Smuggling Not Snuggling

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

Kark.

He hadn't really wanted to go running into the nest, especially not while they were being chased by Sith hunters. He wasn't entirely sure what was waiting for them. Kinrath weren't exactly the most intelligent creature, but when they worked together the damned things could take down a small army. The Courier let out a series of curses as he rushed forward, blaster bolts striking the ground near his feet as he ran as fast as he could into the hive.

The cybernetic eye in his skull spun slightly, spooling and shifting his vision. "Follow my path exactly!"

For once, he was thankful that damned Hutt had taken his eye.

If it wasn't for that event the Cybernetic in his skull wouldn't have allowed him to find the right path. The infrared vision that the eye gave him would let him steer away from any of the Kinrath nearby by, giving himself and Kinsey a way to head through the storm before it collapsed on them.

"Exactly!" He called out to her again. "Not an inch to the side."

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

The explorer was quick to scramble into the hive's hole. Another blue stun bolt clipped the side of the rock and for a second, she felt as if he skin would go numb. Luckily, it didn't. She fired off another round behind her, the warning light on her blaster going off.

A groan and slumped figure rewarded her vision before she plunged into a deeper darkness of the hive.

"I'm almost outta power," she warned to the smuggler and turned her full attention on his back. Unlike him, she didn't have a cybernetic and the deeper she went, the darker it got. Kark it. Knew she shoulda packed those infrared goggles.

Follow him exactly?

"I'm trying," blues squinted in the dark as she tried to keep up, one hand still gripping her blaster tightly. She couldn't exactly say slow down. They couldn't afford to.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

The Kinrath began to skitter around them.

At first it was hard to hear them, mostly the bugs enjoyed moving and living inside of tight cracks between walls. Yet as they ran deeper and moved faster through the small cave system the creatures became more and more obvious. There was the loud sound of legs striking rock, mandibles clacking together, and all of it turning into some kind of horrid symphony. Goosebumps began to roll over Alistair's skin, his fingers tightening slightly as he picked up the pace.

Up ahead there was a small raised cliff, the Smuggler letting out a cruse as he half hopped and grabbed onto the ledge. Without even a second of hesitation he pulled himself up, suffering a few scrapes along his skin as he shifted and turned around. "Here!"

He offered a hand to Kinsey to help her up the cliff side.

They had to move fast, for more than one reason now.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

Legs pumped wildly beneath her as she half stumbled in the near pitch black. Light brown hair whipped past her dirt and blood streaked face. She fired off a shot behind, aiming for one of the sith hunters that were gaining on them. Only, she didn't have to worry so much about them. It looked like most of the kinrath were swarming from where she and Fenn had just come from.

Quick bursts of red glow echoed through the dark and she could hear shouts and scream. Didn't mean she and Fenn were in the clear. They too, had gotten the kinrath's interest.

Hand slid the blaster in her holster as she made a wild jump, hand reaching up to grasp's the smuggler's outstretched fingers.

"Don't miss me!"

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

Alistair grabbed Kinsey, his eye tracing an odd line around her and highlighting her figure even in the dark. He felt oddly thankful towards the Hutt that had taken his original, though he knew that if it wasn't for that damned slug he probably wouldn't have been here in the first place. "Come on!"

The Smuggler shouted as he dragged Kinsey up on the platform.

"Those things ar-" He was suddenly cut off as a scream echoed throughout the entire cavern. It was clear that the Bounty Hunters had likely done exactly what he had Kinsey had wanted them to, and now the Kinrath were falling upon them like a wave. For some reason the idea made Alistair cringe. The idea had been his, true, but those things weren't exactly kind to anyone. His lips thinned and slowly he turned away, remembering that they themselves were still in the middle of all of this. "Come on."

He repeated before he scurried forward and up onto another ledge.

"There's a way out over here." The wind was rushing down onto them, a small crack in the caverns ceiling.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

A sharp sigh of relief left her mouth as she felt his strong grip around her hand and that sudden pull in her gut as he lifted her the rest of the way. Her boots hit solid rock of the ledge. Face grimaced in the dark as she heard the screams. And those other unpleasant sounds that she didn't want to imagine the reasons of. Cracks and crunches in the dark coupled with the skitterings of those creatures.

"Yeah," she huffed an agreement and snapped out of her momentary shock. She launched herself after him and began climbing along the edge. A shaft of light filtered from above, making the dark not so black as she climbed higher. She felt that same breeze ruffle against her messed-up hair and dirt-splotched skin.

They were close.

Her arms were starting to ache and shake but she knew without looking down the kinrath had gathered on the ledge they'd just left. Fenn would reach the crack in the roof first. "Go, go, go," she heaved, urging him up and through the small space first. The explorer tried to lean into the wall, trying to find a moment of rest for her shaking limbs before they shook out of control and she dropped.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

It was lucky that he was sort of a starving artist...smuggler, whatever.

