Star Wars:

Of Heart and Beskar

By Kristopher Rose

Chapter I

Corellia, was just as busy as it had been before the Empire. Speeders came and went like flying insects buzzing through the air, as beings went about their business. The scars of the galactic wars were still visible though, parts of the planet had yet to be reformed to its permanent urban sprawl. There was a definite edges to the urban remake, where wildlife and plant life took over. For the first time in years, Corellia had building commencing to replace damaged ones. The armored woman in the forest looking in on the city was pleased.

The beskar of her armor would protect her from most anything, and if the people of Mandalore were to be believed, even a lightsaber. There was no reason to question them, they were Mandalorians, and had fought more wars than any could count. She was one too, but not as experienced in war. She was trained however, and she was making the best use of that training. Inside her helmet, Mesh'la Tracinya, was reviewing her mission. Inside one of the industrial complexes, a scientist was doing illegal cloning experiments. What the client didn't know was that Mesh'la would have destroyed the lab for free.

Some whacked out lab coat had managed to get research notes from the Clone Wars. Part of that research was the original donor's tissue and D.N.A., from there more lab coats had been brought in. Mesh'la reminded herself they were scientists and researchers, but to her they were lab coats. They experimented on the tissue and wanted to perfect what the original cloners had started. The work had been first done by the Kaminoans, but had been stolen by one of their own.

Their main focus was to perfect the process, and to do that they needed a viable working prototype. They also were aware from the research notes about the mistakes made by the Kaminoans with a group of clones called the Nulls. The lab coats had decided that they would not mess with the genome, giving a pure example, but they would also make the prototype female, a more docile approach. Mesh'la smiled at their ignorance now, they had no way of knowing that she would be anything but. They let her grow normally for her full life span, doing experiments on her throughout.

Mesh'la checked her gear, making sure that everything was in place. Her blaster pistol was on her thigh, just in reach. Her E-11 carbine rifle was slung on her shoulder, waiting to be used. She usually preferred something with more a punch, but her client wanted no deaths, so she had to have a weapon that could be set to stun. On her left hip was her beskad, a curved sword that was made of beskar, the same as her armor. Her rifle was still in its sling on her swoop bike. She wasn't planning on needing it, the zipline in her gauntlets would be her way in. When she returned home, she'd have to see about getting a jetpack made. Everything was ready, it was time to complete the job.

Mesh'la hopped onto her speeder bike, throttling the bike from the forest and towards her target. While she rode, her thoughts flew back the years, to the man who had saved her. He was the only lab coat that she called by name, the only one she had respect for. Karn Halyn, had been a doctor brought in to help her after a serious accident. The scientists had only meant to catalogue her reaction, but whatever test they had done, nearly killed her. Karn had entered the complex and the first thing she saw of him was his look of utter horror.

The doctor had rushed over to her, putting a warm hand on her head. Mesh'la had liked the feeling, it was comforting. The doctor treated her, making sure to talk to her in a reassuring tone. When the lab coats had lost interest, he looked around and gave her a knowing smile. He placed a hand on her, beginning to meditate. A warm flush ran through Mesh'la, her wounds were almost gone. He instructed her to rest for the next three days, each of those days he came back to visit her. It was on the last day that everything changed.

Mesh'la was at the building where the illegal cloners had been located. She made sure to know all the entrances and exits, and she had an escape route planned out. Schematics "borrowed" from Corellia's new planetary computer showed four main entrances and exits. There was one in front of the building, one on the side and another in the back. The fourth one was located underground and came up in an alley, this entrance was where the illegal equipment and specimens were carted in through.

The Mandalorian woman decided not to take that one, it was long and narrow, they would see her coming. If only they made personal cloaking devices, there were rumors among the modern Mandalorians that their ancient ancestors had them. She'd have to look into that when she talked to some people about a jetpack. The back entrance wouldn't be guarded as heavily, but the side was the best. It was far enough away from the underground entrance or the front. The people would think it was safe and secure, and Mesh'la wasn't let down. There were two guards at the entrance, both looked bored out of their minds.

