Running.

Her lungs were burning and her legs were moving and her thoughts didn't choose a path of travel. She just kept moving forward as fast as she could, a burst of speed sending her forward through the crowd. Colorful blurs of dyed linen canopies obstructed the sun's light above her, making it harder to maunuveur through the mass of market consumers. The hot environment pressed against her as she barely missed running right into a Kamarian, the unfortunate traveler mumbling foreign obscenities at the careless runner.

She didn't bother to shout back an apology while more alien faces flashed past her, trying to make it out from under the billowing market tent. Her pulse became the beat at which her feet pounded against the dusty ground. Anxiety festered under her skin and drove her on, fighting to keep her frantic thoughts in the correct state of mind to keep surviving. The weight of the metal in her hands was a constant stimulant to keep her moving forward; she had to get to the woman.

"Hey you!" An angry bellow cascaded over the joyous sounds of the local people, bringing another ignition of fear sparking up her nerves. With her free hand, she bunched the shawl covering her features closer to her chest. Maybe they wouldn't notice, maybe they wouldn't recognize her in this thick of a crowd.

She burst into the light of day, escaping the shadow cast by the long canopy. The multitude had thinned out, making it easier to run through the bustling town. Buildings surrounding her on each side, traders selling various crops at their posts yelled out slightly outrageous prices from the side of the street. Her rampant breath didn't still while her eyes hunted for the correct way to her destination.

"Thief! Thief!"

The raging shouts had attracted unwanted attention to the fleeing girl, who became very aware of the prying eyes following her. Their stares felt as though they were searing into her back, branding her a petty burglar soon to be caught. No, no she couldn't be caught.

Her heart compressed against her rib cage and she worried it may fall right out of her chest. Breath had become scarce and fleeting and she could hear the footsteps of her pursuers threatening to overtake her. Her muddled mind urged her to exert more effort into her stride. She couldn't be caught. She couldn't be caught.

She turned into an alleyway that cut through two of the towering buildings. Without much time to process, a strong grip wrapped around her skinny shoulder. This brought an abrupt halt to her escape and she could've sworn the pumping of her blood ceased. The purest sensation of terror overwhelmed the scrawny girl. She'd been caught. Not by her current chasers, but by someone who had laid in wait in the alley.

She tried to struggle against the solid grasp on her to no avail. With waning courage, she dared to look up into the face of her captor. The figure stood less than a half foot taller than her, its own face covered by a scarf to disguise characteristic features. A dark jacket was worn over a threaded shirt, a leather satchel strap crossing over her torso. Two short, metal batons hung from her belt opposite of a blaster holstered on her right hip. The most distinguishable attribute of the shadowed woman was her set of blue eyes, almost twinkling when she gazed down at the young thief. Her left had a deep ring around it, a large bruise blossoming just above her cheek bone.

Her hand, which the girl noted was reddened, reached up to the cloth covering her mouth and hair. She pulled the shawl away from her face, tossing it beside her. This revealed a mane of blonde hair and a smile that exuded confidence, so much that her grin reassured the girl of her prowess. The stranger, who had hired the thief only a half-hour prior, brought a finger to her lips.

The girl barely relaxed under her touch, instead quickly shoving the stolen content into the palm of the woman. The blonde took it easily, stowing the piece of metal deep into her jacket. She brought out a small, weighed down pouch out of the same pocket. The child swiped it as soon as it came into view, the jingling of coins singing in the quiet space.

"Hey trickster! C'mere!"

The woman's neck craned over to see the two gang members sprinting to their position. She stepped forward to block entrance to the backstreet and ushered the kid behind her. One hand rested on the crook of her hip, fingers inching towards the gun on her person.

The guys were pretty ugly; one was an alien with three rifts on the skin on his snout, resembling a pig more than a human. The other was a male of her race with five different gold rings pierced into various parts of his face. Both displayed angry sneers as Pigface panted out, "Where's that kriffing trickster?"

