Clan of Three

Part Twenty-Nine

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"Took you long enough.", Koska called over her shoulder as Din and Rael stepped out of the lift. They both ignored her as they jogged to catch up with the group as they marched down the corridor. They had only just reached the other Mandalorians when the freighter creaked as took a dive. "They're taking the ship down. Let's move!", Bo-katan shouted as they all slammed into a wall.

Din pulled Rael from underneath Axe, who had crashed into her, as they ran for the bridge. As they rounded the last corner Bo-katan yelled, "There's the bridge! Come on!". But, troopers appeared at the entrance and began firing. "Blast 'em!", one shouted as the more joined him. The Mandalorians and Rael threw themselves against the wall to dodge their shots.

"How many troopers?", Bo-katan called. Axe Woves peeked around the frame and replied, "Six to ten. Two with heavy repeating blasters!". Soska checked her vambrace controls and reported, "We're losing altitude fast." Bo-katan gripped her blasters tighter as he growled, "We need to move now!". Axe shook his head saying, "They have too much firepower!".

"Still dropping. Ten thousand!", Koska shouted. "We'll never make it to the bridge in time!", Axe shouted at Bo-katan. Rael felt her palms growing sweaty as she tried to think of a way out of this. As her eyes flitted around, she noticed the grav-charges on Din's belt. "Hey! If I deflect the shots, do you think you can get those close enough?", Rael asked him as she pointed at his belt.

Din looked down and understood what she was wanting to do. "Nine thousand feet!", Koska shouted. "Can you do that with heavy repeating blasters?", he asked skeptically. "It's been a while, but yea.", she said with a half smile. "Eight thousand feet!", The woman called desperately. Din looked at her for a moment before nodding and taking to grav-charges in his hands. "Cover us!", Rael shouted as she took her sabers in her hands and connect the hilts.

"Wha-", Bo-katan began to shout, but was cut off as her niece rolled into the middle of the corridor and activated her double-bladed saber. Din followed behind her as she saber began a golden blur and red blaster bolts ricocheted into the metal walls. The Jedi slowly made her way forward with Din close behind her. The man was itching to trade the grav-charges for his blasters to help her, but the other Mandalorians were providing decent cover.

Once they got close enough, Din activated the grav-charges and threw them right at the troopers feet. Din grabbed the girl's arm for them to run, but she knew there wouldn't be enough time of them to escape the blast radius. She twisted her arm in his hold and pulled him to the ground with her. "Stay down!", she shouted as she dropped to one knee and deactivated her saber.

Just as they crouched down, the charges detonated and the troopers were engulfed in a ball of flames. Rael stretched her hands outwards and closed her eyes. Din reached forward to pull her back, but stopped as he watched the flames wrap around them like they were in a bubble. A few moments went by as the flames dissipated and the girl lowered her hands. "You good?", Din asked her as they stood up.

"I think so. You?", She replied and sucked in a few deep breaths. "Come on!", Bo-katan ordered, but not before patting Rael firmly on the shoulder. The Axe guarded the corridor as Koska opened the bridge's doors. The officer whirled around with an angry look before turning back to the controls. Din put the man in a headlock and shoved him towards Bo-katan. She slammed him against a control panel and held a dagger to his throat.

Din and Koska jumped into the pilot and co-pilot seats as the leader demanded, "Where is it?". The man snarled back, "What?". Bo-katan pressed her dagger closer and snapped, "The Dark saber. Does he have it?". The officer smirked and said, "If you're asking, you already know." Rael gripped onto the back of Din's chair as he and Koska were barely able to level out the freighter before it crashed into the water.

Rael let out a sigh of relief and let go of the chair as they soared back into the clouds. "I will let you live. But you will take me to him." Bo-katan told the man. But he shook his head and replied, "You might let me live. But he won't." The next thing Rael heard, was the sound of someone being electrocuted. "No!", Bo-katan shouted as the man dropped to the floor. The Jedi didn't need to ask what had happened. She and Luke had run into enough imperials that had the device implanted.

