Private Cold As You

[Ven A'ndi]

Their boots crunched in the snow as they began to leave town. The Mandalorian stole a glance over his shoulder – no one had reentered the cantina yet. He looked ahead as Jamie relayed her situation with the ship to him, and that she was essentially marooned here.

“I have a ship, if it comes to us needing to leave,” he said. “I’m no mechanic, but I can take a look. I’ve got some spare parts back on my ship that could be useful.”

Eventually, they made it to their destination, and Ven noted the sleekness of the design – definitely from Naboo. “Not bad,” he commented, thumbs hooked into his belt as he craned his body to take in the full sight of it. His own ship, the Mantis Crow, looked rather beat up and weathered by comparison. This had some more advanced shielding and armament, no doubt.

Figuring they would need an exit strategy should the need arise, the Mandalorian typed in a few simple commands on his left gauntlet. In the distance, an engine could be heard starting up. Within a minute, the Lancer-class pursuit craft, on auto-pilot, was landing around twenty meters away from Jamie’s ship, kicking up some of the snow as it did so.

“I’m guessing you have everything you need in terms of weapons,” he said. She no doubt had a lightsaber on her, but he’d yet to see it.

Jamie Pyne

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie looked overhead as the roar of Ven's ship's engines echoed through the air, slowly coming to a halt a ways away from where her own ship rested atop the snow covered ground. "I haven't much of an eye for repairs, but if you have something that might work, my droid can assist with fixing things up I'm sure."

R5 rolled its way down and onto the ground, beeping at Jamie before displaying a holo-projection of the damage to the engine. It would require a few durasteel plates to repair the melted compartments, a wiring harness, a handful of capacitors, two power cells, and a flexsteel tube to reroute power from the damaged one to an auxiliary supply.

"I don't suppose you have all of these items?" She looked from the projection to Ven.

She estimated the gang likely wouldn't wait on their hands at their shot for revenge, so the repairs would need to wait until after whatever was going to happen, happened. As for weapons, her lightsaber was all she needed. Jamie was all thumbs when it came to blasters and other sorts of arms, never quite understanding how to properly hold, let alone aim such crude devices.

"I do." She said with a nod. The Force was her weapon.

Ven A'ndi

 

[Ven A'ndi]

The Mandalorian seemed to study the schematics for a moment, the light blue hue of the hologram reflecting in his visor. Finally, he said, “I think I have most of that. Your droid can look in my ship to see what’s there.” Pressing another button on his vambrace, one of the side ramps on the Mantis opened up – the one on the opposite side of where the gang was likely to approach from.

As she confirmed that she had everything she needed when it came to a fight, Ven nodded. “I’ll go get set up, then,” he said, turning around and walking towards the tree line, where they had just come from to get back from town.

Around half an hour later, Mando was nowhere to be seen. The sound of landspeeders and swoop bikes could be heard in the distance, getting louder by the second. Two speeders carrying four passengers each flanked by two swoop bikes approached, slowly coming to a halt around twenty meters from the two starships. The airspeeder in the lead had a mounted laser turret on the back – someone was already manning it.

The first man to step out was Rafahn. He was smaller but older than his brother, with a willowy body that was apparent even under the large cold weather coat he was wearing. A fur-lined collar framed his angular, almost gaunt face. Black goggles protected his eyes from the harsh cold wind. He took a few steps forward as the rest of his gang, around eight men, disembarked, slowly and tactically positioning themselves by their speeders or trees.

“I didn’t believe it when they first told me,” Rafahn said, having to shout somewhat over the distance and wind. His voice was much smoother than his brother’s, but still carried with it that same arrogance. “Jamie Pyne, former Queen of the Naboo,” he smiled. “I am humbled to make your acquaintance.” He swung his arm across his torso and took a bow – while it wasn’t outright mockery, there was a light tone about it. He clearly wanted to let everyone there know who held the true power here.

“Now, I understand that you are involved with a certain Mandalorian that injured my brother,” he continued, getting straight to the point. “Believe me, I have no desire to slight one of your stature and… ability, but I cannot let this transgression go unanswered. I implore you, give us the Mandalorian… or there will be consequences.”