The girl held onto a bunch of the woman's jacket behind her. The blonde looked over each of the men, clicking with her tongue for no reason in particular. Once she was done deducing whether or not this was a fight worth engaging in (hint: it kinda was), she flicked her focus back up to stare the first in the eyes. Mara cracked a mischievous smirk, "I've got a neat trick."

It really wasn't a 'trick', just her fist impounding the pig's face before Piercing tried to kick her.

The kid took off running again the opposite way while Mara drew out her pistol, backing up and pulling the trigger. One blast hit the human's arm as she than turned to sprint down the rest of the alley way. Once making it back out into the open, she stopped around the corner and holstered the gun, knowing killing wasn't the prime option at the moment. Plus Leneller would be pissed.

So she waited at the edge of the building with drawn batons. When the pig-faced assailant came into view, she swung out and hit him. One rod impounded his ribs and the other his face. The duel hit sent him stumbling back into his partner and she took the liberty to strike him across the face again. This gained her just enough seconds to run towards the ship port.

Navigating through the twin square was the current problem between her and the transport she'd arrived on. As she ran into the thick of the gathering, she vaulted over a fruit stand of some sort to put an obstacle between her and the gang members. A distraught owner grumbled after she made the small jump, crying out in disgust even more when the woman preceded to run across several tables, barely making it around the imported goods. Within a moment she had jumped off and threw a glance over her shoulder. She couldn't see them-

Bam!

The human launched at her legs and tackled her to the dust from her blind side. Her face met ground, hurt exploding on her cheek upon impact while she rolled in the dirt. She lost grip on one of her prized batons that rolled somewhere out of sight.

Before she could process exactly what happened the man had already grabbed the front of her shirt and yanked her torso up. She blinked rapidly several times to allow her sight to focus on the face mere inches away from her's. The man's gruesome sneer revealed his yellowed teeth and cracked lips pierced by a rusted ring. His mouth expelled foul breath that made Mara's nose wrinkle in disgust, "Where's the drive!?"

The man probably expected something other than the cough she produced, still offset by the terrible oder blown in her face. This prompted him to grip her shirt tighter, his sleezy gaze wandering down to her chest. This was already a revolting gesture that sent the woman into a worse mood, but it made her almost seething when his dirty fingers wrapped around the necklace she wore. He held up the bent Alderaanian coin attached to the chain, pulling on it as if he was going to break it, "What's this little thing?"

"Not yours, sculag." And she spit at him, then head butted the creep with all her might. His momentary surprise at her rash action let her grip her baton and slam it into the side of his head, which sent him sprawling off her.

Mara was staggering back up to get her balance and desperately looking for her lost baton. Blood cascaded down her face from her now injured nose and she quickly wiped it away without a thought. When she spied her faithful weapon, she grabbed it while running by and hoped the slime was unconscious. She still didn't know where Pigface was.

Leaping over another wooden stand, her foot caught on a bundle of melons. Tumbling into the wooden stall, she fell again into another person's legs. Cursing at her mishap while she once again wiped her nose, she tipped her chin up to see the hapless seller she'd almost knocked over.

It was another human man around her own age and, hey, he was pretty easy on the eyes with a mop of curls and a toned physique. She gleamed a spirited grin, still leaning against his leg while lying on the ground, "Good afternoon."

He stayed motionless, somewhat shocked at the bloody woman who had fallen into his selling stall with a cute smile and a sprinkle of freckles scattered over her face, "Hey."

Mara's focus was stolen back by the angry shouts of her pursuers, staying low near the ground so Pigface and what sounded like another band of gang members passing by the fruit stand wouldn't spy her. She offered another anxious smile to the man before digging into her jacket for the communicator Laneller had given her, praying to R'iia she wouldn't be sighted quite yet. She pressed the speaking device, "Hey, Cali, you at the ship yet?"

No voice answered her back for a tedious few seconds, and that tested the blonde's short patience enough to try again, "Caliiiisto."

"Yes, Estoni?" The lovely, irritated voice of her ex-girlfriend-turned-superior flooded through the comm, "I'm at the ship. Do you have the drive?"

