Pre-NuTL: Manhunters

[Nefieslab]

Sometimes Eddard really hated his job and sometimes he loved it.

Part of being a Sith was that the role was varied. Some days he was expected to lead from the front with red lightsaber swinging and sparks of lightning dancing between his fingertips. It didn't matter that the sparks were about the best he could conjure for lightning - on those assignments it was all about letting the locals, the police, criminals and civilians, know that a Sith was amongst them.

This time?

Well this time the opposite was the goal.

Dressed in the some rather basic armour and armed with a blaster pistol at his waist and a blaster rifle slung over a shoulder, Eddard was expected to play the role of a local mercenary. He was embedded deeply here to see how the mercenary band operated and to see if they were on a level where they could be considered acceptable to be contracted by the Imperials.

Or if they were too unruly and in need of extermination.

It was his job to do two things; assess the mercenary band he was embedded within and to assess the bounty hunter they were working with.

Said bounty hunter was said to be good so he was to keep an eye on her in case she was a potential threat to the Imperial cause and influence in the area.

Probably not but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Waiting for the bounty hunter, he leaned against the side of the speeder he had arrived in as he went through the motions of cleaning the outside of his borrowed blaster rifle.

@Sreeya

 

[Sreeya]

She wasn’t quite sure why this meeting was even necessary. She liked to work alone, and had done so for as long as she could recall. She was adorned in her full armor, not afraid to show her Mando heritage with the tell-tale T-visor. She wasn’t familiar with the planet, but she needed the mercenary’s help in hunting down a particularly elusive bounty. She hoped she could fork over some credits for a lead and cut the man out of the actual bounty itself.

She had paused to smoke a cigarra, one of vices that her family had tried to force her to kick for a long time. As a result, the smell of cigarra clung to her even as she approached the man by his speeder. She wasn’t in the most patient of moods, and for a moment she said nothing, simply sizing him up and wondering how to best get back to her own solo hunting.

“Kath Vyrd,” She said, coming to a stop a few feet away from him as she glanced down at the name on her datapad, “What have you got on him?” She looked at the merc again, “I will give you five hundred credits for the intel and we can both go our separate ways. What do you say?” She hoped he would bite and she wouldn’t have to deal with anyone else cutting in on the bounty money.

 

[Nefieslab]

Eddard had to admit that if he was asked to think of what a Mando looked like, the woman who walked on up to him here would be exactly what he suggested. Everything about her screamed "Mando" in such a way that it was clear she wasn't trying to hide anything - if you had a problem with her people, she'd know about it and likely kill you for it.

He could respect that even if he still thought the T shaped visor was a stupid design.

But he was being spoken to so time to engage. He frowned once before shrugging a little bit and gesturing down the road,

"Mass murdering-karkhead with a hard on for skinning Twi'leks." he responded as he stood up from the speeder he was leaning against, "Running with a small gang of hangers on, seems to be looking to go 'legit' as a merc band, banking off his rep. Know he favours swords but he's got a nasty rifle and the crew he's running with are blaster pistol kids."

He glanced at her unmoving visor.

"If it's all the same to you - I like to work for my supper. And besides..." he grinned, an expression that looked fake immediately because of how seldom he really pulled the face but that was to his benefit, "I knew one of the Twi'leks."

Moving off, he made sure to keep his 'ally' in sight as he moved forwards towards the part of town Kath's Boys were operating in. His senses were alert, even reaching lightly into the Force, as he cradled his rifle in an easy stance.

"What's a hotshot Mando like you doing chasing scum like Kath? Thought you guys had some kind of war going on... or do you call them crusades?"

@Sreeya

 

[Sreeya]

As he described Kath, a grimace appeared beneath her helmet. This man was more of a piece of work than she had been originally led to believe. She was about to reach for the credits to pay him off when he mentioned wanting to come with, along with the quip about knowing one of the twi’leks. She sighed and said nothing for a moment, “Don’t let your feelings get in the way.”

