DEFIANCE | The Mandalorian

III

"Care for me to watch this wrinkled critter while you both seek out adventure?" Peli asked, flicking her gaze back to the child still wrapped up in her arms.

Din shifted beside me. "We've been quested to bring this one back to its kind," He explained, and a look of confusion crossed Peli's features.

"Oh, wow," She breathed, absentmindedly looking down at the sand between us. "Sorry, but I can't help you there. I've never seen anything like it. And trust me," She said pointedly, giving us a knowing look, "I've seen all shapes and sizes in this town."

I breathed a laugh to myself. "I don't doubt that," I huffed, and Peli shared a look that told me I had no idea.

"A Mandalorian Armorer has sent us on our path," Din continued, like Peli had any idea why that was important. But the woman flicked her gaze to him nodded along as he added, "If we can locate another of our kind, we might be able to chart a path through the network of coverts."

Peli pursed her lips. "You two are the only Mandos that have passed through here in years from what I can tell," She said with a shrug.

"We're told there's one in Mos Pelgo," I chimed in, and a quick look of surprise flashed across her face. "Do you know where that is?"

Peli exhaled a long breath through her nose. "Boy," She said, "I haven't heard that name in a while."

Din shook his head, crossing his thick arms across his cuirass as he stated, "It's not on any of the maps."

"That's 'cause it was wiped out by bandits," She explained. "Once the Empire fell, it was a free-for-all. I didn't dare leave the city walls. Still don't."

I exhaled slowly. "Well," I started anxiously, "Can you show us where it used to be?" If we couldn't locate Mos Pelgo, we were back to square one, and we didn't have time to come up with another plan.

Peli shrugged again. "Depends on who's asking. You want to see it?"

Din and I both nodded simultaneously.

"R-5!" She shouted loudly, and I had to consciously tell myself not to flinch. "Bring the map of Tatooine!"

An R-5 series droid then beeped to life to our right, and all three of us watched expectantly as the droid slowly scooted its way towards us. After a few moments, Peli exhaled an exasperated breath as she sassed, "No, take your time!" Then she turned back to us with a look of disappointed disbelief. "Seriously, you just can't get good help anymore. I don't even know who to complain to."

I hummed in response, letting her know that we felt her pain. Then she rolled her eyes as she looked back at the droid, saying loudly, "Let's go! We're still waiting!"

She scoffed as the droid finally reached us. "Finally," She breathed sharply as the droid emitted a blue holomap of the planet. "Okay, so this is a map of Tatooine before the war." She manipulated the map with a flick of her wrist as she continued to explain, "You got Mos Eisley, Mos Espa, and somewhere in this region is Mos Pelgo."

She motioned to a clear portion of the map on nearly the other side of the planet.

Din shook his head again. "There's nothing there," He stated, pointing out the obvious.

I wanted to elbow him for his blatant obviousness, but Peli only shrugged. "Well, it's there," She said flatly. "Or at least it used to be. Not much to speak of now. It's an old mining settlement." Then she pointed over our shoulders to the Crest. "They're gonna see that big hunk o' metal long before you land."

Oh, great. Then how were we—

"You still have that speederbike?" Din asked, sounding not too nooooo happy to have to resort to that piece of junk to cross the sand. My heart clenched, remembering just how shitty my last ride on that dammed thing was.