D&R Thread (http://lucasforums.com/showthread.php?p=2351248#post2351248)
Mercenary Crew
Episode V
Bounty Hunters

Ten years have passed since the Republic
fell and the empire rose from its ashes. They
rule through fear of the fleets and the force
wielded by the dark lords of the Sith.

The empire fears only one thing; the return of
the Jedi. Although most believed them to be
dead some have survived the purge and have
gone into hiding.

Because of this a bounty has been placed on
the heads of every Jedi and force adept in the
Galaxy. This has tempted the crew of The
Scimitar who have begun the hunt for the
Once defenders of peace…
_____________________________________________

The Scimitar shot through hyperspace and into the space controlled by the Hutts and other Crime lords. Its crew of hunters had to drop off their recently acquired bounties and collect their well-deserved reward. After two weeks of hunting and several injuries to the crewmembers they had finally gotten all three Perpetrators.

The Captain, Alec Tanis, sat on a chair by a table on the cargo floor, he was just outside the large prisoner containment area where he could keep an eye on the Bounties. The Devronian prisoner tried to plead with him, the Tiss’shar attempted bribery and the Togorian threatened to do thing to Alec’s body he could not repeat. They were trouble but Alec knew better to just let them go, the bounty was for a notorious Crime lord and they would not be pleased if this bounty was not delivered. Going back on a deal with this crime lord was ho the three aliens got the bounty on their heads in the first place.

Alec had his feet up on the table and read Datapapds with a variety of Bounty sheets displayed on them. They needed to get back in the game as soon as they landed, in this occupation you snooze and another hunter gets the man, women or even child.

The Ship’s droid hovered over until it was just a few foot form Alec. “Undesignated bounty Alec Tannis, Prisoner 56784 is complaining again, may I kill him?"

“Zip, The Devronian is worth more alive.” Tannis replied not looking up from the sheet.

“I have not killed something in so long, I am not being used to my full potential.” The droid said in its mono toned way.

“Zip, I have enough problems.” Tannis stated. “Nasai is departing at the next port, so i need to get someone to fly this bucket, Go annoy Latch or Jyot.”

Arelyn K'zanthis pulled the tie tight in her hair and secured her long ponytail, then winced as she brought her arms down to her sides. The left side of her chest and her left shoulder ached in protest as she settled into a more comfortable position in her seat. She sat semi-curled up in her turret, watching the stars zoom past as the Scimitar traveled through hyperspace. The stars were a familiar sight, but the ship she was on was still all too new to her.

She was the newest crewmember on the bounty hunter ship Scimitar and she had already seen more than her fair share of action on her first mission, tracking down a number of bounties, then capturing them. The tracking bit she didn't really mind so much, as she was fairly good at it. The apprehending part got quite rough, however, especially with that Togorian. She absentmindedly traced the mottled line on her shoulder blade which was all that was left of a particularly nasty slash the large feline creature had given her. Luckily, Stitcher was quite a competent doctor and had it treated in no time. Unfortunately, there was little he could do for the brusing to her torso and arm, as they were short on bacta. She hoped the bounties they were to collect soon would fix that.

Sighing, she uncurled herself from her seat and headed for the compartment door, intent on heading for the galley to scrounge up some food. However, she had barely entered the hallway when she had to duck her head to avoid being brained by the ship's resident droid, Zip, who happened to be traveling at top speed at head level. "Oi!" Arelyn exclaimed. "Watch where you're going!"

The little droid came to a slow hover a few meters away from her. "Undesignated bounty Arelyn K'zanthis, I believe you should watch where you are going," Zip replied, managing to look smug despite not having detailed facial features. "I had the right of way."

"Like bloody hell you did," she swore at it. "We're on a ship, not a hoverlane, you bucket of bolts."

"So this is it then?" the captain asked, almost panicking. "Nar Shaddaa?"

"Good place to find a new job," Alindra D'Ayarra answered cheerfully. "And a good place for you to find a new pilot."

"I'm loosing the best pilot in the galaxy and you expect me to go grab some refugee out of the slums?" the captain complained. Aly muttered a string of Old Corellian curses.

"You're captain of a bulk freighter," she snapped. "Your ship practically flies itself. Your idiot gunners, the mechanic, and your hired muscle could fly it. Your protocol droid could fly it. Hell, I'd say even you are qualified to fly the damn thing and quite frankly, I don't hold a high view on your intelligence."

"But none of us are licensed to fly," the captain complained.

"And my patience is growing thin," Aly told him. "I don't care what you do. My contract with you is expired and there's no way in nine hells you're getting me to renew it."

With that, she stalked off, leaving the puzzled captain alone to wonder exactly how much she'd just insulted not just his ship, but himself and his crew as well.

As the ship rocked a little for the hundredth time, which caused the neatly arranged stock of medical supplies to become a mess, the Scimitar's medic, Ray Brink, sighed. I hope the captain uses the credits from the bounty to fix this ship or I'll seriously go insane from rearranging all my things every time the ship does this

As he rearranged his station and prayed that he didn't have to do it again in two minutes, he began to think about his life when his 'adventuring days', yes, he called patching up his fellow crew members and staying on the ship while the others did the field job an adventure. And as a side effect from staying too long on board, he had noticed his skin getting more pale every day. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of angry and frustrated footsteps from the hallway. Seems my duty as a therapist is about to begin he said to himself. Ray had become the crew's confession buddy for some reason, maybe it was because he was willing to listen to anybody, no matter what the topic the other person talked about.

"Watch where you're going!"

Lachlan 'Latch' Vax opened one eye sleepily, then the other. Light from the surveillance displays splashed across his vision and he shook his head a few times to clear it out, as he was sure he'd heard someone shout. He'd managed to doze off during his surveillance shift, but he wasn't exactly torn up about it. Stretching his arms over his head, he felt several joints shift and pop satisfyingly as he glanced over the screens. They displayed the holding cell where the Scimitar crew's bounties currently resided. Keeping watch over them was something Alec had requested, but Latch hardly thought it necessary, as he had personally bound them and placed them in the cell. As he expected, all three aliens were still there, with very little chance of escape.

"We're on a ship, not a hoverlane, you bucket of bolts."

