|
|
|
last online Jun 4, 2023 4:58:38 GMT -5
Master
|
|
|
Oct 17, 2009 18:32:08 GMT -5
Post by Talau the Ever-Lurking on Oct 17, 2009 18:32:08 GMT -5
Italia hadn’t told anyone she was leaving…not really.
She’d had to tell Bane of course…
Bane.
That whole situation left a bad taste in her mouth, and with the weight of Solus’ad and Mal’s deaths still heavy on her heart…
Shogun had been an eye opener for her as well. She had a new name now…Italia Firians had also died on that forsaken planet…the auburn sitting beside her co-pilot, and clan brother, had a new name. She’d finally found part of her father’s clan…his mother and sister to be exact…and now she knew the reason, the story behind her father’s life…at least part of it.
It was enough.
With her family’s beskad, she had taken on their last name…as well as Ark’s…their TRUE last name. No, she’d left Concord Dawn with the intent to follow in her father’s footsteps. Much as she saw the martial ability Bane held, he wasn’t Solus’ad, and so…to her…the ability of the new Mandalore wasn’t something to be trusted. She’d never been one to trust the Mandalore, Solus’ad had proven himself to be a capable and caring leader in battle and out. Bane, however, hadn’t shown that kind of care toward his troops (that she’d seen), and so he hadn’t earned her trust as someone capable of being Mandalore. This was why she was doing what her father had.
He had left the military, becoming an assassin to target those that needed to be targeted to regain their homes. He had taken two men with him, two vod, Rish Vorlax (a twi’lek) and Ixor Praxia (a zeltron). Together the three men had made it their personal mission to take out the figureheads of the Republic that held their homes hostage, and weaken the links in the chain of command that bound their people…they had made it their job to help Mandalore’s re-conquest of their homes easier. All three men had vanished, seemingly without a trace, and taken on new identities. It hadn’t been until Orik met Kiva that the three slowed in their quest. Rish had seen the eventualities and made his peace with it easily…but Ixor hadn’t taken so kindly to Orik’s decision to leave. Italia and her brothers had been born of that and, when the time came, Orik had called upon Rish to further teach his daughter.
This information had been pieced together with her aunt and grandmother on Shogun, as they waited for the repairs to the Star to be completed in the aftermath of regaining the planet, and so Italia Vencuyan Phelan had been born from Italia Firians.
This was the woman that pulled the Star from the comfortable hyperspace tunnel it had been ensconced in, the planet of Onderon and its moon, Dxun, shifting into view. Yes, she’d left the military after Shogun and the traumas it brought, not able to follow Bane in good conscience, and she wouldn’t allow herself to be a liability for them. Instead, she would do something she knew she could do…help in a way she knew she could help. She had the knowledge of three men behind her (her father, Rish, and yes, even Ixor) to get her through the trials to come. Besides, what did she have to lose? Her mother was taken care of, the farm still seen to because of the act Solus’ad had put into place. Itani was his own man, and he had an interest in the special ops team. Malak was dead, cut down all too early. Solus’ad had given his life to save hers…and Daryn was gone, furious at her and rightfully so. Ark was the only one left that she had any real remorse for leaving…it had hit him the hardest, she knew it had when she’d contacted him, and that tore at her heart, but that just wasn’t her place.
She’d thought it had been…
…she’d thought wrong.
Gazing out at the green jungle moon of Dxun, the uncharacteristically stoic auburn sighed quietly and shook her head, angling the Star toward Iziz on Onderon.
To think that I would keep returning here…
…I hate Dxun
“So why do you keep coming back here?”
She shrugged slightly at her companion. Hell if she knew.
Know people in Iziz? Easier ta get jobs in places ya know people. Easier ta get crews too.
An alert sounded and both mandos looked up to the readouts on the screen. Italia cursed loudly at what she saw.
Get yer arse back to the guns, we got pirates comin’ in…
Poor woman had no way of knowing who the captain of the other ship would be.
|
|
|
|
|
Vex
A Self-styled computer geek that moonlights as a G.I. Joe.
1,014 posts
2 likes
Proud bearer of the "Polish Stalker Badge".
|
|
last online May 21, 2018 17:30:54 GMT -5
Master
|
|
|
Oct 19, 2009 20:44:59 GMT -5
Post by Vex on Oct 19, 2009 20:44:59 GMT -5
He'd meant to leave sooner. It had taken a long time for him to be able to get a flight back from Shogun. The Mandalorians were more worried with getting personnel and supplies to Shogun, not away from it. The only things that had priority getting off Shogun were the wounded to be brought back. Given the fact that he was not wounded and most definitely not Mando...he wasn't a priority.
All he'd wanted was to get off Concord Dawn. He wanted off the rock. He wanted to point his sublight engines toward the planet and get himselfaway from this part of space as fast as possible...but he found himself needing to one thing first.
He'd gone back to her clan lands one more time...he'd wanted to see her buir one last time. No speeder this time. He brought the whole ship. The visit had been short. He'd landed and had met up with her mother right away. She'd come out to see what the ruckus was about. She'd also given him a earful about his repuslors kicking up a cloud of dust and scaring all fo the animals.
Eventually, however, he'd gotten her to calm down then when he offloaded the beskar that had been his payment for the mission to Shogun. With everything that had happened...with the falling out between himself and Italia....the last e wanted was it...and he didn't want to sell it either. She and her clan seemed the obvious choice.
She'd sat down with him then...more or less made him. Mothers always knew, after all...and though she hadn't known the specifics...she'd seen enough to use that special intuition, given their interactions in her presence. He hadn't said anything to confirm or deny. She, then, expressed her own worries.
Italia had left. Hadn't told anyone she was going to...but her mother knew. She also worried about where she might go...what she might do. She let him know what Italia had learned...about her past...her family.... the change of her name. She was worried that she would take off in her father's footsteps.
Her mother had a gift...that's for sure.
Next thing you knew...he was breaking atmo and using that slick sensor system to track the Star. He kept out of sensor range...her sensor range anyway. He shadowed...calculating possible hyperspace routes. There werent' a whole lot of options given her trajectory. He thought about what he knew about her...how she thought and worked.
Onderon...
The Star leapt out...disappearing into the black and he punched in the hypespace calculations before keying up the hyperdrive and following suit.
Coming out of it a minute or so after her...he threw up his sensors, getting a quick picture of the space around him. He found her easily enough...and saw the ship angling towards her at high speed with two fighters angling out on intercept vectors.
Not good...
Keying up his shields, he pulled on the yoke to get his own intercept course lined up...aiming for the nearest fighter.
"Bloody woman...pain in my arse."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
last online Jun 4, 2023 4:58:38 GMT -5
Master
|
|
|
Oct 20, 2009 17:21:31 GMT -5
Post by Talau the Ever-Lurking on Oct 20, 2009 17:21:31 GMT -5
As he saw just what ship he and his crew had happened upon, the red hued captain of the Rancor and her crew grinned viciously. Keying up the com to his fighters, the man seemed more pleased with his potential catch now than he ever had been before.
“Bones, Harris, disable the ship, but don’t damage her too much…I want it intact and as useable as possible. Might have ourselves another ship. I’m sending you some readouts.”
