Balance || The Mandalorian [ON HIATUS]

✦ Fifteen

After about an hour had passed, I slowed down the speeder bike in order to be able to spot the supposed lair of the crime syndicate, which would be well-hidden if they were truly competent. The vehicle coasted for a mile or so before an oddity in the sandy, rocky landscape caught my eyes.

I pressed the brakes and the speeder came to a screeching halt as I squinted to make sense of the object. In the center of a ring of rocks lay a black skull-and-crossbones flag, waving in sync with the wind.

Rolling my eyes at the conspicuous symbol, I jumped off of the speeder bike and dragged it behind a particularly large boulder. I traipsed forward, past the flag, averting my eyes when a strong gust of wind began to blow sand in my direction. I wove past sandstone formations and skirted around jagged rocks for a mile or so until I approached what appeared to be a building.

The structure was the same beige color as the sand and built intricately into the ground, making it impossible to discern from a cluster of rocks. The only indication of life was a group of speeder bikes parked outside with keys still in the ignition, nearly buried by the ever-changing blanket of sand.

I had to hand it to them, the idea was clever, but the execution of said idea was short-sighted. Evidently, they were careless with their work.

With the irksome sensation of sand seeping continuously into my boots, I advanced toward the building, one hand on my blaster and the other gripping the cool Beskar steel of my knife in anticipation.

I peeked through the arched doorway, and upon ensuring that no one occupied the entryway, carefully crossed the threshold of the compound. Inside was a room with a low ceiling, in which lay rows upon rows of sealed wooden crates haphazardly stacked upon one another. It was relatively quiet, save for the occasional enraged shriek or roar of laughter. 

I tilted my head, listening to the sounds, which appeared to be from an area below me. It did not take long to locate a dim, dingy stairwell leading downwards. I descended the stairs, making sure to step lightly so that the echo of my boots against the cement would not catch any unwanted ears.

At the bottom, there was a short corridor lit by white lights that made a low humming noise, eerily similar to the hallway in between the two gray doors that had brought me here in the first place. 

Tightening my grip on my weapons, I advanced forward, sneaking a look through one of the curved, crudely shaped doorways that lined the hall. 

Inside, there was a spacious rectangular room with three human men sprawled on chairs, grasping cards and bottles of alcohol. They glared daggers at each other while a fourth, a Trandoshan, lay motionless on the ground - breathing, but evidently unconscious. With a sly smirk at his associates, the scrawniest of the three placed down his bottle and his cards, revealing them to be a winning hand. 

Another man with multiple tattoos adorning his pale green skin scoffed, slamming his cards and bottle onto the table.

The last man narrowed his eyes at the winner and stood almost instantaneously, his larger frame looming over the presences of the seated men. "Cheater." The burly man's low growl resonated throughout the room, causing a fleeting expression of fear to shadow the winner's fox-like features before he composed himself.

"That's Sabacc, my friend," the winner responded coolly, shrugging. 

This response infuriated him, and he pounced at the winner, who cried out in surprise and attempted to push the much larger man off of him. The tattooed, previously unconcerned man joined in on the fighting and they exchanged blows like savages, damaging other furniture in the room in the process.