I sighed uncomfortably as I crouched down in the grass behind one of the barricades. I held a blaster tightly in my good hand. Which was inconvenient because I could only hold a small blaster in my hand while the villagers around me held large blasters in both hands.
Night had fallen over the planet, their only light source being torches that had been lit around the village. The stars scattered across the sky.
The children were barricaded in the barn where Mando and I had been staying. To keep them safe from the violence.
After a while, I spotted two figures running from out of the tree line. It was Mando and Cara.
Cara and Mando ran towards them and slid behind the barricades. My eyes glanced over at Mando as he slid in beside me. I could hear him panting heavily under his mask from the extensive running.
"This is it. Once that thing steps into the pond, it's goin' down." Cara yelled to the group.
I took a deep breath and kept my eyes trained on the tree line, waiting in anticipation for the AT-ST and the raiders to come and fight.
"Are you Ready?" Mando whispered to me.
"Yeah, I think so. Are you?" I asked in return
"Yeah." Mando replied
I took in a deep breath and glanced over quickly at the side of his silver helmet. I furrowed my brows in concern when I thought of the fight ahead.
"Promise you'll be careful?" I asked.
"I promise." Mando stated, nodding once to me in confirmation. "You be careful too, okay?" He added
"I will be." I replied, turning my head back to face the dark tree line.
A large thudding could now be heard in the distance, the AT-ST was slowly but surely making its way towards the village. I swallowed harshly, trying to keep my fear at bay.
"Weapons ready." Cara called out to them
The thudding continued to grow louder as they sat behind their barricades with their weapons raised. I took a deep breath.
Red, glowing eyes then appeared at the tree line. They ominously moved up and down with the rhythm of the walkers' footsteps. My eyes widened a fraction at the sight.
The machine came crashing out of the trees. It was large and made of metal. It swayed slightly as it walked towards them. But I knew not to be fooled by its haphazard design.
"Just a few more steps." Mando stated quietly.
However, just before the AT-ST stepped foot in the trench they had dug for it. It's foot stopped, hovering just above the body of water. The machine took a step back and halted in its tracks.
"It's stopped." Cara stated in concern, the plan hadn't worked.
They all waited with bated breath as the machine stood still. Sat in deathly silence as no one dared to breathe too loudly.
Then, suddenly, the machine turned on a bright flood light. Aiming it directly at where they were hidden. I flinched as the fluorescent white light hit my eyes, causing me to squint slightly against it.
"Get down. Get down." Mando called out
I ducked down behind the barricades, trying my best to stay out of sight as the machine's bright white light began to scan back and forth in search of anyone. My heart beat rapidly in my chest as I waited for the light to go out again.
Clearly, someone did not heed Mando's instructions. The machine froze, fixated on one point along the wooden barricade.
It then began to fire in that direction, red blaster bolts raining down on them.
I flinched hard and brought my hand up to my head as the AT-ST hit one of the village's structures and blew it up. The building exploded in a bright ball of fire.
"Caben. Stay there." Omera called out
"Hold your positions." Cara yelled
The noise of several people yelling then erupted from behind the AT-ST. The raiders had arrived. I raised my head to look over the barricade. They were running towards us with their blasters raised. I lifted my blaster and aimed it at the oncoming wave of raiders.
"Open fire." Cara ordered.
Everyone began to shoot at the raiders as they ran towards their position. I managed to get a couple of direct hits, knocking the raiders onto the ground. The villagers weren't doing a bad job either, many of them had managed to take down a raider.
After a moment, the AT-ST began to return fire on them, blowing up another building. And then another one.
"We gotta get that thing to step forward." Mando called out to Cara
"I'm thinking." Cara replied
The fighting continued as Cara and Mando tried to think up a plan to get the machine to step forwards. I continued to take out as many raiders as I could.
"New plan." Cara said
"What do you have in mind?" Mando asked her
"Give me the pulse rifle." Cara said
Mando handed his pulse rifle over to Cara. "I'll cover you." He told her
Cara ran out from behind the barricade and charged towards the raiders and the AT-ST.
Mando raised his blaster and began to shoot at anyone who tried to engage her or get in her way. I followed his lead, I couldn't go out onto the battlefield. But I'm not useless. I'm still a pretty good shot regardless of my injuries.
Cara was a few feet away from the AT-ST when it spotted her approaching. The white light quickly moved and shone down on her. It took a shot and Cara quickly tried to jump out of the way. She ended up falling into the body of water that was meant for the AT-ST.
"Come on, You got this." Mando muttered as we watched with bated breath. Waiting for her to strike.
Cara then rose from the water and leveled the pulse rifle at the machine. She shot in once on the head, causing it to stumble. It stepped forward until its feet were teetering on the edge of the bank.
Mando, the villagers and I continued to take out raiders as they continued to rush towards us in violent waves.
All of a sudden, a group of the villagers left their posts and raced towards the oncoming raiders. They yelled as they ran up to them and engaged them in a fight. Blasting them and fighting them.
The AT-ST continued to shoot into the water, attempting to hit Cara.
"Take the bait, you hunk of junk." Mando muttered again.
The AT-ST leaned forward to try and spot where Cara was hiding. That gave her the perfect opportunity. She shot the AT-ST in one of its glowing red eyes. The machine stumbled back momentarily before it took another step forward.
It stood on the edge of the back, and the mud gave out beneath its feet, sending it tumbling down to the ground. The machine landed heavily on its side in the water.
