Warrior ◊ Star Wars

chapter five; flying again

He turned to momentarily fire back at the both of them, "Hey, I'm not the one who chased you guys down with a few sticks."

Mara, who could now form a full sentence, quickly corrected him, "Not sticks, they're batons!"

"Oh! I am so sorry I didn't use correct terminology when it comes to you're 'batons'!" The stranger mocked, still frantically searching through all the junk.

Mara huffed once more, "You should be."

As Rey bent down to make sure BB-8 was okay while the man kept tearing through random stashes," Does anyone have blasters around here?!?"

He suddenly turned, staring right at Mara. His eyes went down to her right leg, right to her holster. The blonde looked back at her empty gun, then up again at the man.

"No."

Now the stranger was fumbling in disbelief, throwing his hands in the air as he asked, "Why didn't you use that earlier when they were shooting at us?! Give it to me!"

"No!"

"Why?!"

Mara held up one finger as the stranger made a grab for her holster,"One; I don't trust you with it. Two; it's been depleted for years."

Now she was certain his eyes would pop out of socket if they grew any larger. He was stammering over his words, somewhere between furious, anxious, and a debilitating case of exasperation, " Why the hell do you carry an empty blaster with you if it's no good?!"

She shrugged, taking it out and tossing it between her hands with ease," It's great for getting information or threatening. Point it at them and viola! They think their life is in immediate danger. I mean, you should understand that. The technique worked on you yourself pretty well."

The man just stared at her before scowling and turning back to rummage again. Mara put her empty gun back in it's holster before going to Rey's side, ready to start talking over a plan. Before one could form in her head, the man shushed them.

Such a familiar sound filled Mara's ears, the sound of twin ion engines strapped to one of the fast one-man fighters in the galaxy. It screamed above them in all it's glory, racing in the air over their heads. Oh, if only she had one now, envious of the pilot's freedom in the sky.

But then she remembered the TIE fighter was looking to kill them and they'd better start running once more.

Mara sprinted again, listening to BB-8 beep out hysterics while staying right on her heels. The man and Rey followed, Mara hearing an angered protest of, "Stop taking my hand!"

As they exited the tent, she looked up to blue sky as the TIE zoomed above her, followed quickly by it's partner. Mara would have taken time to admire the ship before it fired on the tent they'd just escaped from.

The blonde was thrown from her feet. For a split moment in time, she was in mid-air for long, tedious seconds. Her back hit the sand as the ground erupted around her. Her ears ringed from the loud sound she just experienced and her insides seemed to be moved back from the force of the explosion, like the blow had passed right through her.

All Mara could fathom was ringing until the sharp shriek of the fighters brought her back into reality. The dust started to dissipate as she watched the TIEs circle around for another attack. Scrambling to her feet, she squinted through the clouds of sand for Rey and her hand-holding stranger. They were fighting to get their balance, trying to stay down in an effort not to get shot again. BB-8 rolled behind Mara's legs, telling her to again start running.

More explosions followed them as the four started to make it out of the small town of tents and findings of the outposts. This made them easier targets, but Rey was leading them right towards the shipyard. Mara looked over her shoulder to make sure their droid was safe behind her as the stranger yelled to the group, "We can't outrun them!"