Realizing she was stuck with him, she strode past him, placed a hand on the edge of the speeder and hopped into the passenger seat. She waited for a moment for him to get in, scowling beneath her helmet at this unexpected company she would have to put up with. Her thoughts were on Kath and just how much this stupid mercenary wanted to cut in on the reward.

As he asked about her war, her jaw tightened. She gazed forward and said nothing for a moment, drumming her gloved fingers on the side of the speeder, “Gotta work for my supper still,” She muttered without humor. She said nothing else on the topic, not the talkative type like he apparently was. She had physically bristled at the line of questioning, having seen her people’s spirit broken from the oppression of the Sith.

“I’m surprised your little gang hasn’t tried to take him out yet,” She was happy to change topics, glancing at the city passing them by as they made their way over to the last known location of Kath, “Had to call in a ‘hotshot Mando’ in the end.”

 

[Nefieslab]

Let his feelings get in the way? Well, it wasn't her fault that she didn't realise how amusing the idea was. He was a Sith, drawing power from his emotions, and he was undercover, which meant all of the emotions he was calling upon right now were actually fake in the first place. He couldn't help but be rather amused by the whole exchange but he didn't let it show, instead only letting making a single remark.

"I don't think that will be a problem."

Getting into the speeder on the driver's side, Eddard had to admit that he was hesitant about driving the damn thing. He had driven the thing here and that had been fine - simply because he was the only passenger. Eddard had a nasty habit of driving too faster and too wild for most people.

Seemed she was tight lipped about the war. Too bad but there would likely be other things to go through. Rolling his eyes, he started the speeder and set off.

If it had had wheels, they would have spun.

"We're mercenaries - we don't make a move unless someone else is footing the bills." he shot back as he narrowly avoiding oncoming traffic while overtaking a slower speeder, "As for hiring you? Well... apparently you're worth the credits."

Coming to a halt at a roadblock that was set up by Kath's Boys, Eddard got in line to pay the 'toll' but when he pulled up he pulled out the blaster pistol, shooting one of the two boys on station twice in the chest before holding the other at blaster point. He tilted his head to the side slightly as he held up the young gangster.

"Which way to Kath?"

The terrified young man gestured down the road at what looked to be a whorehouse. Eddard nodded once.

"Thank you."

And fired a shot directly into the man's throat.

"Want to go in through the front or shall we attempt to be subtle? You are, after all, the hotshot mando."

@Sreeya

 

[Sreeya]

She said nothing as he began to zoom through the streets. As they went along, she began to come to the conclusion that she should have driven. His driving skills had her convinced they’d be killed before they ever began the job. She sighed to herself, reminded again of why she preferred working alone. She nodded along with his comment about mercs not acting unless someone footed the bill, “At least you’re good at following orders then.”

She barely got the sentence out before he casually shot someone and began to question the other. She groaned internally and rested her helmeted forehead against her palm, shaking her head. She kept quiet, thankful that they had some intel from the altercation at least. Her gaze rested on what was clearly a skeezy whorehouse, and it didn’t pretend to be anything else. As they came to a pause before it, she quirked an eyebrow at his options.

“Subtle,” She muttered, tilting her head as she looked at him and eyed him up and down, “I’m sure we could find you a skimpy dress to throw on to blend in with the ladies,” Scoffing at the idea of someone suggesting subtlety to a Mando, she shook her head and strolled towards the building, drawing out her blasters. A quick glance told her that there weren’t any guards posted outside. She was impressed by the mercenary’s intel – it was obvious Kath hadn’t expected this location to ever be discovered.

She strode towards the door and kicked it open, a guard coming up to inquire what was happening before he was promptly shot in the face. Half-naked women shrieked and ran all around, the customers running out trying to pull their pants up. The Mandalorian sighed as she kept her guns drawn, making her way down a hall and kicking down doors to find her man.

