DEFENDER • THE MANDALORIAN

ELEVEN

•••

There is no emotion, only peace.

Alya sits in a barren room, a cell, as two stormtroopers stand in front of her. Her arms and legs are tied to the chair; an effort to keep her from doing anything, not that she would.

Blank eyes watch as the taller stormtrooper's fist goes back, and then she feels hot pain on her face. Her eyes release tears, a subconscious reaction to pain, as the woman lowers her head.

"Tell us what we want to know." The stormtrooper that punched her commands, threat in his voice. The woman picks her head up, looking at her foe.

She could easily get out; compel their minds, find the Child, but something was stopping her. The promise that the Mandalorian would become her ally made the pain more tolerable; she has faith in her Path.

"I've been recluse. I do not know any of Luke's plans." The Jedi says, merely informing the duo. Her statement is partially true, as everything she says usually is.

Luke Skywalker had reached out to the woman, wanting her help to train more Jedi and teach him of Jedi past. While Luke is stronger, she is wiser. For about a month the two had talked to each other, Alya telling Luke of her experience as a Padawan.

Two carrying the legacy meant for many was a hard task. So after a month, Alya and Luke parted ways, both stronger. Alya went to find the Child and Luke went to find those whom were Force-sensitive to train them to become Jedi.

After that, Alya dropped off the grid; every month or so she would stop by the Skywalker residence to see his progress. Eventually she got closer to finding the Child, so she had to stop.

"We can beat you all day, Jedi scum." The stormtrooper said quite adamantly. "Tell us what we want to know."

Alya just sighs, knowing that they aren't hearing her. Her shoulder tense up as the stormtrooper pulls his fist back again and releases it.

This time the fist hits her torso. The Jedi releases a gasp of pain, taking in the sharp feeling. Closing her eyes, Alya tries to focus, tries to remember why she is doing this; she is doing this for the Child, for the innocent.

"Hey!" The other stormtrooper yells at her. "Pick your head up. We aren't do-"

Interrupted by the door opening, both stormtroopers turn to see another stormtrooper in the doorway. Holding up a syringe, the soldier walks into the room.

"He said that this might get some information out of her."

Picking up her head, Alya sees the syringe full of a green tinted liquid. The woman does nothing as the soldiers tear off her cloak, revealing a loose white tunic underneath.

Shoving her sleeves up, the new stormtrooper punctures her arm and injects the liquid into her bloodstream. Fear corses through her body as she is unable to escape her torture now.

Flaming, hot pain runs through her entire body; no part of her being is left untouched by the flames. The woman can't help the scream that tears through her throat as tears run down her face.

The Jedi has never faced something like painful this before. Clenching down her teeth, the woman ceases her scream. Her body shakes as the pain runs rampant with no end.

"Tell us what we want to know."

•••

"I want my next job."

The Mandalorian sits in front of Greef Karga. New armor shining brightly as the bounty hunter intently stares at the man.

"Sure. Fine. You hunters like to keep busy, right?" The man puts some bounty pucks on the table. "Well, these are all far away."

"The further the better." Anything to get away from hidden Empire supporters that now hold the Child and the Jedi in their clutches. The further he is, the less he will think about the cry of the kid and defeat in the woman's eyes as they were taken away.

"Well then, take your pick. You've earned it." The man underneath the mask didn't feel like he deserved anything for what he did. Picking up a puck and placing it back down, the Mandalorian watches as a picture appears above it.

"That's the best one of the lot. A nobleman's son skipped bail. Looks like you're headed to the ocean dunes of Karnac."

With that, the Mandalorian stands from the booth and grabs his rifle and the puck. The bounty hunter turns but before he can walk away, something in him makes him stop.

"Any idea what they're gonna do with them?" The same scene kept running through his mind; the Child crying, defeated eyes, closing doors.

"With who?"

"The kid. The Jedi." The Mandalorian turns around, looking down at the unperturbed man. Greef looks up at the bounty hunter.

"I didn't ask. It's against the Guild Code."

"They work for the Empire. What are they doing here?" The Mandalorian shifts the rifle into his other hand, as he leans slightly towards the seated man.

"The Empire is gone, Mando." Greef holds critiziement in his tone as the Mandalorian straighten up. "All that are left are mercenaries and warlords. But if it bothers you, just go back to the Core and report them to the New Republic."

"That's a joke." Everyone knew that the New Republic is too weak to take down any old Empire sympathizers.

"Mando, enjoy your rewards. Buy a camtono of spice. By the time you come out of hyperdrive, you will have forgotten all about it."

The Mandalorian turns away from the man, saying nothing more.

•••

Sitting in the cockpit of his ship, the Mandalorian flips several switches. The ship began to slowly turn on.

Reaching for a lever, the Mandalorian freezes with his hand hovering above it. The lever's ball sits where the Mandalorian had placed it after taking it from the Child.

Moving his hand, the Mandalorian picks up the small ball and brings it up near his face. Rolling the ball in his finger, the man is reminded again of the crying of the Child as it was taken, how it looked at him with desperation in its eyes.

Screwing the ball back on the lever, the Mandalorian's hand pushes the lever forward hesitantly. His hand draws back slowly, as if moving too fast would cause a cataclysm.

Mind flashing to the innocence of the Child and its actions; how it tried to help him with his injury , how it had looked to him for protection. It is just a child, just like he had been when he lost his family.

Shifting, the Mandalorian feels something in his bag. Shoulders tense with unease, his hand travels into the bag.

Pulling out the Jedi's lightsaber, the bounty hunter looks upon the weapon of the woman that helped him for no reason, who asked for nothing in return but instead suffered.

His grip is tight on the weapon as he thinks to the journey he had with the Child and the Jedi.

The Child grasping his finger, the woman protecting him while he was unconscious, the Child protecting him from the Mudhorn, the Jedi letting him put the cuffs on her, the Child crying out for him, the woman whose name he didn't even know giving him a nod of understanding as she was taken.

It had all lead up to this moment; to him grasping onto a lightsaber, prepared to abandon the two who had helped him.

In this moment, the Jedi's words rung through his head.

"I fight to help others, not myself; to aid others is when I fight."

He has to fight, not for himself, but for the ones that he has wrong, for the Child and the Jedi.

Quickly pulling the lever and flipping off the switches,the Mandalorian moves with swift confidence, knowing what he has to do.

He has to rescue them.

•••