Promises and Deals | The Mandalorian

.000

ACT 1: PROMISES

Arvala-7. After years of searching from Tatooine to Hoth and back, Alora has finally made it to the right place. She can feel it.

The quarry is completely abandoned when she arrives, cries echoing from the depths of the building. Within days, others would come to isolate and, unknowingly, protect what lies within. But Alora simply rushes inside, a promise from years ago repeating like a mantra in her mind.

She finds the remnants of a base—Rebellion or Imperial or something else, she does not know. As she walks inside, twin daggers rest easily in her palms. Following the cries, she finds a floating crib next to a body. The old man must have just died or else no one would be able to feed the child crying in the crib.

Walking up to the cradle, Alora finds herself smiling for the first time in years. The young creature's cries pause as it opens its innocent eyes to watch her. She simply reaches out a hand, far enough that the Child has the choice of whether to touch her or not.

It looks at her hand before it starts to coo, its hand lurching forward to grasp onto her finger.

She wants to tell it what she knows. She wants to tell it that it is safe from harm, that she will protect it. The words fail to form. Instead, she kneels before it, gently taking it into her arms in a soft cradle.

Alora knows others are after the Child. To protect it, she must build a fortress, something only the most skilled hunters might manage to beat. And, if any make it that far, they'll have her to deal with. And no one gets past Alora.

She may have failed in the past, but she can't afford to do so again. This time, she won't fail.

✦✧✦✧✦

As the door falls open, Mando is unimpressed, to say the least, of the interior of this fortress. Cargo lies strewn everywhere. He quickly takes care of the leftover Nikto, shouting, "Anyone else?"

The droid beside him, despite its use before, still makes him uneasy. "The tracking fob is still active. My sensors indicate two life forms present."

"Two?" Mando pauses, his own tracking fob beeping quickly as he looks around the room. "I'm instructed to bring in only one." Though, he does remember the mention of a potential guardian to bring in if encountered.

"I as well," the IG-11 unit replies. "Perhaps we have more company to eliminate."

Mando shakes his head softly as he approaches a pile of cargo, his eyes focused on the floating egg structure covered in a net. He takes off the rope, shrugging as the droid approaches.

"This is not my bounty," it says, though he can tell it's curious. The tracking fob in its hand beeps softly but quickens as it turns.

Sighing, Mando presses a button on the floating structure. As it opens, he is shocked to find a small green creature, its ears pressed flat against its head. "Wait, they said fifty years old."

"Species age differently. Perhaps it could live many centuries. Sadly, we'll never know."

The creature grips its blanket tightly, its wide eyes searching Mando's helmet. He knows it's impossible, but it feels like the creature is staring at his soul, through the helmet, beskar, all of it.

The droid begins to pick up its gun, but Mando holds a hand out. "No. We'll bring it in alive."

"My commission was quite specific. Eliminate my target."