As a seasoned pirate, Boba Fett had plenty of experience hijacking ships—including the Lambda-class shuttle escorting Dr. Pershing. But he needed backup. The Mandalorian sought out Bo-Katan on the planet Trask. The offer was tempting: Moff Gideon’s light cruiser could help Bo-Katan reclaim Mandalore. Yet more than the ship, Bo-Katan was focused on the Darksaber in Gideon’s possession—a weapon that could cut through anything except pure Beskar. Unlike traditional lightsabers, the Darksaber held deep significance for Mandalorians: whoever wielded it was the true ruler of Mandalore. Without it, any claimant would be seen as a pretender.
Dr. Pershing, a cloning engineer rather than a fighter, revealed the cruiser’s layout without resistance. Moff Gideon was usually on the bridge, and the Child was held in a detention cell. Though the ship was understaffed due to the Empire’s decline, it still housed two full squads of dark troopers. Unlike earlier models, these were fully mechanical, having discarded the weakest element—the human body. However, they required massive energy to operate and were stored in cold休眠舱 units along the route to the detention cell. Once activated, they took several minutes to power up—a critical window for the rescue team.
The plan was set. Dr. Pershing remained on Trask while Boba, piloting the Slave I, followed the shuttle through hyperspace. Upon reaching the coordinates, the Slave I opened fire, feigning an attack. When the shuttle sent a distress signal, the cruiser launched TIE fighters to intercept. Bo-Katan, piloting the shuttle, retracted the wings and deliberately crashed into the fighter deployment bay, claiming hull damage.
Only two TIE fighters were deployed. The Slave I made quick work of them before jumping to hyperspace. Meanwhile, Bo-Katan, her ally Koska Reeves, Cara Dune, and Fennec Shand fought their way from the hangar toward the bridge. The Mandalorian headed for the detention cell—he had another mission.
Alarms blared; the dark troopers were likely already powering up. The Mandalorian reached the cold storage bay and swiftly sealed the doors—but one dark trooper had already emerged. Blasters, flamethrowers, cables, even all his whistling birds—nothing worked. Finally, he used the pure Beskar spear, driving it into the droid’s neck in a narrow victory. Behind the sealed doors, pounding echoed as more dark troopers tried to break out. Before they succeeded, the Mandalorian opened the outer airlock, and the remaining droids were sucked into space.
With the dark troopers neutralized, the Mandalorian rushed to the detention cell. To his surprise, Moff Gideon was already there, the Darksaber glowing with dark energy in his hand. Knowing he was outmatched, Gideon first tried to tempt him with the power of the Darksaber. When that failed, he pretended to let him take the Child, only to attack from behind. Protected by his full Beskar armor and armed with the Beskar spear, the Mandalorian subdued Gideon within moments. Valuable to the New Republic as a prisoner, Gideon was spared.
The Mandalorian entered the bridge holding Grogu in one arm and the Darksaber in the other, with Gideon as his prisoner. In front of Bo-Katan’s shocked gaze, Gideon laughed. He knew the Darksaber had to be won in combat to earn respect. That meant Bo-Katan would either have to yield to the Mandalorian or defeat him to claim the blade.
Then, the bridge monitors showed the dark troopers that had been jettisoned into space had reactivated. Using built-in thrusters, they flew back to the cruiser, methodically securing key passages toward the bridge. Bo-Katan ordered the blast doors sealed, but heavy pounding echoed as the doors began to buckle. It was only a matter of time before the dark troopers broke through.
Suddenly, the pounding stopped. An X-wing appeared on the monitors. The dark troopers turned simultaneously toward the new threat. A Jedi wielding a lightsaber cut through them, reducing the advanced droids to scrap.
Luke Skywalker, having sensed Grogu’s presence in the Force, had arrived. As he cleared the dark troopers, Gideon, seeing his defeat, tried to grab a blaster to kill Grogu. Failing that, he attempted suicide—but Cara knocked him out with her rifle butt. He wouldn’t die that easily.
Seeing the look in Grogu’s eyes, the Mandalorian knew Luke was its true family. When the time came to say goodbye, Grogu touched his helmet. The Mandalorian gently removed it, showing his face, hoping that someday, if they met again, the Child would remember him.