Clan of Three

Part Fourteen

It was around midday when the Razor Crest landed on Nevarro, a good distance from the town. Rael was standing in front of the ramp door, making sure her packs were secured to her blurrg's saddle, as Cara mounted her own. "Never thought I'd get to fight alongside one of the Rebellion's big heroes." The ex-shock quipped.

Rael huffed a laugh as she climbed atop her blurrg. "I think you're the hero between us." The younger girl said and added, "I mean it, Cara." when she saw her rolling her eyes. "Agree to disagree?", Rael asked with a teasing smile. "Fine...", Cara said with a grin as Mando, Kuill, and the child joined them.

Rael let out a sigh as she pulled her scarf around her head and fashioned it once more to shield everything but her eyes. Even if these people knew who she was, she had found that it was more intimidating when people had a harder time reading you. Once the men were seated on their blurrgs and the child was safely tucked away in his new floating pod, Mando hit a button on his vambrace and the ramp door let out a his as it slowly opened.

Light poured into the cargo bay as the ramp settled on the barren plain. "They're here. Stay sharp." Mando told the group as the urged their animals forward and headed towards the four figures waiting a small distance away.

"Sorry for the remote rendezvous, Mando, but things have gotten complicated since you were last here." Green Karga called as he and his men met them in the middle. Mando remained silent and continues to stare at his old Guild members.

"It appears that introductions are in order. It seems we've both provided a security detail." The man observed, but once again was meet with silence. " I recommend the shock trooper guards the ship. These lava fields are lousy with Jawas." Karga suggested and nodded towards Cara.

Mando broke his silence and said, "She's coming with me." Karga placed his hands on his hips and said, "But the town is now ruin by ex-Empire. If a Rebel Dropper is with us, they'll get their hackles up." Mando held his ground. "She's coming." He repeated. Cara smirked at the man. "Fine. At least cover your tattoo. No need to flaunt it." he sighed.

"Now, I see the Jedi has remained at your side. What of the little one?" Karga asked with a big smile. Mando and Rael shared a look before he pressed a button and the pod floated forwards a bit. The doors slid open and the child sat up, looking around. Th mean stepped forward and slowly lifted the child up a bit.

Rael tensed as she prepared herself to throw the man far from the child if she sensed any ill-intentions. "So, this is what all the fuss was about...", Karga muttered before placing the child back in his pod and Mando closed the doors quickly. "Well, I'm glad this matter will be put to rest once and for all." The Guild leader said happily as the pod returned to rest between Mando and Rael's blurrgs.

"The sun drops fast on Nevarro. We can walk for a spell, camp out at the riverbank, then make our way into town at first light." Karga announced and Mando gave him only a small nod of acknowledgement. And with that, the odd group set out on their journey.

~~~~~

Karga wasn't over exaggerating when he said that the sun drops fast on Nevarro. The group hadn't traveled for more than 3 hours before the sun had started to disappear in the horizon. "Right on time." The man had said and motioned towards a river of lava...

One of Karga's men had killed an odd animal with curly fur and small horns, which was now skinned and roasting over the large fire. Rael, Mando, Cara, and Kuill kept to one side of the fire, as Karga and his men did the same.

"I'd bet they want that little thing for some kind of menagerie." Karga mused as he watched Kuill feed the kid a bite of meat. "Let's go over the plan again." Mando grunted. Karga huffed and said, "We both enter the common house. We show the client the bait. We join him at the table. And you kill him."

"Tell me about his reinforcements." Mando ordered as Rael nibbled on a piece of the charred meat under her face covering. "They're all ex-Empire. As soon as they lose their paycheck, poof, they'll all scatter." Karga replied with a wave of his hand. Rael threw the now clean bone into the fire before asking "And what if they don't?".

"They will." Karga told her. "That's not good enough." Mando countered. The guild leader sighed and sat up straighter as he explained, "If, for argument's sake, a few of them don't realize that I'm their best path of alternative employment and they elect to react impulsively, then these three fine Guild hunters along with that battle-hardened shock trooper, will cut down anyone who bucks."

Mando was quiet for a moment before asking, "How many will there be?". Karga stood up and said, "No more than four. He travels with, at most, a Fire Team. Trust me. Nothing can go wrong-", but something swooped down from the dark sky and slashed his arm. The man cried out and fell to the ground.

The guild hunters jumped to their feet, armed with their blasters and began to fire into the night. More of the winged creatures began to attack the group. Rael rolled over to the child's pod and quickly sealed it shut, as Mando unholstered his blasters.

A loud roar was heard and Rael whipped her head over to see a creature sinking it's claws into one of the blurrgs and flying off with it. Kuill shouted at to to drop his animal and shot at it, but it was hopeless.

There was a still moment and they began to think the attack was over, but a second later one of the Guild hunters was being whisked into the sky. the other creatures began to attack once more, and Rael continued to fire her two blasters at their attackers.

She noticed that Cara and Kuill were trying to fight off two of the creatures who were trying to take more blurrgs. Rael was hurrying over to help, but heard Mando let out a grunt as he was tackled to the ground. She immediately fired at its wings, forcing it to back of the man. Mando dealt the final blow with his flame thrower on his vambrace.

And just like that, the remaining creatures disappeared back into the dark sky, leaving the group one hunter short and down three blurrgs. A pained groan filled the stunned silence and they all looked towards Karga, who was holding his injured arm to his chest.

Cara hurried towards him, followed by Kuill holding a medpac. Rael was about to head over to help, but a small voice wafted into her mind. 'help... poison... can help...'. Rael turned to see the child holding his arms out to her from his now open pod. Th girl furrowed her brows but walked over to him and lowered the kid to the ground.

"Are you sure? Healing takes a lot out of you. I can do it...", the girl whispered as she crouched down. The child simply put a hand on her leg as the soft voice returned saying 'help later'. And with that, the kid waddled towards the others.

Rael watched in awe as the kid stopped next to the wounded man and placed a hand on his arm. "Get this thing out of here." Cara grumbled as she ripped a bandage apart. "Wait, no.", Rael said as she knelt down next to him. "He's trying to eat me!", Karga cried.

A moment later, he realized that his pain was fading away into nothing and he looked down to see the would closing up. The others leaned in closer, not believing what they were seeing. Rael just softly smiled as the wound completely disappeared. The child let out a soft sigh before plopping down to sit on the ground. Karga's wide eyes traveled between her and the kid.

She ignored the man as she swept the child up in her arms and walked away from the group. "You did well, little one. You have had far more training than I had imagined." She said softly while stroking one his large ears. The kid looked up at her with tired eyes and smiled. "Get some rest now." She whispered and tucked him into his pod.