Not Very Routine

[Subject 73 Red]

[member="Kathryn Foster"]

Red sighed. Great, they were back to arguing. It seemed as if they were just going in circles. They always seemed to come back to this.

Then, suddenly, Red heard something in the distance. A small zipping noise. Red knew that sound, it was the sound of a far-off sniper shooting. Red then rushed for Kathryn. "Get down!" He yelled. He tackled her to the ground and pulled her down. The sniper shot zipped over where they were lying down and it hit a rock close by them.

"They've found us. We were distracted for too long, they figured out that they had lost contact with a squad, and they sent scouts out, They eventually found us. Major, your orders?" Red asked.

 

[Kathryn Foster]

She did not come far in the turn of her head before Red brought both her and Nya down onto the ground. With all the gear they had on, they hit the ground with a loud thump. Kathryn shot a quick glance up in the direction Red had his attention to, where the bolt migh have originated from.

''Stay in cover!'' she called to Nya, giving her a swift pressed glance before pulling thr carbine from her back and crawled up beside Red.

She grabbed the brim and adjusted the helmet a bit.

''Can you make that shot you made before twice!?'' she asked with a slightly stressed and exhausted chuckle.

''Somehow, I know you can so... You may fire at will, private!'' she continued and aimed down towards the trail from which they just had turned back from. She took a deep breath of concentration and got two precision shots away at an approaching scout that fell to the ground.

[member="Subject 73 Red"]

 

[Subject 73 Red]

[member="Kathryn Foster"]

Red nodded. "I'll try my best." Red pulled out his sniper rifle and aimed.

He checked the wind speed, the direction of the wind, and the distance of his target. Judging by those factors, Red was able to calculate how he needed to take this shot. Then, his target got up and started moving, trying to avoid getting shot. The sniper must have noticed Red aiming at him. Great, now his shot would be harder to land. Red took aim, and he fired. The bolt arced, and it took the sniper down in the head. The sniper fell to the ground.

"Target down." He reported.

 

[Kathryn Foster]

''Fantastic! Now, you see any more out there?'' she uttered as she put her carbine aside and brought up the electrobinoculars.

Her shot on the approaching pirate had made the rest disappear, most probably just ducked down behind cover. Red had thrown away yet another very impressive shot which had brought a sniper down.

''Red? Remind me to never-'' she begun as she carefully scanned the area in front of them with the binoculars.

A sudden stop in mid sentence, as she figured Red would not get the harmless innuendo. Maybe not another patrol together, atleast for a few weeks.

[member="Subject 73 Red"]

 

[Subject 73 Red]

[member="Kathryn Foster"]

Red looked around, scanning for hostiles. Then, suddenly, he heard a very quiet scuttling. It sounded like it was coming from all around them. Red couldn't see anything, but Red knew there was something all around them. Red heard a very small metallic clink. He knew that sound, it was the sound of weapons quietly touching each other.

They were surrounded.

"Major? We have a problem. We're surrounded." Red told her.

Then, suddenly, pirates popped out of the surrounding landscape all around them, pointing blasters at them.

"Give up! We have you surrounded!" One of them yelled.

Red turned to Kathryn. "Ma'am, your orders?" Red asked her. Red had multiple plans, if she decided to surrender, he also had a plan for that too.

Red used his helmet. He scanned 11 enemies, with the other eleven back at their makeshift outpost. All of them knew that Red and Kathryn were there. The other eleven back at their base seemed to be on standby, just in case. This might be an interesting fight, if Kathryn choose to fight.

 

[Kathryn Foster]

A shot at their cover made her drop the binoculars and duck back down. Staying close to the boulder that protected them for the time being.

''Damn it...'' she hissed frustrated under her breath, as she saw pirate after pirate appear around their cover. Surrounded by slugthrower and blaster muzzles they had very few alternatives, if any. She grabbed the comlink from the gear vest but it just gave away a static sound, somehow it must have been broken during the fight.

''Let's play along, Red...'' she said with a exhaused sigh. ''We don't wanna end up dead out here. If the right moment comes, you'll take it. Understood?'' she continued and looked at him seriously, her face all dusty from the earlier brawl. Nya were sitting beside Kathryn and made no move to surrender back to the pirates, she could have turned on them but she did not.

Subject 73 Red

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Kathryn Foster

Red looked to her when she said to play along. Red could definitely play along. "Yes ma'am." Red nodded. He looked back at the pirates. "We accept this and surrender!" He told them.

