Smuggling Not Snuggling

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

Alistair ran over to Kinsey.

A part of him felt a pang of fear, though whether that was because he still needed her or because he genuinely cared even he didn't really know. Alistair hadn't meant to blow up the speeder, in fact he'd planned on using the damn thing for their escape but...well that wasn't much of an option now. "You alright?"

The Smuggler called out before he even got close to Kinsey.

He clutched the blaster that he had taken from her tight, his eyes scanning the skies for the ship that had left earlier. The blast of the speeder hadn't been too powerful, though strong enough to nearly send Kinsey flying. He had no doubt that the ship would detect it and then come flying back. The idea was an unpleasant one given they lacked any real form of fight against it. Especially with that speeder gone.

"I didn't mean to-" He cut himself off as he reached her. "Sorry."

Alistair was in a way, as much as he could be.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

The girl wobbled to a stand and spun slowly, catching sight of Alistair. His mouth was moving but he sounded like he was talking underwater. Head shook again, other palm cuffing under her chin to wipe away the blood there.

"WHAT," she yelled without really meaning to yell.

Eyes traveled downwards, brushing dirt and blood off her scratched and ripped clothing. It would be....okay. Gaze switched to the burning remains of the speeder. She'd been lucky not to get impaled by any shrapnel. What the kark kind of fuel were they using anyway?

"COME ON. WE NEED TO GET TO COVER." Hand still pawed at her ear. The loud ringing was down to something a little less.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

Alistair half reeled back as Kinsey shouted at him.

It was very clear that she likely had some sort of hearing loss, and him slowly lowering his hand in a motion to try and silence her likely wouldn't be enough to actually get her to stop yelling. he frowned for a moment and then he half motioned to remove something from his bag. He stopped, shaking his head and the motioning to the left. "The rocks."

The words were said probably too quietly for her to actually hear, but the motion of his hand would hopefully be enough to actually direct her.

It wouldn't be long before they found a ship once again hanging over their heads, and the boulders to the far left of their position would provide them with enough cover. The Smugglers hope was that the ship landed, however briefly, so that they could investigate the ruins of the speeder.

The plan was terrible, but really the only one they had.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

Blues squinted and hand came away from her ear. The ringing stopped. Ali's voice was becoming clearer, albeit still a bit muted. Gaze panned from the burning wreckage of the speeder to where he pointed. Chin tipped down in a quick, terse nod.

She understood.

The girl quickly followed after the smuggler. Hand gripped her sonic blaster tightly. Her feet wobbled a bit as she regained her footing on the loose rock. She hadn't been severely injured in that blast but it had still knocked her off her feet. It was clear she was a bit rattled.

A worried glance was cast over her shoulder. Even her recovering eardrums could hear the roar of an approaching ship. And there was a speck rising above the treeline across the lake.

FETH.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

The rocks were a desperate play, about as desperate as they could get in fact.

Without hesitation The Smuggler dropped down, falling to his knee and practically pulling Kinsey with him as the Ship swooped over head and dashed across the tree tops. His teeth sunk into the bottom of his lip and he let out a muted curse, his eye following after the starship for just a brief moment. "They're going to circle around."

Alistair wasn't even sure if Kinsey would hear.

That didn't matter though, all that mattered was surviving. A brief moment passed, and then he looked at her.

"We need to get to The Mara!" He shouted this time. "It has weapons big enough to take that thing down."

It was the only way he could think of.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

"Hey," she grunted indignantly as she felt his grip on her sleeve, tugging her down to the pebbled earth. Warm air buffeted them as the ship shot overhead. Sandy-brown hair pushed against the angular lines of her face. Lips pressed into a thin line.

She could definitely hear Fenn.

"Wait," voice had to speak a bit louder over the thrum of the ship just behind their position. Scratched and rough palm shot out to Alistair's mouth, trying to shush him. "Wait. Shhh. It's too late," just as quickly as it has been there, her palm would retract. Blue-eyes with the color of starlight in them peeked over the edge of one of the big boulders they crouched behind.

"Our only shot is to wait. Or....take the ship."

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

Alistair glanced the same way Kinsey did. He liked the thought of course, taking the ship would have been preferable, but that also meant they would need it to land.

He was good at cardio, could run a pretty good mile in a few minutes but...he couldn't jump into the air high enough to catch a moving starship. Were he that agile he likely would have been on a galactic olympic team or something of the sort. "We'd need it to land."

