Private The Train Job

[Belok Karr]

"Can you keep that up for long?" Belok called.

Even clad in mandalorian iron, he was out in the open as he investigated the shaped charges across the floor. A hail of blaster fire would soon compromise a plate or find a gap between them.

None of the bandits were on a commlink that he could see. That was a good thing. If the first attack failed and they didn't know why they might desist. If someone called back that they had engaged just two people then reinforcements would be on the way.

There was a thermal ignition in the kit. A primary charge to blow a hole and then thermite would leak through and severe the main connection.

"Going to take me a moment," he said, running a vibroknife along the wires.

 

[Amani Serys]

"I guess we'll find out!" A few years ago, shielding blaster fire was child's play. But now, even with her Force connection back, Amani found herself a bit rusty, and needing to keep a little extra focus on the barrier.

"Just make it happen," The blaster fire continued at a steady rate, until the bandits decided a new course of action was necessary. The larger of the duo switched to a heavy rotary blaster off his back, the barrel of which spooled up before unleashing a deluge of high power bolts. Amani's barrier maintained for now, but the pressure was weakening its integrity.

"Sooner rather than later, please!"

Belok Karr​

 

[Belok Karr]

Belok looked up at the hail of blaster fire splashing across the barrier around him. Trapped in a bubble under a torrent of superheated plasma being kept safe by a complete stranger.

"Bugger it."

Belok stopped trying to figure out the wires and stood up. He dropped his right shoulder and rolled his concussion rifle from his back. His thumb switched to the underslung smart grenade launcher before twisting a knob to set the detonation distance manually.

He stepped through the Force barrier and pulled the trigger.

There were now bright flashes as the smart HE grenade automatically detonated in the air in the middle of the bandits. The shock wave was like a kick to the chest.

The silence that followed was eerie. Smoke obscuring the bodies where the bandits had been.

"There," Belok declared, "peace and quiet."

He knelt back down over the charges, able to focus on the wiring this time.

 

[Amani Serys]

"Oh." Amani dropped her barrier, almost confused by the abrupt change in tempo. Couldn't complain, though.

"Cool," She turned around and knelt over the mess of wires alongside Belok. "This isn't gonna blow us up if you pick the wrong one, is it?" A question Amani more or less already knew the answer to. As quick as she joined in, she stepped back, preferring not to face any potential explosions point blank.

"I can't even hear any speeders. No way that was all of them, was it?" The Jedi lifted her saber, already anticipating some kind of retribution.

Belok Karr​

 

[Belok Karr]

"This is a really crappy job," Belok explained. "On one hand it's simple to disconnect. On the other hand the work is so shoddy I'm amazed it hasn't gone off already."

The tip of his knife severed a wire. Belok yanked the detonator free and rolled it a few yards away.

"I'd better disable this properly. They won't be done. Probably hanging back for this to blow. Go look whilst I finish up?"

 

[Amani Serys]

"That's reassuring," She commented. Belok didn't have to tell her twice to head elsewhere. Before leaving, Amani scrounged around in her pocket, "Here, take this," She slid the item across the floor to him: a small communicator. "For convenience." With that, she stepped out into the gangway.

Sure enough, Amani couldn't see any bikes on either immediate flank. She continued to pass through a few more cars, all giving her the same result. The only sound was that of the train still chugging along over desert sands. But the view here was limited, and it wasn't exactly probable that they just turned tail and gave up. She jumped up to grab the top of the next car, pulling herself up once again, where she spotted what they were looking for.

The remaining bikes had all begun to trail by the back ends of the train; Alongside, a skiff still presided over the raid. Apparently the would-be sniper of the group was still among them, as another bolt whizzed overhead, forcing Amani to duck back into the gangway. More shots rang overhead, seemingly more out of some attempt to intimidate or even celebrate, rather than actually hit anything.

The communicator on Belok's end buzzed, "Just like you said. They're all waiting by the tail of the train for their fireworks to go off. Unfortunately, they know we're onto them now. Expect trouble soon."

Belok Karr​

 

[Belok Karr]

Belok clipped the communicator to his belt. He bent over the remains of the remains of the device and set to work on it. When he was about to remove the remaining electronics from the thermite charges he paused before setting them all aside together. There was no point wasting good explosives.

"Just like you said. They're all waiting by the tail of the train for their fireworks to go off. Unfortunately, they know we're onto them now. Expect trouble soon."

Belok could hear the whine of swoop engines within moments. Heading up to the roof of the speeding train made him an easy target again, but it was better than them strafing the civilian carriages.