"Drop your weapons!" One of them said.

Red sighed. He started to take off his weapons, he dropped his blaster rifle, two pistols, a sniper, multiple grenades, two flashbangs, a smoke grenade, and five knives. What he didn't take off were the knives built into both of his wrist gauntlets, which were currently hidden in his gauntlets, and could be released on command, but he didn't tell anyone about them, not yet.

He also pressed a button on his gauntlet. It sent a distress signal to HQ. At HQ, a battle droid at a terminal noticed the signal.

"Sir! There's a distress signal coming from one of our patrols in a nearby sector!" The battle droid said to a nearby tactical droid.

"Hmm, interesting. Send reinforcements to check out what is going on." The tactical droid replied.

"Roger, roger." The battle droid said. The battle droid deployed and sent out a squad of battle droids on speeders, with two commando droids on a landspeeder. They sped off towards Red and Kathryn

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Kathryn Foster

Red raised his hands in the air. "See? All good." He told the pirates.

He looked at Kathryn. "Your turn to remove your weapons, Major." He told her.

 

[Kathryn Foster]

With a stern look at the pirate closest to them, Kathryn started with hanging off the carbine from her neck and pushed it away to the side, dropping it on the dusty ground beside her.

''Just... please, don't hit me with those things of yours...'' she hissed under her breath, while also releasing her blaster from its holster on her thigh. She took it up slowly and clearly visible for the pirates, luring them into the trap she supposed Red already had came up with.

Subject 73 Red

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Kathryn Foster

"Not planning on it..." Red told her quietly out of the corner of his mouth. It was so quiet, that the major could barely hear it, but it was necessary so that the pirates didn't hear him.

"Come with us!" One of the pirates said. Red walked towards them with his hands on his head. He was playing along, for now. But soon he would spring his trap. But first he wanted to get into their camp.

 

[Kathryn Foster]

The blaster pistol was suddenly taken away from her by a pirate coming up from her behind. Even though she guessed Red had a plan for them and could take the right moment catching them off guard, she had a bad feeling about their current situation now when they were completely disarmed. The memories from Red's earlier bloody show were gone, and thus she did not think of the insidious hidden knives that he had in his gauntlets.

The pirate violently pushed her in the back and shoved her forward after Red while the rest of the pirates walked beside them and towards their camp.

Subject 73 Red

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Kathryn Foster

Red followed after the pirates. They lead Kathryn and Red down towards their camp. The pirates surrounded them on all sides, to stop them from escaping. They were lead down into their camp. Red looked around. He took note of everything that he noticed in the base. A lot of weapons, a couple of ships and speeders, some crates of stuff, a couple of makeshift buildings and tents, and some fuel containers. Red eyed the fuel containers out of the corner of his eye, without looking at them directly. They could be useful, very useful. The pirates contained to lead the two towards which appeared to be the main building/tent. It appeared to be their command center. Red decided to wait to spring his escape plan, for now. He still needed to learn more.

 

[Kathryn Foster]

Kathryn threw a glance back at Nya, the young female pirate sniper that had tried to take their lives earlier, but were captured and seemingly had decided to defect. As showed, Red did not believe a thing of it but now they would realy know if the girl were trustworthy. Nya looked as scared as before, probably of the pirates reaction and revenge of her desertion. No, she were or at least could be one of them. Kathy felt it. If they made it out alive, she would have to remember to ask Red about how he felt around the matters of trust.

Her attention was again drawn forward when a tall and bearded human appeared out of the main tent. The man had a ragged appearence. Muscular and clad in a wide scaley animal hide, with jewelery around his neck most probably looted from a dead nobleman in another system. From behind her, one of the pirates stepped forward and roughly unbuckled her helmet and tore it off her head. Kathryn took a few deep breaths to contain herself from straight out turning and punching the guy in the face. No need to make the situation worse.

''Ah! Visitors? Human warriors from the grand Confederacy, as it seems...?'' the bearded man stated, giving the impression that he was some kind of leader.

''It won't take long before we're missed and whole platoons start lookin' for us...'' she stated firmly but collected after a short moment of pause between them. The pirate leader just gave Kathy a broad foul smile and stepped up to her, pulling out a vibroblade from his belt that he held up to her face and switched on.

