Cheese crackers and the funny pages

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Wasting no time, the Lupine slapped the release panel for the boarding ramp as she passed by it's alcove. Layla hadn't left Joffa just yet, skimming over some of the higher rooftops on whatever course Sanis had deemed the most reckless.

Surging ahead, she watched as the ramp yawned open. Her duster was shed during her sprint, and her double bladed gauntlet seemed to beg to release the orange blades it held in check. But not yet; she had to get to the ground, first.

... and that problem was soon remedied as she flung herself out into open air. A fleeting memory of falling from the many catwalks during her fight with Decepis flashed through her mind, but she dismissed it. The ground was speeding beneath her at an almost dizzying pace, but the Jedi gauged the distance between herself and the upcoming rooftop. Unlike her uncontrolled crashes upon the stone walkways of her home, s'Il hit the ground almost in midstride while tucking her body into a quick roll to absorb the shock of making landfall.

She was on her feet less than a second later, and within another scant few moments she had dropped easily to the ground, silent clouds of dust rising like halos around her feet.

[Lamar Starworth]

Fist and woman, they were a combination that could get any man confused. It was certainly the case when the small James swung quickly at Lamar. His head cocked back only a matter of a second, but it didn't matter. The blow had done the damage and for a moment he could only hear the rattle of the cultural beads at the tips of his braids banging against one another. There was an onslaught of blows thrown from that point, but all he knew to dismiss was the annoying sound in his ear. Lamar never was fond of lull rumble behind him, and it was no better at a faster pace. Instinctively he bobbed his head, side-to-side, flinching in sequence in hopes of dodging the wild strikes.

He managed. It was to be expected...he was a trooper and she a small, frail woman with rage. Well...maybe not that expected, but he was saved. The woman that had talked to Sanis Prent on the ground jumped swiftly between the two. In the blurr of an assault and a decipher of horribly woven curse words, it was quite hard to focus on the surrounding details. Dropping back against the floor, he watched as the Lupine dashed off toward the ramp door.

Twirling smoothly about, he struggled to his feet. Placing his hand out behind him, he warded off any remnants of hatred. Hopefully this "James" girl didn't have too much distate for his presence. Even though the blows were only a sting, Lamar was certian that was only a taste of her true fury.

"Frag!" He grumbled, pushing off the wall with his extra hand. The trooper was sure to keep his gloved hand behind him still. There was no telling when the young lady might swing again. Balancing himself, Lamar took one last breath before refocusing on the present.

Running his eyes up, he scanned the ship. Sounds of a door hatch being open rushed through with a whisper of dust.

Where in Coruscant's Blue Hell was "my" crazy woman protector going? Lamar thought.

[Sanis Prent]

Originally posted by Akrabbim
The Imps are definately getting close. Akrabbim rushes inside, finding Sanis alrady in the cockpit. Normally, keeping his cover would be of utmost importance, but now...

He slides next to Sanis, speaking in a low whisper. He drops the accent for now.

Listen, Sanis. I can help you, but you're going to have to trust me. When you hit those clouds, stop cold, change direction, and head off on some other course.

Sanis looks at him to protest, but Akrabbim cuts him off, allowing his eyes to glow a bright blue for a moment.

Remember how we got away from Korgogg? Same principle. Trust me. Neither of us want to be caught by the Imps.

Originally posted by Daanarri Raurrssaatta
Daani squeaked as Proon Jeffries sat on her. "Hey! Ow!" She wriggled and shoved at his back as he tried to talk to Sanis. "I'm the co-pilot!"

The pot was finally boiling over.

I pulled my shell gun free from the holster and primed the actuator.

"You two either keep your mouths shut or find a seat below deck, or I swear on the ghost of Xim that I will crash this damn ship into the first thing that strikes my fancy."

I glared at Akrabbim and Daani, and pointed my shell gun at my console for emphasis.

"Man's gotta fly with a clear head. Now get!"

Suddenly, a klaxon lit up on my terminal. Further annoyed, I de-primed my sidearm and holstered it, and flipped on a comm to the engine room.

"Cirr! What in seven hells is our cargo bay door doing open?"

As if anything else couldn't go wrong. Oh yeah, besides the angry finger of God coming down on my head in the form of an Imperial star destroyer.

"I don't have time to fly and play babysitter!"

[James Prent]

Tak wriggling in my arms, I slapped the intercomm from the passageway just fore of the cargo bay. "Your lady friend just jumped ship, Sanis. Going to close the doors now!"

I had to yell over the rushing sound of the wind whistling through the doors. Not waiting for an answer, I hiked Tak up on my hip a little better, and the girl tightened her grip on me as I made my way to the controls. The slightest bump in flight and we would both probably tumble out of the door as well.

