DEFENDER • THE MANDALORIAN

TEN

•••

Alya leans her head against the window of the cockpit in the Mandalorian's ship. After many hours of work, the ship was finally fixed.

Outside the window, Kuiil says goodbye to the Mandalorian. Alya had already wished the kind alien goodbye before retreating into the ship to watch over the Child.

The Child, still asleep in his carrier, looks at ease. Pulling the carrier closer to her chair, Alya's brown eyes peer at the Child. She figures he should wake up soon.

The automatic door to the cockpit opens, revealing the Mandalorian. He looks down at the Jedi before walking over to the center seat and sitting down.

His hands work with ease as he flips switches and turns the ship on. The roar of the ship's engine greets the man, displaying the functionality of the ship.

Alya watches as the bounty hunter shifts the joystick of the ship forward, causing the ship to take off. The ground of the planet gets smaller as the Mandalorian takes them farther away.

The small speckles of stars scattered throughout darkness greet Alya as the Mandalorian turns to look at the Child.

"He'll be okay." The Jedi tells the man. She looks away and smiles lightly as she realizes that the bounty hunter is concerned about the Child.

"Become your ally, he will."

Yoda's message runs through her mind as the Mandalorian turns, facing forward. A smile graces her face as she hears the cooing of the Child as it awakes.

Large, dark eyes look at both  the Mandalorian and the Jedi as the Child takes in its surroundings. The bounty hunter turns his head slightly, seeing the Child awake and the Jedi smiling towards it.

For a second dread rose in his being as he realized what he must do next.

•••

Eventually, the Child got bored of staying in its carrier and decides to climb out of its carrier. It glances over at Alya, whose eyes are closed in meditation, and then he looks over to the Mandalorian who is flying the ship.

Looking at the control panel, the Child sees a detachable ball on a lever. Setting its eyes on the shiny ball, the Child climbs up to the panel as a small beep is made, signalling an incoming transmission.

Alya's eyes open as the Mandalorian flips a switch, accepting the transmission. A small figure appears before the Mandalorian.

"Mando. I've received your transmission. Wonderful news.Upon your return, deliever the quarries directly to the client. I have no idea if he wants to eat them or hang them on his wall. "

Alya winces slightly at the thought, looking at the innocent Child who is now retrieving the ball off of the lever. She can only hope that it won't come down to her fighting her way out for the Child.

She looks at the stiff Mandalorian; she has to hope that Yoda is correct and that the Mandalorian will help her.

"But he is very antsy. Safe passage! You know where to find me."

With that the transmission disappears. Alya looks over to the Child who now sits on the control board, fiddling with the detached ball. It appears that the Mandalorian sees the Child too, as the bounty hunter takes the ball and places it on the control panel.

"It's not a toy."

The Mandalorian then picks up the Child from the back of its clothing. It gives a noise of unhappiness as the Mandalorian places it back in its carrier.