chapter nine; mariana

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"YOU LOST BB-8!"

Mara's respect for the man in front of her was steadily declining. Not only did little BB hold the map to Luke Skywalker himself, but the droid was now rolling around the Rathtar-infested freighter alone with a few gangs out to get him. No, she'd promised to keep him safe, but he was probably being hauled off by now.

She was pretty much running in no time, bumping shoulders with Solo to get past him, "One job. One job and you lose him!"

"Well excuse me, but we were a little busy-" Solo had interjected, but Mara was already a good few yards away. She didn't want to hear it, talking would only waste time. All she had todo was find the droid, then Rey and Finn, then get back to the Falcon without dying. Easy peasy.

So where would he run off to? Perhaps the ship, maybe he'd look for me and Rey? He's to big to escape under the floor panels. He's not trapped with a Rathtar, or the droid would be screaming.

What if he was eaten? What if one of the gangs already has him?

Peeking past the wall, Mara made sure they're no enemies in sight before venturing down the first available hall that wasn't sealed off. Speeding up to a fast jog, she turned another dimly lit corner, running away from the screaming behind her. This opened up to a bigger space, three different ways in front of her. Deciding which way to go would be a real toss up.

But that's when another soul-shattering scream echoed off the dying ship's interior.

For the love of R'iia.

Finn was crying out in terror, the brief flash of his face, the Rathtar that had it's tentacles around his waist circling fast. In an instant, they'd disappeared down the right hall.

Mara, who really, really wished she had a blaster right now, went sprinting after the beast. How was she going to stop it? Who knows. Was anything she was going to do stop Finn from getting killed? Maybe.

Finn must have seen her, because he gave out a choked yell that sounded somewhat like her name. The monster looped around the corner, trying to lose Mara. Accidentally going to fast, she rammed into the wall as she took sharp turn. Pushing herself forward, the blonde resumed running as fast as she could.

At this pace, she'd only be able to keep up for the next few minutes. But where would the Rathtar go? It'd probably have to slow down to eat Finn, and she would finally catch up to it. If it kept spinning its way down the halls, it would hopefully run out of places to go. Or perhaps a tentacle would wrap around her, and Mara would be in the same boat as Finn.

That's when the flicker of hope arose in the form of closing door.

She recollected how easily the Rathtar's arms had been cut when she fended off one less than ten minutes ago. How the door was closing on its own, she didn't know, but it was pretty damn convenient. The only problem with the plan was Finn getting severed in the process.

With one quick burst of speed, Mara reached out for his hand. Digging her heels into the floor and shifting her weight back, which would've been a great idea in sand, she tried to pull back on his arm. Instead, her feet slid out from under.

Falling to the ground, Mara kept her grip on Finn. The Rathtar was now mostly on the other side of the door, which was a foot away from the ground. Giving one last pull on his arm, the door met the ground, severing the tentacle. The grip around Finn's waist loosened as the Rathtar roared in pain on the other side.

Mara was panting, falling down on her back and spreading out her arms in exhaustion. Finn was scared out of his wits, getting up quickly and looking around for anything else that could bring him harm. When he realized there was thing harmful at the moment, he extended a hand to help Mara up.

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