“It’ll be too easy if we find him here,” She muttered as she kicked down another door. A vase flew threw the air at her, and she ducked. If Eddard stood behind her, he’d get a nice bonk to the face out of the blue. She looked up to see a prostitute holding up a blanket, having thrown the vase. She was screaming something at her, but she ignored it, continuing onto the next room. It was beginning to look more and more like he wasn’t here. Either the intel was a bust, or this was a very elaborate ambush…

@Nefieslab

 

[Nefieslab]

Indeed, Eddard could follow orders when it made sense to do so.

He was also enough of a Sith to outright ignore orders when they made no sense or he saw a chance to improve his own standing. He was, after all, a Sith and an ambitious one at that. He rolled his eyes a little bit again and made sure to top up the ammo on his blaster pistol as they approached the whorehouse.

"I'm sure I've got the legs for it." he quipped back bluntly before giving her a side glance and a ghost of a smirk, "At least one of us does."

Probably not a great idea to tease the Mando but he was here to find out information and getting some banter going might make her more amenable to that. And if not then it would amuse him.

Following in her wake, he would admit to himself that she was, indeed, rather efficient with her breaching and clearing. Eddard himself continued to push and herd the fleeing members of the club and the patrons as well. He turned back to her and did so just in time to duck to avoid a vase.

It did, however, shatter violently and shower him with... whatever it was made of.

"Hey! I'd appreciate it if I was not assaulted by vases or other pieces of miscellaneous furniture!"

Shaking his head, Eddard moved over to the staff-only area. If he was the one in charge of this place he would make sure he kept his business separate from his 'business'. He grabbed one of the patrons by the arm and dragged him to one of the staff only doors. Throwing the door open, he pushed the man forwards - and he was immediately hit by a blaster bolt. Thankfully, giving away the position of the gang member at the bottom of the stairs, giving Eddard the opportunity to gun him down before he could enter cover again.

"Mando!" He called out as he descended the steps cautiously, "Stop playing with the whores and let's get back to work."

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Eddard found himself in a spice lab.

"Lovely."

Getting himself into cover behind a support pillar, he cursed as some of the people working on the spice pulled out blaster pistols and started gunning for his cover. There were four of them and they were... they were naked.

Apparently it got hot making spice...?

Either way, Eddard would admit that it was distracting when a man charged out of cover with his weapon waving around... and his blaster firing to keep Eddard suppressed.

@Sreeya

 

[Sreeya]

She had said nothing in response to the quip about the legs, though it certainly caused a faint grin to grace her face. She wasn’t the type to warm up to anyone quickly, and this was crunch time after all. After the vase incident, she rolled her eyes at his complaints, the woman that threw the vase running off while screaming her head off. The Mando kept going through the doors, hearing blaster bolts ring out along with her accomplice calling out for her. She cursed under her breath and made her way over to him.

Leaping over the stairs, she found herself at the bottom in a crouch. She darted into what was clearly a spice lab, and she just realized the occupants and their state of attire were… She shook her head, aiming right for the junk of one of the men coming to attack. He howled in pain and dropped to the ground clutching between his legs. She paid him no heed, rolling over to take cover behind a computer terminal.

She quickly glanced over the terminal, not spotting anyone that looked like the profile description of Kath. She cursed under her breath and cooked a grenade, tossing it over towards the group of remaining naked people. There was a loud explosion and a bunch of screaming. She ignored it all, hopping over the terminal and making a beeline towards the man writhing on the ground holding onto his nether regions.

She dragged him off to a corner by his foot, stomping on his crotch as he shrieked in pain, “Where’s Kath Vyrd?” She hissed. The man whimpered and muttered incoherently, and she promptly shot at his hand that was trying to cover up the injured nether regions. He wailed in pain and sputtered pathetically, “Who??! We don’t know who that is! We just have our spice operation that’s been undercover..” The more the man rambled, the more convinced she became of him telling the truth.

Fury coursing through her, she lifted both blasters to point them at Eddard, “What the kriff are you playing at? Kath was never here. What’s this really about?” A double cross? Or had they both been badly duped into someone’s bigger game to take out a spice ring competition?

