This Place Gives Me Flashbacks (Rawnie)

[Doctor Azure]

Lorane was about to say something when he smelled smoke. He looked around bewilderedly, and saw a flickering bit of light over the spaceport. Not light, he realized... A fire. His gauntleted arm came up to his face, and he spoke into the mic.​

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"Access: Bluebird. Command: Takeoff."​

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He looked at Rawnie as he saw his ship safely fly away. The rest of the building caught fire.​

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"So... You mean that..."​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

"That," she answered, nodding the the flames, "kill a senator. An act that'll get me life in prison, if not the death penalty."

She swore under her breath, removing her helmet and pushing her pane of blonde hair back away from her face. This was too much.

"What was he thinking?" she asked herself, "This is too much, even for him. My mom's known him for years. The whole family. They're small time criminals, but this? This isn't their game. I think this move came from someone else. Someone with power..."

She set her helmet to the side, shaking her head.

"Well, whatever happened, it's not our business, but I don't think it's a good idea for us to come back for a while."

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

"Yeah, I think I can agree to tha- Oh, goddammit."​

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A walker the height of the building they'd just walked out of came out onto the street. Lorane sighed a bit tiredly and pulled his gauntlet back up to his mouth. The vehicle tromped towards them.​

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"Bluebird, fire on my position."​

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The agile strike ship twisted through the air, the targeting computer firing the chin-guns as it came closer to the two of them. The Chiss grabbed Rawnie by the collar and pulled her into an alley as the ship's computer recognized the real threat and began firing missiles at it. He looked at her and smiled apologetically.​

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"Ehhh... I have a feeling that we're not getting off Onderon for a couple of days."​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

Couple. Of. Days. The blonde groaned, shoving her helmet back onto her head. This was all a big joke. It had to be. She was going to kill something, she was so angry.

"This is my life. Nothing can just go smoothly. I get a job to capture a criminal, turns out he's a noble with enough connections to have me executed. I finish a job killing an escaped convict, and turns out the person who offered me the job was a criminal himself. And then I think I have one, finally. I turn in my bounty, get paid. Then what happens? This!"

She pulled her fathers rifle off her back and started to load it. Just in case.

"Just shoot me now, Lorane."

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lorane shrugged and grinned crookedly.​

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"I love it. Reminds me of home!"​

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He looked from Rawnie, to the Bluebird, to the walker that was flailing around and trying to shoot his ship, and then back to Rawnie.​

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"If you hold on tight, I can fly us back up to the Bluebird. No accounting for whatever air support they've got, though."​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

That grin. So easy going. So casual. Rawnie really envies him for that. She wished she could relax like him. At his offer to fly them back, she instantly strapped her rifle onto her back, made sure her helmet was completely secure, then closed in, pressing her body against his.

"Don't drop me," she warned, "or I will make sure I haunt you for the rest of your life."

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lorane hugged Rawnie close enough that she was standing on his feet, and he still wore his same grin as they began floating off the ground.​

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"Don't worry. I'll make sure you can haunt me in a much more corporeal fashion."​

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Pushing away from the ground, the doctor's first wayward thought was wow, you smell good... He began concentrating again as they dodged around the flailing walker.​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

Rawnie had climbed buildings, trees, pretty much anywhere she could get a good shot with her sniper rifle. But this? This was different. This wasn't normal heights. This had nothing to break her fall if she slipped. She was putting all her trust into someone else. Someone who at any moment could decide to just let go.
She clung tighter, burying her face into his chest just so she wouldn't have to see.

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lorane grimaced as he realized that he had to move his right hand to his face to use the command mic. With his free arm, he held Rawnie as tightly as he could.​

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"Bluebird, open the hatch."​

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The doctor laughed with relief as the hatch opened, and then cried out in pain as his head hit the edge of the door. He landed hard enough that he might have damaged his back if not for the armor he was wearing under his coat, but they were safe. Or, rather as safe as he could feel with his head suddenly feeling wet and sticky.​

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"Hey, Rawnie... I think my head's bleeding."​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

And just like that, they were in. Rawnie was unhurt, and quite grateful to be so. Her companion, on the other hand-

She let out a stream of curses, some on basic, some in mando'a, some in huttese, but they were all quite filthy. She was no good at handling the wounded. It was disastrous enough when she got hurt. Funny. She could hunt, kill, skin a creature without blinking. She could even shoot and stab her bounty without a second thought. But when it came to her own blood, or blood from a friend...

"Alright, alright," she breathed, "Let's look..."

Oh... This was not good. She needed cloth. Something to clean the wound. Like, now. What though? Her scarf! She almost forgot about it. It had been a gift from one of her uncles, a white scarf, tightly knitted with geometric patterns and symbols. She pulled it from around her neck and without thinking about how it would be ruined after, went to press it to his head to clean the blood.