Latch twisted his head around towards the door. This time he was sure he'd heard something and from the exasperated exclamation, he was pretty confident he knew who had said it. Swiveling his chair, he launched himself out of his seat and out the doorway to come upon fellow gunner and erstwhile Mistryl Arelyn K'zanthis squaring off against the ship's resident curmudgeonly droid Zip. He couldn't help grinning as the dark-haired woman spewed epithets at the little hovering robot. Arelyn was their newest crewmember, and while she had more than proven herself a competent bounty hunter and steadfast compatriot, there was still much she needed to learn about living on the Scimitar.

Sidling up next to her, he cocked his head and said, "It's just that time of month for Zip, Rel." He grinned at the droid. "Nothing a good kick right between the photoreceptors won't fix."

"Nothing a good kick right between the photoreceptors won't fix."

Overhearing Latch’s comment as he headed for the common room from engineering, Jyot called out, "No kicking the photoreceptors! I don’t have any spares!”

The little droid came flying around the corner into the corridor and panned its electronic eye over the approaching engineer. "Undesignated bounty Jyot Tyrell," the droid stated as it floated in the air, moving backwards as Jyot continued to walk forwards, his attention more on the engine part he held in his hand rather than the droid. "It is your duty as Scimitar engineer to keep me maintained. Not doing so constitutes dereliction of duty."

"Oh, gee,” Jyot mocked. “And I suppose the maximum penalty for that is what… erm, death?”

"Affirmative." A small arm with a dart-launcher soon appeared from within the droid, and aimed itself at Jyot. “Death is the maximum penalty for all class-one violations while in active transit.”

“Oooh. Death by tranq dart. Scary,” Jyot said sarcastically. “Well, think about this, you little flying tin can. Kill me and you’ll never get repaired.”

The droid’s dart-launcher was suddenly retracted.

“Yeah, that’s right. You don’t bite the hand that feeds you, or in your case, lubes your gears and primes your circuits.”

Jyot rounded the corner and entered the common room, heading over to one of the galley cupboards.

“Hey, Latch,” he greeted his friend at the other end of the room. “Got tired of watching our mealtickets hang out with the Captain down below? Must be about as riveting as watching ‘Win or Die’ on the holonet.”

Still holding the part in his hand, he took out a piece of foodboard as a snack before dinner. Holding the foodboard between his teeth, he then picked up a fork, and then moved towards the table. Flipping one of the chairs the wrong way round, he casually sat down, placing the part in front of him on the table. Using the edge of the table for leverage, he bent a couple of tines on the fork at odd angles, then began to fiddle with the part using the fork as sort of a probe, while he absently munched on the tasteless but crunchy foodboard.

He had outwardly ignored Arelyn K'zanthis presence at the other end of the room, but he was aware of her every move. It was hard not to be aware of her given that she was the only female on board, and a very pretty one at that. But as part of the bet he had made with Latch when Alec had brought Arelyn onboard, it was Latch’s turn to take a crack at the girl and Jyot was content to let his friend try his luck.

“… And eat it in front of your eyes.” The Togorian threatened.

Alec stretched out and yawned, he placed the datapad he was reading on the table and turned to look in the cell. “Now that’s just rude.” He said still yawning.

He got up and began to walk away, knowing the prisoners weren’t actually going anywhere. He walked around the catwalk and up the ladder into the Common room. Some of the crew were in there, eating, talking using eating utensils on engine parts. Alec frowned and shook his head walking over to Jyot, he stood over the engineering casting a shadow over the part he was using. Jyot flicked his eyes up at Alec and with the foodboard still between his teeth he smiled.

“Why do I buy you tools?” Alec asked frowning, only getting a shrug as a reply.

Alec shook his head once again and walked towards the ships bridge, stepping in he sat in the co-pilots. The pilot sat in his seat looking out as the stars streaked over and around the viewing window and he was deep in thought.

“Sure I can’t change your mind?” Tannis asked looking out of the cockpit window aswell.

“No chance.” The human pilot replied. “I’ve got to get out this business.”

“Why?” Alec asked. “You fly a top notch ship and get to clean up the galaxy.”

“Yeah.” Nasai agreed. “I also get shot at on a by-daily basis and insulted by a little droid with a sadistic streak.”

“Ok man.”

Arelyn shook her head as Zip zoomed off to some other part of the ship. "Bloody droid is a menace," she commented to Latch, crossing her arms. Zip certainly was one of the worse parts about being on the Scimitar. The droid was rude, abrasive and highly disgusted at pretty much all organic life and it would have given her great pleasure to do as Latch had said and laid a kick right into Zip's face. However, Zip was good at what it was programmed for and quite indispensable to their bounty hunter occupations. She just hoped that she'd soon develop the tolerance the rest of the crew had for the snotty little droid.

"I don't know how you put up with him," she muttered as she moved towards the galley, aware of Latch following her. She allowed herself a small smirk. Being the only woman on a ship full of men was a prospect she was made aware of when Alec had originally hired her, so she was expecting the worst. It was a pleasant surprise to find out that the rest of the crew weren't dirty old men, but snarkily confident young men. She could have survived the sleazebag geriatrics, but the fact that Alec, Latch, Jyot, Ray and Kuun were all lively young men made life a bit more bearable. None of them had tried to make a move on her just yet, but she figured it was a prime time for such chicanery now, especially after a successful job.

"Morning, Jyot," she called out to the blonde mechanic as she made her way to the caf machine.

Currently reading in the cockpit of his Headhunter, Headshot chuckled as a shout rang through the ship and he said "Zip must be on the hunt,"

Most of the time since his arrival, you could pretty much always find Headshot in the Quick-Drop Hanger with his fighter, so it was quite easy for the droid to find its next target. Rushing into the hanger at about a million-mph, the droid set it's course direct towards him. It then came to a complete stop about six-inches from Headshot's head with some apparent strain.

Headshot looked up with a smile from his read and asked "Yes, Zippy?"

The droid buzzed in what one might count as anger for a moment before saying "This unit is IM4-389, not 'Zippy', incompetent Undesignated bounty Kuun Lan."

"Yeah, okay, whatever Zippy. I can see your in a bad mood with no maintenance yet. Are we at there yet?" Headshot asked with an almost carefree tone.

The droid seemed to fume for a moment before replying "Almost, and the rest of the Undesignateds are beginning to gather in the common room."

Then the droid flew away and left Headshot to himself again. Shaking his head with a laugh, he turned off the pad he was reading and hopped out of the fighter onto the catwalk, doing a stretch or two to sort out the kinks of the journey. The cockpit was kind of cramped, but it was the most comfortable area of the ship for him. Still, if they were almost there and the crew was gathering, then he should be joining them too.