@Nefieslab

 

[Nefieslab]

Shooting naked people was not how Eddard thought this day would go but he was fine with that. If he ever woke up in the morning considering shooting naked people then he knew he would need to check himself into a mental institution rather quickly. With the last of them downed by her grenade, Eddard reloaded his rifle and checked around the drug lab.

No sign of the target.

This was beginning to get rather annoying but when one of the survivors declared that he had never heard of Kath Vyrd, alarm bells began to go off in Eddard's mind. His intel had said that Kath Vyrd was here and that his mission was to lead the bounty hunter here, kill the guy to promote stability in the region that the Sith could exploit and see if this bounty hunter was a target to watch within the mando rebellion.

This? This was not going according to plan.

His rifle snapped up to keep her in his sights as he scowled down the length of his rifle at her. Naturally she thought this was his fault and it looked likely considering he was the one with the bad intel.

"I'm as lost as you are here Mando."

A lie - he was beginning to get an idea as to what was going on here.

"I got the intel and I was assured the intel was good - if I was trying to double cross you, why the hells would I be right here with you?" he gritted his teeth before slowly lowering his rifle, "We need to leave. If this was a double cross and if I was planning it? This building would be rigged to blow and there'd be men outside ready to gun up down if we survive."

This... this stank of Sith.

Who else had been assigned to this planet? He knew another Sith had been assigned here but word on the grapevine was that she was on the outs with the higher ups for some reason or another - hence why he was assigned here but not assigned to her command. This screamed of a Sith power play to him but taking out a drug and whore operation...? Only certain types of criminals would survive that.

As if to prove his point, muted explosions began to ring up from up the stairs as the entrance to the building was collapsed and more began to be triggered. He grimaced and took up his blaster rifle, using it to shoot through the locking mechanism of a door at the back of the room.

"Move it Mando - I don't want to die here with you!"

@Sreeya

 

[Sreeya]

She kept her blasters leveled at him, not flinching at the rifle pointed back at her. The situation was horribly kriffed and it was compounded by the fact that the man on the floor was now whimpering and crying pathetically. She wasn’t the sympathetic type, but she wasn’t exactly in the habit of popping off random people’s junk for no reason. She growled in frustration before lowering her guns after he lowered his, “Go kriff yourself, I’m going my own way.”

With that, she began to walk backwards to make her way up the stairs. That was when the explosions began above, the entire foundations shaking and rumbling. She cursed under her breath, realizing that the way above was shut. She glanced back down and spotted Eddard blowing through the locks in the back of the lab and shoving his way out. With a sigh, she ran back across the lab. The man was whimpering on the ground and she promptly shot him in the head to put him out of his misery.

She didn’t give it a second thought as she followed in hot pursuit of the mercenary. She despised that she was still stuck with him, but there was no other way out. The door led to an underground path that would eventually lead them back outside. There was no doubt that there would be people waiting at the exit, especially if this were intended to be a trap all along.

The path led to what looked like a trap-door, and she forced her way through it. She could hear people above and began firing right away. Her intuitions were correct, as two bodies dropped as she quickly climbed out and rolled to the side. Bolts sprayed behind her as she took up position behind a speeder.

“Kriffing merc,” She muttered under her breath, “Dragging me down with him,” She leveled her blasters and fired again, dropping another man that had just emerged from his cover. They had two more men left, which they managed to make short work of. She finally rose from her cover, scowling in the direction of the men, “Someone wanted that lab gone and wanted the entire thing covered up.”

She walked over to one of the dead men, crouching down to search him, “This just got personal. Where did you get the intel?” She looked at Eddard, rage building up as she wanted to murder Kath now more than ever.

 

[Nefieslab]

Well if she wanted to go her own way then that was fine by him - Eddard didn't exactly give a damn if she lived or died right now. The only thing he would appreciate her doing was killing more of the enemy before she died off since that way she would be helping his own chances. Hell, she might even go down swinging and clip the karker who was responsible for this. If she did then he would toast to her memory with a glass of wine.

And then she decided his route wasn't the worst option.