Two of the bikes levelled out above the train, their passengers leaving over to open fire at him from above. Blaster bolts pinged as their struck beskar, but he was relying on chance now. He ran down the carriage, getting behind the bikes and drawing them even further from the civilians.

Moving saved his life, as the sniper took another shot at him.

"Can you draw their attention?" he called. Belok skidded to a halt, gauging the distance to the skiff behind them as he set a timer on the explosive charge.

 

[Amani Serys]

“I’ll do what I can!” Amani rejoined Belok at the top of the train. The raiders were quick to respond, having already arrived to seek out their would-be saboteurs.

With lightsaber in hand, she deflected a few more bolts from the flanking speeders, directed at both her and the Mandalorian. Ultimately, the flaw in their plan was that they were now within range for her to easily dispose of them. With her free hand, Amani gripped the front of one of the speeders and flipped it upright, sending its occupants tumbling into the sand below and putting the bike itself on a crash course.

“One down,” she mentally tried to calculate the process of events, when precognitive senses influenced her to shift to the side. Another sniper shot had fired off, just flying past the decidedly less armored of the two. Amani then turned her attention to the second bike, and after a moment’s hesitation, fully leapt down and onto it, kicking off the rider and taking hold of the handles. “W-woah!”

The vehicle jerked and shifted between gears as she struggled to gain control. Amani’s driving capabilities could be described as adequate, at best. But in any case, she stabilized the speeder and spun it around, charging headlong into the remaining raiders. For a moment Amani fiddled with the controls, until she found the button for the blaster cannons. Red bolts launched towards the other speeders, forcing another split in their attention.

Belok Karr​

 

[Belok Karr]

"That'll do it," Belok muttered under his breath as the jedi sped straight for the pack of pursueing bikes.

The mirialan had shown spine in joining the defence of the train. She was showing even more in leaping to a bike to draw the fire away from him.

Belok took the opportunity to make for the back of the train. It was easy to keep moving with the wind on his back. He supposed that the air was still and just resisting him being powered along with the train at high velocity.

There was a loud back, a flash of pain. Belok found himself looking up at the sky. He could feel himself falling.

The mandalorian just gathered his wits to grab the train before he slid from the roof. The sniper had struck him square in the chest. Smoke still rose from the beskar plate.

"I can play dirty too," he grumbled as he rolled onto his front and stood back up. He thumbed the switch on the detonator and tossed it, along with its thermal charges, out into the wasteland. He counted out loud as he watched the skiff glide over the terrain.

It wasn't fancy. A flash of white, a plume of fire. A boom that caught up with the train a second later. Belok watched as the smoking skiff nose dived into the ground.

 

[Amani Serys]

It took all of Amani’s focus to keep herself from either falling or being blasted off of the speeder. She hadn’t even known what was going on with Belok until a sudden explosion marked the end of the raider skiff. It hit the sand, with a gust of flame and smoke. Through the veil, at least one of the speeders apparently chose to escape the scene entirely.

Amani raised a fist in triumph, “Woo! Tell me that’s it.” She looked back up to the roof, and the mandalorian stood atop it, “You good?”

Belok Karr​

 

[Belok Karr]

The wind at his back was exhausting. Belok had to keep himself brace just to remain in place. The back of his head and across his shoulders still ached from the sniper shot taking him from his feet.

Belok remained still as he scanned the horizon slowly.

"No sign of them," he replied.

Amani didn't get a direct answer to her second question. Belok groaned across the channel as he turned over and started to crawl back towards the nearest hatch.

"I'm going to see if they've got any serious drinks in the refreshment carriage."

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani gave a long whistle, then leapt off the speeder and back onto the train. The raiders had cut their losses, and everything suddenly became much quieter. Assuming you don't count the constant rumble of the train itself. Belok's indirect response served as an answer on its own. "You've earned it," She laughed, following him to the same carriage, albeit through the door.

"Everything considered, I guess that could've gone way worse," Amani popped a few joints as she stretched, "Whatcha gonna do after this?"

Belok Karr​

 

[Belok Karr]

Belok sat himself down and then placed his helmet on the table.

"I am going to do this..."

There was a refreshment bar half way down the carriage. The man behind it had tentatively got back to his feet after hiding behind it whilst he could hear blaster fire and explosions.

"That vodka!" Belok called out to him. He pointed to a clear bottle with his right hand, whilst his other started to work free the connections around his chest plate.

"No...not a shot, all of that vodka."

