The Jundland Wastes
The Old Salara Outpost

Preparations for the assault started early in the morning, because they did not know what they were truly going up against. Certain death is a promise for anyone who attempts to brave the open sands without supplies and a plan of attack. Ch'Vigg, the Tusken tribe leader, suggested they ride on dewbacks for the journey.

"I know these canyons can get as narrow as a few inches in some areas. There are places within the Jundland Wastes that I've caught bounties in by counting on that fact. And if this outpost is located in the center of those ridges, then I'd bet a lot of it will be impassable on a landspeeder," Din says as he prepares a dewback with weapons and supplies.

Leaving Fett's landspeeder at the Tusken village, the team head out on dewbacks into the harsh terrain. The early-dawn twin suns had just begun their trek into the sky by the time they left, which they were hoping for as they began their journey into the wastes. Everyone rode on dewbacks in a single file line into the west. It was Din and Nia on one dewback, next it was Boba and Fennec on another, then finally it was Bossk and Cobb on a third one. As well as ten of the best Tusken warriors of the tribe following behind them.

Problems came about as soon as they got closer to the location of the outpost at the center of the mountain range, just as everyone predicted. When the two suns had fully risen into the sky directly above them, the trail narrowed. There was a mild scuffling between Din and Boba as each struggled for position in front of the other, which almost drowned out the tumbling noises of small rocks falling down along the slides of the canyons.

"Hey! I'm the one who should be leading this, Djarin! I've been hunting bounties since I was eleven years old," Boba grits out with frustration.

"And I say, that you haven't hunted a bounty in like...seven years!" Din snapped back.

"Guys..." Nia says softly as she hears the sounds of starships rapidly approaching their position.

"Aren't you riled up today! Are you trying to show me up in front of her?" Boba sneered, tilting his head to gesture to Nia.

"Guys?" Nia says again, a bit louder this time. Yet it didn't seem to get their attention as the two men continue to argue about who's going first.

"Perhaps if I removed your head from your..." Din gritted between clenched teeth.

"Perhaps if you removed the hot air from your..." Boba yelped back, interrupting Din's threat.

"Guys!" Nia yelled out, which echoed the rocks around them and causing everyone to stop dead on their tracks.

"You hear that?" Nia whispers once Boba and Din finally stop arguing and focus their attention on the unsettling screeching sounds, which are getting louder and louder by the second. Suddenly an Imperial Lambda-class shuttle, along with two TIE-fighters, fly over their heads towards the direction of the Red Key outpost.

"Oh that's not good," Boba huffs out with irritation.

"Why are the Imperials here?" Fennec asked.

Just then, Nia senses a presence in the Force. It is coming from the base ahead of them.

***

"Come for me, I knew he would," the voice of a child rings in her ear, which sounds like a former Jedi Master she once knew.

"Who are you?" Nia asked the child.

"Grogu, I am Grogu. With my buir, you are."

"You are supposed to be with the Jedi," Nia says, feeling quite confused.

"Want to be a Mandalorian I do, like my buir."

"He loves you, but he will not be happy that you ran away."

"Understand, he will. With another student, I am. Got captured, we did."

"We are here. Stay strong."

***

"Nia! Nia!" Din is yelling, noticing that her nails are digging into his forearms, he can feel them even under the thick fabric of his flight suit.

"Shit!" Nia cursed. "Your kid is here!"

"What?!" Din shouted. "He was supposed to...how did...why..." he babbled.

"Din..." Nia says softly. "He's with another student. Apparently they ran away."

"We need to get over there fast!" Din cries out and begins moving the dewback forward.

***

By mid-morning, they arrived at the entrance of the outpost at an intersection between two canyons. Din was in complete panic mode, driving the dewback in a full gallop towards the main gate.

"Djarin, we can't just run in. We need a plan!" Boba shouts as he tried to keep up with him.

"Fuck you, Fett! My kid's in there with the Empire!" Din yelled back, kicking his feet on the dewback sides to cause the animal to pick up its pace, almost at a sprint now.

"Din, he's right. Please. I need you to calm down!" Nia says, gripping his forearms hard as she sat behind him on the pack animal.

"Oh, so you're on his side now?!" Din snapped back, ignoring her advice.

"Listen, you're angry. I get it. But barging in like this will get you killed! I know you're not that careless!"

Suddenly he pulls the ropes on the dewback, making the animal immediately stop in its tracks, "So what's your plan?"

"I just need a moment," she says as she jumps off the dewback. "Just keep out of sight," she advised as she moves a few yards away from the team.

***

Hiding behind a boulder, Nia sits on the sand to concentrate on the Force. She uses her skills to summon any animals within range. Reaching out with her mind, she senses four Armored Krakkiss close by. They are giant, beige-colored armadillo-like creature, armed with thick plating covering their entire bodies. Since the creatures are non-sentient, it doesn't take long to have it under her control. A mist has formed over the sand dunes as Nia gets to her feet, the armored beasts standing before her as she grips her two lightsabers tightly in her hands.

"Nia! What the-" Boba says as she emerged from the fog with four large krakkiss at her sides. She doesn't respond and she looks like she's in a trance as she approaches the main entrance to the base.

"Oh, here she goes again," Din huffed out.

"What the hell is she doing? She's going to get herself killed!" Boba blurts out.

"I've seen her do this before. We need to give her back up," Din says as he unsheathed his pistol and follows Nia.

"You're a fool Djarin! We can't go up against an entire Red Key militia!" Boba shouts but Din ignored him.

Upon arrival at the gate, a Red Key guard shouts out a warning at Nia and Din, "Halt! If you come any closer, we will open fire!"