Mara threw a glance over the table of melons and back at the tall seller who was still staring at her with a bewildered interest, "Yep, that's all covered. The thing is-you see- I've got a few buddies chasing me."

A scowl grated through the speakers and she could picture the Intelligence officer's eyeroll, "You weren't supposed to start a fight with Guavian Gang."

"Just have engines prepped when I get there." She kept her tone low but harsh, shutting off the communicator and stuffing it back into her jacket.

The blonde was still sitting on the ground at the seller's feet. She now crept closer to the table of melons, peeking over it to see if any of the gang members were still around. The man cleared his threat, "Ehem, don't mean to seem rude, but why are you hiding in my stall?"

Mara's eyes darted over the market, standing when she saw no indication of those pursuing her, "Funny story actually....umm, sorry about the melons, though."

The seller blinked a few times at the vague answer once she exited the stand by again jumping over the table, "No problem, I guess."

"Cool." She tossed once last glance at the guy over her shoulder, not so subtly winking before running off into the maze of produce stands.

Mara had finally begun to find a way out of the swath of selling tents. After a few more rapid sprints around the bends of the city, the port became visible. Dozens of ships stayed dormant beside each other on the tarmac awaiting take off. The buildings grew fewer and once she left the shelter of their high walls obstructing her from view, she became an easy target.

Just gotta get to the ship, get out of here, it'll be all good, alllll good....Damnit

She heard Pigface grunt before his yell screeched, "There!"

To her left, him and two other of the Guavian Gang emerged from the the building behind her. The blonde made a break for the transports, muttering various curses while dodging blasts from their pistols. Her anxiety jumped into her threat when a blackened mark painted itself against the hull of an unknown cruiser she previously stood in front of. The gang had resolved to use lethal force.

She just needed to find her transport. Mara ran across the platform, winding between cargo ships and luxury cruisers, most owned by traders of variable wealth statuses. The shouts of her pursuers followed her relentlessly, the fire of weapons decreasing as she stayed out of their view. She zig-zagged through the lines of parked vessels in an attempt to lose them. Her throat grew dry with her dizzying breaths whilst her eyes searched for the Resistance ship. She had to find it soon.

"C'mere slime!" Pigface bellowed, the sound reminiscent of a gravelly scream, at least in Mara's mind. Just need to get to the ship, just get to the ship.

She skidded around the corner of a craft and sprinted forward in another direction, looking for any familiar surroundings from when she first docked. When the first few transports didn't spark her memory, she ran over to the next line. With the shouts of opposition spurring her on, she sighted the small, silver shuttle she'd arrived in, the bay door open.

"Callisto!" Mara shouted out to the Intelligence officer who wasn't in sight from her point of view. She kept running towards it, eyes widening when pieces of dirt pelted her. Blasts impounded the ground around her as they barely missed her figure. In a mad scramble not to become decorated by gaping wound, she dove through the open doors, "Laneller!"

Callisto sat in the pilot's chair at the front of the ship, her usual neutral face of displeasure displayed. That expression changed to a more urgent one when the blonde tripped in with a bloody nose and a barrage of shots dotting her previous path, "Mara, I swear to hell itself-"

"The doors!" Estoni spewed out between heavy breaths, but it was too late. Just as Laneller pressed the button to close off the entrance to the shuttle, Pigface moved forward in an impressive burst of speed. He crossed the threshold into the cockpit while his victim found her stance.

The rather ugly alien bared his teeth with a terrible snarl, looking to say some snide comment before throwing his fist toward the woman. Mara barely dodged it. Pressing her palm against the wall for stability, she kicked her foot up and slammed the heel of her boot into his broad chest, stealing away his air for any quip when he was pushed back. He fell into his two other companions, propelling the trio of gang members outside of the ship. Before they could recover from the unceremonious tumble, the door clamped shut.

The blonde woman wiped her nose with the back of her hand, pain buzzing from the injury. In the small moment she had to regain herself, she exhaled a weary sigh. Laneller moved out of the pilot's spot with a dire manner still about her, "We need to go now-"

"Yeah, yeah, I got that." Mara waved up a hand, passing her and falling into the leather chair. Bangs on the hull echoed throughout the cockpit while she settled her hands onto the controls. With the engine primed, she was able to take off within a moment. The thuds stopped when the shuttle rose off the ground.

