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Dutch
Darth Awesome, Specialist at Everything
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last online Apr 30, 2020 12:47:50 GMT -5
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Apr 15, 2013 5:01:04 GMT -5
Post by Dutch on Apr 15, 2013 5:01:04 GMT -5
Dutch blinked twice in response to the number she said. He wouldn't have believed that amount, except that it was Grizzelda stating the number. His kill count wasn't tracked at all, but he knew for sure it wasn't near half a hundred lives. Who was this woman? Dutch's eyes followed Grizz as she stood up, averting his gaze as she added to her previous statement. He shifted uncomfortably as he sat up, a light groan escaping his lips as he moved his eyes up to her.
"Fractional answer? Really?"
He scoffed and kicked his legs out to gain momentum. His muscles screamed in protest, but his mind screamed right back at them as he stood. Dutch held a hand up for her to wait, several groups of muscles shaking in spasms. The man growled and flexed his arms slowly. They had been doing this on and off since the regiment had started, and each time Dutch knew he had to wait until they eased out the knots before continuing. Lest he suffer cramps unlike anything else he had ever felt. He would nod at Grizzelda's advice, but tweaked an eyebrow at her addendum.
"Don't pass go. Don't collect two-hundred credits..."
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Kella
Fire and Blood
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Fire cannot kill a dragon.
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last online Oct 30, 2014 9:41:46 GMT -5
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Apr 15, 2013 5:08:34 GMT -5
Post by Kella on Apr 15, 2013 5:08:34 GMT -5
Grizzelda tucked the daggers in a pocket and crossed her arms as she watched him stand. "Don't worry Dutch, everyone who comes back to life has to go through Hell. If I have anything to say about it you'll make it out alive."
She handed Dutch her own canteen. "But with a few more scars, the ladies love scars."
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Dutch
Darth Awesome, Specialist at Everything
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last online Apr 30, 2020 12:47:50 GMT -5
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Apr 15, 2013 12:08:56 GMT -5
Post by Dutch on Apr 15, 2013 12:08:56 GMT -5
"...Thank you."
Dutch murmured almost reluctantly. His muscles were aching something terrible, to the point where as he reached out for the canteen his one arm trembled to the point of collapsing. He cursed in embarrassment and used his other to receive the beverage. That arm shook too, splashing water over his hand. He took a deep, long drink before pouring what was left over his head to help cool him down. A wave of goosebumps prickled over his arms at the sudden cold rush, but it helped the fire in his body.
He smirked at her last comment. "Oh? I thought ladies loved dashing heroes with chiseled jaws and long flowing locks of hair."
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Kella
Fire and Blood
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Fire cannot kill a dragon.
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last online Oct 30, 2014 9:41:46 GMT -5
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Apr 15, 2013 17:02:30 GMT -5
Post by Kella on Apr 15, 2013 17:02:30 GMT -5
"Ladies? Or one lady in particular?" Grizz grinned smugly. "Real women love real men, and real men get up when they're down. C'mon." She started to hand him the dagger again, then changed her mind, pulled a blaster pistol out of her hip holster and removing the power cartridge. She dropped the cartridge in a pocket and then pointed the pistol at the ground, and pulled the trigger several times. Nothing happened. She handed the pistol to Dutch.
"If you can line up a good shot, you can go home right then, done for the day."
Grizzelda grinned and took a halfstep back, crouching and rocking her weight forward onto her toes.
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Dutch
Darth Awesome, Specialist at Everything
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last online Apr 30, 2020 12:47:50 GMT -5
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Apr 16, 2013 2:09:56 GMT -5
Post by Dutch on Apr 16, 2013 2:09:56 GMT -5
Dutch's grin couldn't help but widen. There was a particular lady indeed, but he didn't say any names. He nodded at her advice and reached for the wooden weapon only for it to be taken away again. His eyebrow quirked as she pulled out a blaster, an unsure step back taken.
"Woah now, I ain't gettin' shot today toots..."
He started before she ejected the clip and showed him it was dry. Dutch took the pistol from Grizz and looked down at it with an unsure expression. With a nod he turned to the dartboard on the cavern wall some distance away. His arm raised to hold the pistol, the weapon shaking in his sweaty palm.
With his back turned toward Grizz, he closed one eye and did his best to line up a shot, despite the shaking he tried and tried.
Steady...steady...steady...
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Kella
Fire and Blood
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last online Oct 30, 2014 9:41:46 GMT -5
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Apr 16, 2013 2:12:28 GMT -5
Post by Kella on Apr 16, 2013 2:12:28 GMT -5
Grizzelda crossed her arms and laughed deeply. "I meant at me."
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Dutch
Darth Awesome, Specialist at Everything
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Apr 16, 2013 2:16:08 GMT -5
Post by Dutch on Apr 16, 2013 2:16:08 GMT -5
Dutch turned red with embarrassment and lowered the pistol. He turned to stare at Grizz with an exasperated expression.
"Well you shoulda said!"
He growled before he turned to hold the pistol up in a two handed grip aimed towards her.