The gruff answers were ignored as he jacked his gauntlet into the Rancor’s system and sent over the schematics for the Star…a parting gift he’d “received” from Rish before he’d ‘died.’
“The rest of you lot, get your gorram arses in gear to board and sack the ship. If things don’t go according to plan, I’m takin’ her down. Got it? And the auburn is MINE….kill whatever other crew she has, but you leave that osi’yaim, shi’yayc, dala(useless, yellow, woman) to me! And get those new clamps ready!”
Gorram pirate osik had to show up now…what the hell is with this?!
The loud complaint actually earned a snicker from her co-pilot, but she didn’t have time for that as she brought the shields up and ran through her options. There weren’t many…not this close to Onderon and Dxun. They were too close, now, to make a run for it into hyperspace, and if they got much closer to the atmosphere of them before she was good and ready…well…it was likely they’d end up scattered across the jungle in bits and pieces. While that was just fine for her, she had her companion to consider…he was getting married soon, after all.
Those guns had better be online Hart, or I swear…
“They are! They are! Get me somethin’ ta lock on to eh?”
Lia growled back as she swung the Star around, bringing the first of those fighters into view and into line of those powerful laser cannons. She wasn’t aiming for the fighter, though...sure it would have been nice if they got the sucker in the process, however, Lia knew full well that the Star wasn’t maneuverable enough to get after them properly. No, her target was the armed to the teeth blockade runner that….
Osik…a blockade runner?! Really?!
A frustrated sigh sounded from her just as the Star was rocked with the first round of fire from the twin fighters. It wasn’t long until the Star had come about enough to unleash a pounding on the first fighter they saw, the red fire from the freighter’s cannons ripping through on of the wings and sending the fighter spinning off in a new direction. Again, that wasn’t Italia’s worry. Her worry came when the Star was peppered by fire from the other fighter…right along the ‘spine’ of the ship where the top quad cannon and panels for her sensor array lay.
Dammit, how would then know where ta cripple us like that? Not like these ships are a decicred a dozen! Manda knows I hope they’re just aimin’ for the guns an’ not the soft spots…
Such was not Italia’s luck that day.
“We got another ship comin’ in Lia! Weapons are hot on it…”
Focus fire on the blockade runner…let’s just hope he’s a good samaritan an’ not a vulture…
She pushed the engines hard as she brought the slightly more maneuverable Ghost Star into a near collision course with her larger foe. Green eyes swept about the Rancor and the readouts the Star provided her with as she searched for the weapons on the ship. So far the beast was silent, but she didn’t expect it to stay that way for long. Even as red streaks battered against the shields of the larger ship, the Star flashed a new warning at her. Sure enough….guns powered up and that infuriating fighter that was always just out of her sights streaked past them in another blaze of green along the side. With a slight grimace, she pushed the Star harder, getting into close range of those weapons that the larger ship boasted. No, it wasn’t suicide…if she could get close enough, they’d be near harmless to her, and then she could either try to take them out or get past them…getting past them was the idea.
The captain of the Rancor had other ideas.
“Nexus, ready the docking clamps. Harris, you know what to do.”
Just as the Star was closing in on the pirate ship, Lia swung her downward, skirting under the belly of the Rancor just as the fighter vanished around the other side and out of view of Italia. Yes, the Rancor had noticed the new arrival by now, but Harris had been more preoccupied with the Ghost Star, making sure to keep himself out of range and sight of quarry as much as possible…he didn’t want to end up like Bones, who was still floating around somewhere most likely. Soon enough, that hidden slot in the belly of the ship opened, and with it a blaze of red, battering down the Star’s shields to next to nothing.
Lia had cursed, rather colorfully, as she’d seen that panel open up and the cannon start firing on them from in front of her. She’d had to pull hard to the side, to keep the majority of the damage from hitting the bridge of the Star, exposing the underbelly of her ship slightly as she angled out from under the Rancor. Unfortunately, the second fighter was waiting for her as he came out from over the top of the blockade runner and swooped down upon its prey, bringing the Star’s shields down completely before looping around and blasting away at one of the engines.
Gorram, we’re gonna be sitting ducks here! Hart, get your arse out of here on the pod, okay?
“Wait…what?! Lia, I can’t just…”
Do it gorramit, boy…you’re younger’n me an’ you’re gettin’ married, aren’t ya? Not get your gear an’ get goin’! This ain’t gonna be pretty.
With a gruff acknowledgement, her clansman got up and started toward his bunk…Lia wasn’t far behind. They wanted to board the Star…fine…she’d give ‘em hell for it. Lia simply got up from the controls and ran to her own bunk. This was home, and she’d be damned if she let these di’kut pirates take it without a fight. She was pissed as all hell and they’d pay the price for catching her at such a bad time in her life.
As the Star slowed to a halt and drifted through space, the captain of the Rancor couldn’t say he was entirely surprised. No doubt that dini’la dalyc had something planned for them. That was fine…he had something planned for her also. The Rancor easily took hold of its new prey, heedless of where its fighters had gone off to…or if they would ever return. By the time the two ships were latched together, the zeltron was ensconced in his green, gold and black armor and toting a rather large bag of explosives.
Italia wasn’t much different.
If she was going to fight off a band of pirates, she’d be ready for them. That armor was on more swiftly than one would imagine, kama and all, her new beskad hanging from a bandoleer settled on an angle across her shoulders, and her rifle slung across the other shoulder, her blaster and throwing daggers attached to her thighs. When the Hart boy met up with her at the small escape pod, he blinked at her dumbly. It was likely a good thing, at that point, that he couldn’t see past the unemotional mask that was her helmet…the dark grin on her face might have actually frightened him coming from Italia.
Get goin’ boy, you don’t have your armor so you can’t stay here. I won’t risk your life when you’ve got someone ta go back to like Meeshla. I can take these pricks on. Now get.
The vox emitter for the suit was cold and sterile, giving the 19 year old a taste of just what it was like to use it, and have others use it around him…something he’d not experienced yet. He nodded slightly and got into the small capsule. Lia closed the door to it just as she heard the hatch of the Star open and she sank into the shadows. Within seconds the escape pod had been launched and she turned off the vox emitter, sighing slightly afterward and creeping toward the hatch the pirates were entering through.
Silently, green eyes watched the men appear down a chain ladder they had dropped to hang between the two ships. They weren’t armored…it was unlikely they were mando. That was good for her. She’d counted 10 that entered…perhaps half the crew, considering the fact this was one of the smaller corvettes. Lia waited a few more moments to see if anyone else was going to appear. When no one else did, she lightly flicked her beads, which hung from under the helmet, and slunk off into the Star to rid it of the rodents trying to infest it.
She didn’t see the armor clad man, waiting just out of sight on his own ship, come down after his crew and began surreptitiously planting those explosives. He knew her tricks and techniques…he’d worked with her before, after all.
