The Mandalorian and the Jedi: Book One of the Mandalorian Series

Chapter 2: The Child

Dedicated to B1ana1sC00l

     Insects buzz as Din Djarin and Kyra Kryze-Kenobi make their way through one of the many rocky canyons found on Arvala-7, the Child floating between them in his pram. A group of lizards scurry away when Din and Kyra pass by, only to reappear and follow the trio as they eye the Child curiously. The Child, half-concealed by his robes, sits up in his pram when he notices the yellow reptiles staring at him. When something rustles nearby, Din stops and listens, though the sound is quickly lost in the whistling wind. Noticing that the Mandalorian has stopped, Kyra turns, her hands resting on her holstered pistols when shadows move overhead.

     Locking eyes with Kyra, Din draws his own blaster, but the weapon is knocked out of his hands when a Trandoshan jumps off the ledge and lands next to him. The Trandoshan's tracking fob blinks rapidly as Din pushes the Child's pram away from the fight, blocking the mercenary's vibro-ax with his vambraces as the Trandoshan relentlessly swings at him. When the Trandoshan tries to punch Din in the face, Mando wrenches the vibro-ax from his hand and sweeps the reptilian off his feet. Kyra draws a blaster as she approaches the Trandoshan, intending to disarm him, but is attacked from behind by a second reptile.

     Din tosses the vibro-ax to Kyra, who uses the weapon to block the second Trandoshan's strikes, the opponents dodging each other's blows when they are unable to land a hit. Spotting the second tracking fob on the Trandoshan's belt, Kyra pushes the reptilian away from her before turning to Din.

     "Give me your rifle and get the child back to your ship," she says.

     When Din hesitates, Kyra yanks the rifle off his shoulder and pushes him away from the fight. Before Din can argue, a third Trandoshan seems to appear out of thin air and hits Mando in the face with his vibro-ax. As Din stumbles backward, the two Trandoshans charge towards him, but Kyra positions herself between the mercenaries and uses the first reptilian's own weapon to hold them off.

     "Go!" she yells, and when Mando sees the fire in her eyes, he finally nods and disappears farther into the canyon with the Child in tow.

     When the vibro-ax is ripped from her hands, Kyra flips the rifle over her shoulder and uses it to trade blows with the Trandoshans. When the third Trandoshan's vibro-ax sinks into the back of Kyra's right shoulder, she screams and uses the Mandalorian's multi-purpose rifle to electrocute him, knocking the mercenary off his feet. As she fights the second Trandoshan, forced to hold the rifle in a one-handed grip, the first reptilian finally struggles to his feet and runs after Din and the Child. Sweeping the second Trandoshan's feet out from under him, Kyra raises the rifle and fires, disintegrating the first mercenary.

     Breathing hard, Kyra turns to face the two remaining Trandoshans, relieved when she finds them lying where they fell. Her relief quickly dies when her pounding heart quiets and she hears the tracking fob, which continues to beep persistently, despite the Child having been moved from the area. As she slowly moves toward the device, it blinks faster, and Kyra belatedly realizes that the Trandoshans were there for her. She shoulders the rifle and draws one of her twin WESTAR-35 pistols – the blasters passed down through her family for generations before coming into her possession – and destroys the tracking fob.

     Holstering her pistol, Kyra gingerly slips out of her jacket and injects a vial of bacta into her shoulder, hissing as the needle disappears beneath her skin. Making her way up and out of the canyon, Kyra borrows the Trandoshans' landspeeder and races back to her own moisture farm, reaching her residence as the sky darkens overhead. Rushing inside, Kyra quickly grabs a satchel, filling it with several vials of bacta and multiple rounds of ammunition before moving into her bedroom. From her closet, she grabs the leather jacket given to her by General Hera Syndulla and her son, Jacen. Aside from the rank insignia on her breast pocket, the jacket features the symbol of Clan Kryze on her left shoulder.