Star Wars:

Of Heart and Beskar

By Kristopher Rose

Chapter V

Walking into Station Security, was akin to walking into a hive of buzzing insects on the best of days. The killing of multiple assailants by an armored woman and a Trandoshan just made it more even more chaotic. For Inspector Risa, the real problem wasn't the investigation, but the witnesses. She sighed, one of her people was interrogating the Trandoshan. The being had a directness and odd way of speaking, but her real frustration was the lack of the others.

Even after several hours of searching, the armored woman, four teens and one dazed spacer. She was pretty sure they were clear, due to fighting in self-defense, but why hide then? Then again, even with Salvation Station being better than the past, many still came here to not be noticed. If that were the case, then she'd have to do it the hard way.

At least with the help of the Trandoshan, they knew the basics of what had happened. Her report would reflect the investigation was pointing towards justification for the killings. That was what she'd have to work with, at least till new leads or information became available. So, why did she have a small pit forming in her stomach?

In the dark crevices of the station, a wrinkly, pale insect like being scurried about. Beneath it, several gang members are shaking from fear. Behind the being, were the dead bodies of the slavers. It had taken quite a bit of convincing to get the bodies away from the security forces. Whether it was worth it or not was up to debate, because they hadn't learned anything that wasn't in the security reports. It didn't care for the bodies beyond that, and that they had no further use to it.

"This is an insult!" the insect like being growled, its voice chirping, a byproduct of the droid vocoder it used to speak. "Have you found them yet?"

"No, your Greatness," one of the shaking gang members said. "Nobody is talking."

"How hard have your tried?" the vocoder rang loud, in outrage.

Another gang member spoke, "We dare not push too hard, lest we draw the attention of station security."

"Pitiful, I remember when the power of this station rested in our hands," the being growled. "Now, I am reduced to using sniveling idiots. You're supposed to be so horrible, they won't report you! Need I do everything myself?"

Quick as a snake, the insect like being whipped its tail around. Impaling its stinger into the nearest gang member, it watched as the gang member fell to the ground frothing. The poor person shook, as the venom from the stinger destroyed the body from inside out. Pupils wide in fear and shock, the gang member couldn't even breath, with ragged gasps replacing the act. Painfully, the unfortunate died horribly.

"Make those on this station understand we are the real power," the insect being boomed. "You all owe your lives to me, however pitiful they are. Bring to me, those who would take my property, to steal from me, and I will pass judgement. It will be swift and final."

Much to its delight, the gang dispersed quickly. Mouth parts chittering, the vocoder translated that to slurping sounds. On a humanoid, it would have sounded more accurately as lip smacking. It brought the recently killed gang member, and started eating. An hour later, the whole body was gone, bones and all. The others killed by the armored woman, were taken to be burned in the furnace. It wasn't good to gorge by eating them as well.

Depa awoke screaming, Mace scrambled for her. Aayla was next, and Ki-Adi-Mundi called for Mesh'la and Dalen. They came quickly, with Dalen quickly too her into his arms. Mesh'la held her blaster, looking for any danger, anything that could have been hurting Depa. She didn't find a single threat, and as she turned her helmeted visage, the girl looked more horrified than scared.

"The monster ate him!" she finally said, shakingly. "The monster ate him."

"What monster, what nightmare ales you?" Mesh'la said quickly, and cursed as it came out sounding harsher than she liked.

"I don't know," the teen girl said quietly.

Dalen, though hugged her tight, "Hush now, darling. You're safe, you're safe."

Depa shook her head, "No, it has them looking for us."

"Who, darling?" Dalen said very concerned.

"All of them," Depa intoned.

Outside, a dark figure walked in a pattern. He had spent most of the time since landing, searching. The presence in the Force had faded, only to recently come back like a clanging bell on a steeple. He stopped abruptly, and turned, homing in on the disturbance, but then it was gone again. Nyrom at least had a direction to head, it would be enough.

He made his way along, crossing paths he'd traveled hours earlier. To be so close, and he had been close, yet so far away. He probed outward, looking, searching, needing to find them. This close he'd gotten more of a picture. There wasn't just one, there were four. They were older, older than when his master had taken him as a student. Yet, they felt more sheltered. Nyrom didn't have a point of reference, beyond what a child might feel when subjected to the Galaxy's evils.

A new sensation changed his focus briefly. A desperate need, a hunt, driven by fear of something nasty. Three armed degenerates appeared from an alleyway. They were pushing an older Mon Calamari and an Ithorian. The thugs threatened the two with their blasters, causing a scene. A bystander reached for his comm link, only to receive a blaster bolt to his chest.

"Now that we have your attention!" one of the three thugs exclaimed. "We are looking for a woman in armor, something called mantatorian. You will lead us to her, or we'll kill you one at a time. The Great and Horrible Anubilis commands this, and we the hand that makes it so!"

Despite himself, Nyrom made his way over. One of the things he had to face, and make up for, was his own actions like these fools. His old master had made him a weapon, and he had acted like these morons at one time. However, he had become more, and evolved to be better than what he had been made. So, he had a very sore spot when it came to people like this. Luckily the cure to this sore spot, taking out them out.