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Kella
Fire and Blood
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Fire cannot kill a dragon.
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last online Oct 30, 2014 9:41:46 GMT -5
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Apr 16, 2013 2:20:06 GMT -5
Post by Kella on Apr 16, 2013 2:20:06 GMT -5
Grizzelda ducked into a roll and sprung back to her feet at Dutch's side, nudging him in the side with her dagger.
"And now you're dead. Try again. Don't forget to stay light on your feet, even when you're lining up a shot."
It was the right kind of drill for the day. Dutch's role was mostly going to depend on his reaction time and anticipation, while Grizzelda just had to keep moving. Grizzelda would actually get a workout, and she could keep bothering Dutch without Nom complaining about 'cardiac arrest' or whatever it was.
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Dutch
Darth Awesome, Specialist at Everything
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last online Apr 30, 2020 12:47:50 GMT -5
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Apr 16, 2013 2:24:41 GMT -5
Post by Dutch on Apr 16, 2013 2:24:41 GMT -5
"Frak!"
Dutch cursed as he jumped at the prod from the dagger. He didn't admit that it had tickled him something fierce. The man hopped back a few steps to dart left, then right only to dash right once more, his arm swinging the pistol to try to line up another shot.
His knee buckled at an inopportune moment and he fell to it with a thud before using his momentum to roll over his shoulder, once more swinging the pistol to try and line up a shot as he fell onto his back.
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Kella
Fire and Blood
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Fire cannot kill a dragon.
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last online Oct 30, 2014 9:41:46 GMT -5
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Apr 16, 2013 2:40:35 GMT -5
Post by Kella on Apr 16, 2013 2:40:35 GMT -5
Grizzelda ducked low beneath the first attempt, and as Dutch fell she stood, hand sweeping forward, and caught the pistol around the barrel, pulling it out of Dutch's grasp. She twisted it around her finger a couple of times, then handed the grip back to Dutch. "Don't have your sea legs yet?"
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Dutch
Darth Awesome, Specialist at Everything
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last online Apr 30, 2020 12:47:50 GMT -5
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Apr 16, 2013 2:49:05 GMT -5
Post by Dutch on Apr 16, 2013 2:49:05 GMT -5
"I feel steady enough when walking."
Dutch started as his hand gripped the pistol handle. He pulled himself up by it with Grizzelda's help. Even with help his leg muscles burned and shook. A few choice curses were thought in his head at his own body, and he leaned down to massage his quivering left thigh.
"But I still can't do more than a couple hours of activity before my body starts to fight itself."
Dutch used his arm to wipe the sweat from his brow before he too spun the pistol, around his finger a couple times, though notably more shaky than when Grizzelda did it.
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Kella
Fire and Blood
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Apr 16, 2013 2:54:16 GMT -5
Post by Kella on Apr 16, 2013 2:54:16 GMT -5
Grizzelda huffed with amusement at Dutch's efforts. "Walking, yeah, that sounds like a great idea. Lets just walk our way to victory. Strap pedometers on everyone and tell the Sith they have to kill someone for every twenty thousand steps we walk. I'm sure that'd go over swimmingly."
She waited for him to regain his bearings. "C'mon Dutch, get yourself together. You want to hear about Hell, we can talk about boot camp. Compared to a Sith drill sergeant I'm too soft to be a butterfly. That's what you're up against."
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Dutch
Darth Awesome, Specialist at Everything
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last online Apr 30, 2020 12:47:50 GMT -5
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Apr 16, 2013 2:59:17 GMT -5
Post by Dutch on Apr 16, 2013 2:59:17 GMT -5
Despite himself Dutch began to chuckle. His arms dangled at his side as he shook with laughter at Grizz.
"Easier said than done toots."
He grunted before he began to rotate his shoulders and steady his stance. Dutch's gray eyes snapped to her as she mentioned a Sith drill sergeant. There were plenty of rumors that went about Homestead about the outsider, it was always a matter of what was truth and what was false. And Grizz certainly didn't help, Dutch was convinced that she herself started half the rumors about her past.
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Kella
Fire and Blood
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Fire cannot kill a dragon.
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last online Oct 30, 2014 9:41:46 GMT -5
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Apr 16, 2013 3:07:10 GMT -5
Post by Kella on Apr 16, 2013 3:07:10 GMT -5
"You ever been in the military, Dutch?"
She began to circle him slowly, wooden knife in hand. She watched Dutch's eyes, and she watched his lower abdomen. If you kept track of those two things you knew everything a man was going to do, unless they were very, very clever.
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Dutch
Darth Awesome, Specialist at Everything
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Apr 16, 2013 3:15:01 GMT -5
Post by Dutch on Apr 16, 2013 3:15:01 GMT -5
Dutch shook his head.
"No. I've never been more than a few hundred miles from the plains."
His eyes followed Grizz as she began to circle him, careful to not move outside the occasional muscle spasm. Dutch made sure his eyes did not leave hers, even when her hazels dipped down to look at Force knows what on his body. He did his best not to flush as her eyes seemed to look him over.
