Metanoia | The Mandalorian ON HOLD

Chapter 44

Once Juno gained consciousness again, she was lying on the floor in shackles, her clothes having tears on them. From the moment she opened her eyes after being stunned, she was beaten and pricked with needles drawing her blood. She always tried fighting back, but the troopers always came in a group of three or four and she was too weak and scared to fight them off.

This time, though, a woman came to her cell, bringing her a plate of food, small enough just to keep her alive. No stormtroopers were with the woman. When Juno noticed this, an idea came to her mind.

"Eat." Said the woman harshly as she practically threw the plate on the floor.

"I can't eat with my hands locked behind my back." Mumbled Juno harshly. At this, the woman sighed and went to take the shackles off.

"Fine. But no funny business." She said. As soon as the shackles were removed, Juno flung her head back, hitting the woman in the face and breaking her nose.

Juno quickly got on her feet and ran outside, trying to avoid any trooper or droid on her way. She ran around the ship, not knowing where she was, her only thought was to find Grogu. What she also didn't know, was that Din and the group he had brought with him were trying to find her and Grogu. So, when someone suddenly grabbed her from behind, she started screaming and struggling to get away.

"No! No! Let go of me!" She screamed as she tried hitting the person holding her.

"Juno! It's me!" Yelled Din, trying to calm her down as he turned her around to face him.

"No! Let go!" Her throat was burning as she hit his chest. But then she felt the cold of his beskar armor and looked up, seeing Din standing there, holding her. She started to slowly calm down and stop hitting him, not believing her eyes.

"It's me, Juno. Look, it's me." He said, holding her cheeks as she breathed heavily.

"Dad." She whispered. "They-uh..." She was mumbling incoherently as she fell onto him, hugging him tightly as she cried quietly.

"It's okay. I got you, baby girl. You're okay." Whispered Din, not fully registering her words. He was just relieved that she was okay and with him again. He pulled away slightly, holding her cheeks gently as he spoke. "We're gonna find Grogu and then we're gonna get out of here." She nodded as he wiped her tears. They stood up and Did put an arm around her shoulders, leading the way around the cruiser.

They walked through the corridors, Din with his blaster pulled out while Juno walked slightly behind him when Din noticed a door, behind which an army of Dark Troopers, was opening.

"No. No!" He exclaimed and ran towards the controls, connecting the code cylinder to close the door but one of them managed to get out before it closed, sending Din flying backwards. Juno stood a few feet away, watching in terror as the droid held Din up, hitting him in the helmet so hard that the wall behind him cracked and smoke started coming out. Din tried everything he could think about to fight the droid off. From his flamethrower to the whistling birds, but he was just thrown around. At last, he reached for the beskar spear and finally managed to rip the droid's head off, stopping it.

He breathed heavily as he rushed to the controls and sent the rest of the Troopers into the space. Juno then ran to him and he pulled her close.

"Are you okay?" She asked quietly.

"Yeah." He whispered before they moved again.

When they reached the room where Grogu was being held in, Din quickly took down the stormtroopers guarding the door before he turned to Juno

"Wait here. I don't know what's inside with him. And I don't want you getting more hurt." He told her and she nodded, moving away from the door. He entered, pulling out his blaster.

"Drop the blaster." Said Moff Gideon. Juno blocked out the conversation between Din and Gideon as she focused on calming her nerves when she heard Grogu coo. Suddenly, she could hear Din's armor being hit repeatedly before they exited the room, fighting and not noticing the girl.

She quickly and quietly moved inside the room and rushed to Grogu, who cooed happily at her.

"Hey, buddy." She whispered as she tried to get the shackles off his little arms. He whined at her when he noticed some of the bruises peeking from the collar of her shirt. "I'm fine." She assured him. Once he was free of the shackles, she took him to her arms and they hugged each other tightly.

Outside the room, the sounds of the fight stopped. Both kids looked at the door as Din walked in, the dark saber in his hand. "Let's get out of here." He said and Juno, holding Grogu in her arms quickly followed him out of the room where Moff Gideon laid on the ground with shackles binding his hands. Din pulled him up by his cape and pushed him forward. The kids followed them, making their way to the bridge where the rest of Din's group was waiting.