You are leaning back, elbows propped up on the bar, enjoying a drink when a dramatic hush spreads across the establishment. You do a double-take at the cantina's door when you see a Mandalorian the size of a kriffing mountain standing at the threshold. His blue armored body begins plowing through the mob of customers and for some reason, you can't seem to stop yourself from admiring his impressive stature as he moves closer. The noise returns to the room when he pauses a few steps in front of you and Mando.
"You must be the Jetti," the giant Mandalorian's baritone voice thunders as he takes in your figure top to bottom. "The Mand'alor didn't warn me of how alluring you would look in that burgundy cloak of yours."
You raise your eyebrows and take a coy sip from your drink. He's kriffing bold. Unfortunately, you are all business right now. There could be no distractions for this plan to work.
Mando spreads out on the barstool next to you and juts his chin up at your new acquaintance, "Vizsla."
The blue helmet nods curtly, "The Tribe is eager to see you. When are you coming back?"
"Soon. There will be one more thing we need to take care of before we return."
"We?"
"She's coming back to the covert to help us fight."
"Oh really? Well, I have room for you in my bed, Jetti."
You plunge your blade into the wooden bar top, "Ne shab'rud'ni!" Who does this guy think he is?
Vizsla seizes the knife and clinks the blade against his armor. A sweet-sounding ring fills the air in confirmation of the purity of the beskar. He tosses the weapon back to you, "A woman as strong as the beskar she carries."
Mando nods in approval at Vizsla's words and hands you both a set of comms, "Here. We need to stay in communication at all times."
Licking your lips, you place the device in your ear, "You have to go. I'll meet you two out back when I'm done."
The man sliding into the booth next to you looks like a sleazy collector. He reeks of one too. You can tell he is absolutely aware of your identity by the way his jaw tenses as he studies your face. He tries to mask his discomfort by giving you a wry smile, but you don't buy his little act. You slide the wooden box with the Krayt pearl towards the man and watch as he gently lifts the lid to gawk at the incredible gem inside. His eyes shift nervously around the room before he slyly passes you a cred stick. Instead of accepting the chip, you gently press the tip of your hidden knife against his thigh, right into his femoral artery, and close the lid of the box through Force. He flinches at your silent threat and starts moving his hand towards the holster on his hip.
"I wouldn't." You murmur as you apply just enough pressure to break the first layer of skin through his trousers.
He swallows and looks at you with pleading eyes, "I'm not scared of you."
Liar.
You purse your lips and glance down at his quaking hands, "I don't have time for Jedi mind tricks."
Snaking your way into his brain, you sift easily through his secrets as his feeble attempts to fight against you make him convulse with agony. Resisting mind probes, especially from someone as skilled as you, is an awful feeling. You still remember the pain from when you learned to resist your Master. The man falls face down on the table as you finish plucking the information you need from him. In a hasty exit, you whisk away the Krayt pearl and leave the man all alone, whimpering like an injured Kiros bird. Boba Fett was right, the collector certainly won't be doing business with the King of Tatooine ever again.
Vizsla, Mando, and you weave through the overpopulated streets of Cato Neimoidia until you reach your targeted location. Crimson Dawn and the Banking Clan formed an underworld trade alliance years ago, resulting in a secret safe being built in the heart of the city. The vault protects the crime syndicate's most valuable possessions, including your lightsaber and an almost complete set of thousands-of-years-old beskar armor that Mando plans to appropriate. Between Crimson Dawn assassins and Banking Clan firepower, the vault is nearly impossible to break into. Nearly. The collector from the cantina, a top trader for Crimson Dawn, frequently deposits goods into the vault, which means you were able to extract the exact location of the safe house along with security details from his mind, giving you a substantial advantage.
Slipping into a side street, you point towards the roofs, and the two Mandalorians nod in understanding. They jet up to take care of the patrol snipers while you begin navigating through the maze of passageways leading to the entrance of the safe house. Two men on foot move to intercept you, but you Force push them into the wall roughly and knock them out before they can call for backup. Vizsla drops down next to you after a minute and shoots another pair of men coming at you from behind. You continue skulking forward until you reach a door guarded by three Devaronians. Using his heavy blaster cannon, Vizsla takes down the trio with a devilish laugh.
"So much for stealth," you chastise as he nudges the bodies out of the way.
Your big blue bodyguard watches your back while you slice through the security panel. Nineteen seconds and you are in. Not bad. As you step inside the building, two electrostaffs swing towards your head, forcing you into a twisting flip to narrowly avoid being shocked by the melee weapons. Vizsla reacts quickly, picking up the two guards by their necks and smashing them together, instantly disabling them. Impressive.
"Mandalorian! Have you finished with the snipers?" You ask into the comm while you enter the main hallway.
The sound of blaster fire is the only response you receive in your earpiece. Maker! What is he doing up there?
"I'll go assist," Vizsla mumbles as he turns to go back outside.
You sigh and start sprinting through the corridor alone, taking out security droids as you go. After turning a sharp corner, you skid to a halt in front of six heavily armed Rodians staring at you, completely dumbfounded by the fact that you are somehow inside this fortified storehouse. The door to the vault stands behind the bug-faces. Jackpot. All the Rodians come to their senses at once and start shooting frantically. You duck back behind the corner and try to think of a plan. Sithspit. Rolling your eyes, you take out the blaster Mando gave you and switch off the safety. You're never going to hear the end of this. Leaping in front of the Rodians, you start aiming to kill. One. Two. Three. Four. You dodge a blaster bolt and send your knife soaring into the next Rodian's chest. Five.
"Told you," Mando's voice rasps as he makes a sudden appearance behind you and shoots number six straight through the eyes. "Looks like that uncivilized pistol just saved your skin."
