Pity the Hunters

[wristclerk]

Pressure wasn't normally the advocate for succession with Frankie, however, refusal to bend to a certain will was a large part in her getting to do something. In this position though pressure and stress build up over powered her refusal to die. She had to maintain some semblance of honor and quick thinking though. "Zeta squad, fall back to friendly lines, Zeta 5 lead them to the ship, make sure we're not trapped in this death valley."

"Good luck Dimes" Corso said back to Frankie. It was her old Cadet nickname as she could make the simulator do whatever she needed, like turning the old machine on a dime, she excelled in maneuverability, though with an Interceptor, speed was it's main power source.

Frankie raced forward, giving it everything she had. The lead Aggressor opened fire with it's laser canons, causing Frankie to dodge left. Her right wing was singed a bit from the close proximity of the blaster fire. All of a sudden it shot out a volley of six concussion missiles, Frankie rolled to the right and ducked under the ship as she passed it, causing the missiles to spin and re-correct, the missiles with the weakest wiring blew up, however three missiles were still hot on Frankie's tail.

Frankie banked left, still dragging the three missiles behind her, She looped around the second Aggressor, but the enemy pilot was too fast and evaded the missiles by shooting two of them down. One still followed her, and it was gaining fast. Frankie saw a natural bridge covered with grass and edged rocks, she tried to make her interceptor fit through the narrow gap, but the singed wing wasn't doing her any favors. She clipped the edge of the natural bridge, luckily collapsing the bridge onto the concussion missile still in hot pursuit, however it sent her into a spiral she barely made it out of. Frankie acted fast in the cockpit. She pulled the lever above her head to the right that released a fire suppression foam onto the wing, stopping the progression of a fire burnout on the right wing.

Pushing in the floor petals until they met with the actual floor gave the interceptor a quick boost, still lagging in super sonic speed because of the damaged wing, she looped herself back into the conflict, laying down a heavy fire from her main canons onto the first ship that had fired the concussion missiles at her. She looked around to try and find Soren but couldn't see where he had gone.

 

[Sarah]

The second pilot was more skilled than himself and Frankie combined. He was tailing Soren fast, and had a lock on him, he fired six missiles as well, two of which hit him immediately. Soren cursed again, and slowed his fighter, bringing it close to the aggressor. He pressed a button, releasing the cockpit hatch. "Enough of this! " Soren jumped from his fighter onto the assault craft, using his light sabers to destroy its cockpit, by now the other missiles had annihalated his ship, and soon after Soren was in the pit, the bounty hunter set the ship on an auto pilot and they dueled for a bit until he cut his losses, jet packing away from his now-commandeered ship. "Could you take care of that? I need to... Adjust myself" although he was a strong person, Soren was lightheaded because of the G force he experienced.

 

[wristclerk]

Soren's quick ship grab was just that, too quick for Frankie to noticed while she was preoccupied with other matters. The first aggressor turned straight into the line of fire, allowing it's shields to take most of the brunt force of the laser canons she was continuously firing at him. Both ships went full speed at each other, constantly shooting at the other ship. Luckily the Aggressors shields were completely down, however Frankie's right wing was seriously damaged. The fire she was able to contain earlier had broken out again in a different part of the wing, she was slowing down tremendously and trailing a long line of smoke. But she never let off the accelerator, both ships continued to advance at alarming speeds.

"You wanna play chicken eh?! Just try it!" Frankie screamed at no one in particular, at least no one that could hear her. At the last second, both pilots ejected from their respective ships. They shot high enough to avoid the harsher flames from the explosion of the collision from both the Interceptor and Aggressor. The Bounty hunter had a jet pack on his side, but Frankie had determination. She pulled the lever holding in the parachute, it flew out from behind the seat, opening wide and catching air as it descended. She couldn't see where the Bounty Hunter had gone off too, he was camouflaged by the smoke too well. However she heard the sounds of blaster fire, then the sound and smell of ripping and burning nylon above her. Blaster fire continued, but not successfully. It must've been hard to aim and control the jet pack at once. Her ejection seat spiraled into a large bone structure, one of Boz Pity's famous roaming giant grave sites. Her parachute snagged on the end of a bone suspending her about 10 feet in the air. Frankie pressed the release button on her seat belt and slipped off the chair onto the grassy ground. She withdrew her pistol and took cover in the large skeletal structure, waiting for the Bounty Hunter to show himself.

She looked around for Soren's ship but saw no sign of it, only the second Aggressor still in the air, and a fresh pile of smoldering rubble off in the distance that looked to be an Interceptor. "Blast it! Zeta 1 to command, do you read? I need reinforcements on my last known position. Damn it! Do you read me?!" Frankie took her helmet off only to notice that a decent portion of her helmet had been fried by the close proximity to the explosion of her Interceptor. She was alone without comms, without backup, and without eyes in the sky.

 

[Sarah]

Soren had to take time to adjust, the cockpit still off the aggressor. He saw the bounty hunter with his jet pack, and managed to fire a missile at him it hit him to quickly to react, but didn't explode, trailing off for a long while before a faint echo of the blast could be heard. He landed the ship in the nearby rubble of Frankie's ship, quickly exiting, and nearly falling down, still dizzy from the whole ordeal, Soren shouted out for the lost Zeta cadet, hoping to find her alive.

