Bounty ▹ The Mandalorian

2 | the hunt

2 | THE HUNT

Celeste tightened the scarf around the lower half of her face. Her brown eyes scanned her surroundings as she pretended to shop for vegetables at the market in the unknown planet. She had been hitching rides for the past few weeks to shake the bounty hunters that were after her. And the latest ride she took was piloted by someone who she didn't share a common language with. There were just a lot of nodding and smiling going on between her and the guy she hitched a ride with. And, boom, she then ended up on that very planet— which she still didn't know the name of— in that very market, alone. It had been a few days since landing on that planet and it didn't seem like the bounty hunters had traced her there.

She didn't even know why she was being hunted. Well, she knew why but she didn't think that what she did was severe enough for the big man to send people out to get her. Celeste was a very flirtatious woman, despite her rugged demeanor, and she had enticed some rich Geonosian, took his money and booked it. This was a common act by Celeste, she had been scamming rich men for years. And she got away with it every time... except for this time.

This time, for some reason, was different. This time the Geonosian—Vikkal—was furious and desired to have Celeste back in his clutches. She wasn't the prettiest nor had any other value whatsoever, so, the whole situation left her quiet discombobulated. Apparently, he was offering a huge amount of money to have her returned to him alive and without being carbon-froze. He didn't want to run the risk of her contracting hibernation sickness from the carbon-freezing process. Which was somewhat comforting to hear.

Nevertheless, Celeste didn't want to become his slave— so, she was on the run. And she seemed to be pretty good at it, so far. She was no fighter and certainly no escape artist, so, surviving the constant attacks by bounty hunters for the past two weeks was nothing but a miracle.

She walked over to the pub near the market for a quick drink before she'd turn in for the evening. Upon entering, she saw nothing out of the norm. Everyone was drinking and chatting it away. She headed for the bar and took a seat. Then, she noticed someone, besides herself, out of place in the bar. To her left, she saw a local from the planet enjoying himself, and to her right, a man in shiny armor with a helmet concealing his face. Celeste faintly recognized the armor but couldn't quite place her finger on the what the name of the group of people was that wore that kind of armor.

Regardless, she felt uncomfortable seeing a figure that wasn't a local near her. She grew suspicious of him, but, her worries died down when she realized he wasn't in a hurry to capture her. Almost all of the other bounty hunters that had been after her charged at her immediately upon seeing her. The bartender handed her the beverage she ordered and she handed him some golden coins to cover the cost. She sipped away at her drink while her eyes flickered over to the man in the shiny armor. Then, that's when it hit her. Beskar. He was wearing beskar armor.. he was a Mandalorian, a mercenary! Celeste didn't want to make a scene by bolting out of the pub without finishing her drink, so, she remained seated.

A stupid idea crossed her mind as the alcohol began to seep into her system. She decided to speak to the mercenary. "You're not going to order something?" She questioned him, pointing out his conspicuous presence.

He slowly turned his head toward her, then shook his head. "I was going to wait for you to finish enjoying yourself." He replied, his demeanor seemed stoic as his helmet covered his face and his body language remained relaxed.

At first, Celeste was confused. She thought he wanted to ask her out or something of the romantic sort. But, then, she understood. Her eyes widened as she realized he was just waiting for the right moment to take her for himself. She dropped her beverage, the glass shattering upon impact. Celeste's eyes shot over to the door, marking her target, then jumped to her feet. Her legs instantly began carrying her toward the exit, her body bolting out of the door. The man hurried after her, but, she was fast and he didn't seem to be in such a rush. He seemed to be enjoying the hunt and must've known that Celeste was an easy target.

Celeste rounded a corner of a building and retied her scarf across the lower half of her face. She sprinted toward an empty building she had seen earlier while passing through the planet, hoping to lock herself inside before the hunter could see her slip inside.

After a couple of minutes of running, she could practically see the door to her choice of refuge. But, just as she thought she was going to make it, she felt a cool piece of metal touch the back of her shoulder. It stuck to her like a Velcro. She snapped her head around to take a peek at what had just touched her. It was a small, unidentifiable object. Before she could even react to it, a large pulse of electricity was sent through her body. She convulsed as she was shocked. She instantly dropped to the ground, paralyzed and nearly unconscious. Seconds after she hit the ground, the figure in the metal suit she had seen earlier appeared above her frightened face. Then, she blacked out from the continuous electrification she was receiving.

* * *

When Celeste awoke, her wrists and ankles were bound to a chair in a ship. To her left was the bounty hunter that managed to capture her. She groaned from the dull pain that ached throughout her body. She knew the pain was from the electrification. She turned to take a closer look at the bounty hunter. "Mandalorian." Celeste huffed, disappointed in herself from not recognizing his prideful armor immediately.

The mandalorian remained silent at her comment. "What is your name?" Celeste queried, but, he ignored her. His job was to capture her and reap his benefits. That was it. Celeste grumbled obscenities under her breath, something about his aloofness.

"You don't gotta name?" Celeste huffed at him. He continued to ignore her.

"I'll just call you," Celeste hummed to herself, "Lori." The mandalorian slowly turned his head over to Celeste, as if he were silently telling her he disproved of the name. "You don't like Lori? It's short for the lorian part of mandalorian." Celeste sighed, her face still stiff from her resentment toward the man for shocking her.

"Fine, I'll think of something else." Celeste rolled her eyes. A few minutes of silence went by as the mandalorian continued to fly his old ship through space. "I got it!" She finally broke the silence. "Mando. That's what it's going to be."

Once again, silence from Mando. Celeste slumped back in the chair she was tied to, which so happened to be the copilot chair of his ship. "This is going to be an unreasonably long and painfully silent flight." Celeste complained.