Private The Train Job

[Jhyrack]

ARVALA-7
Amani Serys

The barren surface between mining colonies and outposts was rarely travelles by landspeeder. A Blurrg was still a common method of transport across short distances, but otherwise the land train had become more popular.

Water, fuel, passengers, medical supplies minerals and food all crossed the expanses between the colonies this way.

There had been attacks recently. Nikto gangs that used speeder bikes or short range air speeders to board and divert trains to be picked clean of valuables.

It was why they had paid for some mercenaries to walk the train. One of them, clad in dusty red armour, was a mandalorian. So large that he barely fit through the sliding door between train carriages.

He stood there, impassive behind the t-visor, and observed the passengers in the section. After a few seconds of taking it in, he looked through the window towards the east. Satisfied, he walked forwards. Slowly, step by step, his armour and equipment jangling as he went. He barely fit down the aisle.

The mandalorian stopped beside a small passenger booth. There was a mirialan girl sat on one side of a table beside her bags. The mandalorian took a sideways step, managing to fit his bulk into the space as he sat down.

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani had done a dozen jobs like this before. As was often the case, an isolated community had put in a request for various necessities to be shipped in from the nearest major trade port. And since she was in the area, she offered up her latest cache of medical supplies, leftover from a previous job that never panned out. The threat of Nikto bikers might have dissuaded her, if not for the fact that she desperately needed to make some money off of the stock.

At least the train ride was a nice little novelty.

Amani’s attention had been swept away by reverie, until a towering figure, clad in unmistakable Mandalorian armor, made their appearance known. Her gaze flicked towards him, if only for a moment, then back to the viewport sight of dunes ad nauseum.

Only after he settled in did Amani acknowledge him further. She offered a tired smile, but otherwise seemed to regard the stranger at arm’s length, “...On the job, or just traveling?”

Jhyrack​

 

[Jhyrack]

The t-visor slowly turned to regard Amani. It would have been easy to attribute emotion - or a lack of it - to that silent visage. Perhaps stoic irritation at being addressed directly.

The mandalorian reached up to his chin and unclipped his helmet. It was lifted slowly from his shoulders and set down on the table between them.

"Belok Karr, nice to meet you!" bellowed the red haired mandalorian. He wore a broad grin with ease and reached across the table to offer a hand the size of a dinner plate to shake.

"Here for work. Damned hot in that helmet. Need to fix my air filtration system I think."

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani wasn't sure what to expect as the Mandalorian doffed his helmet, but it wasn't anything as genial as he seemed to be. She chuckled at the surprise, and proffered a much more delicate hand in response, "Amani."

"Wouldn't know anything about that, but I do know it's damned hot in general here," She tilted her head towards the planet's desert landscape.

"So you're our brave warrior who's gonna scare off all those bandits right?"

Jhyrack​

 

[Jhyrack]

"I tightened some of the seals to reduce the chance of gas getting through, unfortunately that meant the cooling unit stopped keeping my head and neck cool, hah!" Belok explained. He found armour and weapon maintenance fascinating and a topic of conversation that anyone would enjoy.

It was because most of his friends were mandalorian too.

"And well met Amani. There are a few mercs around the train," he said, looking back down the corridor.

"But between you and I," he said conspirtorially, "I don't think the others are much up to a real fight. Not to worry though," he added, looking suddenly concerned that he might have added to the young mirialan's worries.

"Haven't been all that many raids recently."

 

[Amani Serys]

"Careful," Amani gave a disbelieving laugh, "If I had a credit for every time someone said not to worry, only for there to very much be a reason to worry, I'd be rich." Historically, trouble seemed quite fond of her. The mirialan then briefly revealed the hilt of a lightsaber, sighing in resignation, "Guess if it comes down to it, I can make some use of myself."

"Maybe we'll get lucky, though." Might as well leave a little room for optimism.

Jhyrack​

 

[Jhyrack]

"That is a good saying," he declared, "I like it very much."

Belok leaned forwards. He raised a ginger eyebrow at the sight of a lightsaber.

"A jedi?" he asked. He had heard stories of their kind from other mandalorians. His people were not always positive in their descriptions of the religious warriors, but Belok had few opinions on the matter.

Few opinions, but plenty of curiosity.

 

[Amani Serys]

"Former," She corrected. "Sometimes the reputation is useful, other times not so much."

Historically, Jedi and Mandalorians were not what one would consider friends, and truth be told most of Amani's personal experiences with the latter had not been of exceptional quality either. But he wasn't currently trying to strangle her from across the booth, and so neither was she.

"Either way I can swing a lightsaber if it comes to it." Amani shrugged, "You meet many Jedi?"

Jhyrack​

 

[Jhyrack]

"One," he replied, pointing his index finger towards the sky. He lowered that finger as he pointed at Amani. She was the only one so far.

He grinned and he shrugged.

"Last one they hit, they came in from the sides on bikes. Then snuck up a couple of swoops from behind and dropped people on the roof. They detached the whole back half of the train."

He looked rather excited at the prospect of trying to defeat the same tactics if used again.

 

[Amani Serys]

At least she could set a precedent for any future encounters he might have with Jedi.

“Well that’s…” She peeked out the viewport, towards the back end of the train, “...Not great.” Amani grumbled at her wandering thoughts. Now of course her mind was filling with possible outcomes in the event of an attack.

“Think they’ll go for it again?” Apparently it worked for them last time, after all.

Jhyrack​

 

[Jhyrack]

Belok chuckled quietly. It seemed to be the default setting for the big man, being light amused at the world around him.

"I think perhaps that I should have kept my mouth shut, even though you offered to help. If there is an alarm, just sit tight and keep this carriage safe if they get on board," he offered.

