"A map to Skywalker himself?" Maz Kanata's oversized eyes widened, chuckling to herself, "Ah, you're right back in the mess!"
Mara savored her fruit while studying the room for any threats or eavesdroppers, a useful habit she had picked up over the years. Her skills were rusty with this much variety in a crowd, but she was pretty sure no one had been trying to overhear their conversation.
Han and Maz continued talking, Rey and Finn eagerly listening while Mara kept tabs on the locals. Solo pointed down to BB-8, who had nestled himself between Rey and Mara, "Maz, I need you to get this droid to Leia."
"Hmm," She pursed her lips, looking from the droid to Han, shrugging before simply saying, "No."
Mara now snapped her head back to shoot daggers at Han, who met her stare with an anxious look. He'd said Maz could help them, and from what she just said that didn't seem like what was going to happen.
Before Solo could give another excuse, the old woman reached her hand over to his, "You've been running from this fight for far to long. Han, nyakee nago wadda! Go home."
He gave a pitiful shake of his head, the idea not sitting well with him, "Leia doesn't want to see me."
Finn, probably taking a more diplomatic approach than Mara would've if she'd been given a few more moments, spoke up, "Please we came here for your help."
"At least give us a ship." Mara grumbled, still scanning for anyone who looked suspicious. Maz's eyes went from Finn's and traveled to the blonde, lingering on her for more than a few seconds. It wasn't until Rey spoke that she looked away from her.
The native scavenger, who had heard many a tall tale about many different wars, asked, "What fight?"
Maz took a second to observe the entire group before her, spreading out her hands as a gesture, "The only fight: against the dark side. Through the ages, I've seen evil take many forms. The Sith. The Empire. Today, it is the First Order. Their shadow is spreading across the galaxy."
Mara throat tightened as the elder continued to speak. She knew this well, probably better then anyone at the table. She knew the enemy, personally. She'd seen her share of evil, she'd run from it. Now, after just getting a taste of the fight she'd fled from years ago, she was itching to get back into it. It was in her nature. She thrived in war.
But in darkness? In darkness she felt blind.
Maz's eyes again met Mara's, almost as if she sensed the girl's thoughts. The blonde let her gaze drop to the floor while Kanata continued to speak, "We must face them. Fight them. All of us."
You can make things right again, Poe's voice repeated itself in Mara's head, You're a natural born warrior. We need people like you to end this war.
As she questioned herself in her head, Finn shook his, voice tight but convinced, "There is no fight against the First Order! Not one we can win. Look around. There's no chance we haven't been recognized already. I bet you the First Order is on their way right--"
"Finn-" Mara had cut him off, giving a more intense glare then she had directed at Solo moments ago. What made her shut up was Maz, who was fiddling with her goggles. Under her scrutinizing eye, which had magnified at least double, she leaned in from across the table.
Finn voice rose higher, taken off guard by her actions, "What's this?! What's going on?"
Almost impossibly, Maz's eyes got bigger. She grunted, perhaps in recognition, and started crawling across the table. Fruit bowls were pushed back, Mara and Rey saving the delicious food from becoming mush on the floor.
"Solo, what is she doing?" His eyes darted between the alien on the table to the smuggler, who found the scene quite entertaining.
"I don't know, but it ain't good." He commented, fighting off an amused smirk.
Maz now stopped, turning her head from side-to-side and examining a confused Finn, who was leaning as far back as his chair would allow him without falling. Maz's spoke while still keeping her ginormous eyes on the boy, "If you live long enough you see the same eyes in different people. I'm looking at the eyes of a man who wants to run."
Finn now leaned in, soaking in her words. His whole figure went rigid, and his entire face seemed to be shadowed by a mixture of fear and anger at the elder's attempts to define him, "You don't know a thing about me. Where I'm from. What I've seen. You don't know the First Order like I do. They'll slaughter us. We all need to run."
It was probably Rey who was stunned the most, her face falling while Maz crawled back into her chair, disappointed. Mara eyes held a fury in them. No, he promised he wouldn't betray them. No, she'd thought it'd be selling them out. This was much worse.
Perhaps she expected him to be more than a coward. Maybe she had higher standards for him. But there she was, let down again by the almost default fear of humanity. And it made her angry.
Maz pointed to the corner of the room, her voice low, "See those two? They'll trade work for transportation to the Outer Rim. There you can disappear."
The very look on his face showed he was considering the offer. Rey mustered words, hurt by his sudden lack of loyalty, "Finn!"
From behind her torn expression was Mara's angered face, poised like a waiting animal ready to strike, "You really want to do this? Really?"
Finn gulped at the blonde's face, instead going back to Rey softer one, pleading for her to take his side, perhaps even genuinely concerned for her, "Come with me."
The scavenger stared at him in astonishment, appalled by what he was offering, "What about BB-8? We're not done yet. We have to get him back to your base."
"Um," Mara butted in, making sure Finn saw her glare, "What about, I don't know, the fate of the galaxy?"
