Salvation - The Mandalorian

Chapter 14

Din was trying his best to not be worried, but he couldn't help it. Rey was taking a long time inside the cave when he hoped that it wouldn't be this long. Luke kept trying to reassure him that sometimes it took a while, but that didn't ease Din's worry. He could only hope that Rey was okay. He didn't know what he would do if she got hurt when he wasn't there to protect her.

Grogu cooed nervously, looking up at his father. Din looked down at the child in his bag, knowing that he could sense his worry. He picked him up and stroked his head, comforting him. Having Grogu felt like a reassurance, letting Din know that Rey should be okay. She had to be.

"I know you're worried about Rey in there, and I am too," Luke spoke up. "But why aren't there any Stormtroopers coming to fight us?"

Din looked over at the Jedi and shrugged. "Maybe they are looking for us, but haven't found us?" He suggested. "You could be using your Jedi powers to hide us from them."

Luke shook his head. "No, the Force doesn't work like that," he replied. "It's something else."

Din then noticed a large shadow pass by the cave entrance. He looked up and saw an Imperial cruiser loom overhead, making its way over the base. Luke looked up at the ship as well, the two of them already knowing who was inside. A TIE Fighter came out of the cruiser, flying down to the docking bay.

"Gideon," Din muttered darkly. "What do we do? Rey is still in there."

"We need to hold him off," Luke answered, determined. "Keep him from getting to Rey and keep Grogu safe. I'm gonna call Leia too for some backup from the New Republic."

Din nodded and got his blaster out while Luke got his lightsaber out. They stood in front of the cave entrance, waiting for troops to near them. Luke made a call through the Force to his sister, telling her what was going on. Din put Grogu back into the bag, covering him up the best he could. He would not lose Grogu or Rey to Gideon. Never again would he let that happen.

Sure enough, Darktroopers arrived to their location, blasters up. Strangely, however, they didn't fire at them. They just had them surrounded. Din and Luke still had their weapons ready, not wanting to back down.

"Din Djarin," a cold and familiar voice called out. Din glared underneath his helmet when he saw Moff Gideon arrive, an evil smirk on his face. "I see you've made a new friend in Luke Skywalker. How's the young one progressing with his abilities?"

"Better now that you aren't hunting him down to kill him," Din sneered at him. "I'm not letting you take him or the girl and you're going back to prison."

A cold chuckle escaped Gideon, amused by Din's words. "I never thought you could say so much at once, Djarin," he commented. "Looks like your bond with the child has opened you up more. I'm done with him anyway. All I needed was his blood, and I got that. The girl is all I need now. Hand her over to me, and we can go our separate ways."

"The last time you said that, you attacked me and I won the darksaber from you," Din countered. "She's staying with me. I won't let you get her blood too."

The smirk still wouldn't leave Gideon's face. "Some of her blood wouldn't hurt my project, but I need her for more than that," he revealed. "The girl is much stronger than she knows. Much stronger than the young one and Skywalker combined."

"She's not going to become one of your science projects, Gideon," Luke told him in a firm, yet calm voice. "No matter what you say, you won't get her. She's not an object for an experiment because of her abilities. She's a child, and Din is her proper guardian who does care about her. And I am her teacher who will help her with her abilities."