The bartender met Belok's gaze once, decided not to argue, and brought the bottle over.

Belok pulled the chest plate from the suit's internal wiring and set it down on the table. Tools emerged from a pocket and were laid down beside it. The beskar was intact but some of the circuitry stretched across the back of the plate had been damaged by the sniper.

He picked up the bottle and took a deep swig.

"I assume your kind don't drink?" he asked, tilting it her way.

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani blinked. Her kind? Oh. He meant Jedi. As if simply to prove him wrong, she snatched the bottle and took a swig of what was undoubtedly the most unpleasant-tasting drink to ever hit her tongue. Immediately her face contorted in response to its potency. She had drank before, yes, but not much. And this one still managed to come out on top as her least favorite.

"Eck… No. I don't make a habit of it." She handed the bottle back to the Mandalorian, "What exactly is the appeal?"

Belok Karr​

 

[Belok Karr]

"The appeal depends," Belok laughed. His face had creased watching her reaction to the first swig, but his attention returned to armor maintenance.

"Right no, most bits of me hurt. So a little of this is a pleasant buzz. Other times it's to get roaring drunk for singing songs and making mistakes," he chuckled.

Belok touched a small device to various nodes across the wiring laid flat to the insulated layer on the back of the beskar.

"Hmm connections are good so it's one of the chips is dead," he muttered, reaching for the bottle.

"Isnt it like...outlawed for a jedi? I thought you were banned from anything fun or interesting."

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani craned her neck to watch Belok at work, “Didn’t know Mando armor was so… techy.” She mumbled curiously as he surveyed the inner layer. His second question didn’t even register until a few seconds later,

“Hm?” Amani blinked then stifled a laugh, “I uh, guess it depends on how you’re brought up. Nowadays personal views tend to vary, though in general I’d say most Jedi tend to operate on more flexible interpretations of the Code than they did a thousand years ago.”

“I used to be a bit of a stick in the mud about those kinda things, but most of my friends really weren’t.” She shrugged, “Not that it matters here. I’m not really a Jedi anymore.”

Belok Karr​

 

[Belok Karr]

"What does 'not really a jedi any more' mean?" he asked.

Belok had his head tilted forwards, looking down at the inside of the armour plate. He looked up at her from under his frown before scratching his beard and continuing.

There wasn't really a 'not being a mandalorian' any more option, as far as he was concerned. There might have been different interpretations of the creed, but it wasn't something you could just walk away from. It was a part of him in everything he did.

Thinking back, he could remember an aunt who had completely walked away from their way of life. She still wasn't 'not really' a mandalorian, but quite distinctly not a mandalorian any more.

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani scoffed a bit, as if he'd asked a strange question, "It meaaans I'm not a Jedi anymore. I'm not bound by the code, I'm not a part of any orders. I'm just some woman with a lightsaber."

It wasn't quite so black and white as that. Those parts of her that were forged by the Jedi still lingered, there was no changing that. But the title itself had been shed some years ago, even if some would always default to it no matter what.

"Jedi-hood isn't something you're born into, like being a Mandalorian is. Or, can be, anyway." They were a whole different thing. And despite her effort she ultimately didn't bother to even pretend she had a deep understanding of their culture. There was always a bit of disconnect between the two groups. "It's more of a religion than it is a culture."

Belok Karr​

 

[Belok Karr]

An announcement rang out through the train. It told everyone that the danger had passed and that staff would be coming down the length of the train to check if anyone needed assistance.

"A religion eh?"

Belok picked up a delicate tool with a sharp, flat head. It looked like a toothpick in his hands. He didn't look as if he was well suited to fixing up delicate circuitry.

"What was your crisis of faith then?" he asked, waving the tool in small circles in her general direction.

Belok started to use it to pry one of the chips looks from its socket. He stuck his tongue out if the corner of his mouth in concentration without being aware of it.

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani grumbled, apparently uneager to delve into this line of conversation, "It's a bit more complicated than that." She caught sight of a cut on arm, reopened during one of the scuffles, and took the opportunity to dilute her focus. The healer pulled out a small medical kit, and began tending to the wound.

"I lost my connection to the Force for a while. So, I left to explore some new perspectives. By the time I got it back, I realized it just wasn't for me anymore." Key details were obviously omitted from her abridged retelling. Amani kept her line of sight glued to her arm, now piercing the skin with a suture needle.

"You guys don't ever get to stop being Mandalorians?" She bounced the concept back towards Belok.

Belok Karr​