My Silver Lining (Marvel/Star Wars Crossover)

Chapter 18: The Mercenaries

"The ship wasn't part of the deal." Mando argued.

"Well, the Crest is the only reason I let you back in here." Ran retorted.

I glanced over at the Mando to see him looking tense as he clenched his fists. Without thinking, I slipped a hand over one of his clenched fists, feeling his anger and frustration. Immediately, I felt him tense up. However, before I could pull my hand away, I felt his fist uncurl. And to my surprise, his fingers interlaced with mine. My heart skipped a beat. I mentally shook my head. Stop it, Mandy. I could feel him relaxing at once. However, Ran was not finished with testing Mando's patience. He wore a smug look as he stared at Mando. "What's the look? Is that gratitude? Uh-huh. I think it is."

Ran then out a laugh before leading us towards a table where a bald man stood. There were all different kinds of weapons behind him. Ran greeted the man. "Hey, Mayfeld."

Upon hearing Ran's voice, Mayfeld turned to face us. "Yeah?"

"This is Mando, the guy I was tellin' you about. We used to do jobs way back when." Ran mentioned.

Mayfeld glanced over at Mando. "This is the guy?"

Ran nodded. "Yeah, we were all young, tryin' to make a name for ourselves. Yeah, but runnin' with a Mandalorian, that was...that brought us some reputation."

Mayfeld raised an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah? What did he get out of it?"

Ran chuckled. "I asked him that one time. You remember what you said, Mando?"

"Target practice." Mando admitted.

Ran laughed. "Target practice. We did some crazy stuff, didn't we?"

My heart clenched. At his words, Mando immediately glanced over at me before looking back at Ran. "That was a long time ago."

"Well, I don't go out anymore. You understand? So, uh, Mayfeld, he's gonna run point on this job. If he says it, it's like it's comin' from me. You good with that?" Ran questioned.

"You tell me." Mando mentioned.

Ran laughed. "You haven't changed one bit."

"Yeah, well, things have changed around here." Mayfeld retorted before looking over to me. "Who are you?"

"I'm Miranda Rambeau." I said, introducing myself.

Mayfeld then inspected me before replying. "And who exactly are you?"

I opened my mouth, prepared to say a spy, but Mando beat me to it, speaking up. "She's a bounty hunter like me."

I looked over at Mando, who gave me a small nod, silently urging me to follow along. Mando knows these people, so if he's lying he must have his reasons. I trust him. I returned his nod. "Yeah, before that I was on Tatooine, taking on different trades to survive."

Mayfeld looked impressed with my words. Ran then intervened, changing the subject. "Yeah, well, Mayfeld, he's one of the best triggermen I've ever seen. Former Imperial sharpshooter."

At his words, I tensed up. He was with the Empire? Mando's right, we can't trust them. Mando didn't seem impressed though as he retorted. "That's not saying much."

"I wasn't a stormtrooper, wiseass." Mayfeld shot back before storming off towards the Razor Crest.

"Don't take long, does it?" Ran inquired before letting out a laugh.

With that, we followed Mayfeld to the ship. As soon as Mayfeld saw the ship, I could tell he wasn't impressed. Mayfeld scoffed. "Razor Crest? I can't believe that thing can fly. Looks like a Canto Bight slot machine. All right. The good-lookin' fellow there with the horns, that's Burg. This may surprise you, but he's our muscle."