"This is Grogu." Cordelia introduces, rubbing the top of his head. He coos up at his mother and she smiles at him. Din finishes removing Pandora from the birikad on his chest and settles her into the pram.
"Hello, Grogu." The Duchess says, shaking his little hand. He coos at her, and she laughs.
"This is Pandora." Din tells her, holding his daughter's small hand in his own. She giggles up at him, clutching her Wookiee doll with her other hand. The Duchess waves at her and she imitates her, swinging the doll around as she attempts to wave back.
"You two behave." Cordelia tells her children, crouching next to the pram. Grogu coos, assuring them he'll be on his best behavior as he pats her arm. Pandora babbles, dropping her doll to reach for her mother. Cordelia takes her other hand and kisses her forehead. "We'll be back as soon as we can."
Din quickly rests his helmet to the top of their heads in a quick Keldabe Kiss before stepping back to let Cordelia have her turn. She holds Grogu close to her for a moment before setting him in the pram next to his sister. She kisses the tops of their heads before stepping back to stand next to Din.
"If anything happens to either of them while we're gone, I will destroy your city." He threatens.
"Of course." The Duchess replies, happy that the children have parents who would do anything for them. She watches them go before leading the children away and rejoining her husband.
***
"These droids were all reprogrammed to serve the community from the stockpile of captured Imperial robotics scheduled to be scrapped at Karthon. The droid's reprogramming was a complete success, until one day, an isolated event..." Commissioner Helgait explains as he messes with the security feeds in front of the Mandalorians.
They watch the security footage of a droid malfunctioning and tossing trash everywhere. He plays the next one, where a droid carrying a woman's purchases begins throwing them.
"This is just a small collection of malfunctions that our security cameras caught." He continues as they watch footage of a droid crashing a speeder into a wall. He plays another where a cook droid begins swinging its knives around wildly.
"Turn them off." Bo says.
"What?" He asks her, swiveling in his chair to look at her.
"Why not turn them all off?" She clarifies. "Who's in charge of that?"
"I am." He answers. "There's a failsafe cutoff switch built into the system. However..."
"What?" Din asks.
"The citizens voted against any interruption in droid services." He says with a laugh. "They can't live without it."
"And why's that?" He asks.
"The citizens are no longer required to work and can spend their days engaging in recreation, the arts, and participating in our direct democracy. If we shut down the droids, our citizens wouldn't know how to survive. Our society would collapse." He explains.
"Then what do you want from us?" Bo asks.
"They want us to deal with the malfunctioning droids until they can fix it. Am I right?" Cordelia says. Helgait nods.
"Give us the list." She sighs.
"Well, for that you'll have to go to the lower level and speak to the Ugnaughts." He replies.
"Ugnaughts?" Din and Cordelia ask, remembering their fallen friend.
"Ugnaughts." Helgait confirms. The three follow the directions they were given, entering an elevator.
"See what happens when you rely on droids?" Din says.
"Are you taking this personally?" Bo asks as Cordelia groans in annoyance.
"Just pointing it out." He replies.
"Din, not all droids are bad. Is their society's reliance on droids excessive? Yes, but they aren't evil. One of my closest friends is a droid." Cordelia tells him.
"Why haven't I met this droid?" He asks.
"Why do you think?" She scoffs, rolling her eyes.
"Let's just finish this so we can be on our way." Bo interrupts, stopping their bickering.
A moment later the elevator stops, and the doors open. She leads the way into the room and Cordelia grabs Din's hand as she spots the many Ugnaughts.
"I am Bo-Katan Kryze. Which one of you is in charge?" She calls. The Ugnaughts continue working, none of them acknowledging that she spoke. "We were sent on behalf of The Duchess and Captain Bombardier to help you with your droid problem." She watches them as they continue working. "Hello?"
"I am Mandalorian Din Djarin and this is my wife Cordelia Djarin, we are friends of Ugnaught Kuiil. You will answer our questions and help us with our task. I have spoken." Din says, getting the Ugnaughts attention at the mention of Kuiil.
They all sit at a table in the center of the room, Ugnaughts on one side, Mandalorians on the other.
"Thank you for your hospitality and for sharing your table with us. We were engaged to hunt down and eliminate the malfunctioning droids." He says.
"There are no such droids." One of the Ugnaughts says.
"You may not have heard the news down here, but your droids are wreaking havoc in the world above." Bo tells them.
"There is not much of which we are not aware. These halls are the central nervous system of the city. I assure you, the droids are not malfunctioning." The same Ugnaught replies.
"Citizens have been harmed by these malfunctioning machines." She states.
"This is not the case. I have spoken." The Ugnaught says, trying to finish the conversation.
"We're not blaming you or the amazing work you do." Cordelia soothes. Din nods. "The stories of Ugnaughts' skill with smithing droids are legendary. We know that Ugnaughts are considered the hardest working species in the galaxy. Our friend Kuiil proved that to us. We are not questioning your work. We only want to help." The other Ugnaughts nod in agreement.
"We, like you, have been engaged with a task to perform. We will investigate the dangerous incidents. We would appreciate your help." Din tells them.
Cordelia squeezes Din's hand as the Ugnaughts speak to one another for a moment. A device is handed to the one they had been speaking with and they give it to Din.
"Here are the locations of the droids you seek." They tell him.
"Thank you. We are in your debt. I have spoken." He says.
They thank the Ugnaughts one more time before entering the elevator again. Cordelia sighs and presses into her husband's side.
"It was harder than I thought it would be, seeing the Ugnaughts. I miss him." She says. Din wraps his arm around her and pulls her closer, stroking her hair.
"I know. I miss him too." He replies. Bo glances at them, curious about the Ugnaught they'd mentioned, but not wanting to interrupt. Sensing her unasked question, Cordelia tells her about Kuiil and how he'd protected their son, sacrificing himself in an attempt to get Grogu to safety.
"I like to think he'd be proud of us." She says.
"From what I've heard, I think he would be." Bo assures.
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The Mandalorian's Bounties | Din Djarin
FanfictionCordelia wakes up with no memories. She doesn't know who she is, let alone why she wakes up in a strange building with a Child at her side. The only thing she does know is that she must protect him at all costs. After spending months with her appare...
