"YOU LOST BB-8!"
Mara's respect for the man in front of her was steadily declining. Not only did little BB hold the map to Luke Skywalker himself, but the droid was now rolling around the Rathtar-infested freighter alone with a few gangs out to get him. No, she'd promised to keep him safe, but he was probably being hauled off by now.
She was pretty much running in no time, bumping shoulders with Solo to get past him, "One job. One job and you lose him!"
"Well excuse me, but we were a little busy-" Solo had interjected, but Mara was already a good few yards away. She didn't want to hear it, talking would only waste time. All she had todo was find the droid, then Rey and Finn, then get back to the Falcon without dying. Easy peasy.
So where would he run off to? Perhaps the ship, maybe he'd look for me and Rey? He's to big to escape under the floor panels. He's not trapped with a Rathtar, or the droid would be screaming.
What if he was eaten? What if one of the gangs already has him?
Peeking past the wall, Mara made sure they're no enemies in sight before venturing down the first available hall that wasn't sealed off. Speeding up to a fast jog, she turned another dimly lit corner, running away from the screaming behind her. This opened up to a bigger space, three different ways in front of her. Deciding which way to go would be a real toss up.
But that's when another soul-shattering scream echoed off the dying ship's interior.
For the love of R'iia.
Finn was crying out in terror, the brief flash of his face, the Rathtar that had it's tentacles around his waist circling fast. In an instant, they'd disappeared down the right hall.
Mara, who really, really wished she had a blaster right now, went sprinting after the beast. How was she going to stop it? Who knows. Was anything she was going to do stop Finn from getting killed? Maybe.
Finn must have seen her, because he gave out a choked yell that sounded somewhat like her name. The monster looped around the corner, trying to lose Mara. Accidentally going to fast, she rammed into the wall as she took sharp turn. Pushing herself forward, the blonde resumed running as fast as she could.
At this pace, she'd only be able to keep up for the next few minutes. But where would the Rathtar go? It'd probably have to slow down to eat Finn, and she would finally catch up to it. If it kept spinning its way down the halls, it would hopefully run out of places to go. Or perhaps a tentacle would wrap around her, and Mara would be in the same boat as Finn.
That's when the flicker of hope arose in the form of closing door.
She recollected how easily the Rathtar's arms had been cut when she fended off one less than ten minutes ago. How the door was closing on its own, she didn't know, but it was pretty damn convenient. The only problem with the plan was Finn getting severed in the process.
With one quick burst of speed, Mara reached out for his hand. Digging her heels into the floor and shifting her weight back, which would've been a great idea in sand, she tried to pull back on his arm. Instead, her feet slid out from under.
Falling to the ground, Mara kept her grip on Finn. The Rathtar was now mostly on the other side of the door, which was a foot away from the ground. Giving one last pull on his arm, the door met the ground, severing the tentacle. The grip around Finn's waist loosened as the Rathtar roared in pain on the other side.
Mara was panting, falling down on her back and spreading out her arms in exhaustion. Finn was scared out of his wits, getting up quickly and looking around for anything else that could bring him harm. When he realized there was thing harmful at the moment, he extended a hand to help Mara up.
"Wow, um, thanks, thanks a lot." He helped her onto her feet. The blonde took a quick breath, gathering herself before beginning to talk again.
"You good?" She asked, making sure he wasn't to hurt, or otherwise it'd be a challenge to find BB-8 and somehow make it back to the ship.
He nodded fast," Fine."
Mara gave a quick smile of relief that was quickly wiped off, ready to move on and find her droid," Great, wonderful. Now BB-8 is gone, I don't know where Solo and the wookie are, we have another Rathtar to worry about, and where's Rey?"
At first, Finn's mind was scatterbrained. He was probably still getting over the shock of being dragged by an overgrown octopus, and stood blank-faced for two seconds. Two seconds were to long for Mara.
She grabbed both his shoulders, shaking them a bit to much,"Galaxy to Finn, where is Rey?"
"She's fine! She's fine!" Finn exclaimed, moving back from the blonde's death grip," Now we need to find BB-8 and get out of here-"
Mara clasp her hand over his mouth, the other going to her lips to indicate him to shut up. In the distance, cute little screams made its way down the halls, followed by angry curses in an indescribable language. Said in an accent common to the Core Worlds.
