Not needing any more invitation, Kasia turned and ran like her life depended on. Behind her, the AT-ST continued to slowly walk forward, its movements mockingly slow as it easily kept up with them. Suddenly, laser bullets burst from its guns, the blasts barely missing the trio as they veered off to the right slightly.
The three of them grunted as they ran over the forest ground, dodging plasma and running through the sparks that the blasts kicked up. Kasia couldn't decide whether she envied Mando for his armor which certainly protected against the stings of the sparks or pitied him for the heavy armor that he was having to run with.
As they broke through the trees, the mech right on their heels, Kasia had never felt more relieved to see a ragtag gang of farmers holding blasters that they scarcely knew how to use. She panted as she, Mando, and Cara ran across the small spit of land which offered passage through the deep pits they had dug and slid to a stop behind the poorly constructed barricade.
"This is it," Cara called out, panting as she spoke. Honestly, Kasia was impressed that she was able to speak after the marathon they had just run. "Once that thing steps into the pond, it's goin' down."
Hopefully.
Around her, nervous energy crackled in the air as the entire village seemed to take a collective deep breath, eyes pinned on the woods. The ground began to shake slightly as the sound of the mech's footsteps reverberated, echoing throughout the valley.
"Weapons ready!" Cara barked as the thudding of the mech grew louder and louder.
Kasia glanced at Mando at her side, anticipation and nerves making her heart beat faster and her body feel numb. He too glanced at her and gave a reassuring nod.
Taking a last deep breath, Kasia turned back towards the woods and raised her blasters. She felt Mando's helmeted gaze linger on her face for a moment longer before he too turned towards the emerging metal monster.
Gods I hope this plan works.
The eyes were the first thing visible through the trees, two red pinpricks of light between the branches. Then suddenly the AT-ST was in front of them, knocking down trees as it sauntered forward towards the congregated villagers—and towards the trap that they had set.
"Just a few more steps," Mando vocalized what they were all thinking, his modulator keeping his tone neutral and hiding the nervous energy that Kasia could feel radiating from him.
She couldn't breath as she watched the walker take one step closer, two—her heart dropped as the walker suddenly halted, one of its metal legs poised over the pond and over the trap. So close, they were so close...
"Shit," she whisper-yelled as the mech's metal leg retracted from over the pond and settled back down on solid earth, the sound reminding Kasia of a nail in a coffin. "Shit."
"It stopped," Cara said aloud next to her, sounding breathless.
Yeah, no fucking shit it stopped.
The walker gave a small rumbling noise before suddenly admitting a floodlight intended to pinpoint their location and give it something to shoot at.
"Get down!" Kasia yelled, falling lower in her crouch as she kept her blasters pointed at the mech in front of her. "Get down!"
Agonizingly slow, the AT-ST rotated, the light it was shining illuminating all that was directly in front of it. And while most of the farmers had listened to her command, there were some who either hadn't heard it or had simply chosen to ignore it.
Kasia sucked in a breath as the AT-ST stopped moving, its light shining directly on a couple villagers who hadn't hidden when she had ordered them to. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, all of a sudden, the AT-ST fired, plasma barely missing the farmers as it flew over their heads and blew up a house behind them.
As the hut erupted in flame, Kasia sucked in a breath, her body tensing as she resisted the urge to jump to her feet. The child...
He's on the other side of the village, Mando's voice suddenly spoke up in her mind. How he had known that that was what she was worried about... she honestly didn't know. I made sure with Omera that he and the other children would be as far from the fighting as possible.
At the words, Kasia loosed a breath, some of the tension lifting from her figure.
Around her, Cara barked orders, commanding everyone to hold their positions. And to Kasia's surprise... they were doing it. These farmers were certainly not the best fighters—but they were brave. And they loved their home very deeply.
Then she heard the Klatooinians, screaming and hollering as they emerged from the forest behind the AT-ST, weapons hefted and out for blood.
"Open fire!" Cara yelled.
Not needing to be told twice, Kasia began shooting with deadly precision, taking out as many of the raiders as she could. From her side, she could feel Mando doing the same, his rifle once again disintegrating any who were unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of its blast. Gods, she really needed to get one of those.
But Mando and Kasia weren't the only one taking out raiders—all around them in fact, the villagers fired their blasters, curtesy of Mando's small artillery. Their shots were nowhere near as accurate as Kasia, Mando, Cara, or even Omera's (damn that woman could shoot) but they were shooting, and they were taking down Klatooinians.
Still, Kasia knew that though they posed a threat, the Klatooinians weren't the real problem. She could only watch as the AT-ST shifted its body slightly and blew up more of the small huts behind them.
Gods please let Mando be right. Please keep the child safe.
The AT-ST shot again, this blast much closer than all the prior ones. Instinctively, Kasia ducked her head and Mando shifted to shield her as a shower of sparks rained down upon them.
As they both shifted back to their prior positions—Mando putting a leveling hand on Kasia's shoulder to keep her from falling over—Kasia shook her head, "That was too damn close," she huffed.
Mando nodded, removing his hand and readjusting his grip on his rifle, "We gotta get that thing to step forward."
"I'm thinking," Cara panted from beside them.
Around them, the fight was taking a turn for the worse. While the farmers were able to handle the Klatooinians well enough one-on-one, the mech was easily turning the tide and inflicting chaos across the entire field.
Suddenly, an idea flashed in Kasia's mind. As usual it was a terrible, stupid, and dangerous plan. But it was a plan.
Eyes wide, she turned sharply towards Mando, "Give me the pulse rifle," she commanded, holding her hand out.
The Mandalorian paused and peered down at her hand before looking back up towards her face. I know you really want to try out using this rifle but now is so not the time, he told her silently, exasperation clear in his words.