He turned to his fighter before leaving the hanger and said jokingly "Don't fly without me."

None of them had tried to make a move on her just yet, but she figured it was a prime time for such chicanery now, especially after a successful job.

"Morning, Jyot," she called out to the blonde mechanic as she made her way to the caf machine.Almost choking on the last of his foodboard that she had chosen to speak to him, Jyot restrained himself and only gave her a quick glance as she passed by. But as soon as her back was turned as she started to make her drink, he snuck another glance, this time eyeing her over appreciatively then giving Latch a knowing sort of look that said, "It's my turn now."

"Morning, Arelyn," Jyot said as nonchalantly as he could, while turning his attention back to the part he was working on. "So, how's the shoulder?" he asked, knowing that she had hurt it in the scuffle with their quarries. "I know Stitcher said we're low on bacta, but I've found that the best thing for a stiff shoulder is massage." He flexed his fingers. "And engineers are notoriously good with their hands. I'd be willing to give it a shot if it's still bothering you."

The pilot Nasai stretched out still looking into the stars and looked back down at one of the various monitors, he smiled and looked back up at Alec. “You know something else I won’y miss.”

“The food?” Alec guessed.

“No, Well yeah.” Nasai agreed. “but as well as that, I won’t miss the fact that each time we get a member of the fairer sex to join they leave after a couple of weeks because of Jyot.”

“Well he’s promised me that he won’t try anything with Arelyn for another month.”

“Oh really.” The pilot stated as he tapped the monitor he was just looking at.

Alec looked down at the screen and saw the all to familiar expression on Jyots face, the same expression he pulled whenever he tried to charm a woman. He raised his hands to his head and screamed into them. “Son of a!!!”

He got up and ran into the Common room and over to where Jyot was seated, and grabbed him by the back of the shirt. “Jyot a Word.” He pulled him out of the seat and dragged the mechanic into the corridor and closed the door behind him.

“By the overlords of Magrathon, Why?” Alec asked looking him in the face. One month none of your weird sexual seduction games with the new girl is all I asked.”

"Hey! It's been 28 days!" Jyot protested. "On some planets that's more than a month! And all I was doing was asking if her shoulder was okay. That's concern, Cap, not seduction."

Alec gave him a dubious glare.

"Ok, ok, it wasn't entirely concern," Jyot admitted. "But, c'mon, you've seen how chilly the Ice Princess can be? It's not kriffin' likely she's going to accept my invitation for a massage." He paused, looking over towards the door. "And it's even less likely now that you've dragged me out here and forfeited my turn to Latch."

Latch gave Jyot a rueful smirk as he moved to pour himself a mug of caf. The blonde engineer had taken the opening Arelyn gave him and ran with it. Latch couldn't really blame his friend, as he probably would have done the same thing were he in Jyot's place. It had become sort of a game between the two of them, as it had been for the past few years aboard the Scimitar. Both of them were bachelors and both of them loved to flirt with the various women they encountered along their travels. As always, they were more careful with the women that joined their crew, so they were handling Arelyn with kid gloves.

The raven-haired gunner was about to resign himself to his mug of caf when Alec came storming through the door and marched right over to Jyot. The captain muttered something into Jyot's ear, then grabbed him by the back of his shirt and hauled him unceremoniously out the door. Latch could see the surprised look on Jyot's face as he exited. Well, I guess that means I'm up again... he thought, smirking.

Taking a seat at the table so recently vacated by his friend, Latch turned and beckoned for Arelyn to sit as well. "I wonder what that was all about," he said, consciously keeping his tone neutral as he had quite a good idea about what had just happened.

"And engineers are notoriously good with their hands. I'd be willing to give it a shot if it's still bothering you."

Arelyn had been ready with an appropriately acerbic retort when Alec had burst into the room, collared Jyot by the back of his shirt and yanked him out of there. As the door slid shut, she couldn't help but blink a few times, still unsure of what had just happened. "No matter," she whispered to herself as she raised the steaming cup of caf to her lips and sipped at it, letting the hot liquid burn down her throat and soothe her nerves.

"I wonder what that was all about."

She glanced over to see Latch sitting at the table, gesturing for her to take a seat as well. They just don't give up, do they? she though to herself as she complied, settling in across the table from her fellow gunner. "Probably off to berate him for that awful line," Arelyn replied, taking another sip from her cup. "Wouldn't be the first time someone's tried that on me."

((OCC- Show time!))

The ship shook slightly in a way all crew would recognise, they had just dropped out of hyperspace and the ship could be felt changing course. This didn’t phase Tannis as he was so use to this movement it barely even registered to him anymore. Zip had just flown up the corridor ladder and over to where Alec and Jyot stood.

“Undesignated Bounty Alec Tannis, I heard raised voices do you wish for me to kill Undesignated Bounty Jyot Tyrell.”

“Zip unless you want me to has Undesignated bounty Jyot stick your personality into the refresher disposal computer I’d fly away, now” Alec threatened causing the droid to zip away. As Tannis watched the droid fly away the ship suddenly shock violently in another familiar but not as ignorable way. “Something just shot at us”

Alec opened the door and ran through the Common room. “Turrets people.” He called running pass his Arelyn and Latch.

Running into the cockpit he looked out of the window and noticed they were travelling through the debris field that covered the smugglers moon.

“Tiss’Shar fighter craft, Several of them.” Nasai informed realising Alec taking the Co-pilots seat. “I think they have come for their buddy.”

“Why didn’t the proximity alarm pick them up?” Alec asked.

“It’s off, we’re travelling through a Debris field, if it was on it’d be going crazy.” Nasai said in away to subliminally say “why do you think you moron?”

“Headshot launch and engage when ready.” Tannis ordered Through the ships loud speakers. “We got Tiss'Shar fighters, the debris field makes it hard to determine how many but it’s more than a few. Fire at will people!”

Aly strode confidently through the streets of Nar Shaddaa, greatly relieved at having rid herself of the bulk freighter crew. The job had been dull and after two months of living on that ship, being the only female aboard, and having countless practice times in hand-to-hand combat skills to fight them off when they got drunk, even Nar Shaddaa was a welcome change.

After informing the local docking controller that she was a pilot in search of a job, Aly went to the nearest cantina she could find, someplace called the 'Happy Gizka'. Aly rolled her eyes. Where did names for these places come from anyway? A happy gizka was a gizka who'd eaten all your food and scampered away to reproduce and eat more... Aly couldn't help but grin. That had been the only interesting period of time on that bulk freighter. It had taken them a week to be rid of the pests.