Alistair managed to fit through the small crack within the stoney ceiling, pulling himself through and only suffering a minor scrape or two before he was once again outside in the sunlight. Stormclouds were forming above, though they hadn't yet covered the entire area. He let out a loud gasping breath as he planted his feet on the ground, fingers digging at the earth for just a moment before he turned around and reached out a hand towards where Kinsey was.

"Come on!" He told her.

By now the Kinrath were skittering so loudly that he could hear them from outside. Their odd manidbles clacking together and the raucous sound of their movement seemed to be bouncing off the cave walls faster and faster. Another scream echoed behind the girl, a cringe ran through him.

They needed to get out of here.

Now.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

For the second time in a short-span, she reached her hand up to the smuggler, trusting that he wouldn't drop her. She was too exhausted to think of doing something else. No time to over-analyze the situation that didn't need to be analyzed.

The sudden blast of moving air hit her skin as she was pulled and half scrambled free from the tight opening between the rock. A rumble rolled above them through the clouds that were beginning to boil. There was a crack in the bushes behind them from the tell-tale signs of a kinrath. Maybe more.

"Their ship. C'mon!" She pointed in the direction that circled back to the beach and took off, booted-feet pounding against the forest floor. Just as the sky opened up. It was a drip and drop. It was a torrential downpour.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

Alistair ran as fast as he could, glancing down towards the blaster in his hand. He doubted that the Bounty hunters had been foolish enough to leave their ship completely undefended, particularly on a planet like this. The Smuggler checked the weapon once, then twice just to make sure. The rain was making his grip slippery, and for some reason he began to doubt himself.

Something felt off.

He wasn't sure if it was Kinsey, the Kinrath, or something else entirely, but Alistair felt as thought something was about to go wrong. The smuggler scowled to himself, letting out a curse as he and Kinsey entered the small forest that they had been in before. You're being superstitious.

Alistair chided himself, then fell into step alongside Kinsey.

"There." He grabbed Kinsey by the shoulder and pulled her back behind the tree-line. "There's one on the ramp."

Just beyond where he and Kinsey was in a tight clearing sat the ship, an armored man resting with a rifle on the vessels ramp.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

There was a short sense of whiplash as Fenn's grip tightened around her shoulder and stopped her from blundering into the clearing. Thanks to the deluge, it wasn't like they were heard. She took a second to catch her breath, wet hair sticking around the contours of her face and angular jaw.

Shoulder shrugged off Ali's grip.

Hand wiped the water away from her eyes only to have more stream across her vision. She squinted at the ship. "It's one guy." She straightened and smacked her wrist shield. With a low whir, the blue energy circle snapped to life. Other hand unnolstered her blaster.

"Kinrath're still behind us. We gotta move."

The girl went to step forward, shield up and finger squeezing down on the trigger of a dying power-pack blaster.

"HEY jerk-face!" She yelled.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

The shot went wide, and Alistair let out a curse.

Shooting a blaster in the rain at a distant target was difficult on a good day, but both he and Kinsey weren't exactly at their best. They were tired, hungry, worn down, and entirely out of it. The Smuggler let out a string of curses as he stood and rushed up behind the girl.

The next few minutes were an absolute blur.

Alistair wasn't a hero, far form it. He was self centered, narcissistic, and absolutely egotistical. He had a hard time caring about anyone but himself, and the wounds he'd received throughout his life had made him cynical far beyond his years. Still, he wanted to survive this little encounter, he wanted to get off this world, pay off his debt to the Coratanni Cartel, and then finally be free again. That was what he wanted, and he would do anything to get it.

So he charged.

He ran directly towards the distracted Bounty Hunter and tackled him.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

She cursed as her shot went wide. The rain pinged lightly against her energy wrist shield. Took her a second to find her footing in the slick ground as Ali charged past.

Color her impressed.

The man could charge when he wasn't grumbling or complaining or running the other way. Kinsey was right behind him because she had to get up the ramp of the ship and see if anymore were inside. She went to jump past the tackle pile, full-grown men slithering on the floor. Instinct made her edge just a bit to the left, causing a stun bolt to bury itself into the face of her shield instead of her leg. Her gizmo popped and her arm dropped from the impact. She felt a sharp tug on her ankle from the Hunter Fenn was wrestling as he went to snag his target.

Her attention was more so on the second hunter, firing off a red-bolt toward the man's shoulder as he charges down from the belly of the ship.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

Alistair ignored everything else.

He was tired, hungry, and worn out as much as he could be. This entire adventure had been shit from beginning, and truth be told he was sick of all of it. The Smuggler let out a loud roar as he dodged passed the bright bolt of red and just jumped for it. He didn't care what happened anymore, he didn't care if he got hurt. He was already at the very edge of his nerves, and now it was time to just rip them apart.

A heartbeat passed, and then he crashed into the Bounty hunter.

