Wolven | The Mandalorian

Chapter 19: The Mandalorian

Chapter 19: The Mandalorian
Word Count: 11,788
*EDITED*

Entering the slaughterhouse, the Mandalorian gazed around the room to survey his surroundings, as any good bounty hunter would. Slabs of meat were being chopped by staff, and hung up all around were the macerated carcasses of various beasts. Walking through the plastic sheeting, the Mandalorian approached the singular table at the back. Sat there, three men counted their coins, but at the intrusion, they looked towards the door.

"You look lost." The one in the middle called out. Behind Din, a guard next to the door took a step forward.

"I'm here for Kaba Baiz." Din said, brandishing a beeping FOB. The man chuckled. "What makes you think he's here? What do you want of him?"

"He owes someone important money." Din responded, looking at his bounty. "Who?"

The Mandalorian shrugged. "That's not my business. I'm here to bring him in." The man threw some coins at the table. "Well, if I see him, I'll let him know."

"I see him right now." Din popped the puck on the table, and it illuminated with a projection of the man's face. He looked nervously between the image and his companions at the table, adding to the large pile. "That's not me. That doesn't even look like me."

The Mandalorian moved his helmet over the other men in the room, not wanting this to be harder than he imagined it was going to play out. "I'm gonna give the rest of you the opportunity to walk out that door. I have no quarrel with you." None of the men moved, instead, they brought their arms to either cross their chests or hover over their blasters.

"They're not going anywhere. Looks to me like you're surrounded. ... But you look like the practical type. Let's discuss our options." The man said smugly, knowing his men were well paid for their loyalty. Din sighed, bringing his own hand to hover over his blaster and unbuckled the latch. He dropped his voice an octave. "I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold."

The guard beside him lunged at Din's hand as it whipped his pistol from its holster. The shot fired missed the bounty by inches, and Din grunted in discomfort. A few teeth managed to pierce the thick leather of his gloves and scraped the skin of the back of his hand.

He pushed the man back and fired at another sneaking up behind him.

"You like to bite?" Din grunted, "I know someone else who also likes to bite."

Outside, yells of surprise were heard, and the plastic parted to reveal a stalking black wolf. It growled, baring its teeth.

She took a quick scope of the room to see some men running to attack the Mandalorian.

Elodie smelled a small amount of Din's blood on the mouth of one of the men. Eyes trained on him, she pounced and landed on his chest on the floor. He didn't get a chance to make a noise before she was gnawing at his face. He tried batting her away, but soon his arms dropped limp when the skin of his face peeled away like a sheet.

Din buckled to his knees as someone fired shots at his back. They repelled off the Beskar, and while he was down, he was able to retrieve the Dark Saber from his holster, igniting the void light.

The Mandalorian dragged the heavy blade against the concrete floor, using the momentum to swing it up and around to the man behind him. He ran it through another man, and as it withdrew from his chest, the molten blade grazed against the supple flesh of his thigh, beyond the Beskar.

While he was indisposed, Elodie ensured the bounty would not escape. She jumped in front of the exit, her hackles raised in warning. One attempted to pass but lost his arms in doing so. Elodie dropped the limb from her mouth, blood dripping from her muzzle.