Solstice • The Mandalorian

Chapter 2~The Mandalorians

   The Mandalorian had been searching for the girl for weeks, and it seemed as though she had disappeared off the face of the universe. When he had first set out on his journey, there was talk of the girl traveling from planet to planet, and it had been easy to find leads. He had been hot on her trail from the start, always just a planet behind her. But now, all had gone quiet and she was no longer spoken about anywhere. He knew no one had turned her in yet, he had even contacted his Guild leader to confirm. The only other possibility he could think of was that she was dead somewhere, but even then someone would have found her body by now, or that she was just getting really lucky. However, with him on her trail, her luck was soon to run out. 

   The Mandalorian stopped at the next nearby planet to refuel his ship, and although he hadn't heard of any news of the girl on this planet, luck seemed to be on his side, because when he landed, it was next to the same spacecraft the girl had stolen from Mythus Starkiller. 

   She was here. Or at least, she had been. 

   The Mandalorian rushed off his ship. The two million seemed so close now. If she was in there, it would all be over, he could turn her in, to her father, and claim his prize. But still, if she really was in that craft, then his journey was over and it back to low paying bounties all over again. A part of him hoped she was there, so he could claim his winnings, but a small part of him hoped she would turn out to be a stronger challenge. 

   So, when the Mandalorian boarded the girl's' craft, he was somewhat relieved to see she wasn't there. There were a few pairs of clothes and food wrappers thrown onto the floor of the ship. When he neared the front of the ship, he found there was no fuel left in the craft. So, she was likely to be stuck on the planet. 

   The Mandalorian congratulated himself. He had found her, she was here, and there was no way she was getting past him,

   Suddenly, he heard heavy footsteps board the craft. Was it another bounty hunter looking for the girl? Was it the girl herself? Or a common thief? Whoever it was, the Mandalorian had his pulse blaster pointed right in their direction. 

   ~~~ Mena ~~~

   This was ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. Not to mention, extremely sweaty. After spending most of my money on the Mandalorian armor that I was now wearing, I had walked for hours in the burning sun of this stupid planet trying to find fuel. When I did finally find a fuel stop, the man working there had the audacity to tell me I didn't have enough money. So, instead of arguing and drawing attention to myself, I turned around and headed back to my ship to find something I could potentially sell to earn money. 

   I trudged onto my craft and wanted nothing more than to take the overly weighted, disgustingly sweaty armor off my body. How did those Mandos do this all day? No, seriously, how did they shower? And like, sleep?

   Just when I thought I was finally alone and could take the helmet off my head, I came face to face with a pulse blaster, and that wasn't even the worst past because the person holding the blaster was an actual Mandalorian. 

   I was so screwed. 

   "What are you doing here?" The Mandalorian said. If he was here on my craft then I knew he had to be one of those bounty hunters out to get me. 

   "I'm searching for Mena Starkiller," I said, trying to sound strong like a Mandalorian. "This is her spacecraft."

   "So am I," Said the Mandalorian. 

   "Then I guess you can lower your weapon." 

   The Mandalorian waited a moment before doing so. 

   "Where is your ship?" He said. 

   "It was torn apart by Jawas," I said and mentally applauded myself for the clever response. 

   "There are no Jawas here."

   "It was torn apart by Jawas on Tatooine. I hitched a ride with a few smugglers to this planet after having heard news of the girl being spotted here." With all this lying, I could have been a great politician. 

   "So you don't have a ship?"

   "No, I'm stuck here," I said. 

   The Mandalorian nodded. "You can come aboard my ship and assist me while I search."

   "You mean, help you find Mena Starkiller?" 

   "Yes. When I find her, I will give you one hundred thousand of my earnings." 

   "Isn't the reward 2 million, though? Seems kind of unfair..." I didn't want the reward, but still, this guy was totally ripping me off.

   "Do you want to board my ship or be stuck here?" 

   "One hundred thousand it is then," I said and held out a hand for the Mando to shake. The Mando took it and shook hard. It seemed like a good idea, there was nowhere safer to be than right under my enemy's nose. I would be fine as long as I kept the helmet on. After all, the Mandalorian would never forcefully remove it, he knew what that meant. 

   "Come," he said, walking past me. As I followed him, I couldn't help but acknowledge how this was one of the most reckless and stupid plans of my life.