, all working together, as Din didn't like the idea of leaving Daedalus alone with the Cerean.

———

The trio loaded the last of the crates into the ship. Only a handful of the crates fit into the storage compartments beneath the grates in the floor, so the rest were tucked away in Din and Daedalus's respective quarters.
The Cerean walked around the ship, inspecting his load. "This will be a fine smuggle indeed, gentlemen. Perhaps we should work together more often," the lunatic imposed.
"We'll see how this load goes and get back to you on that," Din snapped as he prepared the ship for takeoff.
Daedalus didn't understand why the Mandalorian was so opposed to the spice run. Sure, it involved bringing along a stranger who had quite certainly lost his marbles, but in the end the spice he promised would more than compensate for the job.
The three were seated in the cockpit area, watching as Sorgan faded into the distance behind them.
Din slipped the ship into hyperspace, and the Cerean marveled over the hypnotic pulse of the spinning blues and whites around them.
"It's been so long since I've seen a hyperspace lane," he muttered under his breath, his voice oddly stable compared to his lunatics earlier.
Din gave the man a stern look, or at least what Daedalus considered to be "stern". It was impossible to tell which emotion the Mandalorian was trying to get across due to the helmet.
The stranger stood up from his seat, saying, "I'm going to go downstairs and take a leak, let me know when we're out of hyperspace!"
Daedalus began to suspect the Cerean of foul play, and turned to Din.
"Should I go down there to make sure he doesn't try anything?" Daedalus inquired.
Din lifted himself from his seat. "No," he replied sternly, "You stay here, make sure he doesn't touch anything."
Daedalus moved over into the pilot's seat, still warm from Din. He wondered what was going on beneath the helmet, especially after the feelings they shared on Sorgan last night. Daedalus wouldn't call it a "crush", he quite literally hated the word, but more of a...interest. The fact that Din was a hardcore Mandalorian seemed to null any possible romantic feelings, as the news of his mother was still fresh in his mind. Hell, the fact that Daedalus himself was a Mandalorian scared him a bit. He would try to avoid the seemingly unavoidable occurrence that real feelings develop for Din, as his Creed mostly does not encourage any romantic involvements. Daedalus was okay with that, too. He wanted a significant other in time, but he wasn't sure this period of his life was the right time for him to court someone.
Lost in thought, he almost didn't hear the grunt and loud clang of metal on metal resonating from the lower deck. Daedalus jumped up instantly and rushed down the stairs. Lying in the middle of the floor was Din, who appeared to be unconscious. Standing over him was the Cerean, holding a metal bo staff he must have stolen from the weapons bay.
Daedalus shrieked, "What did you do to
him?!"
The Cerean charged him, wielding the bo staff and thrusting it at his foe. Daedalus dodged his attack and ran to the weapons bay, fumbling for the Darksaber. He retrieved it from its box, but before he could wield it in a fight, the bo staff cracked down on top of his head.

———

Din woke up in the detainment cell of the ship, handcuffed to the bars. Next to him laid Daedalus, still unconscious. He nudged him with his knee trying to wake him up. He knew he could break them out, as he had done it plenty of times in the past.
Daedalus eventually stirred to consciousness, immediately tugging on he cuffs.
"Wha-what? What happened?" He asked urgently.
Din sighed, "The Cerean turned on us, he's taking us Maker knows where now.
Daedalus smirked, "Why don't we find out? Is there any way you could get the metal bracelet of my left wrist?"
"Uh yeah, for sure," Din stuttered. He reached his hands, feeling around Daedalus's wrists to find the bracelet. "Got it."
"Ok, now holding onto one end, shake it."
Din shook the band, and was surprised when it formed into a small metal bar, undoubtedly the same lock picking device he had used prior.
Daedalus reached over to take the bracelet, fingers brushed as he retrieved it.
The Mandalorian stole a glance over at his partner, who was blushing with their forced proximity. He then heard the click of the handcuffs unlocking. Without ado, Daedalus quickly released Din from his handcuffs as well. He then did the same to the door of the cell.
The two tiptoed to the weapons bay, arming themselves with blasters. Daedalus searched for the Darksaber, but it was gone. Din grabbed his spear and the pair made their way up the stairs. Sitting in the captain chair was the Cerean, Darksaber in hand. He pivoted in the chair to face his adversaries.
"I was hoping this expedition would end without a fight, boys," the stranger remarked, voice oddly calm and much more sane than before.
He stood up from his chair, igniting the Darksaber. Din held his staff in defensive form ahead of him. The Cerean made a few swings at the Mandalorian, which were easily deflected. Daedalus attempted to shoot at the villain in vain, as his skills (or rather lack of) with a blaster weren't very advanced. Remembering the lightsaber he had taken from the Inquisitor, Daedalus ran to his quarters to retrieve it. He returned to the cockpit, igniting a single blade of the saber. Din retreated to regroup with Daedalus, the two both ready to defend their home. Nodding at one another, they both charged their opponent. He was unable to fend off both their attacks, and the tip of Din's spear cut the Cerean's shoulder.
At that moment, the navigation module chimed, meaning that the ship was about to exit hyperspace. The ship lurched forward, causing all three passengers to stumble forwards and lose their footing. Daedalus fell on top of Din, and their adversary freed himself from the pileup and made his way to the lower deck. Once the two made it down there, the Cerean was pushing spice out an open boarding ramp. The speed of the ship created a vacuum effect, causing all occupants to be pulled towards the exit. Daedalus, still with lightsaber in hand, swung at his foe, who was clinging onto the panels of the floor. The stranger lost his grip with one hand, and Daedalus consequently brought his lightsaber down on the Cerean's wrist, causing him to fly out the ship. However, he grabbed onto the struts of the boarding ramp, keeping himself from flying out.
"Din, the darksaber!" Daedalus exclaimed.
He knew he had to get the Darksaber from the stranger, it was far too much significance to lose.
Turning back to Daedalus he yelled, "Go get my jet pack from my quarters!"
He retrieved the jet pack and Din attached it to the back of his armor.
"Meet me on the surface!" He exclaimed as he thrusted himself at the Cerean, causing them both to tumble out the open door.

———

It had been hours since Din had thrown himself out of the ship. Daedalus had managed to bring the ship down on the planet's surface, but he feared that Din would not return. He had lit a campfire outside, hoping that the Mandalorian would see the flames and make his way to the Crest. Losing hope, he made his way back into the ship. He sat himself in Din's pilot seat. The warmth was gone, and Daedalus wondered if he would ever see his partner again.