Figured she would decide to work with him once he had been proven to have been right and she was proven to have been incredibly wrong. Rushing down the underground passageway, Eddard gritted his teeth at the sound of blaster fire and he knew that they had been surrounded and bombed - just as he would have done because of what he had learned in the Imperial academy. This whole thing stank even more of Imperial involvement.

Getting out of the tunnels with the mando, he let her kill off the thugs as he started quickly rummaging through their pockets, looking for any kind of information they might have on their orders.

"Someone wanted the both of us dead and us clearing the drug lab was just a happy accident." he countered with a frown as he pulled out a datapad and scowled, tossing it over to the mando, "The little shites... it's copy and pasted tactics from the Imperial tactical playbook. These karkers have gotten assistance from Imperial intelligence."

Which was the department he was working for - and it was the department that had a jealous little witch in charge.

Worse still?

She wanted to know where he got the intel from.

Well the truth would set him free right? Oh wait no, because that was a stupid idea. A half-truth though, was something that could easily be faked.

"We bought the intelligence from a member of the Imperial Intelligence service - they've been monitoring the planet, likely to do whatever it is that the Sith do when they invade a planet." he scowled and ran a hand through his hair, "Obviously they're working with Kath and they've decided that my merc band and you need to be removed. If I'm right? The Imperial Intelligence operative is a Sith who operates out of a building downtown that's kitted out to look like an insurance building... with security."

He wanted revenge now and it was showing.

His eyes were always an amber colour but they turned a little bit closer to a vile yellow for a moment before he regained control. Eyes up and rifle up with them, he jumped into the speeder and began to hot wire it... or, more accurately, he started to hot wire it before subtly using the Force to activate it while his body was between the mando and the controls so she couldn't see what he was doing.

"I want to be the one who kills her - you can get her kark-buddy Kath."

He wanted his revenge.

@Sreeya

 

[Sreeya]

She was quiet for a long moment as he spoke, taking in every word. She rifled through the personal belongings on the dead body, finding a datapad of information on it. She finally rose to stand, not turning to look at him just yet. She was paranoid and suspicious by nature, and she didn’t say anything as he rattled off his theories and suggestions on what to do next. Her jaw tightened beneath her helmet, fingers twitching slightly on the trigger of her blaster.

She slowly turned to look at Eddard, meeting his gaze. It was an awkward silence as she didn’t move, watching as he turned to hot-wire the speeder. After a moment, she finally spoke, “You are not a mercenary,” She declared flatly, “I don’t want to know what the kriff you really are or what you represent,” She raised the datapad, “But this has my name on it. And it’s not the name I gave your band, so I know this is beyond you. That’s the only reason I have to see this through. I’ll stay out of your way as long as you stay out of mine.”

Her voice was cold, suspicion clear in her voice. How did he know that much about Imperial tactics? At the end of the day, she needed the money for bringing in Kath and she had to put a stop to this mark she had on her now. She said nothing else on the subject as she strode towards speeder, scowling down at him, “And move over. I’m driving.”

There was no room for arguments, and she waited for him to move before hopping into the speeder. The engines revved and they took off, her heart racing from the revelations. For all she knew she was working with one of her greatest enemies, but this Kath problem eclipsed it for now. At the end of the day, the target was a Sith – and killing one would bring her great pleasure. If she got lucky, she could perhaps shoot the man next to her too and call it a day in the end. For now she needed his information, and she kept her hands off her weapons.

She remained silent throughout the ride, her gaze trained forward. She was shaken by seeing her name on that datapad, her birth name. It meant that this ran deeper than she originally realized, and it could mean that her clan was potentially in danger.

After a while, she pulled over a short distance away from the building, far enough to be discreet. She paused for a moment, gazing out towards the building, “Intel would have traveled back about the lab from the people that rigged the upper levels. We can’t barge in this time.”

@Nefieslab

 

[Nefieslab]

She was sharp, he would give her that.

