Mayfeld, Xi'an, Din, and I all continued to observe Burg as he paced across the bay. Mayfeld seemed content, not bothered by the slight shake of the Crest as it took off, but Xi'an quickly became annoyed by the Devaronian's pacing. I rolled my eyes just before she snapped, "Will you sit down?"
Burg stopped his pacing slowly turned to face her, growling deeply before slamming his fist into the weapons vault doors. I jumped up when the lock to the vault broke, one of the metal doors slowly swinging open to reveal the extensive collection of blasters, knives, and other various weapons Din had collected over the years.
I was about to stalk up to the Devaronian and give him a piece of my mind, but Din was the first to move. He swiftly crossed the length of the bay, his cape flowing behind him as he slammed the door to the vault closed. "Don't touch anything," He said in a low, deadly voice.
Burg grunted at Din. "Someone tell me why we're even working with the Mandalorians," He growled, keeping his beady eyes on Din as he backed up a step.
My gaze snapped to Mayfeld when he got to his feet. "Supposedly, they're the best fighters in the galaxy," He mused aloud, folding his arms across his chest as he arched his brow at me. Then he added, "Or so they say."
I let the pause settle between us before I broke the silence. "Do you want to find out?" I asked sweetly, using my leg to push myself off the wall of the bay. "Or was one ass-kicking enough to prove my skills to you?"
I preened when Mayfeld's eyes flickered with anger, but he bit his tongue when Burg retorted, "Then why are they all dead?"
Both Din and I bristled at Burg's tone. "I'd watch your mouth," I bit at the Devaronian, lacing my voice with the promise of violence.
"Why should I?" Burg growled, smirking as he stepped up towards me, "You don't scare me."
I stepped up to Burg, preparing for a slugfest, but then a gloved hand on my cuirass pushed me back. Din stepped into the space between me and the Devaronian, whispering my name under his breath as a way to calm my temper and give me a warning.
Xi'an exhaled dramatically from where she sat on the bench, drawing all of our attention to her. "You guys and your useless pissing contests," She complained, rolling her eyes as she did so. "You know, I though you would be a little more decent," She crooned in my direction, pointing one of her knives at me, "But then I remembered Mando likes his women..." A smirk crossed her lips, "A little rough around the edges. So honestly, I'm not surprised at all."
A tether that she had wound up inside of me snapped. I lunged at her and hissed, "Ib'tuur jatne tuur ash'ad kyr'amur!"
But Din immediately shoved me back, snapping at me in a low voice, "Let's not start a fight in the middle of my ship!"
After a few moments of struggling against him, I exhaled a sharp breath. "Fine," I bit out after a moment of heavy silence, "But once we're off this ship," I threatened, pointing a damning finger at her, "It's fair game."
Xi'an only giggled girlishly as Din continued to usher me away from Burg. "Careful," She crowed, twirling her knife, "You're starting to make me like you again."
My nose twitched under my helmet, but I reigned myself in before I smarted off to her again.
"So," Mayfeld interjected loudly, "Are the legends true? Are you really the best?"
Xi'an giggled again before Din or I could respond, and both us snapped our attention to her. The Twi's eyes settled on Din as she said, "Why don't you tell them about Alzoc III?"
Din bristled beside me. "I did what I had to do," He replied eventually, his mind somewhere far away.
"Oh," Xi'an crooned, "But you liked it." Then she giggled again, glancing in my direction. "You see," She continued, "I know who you both really are."
I snarled, "You don't know shit about me."
Mayfeld stepped closer to us, separating me and Din. "And they really don't take their helmets off?" Mayfeld continued in Xi'an's direction.
The Twi sucked on her fangs again. "'This is the Way'," She mocked, tilting her head in a way that made my ears turn red.
Mayfeld scoffed, turning his head to look at Din. "So, princess, have you seen his face?" He asked me, humor lacing his voice when he used the pet name.
"Never," I spat at him, keeping an eye on Burg as he slowly circled us.
I technically haven't seen Din's face, but the memory of his stubble against my skin sent a shiver down my spine.
"And what about you, sweetheart?" He turned his gaze to Xi'an, who was basking in the attention. "Have you seen his face?"
She pressed her index finger against her lips, whispering, "A lady never tells."
A neutral sort of calm overcame me when Mayfeld and Burg shared a certain look. A look that meant a fight was coming. I nonchalantly shifted into a balanced stance, ready for someone to lunge at me.
Mayfeld noticed the shift in my stance and cracked his knuckles. "C'mon guys, we gotta trust each other," He said, his voice echoing throughout the cargo bay. "Just show us a little something and we'll leave you alone."
Then Burg grabbed for Din in the same moment that Mayfeld lunged for me. I smiled to myself, my body itching for round two with him. Mayfeld reached for my head and I easily feigned back, shuffling my feet to prepare for a hard kick to his side. But my leg missed as he jumped out of the way. Mayfeld charged at me again, this time hitting his mark as he rammed by back into the wall. A shallow grunt escaped my lips at the impact, and Mayfeld chucked through his struggle.
"Not so tough now, huh?" He hissed, shoving his forearm into my throat. "Just show us your eyes, princess. That's all I want."
A cough sputtered out of my mouth as my airways were restricted, but right when Mayfeld hooked his fingers under the visor of my helmet, I brought my knee up —hard— into his gut.