The woman's face turned into a malicious smirk. Staying quiet, she walked with as little noise as she could, putting a hand up to tell Finn to stay. The signal must have been to subtle, because he still tip-toed next to her. As Mara looked past the corner, seeing exactly what she had guessed.
Bala-Tik was being electrocuted by an angry BB-8, who was once again covered in a tightly woven bag. He cursed the little ball, kicking the droid back. Mara's exhaustion had pretty much left her now, the ever-familiar anger returning.
"Hey Bala!" She yelled, catching her old friend's attention. Holding her one of her batons in her hand, she watched as he turned.
Bala-Tik first brought up his blaster, aiming right as soon as she came into his line of sight. First, it was the initial action of assessing the enemy, then the man just stared at Mara. Then the gun slowly lowered down. Just as Finn's was moments ago, Bala's face was blank. Perfect.
"Mari-Mariana...You're supposed to be dead."He stuttered, confused and caught off guard. Mara let him stare a minute before acting quickly, realizing time was fleeting.
"Surprise, stupid. Miss me?"
First her hand went to the barrel in front of her, throwing off his aim. She slammed her elbow into his jam, then retracting her arm again to swing her baton into his side. Bala caught it, throwing her weapon to the side and swung his arm for a punch. She ducked, blocking his other punch by bring up her other arm to guard her face. While she set up her next attack, Finn pushed him from the side with enough force for him to fall down.
Mara brushed her hair out of her face, standing above the knocked down assailant. BB-8 had since freed himself from the sack, beeping a few not nice words to the death gang member.
"Here." Finn tossed Mara her lost baton, picking up Bala-Tik's blaster from off the floor once she caught it. The two stood over him, Finn wondering how the hell this guy knew Mara at all.
Bala was about to get up before deciding not to, seeing he was outnumbered 3 to 1. He proved himself up on his arm, spitting out blood from his mouth. The realization of Mara being alive had quickly set in with the first punch she threw," Mari, you're one dumb-"
"Oh please," Mara cocked her head to the side," You have deserved that for years. You really think I'd be okay with what you did? No, I'm still super pissed."
"Yeah," Finn threatened, taking the safety off the blaster. He leaned towards the blonde, whispering," Why are we mad at him, I mean, besides the obvious?"
Bala rolled his eyes at him, sizing up the man before looking back at Mara, obvious distaste for Finn,"Who is he?"
She twisted one of the batons in her hand, really wanting to hit him again just for spite,"None of your busine-"
"The name's Finn." He said quickly, seeming proud of the word like it was a great title. He stood up straighter, his hold on the gun more confident after saying it. Mara sighed, rubbing her eyes with her free hand. Focusing back on the soon-to-be-dead man in front of her, she was about to speak again.
"Well he's annoying," Bala commented, wiping the blood tickling from his mouth,"I see you haven't changed enough these last few years to start sorting good from bad company."
"You know what really annoys me Bala," Mara started again, becoming more angered by every single comment he said," The fact that you still have a babyface and that horrible haircut after six years. I mean, it's incredibly sad that a grown man still hadn't even hit puberty. Depressing."
"Mar-"
"No!" She interjected, words rolling off her tongue faster then BB-8 could roll," I show up and you have the nerve to insult me! First you steal my fighter that rightfully belonged to me, then I show up and you don't even recollect that I pretty much beat you to a pulp the last time we saw each other, yet you still try to succeed. And still, you have the nerve to try and steal my droid!"
"That thing's yours-"
"And worst of all? You assume I'm dead just because you gave me a few scars one time. You believe the minor injuries I got from you sucker punching me was enough kill me. Is this what you've been telling everyone since I've been gone? ''
"Uh-"
"Oh look, where's Mara? Huh, I haven't seen her for awhile, maybe I should just assume she's dead and take credit. I mean, there's no way way she could just never want to see my babyface ever again'." She faked a terrible Scottish accent, stepping a bit closer to the man's fallen figure.
Bala-Tik's eyes now had a worried fear in them at the sight of the raging woman. The blonde was mad now, offended at just his existence. Sure, after moving and proving him wrong on several of his accusations, she was still completely, utterly mad at him.
"I trusted you and you just decided to come and take my things. So don't call me dumb just because I realized how much of a prick you are."