It seemed that they were at the point where further deception was going to prove to be... disadvantageous, but he knew that revealing himself to be a Sith right now? Was probably a bad move. The Mandos (obviously) had no love for the Sith and the feeling was rapidly becoming mutual. He looked her in the eyes through her visor before straightening up slightly, his posture changing from the slightly slouched posture of the mercenary he had been pretending to be to his own. Eddard looked at her for a moment, weighing up his options, before nodding once.

"I'm not a mercenary."

He agreed with her assessment but didn't elaborate further. She didn't ask and he wasn't about to tell her considering he did not have his lightsabers with him. Rolling his eyes, he got into the back seat of the speeder as she demanded to be able to drive. She was probably right however so he let her as he checked over his weapons again.

Honestly, he likely didn't have to but he was so used to using Lightsabers that he thought it was better to be safe than to be sorry because to be sorry in this case was to be dead.

"They'll have begun a lock down." he agreed with a small frown as he looked at the building, "Any approach to the main entrance will be logged - security on the ground floor will be tight. Due to the emergency exit being via air-car, the roof will also be heavily guarded and monitored."

She already knew he was in the know so this part was just him giving them both the edge.

"If we can access via one of the middle floors we won't be immediately swarmed by security - if we can set up a distraction out the front all the better." he declared, looking at the speeder, "Do you have any grenades? We can set up the speeder as the distraction."

And if not then he would at least know if she had grenades or not.

@Sreeya

 

[Sreeya]

She didn’t react as he confirmed her suspicions about him not being a merc. Truth be told, she didn’t have time to dwell too much on it now that they were caught up in this web. She sized up the building, taking into account his input about how to best tackle it. As much as she despised what he potentially was, there was no denying that he was her quickest ticket to getting this problem solved.

She rolled her eyes as he asked if she had grenades. She didn’t offer a response, waiting for him to get out before she got to work in planting explosives in the speeder. Before she was done, she messed with the hotwiring that hooked up to the terminal within the speeder. She set it on autopilot and on the course of the entrance of the building. She quickly ran to the side of the building, “Get moving,” She called out at her ‘partner’.

The speeder jetted right towards the entrance of the building, multiple guards shooting at it to no avail. There was no stopping it as it barreled fully against the entrance and exploded in a spectacular display. It got everyone’s attention and took it away entirely from the sides of the building. She didn’t waste time, quickly making her way over and using her grappling line to hoist herself up to a ledge on the second floor.

She didn’t wait to see what the other man was doing, entirely focused on her own way up and ensuring she got to her target. There was a commotion outside as the guards spilled out to scope out the lower levels. She crashed in through a window, the hallway immediately inside empty.

Now that she was inside, she kept a close watch on the other man to ensure he didn’t try to pull anything against her. She waited for him to come in before jutting her chin forward, “After you,” She kept her tight grip on her blasters. It was best for him to go first since he knew so much about this place after all..

 

[Nefieslab]

Getting the sudden realisation that his mando 'ally' was likely going to try and kill him at some point today, he resolved to keep an eye on her even as they climbed out of the speeder and she started to rig the speeder to blow. With her doing that, Eddard checked the upper levels of the building and reached out with the Force.

His would-be rival was there alright - she was the only other person in the area with any kind of presence in the Force beyond simply being a living being.

He was already moving when she called out to him, keeping pace with her as they made their way on over to the building. While he didn't have a grappling line like she did, he waited for her to be on her way up before jumping, grabbing hold of parts of the wall that seemed to make for handy hand-holds. The jump had been slightly Force assisted so he didn't have far to climb before he was in the same room as her, having climbed in through the hole she had made.

Seeing that she wanted him to go first, his eyes narrowed ever so slightly as he acknowledged that this would turn his back to her, giving her a clear shot at him. In the end however, he merely nodded before moving forwards to take the lead. Reaching the lifts, he opened it with a press of the button, his blaster up to make sure no one was inside.

"Get in - it's on a floor below ground that can't be accessed by stairs."

Turning to the panel for floor selection, he selected all of the floors, one at a time, in a specific pattern. The lift shuddered slightly before it began to descend. He looked at the mando.