Once the AT-ST was down, Mando stood up from his position with an explosive in his hand. He made a run for it. Dodging in and out of explosions as fighting rained on around him. I kept my gaze trained on him as I shot at any raider who came too close to him.
He jumped up on top of the AT-ST. But I was starting to have a hard time keeping an eye on the situation due to the heavy smoke that had clouded the once peaceful night air.
A massive explosion went off in the distance, the red fire bursting through the smoke. It erupted with a loud bang and without thinking, I stood up. My heart thudded loudly in my chest as I tried to see through the fire and smoke and blaster fire. I couldn't see him.
I searched frantically from where I stood, trying to resist the urge to run into the battlefield myself. He had to be ok. He was Mando. Of course he had to be.
The raiders, seeing that their machine had been defeated, began to evacuate the scene. They knew they had been beaten.
I breathed a sigh of relief as I watched the raiders run towards the tree line. Disappearing into the darkness and the smoke.
A force suddenly hit into the back of me. breaking me out of my thoughts and knocking me forward. I yelped out in pain as my head connected with the wooden edge of the barricade and my bad shoulder made contact with the ground.
I groaned as I stared down at the grass, I tried to recalibrate as my head spun and I felt dazed. The world slowly came back Into focus and before I could try and get back up, a hand grabbed the back of my shirt and heaved. Practically pulling me by the scruff of my neck.
I let out another shout of pain as I was lifted onto my feet involuntarily. I scrambled to find my footing and quickly turned around. I was met with the face of one of the raiders. Apparently in their hast escape, this one hadn't bothered to look where he was going.
He grinned at me in a malevolent way, raising his blaster to be aimed directly at my chest. It just wasn't my week, huh?
I went to raise my own blaster when I realised my hand felt empty. The cold, familiar feeling of the handle of my blaster was gone.
I clenched my fist around nothing and felt my heart drop. My eyes widened in panic as I stared down the barrel of the blaster. I had no way to defend myself. I felt my heart rate speed up from the fear that was curling around my throat. Constricting my breathing and making my head spin even more.
The man pulled the trigger of the blaster and I squeezed my eyes shut and raised my left hand up in front of me, like that would stop the bolt from killing me.
However...I didn't feel so panicked anymore...I almost felt calm. Like a security blanket had been wrapped around me in my moment of need.
I felt the familiar pull, the one I sometimes felt around the child. My heart beat became slightly slower, no longer going 140 BPM.
A yell and a thud broke me out of my dazed state. I opened my eyes and realised I was still standing on two feet. I quickly glanced down at my chest and put my hand against it, feeling for any injuries. But I found none. Not even a scratch.
I then glanced upwards and noticed the raider. He was slumped down on the ground, lying flat on his back. His eyes were open and staring up at the sky. He had a blaster wound in his chest.
I furrowed my brows and looked down at my hand. I examined it like it would give me the answer I was looking for.
I felt a pair of eyes burning into the side of my head. I looked over and saw Omera staring at me with a shocked expression. Her eyes were wide with disbelief. I would have to ask her later what she had seen. What I had done to the raider.
All around me, the villagers began to cheer. They had won and they had protected their home. Omera turned away from me and wrapped her arms around her friends, celebrating their victory together.
I glanced towards the burning AT-ST, I still couldn't see my mandalorian companion. Anxiety rushed through my nervous system once again as I began to walk towards the fire in search of my friend.
I stopped my fast paced walking when I spotted Mando and Cara dragging themselves out of the body of water. I breathed a sigh of relief to see that they were both ok.
I began to walk over to them. Mando caught sight of me and headed towards me. I smiled up into the emotionless viser of his helmet. Even though I couldn't tell if he was smiling back, I could only hope that he was.
The two of us met in the middle of the battlefield. Mando placed his hand firmly on my uninjured arm, I could hear that he was panting from the fight that had just occurred.
"Are you okay?" I asked him.
He nodded firmly. "I am. Are you...you're bleeding." He said. His tone quickly changed to one of concern that was being poorly masked by his modulator.
I furrowed my brows. "What?"
Mando lifted his other hand and gently grazed his fingers over my forehead. Causing me to flinch slightly. I raised my own hand to my head and frowned when I felt my fingers touch something wet along with a sharp pain in my head. I must have cut my head when I hit the barricade.
I lowered my hand back down and glanced at my fingers. They were covered in a dark red. "Oh."
"What happened? Are you ok?" He asked me.
"A raider tried to kill me...but...I-I handled it." I said hesitantly, I'm not entirely sure how I did handle it. But the important thing is that I did.
Mando lowered his hand that had been hovering over my forehead and clenched it tightly at his side. "You sure you're ok?" He asked me again
"I am. I promise." I said to him, giving him a light smile.
Mando nodded and sighed heavily. All around them, the smoke was starting to clear and the villagers continued to cheer, celebrating their win against the raiders.
Some of them had begun to come up to Mando, Cara and I to thank us. Patting us on the back and shaking our hands. One of them even tried for a hug. And as I wrapped my good arm around the villager, I found myself thanking the stars that they hadn't tried this with Mando.
Once I was released from the woman's tight hold, I turned my head and caught sight of Mando's black visor. He was already looking in my direction. I smiled lightly at him before my attention was drawn back to another excited villager.
I briefly glanced down at my left hand. What had happened to that raider? How had I managed to protect myself from the blaster shot? I had so many questions that had no answers. But I would get to the bottom of this.