As Dad flew the ship back to Nevarro, I did my best to ignore the events of everything that had happened with the Mudhorn and the Child. Dad breaks my silent concentration.

Dad: Y/n, we're getting a transmission.

I stand from my seat and lean over the controls as a hologram of Greef appears.

Greef: (transmission) Mando, I've received your transmission. Wonderful news. Upon your return, deliver the quarry directly to the client. I have no idea if he wants to eat it or hang it on his wall, but he's very antsy. Safe passage! You know where to find me.

As Dad turned off the transmission, we both turned and saw the Child chewing on the ball for the top of the hyperdrive switch.

Dad takes the ball from it and puts it down.

Dad: That's not a toy.

Dad hands him to me and I put the Child back in his crib. As I sit back down, both Dad and I look at the Child as it tilts it's head at us.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Once we land on Nevarro, Dad and I exit the ship with the Child in his crib, floating between us.

We make it to the alleyway, and Dad knocks on the door, making the security droid exit it's hole-port. Dad holds up the chit and the droid scans it, retreating back into the wall.

The door opens and two Stormtroopers come, eyeing us and the Child. One leads us inside while the other stays behind. One of the troopers grabs the crib firmly, making the Child scared.

Y/n: Easy with that.

Stormtrooper: You take it easy, kid.

Dank Farik, no wonder so many of these guys die every day. All mouth and no brains.

We eventually make it to the meeting room and the Client stands from his seat, smiling with Dr. Pershing.

Client: Yes. Yes, yes, yes...

The Client uses a fob to make sure it's the real thing, which beeps rapidly once he and the Doctor stand over the Child.

Dr. Pershing takes out some kind of device that scans the Child, making it look down from the brightness.

Dr. Pershing: Very healthy. Yes.

The Client then meets out eyes.

Client: Your reputations were not unwarranted.

Dad: How many fobs did you give out?

Client: This asset was of extreme importance to me. I had to ensure it's delivery.

The Client then walks behind his desk.

Client: But to the winners...

The Client then puts two camtonos down on the table and opens them, revealing at least forty ingots of Beskar in each.

The Client: ...go the spoils.

Dad and I walk towards the table and look at the Beskar quantity in amazement.

Client: Such a large bounty for such a small package.

As I took an ingot from one of the camtonos, I watch as Dr. Pershing and two Troopers take the Child into the next room.

Y/n: What do you plan to do with it?

Client: How uncharacteristic of one of your reputation. You have taken both commission and payment. Is not the Code of the Guild that these events are now forgotten? That Beskar is enough to make handsome replacements for your armors.

Okay, first he doesn't tell us that he'd given out a ton of other fobs to God only knows how many other bounty hunters, then we deliver the thing ALIVE no less, and here I am asking one simple question and he turns into a Dug with both his feet stuck up his ass.

Client: Unfortunately, finding a Mandalorian in these trying times is more difficult than finding the steel.

Dad and I close our camtonos and grab them before heading for the exit.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Both of us head down into the sewers, and we gain the attention of practically the whole Tribe as they see the camtonos in our hands.

We make it to the Forge, and find the Armorer sitting at her table. We put the camtonos down and open them, showing the Beskar to her.

As she begins to take them out, I sit in the seat in front of her as Dad stands on my left. We hear footsteps and know that the rest of the Tribe has entered the Forge.

Armorer: This amount can be shaped many ways.

I feel Dad hold my shoulder.

Dad: My son's armor has lost it's integrity, he will need to begin again.

The Armorer glances at my armor before back down at the Beskar.

Armorer: Indeed. I can form two full cuirasses. This would be in order for your stations.

I lower my head, gratefully.

Y/n: That would be a great honor.

Armorer: I must warn you, it will draw many eyes.

Y/n: Being a Mandalorian makes you prey to the galaxy, with Beskar armor or not.

A Heavy Infantry Mandalorian makes his way past and grabs one of the ingots, scoffing at the symbol on it.