"They will be ready. There's cover on the right and left - chest high only on the left."

As the doors opened, Eddard flung himself forwards to the cover on the left as the doors opened to the Imperial Intelligence outfit here on the planet. Banks of computers and a few meeting rooms - nothing really all that special. At the back of the main office stood the two people they were here to see; Kath and the local Sith officer, Yanthan.

Between them and their targets however were another five of Kath's band, all laying down fire. Eddard took out two with shots from behind his cover before they switched their attention to his cover.

"Ned! I'm surprised you survived - you should have run away!"

Eddard gritted his teeth.

"So you could say I deserted? Happy to disappoint you Yanthan."

Leaning out from behind cover, he fired at Yanthan's face, not at all surprised to see one of her two lightsabers ignite to bat the blaster bolt aside, her other lightsaber at her waist still.

She was rather confident wasn't she?

@Sreeya

 

[Sreeya]

She looked at him suspiciously before getting into the elevator. She was on her guard at all times, not entirely convinced that he wouldn’t try to pull anything. She despised Sith, and she despised anyone that knew about their inner workings. For now, she kept her thoughts to herself, feeling the repulsorlift drop to the lower levels. As he explained the cover positions, she began to wonder just exactly how involved he was in the mess and how much more he knew that she didn’t.

She took the cover opposite of Eddard, crouching down to stay out of harm’s way. She barely had time to assess the room, but the quick glance revealed where her target was, along with the guards in the middle. She popped up when there was a pause in fire, her blasters leveled and firing back at the group. She downed one of the men, the other two quickly catching on and finding better cover. Their numbers were dwindling and they were changing up their tactics.

That was when she heard the snap-hiss of a saber, the tell-tale sound she had grown to hate. Her blood ran boiling hot as she had to keep herself from getting distracted. She rolled over to the side to come up behind a terminal. Moments later, there was an explosion that rocked where she had been just a second prior.

Meanwhile, Yanthan jumped right to action, leaping across the room to come towards where Ned was crouching. She didn’t hesitate before coiling the Force around his neck and rushing in with her blade. The Mandalorian paid no heed to this, using this opportunity jump up and take out another one of Kath’s men. Kath himself was proving to be a bit of a coward and making a beeline for a nearby window. From the looks of it, he had commed for a speeder to rise up to the same level for him to escape in.

“Did you tell the Mandalorian what you are?” Yanthan cackled as she went in for the attack, “Or does she think you two are best friends?”

 

[Nefieslab]

Oh this was going to be fun.

And by fun he meant that he already hated literally everything about what was about to happen but he also knew that he didn't really have much choice. Yanthan was coming for him and he had to make sure that he met her quickly or else she was going to become a real thorn in his side. She leapt at him and he used that moment to get closer to something he wanted, something he was going to need.

Rolling backwards, he used the Force to resist her Force choke as he came to a crouch beside one of the corpse he had made with his blaster. Firing two blaster bolts at her lower left leg from his blaster pistol, he forced her to block or else take a disabling duo of hits that would burn and blast through her clothing to affect her flesh.

The reason why he had moved however?

As he surged to his full height again, he did so armed with the vibrosword the man had been wearing at his waist, which allowed him to block her lightsaber. With the vibrosword in one hand and the blaster pistol in the other, he parried her lightsaber, pushing her blade upwards as he took a step backwards and fired a shot from his blaster pistol into her gut.

"Best friends? Have you met this woman?" he shot back before sliding his vibrosword down the length of his lightsaber, the metal not locked in place as a lightsaber blade would be, to cut at the hand holding the blade, "You talk too much Yanthan."

Though it seemed that he had been rather talkative so far too.

The final remaining member of Kath's entourage primed a grenade while he was in cover before rolling the grenade towards the mando along the ground while popping up to fire two shots at her chest.