Aly giggled. It had been fun to watch the captain dive headfirst into a bulk container of Byss cheese; it had been even more entertaining when he couldn't get himself out and three of the hired muscle guys had fallen in while attempting to retreive him. Aly had merely watched from the catwalk, high overhead, and laughed.

Shaking her head, Aly entered the cantina and headed straight for the bar. "Corellian ale," she ordered. "And I want them to keep coming. The docking controller has my name as a pilot in need of a job and this location for where I'll be. They come in, you send them my way."

The bartender grunted and Aly dropped a few credits on the counter. Then, the bartender handed her the drink she'd requested and she retreated to a table near the back of the room.

"Isn't that always the way," Latch commented idly as he dumped the rest of his caf and bolted for his turret. It seemed neither he nor Jyot would get a crack at Arelyn for now, which was just as well, since he didn't really have a proper response to the Mistryl's icy statement.

Ducking into his turret, he settled himself into his seat and strapped in. He grabbed his headset off the wall and placed it on his head, then hit a few switches, bringing his blaster cannon online. Staring up into the crosshairs, he gripped the yoke, settling his fingers above the triggers and licked his lips. "Turret 2 hot and in the green," he said into his mic. "Kuun, let us know when you're spaceborne, wouldn't want to shoot you down."

“Something just shot at us."

Jyot's brow raised with surprise as Alec took off toward the bridge.

"Crap," he said, jogging towards engineering. "And I just got those injectors burnished...."

Once inside the engine room, Jyot began to adjust the power outflow, giving more power to the deflectors. With the debris field and a battle looming, shields would be more useful than speed. Plus, they had the Headhunter--between Kuun's expertise and the Scimitar's two turrets, Jyot was sure that they would win the scuffle. He just hoped that the ship wouldn't be damaged too much that he'd have to stay on board and work, while the others enjoyed some well-earned shore leave on Nar Shaddaa.

"Sithspit," Arelyn swore, tossing her cup into the sink and bolting out the door. "Of course this hand-off couldn't just be nice and simple, they have to come for their friend," she muttered, gripping the doorpost to her turret and swinging herself right into her seat. As her chair twirled into place, she quickly strapped herself in, jamming the headset on her head and powering up her blaster cannon. She'd barely placed her hands on the controls when she yanked them hard to starboard, her fingers squeezing the triggers. She grunted in satisfaction as she watched her shots stitch across an ugly Tiss'Shar fighter, causing its port engines to explode and sending it careening end-over-end into oblivion. "Scratch one bogey," she breathed into the mic. Arelyn took only a few nanoseconds more to admire her handiwork before she expertly brought her guns around to trace another enemy craft.

"Oh, here comes trouble," Ali breathed. All her old crew mates had assembled, the captain leading, and it was fairly obvious they intended to take her back... by force if they had to.

"Ms. D'Ayarra, I'm going to make something very clear to you," the captain said. "You insulted me, my crew, and my ship in more ways than one."

"Emotionally damaging," one of the gunners added supportively.

"We figure you owe us bigtime for that," one of the hired muscle pitched in. Ali raised her eyebrows in amusement.

"Let's get this straight," she said. "You think I have been emotionally damaging to you? Shall I count what was countless over these last two months? You tried so many things and I can only thank my father for your failures. I kicked your butts so many times..."

"And that's another repayment you owe us," the captain cut in. "For all the bruises..."

"You know what?" Ali said, grinning. "Let's put this to the test. As I view it, you and your men are only half-drunk at the moment. Usually, they're so drunk they can hardly see straight... fancy a fight?"

Before any of them could answer, Ali shattered an empty glass over the captain's head and sprang lightly backward over her chair. "Come on, then!"

When the ship rocked violently, Headshot was at the ladder and already sliding down as the captain gave his order to launch the fighter. Hitting the ground with a thud, he sprinted the distance to his fighter, practically leaping into the cockpit and slid on his helmet. His fingers danced across keys and pushed buttons as the cockpit shield closed neatly over him. The next moment, he was rocketing down and out in space.

"Kuun, let us know when you're spaceborne, wouldn't want to shoot you down."

“Roger that: I am spaceborne and proceeding to engage the enemy fighters.” Headshot replied increasing the throttle and dodging debris that strayed too close. He did a fancy barrel roll around a torn-up ship in order to avoid the sloppy shots of one of the fighters. The fighter followed, only to discover the Headshot was gone. Three seconds later while doing a flyby of the wreck, the fighter erupted into a ball of flame as Headshot came straight from behind with lasers blazing. He flew through the flames without second thought and turned his attention towards the remaining fighters.

The Ship Shook as another few hits impacted the ships deflectors, The Tiss’shar fighters were fast, agile and small but didn’t pack much of a punch. Tannis was still trying to calibrate the sensors to tell the difference between a hostile fighter and a floating piece of debris that littered the skies of Nar Shaddaa.

Nasai twisted the ship under, over, around and even through the chunks of metal that were blocking the ships strait run to the smugglers moon. This was not he best conditions for the turret gunners as the ship never went in one direction long enough for the targeting computer to get a lock and if they did all this debris would fill the scanner scopes.

Alec managed to calibrate the scanners to read the unique energy signatures admitted by Tiss’shar technology and transferred the data to the Turrets computers. He watched as one exploded into a ball of flame and the headhunter shoots out of it.

“Good Job headshot, but you Latch and the Mistryl still have another six to take down!” Alec said into the com system for the whole crew to hear.

"Five," Latch called out as he blasted another Tiss'Shar fighter into vapor and wreckage. "They must've just pulled these pilots out of some local dive because they're really not very good," he breathed as he rotated his cannon to follow another bogey. Just then the ship lurched hard to port and he nearly brained himself on one of adjacent bulkheads. He righted himself and shook his head, clearing out the stars in his vision. "Hey Nasai, y'think you could cut down on the herky jerky?" he roared into the mic.

"You want to come down here and drive this thing, Vax?" the pilot's voice asked him irritably through the headset.

"No, I'm good, thanks," Latch replied, cranking his cannon downward to follow another enemy fighter. It zoomed just beyond the range of his guns, darting underneath his turret. "Arelyn," Latch shouted, "watch your six, bogey incoming!"

Jyot had the loud speakers on in engineering, so that, one, he could hear the captain or Nasai shout any orders at him in case he was near any shielded areas on the ship where his comlink speaker might cut out, and, two, so he could hear the gunners and/or Headshot talk and get a better picture of the battle. After all, there weren't any viewports in the engineering section of the ship.