Heavy Mandalorian: These were cast in an Imperial smelter.

He then shows it to the others.

Heavy Mandalorian: These are the spoils of the Great Purge. The reason that we live hidden like sand rats.

I watch the Heavy toss the ingot on the table, which the Armorer just takes and puts it back in the stack.

Armorer: Our secrecy is our survival. Our survival is our strength.

Heavy Mandalorian: Our strength was once in our numbers. Now we live in the shadows and only come above ground one at a time. Our world was shattered by the Empire with whom these cowards share tables.

The Heavy Mandalorian grabs the bottom of my helmet to rip it off, but Dad grabs his arm and twists it, before getting into a full fight with him.

I stand back as they take out their knives. Dad makes two slashes against the Heavy's chest plate before dodging the Heavy's overhead slash and they hold each other's knives at the edges of the others' throats.

Armorer: The Empire is no longer. And the Beskar has returned.

The Armorer stands and puts her arm around my shoulders.

Armorer: As Y/n Djarin has wisely stated: when one chooses to walk the Way of the Mandalore, you are not only hunter, you are prey as well. How can one be a coward if one chooses this way of life?

The Armorer looks at me.

Armorer: Have you or your father ever removed your helmets?

Y/n: No.

Armorer: Have they ever been removed by others?

Y/n: Never.

The Armorer looks to the Tribe.

Armorer: This is the Way.

All the Mandalorians speak in unison.

Tribe: This is the Way.

Heavy Mandalorian: This is the Way.

Dad and the Heavy Mandalorian put their knives away. The Heavy then extends his hand to me.

Heavy Mandalorian: Forgive me.

I shake his hand before sitting back down in front of the Armorer with Dad at my side. The Armorer gestures to my armor.

Armorer: What caused this damage?

Y/n: A Mudhorn.

Armorer: Then you have earned the Mudhorn as your signet. I shall craft it.

Y/n: I can't accept. It was not a noble kill. I was helped by an enemy.

The Armorer leans back slightly, in surprise.

Armorer: Why would an enemy help you in battle?

Y/n: It... did not know it was my enemy.

Armorer: ...Since you forgo a signet, I shall use the excess to forge whistling birds.

Dad: Whistling birds will do well. Reserve some for the foundlings.

Armorer: As it should always be. The foundlings are the future. This is the Way.

Tribe: This is the Way.

Dad/Y/n: This is the Way.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

After we had our new armor forged, Dad and I walked into the cantina where everyone saw our new attires.

Greef sees us and smiles.

Greef: Ah! Mando!

Dad and I stopped in front of Greef's table.

Greef: They all hate you, Mando! And your boy! Because you're legends!

Dad: How many of them had tracking fobs?

Greef scoffs and leans back in his seat.

Greef: All of them. ALL of them! But not one of them closed the deal! Only you and your son, Mando. And with it, the richest reward this parsec has ever seen! Please! Sit, my friend!

Dad sits in his usual spot across from Greef while I lean against the booth.

Greef: They're all weighing the Beskar in their minds, but not me. No, I for one, I celebrate your success. Because it is my success as well. Hell! Even I'm rich!

Greef slightly opens his jacket and shows that he had two ingots of Beskar.

Greef: Now, how can I show my gratitude, to my most valuable partners?

Dad: We want our next job.

Greef sips his drink and sets it down, looking at us baffled.

Greef: Next job? Take some time off. Enjoy yourself. I'll take you to the Twi'lek healing baths.

Dad: One: if you ever mention something like that in front of my son again, you can forget my services for any jobs for the next 100 rotations. Two: we want our next job.

Greef sighs and shrugs.

Greef: Sure. Fine. You hunters like to keep busy, right? Well, these are far away.

Greef dumps a bag of pucks on the table, and Dad starts searching for which one will be the best.

Greef: Well, take your pick. You've earned it.

Dad places one down and projects the bounty image to be a Mon Calamari.

