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The troopers were back again. They only came yesterday, the Child was still recovering from whatever the Empire last did to him. The Child needed time. Din told the troopers as much as he held the Child closer, shielding him from the conflict that inevitably came when Din argued with the stormtroopers. After months spent in this cell Din knew how it would go.
“We have orders. Now give it to us,” said the trooper on the right, his stun baton crackling with electricity.
The trooper on the left lit up their own stun baton and shifted slightly.
Din slowly put the Child on the cell bench, then he stood in between the Child and the stormtroopers. He was in a simple shirt and pants, they had stripped him of his Beskar'gam when they captured him and the Child. But beskar or not he would defend this child with his life, “No.”
“You asked for it,” said the trooper on the right as he stepped forward.
Shrieking through the ship an alarm sounded, shocking everyone in the cell. Din moved first, stepping into the right trooper’s space and under the stun baton. Din pushed the arm up and the crack of bone was audible even with the alarm blaring. Din snatched the stun baton and spun it into the trooper. Din hit the trooper once, twice before he had to dodge the other trooper. Din lunged at the other trooper with the stun baton and hit them directly in the centre of their chest with as much force as he could muster. The stormtrooper armour cracked and the stun baton crackled as it came into contact with the stormtrooper. The second trooper collapsed into an unconscious mass. Din turned back to the first trooper who had dropped to the floor but was trying to get back up. Din sent a heavy kick to the troopers head and he instantly stopped moving.
Din looked over both of the stormtroopers, his own shoulders heaving. Satisfied with his work Din turned back to the Child who started whimpering.
“Hey, hey kid it’s ok. Grogu I’m here. I’m going to get you out. They won’t hurt you again,” Din hushed as he gently ran his fingers over the Child’s head.
Grogu sniffles died down and Din pressed his forehead to the Child’s.
Din grabbed the blanket he was oh so kindly given by Moff Gideon and wrapped it around his chest as a baby sling. He then grabbed the Child and tucked him in there.
“You comfy?” asked Din.
The Child cooed.
“Good because it might get a bit rough.”
Din swiped a code cylinder from one of the stormtroopers and opened the door with one hand while holding a stun baton in the other.
“About time. Was that dense Mando giving you trouble again?” asked one of the two blaster wielding troopers guarding the door.
Din knew the exact second the stormtrooper spotted him, but the trooper didn’t get a chance to react because Din whacked the trooper across the head with the stun baton and he crumbled.
The other trooper shouted a cry of alarm and raised his blaster, but he wasn't fast enough. Din hit the blaster out of his hand with the baton and brought the baton back to smash his face. With a final hit to the ribs, the trooper went down with a cut off scream.
Din took a breath then dropped the stun baton in favour of a blaster.
Grogu warbled something and looked up at Din.
Din looked down at Grogu and gave him a small smile, “Alright kid let’s go.”
Din needed to find his ship, or a ship, his armour and get off Gideon’s light cruiser. Picking a direction Din ran quietly down the halls. The alarm was still ringing overhead and Din knew he should probably avoid whatever caused the alarms sound as well. At the very least if he got his armour he might be able to deal with it if he needed to.
Din got to an intersection and saw a flash of white before he hid around the corner. The squad of four stormtroopers jogged right by Din. Din stepped out and quickly shot three of them in the back and one in the leg. The surviving trooper screamed and dropped his blaster when he stumbled to the ground. The scream of the trooper wouldn’t reach far in the alarm filled ship which was an advantage Din was more than willing to take advantage of. Din slowly walked up to the stormtrooper as the trooper turned to see who shot him. The trooper froze when he saw Din before he started to scrabble backwards. The trooper spotted his blaster and moved to grab it. Din just shot the space between the blaster and the trooper’s hand.
“Don’t,” Din warned, stepping between the stormtrooper and his blaster.
“You shouldn’t be out!” said the trooper.
Din didn’t even respond to that he just pointed his blaster at the trooper’s head, “Where is my armour and my ship?”
“I shouldn’t tell you,” said the trooper, his voice shaking.
“Tell me and I might let you live,” responded Din pointing the gun a little more directly at the stormtrooper.
The trooper’s hands jumped up in surrender, “In the hanger! Your ship is in the lower hanger! And Moff Gideon keeps your armour on display in his office!”
“How do I get there?”
“Moff Gideon’s office is up a level and at the end of the main corridor. The lower hanger is at the bottom of the ship, you can’t miss it,” said the trooper shaking.
Din nodded then surged forward and whacked the trooper with the butt of the blaster. The trooper went still.
Stormtroopers were crawling all over the ship and Din was doing his best to avoid them, only fighting when he needed to.
Din made it to the turbolift then pressed the up button and waited. He only had to wait a few moments for it to arrive. When it opened it revealed Moff Gideon and four stormtroopers.