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lorane moved his hands in front of his face as Rawnie put something over the cut on his head. He could see clearly. Good. And his eyes didn't feel bloodshot, although it'd be seriously hard to visually confirm that. His eyes turned to the blonde girl and he smiled a little bit tiredly.​

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"Well, I didn't crack my head open. Easy on you, huh?"​

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He reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out a roll of heavy gauze.​

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"Just wrap that 'round my head, and then we'll see about getting out of here."​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

She pulled her bloodied scarf away, feeling sick to her stomach. With trembling hands, she started to do as instructed, wrapping the gauze around his head.

"Are you sure you're alright? Let's get you laying down. I'll fly Bluebird."

How hard could it be?

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lorane smiled again and ruffled Rawnie's hair with his fingers.​

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"'Course I'm alright. Head wounds just bleed more than anything else. Don't worry about it too much."​

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He pushed himself up to his feet, using his hands and her shoulder to lean on. Then he felt so dizzy he almost immediately collapsed onto the couch, accidentally pulling Rawnie with him. He groaned.​

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"Please enact many forms of schadenfreude upon those idiots in the walker. Their pain and somewhat gratuitous exploding will feed happiness to my soul."​

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The Chiss absently squeezed the blonde Mando's hand as he pushed her up and off him. At least his ship was in good hands.​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

She was blushing like an idiot when he pulled her down on top of him. Any other time, she might have... No. She scrambled up again when he pushed her away. Yes. Away. That was better. He didn't-

She cleared her throat and nodded, eyes on his hand clasped over hers.

"I got this, Lor," she promised, "Just... relax."

She pulled her hand away and scurried up the steps into the cockpit. Ugh... that gravity shift. Would she ever get used to it? When she was settled in, she looked over the control panel. She'd watched him. Enough that she thought she at least had a general idea what to do.

"Pretty, pretty Bluebird," she whispered as she took the controls, "flap your wings for me."

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lorane tiredly settled onto the couch, grabbing what seemed like a bottle of something that was the bastard child of a cold coffee and chocolate milk out of the fridge as he tried not to pass out. Like any doctor, he knew not to fall asleep while possibly concussed. He looked around at the inside of Bluebird as he took a sip of his drink and sighed.​

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"Birdy, flap your wings for Rawnie, yeah? She'll be good to you."​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

Alright. This was how you controlled the pitch, and this was... Yeah. Good. She got it. It was close to moms ship, actually, in the way it moved. Of course, there was still the weapons systems that had her confused. That was different. Doc really knew how to give his bluebird one hell of a beak.

"A'right," she whispered to herself, "Just like flying Zax... except bluebird won't randomly fall out of the sky."

She whizzed past a shot from the walker, then another. The bird really flew. It made her wonder why she'd never gone up in one of these. They were brilliant! Another shot. She flew past, flying skywards, then back around to go past the walker. Alright. Time to try the weapons while she had it on target. And try not to blow up any buildings, yeah? Wouldn't be good to be on the run now. Just take it out and-

She smiled as three blasts came from the ship. One hit, two hit, and...

"Three."

Maybe they would be able to get out of here after all.

"Lorane," she called hitting the ships comms, "I got it. Don't much care to see what it wants though. We gatta get off this rock. I'm taking her up now."

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lorane smiled as he heard Rawnie's voice as the intercom, and took another sip.​

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"Great, now just get us out of here before... Ugh..."​

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The ship shook from a light blast to somewhere that the Chiss couldn't figure out. He fell off the couch and groaned again.​

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"On second thought, find somewhere that other ships can't get at us, and land."​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

Oh, this was just her fething luck. Her mother wouldn't shut up about 'Lady luck'. Rawnie was starting to wonder if there wasn't something to this deity of hers. Maybe if she started praying to her like mom did, she might, for once, finish a job without complications.
Ha.

Still, she brought the ship high up, way into the clouds. It was easy to disappear in thick cloud cover. She knew where she was heading too. Out of the citys for sure. Somewhere isolated. Somewhere she could land, then go back and help her partner as best as her shaking hands would let her. As she flew, she became aware of the smell of... blood. Not her blood. She knew what her blood smelled like.

Right. the scarf. Ruined now, but she wasn't upset about it. She still had it wrapped around her neck, the wet bloodied edge sticking uncomfortably to her chestplate.

Don't think. Just fly.

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lorane kept on groaning as he picked himself off the floor, and prepared himself for a wave of dizziness that... didn't come? He grinned and walked up towards the cockpit. The gravity shift threw him for a loop for a couple of seconds, but then he managed his way over to lean on the back of the pilot's seat. He lightly ruffled Rawnie's hair again as he watched the scopes for a good place to land.​

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"Heh, you're pretty good. Now... somewhere to land..."​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

"There."

Up ahead. A mountain range. They could hide in among the jagged rocks for a while. She took it down, carefully avoiding any chance of hitting the side of a mountain. It was clear up here, safe. She put it down on the side of a snowy ledge, shut off the engines, then turned right around to face her companion.

"Are you alright?" she asked hurriedly, pulling her bloodied scarf off, "You bled a lot..."

[member="Doctor Azure"]