- 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦.
For as long as Kasia Torelo can remember, luck and survival have gone hand-in-hand.
Kasia was only seven years old when the Empire attacked her planet. Singled out for their telep...
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"Bad news. You can't live here anymore."
Kasia choked on a laugh as she gawked up at Mando.
Well that's certainly one way to tell them, she thought, an amused smile flitting across her lips.
From her side, she felt the Mandalorian angle his head to level a glare on her, evidently picking up on her amusement. At the look, she turned away, pretending not to notice as she bit her lips to keep from smiling and scanned the crowd in front of her.
All around her, the village people erupted in confusion at the blunt words which left little room for argument. Kasia blinked once at the onset of fear, anger, and disbelief that began exuding from the crowd and catching her off guard.
"Nice bedside manner," Cara muttered.
Nodding, Kasia tried not to laugh at him as she finally glanced back towards the Mandalorian at her side, "And you insist I'm the one who lacks subtly," she muttered quietly.
That's cause you do, he countered silently. At his silent quip, she couldn't help the chuckle that rose in her throat.
Mando titled his head to look at both of them in turn, annoyance radiating from him, "You think you can do better?"
Kasia gave him a tight smile, "Can't do much worse."
She glanced at Cara in question, and a moment later in unison, they stepped forward to address the murmuring crowd. Kasia nodded once at Cara giving her a chance to speak first.
"I know this is not the news you wanted to hear," Cara began, her loud voice raising above and silencing the villagers, "but there are no other options."
As Cara finished her very flimsy argument—honestly was it even an argument?—Kasia resisted the urge to face-palm. She understood that these guys were both warriors who spoke with their fists rather than their mouths or whatever, but seriously did they have no experience in convincing people to do anything? They needed to provide reason—fact—for their words. Not just insist that they were right.
"You took the job," a voice rang out in challenge from the crowd. Immediately the rest of the farmers began to speak, agreeing with their fellow villager.
Finally Kasia spoke up. "That was before we knew about the AT-ST," she replied, raising her eyes in silent challenge towards any who dared to meet them. Despite what Mando may have thought regarding her ability at being subtle, he had seemed to have forgotten that she had spent the last couple of years living off of Sabacc and poker. And while subtly might not have been a necessary skill for either, the ability to manipulate was definitely a prerequisite—she may have already known the cards that her opponents had, but that didn't mean shit if she couldn't manipulate them to play certain cards just as she needed.
From her experience of winning at Sabacc, Kasia knew that there was a time to be warm and gentle and friendly when trying to get her way, just as she knew that there was also a time to set aside such niceties and play hardball. This, unfortunately, was the latter.
