Clan of Three

Part Twenty-Four

~~~~~

Rael was glad she had traded a villager an extra holster she had in her pack for a pair of goggles. With the speed Din was going, she would have had to ride the whole way with her eyes closed to keep the sand out. Although the piercing sand didn't seem to affect the child, who had been cooing happily the entire ride.

The young woman had loosened her grip on the Mandalorian and was looking around the desert planet, when she felt a sharp prick through the Force. Rael snapped her head towards the small rocky canyon they were about to enter. "We need to go around! Din!", she shouted over the rumbling speeder and wind. But the man didn't hear her in time.

As soon as they passed the first set of boulders, a rope popped out of the sand and the speeder ran right into it. The collision sent Din flying into the air, followed by Rael and the kid. The Mandalorian was able to activate his jetpack to help him land on his feet, while Rael threw out her hand to soften the child's impact. The young Jedi hit the ground hard, getting the air knocked from her.

There was a loud explosion as the speeder burst into flames and their few belongings landed around them in the sand. Rael's instincts took over as she forced herself to stand and catch sight of the small green child. She could hear blaster fire behind her and the familiar sound of bolts bouncing off beskar. But she knew Din could handle him self and ran to the child.

"Get the the girl and the child!", someone shouted as Rael scooped the kid into her arms. She got distracted looking the little one over for injuries that she didn't notice the person who had snuck up behind her. In a second, her attacker had her held against their chest with a knife digging into her neck. Din took the last two aliens who had him pinned against the canyon wall in time to see it happen.

"Wait! Don't hurt them.", he said, raising his hands and taking a step forward. "You put one mark on either of them and there's no place you will be able to hide from me. We can strike a margin. There's a lot of value in this wreckage. Take your pick. But leave them." Din said firmly. The rodian shoved Rael to kneel in the sand, still holding the child, while he shouted something at the Mandalorian and waved his hand at him.

"Ok. Here. It's yours. Take it.", Din said as he slowly removed his jetpack and placed it on the ground in front of Rael and the kid. The rodian eyed Mando carefully and kept his knife pointed at him menacingly. He said something in his native tongue before forcing Rael to fully sit in the sand, before snatching the jetpack and hurrying off.

The kid hopped out of Rael's lap and scurried to Din with his hands reaching for him. "Are you both ok?", he asked as he picked the child up and looked towards Rael. "Fine. Just feel stupid. I should've sensed him.", The young Jedi grumbled as she brushed the sand from her pants. "It happens to the best of us, Rae.", he reassured her as he looked at the retreating rodian.

"You're not really letting him leave with that, are you?", she asked, tying her hair up with a strip of leather. The Mandalorian huffed out a laugh and said, "Of course not." He pressed a button on his vambrace and they watched as the jetpack ignited, taking their attacker shooting into the sky. Rael brought her googles back over her eyes to help shield them from the sun as she watched Mando make the jetpack do loops in the sky.

It didn't take more than ten seconds before the rodian lost his grip and plummeted back to the sand. Rael grimaced at the thud of his body hitting the ground. Din only shrugged and piloted the jet pack back to him. "I feel like there was a better way to do that...", Rael sighed as he reattached the jet pack. "Maybe. But that was the fastest. And the most entertaining." He replied as he began to gather their things. The girl arched her brows at this and hummed, "Sometimes I forget you were a lethal bounty hunter."