There was a loud thud, and Alistair let out an involuntary 'oof', but there was no stopping his. Fingers furled into fists, and he slammed them down into the man's face. Again and again he struck, not giving the man even a second to hit back.

He was like an animal, no longer caring about anything but getting out.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

The grip on her ankle loosened almost immediately as the man's face was punched in. The girl sprawled forward and landed on her knees, halfway up the ramp. Finger squeezed down on the trigger as a second shot buried into the other man's shin.

He was down.

Didn't seem like anymore were coming. Casting a glance behind her, she saw the Hunter Fenn was tackling. One of his hands was trying to block those punches. The other hand was reaching for his fallen blaster. Kinsey lunged for it before he could. Aiming at the top of the guy's head, she pulled the trigger. A blue stun bolt leaped out.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

Even after the man's body went limp Alistair didn't cease his beating.

Fists impacted over and over again, knuckled pressed against flesh, blood splattered across his face, and a defiant roar of rage echoed from his lungs. He could hear his heart thunder in his chest, his eyes were bloodshot, and everything felt like it was searing with pain.

Pure anger floated through him, frustration of the last few days finally expelled in one cruel flash of violence.

Then he stopped.

Almost as though a switch had been flipped Alistair pulled himself back. His entire body shook, his eyes had an odd sort of glaze to them, and everything around The Smuggler and Kinsey seemed to fall deathly quiet. The only sound that rose was the steady falling of rain drops just outside the ship.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

The explorer winced slightly as Alistair kept beating. She didn't even feel the other man's blood spatter across her rain-slicked face. It was the same look on the smuggler's face she'd seen before. When he'd been angry with her for not telling him about the bounty in her head. She was the first to move.

Without saying a word, both hands pushed against the stilled and bloody body of the unmoving Hunter. Her arm was still numb from taking that stun shot on the wrist shield but she stubbornly pushed and with one final heave she rolled the dead weight off the side of the ramp. He fell with an unceremonious thump on the rain soaked earth below.

Standing silently, she began to drag the one she shot down too.

"C'mon," she spoke quietly. A hint of healthy wariness in her tone. "We need to start her up and get out of here."

There might not be any survivors with the kinrath. But then again, there could be. Not to mention other hunters out there too. And what if...Sage Bane was on his way?

"Now," voice cracked with the tension she suddenly felt.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

Alistair slowly nodded, though he said nothing as he slowly drew himself back from the man on the ground.

Rage still boiled within him, but he was coming off of it. The Smuggler knew what he had done. There was no void in his memories, there was no excuse. Truth be told Alistair was not a man of violence, he was not a man that would kill at the drop of a hat. Sure he had no moral qualms about it, not when it was him or them, but this? This was beyond that. It had been outright brutality born of rage and anger. He frowned for a moment, glancing at the corpse and then turning back.

He placed his foot against the dead man and pushed him off the ramp. "Cockpit."

The Smuggler said to Kinsey.

"You grab the main gun." If the Hunters made it back in time to see that he and Kinsey were stealing their ship they would most likely act rather brashly. Better to have a counter for them already in place than rely on pure luck. "I'll get her started."

He sounded almost solemn as he hit the control button for the ramp and headed to the ships cockpit.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

The pilot in her was offended she didn't get to fly. But her lips clamped down a verbal argument. They didnt have time. Plus. He was kind of scary right now. So instead, she offered a quick nod. Ships were intrinsic to the starchaser, so she found the gun turret quite naturally.

Scrambling down, she strapped herself in and began flicking the controls.

Her form shivered slightly in the wet clothes. The hunters had kept it cold inside. Finding a headset, she wired it up and put it on. It crackled to life in her ear.

"Can you hear me? All set down here." Blues scanned the readouts then looked out the foggy and slicked up viewport. No life signs yet. Well. Sentient ones.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

Alistair plopped himself down in the pilots chair.

The one good thing about the galaxy was that at some point most people had decided that they would all use the same control systems for starships. It was a handy thing when you were a pilot, you really only needed to learn one thing and then you could fly literally thousands of different ships. "They didn't leave an access code."

He replied to Kinsey, flicking through several control switched.

"Engines are already warmed up." The vessel had only just landed after all. "Hang on."

His fingers flicked across the control panel and he grabbed the two sticks in front of him. For a moment nothing happened, and then the loud whine of ion engines could be heard. The thrusters jumped into being, and Alistair swooped up and to the left.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

"I'm hangin'," she muttered. Alone. She was finally alone in a way. The crash webbing was cinched around her shoulders. She could hear the steady stream of rain ping against the viewport even as the engines warmed up. "I think we're all clear."

Blues drifted down to the satchel at her side. The one she grabbed from the remains of the ship with the Alderaan insignia. Fingers slipped inside the satchel and she took a quick peak inside.

"No way," she breathed, forgetting the headset was still on.