"Fantastic." You mutter sarcastically as you start working on breaking into the vault. It takes you two minutes this time. Way too long.
You push the door open and step inside the temperature-controlled room. Karking stars. Crimson Dawn's repository is kriffing legendary! This collection has to be the most impressive array of artifacts the galaxy has ever seen! There are billions of credits worth of antiques in this room. You wish you had time to extricate everything.
A familiar pulse of kyber catches your attention and you instinctively reach out for your trusty weapon. The curved hilt flies into your hand with a satisfying thump and a surge of confidence flows through you. For the first time in a year, you feel complete. You know you should be rushing to help Mando with the ancient beskar suit, but your body is being pulled towards the corner of the vault by a mysterious whisper. Unlock your potential. I can show you how much more you are capable of. You dazedly wander towards a velvet bag calling to you through the Force and cautiously begin to open it.
Mando shoulders past you, ripping the bag out of your hand, "We don't have time to browse!" He haphazardly throws the item into a durasteel box with the beskar and pulls you out of the safe.
Vizsla's voice comes through your earpiece as you jog after Mando in the corridor, "We've got company! Three AT-RTs and six assassins on speeder bikes. I'll do my best to hold them off."
AT-RTs? The Banking Clan still operates with Imperial support on the planet? You need to get out there to help him, quickly!
Vah-rum.
The lights overhead dim and an intruder alarm begins to wail.
Kriff.
The Mandalorian switches on his helmet light and you take a deep focusing breath. Four IG units and eight men are moving down the hallway straight for you, blocking the only exit out of the building. You're going to have to fight your way out.
"Vizsla! We are a little preoccupied! You're on your own, brother." Mando barks into the comm as he sets the crate of beskar off to the side.
You ignite your saber and the low menacing buzz resonates through the passageway. The Mandalorian moves to stand back to back with you. His cool beskar presses against your hot skin and you swear, if the lighting was better, steam would be visible as your two bodies connected. A storm of blaster bolts starts pelting you and Mando. Time slows down as your red blade begins deflecting as many shots as possible. Mando fires in defense with unmatched precision, taking down a third of the men from afar. Together, you two are invincible; a perfect balance of feminine agility and masculine strength. Incredible. Unstoppable.
Mando charges forward to engage the small army in hand to hand combat and you almost become distracted by how formidable he is with the Darksaber now. Kandosii'la! Mandalorians truly are the greatest warriors in the galaxy, especially the Mand'alor.
The henchmen are proving relatively easy to eliminate, but the assassin droids are really giving you a run for your credits. You use the Force to crush one's head and you think it's done for, but several seconds later the karking short-circuit is bombarding you with firepower again. Just as you are starting to become pinned down by the machine, Mando cuts the droid in half and you sigh in relief. Two down and two to go.
Unexpectedly, Mando grabs your waist and spins you around, taking a bolt straight to the back of his chest plate as he protects you. He groans and steadies you on your feet before jumping back into action. His blaster executes two errorless shots and the final pair of men are eliminated. Stars. He just saved your life. Each of you takes a remaining droid and slashes through the murderous pieces of junk with enthusiasm.
Mando picks up the crate with the valuables and starts herding you towards the exit. When you reach the door, you step outside and immediately feel an explosion of pain in your right thigh. Blood starts pooling through your pants at a frightening rate and you double over in pain. The Mandalorian grabs your bicep and scans the roofs around you. He shoots down the sniper as they are running away.
"Vizsla?" He sounds slightly panicked as he speaks into the comm.
"I didn't expect- pew pew-Crimson Dawn to drop off a ship full of -pew pew- assassin spider droids," Vizsla grumbles. "I'm surrounded on the roof."
You lower yourself to the ground, "Kriff, go help him Mandalorian! I'll be fine."
Mando nods and jets off into the sky, leaving you with the crate of iron and a bleeding leg. You close your eyes and feel the Force around you. Every hour of your training has prepared you for moments like this. Even injured and weak, you will be able to protect yourself with the Force by your side. Just breath.
"Traitor," an unwelcome voice rips through your state of serenity.
No karking way.
Pakto, the very last man you ever wanted to see, stands over you picking his nails, completely disinterested in the lethal weapon you've ignited centimeters from his face. He has always underestimated you. You should have known he would be here, waiting for you to show up for you lightsaber. As the new head of security for Crimson Dawn, he wants to see you dead more than anyone else in the galaxy. Especially since you stole his ship on Corellia.
"Maybe, but I sleep well at night," you grimace through the searing pain in your leg.
Four men stand around Pakto armed with electrostaffs and blasters. This moment could be a death sentence, but you hate this Imp sympathizing, war criminal Hutt-spawn and there is no way in hell you are dying by his hand. He deserves no mercy. You will show him no mercy. You will use the Darkside, if you have to.
You must control your emotions with focus. You turn off your saber and drop the weapon. You must control your emotions with focus. You lift both palms towards your enemies. You must control your emotions with focus. The hitmen raise their electrostaffs. The Force is with you.
Red, jagged streaks of electricity hurl out of your hands to strike the men surrounding you. The instant smell of charred flesh offends your nose and you gag at the sight of the scorched bodies.
The smoke around you begins to clear and feel the presence of two figures looming over you. You blink up and see the Mandalorians staring down at you with tilted helmets.
Oh. Oh kriff. They saw. Mando saw.
"Fly her back." Mando brusquely commands Vizsla before jetting off into the sky.
Vizsla scoops you up bridal style, careful to avoid the hole in your leg, and looks down at your paling face.
"Have you flown before?"
You nod, "With the Mand'alor."
He chortles, "I'm better."
Notes:
Mando'a Translations:
Ne shab'rud'ni - don't mess with me (strong warning, typically followed by violence)
Kandosii'la - amazing
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