 

[wristclerk]

Frankie retreated further into the large skeleton, keeping her blaster pistol at the ready. In the distance she saw the other Aggressor craft landing near the mangled pile of burning steel and control parts that was once her Interceptor and an Aggressor. She couldn't see who was getting out of the ship, but it was probably the other Bounty Hunter she guessed.

Above her, Frankie heard the low burners of a small jet pack moving to another position. She froze for a second to try and locate where the sound was coming from, but couldn't pinpoint the exact whereabouts. Frankie dove into a small alcove of the giant skeletal structure, away from the openness. She readied her gun but with her new cover, she was too far into the blind to see anything except what was directly in front of her.

As fear washed over her that this might be the end, she heard a familiar voice call out to her. 'Frankie! Zeta 1 where are you?!'

The fear subsided for but a moment as the smoke in front of her cleared just enough to see Soren in the distance over a grassy knoll. She could make it if she ran, but could she take the risk of letting the Bounty Hunter above her know where she was? Soren would never find her if she didn't move. Frankie weighed the options in her head for a minute as she decided. It was now or never for her. She had to do it.

Frankie stood up slowly, holstering her blaster pistol so she could run uninhibited without being bothered by something else. She breathed in a few times, tensed her muscles, closed her eyes and sighed. When she reopened her eyes a new found determination was there. She had to get to Soren, she had to live to see tomorrow.

She began, slowly at first, but quickly gaining speed. Frankie burst through the cloud of smoke covering the small alcove of the giant skeleton. She was at a full sprint. Soren was only twenty meters away, but to her it felt much longer. All of a sudden she heard a blaster fire from behind her, then the sound and smell of the bolt hitting the ground next to her and singeing the grass. Then another, again to the right of her but closer. She was getting nearer to Soren but still to far away. Her legs were pumping and her muscles ached, but she still ran, adrenaline now took over. She went faster and faster, yet blaster bolts still hit closer and closer. She was three meters away finally, but then she felt a pain in her right shoulder. The pain surged through her entire body, knocking the wind out of her, and shoving her to the ground, where she rolled several times. She felt like it was the end of her world, she had come to close, but didn't make it.

Then life re-surged in her. The pain subsided for a moment, and she realized she had only been hit in the shoulder. Still painful enough to knock her down, but not fatal. Her head shot up, and her eyes focused on Soren.

 

[Sarah]

Soren heard the blaster fire, and, his dizziness subsiding, went to find the source. He found it, along with Frankie on the ground. As her head shot up, he drew his blades, blocking fire on him and Frankie, hitting the hunter twice and shredding his torso armor before he jumped down into the clearing. Drawing a Vibro-blade, he engaged Soren in a duel, with no clear victor in sight for some time until their blades were locked together "Zeta 1, blast him!"

 

[wristclerk]

Frankie sat up, she watched the intense duel between Soren and the Bounty Hunter. Both masters of their respective art forms, once or twice coming within inches of taking the others life, yet foiled at the last second. Her right arm felt numb from the blaster wound in her shoulder. Her skin beneath the pilot uniform was singed and still smoking, it hurt so bad that should could barely move it to her stomach so she could cradle the arm in her abdomen.

She sat up, seemingly exhausted, pain still ringing throughout her body. But with her left hand reached over to her right thigh where the pistol was still holstered. She withdrew it from its resting place and aimed. Her hand was shaky, she wasn't the best shot to begin with, but she needed to help Soren if they planned on getting out of here.

Taking aim she breathed in and out, each time her shaking hand became steadier and steadier. Finally she had zeroed in on the Bounty Hunters head and fired, but Soren and the Hunter moved out of the way and the blaster bolt shot off into the distance. She couldn't aim again, it was too painful and her head was spinning. Instead of a kill shot she aimed for the Hunter leg. She shot off multiple rounds, all missing the target. When she zeroed in again and was about to fire, a lasso of sorts came out of nowhere and wrapped around her gun, pulling it away from her instantly. She looked over to who had fired the lasso line and saw the second bounty hunter still alive, though badly injured, his helmet had come off and his face was red with blood, he had a noticeable limp, yet anger in his eyes.

The bounty hunter slowly walked over, withdrawing a vibro-knife from his rear belt, holding it in the air with one hand as the other arm was surely broken. Frankie was scared, but the Bounty Hunter was running on fumes at this point. He lumbered over to her, knife raised high in the sky, murder plastered on his face. The hunter came down swiftly with the knife, but not fast enough. Frankie kicked the man in the wounded knee, causing him to crumple to the ground where she rolled on top of him, grabbing the knife from his hand and stabbing him in the chest plate armor. She then took his secondary gun out of the accompanying holster, and in one fell motion aimed at the bounty hunter still struggling with Soren and shot him in the exposed shoulder, leaving him open for whatever Soren could do to him.

