Metanoia | The Mandalorian ON HOLD

Chapter 11

It wasn't long before they got it some trouble. Mando was flying peacefully, the child babbling and Juno humming to herself, looking at the stars, when suddenly, they were being followed by a bounty hunter. Rather quickly, their peaceful flight turned into a fast chase, the Mandalorian trying to escape the hunter that was firing at them.

"Hand over the children, Mando." Said the hunter through the comms. The electricity in the Razor Crest crackling as they were hit. "I might  let you live."

They were hit again, the ship shaking as the child whimpered, Juno muttering a warning, "Mando?"

Alarms started beeping and Mando started making sharp turns, the ship spinning around. "Hold on." He said. "Come on."

"I can bring you in warm or I can bring you in cold." Said the hunter as Mando made the ship stop abruptly, the hunter flying over and in front of them.

"That's my line." Said Mando, shooting and destroying the hunter's ship.

"That was awesome!" Cheered Juno, giggling as she looked at Mando. He chuckled softly, shaking his head. The ship was starting to beep even more as Mando tried switching some buttons but nothing seemed to help.

"Loosing fuel." He said when the engine powered down and the controls died out. The child started giggling and Mando turned to him, making him stop. He then stood up, switching some controls and started messing with the board. The power went back on and they moved again, nearing a planet.

"This is Mos Eisley Tower. We are tracking you. Head for bay three-five, over." Said a man through a radio.

"Copy that. Locked in for three-five." Said Mando, flying the ship down to the planet. By the time he landed, the child was sleeping, Juno covering him in blanket. She, too, felt sleepy, her eyes closing before she quickly opened them. Mando took the child, putting him in his sleeping quarters and Juno followed him. "You should get some sleep too." He told her.

"I'm not tired. I'm coming with you." She said, rubbing her eyes.

"You're barely standing on your feet. Go lay down and sleep." She barely made it to his bed, laying next to the child, falling asleep immediately. Mando threw a blanket over her and closed the door. When he was walking down the ramp he quickly shot at some droids that were nearing his ship.

"Hey!" Yelled a woman, coming to stand in front of Mando. "You damage one of my droids, you'll pay for it."

"Just keep them away from my ship." He told her.

"Yeah? You think that's a good idea, do ya? Let's look at your ship." She said, walking over to it, observing it and banging on it. "Oof! Look at that. Ugh, you got a lot of carbon scorin' building up top. If I didn't know better, I'd think you were in a shootout." She said, turning to him, then back to the ship. "Special tool for that one. I am gonna have to rotate that. You got a fuel leak. Look at that, this is a mess. How did you even land? That's gonna set you back." She walked to him.

"I've got 500 Imperial Credits." He told her, holding out the money.

"That's all you got?" She asked unimpressed. "Well, what do you guys think?" She turned to the droids who started chattering and shaking their heads. "That should at least cover the hangar."

"I'll get you your money." Promised the Mandalorian.

"Hmm. I've heard that before."

"Just remember..."

"Yeah, no droids. I heard ya. You don't have to say it twice." She interrupted him as he turned around and walked away.

It has been a while since Mando left when Juno and the child woke up, opening the door and slowly started walking out of the ship. That's when they heard a woman shouting to them.  "I'd stay in that ship if I were you." They walked out, one next to the other, noticing a woman looking at them confused and holding a rifle.

Juno and the child stopped at the end of the ramp as the woman put the rifle away and walked closer to them. "Now, now." She said, carefully picking up the child and Juno tried to protest but the woman turned to her, holding out her other hand and speaking calmly. "Let Peli take a good look at you. All right, there you go." She sighed. Juno took her hand, walking from the ramp, looking at her. "Did that bounty hunter leave you all alone in that big nasty ship?"

"Yeah." Said Juno nodding her head and the child cooed. The droids started making some noises, as if talking to the woman.

"How do I know what it is? Give me a second. All right.  Now, would you like some food? And what's your names?" She asked, looking at the girl.

"I'm Juno. I don't know what his name is, I just call him Buddy, and I would love some food." She said.

"Okay. Fetch us something to eat. Quick!" She told the droids that started chattering. "I don't know... Something with bones in it."  The droids ran away, looking for something while the child cooed, the woman shushing him. "I'm Peli by the way." She told Juno. "Now, here's the plan. I am going to look after you until the Mandalorian gets back, and then, I'm gonna charge him extra for watching you two. You see how that works? Yeah, bright eyes? We're a team." She hummed, proud at herself with this plan.

"He's not going to like that." Said Juno. Then she smiled with mischief in her eyes. "Let's do it."

"So, we're teaming up against your dad?" Peli asked, just to be sure the girl wouldn't spoil it for her.

"He's not my dad." She said. "And I really like annoying him. That's what he gets for leaving us alone again."

"I like you already." They smiled at each other and the child giggled.