''Well, dear... before that, we're already in hyperspace to a place where your obstinate manners would soon be of no use... And I'm sure your friend here could be tempted by all the treasures and credits that we plunder from snazzy dainty women like yourself....'' he said threatening, nodding over to Red then drawing a finger along her braid before grabbing it and with a swift slice cut it off.

Subject 73 Red

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Kathryn Foster

Red noticed the Major's look back at the girl. Interesting, the Major seemed to be worried about the girl. She tried to kill them, and yet Major Foster was worried about her? Red didn't understand it, but then again, he didn't understand most "normal" people. They were very complex, and each and every single one of them was different than the other. Red didn't entirely trust the girl, but Kathryn did, and if she ordered Red to bring her along with them, Red would comply. Besides, he would probably do it without being told to.

Red brought his attention back forward. Red saw the man that stepped out of the main tent. He looked... exactly like how Red imagined a pirate boss to look like. The man had a rugged look, but with some fairly pricey stuff on his person. The man had a beard. He was tall, like Red. A pirate behind Kathryn tore her helmet off her head. Red wanted to act now, but not yet, now was not the time. He noticed Kathryn's expression, she was holding back, it got to her as much as it got to Red. No one treated Red's superiors that way.

The man spoke. Kathryn replied that they would be noticed missing and that soon people would start searching for them. The man then stated that they would have already left the planet before that, then the man said that perhaps Red would join them for the money. Laughable. Red wasn't bought over that easily. He wasn't corrupt, he had no use for money or power. Besides, why would he purposely steal from people? He had no reason to. "I have no use for money or power, therefore, I cannot be bought over with these promises." He stated. Then, the man held a vibroblade next to Kathryn's face and turned it on. Then, the man cut off a piece of her hair.

That did it. Absolutely no one would treat his superiors that way, not while Red was around. Red sprang into action. He ducked back and turned around to face the pirate behind him. The blades hidden in Red's gauntlets sprang out. Red planted both blades into the pirate's chest. Blood gushed out of the pirate's chest as he fell to the ground. The pirate hit the ground, and tried to scream in pain, but couldn't, as his lungs were filling with blood. Soon, he would die from asphyxiation. Red then dashed to the left, towards another pirate. He slid under the pirates legs, and sprang upwards quickly upwards. There was an audible rip and the sound of the blades severing flesh, muscle, nerves, spinal cord, and brain stem. The pirate fell to the ground, dying almost instantly from the gruesome wound. Blood went gushing everywhere, as Red had severed some veins and temples. The last look on the pirate's face was one of utmost fear.

The pirate next to the one Red just gutted tried to raise his rifle at Red to fire, but Red saw what he was trying to do. Red threw a punch into the pirate's face with his right hand, and used his left hand to grab the rifle away from the pirate. The pirate stumbled back, then Red rushed into him with his shoulder. The man fell to the ground, and Red had grabbed the pirate's rifle away from him. Red flipped the rifle, so that the barrel was facing the pirate, and fired three shots in rapid succession. The pirate collapsed, not moving. Red had fired three shots into the man's head, in exactly the same spot. It was even possible to see the fried insides of his head.

The other pirates were just coming out of their collective shock and were starting to prepare for battle. They aimed their blasters, or pulled out swords. Red had to act fast. Red rushed towards the leader. Red held out his arm towards a nearby pirate. Then, poison gas sprayed out of his gauntlet into the pirate's face. The pirate stumbled back and started choking. He dropped to his knees grabbing his throat. Red continued forward towards the leader. Red shot the pirate behind Kathryn with deadly accuracy.

Red approached the pirate leader. He threw a roundhouse kick to the pirate's face. He then fired a grappling hook out of his gauntlet, and ripped the vibroblade away from the man. The vibroblade went flying away. He kicked the pirate in the back of his knees, forcing him down to the ground. Red pressed the blaster to the man's head. "I recommend you stop before he dies!" He yelled to the pirates. "So, here's my counter-offer! We go, we leave, you allow us to bring the girl with us, and no one gets hurt. If you try anything, you're all dead. Do you accept?" Red asked. More pirate were coming out of the other tents and from their ships. There were a lot more than Red had guessed. They were outnumbered severely. No matter. Red didn't let what he thought show, his attitude never wavered.

