The Mandalorian Sagas - Book III: Fall

Chapter VII

As Blake and Yang set out to find a ship with a working Hyperdrive generator, they walked across the muddied plains of Jabiim. It was a silent trek as thunder was heard in the distance. Yang sighed as she tried to break the ice.

Yang: How are you feeling, Mando?

Blake: I'll live.

Yang: I knew you Mandos were all a bunch of hardasses, but this seriously takes the cake. And all just for a bounty.

Blake was not amused by Yang's comments. Despite this, she simply remained silent as the two continued navigating through the muddied plains of Jabiim. As they navigated through the plains, a reprogrammed Republic Probe Droid spots them and flies away. As Blake and Yang reached the ruins of a Republic fortification, a storm was closing in on them.

Yang: Sounds like that storm's coming back around. This place should act as good shelter.

Blake: We don't have time for this.

Yang: We wouldn't last one minute in that storm. We'd be swept up and buried alive in the mud. And between you and me, I'd rather not go out like that.

At this point, Blake relents as she and Yang take refuged in one of the abandoned Galactic Republic buildings. As they set up camp, Yang looked outside the window while Blake kept her eye on Yang.

Yang: Liking the view?

Blake: I'm making sure you don't escape.

Yang: Sure you are. Always mind on the job. Don't you Mandos have any fun?

Blake said nothing as she glared at Yang. Yang simply sighs. At this point, she becomes curious as to what Junior told Blake about her.

Yang: Did Junior ever tell you about the cargo I supposedly stole?

Blake: No. Didn't ask.

Yang: I thought not. I get the feeling that if you knew the cargo Junior had me transport, you would've had second thoughts about taking this job.

Blake said nothing as she became curious as to what cargo Yang was transporting before stealing it from Junior.

Yang: It started off as a simple smuggling job. Junior hired me to smuggle some cargo back to him on Hutta. Seemed easy enough and the pay was high. Now he didn't tell me what was in those crates. At first, it was smooth sailing. About....halfway through the trip, curiosity got the better of me and I decided to take a peak as to what was in those crates.

Yang paused as she took a deep breath.

Yang: Slaves. Junior had me smuggling slaves. Men. Women. Children. All of them with shock collars on their necks. Some of them were in bad shape. Really bad shape. I always knew Junior was a sleemo, but this...this was too much.

Blake: What did you do next?

Yang: I landed on the nearest system, disabled all the shock collars on the slaves and let them go. Gave those people a chance. It didn't take too long for Junior to figure out what had happened and he got pissed. That's why he put the bounty on my head. Cause I "stole" his "merchandise".

Blake: Why put yourself in that position? You knew Junior was going to retaliate.

Yang: People always called me "Sun Dragon". Said that I burn brighter than everyone else. I always liked to live dangerously. Makes things fun. I'm a thrill-seeker. I want to travel around the world and get wrapped up in as many crazy adventures as I can. And if I help people along the way, then that's even better. It's a win-win, y'know? But this....you hear all kinds of bad things all across the Galaxy, but you never imagine that you'd ever come face to face one of those bad things. It's....it's the kind of thing that puts things into perspective.

As Yang said this, Blake remained silent.

Yang: At least you Mandos have something that drives you. I've just always, gone with the flow, you know? And that's fine, I mean, that's who I am. But how long can I really do that for? I wanted a life where I don't know what tomorrow will bring. Kind of ironic how that ended up.

At this point, Blake didn't know how to react to this. At first, she thought this was some kind of attempt by Yang to smooth talk her way out of trouble. But Blake had been reading her body language throughout that conversation and she showed no signs of lying. With that, Blake now found herself conflicted. If Yang was telling the truth, then delivering Yang to Junior would be a dishonorable act in her eyes.

Blake: How do I know you're not lying?

Yang: I guess you don't, Mando. I could be telling the truth or I could be lying. I've got everything to gain by lying to you. I guess the choice is up to you. But I want you to think real hard about this. If you were in my position and you saw what I saw, what would you do?

Blake was left speechless as Yang turned in for the night. As rain began pouring on the abandoned Republic fortification, the Mandalorian Bounty Hunter was left pondering on what to do about the job she was hired to do and whether or not to follow through on delivering Yang to Junior. Meanwhile outside the fort, a group of Jabiimi Nationalists began converging on the fortifications. In that moment, a battle was about to break out in the midst of a mighty storm.