Wolven | The Mandalorian

Chapter 14: The Siege

Chapter 14: The Siege
Word Count: 5,524
*EDITED*

When the Razor Crest slowed down in mid-space, Din and Elodie panicked reasonably. Din sat in the pilot seat and rebooted the system, but it still didn't restart, and the ship was stuck coasting slowly. At this rate, they would reach Nervarro in a week's time.

"Where's the panel for hyperdrive?" Elodie asked, looking around the mess left behind that was the cockpit. Mon Calamari were shit engineers. Din spoke over his shoulder, still trying to manually override the systems. "The back panel beside the door."

Elodie looked at the small hatch and raised a brow. "You mean the small hatch that I can't even fit my head into?"

"That's the one." Din sighed, slumping back in his seat unsuccessfully. "Only Anzellans are small enough to fit in that!" She cried.

Din turned slowly to face her. "Not just Anzellans."

She gave him a deadpan look, as if to ask if he was serious.

It wasn't long before the child was deep within the crevice, and Din was calling out instructions to him. The poor thing looked so confused as he looked at the wires in front of him.

"Okay, did you... do you have the wire?" Din asked, flicking a switch. A beep rang out, indicating that he did not, in fact, have the wire. The Mandalorian stood and went over to the little hole in the wall. "Okay. Did you get the wire out? The red wire?"

"Patu." The child held up a green wire.

"No, no, no. No, the red one. Show me the red wire. The red one." The child picked it up.

"Yes, good. Now, you're going to plug that red wire where the blue wire goes in the board." Din had the patience of a saint as he slowly repeated his instructions for the child. Elodie scoffed in her seat, choosing not to intervene in what Din was trying to get the child to do, and sipped on her tea.

Her years spent with the child taught her that, although he was fifty years old, he had the mental capacity of a toddler. She innocently batted her eyelashes at the Mandalorian and allowed him to carry on. He needed to learn that asking the child to perform adult tasks was not going to work out.

Din glared at her through his visor and returned his attention to the child. "Put the red wire where the blue wire goes in the board, okay? But don't let them touch. You see where you took the blue one off? Yes, now put the red one..."

The child looked between the wires and brought them closer together. Eyes growing to the size of saucers, Din urged the child to stop. "No, don't put the blue one back. Put the red one where the blue one was. And put the blue one where the red one was. But be careful. They're oppositely charged, so keep them away from each other. Make sure you hold them apart from... No, hold them apart. Oh! Uh-uh... "

Elodie sat up at the sound of his astute panic. Electricity whirred from the compartment, and smoke flooded out. Din sighed deeply. "Oh, are you okay?"

The child coughed and made his way back out. Elodie huffed and stood, walking over to rip the panel off the wall entirely in one pull.

She reached her arm in, grunting as she just about caught the wires at the tips of her fingers while her face pressed against the cold durasteel of the ship wall, and slotted them into place following a brief moment of blind struggle and shocks from the exposed electrical wires. The Crest shook, then stabilised at the activation of hyperdrive.

Standing up, Elodie dusted off her hands and sat back in her seat without casting a look at the broken wall.

The Mandalorian cast his eyes between his broken panel and the uncaring Wolven, who sipped on her steaming cup of tea.