SEVENTEEN.
do or die!
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The shot explodes in a blossoming ribbon of orange and yellow fire, sending sparks of flame ricocheting behind the barricade. Everyone flinches, jumping into the wall, and Zoya yells something indiscernible beneath the din of the explosion, but the Mandalorian can make out that at least two of the words were fuck!
"Hold your positions!" Cara commands, the tough-as-nails war veteran in her displaying its proud colors.
The AT-ST shifts again, still projecting the burning white light towards them. Zoya presses further into the wall, squeezing her eyes shut, a nervous sweat causing her fingers to begin slipping where she tries to clutch the rifle. She swallows, feeling a dozen trembling thoughts begin to filter on loop through her mind: pictures of Mando dying, pictures of her dying, pictures of them failing and going up in a cloud of flame. A gloved hand touches her shoulder, and she looks up, trying to keep herself calm.
Mando looks down at her, and when her eyes latch onto his visor, he nods. "You're okay," he says, and it's enough. Zoya releases a shuddering breath, realizing she'd never known how attached she was to living, how much she doesn't want to die. He squeezes her shoulder comfortingly, brows knitting together beneath his helmet.
"I am," she says, affirming it to herself.
"We're gonna beat this thing."
"We are."
The AT-ST creaks loudly, and a roar rises from the trees behind it. A massive horde of Klatooinians pours from the pines, weapons raised high above their heads and bloodlust painting viciously across their faces. They weave through the fog and the tall grasses with thundering footsteps.
"Open fire!" Cara screams.
The farmers set their newly acquired blasters upon the Klatooinians, and red, glowing bolts soon begin to rain down upon the tide of soldiers. Zoya hoists her rifle and peers through the sight, aiming at one of the tall things, raising a spear mottled with sharp metal points. Without lingering on the gravity of her actions, she exhales steadily and fires. The shot takes the Klatooinian in the middle of his head, and he careens forward, splashing into one of the ponds.
Mando raises his rifle beside her, firing off a few shots of his own at a rapid pace that Zoya's skill isn't developed enough to even try. His Amban rifle disintegrates one of the soldiers running between the AT-ST's legs in a flurry of gold sparks.
"Nice shot," Zoya calls.
He barely has time to look her way, the beginnings of a smile starting to dust the corners of his mouth, before the AT-ST fires twice upon the village, sending volleys of flame ballooning up through the air. The Klatooinians get closer as it fires again, causing all the farmers and Mando, Cara, and Zoya to hunker down behind the barrier.
"We gotta get that thing to step forward!" Mando says.
Cara breathes heavily, blaster focused on the Klatooinians. "I'm thinking."
Screaming erupts from deeper within the village as the AT-ST sets its sights further back, sending barrels and people flying. Zoya's mind goes directly to the child, hidden away with the rest of the small kids, and she prays that the hut they're concealed in isn't affected by the AT-ST's onslaught, grip tightening on the weapon in her hands.
Mando fires his Amban rifle at one of the soldiers running towards the gap in the barrier as Cara reaches for her holster. "New plan," she says.
"What do you have in mind?" the Mandalorian replies, voice barely audible over the sound of blasters firing and villagers screaming.
"Give me the pulse rifle."
Without a second's hesitation, he hands over the weapon, trusting her completely. "I'll cover you."
"Stay sharp, Dune." Zoya raises her fingers, curled into a fist and knocks them into her chest once, right above her heart.
Cara's mouth quirks, and she mimics the motion. "Yes, ma'am."
With that, the veteran ducks out from behind the barricade, keeping her head low as she runs head-on into the swarm of Klatooinians flooding towards the farmers. Mando flips a blaster from a secondary holster at his hip, twirling the handle deftly in his hands before raising it over the edge of the barricade, squeezing off a few shots, felling soldiers halfway through lifting their own weapons to strike at Cara.
Zoya pops up beside him, aiming with her rifle. Bang. A Klatooinian crumples before Cara's feet, head lolling. Bang. Another tumbles to its knees, hands pressing to its side, trying fruitlessly to cup the scarlet blood that spills between its fingers. Bang. One of the soldiers running up behind Cara drops like a stone, skull cracking onto the ground. Alongside her, Mando fires his blaster at the same speed, taking out double what Zoya accomplishes.
Cara reaches the AT-ST's feet and fires up at the head, jumping into the pond in front of it, pressing herself up against the edge.
"Come on," Mando whispers. "You got this."
In the water, the war veteran spins and shoots again. The AT-ST takes a couple steps closer to the edge and fires at Cara, bolt landing upon the bank with a bright, deafening flash. A Klatooinian barrels towards the pond where she's hiding, but Mando takes him out before Zoya even has time to blink.
The AT-ST focuses on Cara once more, and as it fires, Omera looks around, eyes settling on the people around her. "This is it!" she yells. "It's now or never!"
Zoya catches her gaze and gives her a nod as a group of farmers raises their voices into one loud battle cry, storming past the barricade and towards the Klatooinians, brandishing blasters and spears alike, taking on the enemy soldiers with surprising skill. They put up a good fight, and luck is on their side; the AT-ST remains concentrated on the bank Cara hides behind, putting all its effort into killing her, stepping closer to the edge.
"Take the bait, you hunk of junk," Mando hisses.
Cara pops out once more, aiming deftly. Her shot takes out one of the glowing red eye sockets, and the machine stumbles forward, one leg plunging into the water. It's enough to take the whole goddamn thing down. It's almost like everyone freezes in place, farmers and Klatooinians alike, to watch it plummet to the ground.
