Mandalorian Revived

Chapter 6

I feel numb when we leave hyperspace and the planet finally comes into view.

The anticipation of returning to this place has been building in me for days now, and I think it's all culminated in this feeling of...nothingness. I blink once. Twice. I can't even see an inch of the planet's surface from up here. Only swirling storm clouds and flashes of lightning are visible. Their reign of terror over the planet is persistent.

Din, as always, is unbearably silent as we approach. He's staring at the planet in awe, and I'm careful to keep my face as neutral as possible to give him his time. He's never been here before and I know what this planet must mean to him.

Grogu lets out a shaky whimper and I look over at him, immediately slowing our approach. Din pulls the child a little closer to himself. "It looks scary, I know," he says, surprisingly comfortingly. "But it was once green and beautiful, back when the songs were written."

Not even Death Watch knew this planet when it was green and beautiful. I wish I could have seen it that way. Grogu looks over at me, his wide eyes pleading, and Din follows his gaze.

I keep my eyes on Grogu and nod. I know he can feel my emotions and sense that they're as stormy as the planet before us. "It's Mandalore," I whisper, jerking my head toward the planet. He lets out a coo in understanding and I release a heavy sigh. "This was once my home. It didn't look like this then. It wasn't green, or beautiful, but it wasn't like this."

I quickly look away as my eyes start to burn and blink a few more times.

"Every Mandalorian can trace their roots back to this planet," Din says, mercifully taking over for me. "And the beskar mines deep within. And you know what?" He leans down to look at Grogu and the child looks up at him. "I've never been here either." He points at the smaller moon lingering above us. I know it well. "I grew up there. On that moon."

"Concordia," I finish. He looks over at me and I offer him a halfhearted shrug. "I was there for a time. We probably moved on before you were taken in."

Grogu lets out a few babbles as he starts to calm down. Din points at the navicomputer. "And that's Kalevala where we visited Bo Katan. It's in the same system. A Mandalorian has to understand maps and know their way around. That way, you'll never be lost."

Grogu coos up at him and my heart warms at the sight of them. The gentleness of Din's voice, a special tone he only uses for the child, and the look of pure admiration and trust from Grogu all seem to calm my nerves a little. It's enough at least to help me push into the planet's atmosphere and face the storms.

There's no going back now.

My scanners turn to static as I push us further in. The ship rattles and R5 squeals in the main hull behind us. I don't bother turning to check on him. Din holds Grogu tighter and reaches one hand across to hover around my arm. I ignore him too. All I can do now is get us through these storms.

Rain pelts against the glass and the winds throw us around as if the planet itself is demanding that we leave. Visibility, of course, is nonexistent too.

"Tara..." Din says, his voice shaking from the ship's violent rattling. I ignore him, pushing our speed. He looks over at me. "Tara!"

"Do you want to get to Mandalore or not?" My voice is sharper than I intended, but it gets the point across.

Hardly a moment later, the clouds suddenly dissipate. In our view sits a barren, rocky terrain and countless shattered domes on the horizon and below. I suck in a shaky breath at the skeletons of my home. Craters in the rock have reshaped the landscape and solidified the planet's scars. It's unrecognizable. The Empire truly did leave it in ruins.