Those daggers, crossed at her lower back, were unsheathed as she found her first rodent. It wasn’t difficult to sneak up on him…she was quiet and light on her feet, her armor tailored to make as little sound as possible yet still provide maximum protection. Between those two things and the dark color of it, added to the fact that she’d cut the lights to the ship, leaving only a warning red glow…Italia was at an advantage. Before the man knew it, one blade had slit his throat, the other digging deeply into his chest, holding him up so his death and the sound of his falling body would make a sound. She lowered him quietly to the deck, cleaning her blades on his clothing as she did.
Then she was on to the next.
He was much the same way…too absorbed in the sacking of her ship to pay attention to the shadow that crept up on him, with only a soft movement of leather as her kama brushed against the medical table as she skirted around it. With a swift motion and a wet, cracking, snap she lowered the body to the deck and moved on. With the low light visuals her HUD provided it was easier for her to see these petty thieves than it was for them to see her…most of them didn’t stand a chance and slowly she picked them off…taking her time so as not to raise an alarm. Within 10 minutes she’d narrowed their numbers down to three. By this time, however, they knew something was very wrong. They’d come upon each other, but hadn’t seen any of their companions…nor was there any sign of the crew that had been on the ship.
These poor fools had gone into the lower deck of the Star, where the cargo was held and the engine room was. It would, eventually, be their last mistake. They were smarter than the others, though, in the fact that they stuck near by each other. Italia waited, crouched on the thin walkway that curled around either side of the cargo bay, watching them as they moved and pondering how best to do away with them. With a touch to her gauntlet, she brought up the thermal vision of her HUD and the three flared to life in brilliant colors of red, orange, and yellow. Quietly she pulled her rifle from around her shoulders and twined the strap around her arm as she sat back on one heel, her other foot coming forward to brace herself. With the silencer already on Italia was ready to go…hopefully they would be dumb enough to look for her separately…if not…well, she’d handled worse and she’d done so without armor.
With as slow as they were going, it wasn’t difficult to lead her target as she pulled the gun more tightly to her shoulder. In an instant the largest of the three was down…his head having gained a new hole. The sound, however (silenced or not), sounded fairly loudly in the dark and nearly silent room, rebounding off the metal walls. She moved deeper into the shadows and crept along the walkway as the remaining two pirates stood up cautiously, blasters out. It was already too late. Lia moved swiftly and she’d already started lining up another shot…in seconds another of the men was dead. The last opened fire randomly in the direction he’d thought the shot had come from. It was lucky her rifle used slugs…far more difficult to see where they were shot from. The idiot pirate had opened fire in the wrong direction.
She didn’t bother to move this time, as she lined up another shot.
She should have moved.
Suddenly she was blindsided, her shot going off in a different direction as she was tackled by another armored figure out of nowhere.
“Hey there beautiful, why don’t you and I just cut the crap and get down to business, shall we?”
Distantly Lia heard the sound of people moving and shouting to one another, of things being rummaged through. That wasn’t her concern at the moment, however. No doubt the man she was now struggling against had heard the shots and called for back up, so to speak. She moved to strike out at him with the butt of her rifle, but he managed to grab it and wrestle it away from her as she struggled for dominance over him. Wiry though she may have been, Lia stood little chance as he pinned her down, straddling her hips and holding her hands pinned to her chest and leaned down against them.
“Calm down Italia, I’m not gonna rape ya or anything. Not interested. Just wanna kill ya…that’s all.”
Green eyes widened behind her helmet as she slowly made out the details of the armor…
…Ixor…
Even that cold vox emitter couldn’t hide the snarl in her voice as she practically spat his name at him.
|
|
|
|
|
Vex
A Self-styled computer geek that moonlights as a G.I. Joe.
1,014 posts
2 likes
Proud bearer of the "Polish Stalker Badge".
|
|
last online May 21, 2018 17:30:54 GMT -5
Master
|
|
|
Oct 20, 2009 20:33:17 GMT -5
Post by Vex on Oct 20, 2009 20:33:17 GMT -5
Daryn watched the play of blaster fire through space as he neared the battle. One of the fighters was disabled quickly, pieces flying off into space while the other peeled off. Italia was being rather ballsy, but he understood her actions. Against a ship like that, her best bet was to get in close so the targeting systems couldn't grabe a lock.
Unfortunately, her sensor system wasn't as good as his. Those advanced scanners on the Ante picked up the hidden weapons emplacements as they penetrated through and mapped out the major systems on the blockade runner.
"Gorramit, Lia...don't!..."
It was already too late, however, as the battery appeared and stitched along the Star. The fighter finished the job and it wasn't hard to figure out that she'd been disabled. Daryn pulled hard on his control yoke, kicking the nose up vertical and fluttering the horizontal thrusters as minimized the sublights. Flying sideways like that, he was paralleling the fighter, his weapon reticles lighting up as he released a volley of blue blasts into it, raping shields and wreaking havoc on the fighter's electrical systems until it just died completely, shutting down and leaving it drifting towards the edge of the planet's atmosphere with no way to stop.
He kicked in the sublights again and shot forward as the first blasts from the blockade runner's cannons reached out toward him. There wasn't a comparison between his maneuverability and the Star's, or the blockade runner. Ante Up was smaller, faster, and more nimble. Couple that with the man behind the controls and he was dancing around the slow-tracking cannon fire.
Kicking his tail around, he minimized the engines again, letting momentum keep him traveling while he maneuvered with the horizontal and attitude thrusters, strafing around on the Rancor...keeping himself within its weakest firing ranges as given by his sensors. The ion cannons didn't have the same punch as lasers, but he kept stitching the shots in the same area, pounding the shields and gouging at them.
He was a gnat. A very vicious little gnat that kept up, never relented. With the pirate ship all but stationary as it was docked with the Star, it was a sitting duck. Flaring his engines again, he twisted around, dodging another barrage as he wheeled around for another attack run. Holding down the trigger, he had the visceral satisfaction of seeing the shields on the larger ship flicker into view and then die out.
A fluttering of the pedals at his feet shifted his fire as he targeted the power generator detailed from his scanners. Easiest way to hamstring the krayt dragon...
While he kept one hand on the control yoke, the other flew over the console, shunting power sources...bolstering the shields toward the front and pulling power from the sensors to boost his comms array. Nearly disabled pirates were still dangerous pirate...pirates that could still kill Lia. So, keying the comms, he began to record a distress message
"This is the freighter Ante Up out of Coruscant. My sister ship is currently under attack by pirates. We require immediate support. Any available ships, please respond." Recording the message, he threw it into a loop and embedded the coordinate locations and emergency identifier. He then threw it on a wide frequency broadcast spectrum to include civilian, security, and private military bands. It was, technically, illegal to go on the space security and military bands...but it would, if nothing else, bring someone coming to look.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
last online Jun 4, 2023 4:58:38 GMT -5
Master
|
|
|
Oct 21, 2009 20:54:55 GMT -5
Post by Talau the Ever-Lurking on Oct 21, 2009 20:54:55 GMT -5
“Oh so you DO recognize me…I’m fla…”
Lia didn’t give him the opportunity to get the word out as she shoved her arms away from her chest and all but bucked him off of her.
A red haze was steadily creeping its way over her vision as she grabbed her rifle out of instinct and launched herself after him as he scrambled up and over the edge of the walk way. He landed in a crouch and took off running, knowing he had her full attention now. She wasn’t far behind, landing like some glistening, blue, Amazonian huntress, and rocketing after him as she slung that weapon over her back again.