 

[Kathryn Foster]

Again, everything happened so inhumanly fast that everyone observing Red or being unfortunate enough to be at the recieving side of his gauntlets knew he was not just any soldier or mercenary. Kathryn took the chance and followed Reds example by planting a straight fist into the closest pirate at her right side, he stumbled and dropped his blaster carbine to the ground. She were quick down to grab it, checked the safe and held their back while Red made short work of the remaining pirates in their hostage party. An alert blue gaze looked around for more hostiles, while she freed a hand to shove Nya in between Red and herself. All three of them would go, all three or none of them.

With the carbine raised in ready position, she stood almost back-to-back with Red now. Waiting for the few pirates that was left now, to either let them go or face their fate through Red's gauntlets. Horrible weapon, those things was.

Subject 73 Red

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Kathryn Foster

Red watched the pirates around them. They were nervous. Obviously, as how Red had shredded a couple of them. Kathryn managed to escape from her captors, and stole a carbine. She then shoved the girl between Red and her. That was fine with Red. She was silently ordering him to bring the girl, and Red had no qualms about that, and Red couldn't deny an order.

More pirates came out of the tents and ships. A lot of them were armed. This... was not going to be easy. Besides, they were pirates, what did they care if their leader died? It would just mean one of them got to be the leader, and more money for them.

Then, they pulled out their weapons. "How about now?" One of the pirates asked. Well, this was a conundrum. There were even more weapon toting pirates than earlier. Despite all of Red's skills, even he would have trouble with this situation, and he might not even win it.

"Got any bright ideas? I called for reinforcements earlier, but I don't know when they're going to arrive." Red told Kathryn.

 

[Kathryn Foster]

Chit!

They went straight out of the ashes into the fire again. The pirate camp was more populated than they had counted on. If they by some miracle made it out of here, this big of a pirate camp could not be allowed to remain this close to Golbah City.

"Got any bright ideas? I called for reinforcements earlier, but I don't know when they're going to arrive."

That was not a sentence she wanted to hear right now. It sent a chill down her spine, hearing even Red shed a doubt in his voice and seeming to be out of ideas. Kathryn looked around at the pirates while having the carbine aimed at one in front of her, ready to fire even if knowing it would probably be one of the last shots she would make.

''Give us the girl! She's ours!'' one of the pirates uttered and stared at the three of them. ''Give us the girl... and we'll let you two go.''

They were given a proposition, essentially her life for their lives as they would probably kill or torture her for defecting. Kathryns mind raced through possible options, which were very few to say the least. At the same time, she threw a glance backwards to Red. Judging by his earlier demeanor, she figured the choice was all that simple to him. Even if she outranked him, and they were on a way to reconcile, she felt that the possibility of him doing something rash was too great to let her attention off him. The greasy pirate smirked at them, awaiting a response. Of course, the proposition was a dirty lie.

Suddenly, Kathryn let go of the handguard of the carbine and pulled a thermal detonator from a pouch on her vest. Arming it, she held it up for the pirates to see.

''One sudden move or another lie from you and we're all saying good bye! Now, put down your weapons and then all the three of us are leaving... It's your choice to live or die.'' she stated and kept a keen eye on their reactions to the turned tide.

Subject 73 Red

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Kathryn Foster

Red watched as Kathryn pulled out a thermal detonator. It was a bold move, but it seemed to be really effective against the pirates. They seemed to falter, hesitating on what to do next. Red hoped that his armor could handle the blast from the thermal detonator. It probably could, but he didn't know if it could or not. He thought about the range of the detonator; he didn't think that it would be enough to even reach the pirates. Still, it made the pirates hesitate, rethinking what they were going to do.

Then, Red's wrist communicator on his gauntlet pinged. He looked down at it. The reinforcements were here. Far off, the sounds of speeders could be heard getting closer. He smiled. They were here. Then, blaster fire started erupting all around as the rescue team and the pirates open fire on each other. "Get down!" He yelled. He dragged Major Foster and the girl down to the ground. Above them, blaster fire flew overhead, right where they had been standing. They almost died, almost. Red got back up. "Come on! We got to go!" He said, helping them back up. A landspeeder and multiple speeder bikes flew through the camp, opening fire. Some of the reinforcements were droids, while the others were humans and other assorted humanoids. Red lead Kathryn and the girl to the landspeeder. A pirate hiding behind a tent decided to fire on them. Red got in the way of the blaster fire and the two women. He got hit in the shoulder by the blaster fire. He grunted and turned and shot the pirate. It wasn't that bad, he could keep on going. He lead them to the land speeder, and helped the girl in. He climbed in himself and lay down, firing at the pirates. They flew away from the camp, heading away from the camp.