Mando pulls a device out of his pocket and presses a button, arming what Zoya recognizes as a bomb. "Eyes up," he tells her, and sprints forward, making his way to where the AT-ST fell.
Zoya lifts her rifle once more and covers him as he runs, killing any Klatooinian who gets too close. He reaches the AT-ST and plants the bomb, throwing himself into the water beside Cara just as an explosion rips through the machine, sending a swell of flame rippling out into the air. It leaves a haze of inky smoke in its wake.
The villagers begin to push the Klatooinians back with renewed vigor, and Zoya hurtles over the barrier to join them, sharpened spear in hand. She strikes two of the soldiers at once, moving as swiftly as a venomous serpent, finally utilizing the training she'd put herself through before hunting down the Mandalorian. They stumble back with the force of her attack but regain their footing just as quickly, swinging at her with their own weapons, studded with spikes of metal. Her body twists and slips between their strikes, and she spins into a crouch, sweeping out her leg around her and knocking the two to the ground. Zoya's back on her feet in a millisecond, and the honed end of her weapon drives downward into two thumping hearts, splattering crimson across the grass.
She twirls the spear like a baton between her fingers without having broken a sweat as the rest of the farmers chase off the Klatooinians, who tumble over themselves as they retreat back into the trees.
"Holy shit," a voice says.
Zoya turns to find Omera behind her, eyes wide. "What?"
"You just . . ." She stares at the two bodies at Zoya's feet. "Wow."
"It might be safe to say that hand-to-hand combat is one of my few strengths," Zoya says with a grin, tossing the bloodied weapon back and forth between her hands.
"Yeah," Omera says, wide-eyed. "I would agree with that."
Around them, the rest of the villagers begin to laugh and embrace each other, celebrating their victory, which the odds had definitely been against. Zoya looks at Omera, watching the way the widow's face brightens as she gazes around at her people, happy in their triumph. Feeling something pull up the edges of her mouth, Zoya steps forward and wraps her arms around the woman's shoulders, hugging her tightly.
"We did it," she says into Omera's shoulder.
The widow relaxes, returning her embrace. "We sure did." When the two separate, Omera lets her eyes fall upon the rest of the people once more, weaving her fingers together in front of her. "Now we can live in peace."
Zoya nods in agreement, flipping the spear through the air once more.
Omera's eyes flicker to her uncertainly. "Are you . . . are you and Mando going to stay here? With the child?"
"I don't know," she says. "For now? Yes."
A bright smile arrives to dress the woman's lips. "That's great to hear."
Zoya returns her grin and yawns. "I'm going to pass out for a week. That was so fucking exhausting." As Omera agrees, Zoya stills immediately upon realizing that she doesn't have a place to sleep—unless she wants to share a bed with the Mandalorian. "Omera?" she says, unsure why her heartrate increases at the idea of sleeping next to the bounty hunter.
"Yeah?"
"Is there an extra bed I can sleep in?"
Omera looks at her curiously. "What do you mean? Isn't there one in the barn?"
"Well, yeah, but . . . I, um. I think Mando's gonna take that one. And we're not gonna, um, share it."
"Is it too small?"
"No." Zoya stares at her meaningfully.
"Oh." Omera nods slowly, understanding. "You aren't together."
Zoya shakes her head mutely, skin prickling with embarrassment. "N-no, no, it's not . . . it's not like that."
"Oh. I thought—I can get you another bed, that's no problem."
Before she has a chance to thank Omera, Cara and Mando walk towards them, dripping wet from their dive in the pond. Zoya smirks as they approach, spinning the spear and calling, "Go for a swim while we did all the work?"
Mando rolls his eyes beneath his helmet, but he can't resist saying something back. Maybe it's the galaxy reflecting in Zoya's eyes like glitter thrown across an sheet of onyx or the way she tilts her head to look up at him as he nears her, full lips pressing together as she quells a grin. "Yeah. How'd it go?"
"Just fine without your help," she says, grinning. Then, to Cara: "Great plan, by the way. Worked wonders."
"I helped," Mando grumbles.
Cara gives her a smile. "It did well enough." She turns to Omera, releasing a breath. "Want to help me round everyone up to collect the weapons?"
Omera nods. "Of course."
As they step away, the Mandalorian shifts awkwardly, glancing at Zoya. He'd seen the way she'd taken down two Klatooinians at once, moving like a shadow, and he tries to find something to say to tell her how well he thought she'd done, but by just remembering how dangerous she'd looked whilst wielding the spear, his mouth dries up. "You fought good," he says clumsily. After the words fumble over themselves falling off his lips, Mando wants to take them back and curse himself for acting so idiotically.
Zoya's gaze flutters up to him, and she cocks a brow. "Tell me why that doesn't sound sincere."
"I mean it."
"Hm, okay." She looks away, feeling heat kiss the back of her neck, though she tries to brush it off. "Thanks, then. You fought well, too."
Her tone is genuine. The Mandalorian smiles softly as he looks down at her, noticing the flowery hues on the apples of her cheeks underneath the moonlight.
Zoya flicks her eyes up to catch onto his visor. Though she's unable to see his expression through the helmet, no matter how much she wishes she could, somehow she can sense how he's looking at her, and her heart softens even further as she smiles in return.
"Let's go check on the kid," she says.
"I'm right behind you."
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im so attached to them wtf 🥺 lemme know ur thoughts so far