"The passengers are all up front, so at least you won't get stolen, eh? Now I haven't seen a food cart anywhere..." he said, distracted by a pang of hunger.

 

[Amani Serys]

The Mandalorian seemed much more into the prospect of a fight than Amani was. Then again, that was kinda their thing, right? The ideological butting of heads between them and the Jedi was becoming much clearer now.

“Um, I think I saw one pass down there not too long ago,” She gestured towards the locomotive with her thumb, “Might catch it if you’re quick.”

A flicker in the corner of Amani’s eyes caught her attention. Outside the window there was a disturbance in the dune sands, but the train passed so quickly there was nothing to be made out. That was until the source of the disturbance revealed itself: a speeder bike trailing alongside the railcars.

“Uhhh, I don’t suppose any of your merc buddies took up convoy duty, did they?” She spoke up again, hoping to get Belok’s attention.

Jhyrack​

 

[Jhyrack]

Belok looked down in that direction hopefully, but caught no sign of the cart in the next carriage through the doors.

"Convoy duty? I wouldn't call any of the others my b...Oh."

Belok finally noticed where she was looking and reached for his helmet. Above them the strip lighting turned yellow.

"That's probably one of them scouting for a look. Let's see if we can't convince them not to mount an attack," he laughed.

"Tag along or look after the people here," he said as he pushed his helmet down. He turned into the walkway and started pacing quickly back down the train.

He was going to regret not finding the snack cart earlier.

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani groaned and bumped her head against the window. So much for a stress-free job. Maybe it was avoidable, if Belok's penchant for optimism was to be trusted. She wasn't going to hold her breath, though.

Following him out of the booth, Amani scanned the aisle before putting her trust in the other mercenaries. Perhaps a demonstration of a Jedi would be enough to dissuade the raiders from any more attempts.

"Where are we going?"

Jhyrack​

 

[Jhyrack]

"Well first..." Belok called over his shoulder. He let the start of the sentence stretch out through the doors into the next section of the train. He opened a floor to ceiling locker.

"...I get this."

Belok pulled the concussion rifle out of the locker and held it against his chest with one arm.

"And then we get up top. You want to keep your head down or behind the hatch unless you have goggles..."

There was another set of sliding doors into a passenger compartment. Before them was another locker against the wall, but behind that door was a ladder. Throwing the strapped rifle over one shoulder, the mandalorian climbed up.

"We're going fast, so this is going to be rough..."

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani reached into her small bag, rustling around until she pulled out a cheap pair of goggles, "Better than nothing," With all else set, she threw her bag into one of the unused lockers and followed him up the ladder.

Even before reaching the roof herself, the challenge being presented was clear. Wind rushed inside as soon as the hatch was open, and the force of it outside was enough to throw off anyone not sure-footed enough.

"Alright, so what's the plan?!" She found herself yelling over the gust.

Jhyrack​

 

[Jhyrack]

"Ah plan...yes," he replied over the wind rushing over them.

The hatch locked into place ahead of them, giving a little shelter from the winds. Belok found that it was going to be almost impossible to keep stable on one knee and shoot.

He laid down prone, facing the rear of the train. There were two speeder bikes now running parallel to the train. In the distance he could see a skiff keeping up with them. There were more mercenaries emerging from either hatches on the roof or armoured windows further back down the train.

"No sign of swoops," he shouted. "Want to wave your light sword around and see if it puts them off?"

 

[Amani Serys]

"Can't hurt to try!" She climbed up after him, taking the more overconfident approach of standing up to make her presence known. But if they were going to try and scare them off…

Amani tested her footing, wobbling her way to a steady upright stance, then withdrew her lightsaber from its belt, "Here goes nothing." She muttered, more to herself than anyone else. A blue rod of energy shot forth from the emitter, the bright ignition of the beam enough to catch the attention of anyone at least trying to get a look at the top of the train.

The Jedi started with a few flourishes, displaying her prowess as a warning to those who knew what such a weapon signified. And for a moment it appeared to be working; The speeders started losing pace, and in all the tension seemed to lull.

That moment passed though, and Amani was forced to react in the nick of time to deflect an incoming blaster bolt, right on course towards her forehead. The shot came from the skiff, no doubt some sharpshooter giving a warning of his own. More shots rang out, and Amani lost her footing, rolling back and catching herself on the ledge between two of the train carriages.

"So…much… for that!" She groaned, attempting to pull herself back up. These raiders were in for a fight.

Jhyrack​

 

[Jhyrack]

"I don't think that they were very intimidated," Belok shouted above the rushing wind. He crawled forwards and offered a hand to give her something to grip onto.

That skiff gave their shooters a nice and stable platform, but if it came any closer it was going to be a very soft target.

"There!" He called out. Black shapes crested a hill behind the train and closed fast. They were speeder bikes, one rider and one passenger on each.

Belok waited. The mercenaries and guards at the back of the train has already started shooting. The bikes were either weaving or staying so tight against the train it was hard to get an angle on them.

"Still no sign of the swoops."

There was a cry from down the train. A guard fell from the roof and tumbled across the arid landscape below.

 

[Amani Serys]

"What gave it away?" She clasped onto his arm, pulling herself back up and behind the hatch. The fighting had begun in earnest, with mercenaries and bikers exchanging an array of bolts on either side of the train.

Amani looked across the landscape, eventually settling on the skiff that had made a target of her earlier, "I'm gonna try to get closer!" She waited for the right moment, then rushed out from behind cover and towards the skiff. One of the bikers attempted to get a shot on her, which she deflected back at him, striking the speeder and causing it to crash into the sand. Amani leapt successfully onto the next railcar, rolling into a prone position, where she clung to keep stable.

Jhyrack​