Solstice • The Mandalorian

Chapter 6~Mena Starkiller

   "You liar!" I said in anger, staring past the front of the pulse blaster and straight into where his eyes should be. "You promised you wouldn't kill me!"

   "You were nieve enough to believe me," the Mandalorian said. "You were going to leave me on a planet and take my ship if those mercenaries hadn't attacked."

   "But, that doesn't mean you should kill me. We make such a good team. I'm sure if we work together we can find Mena Starkiller and split the reward. Heck, it doesn't even have to be half and half anymore, you can have all of it," I said. He couldn't just kill me, I had just discovered a new drive and determination inside of me to start a new life. He couldn't take that away.

   "I offered you that deal, remember?" he said. "And I got tied up to a chair for it, so I won't be offering it again." 

   "Okay fine, new deal. You can drop me off at any nearby planet. You can even have my blaster pistol and all my money, just let me go," I pleaded.

   "You mean the money you stole from me."

   "Yes, you can have all of it, everything. Just please let me go," I said. 

   "I don't think so," The pule generator began firing up, but before I could allow it to blast me into a trillion dust particles, I decided to do the only thing I could think of that would get me out of this mess, even if it was terribly reckless. But what did it matter? I'd been reckless up until this point, so what was the point in stopping now?

   "Wait," I said and placed both my hands on either side of my helmet. When the Mandalorian realized what I was about to do, he stepped back but kept the pulse blaster aimed at me. I didn't know if he had stepped back because he was shocked to see a Mandalorian remove their helmet for the first time, or just scared of what he would see underneath. 

   "You can't-"

   "What does it matter now?"

   As I took one final deep breath, I realized that this would be the last time my identity would be a secret, that after he had seen my face it would be a straight ride back to my father, but... I guess that was better than dying. Right? 

   I lifted the helmet off my head, my midnight blue hair falling out and cascading down my shoulders, and my eyes finally being able to look at the Mandalorian without the tint from the glass. I stared at him as who I was, not a Mandalorian, but Mena Starkiller, the one he'd been searching the galaxy for, his bounty. 

   ~~~ The Mandalorian ~~~ 

   When they had boarded his ship, after the force field had been brought down, he had no intention of killing her. Although she had stunned him, stolen his ship, stripped him of all weapons, tied him up, and was most likely a traitor,  their run-in with the mercenaries had changed his mind from his previous intentions for her. She had proven herself to be a good partner, someone he could potentially even work with in the future after they'd captured Mena Starkiller. He hadn't had a partner in a long time, and even though she wasn't the best option, he would train her and make him just as good as him. 

   But that couldn't just happen. No, he'd have to scare her first. He'd have to scare her to the point of thinking death was upon her, and then spare her life so that she would be forever indebted to him. He needed her to think he would kill her. 

   So, when he lifted the pulse blaster to her head, and she pleaded for her life, he knew he just needed to give her one more tiny push to make her believe she was truly going to die. However, that push seemed to backfire on him, because the next thing he knew she was reaching for her helmet. 

   The Mandalorian stepped back in shock. He couldn't let her take off the helmet, especially not when she had saved him from the same fate. This was wrong and it was going too far. 

   "You can't-" he tried to say, terrified of the action he was about to make her commit. 

   "What does it matter now?" She responded, and then proceeded to lift the helmet off her head. 

   What looked back at the Mandalorian wasn't another one of his people, but Mena Starkiller, and it tore at him like a shredder put straight into his chest. He should have been happy he had found his bounty, he should have been relieved his mission was over, but he wasn't and it was because of her eyes. 

   The way she looked at him, the way her eyes bore straight through his helmet and into his pupils hit him harder than any blaster pistol had ever managed to do, because in her eyes he saw nothing but a deep pit of pain and sadness. What made it even worse was the look on her face. It was so defeated and so vulnerable and all he could relate it to was the same pain he had felt when his parents had been killed, when he had been left alone without anyone. 

   For a moment, he wished he hadn't played such a dirty trick on her, because the consequences seemed to be just as bad for him as they were for her. If he hadn't tricked her into thinking she was going to die, she'd still be the Mandalorian who had stolen his ship, and who was to be his accomplice. But now, she was Mena Starkiller, his bounty who would bring him his reward, a reward that seemed so minuscule now. 

   "Turn around," The Mandalorian said. He couldn't stand the way she was looking at him for any longer. He needed her to turn so that he could think properly without her eyes burning a hole into him. 

   Mena Starkiller turned and the Mandalorian used the end of his pulse blaster to push her into the room she had previously locked him in. As they walked, he couldn't help but notice the terrible amount of damage the mercenaries had done to his ship while firing. He would have to get that repaired before he attempted to make any long journey, especially the one taking her back to her father. 

   "Is it your turn to tie me up now?" Mena said when the two entered the room with the iron rope. It amazed him how she was attempting a joke in the situation she was in. 

   "No, but don't try anything," The Mandalorian said. 

   "Or what? You'll kill me?"

   "I'll freeze you in carbonate," he said and the girl stopped talking. 

   As the Mandalorian shut and locked the door where Mena Starkiller resided, he wondered if freezing her in carbonate was a good idea. Maybe that would get rid of the heavily weighted guilt that sat on his shoulders. The reason for its existence was unknown. He shouldn't have been feeling guilty. Never once had he felt even a small drop of guilt for all his other bounties. So why her?

   The Mandalorian shook his head and headed to the captain's seat to take off and find the nearest planet where he could stop and repair his ship. After his ship was repaired, he would take her straight to her father and earn his reward. That was his mission, that was what he had signed up for, and that was what he would do. 

   ~~~In The Author's Galaxy, Far, Far Away~~~

   How are you guys liking the book so far?

   Any feedback?

   Thanks for all the votes!!!