"I can't." Was all he said. He stood to leave, handing out the gun he'd borrowed from the Falcon back to Han.
The old man could barely look at him, and murmured, "Keep it."
Mara was stunned. Stunned that everyone wasn't as mad at Finn as she was. Stunned that after everything he claimed to have gone through, he could just walk away. Stunned that he had the nerve to leave them. Stunned she hadn't seen this coming sooner.
Rey got up before Mara, clenching her fists. The blonde stood up to follow, ready to do anything to convince Finn to come back, to not just give up. Rey grabbed a hold of her arm, turning to her friend and shaking her head. It was their silent code to let the other one take over.
Mara reluctantly sat back down, watching as Rey went to talk to Finn. She set her jaw, shaking her head as she bit into a piece of fruit, anger bubbling up inside her. She'd give Rey two minutes, then she'd intervene.
As Mara tapped her fingers against the table, Maz turned to her, cocking her head to the side much like she had while crawling over to examine Finn moments ago, "Marana?"
Her real name was probably the only thing at that moment that could pry her eyes off watching Rey and Finn talk. She raised an eyebrow, a little too pissed to put up with some magical Force fortune telling, "Yes?"
Han looked between Mara and Maz, glancing in between the two to figure out what was going on. The elder alien adjusted her googles one more time, thankfully not crawling over the table as she studied the blonde, "It has been a while child, hasn't it? Almost four years."
Mara shrugged, glancing back to look at the other two talking across the room and absentmindedly talked, "Something like that."
Maz made a chiding sound with her mouth, muttering something in her native tongue before speaking again, "So much wasted potential in one girl."
The blonde chuckled dryly in a low tone that matched her current anger, "You actually wouldn't be the first to tell me that. I'm not necessarily surprised."
"You misunderstand what I'm saying," The elder waited for Mara to look back at her. When she did, Maz sighed, "Such beautiful blue eyes. Last time I saw them, they were filled with the same feeling of betrayal. You don't have to be a prophet to see that this is a repeated feeling for you. It's taken you far away from your true calling."
Mara gave a sarcastic smile, about done with the situation and within moments of snapping completely, "Look, we came to you for help. All you've done is point a lost puppy in the direction of cowardice. The least you can do is spare me your nonsense."
With that she stomped off, the rage in her chest threatening to burst. Han Solo watched her leave, heading towards lonely Rey who witnessed Finn leaving. He turned to Maz, who was adjusting her goggles back to their original setting, "You've met her before?"
Maz simply nodded, looking from him to the raging blonde, "Yes. Now tell me about the girl, the scavenger."
"Which one?" Han questioned, eyebrows knitted in confusion, "There happens to be two."
Maz shook her head, as if the idea was outrageous enough, "Marana is no scavenger, not at all. Her place is in the skies. No, the other."
While Han began to tell all he knew to Maz Kanata about Rey, Mara had materialized by her and BB-8's side. The fury she felt seemed almost blinding as she saw Finn leave. She whipped around to face Rey, clenching her jaw before speaking, "Why is he even leaving? Weren't you supposed to convince him to stay?"
Rey stood still, watching someone she'd come to consider a friend walk away. Her eyes were filled with an angst of betrayal, feeling left alone once more by someone who should've stayed.
Mara seeing her friend in such a fragile state made fresh wave of anger blossom in her chest. No, Rey had been abandoned once before, she didn't deserve this all over again. Her temper rose as the scavenger finally met her steely glare. The blonde heard her gulp, barely letting the words slip out of her mouth, "He's a rogue stormtrooper. He's been lying to us this whole time."
Mara eyes grew as wide as Maz's, her mouth falling open in surprise and realization of what had just been revealed to her. Yes, Finn's claim fit with what she'd learned of him; the overall shadiness, not specifying anything, not even seeming remotely Resistence material. Even the uniformity of his walk suggested stormtrooper, but a rogue? Brainwashing wouldn't wash away that easily.
So this raised the idea of First Order agent.
Mara spun around, Rey catching his wrist to stop her. She knew the blonde when she got angry, and it was always irrational and purely impulsive. Rey had figured out a calming technique over the months she'd been in Mara's company, now trying to soothe her voice, "There's nothing you can do-"
"I can persuade Finn to tell us why he lied." Her face was almost dark with fury, her voice dripping with venom. Oh, she was raging now, barely holding herself together.
Rey quickly looked around her, making sure their scene was not attracting any unwanted attention, "You're angry, that never helps anything."
"Damn right I'm angry!" Mara kept from shouting, lowering her tone fierce whisper as soon as she raised it, "And when I am, it scares people, and when I scare people, they usually tell me things. I'm going to find out if Finn is really just a little lost stormtrooper who may or may not have killed an actual Resistance member and just lied out of fear, or, the likely alternative."