"After them!" The pirate leader said. The pirates scrambled to their ships and speeders. The pirate speeders and ships flew after them, following them.

"Everyone alright?" Red asked Kathryn and the girl. He held his own shoulder. It wasn't that bad, just a minor injury.

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Kathryn Foster

Red watched as Kathryn pulled out a thermal detonator. It was a bold move, but it seemed to be really effective against the pirates. They seemed to falter, hesitating on what to do next. Red hoped that his armor could handle the blast from the thermal detonator. It probably could, but he didn't know if it could or not. He thought about the range of the detonator; he didn't think that it would be enough to even reach the pirates. Still, it made the pirates hesitate, rethinking what they were going to do.

Then, Red's wrist communicator on his gauntlet pinged. He looked down at it. The reinforcements were here. Far off, the sounds of speeders could be heard getting closer. He smiled. They were here. Then, blaster fire started erupting all around as the rescue team and the pirates open fire on each other. "Get down!" He yelled. He dragged Major Foster and the girl down to the ground. Above them, blaster fire flew overhead, right where they had been standing. They almost died, almost. Red got back up. "Come on! We got to go!" He said, helping them back up. A landspeeder and multiple speeder bikes flew through the camp, opening fire. Some of the reinforcements were droids, while the others were humans and other assorted humanoids. Red lead Kathryn and the girl to the landspeeder. A pirate hiding behind a tent decided to fire on them. Red got in the way of the blaster fire and the two women. He got hit in the shoulder by the blaster fire. He grunted and turned and shot the pirate. It wasn't that bad, he could keep on going. He lead them to the land speeder, and helped the girl in. He climbed in himself and lay down, firing at the pirates. They flew away from the camp, heading away from the camp.

"After them!" The pirate leader said. The pirates scrambled to their ships and speeders. The pirate speeders and ships flew after them, following them.

"Everyone alright?" Red asked Kathryn and the girl. He held his own shoulder. It wasn't that bad, just a minor injury.

 

[Kathryn Foster]

Seconds felt like minutes. Minutes felt like hours, and hours was an eternity when she stood there with the detonator elevated towards the yellow sky of Geonosis. She could feel the heart beating underneath the armor, every beat of it, and a lump in her throat. Her alert blue eyes watched the pirates that remained in a state of hesitation. Without a leader, even the most loosely assembled pirate pack would falter some. They looked at eachother and lowered their guns ever so slightly. It could have been a bold and rash move, but she needed to save her friends even if the cost would be high.

A ping. A ping sound coming from Red and the next thing they heard was speereds approaching fast. Kathryn recognized the sound of them. When looking to the right, they could spot two groups of battle droids on STAPs heading their way and closing in fast, faster than the pirates could handle and regroup themselves. Sentient Confederacy troops were also among the quick reaction force.

In a moment of the pirates shock, Kathryn threw the thermal detonator to the left and over the edge of the ravine. The next thing she knew she and Nya were knocked to the ground, the grenade detonated far below them and produced an echo through the ravine that shook they laid on. If they looked to the sides, pirates one by one were fried by the red Confederacy blaster fire.

The site were secured rather quickly and they all boarded the airspeeder that Red guided them too. Without waiting to be fired upon, it took off along with halv a group of STAPs escorting them. Kathryn crashed against the metal wall of the airspeeder, finally a moment of pause to catch ones breath. Spots of grease and dirt decorated her face. With a heavy breathing trying to wind down, she reached for the buckle of the helmet and carefree slid it off into her knee. The former pirate girl, Nya, sat beside her and did the same in trying to wind down. She looked to have many thoughts on her mind and Kathryn offered her a comforting smile.

''You're safe now... Everything's gonna be alright.'' she said in a low voice only directed to Nya.

The unflagging Red laid down and continued to cover their escape. That was when she saw the wound in the back of his shoulder. She hauled herself over to him to get a closer look.

''We're alright, but you got a wound in your shoulder... Stay still.'' she said in a manner that it definately wasn't a question. She then brought up a medpac to begin desinfecting the wound, but the armor was more in the way than it was useful right now.

''Could you- Could you just detach that shoulder pauldron for a second? It's difficult to get to the wound, otherwise.'' she asked. Now, she was not asking him to strip but rather hoped that his armor was built in that way that the top could be disassembled.

Subject 73 Red