The cargo bay of the Star was relatively empty considering she’d not had the chance to get any jobs yet, and so it wasn’t difficult for her to catch up to Ixor as she pulled her daggers from her back as he pulled that damned revolver of his from its holster. It’d been another oddity about their group…using slug throwing weapons rather than the more common blaster types. Slugs tended to do more damage to more things in more ways…that included beskar armor. In moments she was on him, a blurred clash of green and blue as she bowled him over, one dagger digging deeply into the shoulder joint of his armor.
Ni kry’amur gar, Ixor!
For a moment her past and present coincided, her mind flickering between her dream world and her real world and begging her to finish the job. As she dug the blade of her other dagger into the heel of his hand that held his pistol, she pulled out the other and slammed his helmet back against the deck of the Star. He snarled at her, the harsh sound only made harsher because of the way the helm digitized his voice. With a tensing of his hand a blade shot from his gauntlet and he dug it deeply into the hip of her own armor before tossing her aside and pinning her down by her neck as he sat on her torso, pinning her arms with his knees.
--Captain…there’s incoming ships. Look to be from Onderon’s Navy and they’re making to intercept.—
“I’ll be there in a moment. Ready the Rancor for movement.”
He switched off his com and glared down at her through the T of his visor. Lia wanted to shout at him, to get away and beat the hell out of him, but he was making it rather difficult to breath, let alone get away and attack again.
“You know…your father didn’t give me half as much trouble as you. I think I’ll leave you here to die on your precious Ghost Star, girl, and give you a nice fiery grave on Dxun with the others.”
He let go of her throat long enough to tap a code into his gauntlet before grabbing that emotionless visor, lifting her head and slamming it against the deck hard enough to daze her further. Only then did he get off of her, pulling her dagger from his hand and tossing it at her before stalking off. Once he was aboard the Rancor he pulled his helmet off and tossed it at his second in command.
“Let her go just inside the pull of Dxun. We’ll let the jungle end her if the explosions don’t.”
Lia…dazed though she was…wasn’t dazed enough to sit still. She knew something was wrong by the way he’d handled his gauntlet. Fiery grave? Had he planted explosives?! She searched for her dagger a moment and pushed herself up, sliding both into their sheathes before forcing herself to get up fully on that injured hip. Where…where would he have put them? The engines and the fuel cells. Cursing under her breath she darted into the engine room and ferreted out the first detonator….it was easy enough to find and disarm…it was too simple. The Rancor, however, was already shifting her load, moving into the pull of Dxun just enough to disengage the clamps holding the Star and letting the ship float freely before pulling away…limping off to lick its wounds and get away from the insane horsefly of a freighter that had damaged it. In moments a small explosion was seen in the aft of the Star, one full set of engines flickering out as it was dragged into the atmosphere of Dxun.
At the controls sat a very emotionless looking woman, hidden behind that emotionless helmet. She was no demolitions expert, and so, as the timer counted down she knew she had no choice but to let the damn thing take out the engine…at least that one hadn’t taken out the power cells and she still had some use of the other engine. Maybe she could limp to Iziz and get the Star repaired…again…but no. Ixor had been sure to drop her directly into Dxun’s gravitational pull.
Well…seems I’ve come full circle, haven’t I girl?
She pulled off her helmet and settled it on her lap, reclining in the pilot seat and patting the consol fondly.
Perhaps it was better this way?
|
|
|
|
|
Vex
A Self-styled computer geek that moonlights as a G.I. Joe.
1,014 posts
2 likes
Proud bearer of the "Polish Stalker Badge".
|
|
last online May 21, 2018 17:30:54 GMT -5
Master
|
|
|
Oct 27, 2009 19:02:28 GMT -5
Post by Vex on Oct 27, 2009 19:02:28 GMT -5
The sensors read out several ships on intercept courses with their location. It was a something that would give those pirates something to think about...hopefully abort. He was hitting them with everything he had, but his weapons weren't really designed to take on a ship of that size. For once he actually wished that he had some regular blasters and a maybe a missile launcher. Their shields had been easy enough to take down...but they just had too much armor, too much mass, for his ion cannons to do much.
Then they began to move. A fist pumped in the air before he realized they were still towing the Star. Then he realized they were going toward the atmosphere and he had a sickening feeling what they were planning. It was only emphasized as he saw the brief flash of an explosion take out one of the engines on Lia's disabled ship.
The blockade runner was peeling off, charting a course away from the incoming ships and leaving Lia to drift down to burn through the atmosphere and...if that didnt kill her...the landing would. He peeled away, there wasn't a reason to follow the pirate ship. He just hoped that Lia was conscious.
He didn't want to think about if she might be dead.
With her ship disabled, he doubted the comms system on it was working. Fortunately, he still had the frequency and scrambler codes for the Mandalorians from the Shogun mission. He just hoped she hadn't changed it for her helmet. He pushed extra gain through his comms to punch through her armored plating and hopefully reach that helmet.
If she was wearing it.
If she was alive.
He shot forward, pulling in front of the Star. "Ghost Star, this is Ante Up, do you copy? Ghost Star...Lia....are you there?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
last online Jun 4, 2023 4:58:38 GMT -5
Master
|
|
|
Oct 27, 2009 19:26:45 GMT -5
Post by Talau the Ever-Lurking on Oct 27, 2009 19:26:45 GMT -5
So the woman inside had gone a little insane in the past few days…didn’t mean she was gonna just sit back and die.
Oh wait…
….she was doing just that.
Italia settled back in her seat and propped her feet up on the control panel of the falling Star and rested her head back, green eyes closing against the rising heat and brightness of her burn into atmo. That was when she heard something odd. It wasn’t the groaning of her ship, though that pained her to no end…the fact that she couldn’t help her ship, an almost physical pain eating away at her like the flames that melted the chromium, beskar, and durasteel plating. No…it was an odd crackling…static?
“Ghost St…Ant…Up….copy? ..st Star…Lia….ou there?”
What the hell?
Green eyes flickered open again as she looked down at the control panel beneath her feet. It had flickered and gone out already, so it wasn’t that….but if it wasn’t her com relay, then what WAS it? She went to move her helmet off her lap again when she blinked, looking at it as if it had suddenly turned into a bowl of gelatin. No way…there was no way someone would have this code unless it was someone from the mandos…someone from Shogun. She looked up then, trying to see past the glow that surrounded the nose of her dieing ship. No way…it couldn’t really be the Ante Up. There wasn’t a chance in hell. With a heavy sigh she pulled on her helmet again and flipped the com switch, upping the frequency setting slightly to hopefully give it a boost.
Phelan here, but who…you’re message was unclear. Repeat your ID ship, this isn’t a frequency you should have.
The voice that would reach him was hers alright, heard normally since it wasn’t outright through the vox, as it would have been had they been face to face….the difference this time was, there didn’t seem to be a lick of concern to it. It was almost as if not a thing in the universe were wrong and she was simply having a conversation with someone over the weather the moon was having that day. Sunny with a high chance of falling debris…oh and be careful out there today folks, some people report fire in the sky.
|
|
|
|
|
Vex
A Self-styled computer geek that moonlights as a G.I. Joe.