Mara was agitated, using her hands very animatedly while the pace of her quiet words quickened, "He's a First Order spy who definitely killed an actual Resistance member and lied to earn our trust. And if he is a spy, he'll tell his superiors about our location, which happens to be BB-8's location, who happens to probably know where the Resistance base is, and is conveniently carrying a piece of a map that leads to Luke Skywalker, the last Jedi known to exist! Now, do you see my extremely logical reasoning!"
Both Rey and BB-8 just looked at her, blinking and just surprised. Mara gave a sarcastic smirk, nodding her head as she rubbed her palms together, "Well, I see no objection. Enjoy yourself while I go ruin his already horrible day."
She turned and strode away at a fast speed, not giving Rey a chance to stop her. Pushing her way to the doors, someone opened them. Not being hindered by crowd of people, she took a quick breath to at least attempt to calm herself down. The intake of oxygen didn't really help ease her raging mind, now set on making sure the person who could possibly hand vital information right over to the Order didn't leave the planet.
And Finn also hurt Rey, which was a bad thing to do if you didn't want to deal with Mara.
The docking platform was easy to find, the actual ship a bit harder. The blonde jogged through the winding maze of docked ships, some cargo, others transportation. After searching through the many lines of vessels, she spotted her current target.
"Finn!" She called across the landing sight. He looked past his shoulder to see her, quickly realizing staying any longer would result in him being harmed. Picking up the cargo he was supposed to load, he scurried as fast as he could to try to make it up the stairs. Mara sped up to a run, reaching him quick and practically ripping the containers out of his hand.
"Woah woah careful!" Finn yelled at her, eyes staying on the beat up cargo, "There could be something valuable inside!"
She dropped them to the ground, placing her hands on her hips and trying to control her rapid breathing, "I don't care if the have Jedi holocrons inside, you are not loading them on that ship."
Finn was at first appalled by her aggressiveness, but soon shared her anger, "I told you, this isn't my fight. Now let me leave."
Mara clenched her jaw, not getting the answer she wanted, but still determined. She crossed her arms,"Fine, go run home to your mommy and daddy. Oh wait! You don't have any, because apparently you're a stormtrooper."
The comment was meant to cripple, and it fulfilled it's purpose. Finn's offense and pain that her words brought him was obvious. He bent down to pick up the cargo, avoiding eye contact. The blonde felt no remorse for what she said, instead rubbing salt in the wound she'd just created.
"What did your fellow troopers, the only family you ever could possibly have, think when you became a traitor? How'd you fight against years of programming to even fathom leaving the Order? How could you betray something you have your life to?"
Mara had stepped to far this time and she knew it. Still, she stood her ground as Finn turned, enraged, "I didn't 'give' my life to the Order! I did the right thing, I freed an innocent man and helped you and Rey! Now where has that action gotten me? He's dead, the galaxy is in danger, and there's a bounty on my head. What else is there to do but run!"
"Funny, I don't believe you." She replied, still locking her glare. She was ready for a fight, one hand inching towards her batons in case he pulled his blaster, "See, you've lied pretty convincingly before. Maybe you're just running back to General Hux to tell on us."
Finn was now as angry as her, his face becoming red and his eyes sharing the same fury Mara's possessed, "You're accusing me of being a First Order spy?"
"Damn right I am." The blonde's voice had lost it's initial wrath. It was now sharp and crisp, sounding like it could cut through solid steal, "Why else would you flake out on saving the galaxy?"
Mara had gone into dangerous territory. She was ready for a fight, egging him on using merely her words. No, she had pushed the man in front of her to far.
She had blindsided herself. Her anger often clouded her mind, but this time she was convinced she had been smarter than him. She thought she had everything under control. Mara couldn't have been more wrong. Finn had an edge on her, one she could've guessed much earlier if she had just controlled her quick temper.
"You want to talk about betrayal?" His tone matched hers. It was threatening, low, confident that he had the upper hand of the agreement now, "You want to talk about running away,
Commander?"
It was as if the very breath had been ripped away from her lungs. The deep, heated rage that had settled in her bones now felt cold. The assurance she relied on faded, morphing into uneasiness. Her temper that was almost impossible to quell burned away faster than it ignited. All because of one word, one former title.
Now she realized her fatal mistake.
How had she been so blind? Of course he would know who she was. If he truly was a stormtrooper stationed on any First Order ship or base, particularly Kylo Ren's cruiser, he would've heard her name a thousand times.
Mara should've calmed herself down before rushing out to accuse him. She should've thought everything through. Yet again, her irritability jumbled her mind.
Finn raised an eyebrow, obviously observing the dramatic change in her demeanor. He continued on, showing her the same ruthlessness in his words as she had before, "What, you don't think I wouldn't recognize the best pilot the First Order ever had? You may have been dead awhile, but it's not like I wouldn't remember Commander Marana Hux."
Okay, I promised a backstory this chapter, but it ran a bit to long. Don't worry, you'll be enlightened next chapter. But hey, you know her real name; not Mara, not Mariana, but Marana.
Oh, and she needs to take a chill pill.
Adios till next time!