Solstice • The Mandalorian

Chapter 5~The Mercenaries

   "Okay, so here's the plan," The Mandalorian said as our shipped finished docking inside the mercenaries' ship. "I need you to cover me until I find the control panel and take down the forcefield."

   "Sounds good, except I can't aim," I said. 

   "What kind of Mandalorian doesn't know how to use a blaster pistol?" 

   "I know how to use it, I just can't aim."

   "Do you at least know how to work a control panel?"

   "No," I suddenly felt very useless. 

   "Give me that," The Mandalorian took the blaster pistol from my hands and handed me his pulse blaster. "Look through the lens before you shoot, it shows you where your blast is going to go."

   "Thanks."

   "Now get ready to shoot," he said and pushed himself against the wall next to the door that was soon to open, the blaster pistol raised and ready to shoot. I pushed myself against the other side of the door so that anyone who came in would meet at least one of our blasters.

   When the door finally did open, the first thing that poked through was the barrel of a long blaster rifle, but soon the person holding it cautiously walked in. He didn't get very far before he was met with the stun from the blaster pistol. Then, all at once blasts came flying through the door from every direction, hitting all parts of the ship that were visible from the door. 

   "This thing's still on stun?!" The Mandalorian shouted over the loud sounds of the blasts. 

   "Yeah, sorry about that!" I shouted back. The Mandalorian threw the blaster onto the ground and quickly grabbed the mercenary's blaster rifle.

   "I'm going in!" he said.

   "You're going to get blown to pieces!"

   He then reached down and pulled the unconscious mercenary to his side. "I won't but he might," he said before lifting the man up and using him as a shield as he stepped into the range of blasts. 

   He was crazy!

   Not having much of a choice, I quickly followed behind him. There was a group of at least fifteen mercenaries shooting at us, but the Mandalorian managed to take down three of them in a matter of seconds. He almost made it look easy as he shot them down. A blast came and hit me right in the center of my armor, but deflected off, causing me no harm. This armor was amazing. 

   "Hey!" I shouted at the man who had shot me before aiming the pulse blaster at him and pulling the trigger. The man burst and disintegrated into a million pieces. 

   "This way!" The Mandalorian shouted, running towards a hallway of the ship. His shield was almost completely torn apart and it wasn't a pretty sight. The mercenaries continued to fire at us as we ran, their shots hitting us but doing almost no damage to the armor. 

   When we reached the start of the hallway, the Mandalorian stopped running and turned to me. "Stay here and make sure they don't get past you," he said. 

   "What?! You can't just leave me here," I said, as he aimed the rifle over my shoulder and blasted a nearby mercenary. 

   "I need time to find the control panel. All you have to do is keep shooting," the Mandalorian said. "You'll be fine," and with those as his final words, he took off running deeper into the hallway. 

   Great, I was left alone to die and it was all my own doing. My father wasn't to blame, I had been the one who had decided to steal a spacecraft and run away. I had been the one to stun the Mandalorian and get us into this mess. This was all my fault. Oh, how could have I been so stupid to believe I could actually make it on my own without any help? This wasn't me, this wasn't apart of my capabilities. I wasn't a strong woman who could survive on her own, I was the helpless daughter of a terrible man, and that's what I would always be. 

   But still, I had somehow mustered up the courage to defy my father after years of being under his control. I had even managed to learn how to somewhat fly a spacecraft after only being in one for seconds. Heck, I had even managed to trick a Mandalorian into thinking I was a Mandalorian too. For someone who was the helpless daughter of a terrible man, I was beginning to become a strong woman who could survive on her own. 

   Another blast hit me from the back and I turned around with a newfound passion. These mercenaries wouldn't be the end of me; no. I would not be taken down until I had lived for myself, until I had experienced a free life with no one telling me what to do. I would live through this, I would escape this mess, so I could start a new life, one where I am known solely as Mena. 

   I lifted the pulse blaster up to the mercenaries, aimed through the lens and fired at anyone who stood in the way of my free life. The mercenaries eradicated one by one, each blowing up and disintegrating into piles of ashes. Before I knew it, they were all gone.

   The Mandalorian returned not too long after, and he didn't seem too surprised to see all the mercenaries were gone. "The force field is down, we should go before any more of them show up," he said, walking past me. 

   "Your pulse blaster is amazing," I said. I had to get myself one of these, maybe in pink. 

   "I know. Hand it over," he said. I frowned and hesitantly handed it back to him. I didn't know it was easy, or even possible to get attached to a weapon, yet here I was feeling sad giving up a pulse blaster.

   As we boarded our ship, the Mandalorian immediately closed the door and kicked the blaster pistol that was still on the ground far away from us. 

   "We make a good team," I said. 

   "You're right," the Mandalorian stared at me, suddenly putting me very on edge. I realized I didn't have a single weapon on me, while he had both the blaster rifle and pulse blaster. Something was wrong and my suspicions turned out to be correct. The Mandalorian lifted the pulse blaster and aimed it right at my head. "Too bad I have to kill you."