The Smuggler pointed out to Kinsey.

It wasn't a completely impossible idea, but from the way that ship was posturing now it wasn't going to happen any time soon. The vessel hovered just above the treeline, likely scanning for any life-forms that were lurking within the woods. It wouldn't be long before they detected The Smuggler and the Explorer and once that happened...well it was best not to think about.

"Doubt that's gonna happen." Alistair frowned and checked his blaster. "So we make a break for it."

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

"What?" Incredulous face turned away from the hovering ship and settled on Fenn. Silently, the tip of her blaster pointed up at the craft. It was moving now, slowly. Probably scanning. Hair whipped along her neck as if being pulled and moved by invisible fingers. The girl rocked back on her heels, fingertips digging into the pebble and sand for balance.

"There's no way we can outrun a karking ship!"

Hand tightened in the handle of her blaster, finger hovering over the trigger.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

"Well not on open ground." At least, he was pretty sure of that.

Glancing at Kinsey he did some quick math in his head and decided he was right. There was still a chance though. He remembered most of the way back, and even though they were on the opposite side of the lake he figured that most of the territory was still the same.

Not like they would hit a random desert.

"We can use the trees to cover most of our path." He gestured to the forest. "They won't be able to see us the entire time and anything they shoot at us..."

Alistair trailed off. "Will hopefully hit the trees."

The entire idea was an utter crapshoot, but he didn't have a better idea. The Smuggler hated risking his life as much as the next guy, probably more so, but there was no way they would be able to get to that ship without at least making it to The Mara.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

Wide-blue eyes stared at the smuggler, then shifted over his shoulders at the woods. She knew the path. A few kilometers to his ship. If the sith trackers, that's what she assumed they were, hadn't found his ship already. The trees would provide some cover but...it was a true and utter crapshoot.

Son of a gundark...

A change in the whirring of the ship's engines over the lake caught her attention. Eyes tore away from Ali and back to peaking over the lip of the boulder they crouched behind.

"Look," she half whispered without really needing to.

The enemy ship was actually...landing.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

That wasn't too surprising to him.

Apparently these people were bounty hunters, or playing at being bounty hunters anyway. They wanted Kinsey alive and kicking. That meant they would eventually have to come out of their ship and actually face the music. Of course that didn't really change the situation any, he and Kinsey were still outnumbered, outgunned, and entirely outclassed by the weaponry that the Bounty Hunters had. His teeth sunk into his lip for a moment and he considered, glancing at Kinsey.

"Doesn't help much..." He said quietly.

Though maybe there was a way for them to exploit.

"Let's watch." He said quietly. "But low."

They had the high ground for now, meaning that it was easier for them to go undiscovered. He pulled himself a bit closer to the rocks, trying to make his profile as low as possible as he watched the ship touch down against the ground. He heard the loud whirr of a ramp, and then watched as twelve or so men stepped off the ship.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

A frown tugged on her lips as she looked back at the smuggler. Kinsey nodded once. Knees hit the ground and she lowered herself until her belly hugged against the pebbled beach. Elbows propped her slightly bedraggled form up, the tool-belt along her waist pinching against clothing and skin. Teeth bit lightly along the inside of her cheek as she saw the sheer....numbers they had.

She'd been expecting maybe two or three. Maybe five tops.

But over a dozen?

If they'd still had that grenade maybe they could've done something now. Thing was? Coulda, shoulda, woulda.

The explorer was pretty good at finding ways outta scraps. This time though? This time they'd need something close to a miracle.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

Kark.

Things really weren't looking good right now. They were outnumbered, had no grenades, and their armaments were about as shoddy as one could actually think of. A half empty blaster, some other toys and that was about it. With a frown Alistair slowly lowered himself behind the rocks, motioning for Kinsey to do the same. "We're karked."

The Smuggler said rather unceremoniously.

"I mean..." He looked at the girl. "Really."

What the hell had she done to deserve this? The Smuggler hadn't exactly thought Kinsey was capable of pissing off anyone that much. Sure he'd been annoyed with her this entire time, but it hadn't really been because of her. It was the circumstances of the situation rather than the girl herself. Apparently though she had pissed this Sith off royally, enough that he sent an entire death squad after her. The smuggler let out a sigh, rubbing his face as he tried to think of a solution.

His fingers caught in his hair...then he stopped. "The kinrath."

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

Miracles included kinrath, right?