Din shot one trooper as he jumped for cover behind a pillar against the corridor wall and heard the clatter of stormtrooper armour as it hit the ground.
“Ah, Din Djarin what a wonderful surprise, we were just coming to see you and the Child,” said Moff Gideon. He was holding a strange black sword, Din saw it through the small gaps in the pillar, “Give me the Child and I’ll let you leave.”
Through the gaps in the support post, Din saw the troopers slowly walking around the pillar. As soon as a trooper came into view Din shot them dead.
“Do you really want that to be your answer? Come now, surely you want to leave this ship?”
Din didn’t bother with words he just rolled across the corridor to another pillar and shot another stormtrooper as he changed positions. The last trooper shot at Din and he just managed to duck the bolt, then he shot his own. It hit the last stormtrooper in the chest and they landed limply with a thunk.
It was just Din, the Child and Moff Gideon now.
“Hiding will do you little good. I know exactly where you are,” said Moff Gideon and Din could hear his measured steps forward.
Din slipped the sling off and quietly set the Child in the corner between the pillar and the wall. Din stepped out from behind the wall and sent a shot towards Moff Gideon’s head. Gideon swung the sword and the shot bounced off it and hit the corridor wall. Din shot again, and again but each time Moff Gideon deflected it to the side.
“You can either leave alive without the Child, or you can die here. I have no more patience for you,” said Moff Gideon, stepping forward at a smooth pace while Din stepped back to keep his distance.
A blaster wasn’t working, and as much as Din didn’t want to, he would need to get up close to remove the weapon from Moff Gideon’s hand.
“Do you like it?” Moff Gideon asked as he crudely deflected another bolt, “This is the Darksaber, it used to belong to your acquaintance Bo-Katan. You see, Whoever holds this sword has the right to lay claim to the throne of Mandalore.”
Din chucked the blaster at Moff Gideon, hoping it would give him time to quickly close the gap. Moff Gideon sliced cleanly through the blaster as if it was nothing, and suddenly Din was far too close to Gideon and the sabre. Moff Gideon swung at Din and narrowly missed as Din just managed to dodge out of the way. He could feel the heat of the sabre as it flew by.
Din had no weapons and he was far too close to Moff Gideon. If that weapon could slice through a blaster like it was air then nothing would be able to stop it. Beskar maybe, but Din didn’t have his armour or spear. He was weaponless, armour less and Din was feeling more vulnerable than ever when Moff Gideon was using a weapon like that.
Din dodged the next swing and the next but it was too close. Din rolled under a slash at his head and he felt the sabre slice through a small chunk of hair. With that roll Din managed to get behind Gideon and sent a solid punch to his side before he had to jump back to avoid the next swing. Din didn’t quite get out of the way and the sabre burnt a shallow slash into his arm.
Even over the alarm which was still blaring Din could hear the Child’s shriek. For a moment panic hit Din. Din looked over to see the Child trying to reach out to him and Din knew he was trying to use his powers. Grogu was still exhausted from yesterday, he would only hurt himself before he passed out.
Din put his hand out towards the Child, “Grogu no! Stop!”
Using the distraction Moff Gideon slashed at Din, but froze before the sabre could connect. Din jumped back away from the weapon and it stuttered onto movement again. Din glanced at the Child and his heart clenched when he saw Grogu closing his eyes to sleep.
Movement caught Din’s eye and he ducked out of Moff Gideon’s next swing.
“It looks like it’s nap time for the child,” said Moff Gideon with a smirk.
Din looked at the man who trapped him on this ship and stripped him of his armour. Din looked at the man who stole his child for experiments.
With a yell Din charged at Gideon, grabbing the arm holding the sabre, bracing the other forearm against Gideon’s chest and pushed him back into the wall. Gideon grunted with the impact and tried to swing the sabre at Din. Din didn’t let up and took hold of Moff Gideon’s sword arm with both hands and flipped Gideon over. Din pulled Gideon’s arm at an unnatural angle until Gideon cried out in pain and released his grip on the sabre. Din kicked the sabre away then pinned Gideon down and began hitting him again, and again, and again.
This man was the reason his son came back into the cell exhausted and scared. This man was the reason they were in a cell. This man was the reason they were running in the first place. This man was the reason his child was hurt. This man ran experiments on his child.
Moff Gideon’s face was a bloody mess, and he was dragging in ragged breaths. Din pushed himself off Gideon and drew in a few deep breaths of his own.
“Are you not going to finish the job?” asked Moff Gideon through the blood in his mouth.
“I wasn’t hired to kill you,” replied Din as he searched Moff Gideon for weapons and handcuffs. Din found what he was looking for and dragged Gideon closer to the pillar then cuffed him to it. For good measure Din also took Gideon’s comlink and code cylinder.
