Warrior ◊ Star Wars

chapter six; rancid

By the time Mara had climbed back up the ladder, Rey and mystery Resistance man were talking faster then she could comprehend. She decided they were complimenting each other, or at least it sounded like it. Yes, the pace of their words was annoying, she couldn't help but feel the excitement too. They'd just successfully took out an entire squad of enemy fighters and were just happy to be alive.

BB-8 rolled up to her, congratulating her excellent shooting. Mara bent down to his height, giving the droid a smile," Thanks bud. You didn't get scratched up too much did ya?"

The astromech had boastfulness behind his tone, I'm completely fine. Been through much worse.

"I know you have, but you can't blame a girl for caring." She patted BB-8's head, getting back up as Rey's energy caught up to her.

The scavenger was ecstatic, taking Mara's shoulders and hugging her quickly before basically jumping up and down in front of her. She'd never seen Rey this happy in a long time, and it was good seeing her proud of herself,"Where'd you learn to shoot like that?"

"Where'd you learn to fly like that?" The blonde answered the question with another, dodging the subject quickly as to have her inquiries answered. Where had a scavenger learned to fly a freighter?

"Nice shooting. I haven't seen someone target another ship that fast in awhile." The stranger said, peeking from behind Rey's shoulders as not to get to close to Mara. She could understand his reservations around her, seeing as the last time they actually had a conversation without running for their lives, she'd had been beating him to the ground. Mara shrugged, relaxing somewhat so she wouldn't come off as so guarded.

"Natural talent perhaps, but you did a pretty fair job yourself. The last TIE was a dodger, so good instinct for the shot. Both of you did great." She complimented, truly impressed by him. He was good, well, for a Resistance fighter.

While she and the man exchanged praise, Rey had started talking to a wary BB-8," It's okay, he's with the Resistance. He's going to help you back home, we all will."

Again, surprised by Rey's and the droid's quick forming bond, Mara noticed the change of behavior in her friend. Normally, she would never leave Jakku. She was always wanting to get home before dark, afraid they would miss something there, or someone. Now, Rey had willingly left Jakku just to help the droid. Sure, they'd been chased out in fear of their lives, but the fact was still worth noting.

Rey stood up, looking back at the man," I don't know your name."

The blonde had been wondering this too, always calling him 'stranger' in her head. Watching as he made heart-eyes at Rey, he answered," Finn. What's yours?"

This Finn seemed unsure of his own name, as if he had almost forgotten it before saying it. Sure, he was looking at a beautiful girl he'd been ogling over since he'd met her, and perhaps was nervous. Mara shoved the matter aside in her mind.

"I'm Rey." The other girl answered, also looking directly back into Finn's eyes. The blonde was now again put in the position on deciding whether to gag or want them to be together. Torn in the middle, she placed one hand on each of their shoulders.

"And I'm Third Wheel, but call me Mara."

Finn and Rey shared a questioning look before glancing at Mara with puzzled expressions, together saying," What's a 'Third Wheel'?"

This is when she decided there was no hope for either of them. BB-8 shook his head as Mara let go of their shoulders. Sighing, together her and the droid just judged and shipped while the other two had gone back to a tension filled silence.

Then the ship decided to end the quiet by its operating system acting up. What appeared to be white gas burst from the floor as the four rushed over to try and fix it.

Aboard the Finalizer, miles away from the freighter, a red blade slashed into an array of screens. The bearer was mad, enraged. A careful lieutenant, hoping his superior's tantrum would end soon, cringed behind him. Sparks flew from the equipment as it was completely destroyed.

Once the object in front of him was demolished, the masked figure turned off his weapon. The lighted saber retracted back into the hilt, the carrier glancing back behind him at the bearer of bad news. Heavy breathing coming from the metal mask, he asked," Anything else?"

Gulping, the lieutenant tried to keep himself from shaking, knowing quite well the man in front of him was quite gifted in forms of pain. Already knowing punishment was inevitable, he spit out the words," The trooper and droid were accompanied by two girls-"

He was cut off, his feet lifted off the ground as he was pushed forward. The masked figure's hands met his neck. The grip around his throat tightened as he choked, staring straight into the metal mask," What girls?"

"How'd you know Poe?" Finn asked Mara from across the room. The blonde was currently giving Rey a coupling link, then moving back to examine her beloved batons.

BB-8 was assisting the situation from above Rey, who was desperately trying to fix whatever was expelling the white vapor from under the floor. Mara and Finn were staying clear out of her way, following her directions best they could. Neither of them knew the inner workings of most freighters and therefore served no other purpose than to occasionally hand tools to her. Whatever Rey was doing, they really hoped it was working.

