What is with this kid?
That was the fifth time Mando had pulled Grogu off him; he had dragged him all the way from Adelphi’s beach to the New Republic Base, and hadn’t even been at the planet for two hours yet, hadn’t even gotten the chance to see Rotta. The kid wouldn’t leave him alone. It had been like that ever since they defeated the Hutt twins.
“Hell,” Mando mumbled when Grogu cooed at him (he had done that a lot lately, too). “Do you want to see Rotta?” he inquired in his best fatherly voice, even though he was still learning to be one.
Grogu replied with more coos. Lifting his arms, he offered them to Mando, who dropped them.
“You’re going to have to be more specific, kid.” When did these aliens learn to talk? Grogu was already older than Mando, but his species aged more slowly than humans. “It’s either Rotta or training,” Mando continued. Not that Grogu had put much effort into training lately—he was too busy coddling Mando.
“Mando!” a voice soon shouted over a gust of warm tropical wind, brought in by the ocean surrounding the base. Rotta emerged from behind an X-Wing and slithered toward Mando and Grogu, still as big and strong as ever, with muscles larger than Mando’s arms and legs. It was still sometimes hard to believe that he was one of the nicest aliens Mando had ever met, even though his appearance and origin said otherwise.
“How’s my favorite bounty hunter?” Rotta reached Mando and Grogu, then picked up Mando and squeezed him like a doll. His secreting skin covered Mando’s chest armor in slime, and he pushed away.
Brown eyes landing on Grogu, Rotta dropped Mando and asked, “Oh! How’s my little guy?”
He reached to pat Grogu’s head, but Grogu dodged his hand and hurried to Mando, who sat. He crawled into his lap and curled up in a fetal position.
Sighing, Mando met Rotta’s eyes. “He’s the reason why I came back. I knew you were here, and I need someone to look after him for a little while.” After all, he couldn’t complete his missions if Grogu constantly annoyed him. Maybe this would’ve been easier if Mando knew what he was doing, but he didn’t.
“What’s the problem, little guy?” Rotta brought his tail slightly forward and rested his elbows on it. His eyes bore into Grogu. “Did something happen? Did your dad get himself in trouble again?”
“I…” Mando’s voice trailed. “I just don’t think I’m cut out for this whole parenting thing. I don’t know what I did that he now can’t leave me alone.”
“You just need a break. Everyone does.” Rotta got down on Grogu’s level and slapped his palms on the ground. “Do you want to play with Big Brother Rotta, Grogu?”
Grogu only cuddled closer to Mando.
“Aw, no?” Hurt flashed in Rotta’s eyes. “We may need a professional, Mando.”
Mando picked up Grogu and rose to his feet. “That’s what I’m thinking. I was hoping that maybe I could find the coordinates to him here.”
“Who?” Rotta tilted his head.
Silence… And then Mando spoke:
“A Jedi. Grogu trained with him for a little while.”
“A Jedi?” Rotta’s eyes widened. “Really—they’re still around? Who?”
An unexpected beep, beep interrupted their exchange, and a red light flashed on one of Mando’s arm gauntlets. “Hold that thought,” he said, pressing the button. Was it finally time for another bounty mission?
While Mando was distracted, a shadow appeared in the sky (covered behind clouds), and a beam of light smashed into one of the grounded X-Wings, sending pieces flying in every direction.
Instantly, people scattered, and pilots hurried for their own X-Wings. “What was that?” Mando heard one pilot ask.
Mando looked up, and his eyes caught the shadow behind the cloud. “There’s something big there,” he said, examining the hologram above his gauntlet that showed a flashing red dot above the base.
“A starship?” Rotta guessed.
Mando looked at him. “There’s only one way to find out.” He nodded. “This is The Way.”
“This is The Way.” Rotta returned his nod.
Mando looked down at Grogu, who tugged his neck sleeve. “Grogu, you’re going to stay here with Rotta, and I’ll check out what’s up there.” Instantly, Grogu shook his head, but Mando included, “Don’t worry about me.” With those words, he turned Grogu over to Rotta and backed away. Before Grogu could stop him, he pressed another button on his armor.
