Gunpowder and Lead (Vexmun)

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

This…oh this was just brilliant. Frelling brilliant. Ixor had just made THE worst move he could have ever made.

With new dents, nicks, blaster bolt scorches, bruises and a burning bolt injury in the space of her shoulder joint, the blue and black armored form of Italia Phelan turned quite a few heads as she all but stormed through the Spec. Ops. base. If her helmet had been on, hiding those flashing green eyes and fiery red hair, people might have laughed as she passed. Some of the stupid ones did. With that modified czerka rifle slung over her shoulder as she paused, bristling, to glare at them the chuckling, snickering, and laughing swiftly stopped. A few of the luckier ones got an explanation of who she was as she continued on her way once again. That REALLY tended to make people stop laughing at the petite mando that looked ready to murder.

She was.

If she hadn’t sworn to Daryn on just about everything she ever cared about that she wouldn’t go face Ixor on her own she wouldn’t have bothered coming back here at all. Here she was, though, come to get the impossibly flashy man who’d commed her at the WORST of times that he was on his way back. May as well pick up extra ammo, some grenades, her scope, her silencer, some throwing knives, her daggers…oh yes, she was ready to wage a one woman war.

This was personal.

He wants a fight, well now he’s got one…he ain’t seen me crazy yet. He don’ know what’s waitin’ for ‘im this time…that piece of osik caught me off guard last time. Not this time. The thought crossing through her mind caused those vibrant eyes to flash with an almost eerie green fire. The harsh lighting of the base glinted and flickered on her hair, the beads holding it clicking together and clacking along the front of her breastplate. It hadn’t been more than fifteen minutes since she’d sent the very last goon…that damned trandoshan…running back to his master: the red skinned dar’manda dog, Ixor, with all but a declaration of war, but it felt like an eternity to her. She simply couldn’t move fast enough right now…and it only built up the already roaring fire in her heart. Right about now, if the trandoshan got in contact with the di’kut piece of osik swiftly enough, Ixor would be arming the rest of his men to the teeth…if he knew what was good for him. Rounding a corner, her black combat boots thudded heavily along the sterile tile and metal of the floor, armor glinting with fresh blood and covered in dust from the streets of the outpost just outside of the base grounds.

The strap of her rifle dug into the joint of her armor causing a sting of curses in mando’a to roll off her tongue just as she passed another group of soldiers walking the other direction. The grins and amused looks they gave her earned them a barked “what’re ya grinnin’ at ya gorram di’kutla?! Get on with ya!” As if seeing a 5’ 4” red haired woman storming down the hall and cursing under their breath hadn’t been funny enough to them, her angry words topped everything. It was a shame really…the first one to laugh had a fist in his face faster than he could think to move, blood beginning to drip from the broken thing. Without a second glance she turned and continued on her way, leaving behind several…very stunned…men. With an almost amused sounding grunt, Lia decided that Bane could just bite her for punching one of his men.

’Least I didn’ shoot ‘im…

Her growled retort to her inner musings came just as she punched in the code to the landing pad the Ante had been using. Stepping through the door as it slid open, she swiped at the new blood speckling her glove before pulling her rifle from her shoulder. Something seemed to be going her way, however, as the Ante had already landed…though…by the sound of the engine and the fact the ramp was still up, it had only just arrived. Another log was added to the fire…of course…more time wasted having to wait for the ramp to lower! The code was swiftly tapped in with one hand as the other pulled her rifle from her shoulder, and one foot tapped impatiently. Soon as she was able to get a foot up on the ramp, she was up and in…not even allowing the thing to near the ground.

Revenge was calling and she didn’t have the patience to wait another moment.

Dar! If yer comin’ with me, ya best get your gear fast! I'm leavin’ with or without ya in no less than five minutes!

…Swear I’mma kill that hut’uun dar’manda an’ slaughter the rest of his thugs if it kills me in the process…

Those first words had been shouted out to him as the furious woman swept down the hall and into “her bunk,” dropping the rifle lightly on the bed, and pulling her weapons pack (the few items she had left to call her own, the rest having been lost with the Star aside from one other pack of clothing) from underneath and dropping it on the bed. The last statement had been more to herself than Daryn as she pulled her daggers from the pack, the sets of throwing knives, the straps that sheathed them, the few grenades she had left, her silencer and scope…then swiftly began strapping them on. No doubt that, as she began layering the weapons on, Daryn would be reminded of what she looked like before she had left on the Shogun mission…only slightly more…murderous.

[Vex]

Dar was feeling pretty good. His ship had gotten fixed. Not only that, but it had gotten fixed by reputable people with acceptable equipment and solid understandings of the craftsmanship involved. They'd been willing to listen to his concerns and work with him to get the ship back up to par...and he'd worked them into a deal so that it was much lower than expected costs. All in all, Ante Up was feeling like a mighty fine ship...the kind that would take care of you for the rest of your days.