"It's Mandalorian," Nyrom corrected, "and you're a fool. A fully trained one could take all of you down without breaking a sweat."

The speaker of the thugs brought his blaster around, "And just who…."

He never got to finish that as an orange lightsaber removed his head from his shoulders. The other two reacted slowly to Nyrom, at least it appeared to anyone not trained in the Force. The woman to the speaker's right, found her blaster arm, missing a hand. She fell to the ground, cradling a stump, while the Twi'lek thug landed beside her. He was missing both legs at the knee, and his offhand. The Twi'lek fell unconscious while the woman watched helplessly, as Nyrom pushed his blade into her face.

He shut both his lightsabers off, wrapped his cloak around him again and melded into the crowd. A sound let her know that the security forces were on their way. Despite the molten pain wracking her body, she tried to move. Already she was sweating, and her skin had gone dangerously pale. If she had medical training, she would have realized she was slipping into shock. Instead, her last thought was escaping, before she hit the floor hard.

Mesh'la felt uneasy, and it wasn't because of Dalen with the kids behind her. She had no delusions, but she felt they had an understanding. No, the feel of the station was different. Everyone was muted, eyes darted at her and then left. Something had changed, what she still hadn't discovered.

She undid the mechanism keeping her blaster in its holster. She wanted to be able to draw them quickly, and if it wasn't for the message from her contact, they'd be heading back to the ship. She even second guessed not doing it immediately, and having her contact reset up the meet up somewhere else.

That, however, was not how business was done. Till she was given a good reason, she'd continue on with the job. With the tingling going down her spine, that could easily change. There was something to be said about trusting your instincts, they normally had a reason to be there.

Ahead she made out the lights and sirens of station security, and decided they were best avoided. Mesh'la motioned for everyone to follow, when another security speeder blasted by. Thanks to her helmet, she was able to map their destination. They were heading more towards the meeting area. That tingling in her spine got worse, but they could still finish the mission.

Leading them around the security forces, the Mandalorian tried to keep her gait normal. If they acted out of the ordinary, they'd stand out. Thanks to her armor, they stood out enough. Since there wasn't a chance of her discarding her armor, then she would have to just play it calm.

A figure watched them from the sides, Anubilis would be pleased. She had found their target. Already the gang was encircling them, quietly. She pulled her blaster, aimed and imagined the bolt blasting through the armored woman. With the tones in her ears, she pulled the trigger. The gang was in place, but first blood would be hers. She let out a roar as she rushed forward, shooting hurriedly.

Images rushed through her mind, just as a blaster bolt did the same. For the briefest of moments, she saw her target deflect her first shot with an armored gauntlet. The blaster bolt ricocheted off the Beskar armor, the Mandalorian pulled her blaster and shot. The other hurried shots missed, as the Mandalorian covered the children. Then the gang woman knew no more as darkness took her

The other gang members attacked then, and Mesh'la was just as quick. She sent out three bolts, hitting three targets. Only her first was lethal, taking out the woman who had started the attack. The other two fell, grasping at wounds, one in the arm, the other in the leg. Considering she was doing this on the move, with multiple targets spread out, she was happy with her marksmanship.

"Back to the ship!" she screamed, and blasted two more attackers.

Mesh'la turned and held her shot. One of the bystanders had tried to flee, and ran right into her line of shot. Because of this, two blaster bolts hit her in the shoulder, but the beskar held. The innocent bystander though, didn't fare so well. Felled by the gang, the bystander didn't stand a chance. Mesh'la repaid them in kind. Her two shots took them out, but didn't make her feel better.

Dalen, for his part, was shooting too, but he was more concerned on getting the kids to safety. He dodged one blaster bolt, and he responded back. His shot was close, but didn't hit the attacker. However, his attacker had to duck, and found themselves off balance. They fell, where Dalen's next shot took them out. The pilot kept pushing the teens forward, back to the Thunderbird.

More attackers came, and Mesh'la just provided cover for the teens. Occasionally she chose a specific target, but mostly it was just shooting at anyone that looked like a threat. Because of this, she quickly realized how overwhelming the numbers were. There were two ways out of this situation, one was to get to the ship, the other was to change the battlefield.

What she wasn't expecting was the orange glow coming from behind one group of attackers. She didn't stick around as some of the attackers began to scream in pain, but she saw a blade that should have been impossible. Pure energy, it sliced through an attacker, before deflecting a blaster bolt. Mesh'la decided this wasn't the time to figure out if what she had seen was true.

Sprinting to catch up, she saw Dalen take out another gang member. She took one more look back, the man with two orange lightsabers had taken out three more of their attackers. More were coming, all that mattered was to get the kids to safety. Even as that tingling in her spine got even worse.

Dalen turned around a corner, their berth was just ahead, but felt like an eternity away. Someone stepped out from a hiding place and shot at him. By pure luck and a minor feat of agility, he rolled forward and away from the shot. It pelted the nearby wall, while he came up shooting. His first shot missed the target, but the second and third didn't. The gang member fell, while two others turned their attention to the pilot.

