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Hebe groaned tiredly as Din shot up and out of their cot in a rush. The Universe hates me, she thought, dramatically slapping her forehead and calming the cooing child above her. She tickled his head as a blaring alarm burst through her ears. Hebe didn't bother getting out of the cot, instead opting to fall back asleep while she still could. Din can handle it just fine. In the cabin above, Din flung himself into his seat and stopped the alarm. He gritted his teeth in tired annoyance as a voice came in through his comlink.
"Razor Crest, M-One-Eleven. Come in, Razor Crest. Do you copy?" Through his peripherals, Mando could see two x-wings pull up on either side of his ship.
"This is Razor Crest. Is there a problem?" He replied almost automatically, he felt his heart pump with caution in his chest, like alarm bells ringing.
"We noticed your transponder is not emitting."
"Yes, I'm pre-Empire surplus. I'm not required to run a beacon."
"That was before. This sector is under New Republic jurisdiction. All craft are required to run a beacon," the voice countered.
"Thank you for letting me know. I'll get right on it." No, I won't.
"Not a problem. Safe travels."
"May the Force be with you," Mando replied haltingly.
"And also with you," After a brief pause, the voice came again. "Just one more thing..."
"Yes?"
"I'm gonna need you to send us a ping. We're here sweeping for imperial holdouts." We're anything but, he thought.
"I'll let you know if I see any."
"I'm still going to need you to send us that ping."
"Fantastic," Mando cursed under his breath. Hebe really had been rubbing off on him.
"Well, I'm not sure I have that hardware online," Din sighed.
"We can wait." He sighed again.
"Yeah, I... Doesn't seem to be working."
'You're still a bad liar, tin can' Din heard Hebe's voice loud and clear ringing through his brain. Shut up, Hebe. He projected back only to hear a mischievous giggle. He smiled faintly behind his helmet and shook his head.
"That's too bad. If we can't confirm you're not Imperial, you're gonna have to follow us to the outpost at Adelphi. They'll run your tabs." Din glanced to the frog lady who still slept soundly to his right.
"Oh, wait. There it is. Transmitting now," Din said almost robotically, flipping a switch, the noise that emitted from it caused the frog lady to stir out of her sleep with a loud croak. "Be quiet!" Mando shushed with a whisper yell.
