The Razor Crest landed at the space station, which was likely the only place within several light-years willing to take in the Mandalorian. He was running so low on credits that he could barely afford to refuel his ship and desperately needed a job. The station's boss, Ran, was an old acquaintance from past operations. However, now that Ran owned the station, he could no longer risk getting involved in illegal activities himself. He handed over command of the operation to another man, Mayfeld.
The mission required five people, plus the Razor Crest. Though reluctant, the Mandalorian had no choice—when under someone else's roof, one must bow. The Razor Crest might look outdated and internally archaic, but it was one of the few ships that operated outside the surveillance of both the Old Empire and the New Republic. Staying undetected during the operation depended entirely on it.
Besides Mayfeld, the crew included the droid Zero, a Devaronian named Burg with two horns on his head, and a Twi'lek named Xi'an. Ironically, Ran, Xi'an, and the Mandalorian had once formed a team with ambitions to make a name for themselves. But the Mandalorian had dropped out halfway, leaving Xi'an harboring resentment. Still, that was a long time ago, and Xi'an seemed to have let it go.
The "high-security transport ship" Ran mentioned turned out to be a New Republic prison ship. The Mandalorian didn’t want trouble, but he had already agreed to Ran's terms and was in too deep. Another thing that bothered him was Zero piloting the Razor Crest. The Mandalorian disliked others touching his ship, especially when Burg casually rummaged through his armory and compartments. The Child was hidden in one of those compartments, and Mayfeld picked him up, mistaking him for a pet. The Mandalorian remained calm—the less he seemed to care, the less suspicion he would attract.
After dropping out of hyperspace, Zero calculated a precise route, slipping into the prison ship’s blind spot and docking with an airlock. The Mandalorian returned the Child to the compartment, sealed the door, and entered the prison ship with Mayfeld, Xi'an, and Burg. Zero remained aboard the Razor Crest, hacking into the prison ship’s systems to guide the four to the central control room.
The corridor was lined with alloy doors holding various prisoners. The Mandalorian didn’t know who they were rescuing, nor did he care—he just wanted to complete the mission and get paid. Still, Xi'an’s whispered conversations with Mayfeld and her sly grin before the mission left him uneasy.
No matter how much Mayfeld and Burg looked down on the newcomer, the Mandalorian proved his worth. On the way to the control room, Burg’s recklessness alerted humanoid security droids. Mayfeld and the others were pinned down by blaster fire, forced to hug the walls for cover. But the Mandalorian slipped behind the droids unnoticed and single-handedly took down six security droids, leaving the rest in awe.
According to their intel, the prison ship was supposed to be droid-controlled. But when they stormed into the control room, the Mandalorian found a human controller inside. The controller held a tracker—if he pressed the button, a Republic strike team would arrive within twenty minutes to eliminate the target. The Mandalorian lowered his blaster, trying to de-escalate the situation. But Xi'an, as if eager for chaos, threw a knife into the controller’s chest.
The tracker was activated. Mayfeld hurriedly identified the target—Prisoner 221. When the cell door opened, the Mandalorian was shocked to see Qin, Xi'an’s brother. In that moment of distraction, Burg shoved him hard into the cell from behind. The door slammed shut, and Qin and the others laughed as they ran toward the airlock, leaving the Mandalorian behind as the fall guy.
With only 10 minutes left, the Mandalorian didn’t give up. Spotting a security droid approaching to investigate, he shot a grappling hook through the cell’s viewport and ripped off the droid’s right arm. Prison security droids always carried retractable electronic keys in their right arms. The Mandalorian ejected the key, opened the cell door, and rushed to the control room.
In the corridor, Mayfeld and the others were sprinting toward the airlock when suddenly, blast doors sealed shut, cutting off their escape. When they tried to contact Zero aboard the Razor Crest, their comms only produced static. The Mandalorian dealt with Burg, Xi'an, and Mayfeld one by one in his signature style, tossing them into Cell 221. But Qin posed a dilemma—he didn’t want him to escape justice, nor did he want to return empty-handed.
The Mandalorian escorted Qin onto the ship only to find Zero aiming a blaster at the Child in the compartment. Since he never liked droids anyway, he didn’t hesitate—he fired, blasting Zero to pieces. When the Razor Crest returned to the space station, the Mandalorian handed Qin over to Ran, collected his reward, and immediately took off. Three New Republic X-wing fighters soared past the Razor Crest—they had tracked the signal to the station. By the time Qin realized he’d been fitted with a tracker, it was too late. The X-wings opened fire, and the space station was engulfed in flames.