He let out a grunt of pain as his grip on me faltered, and I used that split second to my advantage. I snapped my head forward, slamming my beskar helmet into his nose. Another cry escaped his lips as he staggered back, blood now dripping out of his nostrils.
"I told you earlier, don't call me princess," I reminded him through heavy breaths.
"You bitch—" He seethed, but I whipped my head around at the sound of a mechanical door opening. My eyes widened in fear when the kid stared at all of us, gently nibbling on one of his crackers. I guess during the scuffle between Din and Burg, one of them must have accidentally hit the panel that opened his compartment.
"What the hell is that?!" Mayfeld exclaimed, scrunching his nose at the kid. He walked up the the compartment, pointing to the child before he picked him up.
He glanced between Din and Xi'an, and I nearly gagged at the insinuation. "Did you two make this?" He asked with a laugh. "Or what, is it a pet or something?"
Din walked up to Mayfeld, sizing him up. "Something like that," He said flatly.
Xi'an scoffed. "Looks like your code has made you soft, Mando." She clicked her tongue. "Shame."
"You know," Mayfeld said, drawing my attention away from the Twi, "I was never into pets. It never really worked for me." A small, close-lipped smile crossed his features and I wanted to reach out and take the kid away from him. "But now, I think I'm ready to try again."
Din and I both physically jumped and my heart leapt out of my chest when Mayfeld pretend dropped the child, and he just chuckled at our reaction.
I growled, "Put him down—"
Zero's voice droned over the comms, cutting me off, "Dropping out of hyperspace... Now."
Everyone in the bay was thrown off balance as the Crest jerked violently, the ship making sharp enough turns to make my stomach drop. I caught myself on a shelf just before I fell on my ass, but when I glanced at Mayfeld, he wasn't so lucky. Our crew leader fell back, letting go of the child in order to try and (unsuccessfully) catch himself. The kid landed unceremoniously on his stomach, and I vowed to kill him for dropping the child. But the kid seemed fine as Din lunged forward to pick him up, swooping him up in his arms just before the Crest lurched again and sent me sprawling forward.
Zero kept giving updates over the comms system, but I didn't even try to keep up. The only thing I was focused on was trying to stay on my feet as the ship continued to jerk, lurch, and roll. When Zero pushed the Crest into a dive, I lost my balance and slammed into Din's shoulder, sending him careening into the bay wall. I heard him grunt over the commotion as he rolled onto his back, protecting the kid as he fell to the ground.
As the Crest pulled out of the dive, my legs gave out, ramming my shoulder into the ground next to Din as I came crashing to the floor. I groaned, sucking in a sharp breath when pain shot through my shoulder as I rolled onto my stomach. Then the ship came to a complete stop, and a heavy silence settled between everyone in the cargo bay.
"Coupling engaged," Zero confirmed over the comms, "We are down."
"Stupid droid! You could have given us a warning!" Xi'an snapped loudly, her voice powerful enough to carry up into the cockpit. But if Zero heard, he made no comment.
I rolled onto my back as Mayfeld approached us, both me and Din still laying on the ground. "Alright, Mando," He said, looking down at Din, "It's your turn."
Din quietly got to his feet, holding out a hand to me. I took it gratefully, wrapping my hand around his forearm as he pulled me to my feet.
"Are you alright?" He asked.
I nodded once. "I'm good."
Mayfeld groaned loudly. "You done yet? 'Cause we have work to do."
I narrowed my eyes at Mayfeld as Xi'an squeezed past, tossing a certain look over her shoulder at us. But Din ignored her, swiftly returning the child to his compartment. He closed the door, grabbing the device that would break us into the prison transport.
Opening the hatch, Din plugged the device in, and it quickly bypassed the security codes in place as it opened the port onto the transport. Once the port was opened, Din removed the device, glancing around the crew that was gathered around the circular hatch.
But when all of our eyes settled on Mayfeld, he paled slightly as he pointed to himself. "I go first?" He asked, a slight waver in his voice.
Burg grunted, flashing his ugly teeth at Mayfeld. "You always go first."
I smirked to myself when Mayfeld blinked, trying to prepare himself to be the first one onto the transport. Then he bent down, sticking his head through the hole with a blaster scanning the area.
He must have deemed the area all clear, because after a few short moments, he grabbed onto the bar and slowly lowered himself fully into the transport. Burg was next to follow, flashing us another ugly grin before jumping through the hole, a loud thud echoing through the hatch when he landed.
When it was just Xi'an, Din, and me left on the Crest, I debated on whether I should push the lavender Twi through the hole. But I decided against it, ignoring the fact that she definitely deserved it. She winked at Din before flicking her tongue over her fangs. "Don't be too long, darling," She crooned with a wave before leaping through the hole.
I turned my head so I could see Din through the corner of my eye. "I really am going to kill her," I told him, grabbing onto the railing below the hatch.
He sucked in a breath. "I know," Was all I heard him whisper before I flipped myself down over the railing, landing silently on the white paneled floor of the prison transport below.
**************************************
Word count: 2115
I literally lover writing Xi'an and Jeyna's banter, it reminds me of me and my sister when we don't like each other, lol:) Anyway, hope you liked it!! Ik these are kinda just fillers until the real action starts, but trust me, the action gets good!!
Vote, comment, and share!!!
Ch 30 published: February 9th, 2021