[SIZE=9pt]Hangar[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Allies:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] @Er’in Tenel, @Mirvak[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Enemies:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] @Edric Vanyan, @
Zesiro[/SIZE], @
Akabane, Sentinel droids, MagnaGuard droids
[SIZE=9pt]Engaging:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] MagnaGuard droid[/SIZE]
Even as the droid pressed its attack, Beltran lost none of his certainty. To his mind, the droid was already defeated. It was just a matter of time before it realized it too, and all he had to do was live long enough to see that eventuality realized. While the pain of his injuries continued to flow through his senses, the Lorrdian seemed to have lost none of his quickness. Blow after blow rained down on his position and each time it landed, he found himself no longer occupying the space he had when it had begun.
As he moved about the hangar, a new problem began to present itself: a burning in his chest that only served to grow worse each time he dodged another of the droid’s attacks. It reminded him of a simple fact, one that all the foreknowledge in the galaxy couldn’t save him from, that he was human and the droid wasn’t. Even if he continued to slip each shot, eventually the droid would wear him down. He would grow tired and eventually falter, while the droid would continue to move a year from now as quickly as it did this very second.
He knew he needed to end this battle soon.
But how do to that?
While his rifle still had a couple of shots left on its charge, and the power and range would likely give him what he needed to bring the droid down, the hard-pressed mercenary knew that he would never have enough time to unsling it and bring it to firing position before he found himself cooked by one of the ends of the droid’s electro-stave. His blade
might be able to cut through the red transparent covering that housed the droid’s processing unit, but to do that he would have to get close and risk taking another blow.
He had been lucky the last time, coming away with only a broken nose and a couple of broken teeth. Next time he could lose a lot more.
Backing off his opponent, Beltran moved backward and away from the ship. As he did so, he let loose another barrage of blaster fire. This time, he didn’t concentrate his fire on the droid’s center mass but instead he aimed alternately at each of the droid’s arms. It was a much tougher shot to make, especially given how quickly both parties were moving, but it would also be more difficult for the droid to deflect.
That, he hoped, would serve to slow the metallic warrior down long enough for Beltran to bring his burgeoning plan to fruition.
It was at this point, somewhere on his left, he heard Er’in scream. It was a short, cut-off thing that ended as quickly as it had begun. While it was not what one might expect from a death shout, Beltran knew from experience that many a life had ended with just such, and often far less, a call. Despite that, and the fact that he hadn’t time to even spare her situation a glance, the mercenary knew that his compatriot was still alive. This time it wasn’t any manner of mystical certainty that provided the Lorrdian this information.
It was the fact that he hadn’t yet been besieged by the second droid.
As he continued to fire, Beltran sheathed his vibro-blade and pulled from another pouch in his robes a sonic detonator. While he would have preferred using a thermal explosive for what the he was planning, the risk of damaging the nearby ship, or injuring the Sith woman with flying debris forced Beltran to make due. Plus, the thermal detonators he carried weren’t designed to stick to a surface while his sonic one’s were. Taking a brief break from firing, Beltran peeled away the adhesive strip on the one side of the device before arming it.
Though only free of his fire for a brief second, the droid wasted no time charging toward the Lorrdian.
As he faced down his metallic foe, Beltran exhaled slowly, forced all the breath from his lungs. With it, went any sense of self-doubt and when the droid was just about on him, Beltran threw the detonator. Without even waiting to see whether it hit the mark, the mercenary launching himself to the side.
A split second later, just as the sonic detonator landed atop the red covering on the droid’s torso and exploded, Beltran hit the ground.
Using the momentum of his impact, he rolled onto his back and brought up his blaster. As he lined up his shot, he saw that the kinetic force of the detonator had done exactly what he’d hoped it would: shattering the covering over its processor. Then with a single shot, Beltran sent a bolt of super-heated plasma directly into the droid’s torso, disintegrating its processing unit. The resulting secondary micro-explosion was enough to effective cut the droid in half, causing both its head, arms and torso to fall to the ground at the same time as its legs.
The next few seconds, Beltran simply lay there on the ground gasping for air that he hadn’t known he’d needed. His vision swam for several moments, the product of the exertion coupled with lack of oxygen, before it settled back into anything remotely steady. When he could, the mercenary forced himself to a sitting position looked to where Er’in stood fighting the other droid. It would be several more seconds before he would be able to stand and come to her aid.
@Er’in Tenel