 

[Sarah]

Soren's hatred was absolute by the time the hunter's leg had been shot, he cut the arm off that held the hunter's blade, withdrawing one saber in favor of his fist. After punching his helmet off, and making his head bleed, he held him up, and sliced his legs, and threw him down to the ground. "That... Was a bit much, Francesca, let's get back to the rest of the group, what do you say?

 

[wristclerk]

Frankie laid back against the grass. She felt the breeze in her hair, the softness of the ground felt wonderful against her body. For the first time in all of today she noticed how beautiful Boz Pity actually was. She remembered back to the day when her mother took her here to bury some things of her fathers on a grassy hill just like the ones that surround her now. She remembered how beautiful it was on that day too. But this was a different feeling. It was sadness, yet it was happiness. It lie more in the line with content more than anything.

Frankie sat up. The Bounty Hunter she stabbed and stole the gun from was still alive. She assumed the blade she stabbed in his chest plate had barely punctured him, but the blow to the knee is what took him down. She stood up, giving the bounty hunter one last glance before shooting him in the head. She felt nothing after she had done so. Normally killing someone point blank like that would've frightened her, but she had grown a lot that day. Frankie placed the stolen blaster pistol in her empty holster after the bounty hunter had taken her Empire issued blaster away. This would be a keep sake from this day to remember. Frankie looked over to Soren and answered him "This has been a good day... I'd say we deserve to get back." Frankie nodded to Soren and a large sinister smirk crept over her face.

 

[Sarah]

They flew the aggressor to a larger clearing, contacted the group, and eventually were off this rock, on their way back to a military camp on Klatooine, near Boz pity. After a long and occasionally loud talk with the local general, Soren sought Frankie out in the cafeteria. "Do you have a moment, once your done I need to speak to you in private." Soren was in inquisition armor, with Sith robes over it. He didn't have his typical harshness about him, either, it was a more disappointed tone than anything.

 

[wristclerk]

Frankie looked sullen yet extremely proud. She had a fresh bruise across her nose and left side of her jaw, not to mention the multiple bruises and lacerations across her body that you couldn't see. Her right arm was in a sling, the doctors had deemed that she didn't really need a bacta tank treatment and she wouldn't have taken one either. Feeling this sore and painful was a new experience for her, and she kind of liked it.

Once she noticed Soren walking over to her table she stood up to greet the Sith. "Yes sir I'll be right over" Frankie leaned over the table to talk to Corso and the other pilots, "Guess I have to go get more praise from the higher ups eh boys?" Frankie said this in a joking manner to the young men and women sitting around the table, but deep down she hoped it were true. She shrugged her shoulders and raised her eyebrows as she left in a mocking manner to the other young cadets. Sure she was the best pilot in her class, and sure, she got the shit beat out of her, but she felt good, she went toe to toe with a trained Bounty Hunter and lived. What other cadet could say the same?

Frankie followed Soren out of the cafeteria and into the long darkly lit hallway behind the cafeteria. "Sir?" Frankie asked quizzically waiting for Soren to speak.

 

[Sarah]

"I tried my best, but it turns out losing most of the squad looked about as bad for me as losing your ship did for you. I couldn't talk you into a promotion, but I can offer a few things: Firstly, you've got a ticket into another squadron. Beta, November, and Victor squadron are in need of other cadets. Also, I can train you privately to insure your progression, and request your assistance in some missions, so it's not all bad... How's your shoulder?"

 

[wristclerk]

"You're seriously offering me a role in Beta Squad? They've got the lowest scores this side of the veteran line, I'll never see action in Beta. And November is for a bunch of prissy pilots who's fathers and mothers are high ranks in the Empire. Victor on the other hand... I think a transfer and a change of scenery would be nice pace for me. But you have to make sure Zeta 5 gets the squad leader position for Zeta. He earned that much. Soren... I know I'm ungrateful at times... but I have to thank you. If you weren't down there, I wouldn't be here right now. I owe you something I can only hope to repay one day. And my shoulders alright haha..." Frankie's lips parted for a wide grin, then she lightly punched Soren in the shoulder. "Sorry sir... that wasn't very orderly of me. It will never happen again."

 

[Sarah]

Soren looked almost puzzled for a bit. "It's fine, just don't do it in public or when I'm sore again." He laughed, and almost smiled for a bit before addressing the next issue "You think he's the most qualified, huh? Personally I don't care either way, but since you think it's what's best, I can try and get him in, but I can't make promises. You know I risked my neck a lot just to get you there, right? " Soren didn't know for certain if he could get Corso into a leadership role, but he'd try, since Frankie seemed to think he was ready.

 

[wristclerk]

"Thank you sir, I apperciate everything you've been able to do for, and I hope to work with you again someday." Frankie saluted the Sith Commander, turned and walked through the doors into the cafeteria, she sat down at her table, remained eating the simple carbs and proteins the cafeteria droids slopped onto her plate. She didn't continue speaking with the rest of the table, she sat in silence half listening to the people around her. Her mind was focused on one thing, getting to the top. Zeta Squad started her journey, Victor Squad would step her up, but her end goal was the Empire itself... this was just a stepping stone.

{FIN}​