Sparks escaped from Mando’s jetpack, and he launched into the sky like a spaceship, arms held out to his sides, face serious behind his helmet. God, the thing was hot, but he had already broken the Code too many times. He needed to start taking risks again, even though he had a kid now, and his body wasn’t as young as it used to be.
The young protect the old. Not today. Today, the old protected the young.
The thought flowed through Mando’s brain like the babbling brook on Nal Hutta, near where he almost died. The Dragonsnake, its fangs stabbing his side, still occasionally replayed in his head. There it was now, but Mando shook away the image and clenched his fists, flying faster toward the cloud and the shadow.
This is The Way.
***
Wait… What the hell was this?
Mando had reached the area where he saw the figure, but now there was nothing there. It was as if whatever was there had vanished in midair.
Mando searched the area, constantly checking his hologram, but sure enough, the flashing dot had vanished, and he was alone in the sky, the New Republic Base below him. A part of him didn’t want to return—because he knew Grogu would cling to him again, and he enjoyed his freedom—but another told him that his kid needed him as much as he did him.
Was this the definition of a midlife crisis? Mando was pushing fifty, and he felt it. Even after contemplating, he still started back down toward the base, and his back muscles seized up. That was becoming a routine part of his profession now.
Maybe Mando needed Luke more than he initially thought. He was younger, and while he didn’t know his father for long, he did spend some time with him before he died, so maybe he had some insight into the father-son relationship, as well as whether what was happening with Grogu was Force-related (he knew that emotions played a role in the practice).
Landing beside his ship, the Razor Crest, Mando stumbled back when pilots rushed to him, asking, “What was it—the Empire?”
Mando wouldn’t be surprised if it were, but how could a ship from the Empire disappear that quickly? His eyes caught a few pilots spraying foam on what was left of the X-Wing, and others carefully picking up the mess from the beam.
In an attempt not to worry the New Republic, Mando said, “False alarm, but keep your eyes open.” He wouldn’t hesitate to call other Mandalorians, if need be, but he also had to ensure Grogu was ready in case something was out there.
Well, back to training.
Returning to Rotta and Grogu, Mando escorted them to the beach, where Rotta and Mando’s wingman, Zeb, watched Mando and Grogu from afar.
The two sat across from each other. Mando rested his palms on his thighs and said to Grogu, while adjusting his chest armor, “Now, remember, kid, don’t trust anyone. You need to be ready at all times. That means weapons, armor, and mind.” He prepared to show Grogu his gauntlet. “I’m going to teach you how to use a gauntlet, in case you spot something, and I’m not around. My goal is that you’ll be able to get a gauntlet of your own soon.” Grogu first had to prove himself. Mando would start with a gauntlet, then maybe a blaster, and then—if Grogu decided that he wanted to pursue Jedi training—a lightsaber. That would be something new, seeking out a kyber crystal.
“So…” Mando continued, checking his gauntlet again, “why don’t you show me how to turn the gauntlet on?”
Then came the coo.
“Huh?” Mando inquired, looking down, sighing.
There was Grogu, hugging his leg like the devil he was—and not interested in his gauntlet.
“Hey, Mando!” Rotta soon called to him. “Are you sure the little guy isn’t training you?”
Mando swore… What was he doing wrong? He couldn’t handle this much longer… not without risking his career and worsening his crisis.
“I’m done with this shit,” he mumbled (he hoped Grogu didn’t hear him swear). Standing, he picked The Child up and said to Zeb and Rotta, “I’m going to find that Jedi and figure out what happened up there.” He gestured into the sky and pushed by Zeb and Rotta, heading toward his ship.
“Jedi?” Rotta questioned again, following him. “What Jedi?”
***
Blaster in hand, Zeb waited for Mando and Rotta, acting as a bodyguard for when Mando went into the base to grab a holo chip of the galaxy from the archives, and a bodyguard as of now, while Rotta and Mando slipped the chip into a dock in the Razor Crest’s cockpit.