The members of the gang raised their weapons – tibanna canisters were loaded, primers clicked into place. The mounted laser turret found its target.

Jamie Pyne

 

[Jamie Pyne]

A few moments of silence hung in the air as the man called out to Jamie. Nothing but the howling gale and the drifting of snow to answer him. Then, very carefully the blonde rounded the backside of her starship to greet her guests. She trusted the Mandalorian was prepared and ready to take action, when the time came. It was unlikely these folks were interested in simply discussing the situation in a friendly manner and then sauntering off without a fight.

And judging by the words he'd chosen, with the threat punctuated at its end, that was clear.

The woman looked first to Rafahn, then to his compatriots, and the man behind the rather large gun. She made her way a bit closer, standing about twenty paces from their group, halfway between her starship and them. "Truth be told I hadn't intended to make a stop here, but the will of the Force cannot be denied, it seems."

Her sapphire eyes returned to Rafahn.

"It's unfortunate what happened earlier. Your brother chose a fight he shouldn't have. Had I not intervened he may not be breathing this very moment. If I may suggest an alternative? It would be wise to surrender this endeavor. Just as I spared your brother's life, I will not hand the Mandalorian over to be executed for defending himself either."

Jamie tugged at the Force, the hilt of her lightsaber drifted into her left hand from beneath her vest just as her finger slipped over the igniter switch. With a snap-hiss the bright yellow beam clawed its way into the evening air, illuminating the ground around her, and splashing her face with a vibrant glow.

"I'm asking you to leave this place. There's no need for further violence."

Ven A'ndi

 

[Ven A'ndi]

At the sight of the lightsaber, the gang members seemed visibly worried. While still holding their weapons forward, they looked amongst themselves, and then finally to Rafahn, who actually seemed more bemused than anything. Raising his eyebrows, he shifted his body to look around at the amount of firepower at his disposal, then sighed.

“Kill her,” he said simply.

Before the words had barely escaped his mouth, the speeder to the right of the group exploded in a brilliant fireball, sending two others standing next to it off of their feet. Red flashes were then seen coming from behind a free around twenty meters away – Ven had posted up with a rifle, and he was now putting rounds downrange. The man with the mounted laser cannon, perceiving the Mandalorian to be the bigger threat, swung the cannon around and pulled the trigger, a near solid line of red plasma firing.

The trees in the wake of the cannon were shredded, and Ven began to move, still firing shots along the way. The other gang members started to shoot at Jamie, figuring that she would begin to attack them as well. Rafahn, ducking low, drew a pistol and began to crouch-walk his way towards one of the airspeeders – this had not gone as he thought it would.

Jamie Pyne

 

[Jamie Pyne]

A chaotic scene unfolded immediately following Rafahn's orders. Volley after volley of blaster bolts in every direction to and from the gang's position as well as Ven's. An explosion, and the man of the hour seeking cover in the midst of the fighting that he himself had just called for, despite Jamie's attempt to negotiate.

Her lightsaber and hand twisted and angled up, down, back, and forward, parrying the shots and redirecting them in a series both back towards their origin as well as safely away as demanded by necessity. A few of the returned shots clipped the men whom fired them, dropping them to the ground to clutch at their wounds while releasing their grasp on their weapons.

Ven's ambush saved her from the ferocity of the cannon, which was not something she was prepared to handle on her own at such a close proximity.

Unable to prevent Rafahn from reaching the speeder Jamie focused instead on repelling more of the gang members and directing their fire towards the man operating the large cannon in an effort to give Ven some breathing room. A few of the shots first went wide, then as the man began to spin the turret a shot caught him across the back of the leg and he fell into the snow with an audible yelp.

With that Jamie fell back a ways towards her ship as several more began focusing their fire towards her.

Ven A'ndi

 

[Ven A'ndi]

A tree splintered over Ven’s head as the speeder’s laser cannon decimated the environment in front of it. The Mandalorian was somewhat hindered by the snow on the ground, but he was able to keep up the pace, able to move from cover to cover and provide some return fire. He managed to take out two of the henchmen, but a branch covered in snow caused him to trip and fall.