Mesh'la would give them a reason to be anything but bored, she raised her gauntlet and shot off a dart. The tiny projectile hit its mark, burying itself into one man's forehead. The other turned just as another dart smacked right into his temple, both men fellow over immediately, unconscious. Her client had said no deaths, so she had taken care to poison the darts with sleeping serum. It was a diluted version of the venom of the cave spiders on Terra'Den. She hadn't visited the planet, but a bounty hunter had come across it while he was on a hunt there.

She quickly moved the guards out of the way, making sure they were hidden from view. Then she entered, the E-11 in her hands at the ready. You would think that a fully armored Mandalorian would be hard to miss in an office building. You would be right, however the people in the legal front were too busy to notice. It was for the best, Mesh'la didn't want them, it was in the lower levels. Now the guard at the elevator was going to be a different issue, she had to take him out.

The guard stood up as the Mandalorian woman rounded the corner, one hand on his blaster. He never got it out, a blue stun bolt knocked him into the realm of darkness. Mesh'la hid him under his desk, then used his keycard to call for the elevator. The two guards at the bottom of the elevator were waiting with their weapons raised. As the doors opened they gave only a moment's hesitation, which she didn't. Their rifles were pointed, but in the split second of indecision, she opened fire. They were stun bolts, but the impact sent the two guards to the floor in a heap.

So far so good, Mesh'la had infiltrated the lab, but now it was time to get what she was paid for. Her client wanted proof of what they were doing here, data was preferable. She had memory chips in her belt pouches, there would be enough to back up all the files of any major industrial or scientific complex. Now that she had gotten past the guards, it should be all scientists now. How wrong she was.

Quietly she made her way further into the complex, her helmet displaying recent foot traffic. Keeping the blaster rifle at the ready, she snuck around, the color of her armor not helping her here. Luckily most of the halls were vacant, with each lab closed off. Her target was the fourth lab on the left, technically the last one on the left. She tried not to hold that against the client. Sometimes to be accurate, the forgot to keep things simple.

Quickly opening the door, Mesh'la rushed in, and found herself face to face with five more guards. She dropped into action, even as her mind registered the fact this was odd. Most scientists hated having armed guards looking over their shoulders, and most benefactors normally respected them enough, to give the appearance of autonomy. Well as autonomous as having the armed guards outside the door, but that got into the realm of splitting hairs.

She managed one stun blast, biting back a curse, as one of the guards grabbed her from behind. There weren't that many stun charges left and she still had to get out of here. Luckily, she had other skills, and the guy grappling her from behind was an idiot. To show him his error, she smashed her beskar helmeted head into his face. The loud snap sound was replaced with a crunch as she did it again.

Released, she kicked out in front of her, pushing another guard back. Aiming her left gauntlet, she let out her grappling line. It wrapped around the leg of a third guard, and she yanked hard with both hands. That guard fell hard on their back, while the fourth brought a baton down on her head. The helmet took the blow, but she shot another of her darts into the guard.

That left Mesh'la with two guards out of commission, another nearly out, and two still in the fight. She didn't wait for them to make the move, she went onto the attack. Those that had taken her in, believed the best defense was an overwhelming offense. Much to the chagrin of the remaining guards, she took that ethos to its most brutal. In less than three breaths, the remaining guards were done, laying on the ground groaning in pain.

That was the good news, the bad news, the fight had caught the attention of the lab personnel and they were hurriedly in the process of trying to destroy the evidence. She couldn't let that happen, so she pulled the one weapon that would take care of this, but also alert everyone in the building. A sonic grenade exploded in the middle of the lab, and everyone save Mesh'la fell the floor tearing at their ears.

"I'd resist that urge," she calmly said. "I'd also suggest some ice for the headache you'll have later."