1,014 posts
2 likes
Proud bearer of the "Polish Stalker Badge".
|
|
last online May 21, 2018 17:30:54 GMT -5
Master
|
|
|
Oct 27, 2009 19:39:53 GMT -5
Post by Vex on Oct 27, 2009 19:39:53 GMT -5
He breathed out a sigh of relief. She was alive, at least. Of course, he didn't like the tone in it...but at least he was hearing her voice. It was a start. Keying the comms again, he spoke. "Thank the Force. Lia...It's Daryn. straighten out the Star. You are getting pulled into the atmo and if that explosion in your engine is any indication, your little visitors made sure that you can't control your descent or landing. I'm going to swing around and hook up to your docking port. You have to get out of there."
He pulled up on the yoke, twisting the ship on its axis to clear the top of the Star. Her ship was twisting slightly in the pull of the planet and he needed her to straighten out. This docking maneuver was going to be difficult enough and they were only going to get one shot at this. Screw it up and they could damage the linking points...or damage the Ante Up and bring them both down to Dxun hard and fiery.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
last online Jun 4, 2023 4:58:38 GMT -5
Master
|
|
|
Oct 27, 2009 20:11:58 GMT -5
Post by Talau the Ever-Lurking on Oct 27, 2009 20:11:58 GMT -5
A little, almost rueful, chuckle escaped her.
Daryn…the last person she wanted to be saving her.
It wasn’t because she didn’t appreciate the sentiment, and it wasn’t because he WASN'T a sweet guy under all the flash…it was because he WAS a sweet guy under all the flash. Even as he laid out his plan she was shaking her head.
Yeah, I know what’s happenin’ and yeah good ol’ Ixor left me a nice lil whopper of an explosive so no, I can’t do much in the way of controllin’ anything. No can do, though, Daryn…just leave me be and get your tail outta here flyboy, I’m nothin’ but trouble for ya, and I’m not bothered about goin’ down with the Star. Trust me, I seem to keep comin’ round to Duxn for some reason, an’ I’m guessin this is why. Now get any thoughts of helpin’ me outta your head, okay? I’ve no intention of going anywhere and it ain’t worth the risk to you or the Ante.
With that she sat back in her seat again and closed her eyes, not bothering to adjust the Star’s list or drift. She’d hurt Daryn…bad…and that had wounded her almost as much as Sol’s death. Muting her com she sighed and readjusted the beskad across her back. Honestly, Lia just wished Daryn wouldn’t bother with her…she didn’t want to cause him any more trouble, and this whole mess could cause him no end of it. Knowing the rambunctious spacer, though, Italia doubted he’d give up that easily. Another sigh and she folded her arms across her armored chest, hoping the inevitable crash would come sooner rather than later.
|
|
|
|
|
Vex
A Self-styled computer geek that moonlights as a G.I. Joe.
1,014 posts
2 likes
Proud bearer of the "Polish Stalker Badge".
|
|
last online May 21, 2018 17:30:54 GMT -5
Master
|
|
|
Oct 27, 2009 20:54:38 GMT -5
Post by Vex on Oct 27, 2009 20:54:38 GMT -5
"Mir'osik....Seriously, Lia, clean out the drek out of your head. Trouble you may be...but some of us are just gluttons for punishment. Your buir talked to me when I stopped by to give my farewells. She was worried about you...asked me to look after you. Woman's got the persuasion of a Coruscanti Senator... and obviously the premonition of a Jedi Master. Sounds to me like you are turning into a hut'uun. You want to give up now? Just let yourself die? What kind of Mandalorian does that? Giving up. Frelling di'kut...Ib'tuur jatne tuur ash'ad kyr'amur.."
He paused for a moment, then continued on with even more vehemence. He recognized the name. Ixor...Lia had never told him about it...but...sitting down with her mother...she'd told him a lot more than that. His spat out his words, voice lowering, tone harsher, more vicious and commanding. Almost worthy of a Mando'ade. "You going to sit down and let Ixor win? After everything he has done, you are going to surrender...let him walk away without paying for the blood on his hands? You are not going to let that chakaar win. Mandalore would turn in his grave. Get up. Get up, vod. Do your duty...fight. Now!"
He feathered the throttle matching the velocity. Twisting the yoke, he worked, trying to match the spin on the Star. On his screen, he saw the docking crosshairs fighting to line up. It wouldn't make it...wouldn't make it...then flickered green. Reflexes twitched and the docking clamps shot out, slamming into her ship and locking into place, sealing tight in a successful connection.
"You want to feel sorry for yourself, do it on your own time. AFTER Ixor is dead. I'm not unlatching until you are on this ship, Lia. So...you choose. Kill me...or live. We've got about 35 seconds until we hit atmo..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
last online Jun 4, 2023 4:58:38 GMT -5
Master
|
|
|
Oct 27, 2009 21:50:20 GMT -5
Post by Talau the Ever-Lurking on Oct 27, 2009 21:50:20 GMT -5
A shadow of a smile touched the stony face, but it vanished swiftly as it came once he mentioned her buir. The frustration was let out in a long grumbled string of mando’a that he, thankfully, couldn’t hear…especially once he called her a coward. She growled at him and sat up…but she wasn’t quite convinced yet…even with his nice little cliché at the end. It actually earned something that resembled a chuckle. The heat was beginning to seep through even worse now and she had to focus on Daryn’s new tirade to keep her mind off of it.
Now he was beginning to sound mando. It was almost a surreal moment for her, hearing him like that…it made one eyebrow raise the opposite corner of her mouth twitching upward slightly. Was this really Destrell? No, couldn’t be…but…whoever this new man was that sounded like Daryn, he was speaking her language…and that wasn’t to say Mando’a.
“Mandalore would turn in his grave.”
Oh that did it. That was the one line he shouldn’t have crossed.
Italia stood with a feral snarl, her fist slamming against the control panel of the Star, putting a nice dent in the metal and crushing the already useless buttons there. She didn’t need him to tell her to get up, she was already up and furious.
Nayc jate Coruscanta mir’sheb! Draar takisit Mand’alore, etyc shabuir!
With that she flipped on her com again, her voice a low growl as she turned to the go to the docking hatch.
This is your shu’shuk Destrell. You have no idea what you’re bringing down on your head with this.
She muted her com again and paused to look down the corridor toward her room. She didn’t believe there was anything she absolutely needed, but clothes would be advisable. With a sigh she darted down the hall and grabbed the rucksack that she’d still not fully unpacked…still had clothes in it, thankfully, so she didn’t bother wasting time in grabbing anything else. In a flash she was at the top hatch docking port for the Star…the one they’d used to haul Owen inside before. He was to hoping…
She twisted the latch and the hatch swung downward. Yup…there was the Ante. There wasn’t time for a ladder so she lept up and caught hold of the rim of the hatch, pulling herself up into the small space between the ships. Twisting slightly to reach the keypad, she punched in the unlock code and pushed upward as she heard it click open. Tossing her pack in first, followed by the beskad and her rifle she shimmied up through the hatch herself and shut it with a snap. A flick of her com and the vox crackled out into the air around her.