"And you're asking this question why?" Mara retorted, polishing her bloodstained batons. The blueish alien blood that had splattered on the weapons' silver finish when saving BB-8 was proving a challenged to scrape off with a semi-dirty rag.

Finn was absentmindedly playing with a wrench while he shrugged," Just curious. I mean, did you guys meet in the Resistance?"

Mara snorted, fighting off a laugh. Her a rebel? The thought was actually funny. The action surprised Finn, the blonde cracking up as she mustered out a few words," Me? Resistance? Nope. Why do you think I knew the guy anyway? I'm just trusting little BB."

He raised an eyebrow, c*****g his head to the side in confusion. Mara mimicked the look, wondering why the heck he was still pressing this. Finn just shook it off," Sorry, you just seemed very.....aggressive when we met. Seemed a little personal."

Before Mara could answer Rey popped her head out of her workspace, blatantly stating," She's always aggressive at first. Don't worry, she's really just a big, lovable Ewok in disguise. All fluffy."

The blonde shot a not very subtle stink eye to her friend as Rey disappeared back into the problem at hand. She rolled her eyes, smirking at Finn," That and I have a short fuse. I've been told I have a quick temper. Hotheaded. Spitfire. Aggressive's also a common way to describe it."

"All true." Rey called again from underneath the floor, Mara scowling. But yet, the blonde was playing a lying game using an honest truth. Go tell a complete stranger everything about herself and her past? Nope. Explain the complex tale of her knowing Dameron? No way. If Finn truly was Resistance, he'd kill her if he knew the answers to his questions.

Still, Finn continued to ask," So how'd you end up on Jakku?"

You need to get out of here, okay? They'll kill you before I can stop them. Get in your ship and go!

The words replayed themselves in Mara skull, burning like a reopened wound. Yeah, she was really starting to become angered by the conversation. She was tired of this Finn rehashing things she'd locked away in her conscious years ago,"I crash-landed like you. Now can we stop with the whole interrogation? You want to see my credentials too, identification?"

He seemed to catch on to her growing distaste for his general curiousness, but playfully decided to ask," Do you have any?"

"No." Mara answered, knowing he was just kidding, but still let her flat tone speak for itself," Almost no one on Jakku has any ID. Now, are you done?"

Before Finn could reply, something else came lose underneath them and a sharp popping sound was heard. Rey poked her head out, pointing to a random tool," It's the converter. Hand me a Harris wrench."

"How bad is it?" Mara asked, a bit concerned about the white gas the break in the ship kept expelling.

"If we want to live, not good!" Rey exclaimed, creaking coming from under the floor.

Finn did as asked, beating Mara to it and handing it to the other woman very enthusiastically. The blonde rolled her eyes. Oh, the oddly simple yet predictable nature of crush.

Another something seemed to explode on a small level, this time Rey motioning to Mara with one hand sticking out of the hole in the floor," I need you to get a screwdriver I saw next to the pilot's seat. It should be the correct diameter that I need."

"Why didn't you just get it earlier?" She questioned, leaning over the ledge and watching her friend work. Rey shot her a hurried look, waving her hand in the general direction of the helm whilst another important looking piece fell off.

Mara got up, starting to jog off to the helm. It took under thirty seconds to get there, but a bit more than that to actually find the darn thing. She searched pretty much everywhere but under the seat. There the screwdriver lie, after a good minute of searching everywhere else. It was a miracle Rey even saw the blasted tool in the first place.

As Mara reached under to grab it, her fingers felt cool, smooth glass. Using her other hand to get a hold of the screwdriver, she pulled out a bottle from underneath the pilot's chair. It was half empty, or half full, the glass tinted a dark red. A mischievous smile lit up Mara's face, scrambling back up to show her finding to her friends.

Making it back to the problem at hand, she threw up the screwdriver, calling," Heads!"

Rey caught it quickly before diving back down into the converter she was working on, her voice muffled by the tantrum the ship was having, "BB-8 and Finn say their base is in the Ileum system, so I'll put us on course as soon as possible."

"Great," Mara said, swinging the bottle back and forth in her hands, her mood considerably better than a few moments ago. Finn eyed the bottle as Mara plopped back onto the floor, prying off the cap.

"What is that?" He looked from the bottle to the blonde, who was currently sniffing the liquid inside. Her face contorted from disgust to a satisfied smirk.

She gave Finn a confused glance, actually a bit stunned by his stupidity, "What do you mean 'What is that?' It's alcohol, at least it smells like it. Have you ever seen a good jug of beer in your life? Good R'iia, where have you been hiding?"

Finn returned the stunned expression, squinting his eyes to look at the liquid better from afar, "And you're going to drink that? Do even know how old it is, where its been? It could be horrible for all you know."