Grabbing a bolted down crate with my free hand to steady myself, I bit my lip and looked at Tak's blue eyes, at Lamar in the other corner of the cargo bay holding himself securely in place, and then at the panel that was still just out of reach. Hot air blasted us both, Tak's fine blonde hair whipping in to my eyes.

C'mon... c'mon! Reach it! I shifted my feet slightly just as the ship jinked to port, dislodging my hand. Tak clutched at me, burying her face in my shoulder as we slid down the smooth deck towards the open door. I yelped, frantically trying to do something, anything, when I felt the controls move for the doors, and the cargo bay sealed itself against the desert.

I hit the doors a little less than gently, Tak shielded from harm with my body. How had I closed the doors without touching them?! I shuddered, and not from the close call. "You okay, Tak?"

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Cirr ran/stumbled into the cargo bay from the engine room, yanking a pair of protective goggles off his face as he looked at James.

"What? Who opened the doorr?"

The floor plating groaned almost imperceptibly, and the felinoid scowled at it.

"We'rre enterrjing a lot of chop."

He looked out the viewport at a rolling bank of purple storm clouds.

"Oh. Well that explajins everrythjing of courrse."

Cirr sighed, his broad shoulders lowering a few inches with the gesture.

[Khendon Sevon]

The white-armored scout leaned into the butt of his rifle and peered through the sniper weapon’s scope. Reticles narrowed themselves around the falling form. The trooper shifted in his prone stance slightly and mumbled on his comm., “Talon, ya’ see that?”

“Yeah, that’s not normal. I’ve never seen someone jump from a moving freighter like that before.”

“Should we maybe report it?”

“What for?” The other stormtrooper looked through his enhanced binoculars. “We have orders to kill, so, let’s kill. It’ll be a good story to tell the boys back at the five-o-one.”

“Yeah, ‘I shot a person that jumped out of a speeding freighter after they perfectly landed.’ Great story, Talon, great.”

“Shut up and take the shot, Johnson.”

The sniper took a deep breath, let out half, allowed himself a moment, then squeezed the trigger gently. A red lance of energy spat forth from the malevolently engineered device of death and sped towards the target.

*************

“Sir,” came a voice over the comm., “native forces seem to be assembling en masse, we’re starting to receive casualty reports from stormtrooper squads.”

“Alright, we’ll reinforce this one spot and use it as a temp base. Call down the heavy gear—artillery and turrets. Have all units converge.” Khendon was beginning to get frustrated with this dusty planet and its mirages.

Where was his mark? “Orbital Tracking, I need a location find on frequency Executorial D32 sub A.”

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

In a graceful display of fluid motion, s'Il brought her arm up across her body as if pulling a blanket over her head, the double orange blades bursting to life. Even in the sunlight they shone brilliantly. Eyes closed, she opened her mind to her surroundings and turned on the balls of her feet while wrapping her arms around her torso and letting the dual blades seemingly encircle her as she twisted.

The whole display took less than a second, yet seemed to last forever before the Lupine suddenly flung her sabre arm in a level, cross-cutting swipe that sent the bolt heading straight back its' point of origin.

[Daanarri Meorrrei]

Daani was strapped into her seat, unable to move, and was thankful when the old guy stood up, gripping the top of the chair tightly. In a flash she had her crash webbing unbuckled, and darted out of the cockpit. Sanis was mad, so it probably was best she left, even if it wasn't her fault.

Behind her, Proon took the co-pilot's seat and fastened himself in.

The little Cizerack slipped down the ladder, skipped down the passageway, right past her harried looking older brother, and made her way to one of the gunning stations. It was cool because she had to take another ladder down and ended up staring out of the bottom of the ship. She slapped the controls that opened up the shields from the transparisteel bubble that surrounded the port, and settled the headset on her wild looking hair.

Human heads had ears down further than Cizerack's did, so Daani could either talk into the headset, or hear what was being said to her, but not really both at the same time. Below the escaping freighter she could see plumes of dark smoke in the distance, and occasionally the bright flashes of blaster fire. No one seemed close enough to shoot at.

[Lamar Starworth]

Nothing about the situation was securing in the least. Even as Lamar held tightly in the corner while the ship went through a moment of shakes, turns and twist he could nothing but accelerated those boggling motions. His mind shifted from one point to the next, but his eyes didn't follow. Instead the two orbs did the complete opposited and closed.

Letting out a small sigh, he opened his eyes to the world. A refreshing atmosphere grew from his breathe as he carefully examined his surroundings. Allowing the memories of the moment only second previous to come back to him, he felt as his eyes transfixed on James.