Jyot had just increased power to the rear deflectors when the ship took a few good hits, nearly rocking him off his feet.

He heard Headshot get a compliment from the captain, the captain saying there was still more than one fighter out there, Latch make a comment on Nasai's piloting ability, Nasai's quick retort, and then....

"Arelyn," Latch shouted, "watch your six, bogey incoming!"

"Oh, yeah, sure," Jyot grumbled to himself, as he adjusted the power flow between the engines and the shields for maximum effect. "A Tiss'Shar gets to watch her six, and I get chewed out by the captain for just asking if her shoulder still hurts. Not fair!"

The ship rocked again, and this time, a piece of conduit for the cooling system ruptured, causing steamy coolant to jet out through the crack. As he wrestled with turning off the valve to shut the coolant off in that section of piping, Jyot quickly pushed his comlink.

"Hey, Latch! Never mind watching her six, watch ours! Another hit like that and we're going to be kriffin' toast!"

"Arelyn," Latch shouted, "watch your six, bogey incoming!"

"Acknowledged," Arelyn replied curtly, hauling her guns downward. Sure enough, a Tiss'Shar fighter skittered between her crosshairs. Adjusting her aim to point at the nose of the fighter, she let loose a barrage of blaster bolts that peppered the enemy craft, ripping into the fuselage and blowing out both of its engines. She had very little time to appreciate her handiwork, however. The Tiss'Shar had managed to fire off a concussion missile before Arelyn had destroyed it and now the orange projectile was streaking right for her turret.

"Bloody hell," she swore as she squeezed the triggers on her guns, trying to hit the missile before it impacted. It kept getting closer and closer, her shots straying off to the side as it moved faster than any fighter craft was capable of. Finally she managed to connect, sending the missle wobbling for a few moments before it exploded a few dozen meters away. Despite the shielding, Arelyn was still buffetted by the force of the explosion, her cannon controls yanking themselves out of her hands. A console to her side ruptured, showering her with sparks of white hot electricity. She swore again as she righted herself again, groaning painfully as the harness dug into her skin. "Karking son of a bantha!" she yelled, grabbing hold of her controls again and bringing them to bear again. Just then another fighter flitted across her sights and she moved the cannon again to follow it, squeezing the triggers. But no blaster bolts came from the muzzles of her guns. "What the..." she said as she punched at diagnostic screen. "Sithspawn, damn thing is out."

Arelyn spotted her headset on the floor and grabbed for it. Setting it on her head, she thumbed it on, noticing her gloved fingers were red. Frowning, she touched the side of her head with her other hand. It also came away red. "This day just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?" she muttered. Keying in a frequency, she said, "Jyot, I've got a problem. My turret cannon is down."

Three left, Headshot thought to himself as he blew another fighter to bits. He pitched upward towards another fighter who attempting to gain ground for another strafe on the Scimitar. Headshot gunned his throttle in an attempt to catch it before its turn, although left it low enough so he could dodge the debris. Headshot then began to open fire and attempt to hit the enemy fighter as they danced through the debris. This panicked the enemy pilot, as it began to increase speed to an unhealthy level in an attempt to shake him. They spun around the debris of a cargo ship to immediately find another destroyed cargo ship. Headshot was lucky: He was able to pull up in time to dodge the ship. He did receive a scratch or two though from flying through the other fighter's explosion though.

"And then there was two," Headshot reported over the comn as he headed for a fighter making a run on the Scimitar.

It wasn't too long after Jyot's complaint to Latch that the ship rocked violently. Concussion missile, Jyot thought, as steam shot out of another ruptured conduit and sparks shot out of a circuit control panel on the nearby wall.

"Aw, kriffin' hell!" he cursed, putting on his protective gloves.

Arelyn's voice came over the loudspeakers. "Jyot, I've got a problem."

Jyot rolled his eyes as he reached blindly into the steam cloud where he knew the shutoff valve should be. The engine's overheating and she thinks she's got problems?

"My turret cannon is down," Arelyn continued.

Jyot's face fell. Crap. That is a problem. "Hang tight, Arelyn," he said to her through his comlink. The steam cloud had begun to thin with the valve finally being shut off and now Jyot could see the problem. The power to Arelyn's turret's controls was supplied through the damaged circuit panel that was sparking in front of him. "I'll see what I can...."

He had started to reroute the power to the turret control panel, but then an alarm starting to clang. There was another problem. A bigger problem. With no controls to regulate it, the capacitor for the turret's cannon was overcharging. Even if he cut all power to the turret right now, there was still a chance that it might explode.

"Arelyn! Get out of there!" Jyot yelled into the com as he cut all power to the turret save the airlock doors. "Get out of that turret, and close the airlock! Now! Right now!"

Without waiting for her response, Jyot immediately began to increase the shielding in that area of the ship in case the turret did explode.

"Captain!" Jyot shouted into the com. "Areyln's turret's out of commission!"

"Get out of that turret, and close the airlock! Now! Right now!"

"Why can't you get it back online?" Arelyn shouted back to Jyot as she continued to fiddle with the circuitry under her turret. She squinted, her slick fingers making it hard for her to hold the wires she was trying to reconnect. "There are still bogeys out there, dammit! Just restart the damn thing!"

Jyot's jaw dropped at Arelyn's response. He had shut down the power to the turret capacitor, but the charge was still at a dangerously high level.

"Just restar...?" He rolled his eyes. "Arelyn, I can't restart it," he snapped into the comlink. "That's the problem! Your turret gun is overcharged, and with the control circuits shot, so there's no way to discharge it. It could blow, Arelyn, so get out of there! Let Latch and Headshot take care of business out there."

As sparks flew again from the damaged control panel, his eyes narrowed. The Mistryl was stubborn. Maybe some other type of tactic was needed. "Or are you being obstinate just so that I'll come up there and personally drag you out?" He grinned wryly. "Hey, if that's the way you want it, so be it. I'm always up for something new. Though, there are easier ways of getting to know each other...."

((OOC: Just want to let you guys know that I won't be able to post anything until sometime next week. I've got no internet at home this weekend. :( ))

Nasai continued to fly the ship around, over and through the pieces of debris trying to evade the fire of the Tiss’shar fighters. He continued heading for the atmosphere of the smuggler moon in the hope that the Scimitar could lose the Hostiles.