Greef: Ah. That's the best of the lot. A nobleman's son skipped bail. Looks like your headed to the ocean dunes of Karnac.

Y/n: Compared to the last three planets we've been to, Karnac will be an oasis.

As Dad pockets the puck, we both turn to leave but I stop.

Y/n: Do you... know what they're gonna do with it?

Greef: With what?

I turn and look at Greef dead in the eyes.

Y/n: The baby.

Greef shakes his head.

Greef: I didn't ask. It's against the Guild Code.

Y/n: They're with the Empire. Why are they here?

Greef: The Empire is gone, my boy. All that are left are mercenaries and warlords. But if it bothers you, just go back to the Core and report them to the New Republic.

Y/n: Oh, give me a break. The New Republic hardly even have a foothold in this part of the sector.

Greef: Young one, enjoy your rewards. Buy a camtono of spice. By the time you and your father have come out of hyperdrive, you will have forgotten all about it.

I look down for a moment before shaking my head and following Dad out of the cantina.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Once we got back to the Razor Crest, Dad was checking our munitions while I was getting the engines prepped.

As I looked to my right, I saw the hyperdrive switch still had the ball missing and I saw it laying an inch away. As I went to screw it back on, I stopped. I held the ball in my hand and sighed thinking one thing... Dad's gonna kill me.

I drop down into the cargo bay and grab my blaster and sniper rifle. Dad sees me and walks over.

Dad: Y/n, what are you doing?

Y/n: I'm going to get the baby.

Dad: What? Are you crazy?

Y/n: Maybe I am. But something about him has stumped me, Dad. Hell, he saved my life! If it wasn't for that Child I wouldn't be here, and you'd have probably gone on an all out rampage on the Mudhorn, the Jawas, maybe even the whole damned Empire!

Dad just stares at me as I continued.

Y/n: I won't leave that baby to be dissected or transformed or whatever in the name of Dank Farik they've got planned for it. It's the Empire! All they do is take and make what they've stolen their own! I'm saving that baby... with or without you.

Dad just continues to look at me before he just chuckles.

Dad: You've always had your mother's heart.

I then watch Dad grab his own weapons and then placed his hands on both sides of my helmet, bringing mine and his together.

Dad: You're the only reason that I live, Y/n. The only thing that I'd die for. If this kid is so important... then let's get him out of there.

I smile under my helmet.

Y/n: I love you, Dad.

Dad: I love you too, son.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Dad and I make our way into town and head through the alleyways. We climb to the top of a building overlooking the one where met the Client and hack into their comms.

We see the infrared figures of Dr. Pershing and the Client speaking.

Client: (over comms) I don't care. I order you to extract the necessary material and be done with it.

Dr. Pershing: (over comms) He has explicitly ordered us to bring it back alive.

Client: (over comms) Finish your business quickly, as I can no longer guarantee your safety.

I immediately stand up, worried.

Y/n: We gotta get him out of there.

Dad: Y/n, take a deep breath. We WILL get him out. But we have to be calm.

I inhale and exhale slowly before nodding.

Y/n: Okay, okay...

Dad: Let's go.

We make our way to the entrance of the building and Dad pounds on the door. The security droid pops out of the wall and he rips the eye-socket off. We immediately separate and Dad pulls out one of his detonation mines.

He places it on the wall, and we run several feet back as the mine primes and explodes, making an alarm blare.

As we make our way in, we kill at least a dozen Stormtroopers before we find Pershing's lab. The door opens and a Trooper fires a shot that hits me in the chest, making me stumble before I fire my flamethrower and make him scream, running away while scalding. Dad shoots the torture droid as we enter.

Inside we see a Dr. Pershing and the Child being under some kind of machine.

Dr. Pershing: Please, don't hurt him! It's just a child! No, no, no, please!

Dad moves him out of the way, as I check to see if the baby's okay.

Dad: What did you do to it?

Dad grabs Pershing and pins him to the wall.

