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[indent][indent][indent][indent][justify][color=808080]Zefer settled on her stomach at the peak of the hill that surrounded the narrow gorge. The mud and humidity soaked through her clothes and dampened her skin. The ends of her ashen braids slipped over her shoulders, quickly stained by the wet earth as she rolled to her side and pulled her Amban sniper rifle from her back. Settling back onto her stomach, she squinted through the sunlight that poured through the sharp cliffs of the mountain. Her eyes darted back and forth between the Z-95 and the remnants of the crashed ship half lodged in the rockface. 

The last thing Zefer wanted to do was get involved. One Crimson Dawn vessel was [i]hopefully[/i] nothing to concern herself over, but one could quickly become two, and two… She drew in a sharp breath as she pressed the butt of her rifle into her shoulder and rested her cheek upon the stock. Her left eye closed so she could use the scope to observe more closely. The snubfighter’s engine was off and she could catch glimpses of the pilot inside, but he didn’t move… not yet. She swept her gun over towards the wreck, dark smoke billowed up into dark columns, but the crumpled pile remained still as if the ship and whatever was inside had perished in the collision. 

Everything was still, eerily so. The only sounds filling the gorge were the calls of wildlife, the gentle rush of the creek, and the occasional [i]ting[/i] or [i]pop[/i] from what remained of the wreckage. Zefer sighed, restless, as she lifted her head from the gun to stare down at the resting ship. [color=884949]"What are you waiting for?"[/color] she muttered under her breath. 

Then there was a stirring and shift of metal before someone emerged from smoke and metal, crawling on his hands and knees before rolling listlessly down the sharp incline. He skidded to a halt beside the stream, [i]somehow[/i] still alive. The cockpit of the Crimson Dawn ship hissed as it popped open and its pilot jumped out. Zefer grimaced as she quickly flipped a switch near the receiver, then turned a small dial near the grip three clicks counterclockwise. [color=884949]"[i]Fuck. Fuck. Fuck,[/i]"[/color] she hissed through clenched teeth. Her cheek pressed back down against the stock, looking down the scope and tracking just about the [i]ugliest[/i] bastard she had ever seen as he approached the wounded survivor. 

She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but watched the way the Nautolan struggled to get to his hands and knees, and saw the indifference in the pilot as he approached, grinning and almost amused. Zefer’s breathing slowed as her aim steadied, trained on the Hylobon as he reached for his blaster. Her index finger slipped from the grip to rest on the trigger. [color=884949]"Don’t do it. Don’t do it,"[/color] she whispered. He raised the blaster.

Zefer didn’t hesitate and pulled the trigger. There was a rising electrical whirring that spun through the chamber of her rifle before a loud crack echoed throughout the hollow gorge. The bolt of blue flashed across the expanse, slammed into the pilot’s chest and disintegrated him before his finger reached the trigger. A heap of clothing, gear and his pistol collapsed to the ground in front of the Nautolan where the man once stood, while his dusted remains were carried away with a gust of wind. 

She quickly pushed off the ground, fingers sinking into the mud before she stood up. Zefer pulled the strap of her rifle over her head, letting the weapon rest against her back as she pivoted to shout down toward the edge of the treeline. [color=884949]"Kore!"[/color]

There was some rustling and shifting of underbrush before the K droid stepped out into view. [code]"I see you are not dead. Am I correct in assuming that was your blaster shot?"[/code]

[color=884949]"Get the speeder and meet me in the gorge. There’s a survivor,"[/color] she replied, ignoring his question and motioning to the valley on the other side of the hill. 

[code]"Your deflection leads me to assume you will be receiving a second bounty."[/code]

[color=884949]"Less sass, more speed."[/color] 

There was a grinding mechanical rumble that could have been mistaken for a sigh—if droids could sigh—as K0-R3 turned around and disappeared beneath the treeline. 

Zefer hurried down the steep decline of the hill toward the ravine, skidding and slipping down the mud-slicked earth. Near the bottom her boots clipped on a tree root. She stumbled forward, nearly falling on her face before finding her balance along the bank of the stream. She cursed under her breath, trudging through the shallow water in a weak attempt to mask some of her tracks, as if it would make a difference if Crimson Dawn decided to send more men to Rishi. She needed to move the survivor, get rid of any evidence of the pilot, hide the ship… her plan unfolded with every stomp and slosh of water. By the time she reached the Nautolan she was already several steps ahead, finding and solving new problems before she came to them. 

