𝑺𝑨𝑵𝑪𝑻𝑼𝑴 𝑯𝑬𝑨𝑹𝑻 ⤠ 𝔻𝕚𝕟 𝔻𝕛𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕟

⤠ Chapter XXVIII

⊱T H E  B E L I E V E R ⊰

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"STAY CLOSE TO ME," said Din just as the two exited the ship. He turned back to her, adding an afterthought to the list. "And try not to draw attention to yourself, Mayfeld can be-"

Arani took his hand, squeezing it in reassurance. "Din, I've got it."

Boba and Fennec had gone before them so as not to alarm Mayfeld the moment he was brought to them. Yet, the armour Boba wore still made the criminal scared. The momentary shock on his face made Ari smirk, she wasn't sure why but the thought that Din could strike such fear into others was amusing. Then again, they never got to know him in the way she did. 

"You know," Mayfeld said, "for a second, I thought you were this other guy."

It was the perfect moment. Nodding to her, Din revealed himself, always one for the dramatics. He walked straight to him, never pausing once. "Mayfeld."

The ginger wouldn't meet him in the eye. "Hey, Mando. Long time." He glanced behind his old friend at the four, all had their weapons on display. "What, you came here to kill me?"

Cara shut him up quickly. "All you need to know is I bent a lot of rules to bring you along."

"Why am I so lucky?"

"Because you're Imperial."

"Hey, that was a long time ago, all right?"

"You still know your Imperial clearances and protocols, don't you?" Din snapped. 

Mayfeld did not answer, he just stared at the group, his questions going unanswered. 

Cara was the first to head back into the ship. With a hand on Ari's shoulder, the Marshal led her up the ramp. "You look worried."

"I'm always worried when Mando is involved. He knows no mercy."

"Indeed, he does not. Yet, he understands compassion."

"I pray this works."

Cara glanced back at the young woman. "I do, too."

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ARI SAT STIFF IN HER SEAT, the floor was very interesting at the moment. Across from her, Mayfeld was staring. She glanced up, only to look at Din who had a hand on her knee. The way he looked at her made her shiver. Despite having changed out of his prison uniform, there was still an edge about him that bothered her. 

The man turned to his old friend, a gleam in his eyes. "Care to introduce me to your new . . . friend?"

Din's grip tightened on her leg. The way Migs had addressed Ari had ticked him off. The bounty hunter cursed himself, they needed Mayfeld but he should have known that Arani would be uncomfortable. He chose to ignore him and got straight to the point. "We need coordinates for Moff Gideon's cruiser."

"Moff Gideon?" he scoffed. "Yeah, forget it. Just me back to the scrapyard. I'm not doin' that."

"They have their kid," Cara explained.

A flash of worry passed over him, glancing between the two, and then with caring eyes that shocked Ari, he looked at her. "The little green guy?"

"Yeah, 'The little green guy'."

"So . . . I help you guys get him back, you guys let me go?"

"That's not how this works."

He shrugged. "Well, then what's in it for me?"

"You get a better view."

Migs sighed, wrestling with the fact that he won't be free in the end. "All right," he relented, the better part of himself having taken charge. "But here's the thing. I can't get those coordinates unless I have access to an internal Imperial terminal. I believe there's one on Morak."

"Morak? There's nothing on Morak," Din stated. 

"It's a secret Imperial mining hub, okay? If you can get me in there, I can get you the coordinates."

Turning to the controls beside him, Din opened the comlink to the cockpit. "Fett, punch in the coordinates to Morak."

"Copy that." With a few switch flips and a button press, the ship shot off into the void. 

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EVERYTHING WAS PEACEFUL as the stars glimmered and disappeared, only for a thousand others to take their place. Ari loved the stars, when she couldn't sleep, she'd stare at them from her window back on Naboo; and back on the Crest, she did the same thing. Here on Boba's ship, you had a better view as the walls were all made of transparisteel. 

The young woman sat sideways on her chair with one leg up resting on the seat with her. It was an odd but comfortable position. She was stuck in the storm of her thoughts, still not having processed everything. 

A figure in an assortment of dark greys and blacks stood next to her, looking out at the vast emptiness too. "It's incredible, isn't it, how big our universe is? Makes you realize just how insignificant you are."

"In all my years, I've never met anyone who is insignificant." Ari looked at Mayfeld. "The smallest choice often has the most impact. Everyone has a role to play, whether or not you wish to do something is your choice."

"Yeah, well, I did something and here I am," he said, sarcastically.

"Yes, you did. You cannot erase the bad you did but you can fix it. That is what you are doing right now by helping us, and I thank you for it."

Mayfeld looked a bit taken back. He blinked a few times before answering. "Of course. Thank you for giving me a second chance."

"Tell that to Mando."

"There isn't a need." From behind the two, Mando seemed to come out of the shadows.

Mayfeld jumped. "Would you stop doing that? After years of knowing him, you'd think I'd get used to it."

Arani gave him a slight smirk. "Hum, one would think."

Din stood next to her, an arm around her shoulders. "Is he bothering you?"

"Quite the opposite actually."

If Ari could have seen Din's face when she said that: she'd have teased him for a long time. To hear that she was getting along with Mayfeld a half hour after meeting him, where he had scared her, was more than confusing to him. 

Fett passed them, stopping at the controls where it showed a hologram of the planet. "I did an initial scan of the planet. This is what you're talkin' about, right?"

"Yeah, that's the refinery right there."

"Wonder what they're refining in there," said Fennec.

"Looks like rhydonium. Highly volatile and explosive," Boba explained. 

"Yeah, kinda like this one, huh." Mayfeld gestured to Cara, chuckling. Fett just looked at him. everyone else was silent, and he dropped the smile.

"They have anti-aircraft cannons protecting it," Fett continued.

"And a platoon of security forces."

Din stepped closer to the hologram. "So we go in quiet. Let's go get a closer look."

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