She scooched back in the sand and slowly turned, pushing off the pebbles so her back was against their rock of cover. She sat low and looked toward the woods beyond. The spot where they'd found the creatures wasn't too far from their current position. The girl continued to chew on the inside of her cheek, thinking.

"What?" She whispered. "You think we can lure them here?"

They'd have to get to spidery creatures. Find them. Somehow lure them back without getting killed. It was a long shot. But the explorer knew she and Ali didn't have many other options. If those Hunters got their hands in her? They'd haul her rear back to Sage. And Lord Bane would....

She shivered at the thought.

There were worse things than death.

And she knew then and there, she wouldn't let those hunters get her alive. But hopefully she wouldn't have to let her thoughts go there. Not yet.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

A shrug rolled over his shoulders. "Or lure them there."

He jerked a finger in the direction of the bounty hunters.

The Smuggler knew that the plan wasn't the greatest, hell it was as dangerous as could be, but they didn't really have much of a choice in the matter. There was no way he and Kinsey could take on an entire army of bounty hunters, not with the equipment they had. Maybe if he had another few power packs for his blaster, maybe if they had some explosives, but that was a whole lot of maybes. This was the only thing they had going for them.

At least that was how he saw it. "It's our only play."

He told her with a frown.

"We can't fight those guys, not with this." He gestured towards their stuff. "The Kinrath though...those can swarm pretty bad, and while the idiots are busy fighting them we can try to steal their ship."

That meant abandoning The Mara, but right about now that sounded better than dying. Alistair hated the idea of losing his ship, but he hated the idea of dying even more.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

Our only play.

"Yeah, yeah I know." Partially gloved hands ran together then clasped and perched beneath her chin. "Okay. Let's do it." Kinsey had always been one prone to reckless abandonment. Well, more so before Sage. She took another quick peek beyond the lip of the rock before settling back down.

Most of the sith hunters were scouting out the wreckage. Two were wandering close to their position. She and Alistair would be pinned down soon enough. "Why don't you go ahead? Stir up the nest. I'll be right behind you."

She held up her blaster.

"They want me so they'll definitely follow me. And I have more power on my blaster than you do."

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

So she would be bait again.

Alistair didn't hate the plan, but it was also forgetting one thing. If she ran into the nest first the Kinrath would eat her first. He doubted that she would be able to make it all the way to the ship, not after the commotion they had caused. That meant the exit they had made once wouldn't work again.

Not now. "No, we need to draw the Kinrath over here."

Otherwise both of them would end up dead. The insects were smart, but they weren't smart enough to ignore their own scent glands. He frowned for a moment, peeking up above the rocks for just a few seconds to see if the Bounty hunters had moved at all.

"We need to grab one of the Kinrath." He told Kinsey. "Just one."

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

"Yeah because THAT sounds so easy," blues rolled. Just grab a Kinrath he said, like it was a walk in the park. Thing was? The girl knew they didn't have much choice. But they were running out of time. Crawling on all-fours, she began inching toward the tree-line.

"C'mon then," she whispered.

What else were they going to do?

They would either die not doing this or they'd die doing this. To be fair, she wouldn't die with the hunters. She knew Sage wanted her back alive. Fenn though...

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

It was better to do this then run head long into those bounty hunters...at least that was Alistair's thinking.

There was a good chance of dying either way, but he wanted to look on the bright side of things. Most of his life had been utter crap as of late, one downer after another hitting him about as quickly as he could actually stand. At the very least this would be exciting. Had been exciting.

Not that that was a good thing. "There."

He pointed towards a burrow in the distance.

"Another entrance I bet." The Smuggler glanced at Kinsey. "I'll go first this time."

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

"Fine by me," she whispered back. The girl still didn't trust him. Sure, he hadn't sold her out. Yet. But that temper of his. Chips on all the shoulders. Knees pressed into the earth as she waited for the smuggler to wiggle down in the entrance first. Blaster was in her hand. At least the ringing in her ears had finally stopped and so had the dull-throbbing.

Sure she was sore all over. But nothin' new in that.

A sharp snap resounded behind them. Some intrinsic instinct connected to the force made her rock back a few inches as a blue stun-bolt buried itself into the bark of a tree she'd just been leaning against.

Gorrammit.

"Go, go, go!" She yelled at Fenn's backside as she brought up her own blaster to fire back at the enclosing sith hunters. Looked like they'd be drawing them into the nest.