Of course, he didn't know that a spitfire mando'ika with red hair and more attitude than altitude was about to get ready to drag him through hell and tarnation. Those days might be pretty gorram limited.

Hell, the ship was still settling down on her landing struts when the system screen notified him that someone was accessing the exterior control panel. She keyed the ramp sequence before he'd even had a chance to.

Something told him that wasn't a good sign....

Vaulting from the pilot's chair, he'd make his way down the hall, hearing her trump up to her room and those shouted words. He also caught just a flash of crimson and armor as she stormed into the bunk that she kept her stuff in. It was hers...but considering the fact that she spent most of her nights in his, it was really just a storage locker with a bed.

He slipped into the room behind her as she was going through that gear and beginning to strap it on. Green eyes widened considerably as he took her in. The woman looked like she'd gone through hell. Last time he'd seen her this banged up, they'd just gotten done landing unintentionally on Shogun for the second time. She was already gearing up. He swore in a couple different dialects and moved toward her, risking an act of bearding the angy Krayt by making her turn to him. She was bloody as all heck. She needed the wounds bandaged at least or no manner of adrenaline and anger was going to keep her from passing out from bloodloss eventually.

When she'd invariably fight him, he'd headbutt her to get her attention. "Lia....LIA! ITALIA! We gotta get you patched up first or you're going to pass out from blood loss right when you need to be your best, utreekov mando'ika. Come on, verd, if you act out of anger and don't prep properly, you're playing right into his game. It's a good day for someone else to die."

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

After the day she’d had, touching her before saying something was about the worst idea anyone could do. It was a damn good thing that Daryn was fast as hell. As he moved to turn her, she rounded with a fist aimed for his head…unfortunately, that fist also had a dagger in it. Fortunately, Lia was (surprisingly) thinking clearly enough to realize that it was Daryn and pull the punch before the blade did any damage. That pull back allowed him the room he needed to come through and headbutt her hard enough to curse over the first few words he said. Good thing it was only her name. Those curses died down enough for her to…mostly…hear what he had to say. Patch up? Bloodloss?

Dammit Daryn, you know how stupid that was of you ta do? And hell fire, Dar, one bolt in the shoulder an’ a few cuts ain’t gonna make me bleed out. The rest are nicks or blaster grazes. Ain’t nothin’ I haven’t fought through before. You remember how I looked after Coruscant? Yeah…that was bad…this isn’t bad. That I nearly passed out from, this I won’t. Didn’ pass out after Shogun, did I? No. Now get a move on Flyboy, or I'm leavin’ you behind.

She turned back to her gear, slipping the dagger into its place before pulling her two vibrodaggers and slipping them into sheaths at the back of her belt. The scope was carefully slid into place and secured down before laying the gun on the bed and folding her arms, turning to give him a dangerous look. Despite her words, it seemed his actions had at least gotten her slowing down at least a bit.

Look…the more time we waste the more prepared he’ll be. His goons may be nothin’ more than pirates, but HE was a trained member of the Mandalorian military. He ain’t stupid and now, unfortunately, he knows I'm alive.

A quiet sigh was given and she shook her head, turning back to her pack and debating for a moment. With a grim look, she reached in and pulled out her silencer and a small wooden case. Slipping the silencer into a pouch on her belt, she picked up the case and gazed down at it stonily. How long had it been now? Four years…four years she’d been carrying this box…and she was lucky it had survived the death of the Ghost Star. It wasn’t much to look at, really, just a small wooden case that fit in the palm of her hand and was just tall enough to house the two coils of leather and one set of beads within. Flipping the latch open, she lifted the top of it and pulled out the strand of beads and clipped the brown strap around her neck before adjusting it so that it fit below her bodysuit and armor fairly comfortably. The second strap of leather…that she pulled out and held between her teeth as she put the box back again. Picking up her rifle again, she settled herself on the bed, the stock resting on the deck of the Ante and the barrel pinned between her knees as she attached the leather (with surprisingly meticulous care) along side the other tassels that hung near the muzzle of it. It didn’t take long for her, the strip of leather had been prepped for what seemed to be quite a while, and the action seemed to be a well practiced one.

I don’t want you to go with me, Daryn.

At last it seemed that she had, at least partially, slowed down…her mood having gone from outright death and destruction to…a more subtle and grim version of death and destruction. Still blazing emerald eyes dulled and hardened in turns as she eyed the small display that hung from her rifle. The feathers and shells and teeth and even a Krayt Dragon scale from her various exploits, all hanging along side the various colors and shapes and makes of beads. Each strand as long as the one she had around her neck, except doubled over to create two halves…the leather strip she’d just attached held the same appearance…except with a decided lack of beads. It was the only empty strand attached to the weapon…and one she was looking to fill. Looking up at Daryn, she gazed at him as steadily as she had the trinkets on her rifle.