"Captain!" Jyot shouted into the com. "Areyln's turret's out of commission!"

“Five hells.” Tannis exclaimed looking at the sensors. There were only two more left and both were flying in what had becoming blind spots. One had been flying directly behind the ship so Latch wouldn’t be able to lock without hitting the tail of the ship while the other had decided to fly where Areyln’s targeting arc was. He thought for a moment and reached for the comm unit. “Jyot we need full power to the ventral thrusters.”

“I’m on it Tannis.” Jyot replied.

“Nas, head directly towards a piece of debris.” The captain ordered.

“I know what you’re planning.” The pilot stated. “and it didn’t work so well last time.”

“Just do it.”

The scimitar turned slightly and the ship began to travel at fall speed towards a large piece of debris. The Tiss’shar fighter also sped up following close behind them, when the Scimitar was close enough Tannis gave the word and Jyot put full power to the thrusters under the ship. The each ignited and caused the ship to shoot straight up and missed the piece of debris, the fighter on the other hand was not prepared and flew into it.

“Latch get ready to blo the last one we’re going to spin the ship and give you a clear shot.” Alec explained to his gunner through the comm unit. With that Nasai rolled the ship so Latch’s turret could get a clear shot on the last hostile fighter.

Latch gulped as the ship lurched upward in another crazy manuever. The intertial dampeners did their job, reducing most of the g-forces, but that still didn't stop Latch from feeling like his stomach just leapt up into his throat. He could hear the ship creak in protest and idly wondered if it would hold up against the strain.

"Latch get ready to blow the last one. We’re going to spin the ship and give you a clear shot," Alec's voice told him from his headset.

"Great, more spinning," Latch responded sarcastically as he tightened his grip on the yoke. Sure enough, the Scimitar rolled and turned belly-up, revealing the oncoming enemy fighter to Latch. Sticking his tongue out the side of his mouth, he lined up his sights and made a few adjustments, then fired a single volley at the Tiss'Shar craft. He grinned viciously as his blaster shots punched their way through the cockpit, vaporizing the pilot and sending the fighter floating off into space. "Scratch two, and that's all she wrote."

"Nice one Latch." Tannis congratulated into the comm. "O.k Kuun bring her home and let's get planet side."

Tannis stood up and began to walk out the room. “You’re a good pilot. You’ll be hard to replace.”

“Yeah, That’s your problem.” He simply replied flying the ship in a straight line for the headhunter to get a good entry vector.

((OCC- JoeDoe has let me know he won’t be on too often so his char is an NPC until he returns.))

"Hey, if that's the way you want it, so be it. I'm always up for something new. Though, there are easier ways of getting to know each other...."

"Do you ever turn it off, Tyrell?" Arelyn snapped as she shut the panel she was working on and hauled herself up. Just then the ship twisted violently, sending her flying into another control panel. Twisting her body, she absorbed the impact on her good shoulder. It wasn't that hard, but still enough to send an instant ache down the length of her arm. She sprang forward quickly, reaching the hatch of her turret and slipped outside, shutting the door behind her. Grabbing hold of a handle on an adjacent bulkhead, she held on for dear life as the ship continued to manuever furiously.

Only when the ship leveled out of a good minute or two did she release her grip on the handle. She frowned in disgust as she saw the bloody handprints she'd made on it with her gloves. Punching a nearby comm station, she said, "Tanis, I hope this is all over now, because I'm off to the damn sickbay."

"Tanis, I hope this is all over now, because I'm off to the damn sickbay."

Alec heard the message as he was stepping out of the common room and into the Corridor not far from where Arelyn actually was. He walked up behind her and stopped.

“It’s all over.” He exclaimed. “As soon as Kuun has docked and locked we’ll make landfall. Once there I’ll get you into a decent Med center, give you nice Bacta Bath there.”

After Ali smashed the glass over her former captain's head, she discovered he was far more drunk than she'd anticipated. Instead of shaking it off and coming after her as she'd expected, the man staggered backward and collapsed, unconscious.

"Well..." she muttered. "That was hardly the goal... not so quick anyhow."

The rest of the crew hesitated, unsure of what to do now that their commander had been rendered useless.

"I got me some bad bruises from last time we had to fight her..." one of the gunners mumbled. The mechanic took a step back and lifted his left arm, bound in a sling.

"She broke my arm, as I recall," he added. Ali grinned. Looked like a fight wouldn't be necessary after all. But then, two of the hired muscle hefted the table she'd been seated at and tossed it at her. Eyes widening in disbelief, Ali swore in three different languages, wished briefly that she had an ally in this squabble, and then cartwheeled out of the oncoming table's way. It smashed into the wall and splintered.

"Wanna get me?" she challenged. The bartender screeched his protests, but the words fell on deaf ears. Ali shook her head. "Best do as the man says," she encouraged. "This sort of conduct isn't looked upon kindly in places like this. Harassing an innocent female could get you arrested."

The thugs seemed to consider this for a moment. Then, deciding it was still worth the trouble, they came toward Ali. Anticipating their movements thanks to the two months she'd spent watching them, the young woman executed a swift handspring forward and then drove both fists into the first thug's stomach. He grunted and froze, giving Ali plenty of time to thrust a fist upward, slamming into his jaw and knocking him flat on his back, just as out of the fight as the captain.

"Next?" Ali challenged. At seeing both the captain and a muscle taken down with such ease, the rest hesitated. But Ali could see it in their eyes. They weren't done with her yet...

Carrying a large tool box in one hand and another piece of equipment in the other,Jyot had just come into the common room just in time to overhear the last few words the Captain was saying to Aerlyn.

"...I’ll get you into a decent Med center, give you nice Bacta Bath there.”

"Bacta bath?" He looked Aerlyn over, noticing the blood on her hands, then raised an eyebrow. "You sure do know how to bash yourself up, don't you?" he said to her as he maneuvered his way around both her and the Captain. "But, it could have been worse...."

Without waiting for a response from either of them,he set the tool box and the equipment on the deck just in front of Aerlyn's turret's airlock. He quickly removed a connector cable from the tool box and expertly connected one end into the equipment and the other into a wall jack next to the turret's door. Once locked into place and connected, Jyot gave Aeryln a disparaging look, then flipped a switch on the equipment.

As the turret cannon released its overcharge, the ship gave a sudden but gentle lurch and a loud rumble could be heard from behind the turret door.

