Arani Jakal was not ready to be stranded on an unfamiliar planet, causing her whole life to change. But in the chaos, a friend or two popped up - seemingly from nowhere - wishing to help. Ari gladly accepted and quickly became part of a small town...
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SLIDING INTO THE SEAT BEHIND THE TWO MEN, Arani sighed. This had been the easy part, now they were heading into the eye of the storm.
The engine whirred and they took off, picking up more speed as they went.
There was a moment of silence until Mayfeld started to talk again. Ari rolled her eyes and huffed, grateful that he could see her. "Hey, how's it feel?" he asked Din. "Huh? I mean, c'mon, man, you still get to wear a helmet, right?"
Din did not reply.
"All right, you know what? I'm takin' this thing off," he said, paying no mind to the other's silence, and took off his helmet one-handed. "I can't see anything. I don't know how you people wear those things. And by 'you people,' I do mean Mandalorians."
The sun shone brightly again as the tunnel came to an end. The bumpy road continued far as the eye could see.
Mayfeld kept glancing over at Din who was now looking out the window. The criminal hesitated another moment before saying: "Feels better when it's off."
"Mayfeld," warned Ari. "It's not gonna happen."
"I know, I'm just saying . . . Has he ever taken it off in front of you?"
Ari crossed her arms and bit her cheek. "What do you think?" It did bother her that he hasn't but she understood that he was dedicated to his way of life and clan.
"I'm just wondering saying that you two are . . ."
"We're what?"
"You know . . . you're his girl."
Ari glanced at Din. He was still very quiet but he was now facing forward, listening.
"So what if I am? Doesn't mean he gets to break his creed for just some girl."
Looking out the window, Ari saw a vehicle just like theirs on the side of the road, flipped over and burnt. Another one came up on the right just a few feet away, and Ari came to understand just how dangerous this was. She prayed to Maker that they wouldn't end up like those they just passed.
"Juggernaut Four, you're running a bit hot," said a voice over the comms. "Be sure to watch your cargo heat limits and speed."
"Copy that, Three. We hit a couple bumps. Thanks for the heads-up," Another voice replied.
"Don't worry about the rhydonium," Din told Mayfeld. "As long as you drive steady, you'll get us to the refinery."
Up ahead, there was a mass of people standing on the road, houses, and tents flocking the sides of the path. Mayfeld reached up and blared the horn, the people slowly scattering. He eased the vehicle to a crawl so as not to kill or hurt anyone that was trying to get out of the way. It looked to Ari that the road was once never there and that the Empire had plowed right through the village.