Get us out of here flyboy. You’re not diein’ today and sure as hell not ‘cause of me!
|
|
|
|
|
Vex
A Self-styled computer geek that moonlights as a G.I. Joe.
1,014 posts
2 likes
Proud bearer of the "Polish Stalker Badge".
|
|
last online May 21, 2018 17:30:54 GMT -5
Master
|
|
|
Oct 28, 2009 20:52:12 GMT -5
Post by Vex on Oct 28, 2009 20:52:12 GMT -5
When her voice crackled over the comm again, finally, he sighed in relief. If he wasn't in the middle of straining against the pull of two ships and a world's gravitation so that they didn't burn in through atmo uncontrolled, he would have relaxed into his seat. Hearing the fire in her voice, the low way that wasn't masked by the mask comms, he could only grin wider.
"Quit flirting, Red and get that armor-skirted behind in here already. You can give me a proper, appreciative 'thank you' later." Never hurt to make sure that she was going to get onto this ship as quick as possible. He kept an eye on the air lock indicators as he kept fighting with the turbulence of their imminent entry into Dxun.
For once, a red LED was a godsend as it indicated she'd entered the hatch. As soon as it was green again, indicating a good seal, he killed the maglocks holding onto the Star. The connection released and retracted even as she was telling him to get them out of there. Tilting up on his axis he pulled back, clearing the back of the derelict ship as he allowed it to tumble away beneath them.
"Step ahead of you, hot stuff. Get your stuff stowed and get up here quick. We're in too deep to break atmo just yet. We'll have to complete entry before we can look at getting out again. I try to pull out now, we'll heat up too much and start losing parts. So get here and belt yourself in. This entry is bound to get a mite...interesting."
As if to exemplify this fact, Ante Up started to shake and tremble as they began burrowing deeper into the atmosphere while the ailing Star began tumbling, edges glowing as it streaked down into the clouds.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
last online Jun 4, 2023 4:58:38 GMT -5
Master
|
|
|
Oct 28, 2009 21:09:24 GMT -5
Post by Talau the Ever-Lurking on Oct 28, 2009 21:09:24 GMT -5
She almost told him where he could stow a couple of things…none of them pleasant…but there were bigger problems. With a huff she was up again and tossed her gear (such as it was, and including her helmet) into the nearest room. In moments she was in the co-pilot seat with a mild hiss and wince, the safety harness clipped on.
Tell me what you need.
Green eyes scanned the layout again, still fairly unfamiliar with the Ante. Gorram she hated flying other ships…it was uncomfortable. The whole thing was just infuriatingly uncomfortable for her and she had to restrain herself from putting that armored fist into something around her. Instead she settled herself for biting (hard) on the insides of her cheeks and hoping Daryn and House need SOME kind of help. Glancing at the readouts she suppressed a heavy sigh. Kriffing man had to go and be all noble and get his arse into trouble trying to get HERS out of it.
|
|
|
|
|
Vex
A Self-styled computer geek that moonlights as a G.I. Joe.
1,014 posts
2 likes
Proud bearer of the "Polish Stalker Badge".
|
|
last online May 21, 2018 17:30:54 GMT -5
Master
|
|
|
Oct 28, 2009 21:30:41 GMT -5
Post by Vex on Oct 28, 2009 21:30:41 GMT -5
"Watch those heat readings...if any sides get out of acceptable thresholds, let me know so I can adjust. I'm not looking to get things melted off and we are coming in faster than I'd like. Also...key us up to the locale docking port and get us a berth. We'll need some repairs, most likely. Keep an eye on the scanners in case your friends back there decided they wanted to leave us with a parting gift." Wasn't much she could do from the rest of the piloting aspect. He was a 'seat of your pants' kind of guy and preferred that flying by feel.
The entry began to get rocky as the ship began to tremble as it sank into the cloud banks, searing a hole through them as it continued its entry. His biceps were tight and he was gritting his teeth like he hadn't since he'd had to try and land themonn Shogun. It rumbled with the strain and the heat sinks and insulation couldn't keep all the heat from the entry out from bleeding into the interior...ratching up the heat inside the cockpit slowly by degrees. Ante Up was built to hold up to a lot of punishment and could handle a hard burn into the atmo, as long as it was done properly.
Listening to her responses and warnings, they'd finally break through into the lower atmosphere and he leveled out, finally able to bleed off heat and speed. "Good job, darlin...we got any word on a berth yet?" Sweat dripped down his temple.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
last online Jun 4, 2023 4:58:38 GMT -5
Master
|
|
|
Oct 29, 2009 1:54:52 GMT -5
Post by Talau the Ever-Lurking on Oct 29, 2009 1:54:52 GMT -5
There wasn’t even any point to a verbal reply…a simple nod did the trick. So basically her job was to sit back and watch the readouts…fun job. Not really. Well…if that’s what it took to keep them alive for a little longer, that’s what she’d do. At the mention of a ‘local docking port’ she almost laughed…almost. Instead it came out as a harsh snort of air and roll of her eyes. Well, this ought to be an interesting call. Pulling a data pad from her belt green eyes flickered between it and the readouts. Scanners were clear, and she knew Ixor better than to think he’d come in after them. No, he was gonna limp off and wait to see if she showed up again in his contacts views, licking his wounds and plotting his next attempt at revenge should he have failed this new attempt.
No, her biggest worry was the heat readouts. It wasn’t surprising when the Ante got jittery around them, but that emerald gaze never flickered away from what she was doing, her face a passive mask even as she called out warnings of rising heat on port or starboard sides in the fore of the Ante as they descended into Dxun’s atmosphere. Glancing down at her data pad once more she highlighted the entry she wanted and returned to what her more important job was. The heat in the cockpit wasn’t left entirely unnoticed by the auburn as it baked her slowly inside her armor, her short hair clinging to her head, face and neck, the high collar of her under armor stifling her further. It certainly wasn’t a pleasant feeling, being roasted slowly in ones own armor, and it certainly didn’t help the injury she’d received to her hip. After the heat the armor had absorbed on the Star, and the heat it absorbed in the Ante...no doubt she was going to be radiating it for a good long time...hell, if her skin happened to brush against the metal of it she'd have noticed it was more than a little hot to the touch.
As they finally leveled off, Daryn asking for a berthing, she shook her head and pushed some of her hair from her face with one gloved hand as the other put in the code.
There’s only one place built ta berth a ship here, Daryn…this moon is jungle…all jungle. Only places here are tiny villages with no dockin’ and pirate bunkers with room only for them. Hate to tell you this, but the only place we have is a military base.
I can call ‘em up an’ get us a berth, an’ as part of your…your arrangement for Shogun you can berth the Ante there for as long as you need. It’s either that or we need ta try an’ limp to Iziz on Onderon…but the base is our best bet right now.
She closed her eyes, her face flushed from all the heat that had built up. Lia was certainly feeling it now, the heat still radiating from her armor even as the rest of the cockpit cooled. Pulling off one glove, then the other, she tucked them into her belt before keying up the spec. ops. Base.
