Chapter 34: Brown Eyes

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Once we made our way through the jungle, we saw several wretched juggernauts thrown about on the side of the road. We then heard a male's voice over the comlink. "Juggernaut Four, you're running hot. Be sure to watch your cargo heat limits and speed."

Another male voice spoke up. "Copy that, Three. We hit a couple of bumps. Thanks for the heads up."

Upon hearing their words, Mayfeld and I couldn't help but glanced over at the screen that showed the Rhydonium's heat and speed levels. So far we were fine.

"Don't worry about the Rhydonium. As long as you drive steady, you'll get us to the refinery." Din assured him. 

We then came across a village with people crossing the road. I looked around, trying to find the horn. Once I found it, I pulled it, blaring the horn. As we passed through the village, we saw several of the villagers staring at us.

"Yeah. Empire, New Republic. It's all the same to these people. Invaders on their land is all we are. I'm just sayin' somewhere someone in this galaxy is ruling and others are being ruled." Mayfeld commented. "I mean, look at your race. Do you think all those people that died in wars fought by Mandalorians actually had a choice? So how are they any different from the Empire?"

I clenched my fists. How dare he compare Din's people, the Mandalorians to the Empire! The Empire has done nothing but terrible things, killing people and spreading fear and killing people as they control planets. 

"They're very different from the Empire. Trust me." I retorted. 

Mayfeld scoffed. "Hey, no need to get angry with me. If you're born on Mandalore, you believe one thing, if you're born on Alderaan, you believe somethin' else. But guess what? Neither one of 'em exist anymore."

I could feel Din's anger rising. No doubt he was glaring at Mayfeld. Mayfeld merely shrugged. "Hey, I'm just a realist. I'm a survivor, just like the both of you."

Before I could say anything, Din immediately argued against him. "Let's get one thing straight. Delmira and I are nothing like you."

"I don't know. Seems to me like your rules start to change when you get desperate. I mean, look at ya. You said you couldn't take your helmet off, and now you got a stormtrooper one on, so what's the rule?" Mayfeld retorted. "Is it you can't take off your Mando helmet or you can't show your face? 'Cause there's a difference."

Mayfeld then turned to look at me. "And you, you left the Empire the moment the tide began to change. You did what you had to do to survive."

"It's much more complicated than that." I protested.

"Look, I'm just sayin', we're all the same. Everybody's got their lines, they don't cross until things get messy. As far as I'm concerned, if you can make it through the day and still sleep at night, you're doin' better than most." Mayfeld explained.

At that moment, we heard another male voice rang out from the comlink. "Control, this is Juggernaut Three. We're comin' up on some route interference. Control, control! We need a new..."

We then heard screaming before their communications were interrupted. My stomach dropped. That wasn't good. Mayfeld furrowed his brows. "What was that?"

A woman's voice replied. "Please standby for reroute."

At that moment, we saw an explosion not far from us. I grimaced. "I have a bad feeling about this..."

The woman informed us what happened through the comlink. "Juggernaut has been destroyed."

"Destroyed?" Mayfeld repeated, baffled.

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