FLYING SOLO ➳ luke skywalker

TWENTY-THREE! THE SLAM

THE metal restraints were looped around Analia's wrists but not locked. Every few paces, the cuffs buzzed, sending a light jolt of electric energy shooting up her arms.

"Ouch," she hissed. "Stop that!"

The Mandalorian chuckled. "It's funny."

Each and every one of Analia's senses were on high alert. By now, she had lost count of how many years it had been since she had last stepped foot in the Slam, the district of Daiyu City that knelt to the control of Donio Xenos and his empire. Neon lights blazed like artificial suns in every direction, skyscrapers and complexes climbing high into the smog dense air. The city was riddled with so much air pollution, the sky was completely obscured from view. With each step she took, Analia spied another illicit spice transaction. The aroma of street food smelled like being a child again.

The Mandalorian's hand was clamped down hard on her shoulder, radiating the impression that he was the one directing her and not the other way around. A pink-skinned Twi'lek offered the Mandalorian a helping of Felucian; he waved her down. 

"Remember, after turning me over, you don't wait around," Analia said. "Get your payment and get yourself out. Don't worry about me."

"You think too highly of me," the Mandalorian answered.

"In there," she whispered, jerking her head to the left. The Mandalorian steered her towards a bar with an open front. A flickering red sign above the bar's gaping mouth told her that she was in the right place. They stepped over the threshold of the establishment and no one looked twice at the sight of the Mandalorian warrior dragging along a young girl in electrocuffs. 

Behind the bar, a pale-skinned and sour-faced Zabrak served drinks in grimy glasses to loud, grumbling customers. The air was thick with the stench of smoke. Analia watched a man push a blue capsule up his nose. Her heart was beating wildly. She was starting to think that returning to Daiyu wasn't the best idea and was about to tell the Mandalorian to turn around when the Zabrak's gaze fell on her.

His eyes narrowed into slits, scarred face contorting into a scowl. One of his horns, Analia noticed, was chipped. He slammed the glass in his hand on the counter, to no alarm of the customers, and slung a soiled cloth over his shoulder. Rounding the bar, he stalked towards Analia and the Mandalorian.

"Abort," she hissed under her breath. "Abort!"

"What have we got here?"

The Zabrak's voice was throaty and low, more of a gargle than a voice at all. Analia struggled to catch her breath as her lungs contracted hard. He was a few inches taller than her, the Zabrak, and he had recognition written all over her face. Somehow, he knew exactly who she was, or he at least had an inkling. Analia supposed Donio had not put bounties on the heads of many young girls. She was going to die here, Analia was sure of it. 

The Mandalorian's grip on her shoulder tightened. "Xenos promised a handsome reward for anyone who brings Trix in."

Analia winced, squeezing her eyes shut as though bracing for a harsh blow to the face. They had made it this far without drawing attention to themselves—despite the full Mandalorian getup—but the utterance of her alias plunged the bar into complete, pulverising silence. Noises from the streets drifted in through the open doorway, but no one inside the establishment so much as breathed. Tens of pairs of eyes stared fixedly at Analia. Almost a quarter of a decade she had made it with only three people seeing what lay beneath Trix's mask—the Mandalorian, Han Solo, and Donio Xenos.

The Donian Pirates knew it was her, Analia, under that helmet. Of course they did. It wasn't as though Donio kept it a secret, and even if he tried, the truth would have been obvious. The little girl he had trained and raised since she was sturdy enough to hold a weapon suddenly vanished and in her place came a masked assassin. His pirates weren't that stupid, but Donio was strict in not allowing Analia to remove her helmet around anyone else but him once she had started to wear it. She would continue to age, he told her, and her face would change. There would come a time when the pirates might see her adult face and would no longer recognise her, and that was in her best interests. In the event that one of the pirates betrayed and left his gang and gained a craving for Trix's blood, Analia would be protected while walking bare-faced in public.