Dad: What did you do to it?

Dr. Pershing: I-I protected him. I protected him. If it wasn't for me, he'd already be dead! Please!

Y/n: Dad.

Dad looks at me as I grab the baby and wrap him up in a blanket.

Y/n: Let it go.

Dad looks at Pershing before dropping him and following me out.

Dad: Stay behind me. Watch my back.

Y/n: Right.

We take cover as two Troopers walk by and then head out a different door. As we enter the next room, Dad takes out three Troopers before two more charge up behind us and I blast them both.

As make it to the next room, four Stormtroopers then corner us.

Stormtrooper #1: Freeze!

Stormtrooper #2: Don't move!

Stormtrooper #3: Drop your weapons! Now!

I hold my free hand up.

Y/n: Stop. What I'm holding is very valuable.

Dad and I gently get down and put our blasters on the floor. Dad then straightens his left arm and fires his whistling birds, killing all four Troopers without moving.

We grab our weapons and finally make it outside. We keep our hands close to our holsters as we make our way back to the Crest.

As we see the entrance to town coming up, practically everyone in town were following us and surrounding us. We then stop in the center of them all as Greef comes out in front of them.

Greef: Welcome back, Mando! Now put the package down.

Dad: Step aside. We're going to our ship.

Greef: You put the bounty down, and perhaps I'll let you pass.

Y/n: The Child's coming with us.

Greef: If you truly care about the kid, then you'll put it on the speeder and we'll discuss terms.

Dad: How do we know we can trust you?

Greef: Because I'm your only hope.

Dad looks at me and nods to put the baby down. I walk over to the speeder, and look at the baby's sleeping eyes. I glance at Dad and he nods before we both grab our blasters and shoot two of the hunters down.

Everyone took cover as blaster fire was coming down like rain. Dad hopped in the speeder with me and looked at the droid driver.

Dad: Drive!

The droid beeps shaking his head. Dad then aims his blaster at it.

Dad: Drive!

The speeder then moves towards the entrance, nearly getting us there before the droid gets shot and destroyed. Dad and I were getting swarmed by the Guild, and I just look at him and he back at me.

I looked down at the Child as he stared up at me.

Y/n: I'm sorry...

But then out of nowhere, blaster fire came down and starting killing the Guild members one by one. Dad and I look up and see the Tribe flying down and tearing up the town.

Dad and I fire back along with them as the Guild members were getting overrun.

The Heavy Infantry Mandalorian drops down beside us and helps us out of the speeder. He yanks his mini-gun off his back and sends several dozen blasts that kill at last seven Guild hunters.

Heavy Mandalorian: Get out of here! We'll hold them off!

Dad: You're going to have to relocate the covert!

Heavy Mandalorian: This is the Way.

Dad/Y/n: This is the Way.

Dad and I run to the Crest and make it inside, only to hear an all too familiar voice.

Greef: Hold it, Mando.

Dad and I turn around and see Greef aiming at us at point-blank range.

Greef: I didn't want it to come to this. But then you broke the Code.

Y/n: Some things are worth more than money.

Dad uses the distraction to fire his fibercord, hitting one of the empty carbonite encaser controls, and sending gas inside the cargo bay. Greef blindly fires at us, before I shoot him in the chest, sending him rolling out of the ship and into the dirt.

Dad closes the ramp and heads to the cockpit, firing up the ship and blasting off into the sky.

As we make our way up, we look out the viewport and see the Heavy Mandalorian flying beside us and salutes us before heading back down.

Y/n: We gotta get our own jetpacks.

Dad: Big time.

I see the baby reaching for the ball again and just chuckle, unscrewing it and grabbing him and the ball before sitting in my seat. I hand the Child the ball and quietly laugh as he chews on the metal ball as Dad throws the switch and sends us into hyperspace.

(AND THAT'S EPISODE 3 DONE! 25 OR MORE VOTES FOR THE NEXT ONE TO COME OUT!)