The big co-pilot had come into the room, but even with his attention-catching height his eyes didn't budge. That breif lack of sight when his vision was shut by his lids had done his senses wrong. A tingle ran down his spine as he peered deeper, as if trying to pry out her soul. Then as sudden as the tingling began, it all stopped. Forfeiting to normality, he looked up at the tall, furry creature.

"What now?" Lamar asked. "What is going on?"

[James Prent]

Tak seemed to be ok, silently clinging to me as Cirr bounded into the hold. "s'Ilancy opened the doors. I think." I made my way across the deck towards the passage that led to the galley. The ship bucked under my feet, but I was close enough for Cirr to reach out and keep me upright. "She jumped out."

Around us the desert storm thickened and I frowned as a strange noise tickled my senses. "What the -" The storm had kicked up sand into the clouds, and the Layla was flying right though it.

Tak moved in my arms, and Cirr pointed towards the galley. "Get strrrapped jin." We did.

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

Dama was gone, leaving Tak in the arms of a stranger. The little girl squirmed uncomfortably, craning her neck around to try and catch a lasting glimpse of the bay door.

"Dama!"

She fought then, struggling against the strange woman's hold as they settled in to the galley. "Dama, Dama answa ss'i!"

Blue eyes, in striking contrast to her mother's own orange, began to fill with tears and out of instinct Tak ceased her struggles to clutch fearfully to the stranger. Layla rocked, and the little girl let out a muffled sob before tightening her grip.

[Khendon Sevon]

Johnson only had time to go wide eyed before a blaster bolt tore open his cranial cavity.

Talon had leaned away from his sighting binoculars while the shot was taken—not something he normally did, but he had wanted to see the kill with his own eyes, not some optically enhanced vision. He regretted it.

The shower of crimson that erupted coated him in a thin layer as his friend’s corpse slumped over the sniper rifle that had, seemingly, delivered the fatal blow. Talon only heard screaming.

With Imperial training failing for a moment, the soldier brought his hands to his unmasked face and tried to rub away the scarlet juice that coated him from head-to-toe. It was useless.

A second later the soldier was backing away into the corner muttering to himself—this was shell shock in a brutal form.

***********

Harbinger knelt with rifle across his lap in the rubble of a fallen building. He breathed steadily, his chest moving underneath the enhanced carbon-composite armor. The single red eye of his helmet narrowed then made a virtually inaudible whizzing sound as it zoomed.

He had seen the energy bolt travel towards its target only to traverse the same distance and slam into its sender—foolish sniper hadn’t know who, or rather what, he was dealing with.

“This is SG-352, I’ve spotted an alpha priority terrorist in sector lambda four, sending exact positioning satellite coordinates.”

***********

Khendon heard the communication. His headset was unfiltered at the moment and only his implant was enough to allow him to dissect the fistful of conversations going on.

“Roger that, SG-352,” came a crackling voice from space, “we’re forwarding your information to Executor—“

“No need, Battlefield Ops, I’ve heard. Executor Sevon, out.” He looked into the angled face of a demonic soldier and smiled. “Take over for me, I’ve some hunting to do.”

[Akrabbim]

He glances at Snis one last time before moving to another viewport in the back.

Remember what I said...

He reaches a back window and sits, focusing his concentration. For everyone to see this, he's going to have to make an illusion out of light. It won't be easy... an illusion that size will take some effort, but he should be able to pull it off.

He waits until the ship moves into the cloud and launches his illusion. An image of the Layla bursts out of the dust in the direction they were heading, complete with a small distortion of the dust cloud as would be caused by a ship that size. Now to wait and see if Sanis used enough sense to change course.

[Sanis Prent]

"Dammit!"

I slammed a fist on the console at James' comment.

"Who jumps out of a perfectly good starship?"

I asked nobody in particular. We were now neck-deep in the storm. Winds and heavy rain whipped about the ship, as lightning storms danced over our heads. I tried to get a good reading in all of the chop, which was in itself a tricky task.

"James, if you could climb your butt up this ladder as fast as possible, your captain would greatly appreciate it."

Topography mapping was lagging, and I was having to approximate our rate of drift relative to the ground. With visibility shot to hell, it was a matter of playing it gentle with the stick. Fortunately, there were more than a few canyons and mesas in the badlands. Lots of places to hide with hardly a prying eye between.

Any other situation, I'd have cut bait and run. This time I had a job to do. More than that, it was a bit personal.

"Cirr, prep the Black Cat. I'm about to take a spell out of here and see the world."

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

"What now?" Lamar asked. "What is going on?"

"You know, gettjing chased by jImperrjials, havjing passengerrs leap out of movjing starrshjips. All jin a day's worrk."

Cirr shrugged, with a tinge of exasperation on his face. Sanis's call came down from the pilothouse.

"What? We'rre not leavjing? Ai'jaarra'ka'neeia wherre's the money jin thjis job?"