"We have to go. He sent a distress signal." Koska reported as she turned in her seat. "Clear the atmosphere and prepare to jump." Bo-katan ordered them. "We're going." Din said to her and Rael's eyes went wide. "Uh- yea. I don't have one of those things...", She said, pointing at his jetpack as he stood up and went to the bridge's exit. "You'll be fine." Din said as he nodded for her to follow. "The offer still stands. To join us. Both of you.", Bo-katan said to them.

"There's something we need to do. Where can we find the Jedi?", He demanded. Bo-katan looked to Rael and took off her helmet. "Go to the city of Calodan on the forest planet of Corvus. There you will find Ashoka Tano. I'm sure you know her, but if not, tell her you were sent by Bo-katan.", she told her before turning to Din and saying lowly, "Thank you. Your help and bravery will not be forgotten. Keep her safe until I see her again. This is the Way." Din nodded and replied, "This is the Way.

Rael was too busy processing the fact that she was going to have to convince Ashoka to help her to notice Bo-katan look to her again. "We will meet again. I am sure of it. Remember, you're not just a Jedi. You're a Mandalorian as well." The woman said with a smirk and gripped the girl's forearm in farewell. This shocked Rael out of her thoughts and she returned the gesture. "Until next time." She replied quietly before Din pulled her out of the bridge and back to where they had entered.

"You're gonna need to hold on tight." Din called over his should as he opened the exterior door. "Are you even sure that thing can take all of our weight?", She questioned as she joined him outside. "Bo-katan said it would be fine. They do it all the time.", He told her as the door slid shut behind her. Din held out his hand as he placed one foot up on the railing. "I will come back and haunt you for the rest of your days if you drop me.", Rael grumbled as she copied his actions. "Wouldn't dream of it.", He quipped as he pushed off from the railing, taking Rael with him and they fell through the clouds.

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"It wasn't that bad.", Din huffed as Rael was retelling their adventure to the child. "Ignore him. So, where was I? Oh, yes! He practically dropped me onto the dock from 20 feet-", she began again, talking with her free hand that wasn't holding the kid, but Din cut her off. "10 feet." He grunted as they spotted the Razor Crest and headed towards the head dockworker. "Fine. 10 feet. But I still had to cushion my fall with the Force so I didn't break a leg!", she exclaimed while tickling the child, earning a happy squeal.

Din tried to fight the smile that was creeping onto his face, but gave in. He shook head and turned away from the two as he stopped next to the dockworker. His smile quickly disappeared when he took in the state of his ship. "I paid you a thousand credits and this is the best you could do?", He asked. The worker said nothing, but held out a tablet for Din to sign. The Mandalorian huffed as he signed and stalked towards his ship. "Oh, he's in a bad mood now...", Rael whispered to the kid as she hurried after him.

The trio climbed into the cockpit and took their seats. "Mon Calamari...", Din groaned with annoyance as he started up the Razor Crest. The engines roared to life and the ship slowly started to lift from the ground. It was noticeably more noisy than it had been, but at least it was flying. Rael heard the kid let out a small cry and she looked over to see some kind of creature hanging from the ceiling above him. Rael drew her blaster and shot the creature and it dropped into the kid's lap. "There you go. Snack time." Rael said with a wink.

"Well, we finally know where a Jedi is. We'll find her and with any luck she'll know where your friends are. She may even help us get there." Din said as he glanced back at them. "Bo-katan said you might know her. Do you?", he asked. Rael nodded as she looked out at the clouds. "Yea. I've met her before.", she said quietly. "Then that should help our case with her. "Din replied and turned back to look out the front. "But it's gonna be a bumpy ride." He added as they left Trask's atmosphere. "This whole thing is gonna be bumpy...", Rael muttered as she leaned back in her seat and shut her eyes.

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A/N

Woo!! Getting close to Ashoka's appearance! This chapter is a bit shorter, but the next one is coming soon:)

- hawkins_2000