Not thinking, he pushed up and fired at them quickly. Then called for the kids to run to the ship. He followed, shooting randomly behind and anywhere he saw a gang member. These weren't the practiced, aimed shots of a marksman, but the wild shots of one trying to escape. As such, the gang quickly began to surround them. With their shots at him getting closer and closer, something Dalen wasn't particularly fond of.

They were withing meters of the hangar, when an explosion sent Dalen and the teens back. Smacked into the station's deck, the air was knocked out of them. Two of the kids were bleeding, and the pilot hoped it was just from minor wounds. He pulled himself up, but found staying standing was harder than it looked. Thankfully he saw Mesh'la's blaster fire take out the gangsters attacking him. She quickly though had other problems, as two more blaster bolts pinged off her armor.

His hearing was coming back, and he heard a hum right behind him. Turning, he was shocked to see two figures leap out to intercept the incoming gangsters. What had drawn his attention, he realized, was an ignited lightsaber. At first he didn't recognize it as one, as never having seen one before. The green glow it gave off, and the way it cleaved through the attackers, quickly reminded him of old legends.

What struck him with awe, was the second blue lightsaber in the figure's offhand. This warrior, this knight in robes, moved with elegance and power, pushing back the gangsters. It was only the appearance of a third blade, that clued the pilot in that there was another. The newcomer was slighter, and looked like a woman, where the first was more masculine in appearance. Together they made short work of the other attackers, which gave Mesh'la time to shake everyone out of their stupor.

"Come on, we're leaving!" she yelled and for good measure shot at the two other saber wielding people.

Her people told legends of mighty sorcerers called Jedi, and she thought their numbers had been eradicated. She wasn't about to stop and chat, not with the kids in danger. Alone, she might have challenged one to a duel, but for now her focus was getting the teens to safety.

What didn't do her any favors, was how easily the one with blue and green lightsabers, swatted her shots out of the air. She didn't stick around to see what he'd do next, instead herding her group through to where their ship was berthed. Behind her, she heard someone land, but then came the sound of blaster fire. The fact that it was followed up quickly by lightsabers deflecting, meant the Jedi was busy.

"Wait!" came the voice of the one holding the lightsabers. "I'm here to help!"

"I don't think they heard you, Krynn," the other Jedi said. "Simple pick up, huh?"

"This isn't my fault," Krynn said. "You were there when I got the call from Lorn. The better question, Selena, is how'd they run afoul of the station's underbelly so quickly?"

"Maybe they just have your luck," the other Jedi joked.

She pushed her last opponent, and he smacked against the wall, instantly knocked out. Krynn disarmed his last opponent, using a Teras Kasi kick to finish Rodian nonlethally. The area quickly went quiet, as the fighting suddenly stopped.

Krynn turned, and met the eye of someone he knew, one that had been a friend long ago. Nyrom Mal met his gaze, before pulling the hood of his cloak up and disappearing into the station's populace. The Jedi thought of following, but decided to go check in with station's security instead. At least he looked better than the last time, and hopefully Nyrom had found some peace since they last met.

At the Thunderbird, Dalen quickly got all the systems pulled up and had the ship ready to fly. Pulling on the throttle, he exited the station, turned around and blasted away from Salvation Station. The whole time his heart was beating a thousand beats a minute.

He was glad to see that they had been refueled, and he quickly set in a course for a quick hidey hole. Once they were out of the asteroids, he hit the lightspeed controls, and the shipped jumped away. Behind them, they left a wondrous mess, but that was a thought for a later time. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to get some answers.

His mind raced, and despite the helmet on her head, he could tell Mesh'la was shocked too. It was a minor thing, but her posture wasn't upright, she was relaxed into the copilot seat. The events of what just happened must have hit her hard too, and he could understand why. As a Mandalorian she might be willing to fight to the very end, to go out in a blaze of glory. To see one of your people's most hated enemies seemingly return, would be enough to take anyone's air out of their sails.

As he understood it, and this was based on old legends. As a spacer, he loved good stories, especially good old stories. In those legends, Jedi and Mandalorians fought for control of the Galaxy. The Mandalorians battled, why was lost to history, and the Jedi met them. Their leader, Revan, Raven, maybe it was Malik or Malak, crushed them and became a hero to the Old Republic. It was hard to keep the story straight, as the Empire wasn't keen on keeping the Jedi in the history books. The stories remained though.

"Well, miss, what's next?" Dalen asked.

Her helmeted face turned to him, "I need to contact my clan. Where are we going?"

"Yavin system, there are still some supplies the Rebels left behind, when they left," Dalen said. "It's also remote enough that we should be left alone."

"Sounds good," Mesh'la said as she looked back to where the teens were sitting.

A question began to form in her mind. Just how far was she going to go to keep these kids safe? The image of her rescuer came back to her, and she knew. She would take it as far as it needed to go. She turned back around and relaxed into the seat, she had to be ready.