Across the Universe | D. Djarin

Old friends

The Razor Crest slowly drifted through space as the child softly snored from his crib. I glanced over at the child and smiled fondly at him. I would be lying if I said I hadn't grown fond of him.

The familiar silence of the Razor Crest brought me a large amount of comfort after the mission we had just been through. I hoped that I would never have to see any of those people again.

Mando pressed buttons on the controls which caused a familiar beeping noise to emanate around the small cockpit. Suddenly, the comfortable silence was interrupted by an unwelcome voice.

"My friends, if you are receiving this transmission, that means you are alive." I tensed and glanced up at the control panel where a hologram of Greef Karga was playing.

"You might be surprised to hear this, but I am alive too. I guess we can call it even. A lot has happened since we last saw each other. The man who hired you is still here, and his ranks of ex-imperial guards have grown. They have imposed despotic rule over my city. Which has impeded the livelihood of the guild. We consider him an enemy, but we cannot get close enough to take him out." I almost scoffed, why should we care about the livelihood of the guild?

"If you would consider one last commission, I will very much make it worth your while. You have been successful so far in staving off their hunters, but they will not stop until they have their prize." I glanced down at the child who was fast asleep, I felt concern pierce my chest as I thought about what the empire would do to him.

"So, here is my proposition. Return to Nevarro. Bring the child as bait. I will arrange an exchange, and provide loyal guild members as protection. Once we get near the client, you kill him, and we both get what we want. If you succeed, you keep the child and I will have your name cleared with the guild along with Celeste. For a man of honor should not be forced to live in exile." Greef Karga explained his plan to them

"Oh, and that reminds me, the child is not the only thing the empire is after anymore. They have put a bounty on Celeste's head too, I don't know why, but they want her. They want her dead. Be careful." The silence was thick in the air as Greef Karga gave them that information.

"I await your arrival with optimism." Greef Karga ended the transmission and left them in silence

I held my breath as the man's words sunk in. We could be walking straight into a trap, or the child would finally stop being hunted. I let out a heavy sigh as I glanced over at the small child.

"What do we do?" I asked quietly as I glanced over at my mandalorian companion.

"We should go." Mando said heavily

"What if it's a trap? We can't trust him, Mando." I said

"I know, that's why we need to bring backup. If we do this, the kid won't be hunted anymore, you won't be hunted anymore. We have to try." Mando said firmly

I sighed heavily. "They know. They have to know...about me."

"They do, I don't know how, but they do. And if we do nothing, we will be hunted for the rest of our lives." Mando said

I nodded in contemplation. "I trust you. If you think it's the right call, then let's do it." I
nodded to him

Mando nodded in appreciation and turned his chair back around, he began to readjust the ship to a different set of coordinates.

"What's the plan?" I asked him

"We're gonna need some help." He replied before the Crest turned around and jumped into hyperspace. We would never have a peaceful moment, would we?

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I took in a deep breath of air as I glanced around at the peaceful forest of Sorgan. It felt like a lifetime since we had last been there, even though it was probably less than a few weeks.