“You’re going to let me live? Interesting.”
Din ignored the Moff and went over to softly scoop up the Child. Din made sure there were no weapons anywhere within Moff Gideon’s reach then grabbed the sabre and started to leave. Bo-Katan might want the sabre back. Moff Gideon gave a weak chuckle, “The Darksaber is yours now, along with its story.”
Din glanced back at Moff Gideon, then he turned back to the turbolift and pressed the up button once again.
“You bested me and have gained the Darksaber, and now you, and you alone can claim the throne of Mandalore.”
“I don’t want the sword. Bo-Katan can have it,” said Din without turning around.
“You misunderstand, you are now the rightful ruler, not Bo-Katan. She can’t have it unless she fights you for it,” said Gideon, smirking through the forming bruises on his face.
The turbolift once again arrived, this time it was unoccupied. Din stepped in and turned around to see Moff Gideon still smirking at him.
“Congratulations Mand’alor,” said Moff Gideon, his smile getting wider with each passing second.
Finally, the doors closed and the turbolift sped off to the next floor.
Fortunately, there were no other troubles getting to Moff Gideon’s office, and with Gideon’s code cylinder it was easy to get in.
It was a wide room but wasn’t particularly deep. It had a large desk, a padded synthleather chair and a transpasteel window. The whole room’s theme was black and grey. Moff Gideon had a few decorations which gave it a slightly more personal flare. Din didn’t have to look far for his armour, it was mounted on a side wall, the beskar spear was above it and his blaster was below it.
Din took it all down then gently placed the Child on Moff Gideon’s desk. Despite being months since he’d last wore armour Din slipped all of the pieces on in record time. Din left his helmet off and scooped up Grogu to press his forehead to the Child’s. Din once again tied the sling around himself and slipped the Child into the sling. Din strapped the beskar spear to his back, clipped the Darksaber to his belt and slid his blaster into its holster. DIn took a breath and straightened his posture. Lastly, Din put on his helmet and strode out of Moff Gideon’s office as Mando.
His next objective was to get to the hanger and preferably, get his ship back. If it was too hard to get his own ship back then Mando could steal another. He didn’t want to leave the Razor Crest, but if he had to, he would. The Child was far more important than his ship.
Mando took the turbolift down to the bottom level of the light cruiser.
A soft coo and a small tap on his armour alerted Mando to the Child who had just woken up.
Mando ran a gloved hand over Grogu’s head, “Hey kid. Thanks for trying to help, but be more careful next time. Don’t strain yourself ok.”
Grogu babbled in what Mando could only assume was understanding.
“I get worried about you when you fall asleep after you use your powers,” said Mando softly as he continued to pat the kid with a feather light touch.
More baby babbles from the Child as the kid patted Mando on his chest armour with clumsy childish pats. It warmed Din’s heart.
“Don’t worry I took care of Moff Gideon, but we still need to get out of here fast. Before any imperials find him and free him.”
Grogu cooed again.
The turbolift opened and Mando held his blaster in one hand and shielded the Child with the other. There were about fifteen stormtroopers between the turbolift and the remainder of the hall. Most of the stormtroopers were looking down the corridor but a handful were looking at the turbolift, almost expectantly. When they saw Mando in full armour one of them actually yelped and recalled in shock.
Mando shot two troopers then switched to the Darksaber and closed the distance. If this sword could slice through a blaster like it was nothing then it would probably cut through the stormtrooper armour with little resistance.
It did just that and Mando cleaved his way through the crowd of stormtroopers, making sure to curl around the Child so no shots hit him. The Darksaber made quick work of the troopers and Mando just continued walking down the corridor once he cut through all of the remaining stormtroopers.
Mando came to the intersection of the hall and slipped against the wall peering around the corners. The Darksaber was a very effective weapon, but Mando would prefer to avoid stormtroopers when he could.
The hall looked clear, but Mando still couldn’t hear far because of the alarm which was still ringing throughout the ship. Mando stepped out and kept walking at a hurried pace towards the hanger.
Mando was one intersection away from the hanger. He could see the door ahead labelled ‘Lower Hanger’ in a large white font. Mando checked the intersection, once again it looked clear so Mando started to cross. A flash of something dark caught Mando’s eye and he instantly spun to face it, blaster drawn.
A hooded man stood before Mando and the man ignited a green laser sword. Mando held the Child closer. The hooded man and Mando stood still for a few moments. Slowly the hooded man shifted his position.
“There! Shoot the Mandalorian!” came the voice of a stormtrooper.
Four troopers had seen the bodies of their fellow stormtrooper that Mando left behind. Then they had spotted Mando himself, who wasn’t far from the piles he had left behind.
