Metanoia | The Mandalorian

Chapter 34

They were all snoring softly when an alarm started beeping, waking everyone up. The child rubbed his eyes as Juno yawned and shifted on Din's lap.

"Looks like we made it. Get ready for landing." Said Din. Hearing they were going to land, Juno got off of Din's lap and went to sit in her chair behind him, taking the child with her. "Dank farrik! The landing array isn't responding. Without the guidance system, it'll be a manual re-entry. It might get a little choppy." He started explaining. "Once we're through the atmosphere, there should be enough fuel to slow us down. If we don't burn to a crisp."

"Seriously?" Asked Juno with wide eyes as the child in her arms cooed nervously while Din focused on the manual re-entry. The alarms started blaring as the ship shook and heated, falling down the atmosphere.

"Juno come up here. I need your hands!" Said Din and Juno quickly sat the child down and rushed to him to help him. "This lever needs to stay back. Can you do that?" He told her.

"Yeah, I'll try." She nervously nodded and grabbed the lever.

"Keep it steady. Here we go."

"Razor Crest, this is Trask flight control. Please reduce your speed to port protocol." Said the flight control worker.

"I'm trying my best here." Replied Din. "Engage reverse thrusters. Brace!" He continued. Juno adjusted her stance and held the lever tightly as they neared the landing. "Hold on."

The child cooed worriedly as the frog lady held her eggs tightly when the flight control worker spoke again.

"Razor Crest, do you copy? You have to reduce speed."

"Almost there, almost there." He kept saying.

"Razor Crest, do you copy? Razor Crest, you're coming in too fast. You have to re-" The woman's voice was cut off by Din as he turned it off. He managed to slow down the ship and hovered above the landing platform.

"Here we go. Nice and easy." He said before they heard an explosion and the Crest, missing the platform, landed in the water, submerging. Din quickly grabbed Juno by her arm and pulled her to him, protecting her from getting hurt.

They waited for the port workers to pull the ship out of the water and onto the platform before they walked out, the frog lady in the front. "Great landing, Mando. Very enjoyable. I loved the part where we could have drowned." Said Juno sarcastically as she walked next to him, the child floating behind them in his pram. "Nice and easy." She scoffed and shook her head. Din just sighed and smiled under his helmet at her antics as one of the workers approached them.

"So, how can I help you?" He asked.

"Can you fix it?" Asked Din and the worker looked over the ship.

"Fix it? Nah. But I can make it fly." He replied and Din placed some credits in his hand.

"Do what you can." He told him. Din placed his arm around Juno's shoulders to keep her close to him as they walked, the child floating next to them as they followed after the lady. They walked through the crowd as she was shouting in her language, looking for her husband. After a few moments they heard her husband reply and the pair rushed to each other.

Din and the kids watched their reunion as they walked to them. Juno had a soft smile on her face and she leaned on Din who squeezed her shoulder. The child next to them whined as he looked at the eggs.

"I know you're hungry." As he said that, Juno's stomach grumbled in hunger. "We'll get you two something to eat." He told them as the frog man walked up to Din and shook his hand, saying something in his language. "You're welcome. I was told you could lead me to others of my kind." He said. The man nodded and turned, pointing at a building. "The inn? Over there?" He asked and looked over to where he was pointing. The man nodded and returned to his wife and eggs. They stood up and walked toward the inn. "Thank you." He told them as they parted ways.

Juno smiled and waved at the couple as Din lead her to an empty table. They sat down and she looked up at one of the workers who came up to them.

"What can I get you?" He asked.

"Nothing for me. A bowl of chowder for the kids." Din replied, gesturing to the children.

"These seats are scarce, buddy. Everyone seated needs to eat." Said the man. Juno turned her head to look at Din but he kept looking at the man.

"I can buy something else." He said and slid some credits to him. "Information." The man took the money. "Have you seen others that look like me?" He asked. The man looked around before he poured some chowder into the bows in front of the kids as he spoke.

"Others with beskar have been through here." He replied and pushed the food to the kids. Juno quickly started eating, hungry after the long travels, while the child looked at the bowl.

"Who can take me to them?" Continued Din.

"I know someone who might help." He told him and walked to a different table, explaining to the one sitting there. While they waited, Juno looked at the child, noticing he was just staring at the food before something jumped onto his face and he started squealing. Juno quickly let go of her spoon and watched with wide eyes.

"Don't play with your food." Said Din when he noticed and stabbed the thing, making it fall back into the bowl and the child looked at him and the food confused, before he carefully started eating.

"Can you kill mine too?" Asked Juno, still watching her food with wide eyes. Din just shook his head and did as she asked when a man from the other table came up to them, sitting down beside them.

"You seek others of your kind?" He asked.

"Have you seen them?" Asked Din.

"Aye. I can bring you to them." He answered with a chuckle.

"Where?" Questioned Din.

"Only a few hours' sail. It'll cost you, though." He replied.