A Life Without Meaning

𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℝ𝕖𝕤𝕔𝕦𝕖 (𝕀)

Their next moves consisted of needing a way to get into the Imperial cruiser undetected, and acquiring some backup.

Din and Cara took care of the first one. The Slave I tracked down and commandeered an Imperial shuttle after disabling it with an ion cannon. They eliminated everyone on board except the scientist that they had come for. The very same scientist who had taken blood from Grogu in the past. They brought him back to the Slave I as a prisoner.

Cara returned angry, passing everyone in the hull by without a word. Din followed her with the scientist, shoving him down into a chair and locking binders onto his wrists.

Ellia walked up to the Mandalorians side, eyes still glancing over her shoulder at Cara who had since started meticulously cleaning her blaster.

"Did something happen?" she asked in a whisper.

She heard Din sigh in response, stepping back from the prisoner and bringing Ellia with him to the back most part of the hull with a light push on her shoulder.

"One of the pilots-" he started to explain, "-they started saying some things about Alderaan. I think it just got under her skin a bit." he said, keeping his voice low.

Ellia's expression fell slightly as she glanced over at Cara again.

She always felt so guilty when it came to the Empire and their past actions. It wasn't like her parents were high ranking Grand Admirals or anything, but they were weapons officers, and they undoubtedly had a hand in the deaths of millions.

That sat with her heavy, and when she was reminded of it, in moments like this, she was left wondering what she was supposed to do to fix it.

Din's hand falling to her lower back suddenly drew her away from her thoughts.

"How are you feeling today?" he asked, still keeping his voice as low as he could.

Ellia glanced back over with a small, tired smile.

"Good as new." she said, trying to prove her point by raising and lowering her arms a few times. The strain the action had on her side was significantly less than before, but it was still a bit sore, not that she would tell Din that though.

Din looked her over, seemingly unconvinced. So Ellia immediately attempted to distract him,

"You got Bo's coordinates?" she asked.

He sighed, privy to what she was doing, but nodded.

"Boba's already got them punched in. We're on our way now." he reported.

As the two of them continued to stand there, a steady silence fell between them. Underneath their feet, they could feel the ship gently gliding through hyperspace.

Din's head tilted down slightly, and Ellia could somehow tell that his thoughts had suddenly traveled miles away. He was so desperate to get Grogu back. And she was too, but the way that it was taking a toll on Din worried her. She was worried about how reckless he was willing to be, how far he was willing to go. She just wanted to make sure that she was there to look after him no matter what they decided to do in the end.

Because knowing Din, and by extension- knowing herself, there was no true limit.

Ellia lifted a hand up, originally intending to place it on the side of his helmet, but she hesitated, worried that that would be taking things too far. So instead, she dropped it to his arm.

"We're going to get him back." she said confidently.

That brought his gaze back to her, she could tell by the way his helmet tilted up a centimeter more.