"That could have been you, Aerlyn," Jyot said with all seriousness to Aerlyn, and he nodded to the turret door. "Just a big ball of discharged plasma." He disconnected the cable and began to repack it into his tool box. "Next time I tell you to get out," he continued without looking at her, "get out."

He looked up at her then, and with a quick but guarded look at Tanis, said, "And no, I don't ever quit. It's not in my nature. But, I didn't mean much by that quip. I was just trying to get your stubborn backside out of that turret." He grinned at her as he snapped the toolbox shut. "Worked, didn't it?"

Latch clambered out of his turret and made his way back into the common room. He'd heard the chatter over the comm between Arelyn and Jyot and couldn't help grinning at the Mistryl's stubborness and the engineer's manipulative flirtatiousness. His friend certainly did know how to push people's buttons.

He spotted Arelyn, Jyot and Alec in the corridor for her turret and was about to trot over when something large and shiny hovered into view in front of him. "Undesignated bounty Lachlan Vax," Zip addressed him in that irritating monotone, "you accounted for only two of eight confirmed kills in the recent altercation. How do you explain your lack of efficiency?"

Latch resisted the overwhelming urge to shove the droid in the trash compactor. "I can't help it if Arelyn and Kuun got luckier than I did," he replied silkily.

"Luck had nothing to do with it. Your skills are sub-nominal." Zip extended his probe. "Perhaps I should neutralize you and search for a new gunner who is more efficient."

"Give it a rest, Zip," Latch sighed, shoving the droid away hard enough to make Zip careen softly into a bulkhead. It made a noise of utter indignance, then puttered away. Latch shook his head, then finally made his way over to the now-crowded corridor. "Sub-nominal, my foot," he muttered.

The Scimitar entered the planets atmosphere and flew over the Nar Shaddaa’s Corellian district. It flew to a little private landing pad just on the district’s edge, It began to land on next several other small freighter and fighters.

As the ship touched down its landing pad began to extend, the whole crew walked out wit the prisoners in front of them and towards a group of uniformed men. Tannis walked around the prisoners and towards the group of men, he walked over to one of the men and shook his hand.

“So did you have any trouble during transport?” The man asked.

“Ran into a few of the Tiss’shar’s friends but they only accomplished becoming apart of the debris field.” Tannis explained.

“Ok. We’ll take the prisoners from here, you can collect your credits from the cantina.”

“Thanks.” Alec replied as the uniformed men grabbed the three-cuffed aliens and dragged them into the back of a nearby speeder. Tannis then turned around to the crew. “Ok here’s how it’ll work. Jyot and me will head to Carmen’s and meet her to get our pay, Arelyn there’s a med center to pads down, Set up an account and I’ll settle it once we got the creds. The rest o you guys got 2 hours shore time, enjoy it, go with Arelyn, or come with us.”

Jyot grinned and greedily rubbed his hands together. "Yes! Carmen's cantina...," he said dreamily. "Can't wait to see what's on the menu tonight. Maybe I'll try a red this time... no, no, a brunette, or maybe a blonde or..." He caught the captain's eye, and noticed that Tannis was starting to look a little cross about Jyot's future dating plans. Jyot paused, then swallowed. "...or not."

He sighed. "Oh, c'mon, Cap'n," he pleaded with Tannis. "We did good this time, didn't we? We brought in the bounties, alive I might add; and despite the battle we just had, the ship's in pretty good condition." He leaned casually against the wall, and just as he did so, something 'clanged' in engineering, most likely nothing more serious than a loose tool falling to the deck. "Mostly good condition," Jyot ammended. "Don't we deserve just a little fun?" His expression brightened. "I'll let you take first crack this time. I swear."

"If i ever got into the game with you Jyot, You'd never see action." Alec joked looking at his mechanic. "Anyway me and you are here on business, we need a money supplies and a new pilot... oh and considering you can't be trusted to do any of those things on your own, without bringing back a pile of parts that aren't even any good as scrap metal... because the person you bought it from was and i quote 'the hottest Zeltron I have ever seen' so you didn't bother to check them first."

Jyot sighed with resignation, acknowledging with a slow nod that Alec was right. "Yeah, okay, fine," he said a bit glumly. "I'll go and get 'the list'."

'The List' was Jyot's running list of parts that he needed for either repairs or spares kept on an old datapad that hung on the wall in engineering. It was a primitive system of inventory, but it worked, anyone could use it, and it was easy to keep up to date.

As Jyot stalked his way to the engine room, he muttered, "But she was the hottest Zeltron I'd ever seen...."

He was back in a minute, ready to go to the cantina to do business, but still hopeful that he'd at least get a chance to 'look' at Carmen's inventory of dancers and waitresses if he couldn't actively 'troll' for a potential female companion. After all, window shopping was better than nothing at all.

The minute Alec said "The rest 'o you guys got 2 hours shore time, enjoy it, go with Arelyn, or come with us", Latch's face split into a grin. He surreptitiously sidled up next to Arelyn and gently placed a hand on her arm.

"I'll take Relly here to the med facilities, to make sure she gets there all right." He turned to the Mistryl, who was staring at him curiously. "Can't let anything happen to my fellow gunner, now can I?"

"K then, back here in two hours." Tannis ordered.

Both him and Jyot walked through the landing pad and in to the commercial section of the district. The walkway they found themselves on was one that catered primarily for mercenaries, bounty hunters, smugglers and other ship for hire crews. Several bars, ship parts stores and gun dealers stretched down both sides.

Their first destination was the bar known only as Carmen's, unsurprisingly the owner was a Human called Carmen. She was the Head of the Zoлcay crime family and was one of the few people in the galaxy the Hutts feared.

The two men walked into the bar, it wasn't that crowded which was unusual as often it would be filled with all of the Crime bosses hired scum. Looking around Tannis saw one of Carmen's hired Guns step towards him holding a datapad, She wore a smart looking suit which wasn't her normal attire.

"Hello Tannis." She greeted.

"Gem." Alec returned saying her name.

"And Jyot." She said frowning before her free hand came swinging around and slapping the playboy mechanic hard on the side of his face.

"Oh seriously Jyot!" Tannis shouted. "What did i say about seducing Carmen's girls?!?!"

Jyot turned his head away from Gem as he rubbed his now reddening and sore cheek. "Yeah, yeah, 'no fishing in the employer's pond'," he said to Alec under his breath. He lowered his voice even further. "Sorry, I tried not to, but those brown doe-eyes made me weak."

Turning back towards Gem, he said in a more normal tone, "Nice to see you, too, Gem." He grinned. "Miss me?"