<<Mandalorian Special Operations base, Dxun. This is the Ante Up, Shogun operation member Italia Phelan…granddaughter of Arkandos Phelan, and Shogun pilot Daryn Destrell. We were attacked by pirates over Dxun, the Ghost Star was downed and the Ante Up is in need of repairs. Requesting berthing until we’re able to get back on our feet.>>
A few moments later static crackled through the com system and the gruff voice of a woman sounded through.
<<Ante Up, requesting docking codes and verification.>>
She sighed and flipped through her data pad once more.
<<Concord Dawn docking code: 0431-GRX-5366. My personal ID might or might not still be active. I’ve recently left the military, Mandalore himself knows why. ID code: 173-34-2354>>
<<One moment.>>
Lia grumbled slightly in acknowledgement and folded her collar down over the armor plates that were attached to it to help guard her there. All they did now was help hold in the heat that was still radiating off of her armor.
Ugh…hurry up you di’kut woman!
The frustrated growl was followed by her leaning against the consol, her face in her hands as she struggled inwardly with the emotions that threatened to overwhelm her.
Gone.
Everything was gone now. Her father, her mentor and the crew she’d been part of, the man she’d started to love, one of her close friends, her ship which had been her home for years…why did things have to be this way? Finally the com crackled to life again.
<<Ante Up, you’re clear to land. Docking port 2, the light will be green>>
<<Right.>> Well, there’s your berthin’, flyboy. I brought up the coords for you…
Unclipping the safety harness, Lia stood, slicking back her damp hair with a hand. Her beads slid over her shoulder slightly as she stood, putting a hand over the hip joint of her armor and wincing a little.
I need ta get outta this armor an’ get this blood offa me…get patched up an’ such. If ya need me I’ll be in the first bunk.
Lia patted his shoulder lightly, before removing her hand and sighing heavily. She wasn’t feeling well after the heat and the stress and the emotions, plus the pain certainly wasn’t helping, but she managed to fight down her urge to revisit lunch…it was nothing she couldn’t handle, and nothing a cool shower and some water wouldn’t help ease up. Turning, she started off for her bunk.
|
|
|
|
|
Vex
A Self-styled computer geek that moonlights as a G.I. Joe.
1,014 posts
2 likes
Proud bearer of the "Polish Stalker Badge".
|
|
last online May 21, 2018 17:30:54 GMT -5
Master
|
|
|
Oct 29, 2009 20:56:44 GMT -5
Post by Vex on Oct 29, 2009 20:56:44 GMT -5
He was quiet. Not usual for Daryn. Not usual at all, he simply nodded and grunted an assent to her words as he vectored in on the coordinates she'd give them. At the rest of her words and the need for her to get patched up, he'd nod once more before turning his attention back on flying. It wasn'y long after she'd left to head toward the bunk that they closed in on the base. He was guided in by the light, settling his ailing ship down with barely a whisper and no jolt as those struts eased down upon the earth like velvet. Keying the ship down into standby, he'd finally stand up and stalk towards the first bunk.
There weren't any lock codes on the interior of the Ante Up, save for Daryn's room itself and the locks on the prisoner detainment units. He slapped his hand against the first bunk's door activation, stepping inside. She'd gotten out of the armor and had just been working on patching up that wound near her hip.
He moved over to her, a straight bee line as the distance closed between them. Green eyes smoldered and veritably spat emerald sparts and his whole form was tense. Cutting along the line in front of her, he moved with that spooky speed of his. That fist cut across her jaw, catching her chin and rocking it to the side before the other, slapped its palm against her collar bone and sallowing the fingers to close firmly around her throat, not choking her, but holding her and pushing her back against the bulkhead.
"Gorramit, Lia! Never again...you hear me? Never, ever pull a stunt like that again. That was some hinky frelling drek, almost giving up like that. I know you are hurting...I am too, but that doesn't mean you take the toydarian's way out. By the Force, woman. You've got people that care about you!" That fist flung foward again, this time slamming against the metal of the wall behind her as he glared at her...that anger slowly peeling back to what eh truly felt.
Down beneath the anger and the hurt...beneath the betrayal that still dug into his guts....beneath it all, he was scared. She'd almost died...worse yet, she'd almost let herself die. That, above everything else, spooked the nuts out of him and as he held her gaze with his own, a shadow of that fear flicked across them.
He pulled her close then and, without thinking, kissed her. It was hot, hard, and desperate, as though eh was trying to assure himself that yes, she was there and yes, she was alive and relatively unharmed. Breaking it, he pulled her against him, arms wrapping around her and his voice a husky, low whisper against the curve of her ear, holding just a hint of tremor. "Please....Lia....don't ever do that again..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
last online Jun 4, 2023 4:58:38 GMT -5
Master
|
|
|
Oct 29, 2009 21:53:57 GMT -5
Post by Talau the Ever-Lurking on Oct 29, 2009 21:53:57 GMT -5
Those armor plates were being pealed off even as she walked along the hall, snaps and clips being undone along the way. By the time she was in the bunk her top armor was off and the arm and leg armor were swift to follow, the pieces being laid out along the inner wall to air out and cool off. Her beskad and rifle were propped up in a corner near the bed and her pack was…somewhere…in the room. She didn’t bother to look for it, instead going to find the Ante’s med kit and cleaning out then stitching up that stab wound. It wasn’t big so it didn’t take much…just a bit of numbing salve and a few stitches, a decent sized bandage and…
She looked up as the door opened, the hand with the bandage hovering above the injury for a moment as green met green. Finishing her previous action, she straightened up again as she eyed him warily. In a few moments only he was there and she snarled slightly as she felt his fist connect with her jaw. Even as his other hand gripped her throat and shoved her backward, he’d find himself rocked by a doozey of a blow to his gut. Lia may not have had her armored gloves on any longer, but she had some bony knuckles and a lot of power for a woman…it tended to happen when one grew up mando, after all.
After a moment he was growling at her, telling her off for what she’d done. Hurting?! Hurting!! He had no idea how much she was hurting! He only knew part of the reason WHY she was hurting and, far as she knew, both of HIS parents were still alive. She’d still not gotten over her father’s death and her confrontation with Ixor had only reopened the injury where that was concerned. She saw the muscles tense and just barely as he swung she shifted her head to the side away from his fist. He’d not have hit her either way it went, but she’d not known that and she wasn’t about to take chances.
Cool green gaze and a stony mask met his anger, a void of seeming indifference settled before him. Under it, however, there was a roiling mass of anger, frustration, pain and confusion slowly mixing with a newly emerging fear. Not fear of Daryn…no…it was a fear of Ixor and what he might be planning if he managed to find out she was still alive. If he ever, EVER, found out about Daryn saving her…he would be number one on Ixor’s hit list. THAT was why this new fear was creeping up…and if Daryn wasn’t number one, her mother and her brothers would be. She didn’t even manage to register the shadow of fear that flickered through his eyes. Yes, she noticed something but…it just didn’t connect.