She shrugged, pausing to answer him before actually tasting it, "No, but I've been needing this for a good few years now. I mean, we just evaded the First Order and got out with our lives. Let's celebrate."

As she took a sip, she heard Rey scowl. She couldn't decide if her friend was frustrated with her or the ship, but the girl continued to scoff as Mara drank a little too much at once.

She quickly coughed up the rancid liquid, struggling not to spit it up as she put the bottle down. Her throat was practically begging her to throw back up the sour drink, and she honestly felt like doing it. She could hear Finn and BB-8 laughing at her, but she really didn't care. Her tongue had never tasted something so disgusting and horrid, "Hell, what is that?!?"

She'd had her fair share of trying great and horrible tasting drinks, but none like this. She shook her head in distaste while Finn and the droid continued to laugh, "It tastes like dust and- ugh I don't know, but it's a disgrace. Gah!"

BB-8 rolled past her, going over to examine the drink while Finn chuckled. Mara rolled her eyes, her face morphing in between glaring and utter disgust.

"I told you." Finn chided, a confident smile crossing his face. Mara was about to spit out a sarcastic remark when Rey's head came back out of her workspace.

"Tape." She demanded, Mara throwing it to her as Finn scrambled to locate it. While Rey bent back down to work, he looked over at her, knowing his conversation with the blonde wouldn't go anywhere.

"So why do you want to go back to Jakku? You got a family? Got a boyfriend? Cute boyfriend?" His voice got lower and more worried as Finn asked the questions.

"None of your business, that's what." Rey retorted, giving him quick but decisive hint to back off the topic. This seemed to make Finn more anxious.

Mara laughed again, finding the pair's relationship arc more and more entertaining, "Believe me, there's no man on that hell of a planet worth considering."

Finn first seemed relieved, but then his forehead scrunched as an odd theory he hadn't thought of prior crossed his mind. His head turned first to Mara then Rey, then Mara again, then Rey, "So...do you guys....you two...umm.."

The blonde didn't catch on at first, but then noticed by Finn's rapid head movements what he was implying. She almost gagged, the thought weirder than the drink she just swallowed. Herself and Rey first made eye contact with each other, sharing the same weirded-out look before answering in sync, "No."

"Believe me," Mara turned back to him as he got the overall message, "I tried, but this girl didn't budge. Not really my type either."

The words were spoken, then the room darkened. Red light flooded into the shadows, an alarm sounding throughout the ship. Mara immediately stood up as BB-8 cooed in fear, hiding behind her legs while the blonde assessed the area.

A couple moments of sharp ringing passed before Finn asked the obvious question," What's happening?"

Mara turned around, trying to find the threat or problem at hand," I don't know, but red is never good."

Rey jumped out of the hole, the four running to the helm to find out what the ship was telling them. Mara took the seat behind the pilot's while the others took the two up front. Rey started to check the control panel, mumbling under her breath," No, no, noo.....Someone's locked onto us. All controls are overridden."

Now Mara was sure that drink was going to come back up.

Her stomach did a flip flop as the trio looked at each other. All of there faces seemed to go slack, there victory awhile ago all but a memory. The First Order had found them.

The freighter jolted back, the unseen tractor beam pulling them into what Mara predicted was their impending doom. As she craned her neck to look, Finn stood up on his chair. Straining around to try to see the ship, he tried to climb higher, pushing off Rey's head.

"Get off." She whisper-yelled as if someone was listening to them. Finn let go, but almost fell down again. Mara actually blinked a few times before she realized Finn was shaking.

"You're trembling, so what the hell is it?" She said quickly, leaning over Rey's chair. She wished she hadn't asked.

Huge metal jaws opened to swallow the freighter. The tractor beam kept pulling them in as the started to enter a hanger, empty and barren. Mara expected to see soldiers, but those had probably been deployed to either look for them elsewhere or form a boarding party. They needed a plan, and fast.

"It's the First Order." Finn sat down in his chair, heavily breathing. All of them had resorted to some sort of panicking.

Mara swallowed, trying to keep fingers beginning to move from anxiety. The nervous innate action always annoyed her and instead she tried to focus her energy on finding a way out, "No duh, knucklehead. Now just think....think..."

Running a hand through her knotted hair, Mara started to pace. Rey appeared a bit calmer, but only slightly, "So what do we do? There must be something-"

Finn cut Rey off, an idea sparking in his head, "You said poisonous gas."

"I fixed that." She replied, not catching on immediately. Mara did. Flood the ship with gas, use the masks she'd seen earlier to keep them alive. No one would dare touch them after a few squads died.

"Can you unfix it?" Finn urgently pressed, getting up as he did. Rey nodded furiously, and the three and droid ran back to put the idea in action.