•••
Cara watched the Razor Crest touch down onto the hot, black sand, raising her hand to make sure none of it got into her eyes. The ship was in bad shape, and Cara's nervousness grew into panic as she spotted the Mandalorian and the child on the half-opened ramp. Cara held the puck tightly in her hand, remembering the panic she had felt when she saw the number of credits flash on the hologram.
"Where's-" she halted as Fwega appeared behind them, letting out a sigh of relief and loosening her hold on the puck.
"Cara!" Fwega accepted Mando's hand to help her down and she ran to Cara, the latter catching the pink-haired girl in her arms and grunting at the impact.
"Fwega, I'm so glad you're alright." Cara hugged her to her tightly, her chin on her shoulder.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Fwega pulled away.
"Fwega-"
"Hey there, pinky!" Greef smiled at her, and she walked over to give him a hug as well.
Cara turned to Mando, nervousness showing on her face. He held out his arm and she caught it, giving him a slight smile before her face turned serious once again.
"Mando, I need to tell you something. It's urgent."
"What is it?"
"It's about her."
Mando looked over to where Fwega was talking to Greef, both of them cooing over the baby in Greef's arms.
"Can it wait?"
Cara looked up at him like he was crazy. "No, it cannot wait! You-" she huffed and brought up the puck, clicking it on.
He froze as Fwega's smile lit up the screen, above which red letters spelled out "WANTED".
A three million credit bounty. For her to be brought in alive.
"Where did you find this?" Mando asked, snatching the puck from her grasp.
"We just recently got a shipment from the guild, who still haven't quite given up on this planet even though we've made it clear we're not interested." Cara started forward, following Greef and Fwega, who were still talking. Mando walked beside her, his hands shaking slightly as he watched Fwega's blue holographic head float over the puck.
"Who's collecting?"
"It doesn't say. There's no location, no name, no way to get ahold of them. We have no idea who or where this collector is."
Mando paused right before the entrance to the town, trying to control his breathing. Cara put a hand on his shoulder.
"It's going to be okay. I almost had a panic attack when I saw it, too."
Mando stood up a little straighter when he remembered something. "Whoever it is, it's a she. And she's probably following us."
"She?" Cara continued on, nodding at a few of the townsfolk in the market as she passed them.
"I spoke to someone named Gor Koresh, and he recognized her. He said that 'she' was after her, but wouldn't say who."
"And you killed him, didn't you? Did it not occur to you that he might have some information we may need?"
Mando sighed. "It seemed a good idea at the time."
"So, Mando!" Greef said, waiting for him to join him and patting him good naturedly on the back. "Your ship's looking pretty rough." The child nodded at Mando in agreement, still in Greef's arms. Mando looked over to Cara, who was now next to Fwega, and shook his head minutely, gesturing to the puck. Cara nodded, though she didn't agree.
"I had a run-in with the New Republic."
"They should leave the Outer Rim alone. If the Empire couldn’t settle it, what makes them think they can? Here we are."
They all stopped at the entrance of the old bar, at the corner of a new plaza. Fwega smiled gently when she saw the statue of IG-11 in the center.
The entered and Mando marvelled at the children sitting in desks, facing a droid at the front of the class who was teaching them the different trade routes of the galaxy.
"It's a school!" Fwega smiled brightly, the childrens' attention turning towards them.
"Things have changed a lot around here," Greef replied, walking over to an empty desk and placing the child in it.
"Wait. Wherever I go, he goes." Mando's voice was panicked, and he started forward. Fwega watched how the child reacted and felt his curiosity, nodding at Mando as her eyes met his helmet.
"Mando, please. Where we’re going, you don’t wanna take a child. Trust me. He’ll be fine here. You have my word."
Fwega slipped her hand into his and she pulled Mando out of the classroom, waving goodbye to the child, who waved back before turning to look at the little boy beside him.
They walked to the registrar, Fwega looking at Mando with worry when she felt a thread of panic. She watched the villagers around them, catching a glimpse of a black cloak and blue hair but not paying any attention to it.
They walked into the registrar, a voice piping up from behind a switchboard.
"There's no registration on this ship, but I'm pretty sure it belongs to-" Mythrol caught sight of the Mandalorian and flinched back, releasing blue gas from his gills as his nervousness piqued.
"I believe you two have met." Greef chuckled at Mythrol, who was trying to make himself as small as possible.
"I'm surprised to see you here."
"Right back at ya." Myrthol met the eyes of the pink-haired girl beside him and blinked, opening his mouth to say something, but he was cut off by Greef.
"Mythrol here’s taken care of my books since he was a pollywog. But then he disappeared one day after a bit of 'creative accounting'."
Mythrol paused, but when he met Cara's murderous glare he changed what he was about to say. "Magistrate Karga was generous enough to let me work off my debt. Thank you, by the way. Three hundred and fifty years, but who’s counting?"
"Well, if he runs off on you again, let me know." Mando was only half joking.
Mythrol went in to reply once again but Cara cut him off, sick of the useless chatter. "Can we talk business?"
"We're only here for repairs."
"Which’ll take a while. Which means you’ll have free time on your hands, right? And we could really use your help."
"What for?" Fwega piped up, ignoring Mando's warning glance.
Cara pulled up a map of Nevarro, gesturing to a green spot on the map. "This is Nevarro. We’re here. This entire area’s a green zone. Completely safe. But over on this side is the problem."
"Imperial?"
She nodded. "It’s where all those troops came from when we defeated Moff Gideon. This base has been here since the Imperial expansion. It’s got a skeleton crew, but for some reason, it hasn’t been abandoned."
"There’s a lot o’ heavy weaponry in that place the black market would love to dismantle and get their hands on," Greef finished.
"And you wanna mop up the last of the Imperial force before they do."
"Mando, I just want them off my planet. If we could take out that one last base, Nevarro would be completely safe. We could be a trade anchor for the entire sector, and the planet would finally be free."
He huffed, looking down at Fwega. She nodded, not needing to look at him to see his uncertainty.
"Alright, we'll do it."
Cara looked at Fwega, impressed. "Just like that?"
"Yep. Just like that."
•••
Okay y'all I messed up and put a draft at the beginning on accident, so here's the real thing :) sorry bout that!!!
Hope you enjoyed :)
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GALDANA || the mandalorian
Fanfiction"I love you more than any planet or star in the galaxy." ••• Fwega Galdana had lost everything. Her home, her family, her planet. But when she fell asleep on a ship she assumed was abandoned, she never expected to find an adventure that would take h...
