Mandalorian Lost

Chapter 15

"You know, I get that the beskar armor comes in handy, but I seem to be the one always getting hit with it," I grumble, rubbing the back of my head as I push myself off Mando's stomach. He groans and sits up behind me, rolling his wounded shoulder slowly as he moves. I stand quickly, replacing my staff in its sheathe before marching over to the sealed cell door separating us from the rest of the ship. I wrap my fingers around the bars on the windows, squeezing my eyes shut as I try to unravel everything that had happened in the last few minutes. "It doesn't make sense..." I mumble to myself.

"What's got you so spooked?" Mando says, getting to his feet a little more cautiously. I don't bother turning around. "Is it this Fourth Sister?" Even the mention of her name sends a shiver down my spine. "Is she your sister?"

In a different situation, I might've laughed at his attempt to understand the ways of the Inquisitors and the Sith. But I'm still trying to process everything, so I wrap my arms around myself and shake my head, still staring out at the empty hallway just out of our reach.

"She was an Inquisitor called the Fourth Sister. Her actual name is Lira Graf. When the old Republic and the Jedi fell, she turned to the Dark Side and followed the Emperor. She taught me most of the things I know."

"And now she's got a bounty out for you?" I almost pity Mando as he tries desperately to sort my past into a language he better understands. He has no clue what the Dark Side is, or how powerful it can be. He's only seen me dance on the edge of it, but he's never seen its true power.

"She's supposed to be dead," I hiss through gritted teeth, though my anger isn't directed at him. "Some Rebel Alliance Commander killed her in the Outer Rim years ago. They even took her armor and tried to impersonate her to get into Darth Vader's fortress."

Mando falls silent and I finally turn around, not even bothering to hide the fear in my eyes. "I don't get it," he admits, shrugging his good shoulder. "Why would the woman who trained you want you dead?"

I let out a mirthless laugh, rolling my eyes. "You don't know much about the Empire, do you?"

"I know enough," he snaps, catching me by surprise with the sudden change.

I nod, deciding not to argue with him on it. "Look, the bottom line is if Lira is alive, then I've got some major problems. If she's sending out some message demanding my head, I need to stop it. I can't do that from in here."

"They'll plan on stealing the Crest," Mando muses, coming up beside me to examine the door. His eyes trace the entire frame of it, but he comes up with no ideas.

"What about the kid?" I dare to ask, not sure if I actually want to hear him say what we're both thinking. He stares at me for an agonizing moment before squaring his shoulders.

"They're not gonna have the chance to harm him."

A sad smile tugs on my lips at his determination and I nod in agreement. No harm would come to Grogu if we had anything to say about it. I look back at the empty hallway, straining for any sign of someone approaching. "Got any ideas on how to get out of here?"

"We need to find a way to access the lock on the outside," he replies, peering at the control panel outside the door. I huff out a sigh and set my hands on my hips.

"Should be easy, considering we're in such a good position to reach it," I agree sarcastically. He doesn't get the chance to respond as one of the guard droids rounds the corner, his blaster waiting in his arms. Mando presses a finger to his lips and crouches, his arm poised between two of the bars on the door. I frown until he shoots out the cable from his wrist, wrapping the droid's neck and tugging it forward.