Mando lunged back behind the corner of the intersection but took a few blaster bolts to his armour. The bolts pinged harmlessly off, but a few were too close to the Child for comfort. Once Mando was behind the corner he peaked out and shot a trooper before ducking back behind the corner.
The hooded man calmly and casually strode forward into the intersection and turned to face the stormtroopers.
The troopers shot at him, but the man easily redirected a bolt at the trooper who shot it. Another trooper was slammed into a wall when the man used his power. It was the same power Grogu and Ahsoka had. The last stormtrooper was smoothly cut down by the man's laser sword.
The trooper who was slammed into a wall started to stir and Mando quickly shot him before turning to silently stare at the man.
The Child shifted in the sling and cooed as he reached for the hooded man.
Mando looked down and the Child, then back up at the hooded man, "Are you, Jedi?"
The man smiled and removed his hood, "Yes I am. My name is Luke Skywalker."
"I," Din paused, "Can you train him?" Din asked, forcing the words out of his throat as he lifted Grogu slightly.
"I can," said Luke calmly, "He is the reason I'm here. I could feel his distress. He is very powerful."
"The Empire, they hurt him. I was trying to keep him safe, but they still found us. I couldn’t keep him safe," said Din. This was the one. This was the Jedi he would have to give his child to, “Will you keep him safe?”
“Of course I will,” said Luke with no hesitation.
Din nodded, “Good.”
Din knew what this meant. It meant he needed to give the Child up. To let the Child go. But he didn’t know if he could. He’d been protecting him for so long. Grogu is his clan, his child. He can’t sleep now unless Grogu is safe in his arms.
But Grogu needed to be trained, and Din knew that he couldn’t help with that.
Din’s hands shook as he slipped the sling over his head.
"You should know he thinks the world of you. I could hear it. I still can," said Luke with a soft smile.
That didn’t help, if anything Din’s hands shook harder. Din was still clutching Grogu almost desperately to his chest. Grogu looked up at Din with large curious eyes.
Slowly Din removed his helmet again and held it at his side as he bent down to softly bump his forehead against the Child’s. Din was barely holding back tears. Grogu put a tiny hand on Din’s cheek and Din pulled the Child in for a tight hug. For what could be their last hug. Din closed his eyes for a few moments, and when he opened them again he stepped forward to pass Grogu to Luke.
Luke reached out and carefully took Grogu from Din’s shaking hand.
As soon as Din let go Grogu cried out a sharp distressed sound that gave a cold yank at Din’s heart. Din almost snatched the Child right back. Instead, Din stood frozen, he couldn’t step back, he couldn’t.
Grogu kept crying for him but Din couldn’t move towards him, he couldn’t take Grogu away from this. The Child needed to be trained. It was for the best.
Somehow Din managed to scrape words out of his throat, they were raw and didn’t come out as clear as Din would have liked, “You need to go with Luke kid. He can train you. I can’t.”
Luke looked between the Child grabbing at Din and Din himself who was stiffer than a board with the effort to not move.
“You need to give him your permission to go. He wants your permission, and he wants you to be safe,” explained Luke.
“You go with Luke, Grogu. You can go. I-I’ll be fine,”
Grogu made a weak protesting sound but his hands slowly dropped.
Din tried to smile back at Grogu to reassure him, but it was a wavering watery thing that probably didn’t reassure the Child as much as Din wanted.
“I’ll look after you Grogu,” said Luke as he shifted the Child into a more secure hold, then he turned to Din, “I will look after him.”
Din nodded, he couldn’t speak any more words even if he wanted to.
Luke turned to leave and Grogu gave Din a small uneven wave.
Inch by inch Din lifted his own hand but couldn’t manage a wave.
Luke turned and Din could no longer see Grogu. They both went through the hanger doors which Din had been so close to. Din followed robotically at distance and stopped in the doorway of the hanger.
Luke climbed into the X-Wing which had a chatty astromech, and seated the child comfortably on his lap.
The X-Wing powered up and flew out of the hangar. Din watched the ship from the door until it jumped into hyperspace.
A few moments after they left Din couldn’t stand anymore and he collapsed to his knees. His helmet clattered to the floor and Din held a hand over his mouth to muffle the sobs that started to slip out. His child was gone, and Din could only hope that he would be able to see him again. That this separation wouldn’t be forever. Just like every time Din worried about the Child when the stormtroopers or Moff Gideon came to take him away. Din had to hold onto the hope that he would see his child again. And even if, even if they never saw each other again, it was for the best. It had to be for the best. Din had to do what was best for Grogu, even if it hurt himself. A sob shook Din’s whole body, and Din was still trying his hardest to hold back as many tears as he could.
He couldn’t, his child was gone.
Grogu left and it felt like Din’s heart went with him.