Still in a state of hypnosis, Nia outstretched a hand to point to the center of the outpost. Straight away, the four beasts each let out a ferocious roar and charge forward. Blaster shots strike their armored hides, but take no damage as they use their massively heavy tails to inflict fatal blows to any who dare to get too close.

Nia ignites her two lightsabers and dashes out into the chaos. Using her two sabers, she whips them around to deflect shots, each blast strikes a saber and hits a raider within range. She moves like she's no longer human, swiftly and gracefully. She feels the Force flowing through her, giving her strength and speed. She makes her way towards the location of the two children in captivity. She can feel their presence and their fear.

Din follows her, shooting his pistol at any raider in sight. He kicks one in the stomach, shoots one in the head, and head-butts a raider's fist. As the battle begins, Boba, although hesitant, makes his charge, shooting with his rifle in a seemingly calm manner. All shots that hit them bounce off their indestructible armor.

The four armored krakkiss bulldoze their way through the crowd of raiders, their plated skin providing protection from the bombardment of blaster bullets. Bossk and Cobb also make their charge with their own rifles, taking out any who try to shoot at them. Fennec takes the high ground and uses her incredible sniper skills to pick off raiders as they emerge from various buildings. The group of Tuskens also made their charge into the battle, shooting their cycler rifles relentlessly.

Nia fights her way through the battle, using her double lightsabers to block all incoming firepower, and taking out any raider who dares to come too close. She slowly dances her way towards the shelter that she had sensed the two Force signatures. With Din right behind her, Nia finally approached the two large metal doors at the south end of the outpost. The building is circular shaped with a bronze colored roof. It seems empty since the windows above the doors are blackened, but Nia knows the children are inside.

"We need to get these doors open!" Nia yells as she disengages her two sabers then attaches them to her belt.

"Stand back!" Din ordered as he holstered his pistol and swung around his ambian pulse rifle. Nia ducks behind a pillar as Din aims the rifle at the door. He pulls the trigger, resulting in both doors being blown open with a bang.

Once inside it was dirty, dusky and remarkably quiet for what is currently going on outside. Crates and boxes stacked up against the walls, junk metal pieces scattered throughout the place, and it's surprisingly empty. Nia listens to the Force and leads the way through a back door.

"They are here, I can sense them," Nia says quietly as she slowly opens the metal door. Suddenly, a very strong presence in the Force disrupts her concentration. Further back into the dimly lit storage room, behind more crates and boxes, are two cages with small figures inside. They both look tied up and scared. As they slowly walk closer, a tall dark man wearing all black steps in front of them.

"Din Djarin," the man said, a smug smile spreads across his face.

"Gideon!" Din sneered.

"You have successfully taken another child away from me. But lucky for me, children often ignore their parents wishes. After the Red Key informed me of their capture of not only one, but two children, I knew you would arrive soon to try to save them. Of course you know to assume that I know everything," Gideon says in a pleased grin.

"Let the children go. I prefer not to kill you, especially in front of the children," Nia threatened.

Gideon laughed darkly, "Now who is this Djarin?"

"If I were you, I would do what she says," Din snapped back as he leveled his rifle to Gideon's head. "There's a high price on your head. You are wanted by the New Republic, dead or alive."

"Be brave you two," Nia telepathically tells the children through the Force. "Last chance to surrender quietly, Gideon!" Nia blurts out as she takes out a hilt strapped to her belt, and ignites her teal lightsaber.

"Another Jedi, I see. So it was you who killed my shadowtrooper!" Gideon smirked.

"Actually, we did it together," a deep voice is heard directly behind them as Boba Fett walks through the door to the storage room, his rifle at the ready.

"Don't be a fool, Gideon. You're outnumbered. Give up now or I will have no choice but to kill you," Nia says calmly as she grips her saber tightly in her hand.

Without saying a word, Gideon unsheathed his pistol and aims it at Nia's head. But she anticipated this and used the Force to grip him in place. Then Force-pulls him into her teal saber and jams her blade into his chest, killing him.

"I told you not to be foolish," Nia growled as she drops the infamous Imperial Moff on the concrete floor of the storage room. As his dead body collapses with a loud thud, Nia looks over at Din, "Well, there's your bounty."

"You mean ours," Din corrected.

***

The two children were hungry and scared, but otherwise unharmed. The sixteen year old boy, named Jaden, is a green-skinned Twi'lek from Ryloth. Apparently, Jaden offered to help Grogu run away from Luke's Academy. But upon arriving on Tatooine, they got captured by the raiders and have been held prisoner for a week when the team arrived.

"You are two are either very brave, or incredibly reckless," Nia tells the two children.

"This was all his idea!" Jaden says as he pointed to Grogu.

"So you listened to an infant!" Nia scolded the boy. "You don't have any idea what the Empire would have done to you two if we weren't here!"

"It's okay, they are safe now," Din replied.

"So you're not going to punish him? You're going to spoil the kid," Nia interjected.

Din was about to speak when Boba interrupted them, "Hate to break up this family moment, but we still have an army of raiders just outside this building."

"He's right. Do you know how to use a lightsaber?" Nia asked Jaden.

The boy nodded, "But I don't have one."

Nia takes out one of her sabers and hands it to the boy, "Be very careful with this. It belonged to an old Jedi who is no longer with us."

The boy takes the saber and ignites the bright yellow blade, illuminating the entire room.

"I don't think we should have the boy fight," Din adds.

"Did you know that a Jedi apprentice would be assigned to fight alongside a Master during the Clone Wars by the time they were thirteen? I have faith in him," Nia explains. "I need you to keep the baby safe and stay by my side, do you understand?!"

Jaden nodded in response as he deactivated the saber to hold Grogu tightly in his arms. There's no time for mushy reunions. A loud explosion is heard right outside the doors.

....Cliffhanger....