One Endless Night - A Mandalorian Fanfic

Chapter 26

"Xi," Mayfeld called.

Xi'an hissed when Yara refused to back down, but she stepped away. It rankled Xi'an, but she did as she was told. She glared at Yara as she stepped back and Mayfeld called her to him. Refusing to leave without getting the last word in. She winked at Mando as she passed him, dragging her fingers along her chestplate as though she had some claim to him.

The others followed Ran to the table with the plans laid out, but Din stepped up to Yara. He took her chin in his gloved hand and lifted it to check her. His fingers tenderly touched the slice on her neck.

"It's fine," she told him. She could practically feel him seething beneath his helmet. She had been around plenty of other criminals like them and knew posturing when she saw it. She didn't want him thinking she was any less capable, she could take care of herself.

"It's fine," she growled again and she stalked away from him over to the table where the others were waiting. They had decided to go this route. Now they were going to have to see it through to the end and she couldn't have him making her appear weak. She was already a target.

"So," Mayfeld started once they were all gathered around him. "The package is being moved on a fortified transport ship. Now we got a limited window to board, find our friend and get out of there before they make their jump," he said pulling up the 3-D schematic.

"That's a New Republic prison ship," Yara said staring down at the model. She purposefully chose the opposite side of the table from Din so the others wouldn't think she was hiding behind him.

Mando turned his helmet to Ran. "Your man wasn't taken by a rival syndicate. He was arrested."

Mayfeld leaned forward. "So what?" he challenged.

"A job is a job," Ran said, his tone making it clear it was non-negotiable.

"That's a max security transport. I'm not looking for that kind of heat," Mando growled. Things were going from bad to worse and every facet of the plan kept changing as more details were revealed.

"Well neither are we," Ran snapped. "So just don't mess up."

"The good news for you," Xi'an drawled stalking around the table. "Is the ship is manned by droids." She glided around behind him, brushing against him.

Across the table Yara tightened her jaw and was now regretting her decision to put so much space between them. Not that she could have done much unless she was willing to physically peel the Twi off of him.

Xi'an stepped up next to Mando and leaned her breasts against his arm. "You still hate the machines Mando?" she asked suggestively, her breath fogging up the side of his helmet.

Yara tensed even more, thinking maybe physical violence wouldn't be so bad, but her thoughts were interrupted as the droid Zero came down the ramp.

"Despite recent modifications, the ship is still quite a mess. The power lines are leaking, the navigation is intermittent, and the hyperdrive is only operating at 67.3% efficiency."

Din tightened his jaw defensively but didn't say anything as the damn robot tore his ship apart. The Crest flew just fine.

"We have much better ships. Why are we using this one?" Zero asked.

"Because the Razor Crest is off the old Imperial and the New Republic grid," Ran explained. "It's a ghost."

"Yeah, and we need a ship that can get close enough to jam New Republic code," Mayfeld filled in taking back control of the group. "So, when we drop out of hyperspace here, if we immediately bank into this kind of attitude we should be right in their blind spot, which will give us just enough time for your ship to scramble our signal," Mayfeld said proudly.