Now knowing what to expect, he dodged her next assault attempt by just mere millimetres. "I take it that's a 'no'?"

"You can take a flying leap into a pit of Gundarks!" Gem said, scowling at him.

"Hey, you said you didn't want anything serious!" Jyot retorted, holding up his hands in surrender. "'No committments', I believe were your exact words."

"That was before I found out about Shayla," Gem said, still frowning.

Jyot cringed. He put a hand over his heart. "Oh, that hurt. You don't hold a candle to Shayla, and you know it. You're more sophisicated, prettier, smarter... and definitely have better aim," he added, rubbing his cheek again.

Gem's expression softened, but she still looked dubious. "Really?"

"Really." Jyot gave Alec a look. "Look, we've got some things to take care of, but later we can talk." He looked her over. "Nice outfit, by the way. The cut suits your figure and the colour... well, it brings out those amber flecks in your eyes."

Gem looked down at her clothing, and then back up a Jyot. She smiled. "Thanks."

Jyot returned the smile. "You're welcome."

He nudged Alec in the side. "Erm... Carmen?" he asked, hinting to his captain that now would be a good time to part company with Gem as she was back on somewhat good terms with them.

Gem Looked at Tannis still smiling from Jyot’s compliments. “Unfortunately Carmen’s handling some Business on the other side of the galaxy.”

“So where do we get our pay.”

“I’m handling that.” She said as she turned and walked to a table “Follow me please.”

“I think it’ll be best if I handle this alone, get a drink.” Alec ordered Jyot as he followed the women closely behind. “So why are you dealing with the financial side of things I thought you were a hired gun?”

“I was promoted.” She explained as they reached the table in the corner of the room. “I was tired of being shot at so I asked her ladyship for a new job. So now when she’s away I’m in charge of all Nar Shadddaa operations.”

Both Gem and Tannis sat at either side of the table as drinks were brought to them, both took sips while Gem looked over the datapad. “So all three were brought in alive and quickly.” She explained placing her drink on the table and reaching under it to pull out a case. “Ay trouble bringing them in?”

“My new Gun took some damage but She’ll be alright.”

“She?” Gen said curiously raising an eyebrow. “So has Jyot made his moves?”

Both Gem and Tanns Laughed. “He’s tried but she don’t seem the type to fall for his charms.”

“Excuse me.” She said insulted.

“No offence, he could charm the Credits out of a Hutt’s safe.” Alec replied taking another sip of his drink.

“Back to business then.” She said opening the case and twisting it so alec could see. “30 thousand credits as agreed.”

Alec reached forward and glanced over it briefly before closing it and smiling. “Nice to do business with you.”

“Need anything else?”

Arelyn raised an eyebrow at Latch as he took hold of her arm. His touch wasn't forceful, despite the playfulness of his words. Nevertheless, she suspected the raven-haired Kiffar might still have less than honorable intentions behind his offer of escort. She reached over and removed his hand from her arm gently, but firmly. "Thanks Latch, but I think I can manage under my own power," she told him, keeping her voice neutral. "You're free to accompany me if you wish, but you needn't mind about me so much."

As they started walking, she shot him a look of mock consternation. "And I wasn't aware that we were familiar enough for you to call me 'Relly' or address me by any other permutation of my name."

Oops.

"Erm, sorry Arelyn," Latch apologized sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "Bad habit of mine, I guess." He shoved his hands into his pockets as they continued to walk down the large thoroughfare. "At least you've got a nice, pretty name, at any rate. Our last gunner..." Latch paused momentarily, grinning crookedly at the memory, "he had a right awful name. Myno Karrin. Likable enough chap, but his mother must've not liked him as a child or something." He glanced at Arelyn. "As you can probably guess, Jyot and I took to calling him 'Mynock', and the name kind of stuck." He chuckled. "Even Zip started calling him that. Drove poor Myno up the wall."

"I'd imagine so," Arelyn agreed. "It's certainly not the most attractive name in the galaxy." They boarded a lift which was to bring them to the main concourse level of the Corellian sector. As the doors creaked shut, they leaned against opposite walls, facing each other. "Fortunately," she continued, "my name isn't easily given to such embarassing sobriquets, so let's just go with 'Arelyn' for now."

"That suits me just fine," Latch assented, crossing his arms as he leaned up against the gray metal of the elevator wall. Casting a glance out the cracked viewport to the side, he exhaled slowly as the lift rose slowly, rumbling past the various levels of the Corellian sector. In many ways, Nar Shaddaa was like Coruscant, being a sprawling metropolis covering the entire planetary surface. However, Coruscant didn't have Nal Hutta right next to it, and that fact made Nar Shaddaa just a bit more shady than the Galactic capital. Latch had had his fair share of adventures in both locations, though the nature of his work brought him back to this particular one more often.

He glanced at Arelyn out of the corner of his eye and saw that she too was staring outside the viewport, her expression thoughtfully neutral. He wondered idly if she'd ever been here as well. Truth be told, he didn't really know very much about her beyond a few necessary details. If he was going to win his bet with Jyot, he figured he needed to change that fact.

The lift ground to a halt and the doors creaked open again, admitting them to the main concourse. Stepping out, Latch squinted, looking past the milling throng to try and locate the medical facilities. "Ah, Nar Shaddaa..." he sighed.

As the other two muscle boys moved forward to attack, the gunners and the mechanic fell back a little further. The mechanic cradled his injured arm as if worried that Ali would rid him of the use of his othere arm as well.

"Wait, wait!" he protested. But one of the two had engaged Ali. He threw a punch; she ducked. He tried to grab her; she twisted in toward him and drove her knee upward between his legs. With a grunt, he stiffened and Ali spun, deftly grabbing a tray from a frightened waitress pressed up against the wall and used it to send the pained man crashing to the floor to join his friend and his captain.

"Forget this!" the mechanic mumbled. He turned and darted out of the cantina. At this, the final muscular man and the two gunners hesitated. Then, the two gunners advanced, positioining themselves at the head and foot of one of their downed companions and lifted him.

"We're done," one of them told the remaining muscle. He scratched his head for a moment before lifting his other friend and following the gunners out. Ali smirked, handed the tray back to the waitress and knelt beside the unconscious captain.

"Looks like it's mostly true," she told his lifeless form. "Cut off the head, the body dies. Only your body ran off without you... huh... that make y'all a chicken?"

Amused at the thought, she resumed her seat, this time resting her feet on the unconscious captain's back.