A Life Without Meaning

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕤𝕙𝕒𝕝 (𝕀𝕀)

They shot down into the atmosphere of the sand-covered planet. Jettisoning through caverns, Din steered the Crest towards the Mos Eisley spaceport, until they were hovering over a very familiar hangar bay.

Docking with a little bit of a tremble, the ship finally came to a rest on the sand.

Din, with the child resting snuggly in a satchel that he threw over his shoulder, descended down the now open ramp, Ellia quickly following suit.

The mechanic from their first infamous visit to the sandy planet, Peli Motto, walked out from behind a podracer engine that she had been previously working on in order to greet them. Her three pit droids sprung to life, chattering and gathering their materials.

"Hey, hey, hey! Sorry gang. Come on!" Peli shouted, "You know he doesn't like droids!"

"May as well let them have at it." Din said nonchalantly, "The Crest needs a good once-over." he said, repeating the words that Ellia had spoken to him a few parsecs ago when she informed him that there were just some things she couldn't fix with the kind of supplies they had on board.

"Oh! So he likes droids now!" the short mechanic said sarcastically, "Well, you heard him. Give it a once-over!" she ordered her small, metal friends.

The pit droids darted past them, and up onto the ship. Ellia watched them go as Peli walked up to the group.

"I guess a lot has changed since you were last on Mos-" the women's words were suddenly cut off with a gasp of surprise as Din moved the satchel to his front, revealing the smiling child sitting there. "Oh! Thank the Force!" she exclaimed, reaching for him and gently lifting him out of the bag.

"This little thing has had me worried sick! Come here, you little womp rat!" she said loudly, cradling him carefully in her arms. It squealed back up at her happily. "Looks like it remembers me! How much do you want for it? Just kidding. But not really."

At that, Ellia let out a quiet laugh of her own.

"You know if this thing ever divides or buds, I will gladly pay for the offspring-" she was suddenly interrupted by a loud clang coming from underneath the Razorcrest. The group of them turned to see that one of the droids had accidentally let one of the air tubes loose, and was having quite a bit of trouble controlling it.

"Hey!" Peli explained, "Oh, geez. Watch what you're doing up there! He barely trusts your kind! What you want to give all droids a bad name? Thank you!"

The poor droid ended up getting the end of the tube stuck to its radar eye. Peli simply shook her head and turned away.

"We're here on business." Din finally said, turning back towards the mechanic, "I need your help."

"Oh, then business you shall have." Peli answered, "Care for me to watch this wrinkled critter while you seek out adventure?"

"I've been quested to bring this one back to its kind." Din explained, nodding to the child.

"Oh, wow. I can't help you there." Peli admitted, "I've never seen any like it. And trust me, I've seen all shapes and sizes in this town."

Ellia briefly got distracted by a Gonk droid that was waddling behind the mechanic as Peli and Din continued their conversation.

"A Mandalorian armorer has sent me on my path. If I can locate another of my kind, I can chart a path through the networks of coverts."

Peli shrugged her shoulders,

"You've been the only Mando here for years from what I can tell."

"Where is Mos Pelgo?" Din asked, recalling the information he had gathered from their previous stop. "I'm told there's one there."