Grogu sat in his seat, flinching when a holographic map of the galaxy filled the cockpit.
Rotta couldn’t fit in the cockpit, so he stood in the doorway and asked Mando, who swiped through the holographic planets, “You’re kidding? You found Jedi Master Luke Skywalker?”
“It was more he found us,” Mando corrected, carefully studying the Outer Rim, “but yes.”
Rotta chuckled. “And you think that the Force is why Grogu is upset? Have you ever considered that maybe the little guy has some PTSD after almost losing you?”
Not catching the last sentence, Mando said, “There!” and pointed at a large, mountainous planet in the hologram. “That’s where we need to go: Ossus.” He swiped the other planets aside so Ossus could stand out.
Mando saved the coordinates in his gauntlet, removed the chip from the dock, and handed it to Rotta. “Return this to the archives, and Grogu and I will leave immediately. Thanks, Rotta.”
“Now, just wait a minute.” Rotta straightened his posture and held his arms to his sides. “Wasn’t Luke Skywalker’s sister the one who killed my father?”
“Jabba the Hutt?” Mando buckled up Grogu and sat in the pilot seat, buckling himself up. “I believe so?” He was a little busy with bounty after bounty around the time of Jabba the Hutt.
While Mando booted up the ship, Rotta continued: “I think I may like to meet the famous brother. It’s been a little underwhelming without you, Mando.”
Mando paused, then looked over his shoulder. “What are you out for? Revenge?”
“No! Of course not!” Rotta argued. “I’m the good Hutt, remember? I’m just curious about the Jedi religion.”
Mando opened his mouth, but then remembered how close Rotta and Grogu got during the Hutt Mission. He returned to Adelphi because they were like brothers.
“You’re having a midlife crisis, my friend,” Rotta finished. “I think it will do you well to have someone else help you look after the little guy.”
If Mando could, he would rub his face down, but to protect the Creed, he leaned back in his chair. “Okay, fine,” he said after a moment of silence. “You can come, Rotta. Just tell Zeb to help look after the base until we return, in case something happens again.”
“Wait, really?” Did Rotta’s eyes widen? “Yes, sir!” He smiled at Grogu. “It looks like we get to be brothers again, Grogu.”
Mando waved his hand. “Still return the chip, though, and we’ll wait for you.”
“Are you sure that’s smart?” Rotta lifted an eye.
“I know this galaxy like the back of my hand,” Mando argued.
“True, but your mentality isn’t the best right now,” Rotta admitted.
It was strange. Mando was usually a stoic man, masking emotion behind his helmet, but he felt his curly hair sticking to it and heat in his chest. He needed to stop hanging out with younger people.
It only took one slow look over his shoulder for Rotta to shiver and say, “Ooh, if looks could kill. I’ll be back.” Then, just like that, he rushed out of the scene before Mando could explode.
In the cockpit, Grogu unbuckled himself and tumbled out of his seat. Next thing Mando knew, he had hopped onto his lap and was reaching for a ball on top of a switch.
The heat continued to rise: from Mando’s chest, his neck, and eventually, his head. He couldn’t do it anymore. Stoic Mando was no more.
Mando put the ship on autopilot and sat Grogu in the co-pilot seat beside him. He then nearly jumped out of his seat and headed for the cockpit’s exit, fists clenched. His right foot became caught in his cape, and he tumbled onto his front, the sound of his armor clanging reverberating throughout the cockpit.
Mando cursed and hopped up. His shoulder bumped Rotta’s on his way out of the cockpit, who was back from his errand.
“Hey, Mando!”
Wipe that stupid smile off your face, Rotta.
“Where’re you going?” Rotta inquired.
“Ship is on autopilot,” Mando explained, heading toward the ship’s berthing area. “Don’t touch anything. I need some air.”
And a safe place to honor the Creed.
Once Mando vanished in the berthing, Rotta met eyes with Grogu in the cockpit and asked, “So, um… Have you learned how to fly yet?”
Cooing gently, Grogu popped the ball off the switch and sank into his seat, holding it in both hands.
ns216.73.216.133da2
and then Add to home screen.