Heart Of Darkness (Star Wars)

Chapter 7: Saving Us

By the time, Mando returned it was night. The pit droids hid in Peli's office, while Toro walked out of the ship with the child in one hand and a blaster in the other, which was pointed at Peli. Meanwhile I sat beside the ship with my hands in stun-cuffs.

"Took you long enough, Mando. Looks like I'm calling the shots now. Huh, partner? Drop your blaster and raise 'em." Toro ordered.

Mando reluctantly dropped his blaster. As soon as Mando saw me, I saw his hands clenched in fists. "What did you do to her?"

Toro shrugged. "She was giving me problems. I had to stop her before she could ruin my plans."

Ani growled as he glared at Toro, he was prepared to end him. However before he could do anything, Mando stopped Ani. "Ani, no. They will kill everyone."

To my surprise, Ani listened. He whined, but remained by Mando's side. Toro then turned to Peli. "Cuff him."

As soon as Peli approached Mando with stun-cuffs, Toro spoke again with a cocky look on his face. "You're a Guild traitor, Mando, just like Helia here. And I'm willing to bet that this here is the target you helped escape. Fennec was right. Bringing you both in won't just make me a member of the Guild, it'll make me legendary."

At that moment, a bright light filled the hangars. I turned away, not wanting to be blinded by the light. However, upon hearing a blast go off, I turned back to see Toro on the ground beside me. I tried getting up, but upon putting weight on my right leg, I felt pain surge through my entire body. I then collapsed back on the ground. Mando rushed over towards me. "Stay still. Are you all right?"

"Oh yeah, I'm totally fine. Just have a blaster wound, but other than that I'm peachy." I retorted, my voice dripping in sarcasm.

"Glad to see your sarcasm's still intact." Mando mentioned.

"Where is he? The child?" I questioned.

We then saw the child behind some crates. He wore a smile as soon as he saw us. I let out a relieved sigh. Thank the Force he's all right.

"There you are!" Peli exclaimed as she gently grabbed the child. "Are you hiding from us? Huh? Look at you."

At her words, the child cooed. Peli gently stroke his head. "That's all right. I know. That was really loud for your big old ears, wasn't it? It's okay."

She then turned towards us. "Why don't you take her inside? The money can wait."

Mando gave her a nod before turning back towards me. He wrapped an arm around my waist, helping me up on my feet.

"Can you stand?" Mando asked.

At his words, I tried to weight on my right leg. But as soon as I leaned on my leg, I felt immense pain, feeling as though I was in rivers of Mustafar. I nearly fell back, but I felt a pair of arms around my waist. I could feel my face heat up, but I wasn't sure whether it was from the wound or from how close he was to me.

"I'll take that as a no." He added.

Mando let out a sigh, but despite sounding irritated, he did something unexpected. Without telling me, he scooped me up in his arms. I wanted to protest, but I felt my eyes growing tired. Mando immediately noticed, speaking up to keep me from falling asleep. "Delmira, stay awake."

"I'm sorry, Mando...I can't."

I was then surrounded by darkness.

•••

"Hurry the place is going to blow." Luke urged.

We helped carry our father towards an Imperial shuttle that stood in the hangar. However it wasn't long until we collapsed from exhaustion. We had reached the boarding ramp of the shuttle. I could hear the explosions growing louder. We had to leave soon or we were going to die amongst the explosions. We then heard our father whisper. "Luke, Delmira, help me take this mask off."