THE ARC OF SKYWALKER | a star wars story✔️

38 | static

**THE IMAGE ABOVE IS WHAT BOTH OF ASA'S LIGHTSABERS LOOK LIKE**

x x x

—DIN FINALLY UNDERSTOOD WHY ASA HATED THE RESTRAINT CUFFS.

He walked between Cara and Greef, his gaze set ahead at the town entrance of Nevarro. His worried thoughts about Asa and the kid ran through his head as he looked down at the lightsaber in Greef's hand. Cara glanced to him, shaking her head slightly.

"I hope this plan of Skywalker's works." Greef muttered to Din as they approached two ground troopers. Cara perked up at the older man's words, recognition of the name flashing across her face. Din looked at Greef, glaring at him under his helmet since he knew Asa wanted to keep her identity a secret.

Once they got past the troopers, Cara looked at Greef again.

"Skywalker? As far as I remember, none of us go by that name."

"It's nothing." Din dismissed quickly. "And this plan will work. It has to."

The thought of losing the two people he cared most about made his chest ache. Losing Asa and the Child would be worse than death. The Child was like his own son and Asa...He loved her so much. Those two were his reasons for fighting against the Empire right now, and his drive to keep them safe gave him the determination he needed.

The three walked into the cantina, noticing the Client with a squad of stormtroopers. Greef and Cara led the Mandalorian inside, the empty pod hovering beside them as the Client grinned.

"Look what I brought you. As promised." Greef said with a grin and moved Din forward.

"What quite exquisite craftmanship." The Client said to the Mandalorian and ran the back of his hand over the beskar armor he wore. "It is amazing how beautiful beskar can be when forged by its ancestral artisans."

He looked back to Greef, his expression becoming serious again.

"I assume you did your job in killing Asa Skywalker as well?" He questioned, glancing between Greef and Cara. Din could sense her confusion at the man's question.

Greef pulled Asa's lightsaber from his belt and set the weapon on the table, the old man across from them grabbing it and smiling in a twisted way. He ignited the weapon, the red blade flickering from the crystal being slightly cracked.

"Where's the other one?"

"Lost in the lava sea along with her." Greef replied, his tone convincing enought to pass the Imperial man's suspicions.

The Client nodded, pleased with the fake information of Asa Skywalker being dead.

"I would like to see the baby." He said to them before reaching forward to open the pod. Greef panicked for a moment before putting his hand out to stop him.

"It is asleep."

"We all will be quiet. Open the pram."

The tension in the air was thick enough to slice through with a lightsaber. Din and Greef glanced to the pod as they tried thinking of ways to keep the older man from opening it to look inside.

Just as they thought their cover would be blown, a stormtrooper walked up to the Client and whispered something to him. He excused himself and walked over to the bar counter, his back facing them as he answered a transmission call.

Din slipped his hands out of his cuffs and and clipped them back onto his belt. He slightly tilted his head toward Greef and whispered, "Give me the blaster," while looking forward. Greef handed it to him, telling him he had one shot at killilng the enemy.

"This is bad. You said four." Cara whispered to Greef, her panicked tone telling him she was about to open fire soon.

"Well, there are more. What can I tell you?"

Din looked at Asa's lightsaber on the table, wishing she could be here with him to give him peace of mind, but she was miles away protecting the kid and Kuiil. He would rather have her doing that than being here in the presence of the man who had her tortured.

Out of nowhere, blaster fire came from outside, killing the Client and any stormtroopers around the group. Din flipped their table over before hiding behind it to get cover. Cara dove over it and readying her weapon to fire back.

Asa's lightsaber clattered across the stone floor and rolled up against a stormtrooper's dead body, blood coating the silver metal of it. Din saw it and lunged forward before moving out of cover once the firing stopped. He clipped it onto his belt as he followed after Cara who hid behind the wall to his left. The three looked out the broken window to see a whole firing squad of Deathtroopers aiming their blasters at the them.

A tram pulled up the the square and more stormtroopers flooded into the streets, all of them shouting orders and getting into position.

"Four stormtroopers?" Cara mocked Greef's words as she stared indignantly at him. She shook her head, laughing bitterly as she looked at the two men with her. "This is bad."

Din pulled out his communicator and turned it on, bringing it up to his helmet and speaking into it.

"Kuiil? Asa? Are you back to the ship yet?"

"What's going on there? I can sense a disturbance in the Force." Asa's voice came through, making Din sigh with relief to know she was okay.

"Asa, listen to me very carefully. You, Kuiil, and the kid need to get back to the ship and bail. Get the kid out of here. We're pinned down."

"What?! No! I'll get you three when we get back to the Crest! We'll have firepower to take out the enemy!"

"Ace, now isn't the time to fight about this."

"I'm going to be back there whether you like it or not. I'm not leaving you."

Din didn't realize he was starting to cry from stress until he felt his hot tears soak his cheeks and the inside of his helmet started to become warm. Thinking about the danger Asa and the kid were in started to make him panic.

A TIE fighter flew in from the west and landed in front of the building. The stormtroopers moved out of the way for it but continued to aim at the cantina. An Imperial officer stepped out of the ship and walked toward the front of the small brigade. He stopped in front of the line of Deathtroopers, a scowl on his face as he held his head high.

"You have something that I want, and another I want dead." He spoke to them.

"Who's this guy?" Cara asked in confusion as she glanced to Din and Greef. All she was met with was a shrug from Greef and silence from the Mandalorian.

"You may think you have some idea of what you are in possession of and who you are allied with, but you do not."

Din put the communicator back up to his helmet and tried contacting the Ugnaught once more.

"Kuiil, are you back to the ship yet? They're onto us! Kuiil, come in! Asa?!"

All he heard was static on the other end.

"In a few moments," the Imperial man spoke, "it will be mine and the monstrous traitor will be slain for good."

"Kuiil! Asa, do you copy?!"

Panic started to settle in when he heard Asa's lightsaber hum through the audio then disappear into more static. He didn't hear voices and he couldn't tell if they were at the ship or not.

"It means more to me than you will ever know."

Din's voice started to shake when he didn't hear the two respond. His anxiety was starting to get the best of him when he didn't hear Asa's voice tell him she was okay and the kid was safe. He prayed to every known deity of the universe; hoped to every higher power; and willed it in the Force that Asa and Kuiil were on that ship and flying out.

Asa couldn't die on him now. They had been through so much together and the thought of her dying alone out there made him sick to his stomach.

"Asa! Asa!" He called once more, but again, there was nothing.

Static was the only feedback he heard as he dropped his arm to his side, grief overwhelming his senses as he resisted the urge to rip off his helmet and scream.