The Mandalorian Jedi

Part Two: Chapter Four

I am so sorry it has taken me so long to upload this next part. I was on holiday for a while and couldn't find the proper time to write and with school starting back up again it's been pretty stressful so sorry about that. As usual the release of new Star Wars content motivated me to get a move on so here we go and hopefully I can carry on updating pretty regularly for a while.

Tripp led me through the twisting backstreets to a little shop filled to the brim with droid parts. There was a droid standing at the back of the shop behind a small counter, methodically sorting through parts. Tripp waved at it,
"Hey b00. How are you?"
"You're back."
"No need to sound so upset about it b00, this is the General." I raised a hand in greeting at the droid. She was some kind of loader droid, modified to have an extra two pairs of arms protruding out of her back that were stacking the droid parts she was sorting through onto shelves behind her. Her face was somehow grumpier too, or maybe it was just the voice that had been programmed into her at some point. She was almost entirely black, bits of her natural yellow visible where the paint had rubbed off over time. Her torso also seemed to house any number of compartments full of what, I didn't know. She eyed me up and down then said,
"Doesn't look like much of a General to me."
"Just let us through, please." b00 sighed and one of her many fingers pressed a button under the table. She turned back to her work, giving me a judgey look in the process as part of the wall opposite Tripp and I slid backwards and to the side, its full shelves rattling as they moved.

I followed Tripp through the dozens of tables, piled high with all sorts of stuff. Once we had stepped through the door it whirred closed and we were left in a tunnel, only a few flickering lights dotted throughout the walls guiding our way.
"What's her deal?" Tripp started walking as he answered,
"Programming flaw. We found her in a scrap yard a couple of years back, fixed her up and got her to work for us. Her personality chip was scratched, we never bothered to replace it. Figured it'd be nice to have a droid with a little personality, you know?"
"Who's we?"
Tripp stopped and turned to face a small opening in the tunnel, barely visible in amongst the jutting rocks. He nodded towards it,
"Seriously?"
"Since when were you claustrophobic?"
"I'm not, I just prefer it when my lungs aren't being crushed into a meaty pulp."
"At least you're still overly dramatic. It's the only entrance."
"Seriously? One escape route? I thought you were cleverer than that."
"Shut up and get a move on. ... General, sir."

I studied the gap for a moment longer, grabbed Naakla out of Tripp's arms for some emotional support and started working my way through the 'doorway' if it could even be called that.

I wasn't scared. Not really. There was just something about being here, talking to an old friend, not hiding... it felt normal. And normal for me was Anakin Skywalker's best friend, and that man had been dramatic from his toes right up to that thick skull of his. And maybe, maybe I was a tiny bit scared of what would greet me on the other side of that crack in the wall.

It didn't take long for the artificial light on the other side to become visible. I would have paused for a moment to prepare myself if Tripp hadn't been breathing down my neck about an inch behind me, but unfortunately for me he was so I carried on until I found myself out of the tunnel and in an enormous cavern. The walls were rough and jagged, as if the room had been dug out as quickly as possible and no one had bothered to fix it up in the time since. There were holes dotted around that I assumed were make shift bedrooms and store rooms and resting in the middle was a ship,

"It's a YT-2400 light freighter. You can fit fifty people in that thing if you squeeze real tight." I startled slightly as Tripp came to stand at my shoulder.
"Why the hell do you need to fit fifty people in one ship?" His only response was to smile and nod towards the other end of the room, largely hidden by the looming shadow of the freighter. I gripped Naakla tighter and walked a few steps forwards to see what was happening.

I don't know what I was expecting but the gathering of people stood in a group made me freeze in my tentative steps.