"The last thing you were supposed to do is start a fight." Callisto chided, leaning against the control panel while Estoni programmed in a course to D'Qar space, "You were supposed to get the drive from the informant and if anything went wrong, you could talk your way out of it because you used to be one of the Guavians. That's the only reason the General sent you on this mission."

"And I volunteered." She reminded the Intelligence officer, not meeting her surly gaze, "So, you are really welcome. Love the vote of confidence."

"The gang is already aligned with First Order and you just gave them another reason to hate the Resistance." Laneller pressed, finally sitting down as they reached higher in the sky, "We don't need another enemy-"

Mara scoffed, brushing back her mess of hair, "Your informant was a kid. They were going to hurt her."

Cali didn't quite buy that, "And you wanted to put your fists into someone."

"Yes, making strategies in dark room did get me stir crazy, but" The blonde brought up her pointer finger to help articulate her point, met with her partner's dissatisfied face, "The kid's safe and hey, they would've pulled a blaster on me even if I didn't first."

The dark-haired officer shook her head, still disgruntled by the situation that unfolded moments ago, "You at least have the drive, right?"

Estoni took one hand of the ship's controls to reach into her dark jacket, handing the piece of metal to her superior, "Of course. What's the big deal, I mean, I accomplished the mission. So what if I caused up a little stir?"

Laneller took data device quickly, concealing it deep into her own pocket, "This was supposed to be a quiet affair. Intelligence missions are meant to be subtle."

"In case you haven't notice, I don't think it's in my nature to be subtle."

Callisto let a small, mocking laugh tumble off her lips at her ex-girlfriend's bold comment, "Believe me, I've noticed. I'm sure half the galaxy has."

Mara's smirk curved over her teeth, clicking her tongue as they exited the planet's atmosphere. She flipped a few more switches to make sure the shuttle was in proper working order while also familiarizing herself with the operating system again. She was much more used to one-man fighters than small transports, "Any word from home base?"

"Nothing yet, but I wouldn't take your time getting back."

The woman's smile didn't diminish in the slightest once she finished calibrating the ship's navigations system for the jump to light speed. She wiped the blood stain on her face one more time before pulling the lever down, "I had no intention of doing so."

The craft flew forward through an array of stars that stretched to mere beams of light as they sped towards their destination.

hey kids our favorite disaster blonde is back and her regular extra self

so woohoo i saw the last jedi and i can say honestly it was an enjoyable experience. there was a lot of things i liked and a lot of things i didn't, but all and all it's very much a film that can be interpreted in many different ways.

so hey, for all who haven't seen it, all chapters past this will have spoilers

now i had planned an arc out for mara months before ever seeing ep 8, and i can say that it'll fit into the movie plot pretty well. enjoy the lighthearted happiness while you can, because this will get ugly.

with that said, here's a quick PSA for the coming story;

characters will do, say, and believe things you might not agree with. i, the author, do not personally agree with some of the actions mara and other characters, my own and established, will do in this book. we have to remember that even though mara went through a hell of a lot of development in warrior, she's still an abuse survivor (something this book will play into more) that has made very, VERY bad decisions in the past and has a lot of coping mechanisms that aren't healthy.

we will also see other characters make decisions that in their minds are good ones. some will hurt mara. i have told a story that sympathizes with her, and i myself heavily sympathize with her. that doesn't mean all her past actions are justified and that she isn't going to have to deal with repercussions of them. she is a former enemy, and others will treat her as such.

and to balance that pessimistic omen, the battle of who's the cooler bb8 Parent™ (poe or mara?) will continue.

and to end this really long author's note, thank you so much for nominating warrior for three different categories in the fanfic awards hosted by starwarscommunity and thank you for voting for them!!!! i honestly don't deserve you guys and hope you love this book as much as you did warrior!!