Suddenly he pulled her in and kissed her, sending a shower of sparks through her blood. On impulse those arms wrapped around him, her hands and fingertips pressing against his back as she returned his kiss and slowly curling into the material of his shirt as if it might help bring her closer to him. For a moment she was lost in it, stunned into simply reacting to his need to assure himself that she was real and not some phantom of what used to be a living person. That, however, didn’t last as long as one might think. Her mind, however, caught up to her actions soon enough and she backed away just as he did.
No, she’d hurt him enough! She’d not even gotten over Sol’s death and here she was kissing Daryn! What the hell was she thinking?! If he had let her, Lia likely would have moved away completely…but he didn’t, he pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her and asking her not to ever do what she’d just done again. The tremor in his voice wasn’t lost on her, she knew how he had felt about her…how he likely still did feel about her, and she sighed, slowly letting go of his shirt and just hugging him back.
Can’t…don’ have another ship ta have shot down. Ask me again when I have a new one.
Of course she knew what he meant…he was talking about giving up like she had, but Lia couldn’t promise him that…not yet anyway…so she opted for subtle humor. Or an attempt at it, at least, as she tried to bring that familiar old mask up again…it worked, for a moment, before failing completely as she buried her face in his shoulder.
|
|
|
|
|
Vex
A Self-styled computer geek that moonlights as a G.I. Joe.
1,014 posts
2 likes
Proud bearer of the "Polish Stalker Badge".
|
|
last online May 21, 2018 17:30:54 GMT -5
Master
|
|
|
Oct 31, 2009 21:09:24 GMT -5
Post by Vex on Oct 31, 2009 21:09:24 GMT -5
Given the way she was normally...and given the way she was acting currently, he wasn't exactly surprised when that punch connected with his gut. He'd tightened up, but it still hurt. Bloody woman was about as strong as him....if he was honest, maybe than. But he tightened his grip and held on with his diatribe. Amazing what a little bit of anger and fear can make you overcome.
Didn't mean it wasn't going to hurt later.
He pulled her tighter to him as she let go and buried her face into his shoulder. Fingers wound in her short hair, gripping and keeping her there. No, he wasn't going to let her get away...wasn't going to allow her to go anywhere. He hated her trying to be so strong, so emotionless. It wasn't a strength to him. It was a weakness and a shortcoming.
She'd ripped a hole in him. A part of him wanted to hate her and the emotional tear was still raw and bleeding, but he could compartmentalize. Woman had lost a lot more and it didn't take a rocket scientist to connect the dots on this one. He knew how much the ship had meant to her. He knew a lot about Ixor and what had happened in the past. He definitely knew about Mandalore and the giant pain in the arse Mal. Woman had been through a whole lot recently...enough to take apart weaker souls.
Pulling her with him, he drew her to the bed, pulling her down into it with him. He could hurt later...he still cared about her. For now, he could make her feel better, no matter what the cost to self. Cradling her head, he stroked her face, pressed a kiss along her brow, over her features...doing all he could to take her mind off the present, off the recent past and give her something positive...something to take her mind off of everything.
Something to help her reaffirm life.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
last online Jun 4, 2023 4:58:38 GMT -5
Master
|
|
|
Oct 31, 2009 23:07:53 GMT -5
Post by Talau the Ever-Lurking on Oct 31, 2009 23:07:53 GMT -5
He pulled her closer, his fingers wrapping themselves in her hair and she took a shuddering breath. Even for Lia there was a limit to how much she could take. Typically she would have been content to hide her sadness until he’d left her alone in the room, but the time span he had to GTFO of the room before she actually DID break down was down to the end and with his actions…it just made that timer tick down more swiftly. She hated this…feeling so weak and vulnerable, but she hated the reasons WHY she was feeling this way far more.
She felt him moving, pulling her along with him and down onto the bed. As they lay down, as he held her gently, stroking her face, kissing along her features and trying to help ease the pain she was feeling, Italia only felt it more strongly. Hot tears slid, unwelcome and unbidden, from the corners of her closed eyes as her heart ripped itself apart because he was being so kind. Despite how it may have seemed, this was far from a holo-vid, and while yes, they’d both had death as a dance partner for a short period of time and she was hurting emotionally, it didn’t mean that she wanted so much affection. No, she wanted him to hate her like he should have…like any sane person would have. Lia wanted him to hate her, and shun her, and yet…and yet she wanted nothing else than to be held by him and to know that not everything she cared about was gone from her. The worst part of that…she hated herself for feeling that way also.
To her mind she shouldn’t have felt like she did about him. Not yet…it was too soon for her to want to be close to him, it would hurt him, and dishonor the memory of Solus’ad, and because of those things it hurt her to no end. To say that Italia was conflicted mentally and emotionally would have been a gross understatement. For a moment she could do nothing but lay there, her hands resting gently on his sides as she struggled against herself.
…No.
She moved slightly, away from his kisses and sighed heavily, dulled green eyes looking up at him sorrowfully.
I…please don’t, Daryn. I’m just…so confused an’ upset tha’…that I…
Green eyes closed again against the pain and she resisted the urge to wrap her arms around him and draw him closer.
I…I’m sorry. I don’ wanna hurt you any more an’ I’d just feel worse if anythin’ happened.
Gently she pushed him away so she could sit up, the heels of her boots catching on the frame of the bed and allowing her to rest her elbows on those kneed and her face in her hands, hiding those newest tears from view. Manda knew she wanted to just be held by him right now…but that was ALL she wanted…and she just couldn’t ask, be it her pride or her sadness, or the simple fact that she couldn’t find the words for it…she just wasn’t able to ask for that one simple thing. Because of this, Lia was relegated to trying to nicely find a way to tell him what she DIDN’T want.
|
|
|
|
|
Vex
A Self-styled computer geek that moonlights as a G.I. Joe.
1,014 posts
2 likes
Proud bearer of the "Polish Stalker Badge".
|
|
last online May 21, 2018 17:30:54 GMT -5
Master
|
|
|
Nov 1, 2009 21:36:14 GMT -5
Post by Vex on Nov 1, 2009 21:36:14 GMT -5
He did relent when she wished. It had been...harder...for him to do that at any rate. Parts of himself warred with others...pain and concern, worry and anger. Much as he may have wished to keep kissing her, every one was another barb in his own heart because, in the end, he knew that she grieved the loss of another. One that was not, would not, and could not be him. He moved away, settling next to her beside the bed as she leaned there, elbows on her knees.
"You can't, Lia. I can't hurt any worse, just revisiting the old scar. I don't think that anything can, or would, last, with him gone. Things are as they are and it can't change. I knew it back with Cuir...and then when we ran into each other again. I was foolish though, thought about more. Truth is though, Lia...I'll take what I can get. Still do care about you...and maybe you're just my favorite type of death stick...but I don't want you out of my life."
He drew an arm around her shoulder, accepting the pain it caused. The same part of him that didn't want to take life...made all of his weapons be stun or ion...it didn't want her to hurt, despite if he did. He drew her back with him, this time simply wrapping his arms around her and holding her back against him. He was still a quick read and judge of a person...despite her attempt at an emotional blank slate. He recognized what she needed, even if subconsciously, and moved to provide it...all the while keeping himself still and numb to the pain within himself.
|
|
|
|