The Remnants of Tomorrow: A Mandalorian Story

The Search Begins

Dins POV

"Stop touching things."

I sighed as the Kid payed no attention to my scolding. The last thing that I needed was for him to cause my ship to blow up. I had set the course to Orania. After leaving Navarro in such a state of disarray, I hoped that I had hit Greef hard enough to knock him out until I had arrived. I betrayed the guild, but didn't regret it because the child was with me, and that was the most important thing.

I saw the planet in my sights, it was a lovely combination of snow and green fertile land.

"Razor crest, identify yourself." The control personnel stated in the com link.

"This is the razor crest, I am the Mandalorian, hired to retrieve Princess Varina."

There was silence. I held my breath. Finally they spoke.

" You are cleared for landing, station 5"

"Copy that."

I had finished docking as I spoke instructions to the kid.

"Stay here alright, it may not be safe."

I started to say, but as I looked, the child was asleep. At least that would give me some time to get the information I needed to find the princess.

I disembarked the crest and I was met with a man, in a high ranking looking suit. he was an older gentleman with grey hair and blue eyes. His stoic look meant that he was the one in charge. I could feel as though he was upset. Well I could understand, the princess is gone, And I did not believe that she went on a vacation as Greef had mentioned.

"My name is General Marcus Ran, I will be giving you the details of the princesses disappearance. I will only give you what I know and its not much."

I looked at him, there was something bigger at play here.

" Was she kidnapped?" I asked

The general glared at me.

"Follow me to my office, and you need to promise me that what is said in that room stays in that room. Understand?"

I nodded as I followed him to his office overseeing the docking bay. He closed the door behind him and pushed a button on his desk I'm assuming to shut off all devices in the room. He stood behind his desk and made his way to sit down.

"take a seat" he told me, and I did. He looked anxious, the anger fading away.

" When the king told me that he had hired a Mandalorian to find Varina I thought he was out of his mind. Especially after I had received a message from Greef Karga saying that you were no good, apparently you had stolen an invaluable asset from an important client."

I tensed. I knew it was a bad idea to come here but he kept talking.

"But then, when he mentioned the empire I figured you had a reason for doing what you did. saving a child from the clutches of the empire is no small feat. It's very commendable."

I relaxed

" I did what I had to do." I said simply, the general nodded.

"Which is why you have gained my trust. What I am about to tell you needs to stay in this room."

The general looked at me as if he wanted a confirmation that I understood what he meant.

"You have my word." The general came forward in his chair.

"Varina is in grave danger. As we speak now, she is somewhere in the galaxy unknowing that the empire will be looking for her in a matter of days."

"Why are they looking for her?"

"Her Brother Zander was working with the remnant of the empire in order to overthrow the new republic. However he failed, and was killed in the battle of the Oranian core. After this, Varina would have been crowned the new queen..."

I kept listening.

" Varina, didn't want the crown. But her father insisted. So instead of staying and being crowned."

"She left the planet so she didn't have to rule." I finished his sentence for him.

"With my help I'm afraid. Unfortunately the king had kept the ordeal about his son a secret, and told me about the Imp threat after she had left."

"Why did you help her escape?" I asked.

The general sighed.

" I agreed with Varina that she wasn't ready to take the throne, and the way she looked at me, pleading for my help, I wanted to help her. She had always been my favorite of the two royal children, and I didn't want to see her get pummeled with The New Republic being as fractured as it is now. Politics is a brutal business . It's not for the light hearted, and Varina is the purest thing to exist, she would have been Bantha meat. "

Slowly I started to understand the situation. Funny, someone who didn't want to rule an entire system. You don't see that everyday. A part of me wanted to think the girl was stupid and selfish. But another part of me thought that she was brave. It takes a special person to turn down power like that so quickly.

"Do you know where she is?"

"Unfortunately not, the only thing I can give you is the sector her ship was last seen in, that was the only data that wasn't erased."

The General handed me a coordinates beacon, I put it in a side case on my belt.

"Would you know where she would want to go? Any clues you could give me?"

"I could take you to her quarters, see if she left something there that could be of use."

I nodded, usually people have an idea of their perfect paradise, she would be no different.

As I entered her room I looked around for clues. The room was what you would expect for royalty. Grand, lavish, and filled with expensive linens. What caught my eye though were the paintings on the walls.

"Who made the portraits?" I asked the general.

" Varina did, she is a very gifted artist, she has been drawing since she could pick up a pencil."

I stared in awe, they were beautiful. If you stared long enough you could almost be fooled they were real. If she is an artist she must have wanted to go to a place that had a lot of things she could paint. I continued looking around, the general was continuing to speak about the paintings but I was looking through Varina's bookshelf. She had many classic books until I found one hidden in the far right corner. It was small but it looked like a journal. Maybe a personal diary. That may give me clues as to where she would want to hide. The general was distracted so I put the journal in my pocket. He may not have let me take such a thing, but it was information.

" I don't see anything of use here so I will be on my way, but you have my word that I will find her, and bring her back safely. "

The General nodded.

"You will protect her?"

"With my life."