The laser cannon bore down on him, but right when it was about a meter away, Jamie had managed to injure the operator, stopping the bolts from vaporizing the Mandalorian. Rolling onto his side, he leveled his rifle and fired at the rest of the gang, which were quickly becoming thinned due to the Jedi’s efforts. With their flanking maneuver, the two hadn’t given the gang many options in terms of cover – if someone hid from the Jedi, they’d be shot in the back by the Mandalorian.

Through a visor caked in frozen snow, Ven could see Rafahn clambering into an airspeeder and gripping the controls. The vehicle spun around, aiming for the path back to town and presumably for safety. Reaching for his belt, Ven grabbed a small explosive and hurled it as hard as he could. The red beeping device sailed through the air and landed just behind the landspeeder’s engine. Within a millisecond, it exploded into a fireball, wrenching the vehicle forward. Rafahn was ejected clear from his seat and landed face-first in the snow.

As the debris fell to the ground from the most recent explosion, it was clear that the rest of the gang was incapacitated. Standing up to full height, the Mando slung his rifle onto his back and retrieved his pistol. He approached the epicenter of the battlefield, a plain between trees scorched and littered with bodies. One of the gang members, from a prone position, wearily raised a hand holding a blaster. A casual blaster shot from Ven ended the potential last ditch effort.

A few steps later, Ven was standing above Rafahn, who was still breathing between groans of pain. With his foot, he rolled the older man over. The goggles Rafahn had on were cracked and scratched – blood was running down the side of his head. Grabbing his coat, Ven dragged the gang leader towards Jamie and deposited him at the Jedi’s feet, blaster leveled at the man’s chest the whole time.

“Well,” the Mandalorian said, his breathing still heavy from the fight. “Now what?”

Jamie Pyne

 

[Jamie Pyne]

As the fighting came to a close, leaving those wounded on the ground and Rafahn at her feet alongside Ven Jamie knelt down beside the man.

"You know, despite all this, like your brother, you are in fact fortunate I'm here. Even though you did try to kill me." Sapphire eyes lifted to Ven for a moment before falling back to the gang leader. "For if I weren't, I imagine you would no longer be here." The Jedi stood, clipping her lightsaber back into the inner pocket of her vest and pulling the cowl over her head once more.

"Justice isn't mine to serve. I'm not an executioner. He should be turned over to the colonists. They may decide his fate."

Even if the likely scenario was that he be put to death, it went against everything she stood for to kill a helpless man, regardless of his crimes.

"Are you alright?" She would ask, standing back up to look the Mandalorian over. "Tried to get to the cannon as soon as possible, but there were quite a few of them."

Ven A'ndi

 

[Ven A'ndi]

The Mandalorian’s heartrate and breathing began to return to normal as Jamie spoke to Rafahn. He holstered his weapon and took a few deep breaths. After so many battles, his hands no longer shook after the adrenaline rush that came with such a conflict, but he couldn’t suppress all of his bodily functions.

The former queen suggested he be turned over to those that lived in the town, and Ven slowly nodded. That was the ‘right’ thing to do, after all. There didn’t seem to be any sort of law left in town, but if the unlikely pair’s plan worked, then the people would have their power back, as well as the gang’s equipment in order to enforce law themselves. Whether that was stringing up the gang by the neck or chasing them off-world so they never came back would be their choice.

“I’m alright,” Ven answered when asked about his well-being. “That cannon would’ve dinted up my armor pretty bad, that’s for sure.”

Ven looked out at the scarred battlefield they’d just created, and then past that towards the town. “We’ll need to convince the townspeople to pick up arms and fight, whether that’s with us or after we’re done with the gang.” He nodded to the battlefield. “Those weapons will be a good start. Plus,” he nudged Rafahn with his foot, nearly rolling him over. “we’ve got some bait, so the next meeting can happen on our terms.”

Jamie Pyne