The noise eventually let up, but by then she had already started the data transfer. Another screen showed her the outside hall, where security forces were quickly gathering. Luckily, there was a backdoor. One thing she could thank her employer for, detailed maps. However, to get some more time, she did bar the door with furniture, just to make it harder to get into.

By the time she returned two things were apparent, her transfer was complete, and her job wasn't done. At first it was small, just a bit of movement. Something that caused her pan the camera around. Then, as she did so, she caught the azure skin and head tails of a young teen Twi'lek. Above the image, the screen read "Test Subject 4."

What came next were a barrage of images, sounds and feelings that nearly had the Mandalorian pull her blaster and destroy the console. A hot, fiery rage came over her, and she began to toy with the idea of leveling the place to ash. Her training kept her in check, in the end.

This is what most people get wrong about Mandalorians. They were great fighters, passionate and lived in the moment. They were not mindless killers, and a great amount of self-control was needed when on an operation or hunt. They used their aggression, rage to fuel their fighting, but weren't controlled by it. At least the best of them weren't.

So, she took a breath to steady herself, and made a decision. Outside the guards were bringing in cutting materials in an effort to breach the doorway. She grabbed the data and exited the lab through the other door. Her escape was to the left, and straight to the door. However, the image on the camera had come from the right, and further into the facility. She followed that route.

The holding cells were lightly guarded, and much to her relief, were guarded by droids. Not that fighting droids were easier to fight, she just didn't have to worry about her employer's no kill rule. Switching the E-11 to lethal bolts, she peppered the first droid with blaster fire. The second droid received a face full of flamethrower, which while not doing a whole lot of damage, caused it to miss her. Its blaster fire harmlessly hit the doorway, while Mesh'la pulled her beskar sword out, and removed the droid's head from its shoulders.

Unfortunately, that didn't stop the droid. One well placed hit, sent her flying back. To her credit, she didn't drop her blade. Transferring it to her offhand, she pulled her pistol and hit the droid with three shots. Moving quickly enough, she brought the blade around, and stabbed into the center of the thing's chest plate. It struck at her, only for her to duck and pull the sword out and replace it with her blaster. Two quick shots into the hole from her sword, and the droid fell.

Just to be safe, she did the same thing with the first one she had taken down, just to be sure. Then walked over to the control panel for the holding cells. Finding the right combination, she brought down the cell shields, opening up four teen prisoners to unexpected freedom. Nor were they expecting their benefactor to be a black beskar clad Mandalorian, with red highlights around her armor. That was just how the Galaxy was.

Mesh'la looked at the names of each one. Cell One held an angry looking young man, his name was, Mace W. Cell Four, the one she saw on the camera, had the name Ayla S. Two and Three were Ki-Adi-Mundi, and Depa B. There was more data, about the test performed on them, and she quickly downloaded it. More than likely it would be the same data she had gathered from the labs, but better to be safe.

"Alright, come along," Mesh'la said, her voice filtered through her helmet. "I know you're scared, but we need to go."

"Why should we trust you?" asked the one named Mace.

Beneath her helmet she smiled, this one had strength, "Because I'm your way out of here, and it won't be long till your jailers find us. Now hurry!"

"C'mon, Mace, she's not here to hurt us, like the others," Ayla said, sounding more like a scared teen than she would like. "You're here to help, right?"

"Do my best," Mesh'la was already in motion.

According to the schematics, the entrance she used was the only way in or out. Switching her E-11 back over to stun bolts, she growled at the low number left. She was going to have to get creative, if this little side quest got interesting. Well, more interesting, since she should really be near the spaceport. Looking at the teens, she didn't have to ask if it was worth it.

The kid, Mace, went for one of the droid's guns, only to find it part of the machine. This one was definitely a warrior, that was something she could respect. He wasn't going to powerless, and he'd fight. With the right training, she could see him being very formidable. That would come later, the first thing was to get off Corellia and then find where these kids belonged. Maybe her employer would have an idea, but she wasn't keen on taking them there just yet. There was just much more to find out.