"My dad was Special Forces though."
Dutch waited and instead of lining up a shot, he would suddenly swing his arm to send the butt of the pistol towards Grizzelda in a surprise (he hoped) attack.
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Kella
Fire and Blood
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Fire cannot kill a dragon.
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last online Oct 30, 2014 9:41:46 GMT -5
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Apr 16, 2013 14:34:23 GMT -5
Post by Kella on Apr 16, 2013 14:34:23 GMT -5
Dutch's weight shifted forward as it would for a blow, not backwards as it would to steady a shot. Grizzelda stepped around the pistol and slashed at Dutch's wrist, then rapped him across the throat. She turned behind him and waited for his next attack.
"You haul through more shit in Boot Camp than a Bantha herder does in a lifetime. The officers work you to the bone, then work your bones to dust, then use whatever little bits of you remain to pick their teeth with. You're up against men who don't ask questions, who don't care if what they do is unethical, immoral. The Republic, they're just as violent but they take honor and glory and cram it down your throat. The Sith, they reach down your throat and take everything that ever cared about another human being and rip it out."
They were lies. Grizzelda had known many good men in the Sith army and many vile ones in the Republic, but these were the lies that Dutch needed to believe if he was going to be able to do what he needed to do. Good men found it easy to kill bad men, and bad men easy to kill good men, and bad men often fought within themselves, but it was a rare soul brave enough to be a good man willing to kill a good man.
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Dutch
Darth Awesome, Specialist at Everything
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Apr 16, 2013 22:46:37 GMT -5
Post by Dutch on Apr 16, 2013 22:46:37 GMT -5
"Ack!"
Dutch's breath caught as the dagger collided with his throat. His hand massaged the area where the blade had hit. He listened to Grizzelda speak. He turned his gaze to her with an almost far off look. Dutch cleared his throat and looked down at the pistol in his hand.
"...Dad always used to tell me something." He sighed, still not looking at Grizz. "There's the military as civs see it. Then there's real military life. He never pulled any punches with me. Al he never told too much... I know that just because they are our enemy, doesn't make all of them evil. Decou is evil. Shaw is evil."
Dutch moved the pistol up towards Grizzelda, but lowered it before a shot would be lined up. He looked at her with an almost lost expression.
"But how the hell am I supposed to tell the good from the bad? Who the hell am I to decide?"
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Kella
Fire and Blood
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Fire cannot kill a dragon.
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last online Oct 30, 2014 9:41:46 GMT -5
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Apr 17, 2013 0:40:45 GMT -5
Post by Kella on Apr 17, 2013 0:40:45 GMT -5
Grizzelda laughed. "You find the answer that lets you sleep the best at night and then you try not to think about it again. Philosophizing won't do you any good if you're dead. So you keep yourself alive first, and worry about the rest second."
She wasn't particularly fond of that herself. There had been a time in her life where she just didn't care, where she could have slept through genocide. Most teenagers could, it was a side-effect of being self absorbed. Children were terrible people. Somewhere on the road to maturity she'd been forced into confronting some less appealing aspects of herself and that was always an uncomfortable process.
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Dutch
Darth Awesome, Specialist at Everything
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Apr 17, 2013 12:25:19 GMT -5
Post by Dutch on Apr 17, 2013 12:25:19 GMT -5
Dutch nodded to Grizzelda's response, one that he had learned was quite typical of the enigmatic woman. He suddenly began to pedal back before a lunge to the left was followed by him bringing the pistol in a two handed grip.
Clear that the tactic wouldn't work, Dutch leaped to the right to avoid any counter attack by the woman. Which caused his legs muscles to scream in protest, but he fought against the biting pain of his agonizing atrophied muscles.
"And what's your answer Grizz?"
He growled before and attempt to line her up in the pistol's sights, only to fail once more. Dutch's face would scrunch as a new severe cramp seared its way up his arm, and he quickly fell to one knee to grab onto the spasm that gripped his neck and shoulder.
Dutch looked up at Grizzelda through one squinted eye. His hand worked to rub down the muscle (wrongly) and his breath was ragged.
"What lets you sleep best at night?"
His answer had always been alcohol. That was no longer an option. Which meant the man would have to figure out something new.
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Kella
Fire and Blood
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Fire cannot kill a dragon.
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last online Oct 30, 2014 9:41:46 GMT -5
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Apr 17, 2013 15:58:17 GMT -5
Post by Kella on Apr 17, 2013 15:58:17 GMT -5
Grizzelda narrowed her eyes at Dutch until she was satisfied that his discomfort was genuine. She ran an analytical gaze over his posture, stepping around behind him.
"This is the release point you want to hit," she said, pressing deeply into the spot with the heel of her hand. She could feel the muscle spasming, the kid really was a wreck. A kid what, two, maybe three years younger than she was. She huffed a silent laugh at that, finding the other end of the muscle with her off hand. He had a long way to go if there was any hope of him not embarrassing himself in combat.
Just when it seemed as if she had ignored the question, "I follow my gut. Hasn't lead me wrong in a long time."
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