She didn’t say anything as she crouched down before the man, elbows resting on her bent knees while her pale eyes quickly searched him for any injuries or weapons he’d likely turn on her. When he seemed far too weary… [i]or harmless[/i], Zefer reached out to take his shoulders in her mud covered hands and gently helped him sit back down. Her gaze fell to the pile of what remained of the pilot. Most of it was useless rags for clothing, but hidden in the lump was his blaster. She picked it up and quickly examined it. DL-22 blaster, nothing particularly fancy—not that she imagined a grunt like him would carry better—but it was in decent enough condition. Without flare, she pointed it at a tree a few dozen feet away and pulled the trigger. The blast penetrated halfway through the trunk, sending splinters flying as the whine of the blast echoed off the cliffs around them. 

Zefer turned the blaster around, keeping the barrel pointed away while pressing the grip into the man’s hand. [color=884949]"Hold onto that. You might need it."[/color] She pushed off her knees with a quiet grunt. Once she was standing, she looked back down at the Nautolan with an expression that was almost startling in its casual severity. [color=884949]"Be right back. Shoot anything hostile that isn’t a droid with a speeder—[i]or do.[/i] It could be entertaining."[/color] She took one step forward, paused, and turned back to face him. [color=884949]"No. Don’t. I’ll never hear the end of it and I’m running out of replacement parts."[/color]

After rolling her eyes at her weak attempt at a joke, or perhaps the vision of Kore’s whining after being shot, Zefer ran along the stream toward the Z-95. Water kicked up and splashed around her with every step, dousing her pants from the thighs down by the time she reached the ship. She climbed up into the cockpit with a pilot’s ease and dropped into the single seat. Her eyes quickly scanned the control console until she found the telltale blinking light of a transmitter. She quickly pulled a knife from her boot then shoved the blade into the dashboard in the seam that separated it and the targeting systems. She slammed the butt of her hand against the handle wedging it in further until there was the sharp snap of it breaking off its mount.  

Zefer brought the knife to her mouth, pinning the blade between her teeth to free her hands. Her fingers tightly gripped the small raised lip around the edge of the transmitter, then started to wiggle and pull it free. When it was halfway out, she slammed her elbow down into it, knocking it free and onto the floorboard of the ship. She reached down, picking up the clunky piece of tech and gave it a quick yank. The various cords and cables that connected the transmitter to the ship snapped or came unplugged, severing its power source before she threw it out of the cockpit. She could hear the metallic clatter of it landing along the rocky shore of the stream as she pulled the knife from her mouth and slid it back into her boot. 

There was a squelching thud when Zefer dropped from the ship into the mud slick grass and earth below. Her hand fell to her holster, pulling her blaster free and lazily shot the transmitter for good measure, just to be certain the damn thing couldn’t send out any signals. As she walked past it, making her way back toward the Nautolan, she kicked the obsolete device into the stream where it quickly vanished beneath the rippling water. 

Just as she reached the man’s side, her speeder was approaching along the edge of the water, coming to a stop a few feet away. Kore raised his metal arm, moving it back and forth in a strange sort of wave. [code]"Hello. I am K0-R3, a security—"[/code]

[color=884949]"Shut up, Kore. We don’t have time,"[/color] Zefer interrupted as she leaned down to take the man’s arm and drape it across her shoulders. She used one hand to hold his arm steady while the other wrapped around his torso to best support his weight. With a grunt and a sharp inhale, she pushed off the ground, using the strength in her knees to hoist herself and the man up to their feet. One step at a time she dragged him over to the speeder and helped him settle into the passenger seat as best he could. 

[color=884949]"Take him back to the base and open the hangar doors,"[/color] she instructed Kore, patting her hand against the side of the speeder before taking a step back. 

K0-R3 turned his head toward her, photoreceptors dim in the brightness of the sun. [code]"And what should I do with him?"[/code] he asked, motioning his robotic arm toward the Nautolan. 

[color=884949]"You’re a security droid… so… keep him [i]secure,[/i]"[/color] she replied, motioning toward him with a vague shrug. Before Kore could bombard her with more questions, Zefer scooped the remaining clothes and gear that belonged to the Crimson Dawn pilot and tossed it into the back of the speeder. She slapped her hand against the side panel a second time then pointed in the direction of their base. [color=884949]"Go on, go!"[/color]

Once Kore finally took off, Zefer sprinted back over to the Z-95 and climbed inside. She quickly got to work flipping switches and prepping the engine. As the cockpit began to lower overhead, her gaze kept flicking back up to the sky like she expected more ships to enter the atmosphere at any moment. The second the top sealed shut, the ship lifted off the ground and the landing gears retracted up into the chassis. She hovered there for only a second or two, before speeding off along the ravine, remaining low and weaving through the terrain as she headed back toward the base. [/color][/justify][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent]

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