At his silent refusal, Kasia's mouth dropped in annoyance, "It's part of my plan Beskar-brain," she hissed, trying to grab the weapon.
"You have a plan? We might as well jus-"
Cara interrupted Mando before he could finish a sentence that Kasia would surely make him regret, "Mando just give her the rifle, I think I know what she's planning." When Mando turned to stare at Cara in what Kasia could only interpret to be incredulity, Cara nodded towards Kasia.
Sighing deeply, Mando begrudgingly handed Kasia the rifle. She smiled down at it for a moment, running her hands along the worn metal before she turned back towards the two warriors in front of her. "Cover me," was all she said before she dashed out from their hiding spot towards the AT-ST.
"Wait, Kasia wha-" Mando's words were swallowed up in the sound of blaster fire and chaos around her as Kasia sprinted towards the mech, adjusting her grip on the rifle as she did so. To her right, she could sense three Klatooinians rushing towards her, but she didn't even deign to glance at the trio as they were quickly dispatched by Mando's and Cara's perfect aim. Ducking her head as a plasma bullet whizzed by, she was almost across the last earth bridge when suddenly–
Shit Kas, look out! she abruptly heard Mando shout in her head a moment before the AT-ST turned its large metal head downwards to face her.
At the sight, Kasia's heart nearly stopped, and she barely had time to jump into the shallow bank of the pond before plasma scorched the earth where she had been standing.
That was too fucking close, she thought as she scrambled to stand, back flat against the wall of the pond. Sweat dripped down her forehead as she gasped for breath, her shoulder throbbing in pain slightly.
Come on, you got this, she suddenly heard Mando's voice in her head. She didn't know whether he had intentionally projected the thought towards her or, if in the chaos of the battle, her brain had unwittingly latched onto what it deemed familiar. Honestly, she supposed it didn't really matter. Because either way, Mando's words helped to calm her down—sure her heart was still racing and adrenaline was still pumping through her veins, but somehow, she didn't feel quite as frantic.
Taking a deep breath—and praying that she wouldn't get shot again because honestly that was just horrible to deal with—Kasia twisted and leveled Mando's rifle on the metal monster in front of her. She shut out any memories and feelings its metal face evoked as she took aim; right now, only this AT-ST mattered—nothing else.
Releasing the breath, Kasia pulled the trigger. The blast gave a small ting noise as it hit the AT-ST's metal armor. In response, the mech took one step forward. Then two.
Kasia held her breath. Come on, come on, come on, she begged silently, the words like a mantra in her heart.
But the AT-ST halted, and Kasia dove down deeper into the pond just as the mech shot at the land right in front of where she stood in the shallow water. Sparks flew from where the blast hit the dirt and she winced slightly at the heat scorching the back of her neck.
After a moment, Kasia grunted and tried to twist to shoot at the metal beast another time—only for the mech to once again shoot at the bank she was leaning against.
Shit, I'm pinned down. This is not good. This is very not good.
But then suddenly, all around her, Kasia felt a shift in energy as the farmers began to scream bloody murder. Distantly, she heard Omera yelling orders at the rest of the villagers and unwittingly a smile tugged at Kasia's mouth—honestly, she's lowkey such a badass.
Her train of thought was interrupted, however, as she saw the AT-ST's floodlight shine in the water right in front of her face. Luckily the back of her head didn't seem to appear in the shadow, but it was really damn close...
She felt the ground shake as the mech took another step forward. So close—they were so freaking close.
Kasia closed her eyes as the AT-ST shot rapid fire at the land at her back, sweat from the heat of plasma blasts pouring down her face.
The AT-ST finally stopped its rapid-fire approach, pausing to scan the ground again with its floodlight—but this time Kasia was ready for it. As its metaled gaze landed on her, she pulled the trigger, the shot hitting the hunk of junk directly in its right eye.
Well, I was kinda aiming for the left one but good enough, I guess.
Kasia's heart leaped as the AT-ST finally took that last step forward where the ground under its right metal leg was simply not strong enough to hold the mech's weight. She slid back down to her safe spot against the bank of the pond as the metal monster slowly fell into the trap they had laid, teetering for a moment before falling on its side.
Suddenly, a flash of red light caught Kasia's eye, reflected off of Mando's armor as he raced towards the downed mech, an activated detonator in his hand. She watched until he ran out of her eyesight, obviously intent on throwing the explosive inside of the AT-ST.
Get down, she heard him in her head. Not thinking twice, she threw herself down into the pond water. A moment later, she felt him jump into the water at her side, moving to cover her body with his own Beskar-armored one.
Even under the water, Kasia could hear the explosion and feel the heatwave which emanated from the blast. When she at last felt Mando move off of her, she broke above the surface of the pond, gasping for air. Rising to her feet, she only watched as the raiders turned and ran, a full-on retreat. At the sight, the villagers broke out into cheers, whoops of celebration filling the night.
After the last Klatooinians was out of sight, Kasia turned to face to smoldering AT-ST. As she gazed at it, Kasia felt no horrible memory surface, no feeling of doom or self-pity wash over her, nothing.
Holy shit, she thought instead, staring at it. I just did that. A smile broke across her face. Gods I'm awesome.
"You're officially the stupidest person I know," she heard Mando say from behind her. From his tone alone, Kasia could almost imagine the glower he was throwing her... or at least she could pretend to, seeing as she still didn't know what he looked like.
She turned to face him, hands on her hips, "Uh, I think the word you're searching for is smartest, not stupidest," she replied, grinning cheekily.
Mando gave her one last long look before shaking his head. "Whatever you say, Torelo."
*.*.*
Thank you guys so much for 1k reads!! It really means a lot! <3
Next goal... 1.5k reads and 150 votes? (Ambitious I know but also I have updated every day for like the last five days haha so...).
See you guys then... or sooner if I get impatient!