Cirr threw a wrench on the floor in frustration, tromping down a corridor to the back of the ship, where a small shuttle was berthed, just above the engine superstructure.

[Lamar Starworth]

"Frag!"

A frown carved it's way onto Lamar's lips. Twirling about, he followed in Cirr's steps, but quickly motioned to the side where he had left his things. The hectic enviroment was pestering him to no end, and the fact that he had no hold on it drove him to hold something. Grabbing up out of his bag, he gripped tightly onto the ancient Jedi relic and a newly bought blaster. Weapons were comforting to the voilent soul, but for him it wasn't enough.

Quickly, after a cautious glance over his shoulder, he placed the Jedi weapon back into the the small bag. Pulling at the bag's closing strings he swinged it over his shoulder. The blaster in hand, he ran back to the ladder. Steps weren't even realized in his large two-touch leap up into the head of the ship.

"Calm down, calm down..." The young trooper muttered, letting his arm, occupied with the blaster, to relax. Chaotic situation were part of the battlefield and to loose his head over this would be unprofessional.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

In the aftermath of the blaster bolt's reversal, s'Il stood motionless. Her sabre blades were left activated and she held them at the ready.

Scant seconds passed, and she let her eyes dart to either side of her. Dan had almost virtually disappeared the moment the commotion began, and she wanted to find him - to make sure the man was safe.

The darkness was approaching though. She could feel it coming closer, seemingly encroaching everything it rolled over. She could almost see the blackness swallow whatever lay in its' path.

The Lupine took a step forward, intent on meeting this obstacle head on. She would have to deal with this problem before looking for Dan.

[Khendon Sevon]

Like a World Devastator, Khendon left destruction in his wake. His anger was exponentially growing by the second, becoming a blazing inferno threatening to consume the entire planet it its unrelenting wrath. Hatred seethed from the dark soldier like liquid from a fallen container. The contents splashed out and corroded all life touched by the Executor’s sphere of enmity.

A swift palm killed one Cathar youth that stood in the wicked warrior’s path. The body fell with a heavy thud as Khendon ran onward, already meters away from his victim. He was just another notch on a growing list of conquests and kills.

The Sith was getting close, he could feel it. There was a certain something about the area ahead—he wasn’t exactly sure about the feeling, it was almost an itchy sensation on the back of his palms.

“Take the shot, take it!” the Executor commanded as his eyes peered at the wash of colors emitting from the woman’s deadly weapons.

In an instant, crackles of red energy lashed out from Harbinger’s assault rifle. The trooper, aware of what had happened to his compatriot, dove under cover after his burst of malice.

Khendon, still sprinting with ungodly speed, tore his saber from its holster and ignited the silver, biting blade in a single outward circle. His two-handed grip brought the weapon over head in a dangerous, aggressive stance.

In a display of speed, the Executor sent a diagonal slash toward the woman, using the power of his mad dash to aid in the fluid dance of assaulting plasma. A guttural, vengeful growl rumbled through his throat and out his mouth as he struck.

[James Prent]

I made sure Tak was strapped in securely to the galley couch, and looked around. "Frell, Sanis, I can't leave her..." As I wasn't anywhere near an intercomm he couldn't hear me.

Lamar came bounding up the ladder towards the mess, and I yelled at him. "Strap yourself in an' watch the little girl." He had a blaster in his hand, and I glared at it as I pushed past him. "Whatever you do, don't shoot that thing in here. Cap'n would take offense. Just make sure Tak stays strapped in, and I suggest you do the same." With that I left the two in the galley together. Jack had disappeared - I assumed he'd been left behind on the surface when we'd taken off. Tak's little pet was missing as well.

As was Daani. And I was getting a headache.

I scrambled down the passage and up the last ladder to the cockpit level. "I'm here - !" The ship jinked to the side and I fell off balance and slammed into the bulkhead. "What did ya want!?" My voice came out loudly from the surprise of my sudden impact.

[Sanis Prent]

"I'm putting down for a spell to go find our pleasure seeker."

Perspiration started to show on my forehead, as I deftly maneuvered alongside jagged cliff faces, lower toward an atrophied riverbed below.

"I need you to keep a lid on things here. You're in charge, and if nobody pays you heed ask Cirr to pull their arms out. Weather's rough, and you'll be socked in. Little if anything on sensors or communications."

Through the chopping sheets of rain, the dried riverbed appeared from below, with a thin vein of swollen rainwater dividing the center of it. I steered Layla low, and extended the flaps and landing struts. A second later, the ship bucked sharply, coming to a rougher than normal landing.

I pulled myself out of my crash webbing, and made for the access hatch,

"If I'm not back in an hour, you fly hard out of this canyon and come and save me!"