The tension between the two was thickening, Mara feeling consumed by hatred. Swallowing the rising lump in her throat, she did everything to keep her composure, mentally holding herself back. Still, the words escaped her," Shoot him in the leg."
Finn gave the blonde a raised eyebrow, wondering whether she actually meant what she said. Bala-Tik looked in between both of them, then deciding to try and get up fast as he could. Finn turned back to him, pulling the trigger and hitting his right calf. Bala yelled in pain, much to Mara's delight.
That's when the Rathtar in the distance reminded them their lives were in danger. Then the screams of men in the distance pretty much told them they needed to go.
"C'mon!" Finn reached out for Mara's shirt, tugging on it to tell her to go. She didn't even give Bala a second look before running. Her fury would only blind her to stay and yell at him more, then die due to her stupidity. She needed to find Rey and get out of here.
"Let's go BB!" The blonde called as she followed her friend, sprinting back down the rusted corridors of the ancient freighter. More twists and turns took them to what they believed should be the way to the hanger. Each way seemed to lead to a sealed door.
Doubling back again, Finn started to talk while running slowing down slightly to turn the corner," So your real name is Mariana?"
Mara went around the bend to fast once again, pushing back against the wall to keep herself moving," Nope. Why do you care?"
"I don't know," He answered hastily, turning back quickly when the met another closed door, "How did you know that guy?"
Speaking fast through rapid breaths, the woman shrugged mid-stride, "Used to be a getaway pilot for the gang- doesn't ever matter!"
"Did the fighter he stole from you happen to be the one you stole from Han Solo?"
She backed up, spinning to go the other way, nearly toppling over BB-8 in the process,"Yes. Good one to, the Headhunter class was an excellent breed of fighter. Older design, not as fast as more modern ones, but that beauty was as durable as an X-wing. Sure, both fighters look similar at a first glance, but X-wings give you the advantage of-"
"Mara! Finn!"
Rey was directly in front of her with Solo and Chewbacca trailing a few yards behind. A weight lifted off her chest, the blonde giving a small grin when she saw her friend. Rey pulled her into a quick half-hug, grateful that Mara hadn't been turned into a snack for a Rathtar.
She pulled back out of the embrace with a weary expression tired of running. Whisks of her hair had escaped her neatly kept three buns, her face red from exertion. Her glance went to Finn, who had stopped to catch his breath," Are you okay?"
Immediately, he stood up straighter, nodding as fast as he could," Me? I'm fine, good. Not a scratch."
She grinned at him as a reply, her face then morphing into a more sterner look, addressing both of them like naughty children, "Don't either of you ever face a Rathtar by yourself ever again, understood? Or at least let me help you next time!"
"Not something I really want to plan on doing alone again," Mara panted, wiping away excess sweat off her brow. She to was glad Rey was okay, but she never doubted her friend's skills at defending herself, "But we will all be if we don't get moving, like, now. There's one a few halls back."
Chewbacca roared from behind all of them, alerting the group they weren't alone. Han Solo started to jog again, blaster out and ready," Run now, hug later. The Gauvians are trailing us, now let's get to the Falcon!"
And off they went again. It was a lot easier following Solo, who actually knew his way around. Within minutes they were in the hanger, the Millennium Falcon only a few strides away. As Chewbacca had said, the death gang was right on their heels. Roars of a Rathtar echoed throughout the hanger as all six of them ran as fast as they could into the ship.
Mara was the last to enter the ship, dodging enemy fire as well as she could. Once fully in the ship, she closed the door to the bay, it retracting with ease. The gang's firing shook the ship, but Mara's muscles finally relaxed after the daring escapade that was just about to end.
Within moments they were in hyperspace, leaving the freighter behind them. BB-8 purred next to her as she sat down, back leaning against the wall in an attempt to rest. Finally, she could close her eyes for a minute.
Mariana
Her old name played inside her mind, seeming so.....not her. The identity, the person she was when she trusted Bala wasn't a part of her anymore. That was a person who didn't know Rey, or Jakku, the First Order, Finn, Dameron, little BB, or even the real meaning of life itself. Naïve. That was only the name of a person, an empty title with nothing behind. Yet it caused so much turmoil in her.
Ayyye two updates
It's late, I'm going to sleep now then worry about studying for finals tomorrow