@Sreeya

 

[Sreeya]

She didn’t hear the dialogue exchange, entirely too focused on the commotion ahead of her and trying to stop Kath from escaping. There was only one man left, but she couldn’t focus on him or Kath would get away. She knew there was a speeder hovering outside, and he was making a quick run for the window. She decided to risk it and darted towards him, leveling her gun to fire off two shots.

The shots landed right as a grenade went off near her. The explosion sent her careening back, though it put her out of range of the shots coming her way. Her ears were ringing, and she felt throbbing pain all over her body. She realized a chunk of the side of her helmet was missing, and she cursed. There was smoke in the room and her vision blurred, and she was disoriented as she looked for the attacker.

The shot to the gut had downed Yanthan just enough to allow Ned a window to launch a devastating blow. From her vantage point, the Mandalorian couldn’t see what happened to Kath and whether her shots worked. She weakly got to her feet, limping off to drop down behind a different cover. The man that had tossed the grenade peeked from his cover and she immediately took the opportunity, landing a shot square on his forehead.

After that, she slumped down to sit, gritting her teeth in pain as she assessed the injuries from the grenade. There was an odd silence in the room, and she took her helmet off, gazing ahead of herself, “Still alive, Weasel?”

 

[Nefieslab]

It seemed that his would-be rival had tried to push through the pain of a shot to the gut to push for a slash with her lightsaber. Unfortunately she seemed to underestimate just how much it hurt to be shot with a blaster and her concentration was immediately gone from anything but her efforts not to scream.

This meant Eddard was able to use his vibrosword to bat her blade to one side as he raised his pistol and shot her twice in the face, causing her head to all but explode with the two explosive shots that landed. With her dead, he collected both of her lightsabers, both extinguished, and clipped them to the sides of his belt.

He looked down at her with a scowl.

"Betraying the Empire for some small measure of control over a backwater planet... pathetic."

Hearing the Mando call out, presumably to him, he frowned ever so slightly before reaching under a desk for an emergency first aid kit. It had a kolto injector so he approached with his blaster in one hand and the medical kit in the other. He nodded to her as he tossed her the medical kit,

"You looked banged up." He said by way of explanation as he moved away to approach the window, "I'm Ned, by the way. Do I get to know your real name?"

He neglected to mention that Ned was actually just a nickname that was usually reserved for friends and not his actual name. Still wary of her, he kept his eyes on her and his blaster pistol still held in his hand.

Hopefully this wasn't going to end in a shoot out between the two of them.

@Sreeya

 

[Sreeya]

Her ears were ringing from the grenade blast, and she gave up on the helmet, taking it off so her dark complexion and features exposed. She wasn’t in the habit of revealing her face, but she was given no choice at this point. Her eyes were fierce, defiance burning in them at all times. She glanced up at him as he offered the medpack. She only eyed him suspiciously for a moment as she used it, applying salves to her superficial wounds. The rest of it would take more time to heal, but she wasn’t in the habit of laying down and resting.

She tossed the used up kit and rose to her feet slowly, looking down at her cracked and destroyed helmet with a sigh. She crafted most of her armor and the helmet had been one she had with her for many years now. Despite the shape it was in, she didn’t bother tossing it, carrying it under her arm as she finally stood to her full height.

She didn’t know what to make of him helping her, especially considering that he was likely a Sith affiliate of some sort. She didn’t assume he was a Sith himself, and if he was, he hid it very well. As he introduced himself, she simply met his gaze for a moment, her expression difficult to read and her eyes steely. She glanced over at the window behind him, “Kath got away. He’ll likely be off planet and out of our grasps.”

Without a helmet to distort her voice, he heard her truly for the first time. She was beginning to feel better from the medpack, scavenging around for weapons and ammo from the dead bodies. She approached the window, gazing out to see the fading lights of a speeder that jetted out over the horizon. She punched the side of the window in frustration, “Damn it!” She growled, keeping her gaze ahead before tilting her head to look at Ned, “You wouldn’t happen to have any further leads would you?” She was probably asking too much at this point, especially as he had completed his own vengeance. They weren’t friends, and she wanted to venture off alone, but she had absolutely no leads on Kath.