[Vex]

He'd moved back, reacting to that punch. Reflex was with her on that end...he wouldn't have had a pretty time with it if she hadn't pulled the punch...but chicks dig scars, right? Especially Mando chicks. Oh well, that could wait for another day. Or later this day, given how things were looking with them. She was hell-bent on hunting this nemesis down now, injuries be damned. At least she managed to slow down a little, think a little clearer. If she acted out of anger, she was just going to play into the man's hands. He knew that. Rash decisions rarely caused positive results, as he'd so recently learned on Shogun. "We're already outgunned and we don't have surprise any more. I'd rather you not be playing this game with a handicap if you don't have to, whatever level of Mandalorian stubbornness you may have. Even if they aren't organized, neither are we right now. You can arm yourself to the teeth, but if you aren't thinking clearly, you're going to wind up blinding yourself and winding up dead. I ain't for having you dead."

At her final words, he shook his head vehemently. He'd seen her pull out that box...watched her with those strands as she moved in an almost ritualistic fashion. He sat next to her, holding that gaze of hers. Those eyes had steel behind them, hardened like beskar as he glared back at her. "I dun care what you want, Lia. Not on this. You aren't doing this by yourself and if you try, I will knock you out and fly you back to Concord Dawn myself, all trussed up and with a bow on top so yer buir can beat some common sense into you. I'm sure she will, eventually. You want rid of me, you can have it after I've fulfilled my promise to her to watch your back and keep you alive through this."

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

And you think I don’ know all of this, Dar? Gorram…look I know I'm not the sharpest, but I'm not stupid either. We’re moving and moving now…since I obviously can’t get you ta stay here…but I'm not sayin’ we go in guns blazing and gettin’ ourselves shot in the arse either.

Standing, she slung the rifle over her shoulder and turned to look at him with a slight shake of her head. Stupid man was gonna get himself killed…well, he’d lasted this long in the smuggling profession, had to have run across pirates before so at least he knew what they were up against and could take care of himself. He was to hoping those stun rounds would do the job, though. Personally, she never trusted the setting…but that was just her. Ah well, seems she’d have to have her eyes on him as well as everywhere else…just in case.

Come on then…we still have to track them through the forest and get a feel for where they’re nestled before we do anything and the sun won’t wait. Don’t wanna be caught in the jungle without knowing just where they are, so grab what you need and let’s get a hustle on.

It was true, at any rate, that the sun wouldn’t wait for them. When she’d gotten back to the base it had been heading toward the horizon. While she was fairly sure that they wouldn’t happen upon the pirates unexpectedly, she didn’t want to take chances and the sooner they got working on the trail while it was still fresh the better. She and the matukai had sent more than a few of them on their way to Manda, and others had limped off all in the same general direction of the trandoshan, but even with blood and injuries to make the trail more visible, that didn’t factor in animals that might scramble the signs while hunting the very same men because they were attracted to the scent of the blood.

[Vex]

"Don't worry...I already planned ahead for running headlong into assisted suicide. I've already got a pack ready. Give me five minutes to change." He didn't fully believe that she wouldn't go in guns blazing if she thought it would get the job done. He would like to think that he had gotten through to her before...and with everything else, but he really couldn't be sure.

After all...last time he'd been sure about something with her, he'd found out that she really wanted Solus'ad, not him. If she thought that she had a sure way to get Ixor if she traded her life for it, he believed she'd take it.

He had to make sure she didn't get the chance. He'd given an oath to her mother...and he intended to keep it. If they survived this...he'd get her back home, back to her clan and her family. They could help her with the rest. She'd have peace...maybe...hopefully, and be back with the people that cared about her.

Then he'd leave. He didn't hold any illusions this time that what they'd shared since he'd saved her were anything but the heat of the moment. They weren't going to be anything more...he wasn't the right "kind", after all...

He wasn't Mando'ade.

He dressed quickly once he got into his room...His jacket lightly armored to at least provide some defense. He picked up the light pack with provisions and threw it over his shoulder. He checked his blaster and its charge, along with the spares at his belt. He had everything he'd need.

"Let's get this over with..."

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

Of course he had planned ahead…it honestly didn’t surprise her at this point that he had. She wasn’t exactly the most difficult person to figure out, and he was intelligent as hell. Daryn knew…he knew she couldn’t, and wouldn’t, let go of this opportunity to close off a painful portion of her past, heck…he’d been the one to use it to get her onto the Ante instead of dieing. He may not have known all the reasons for it, but he knew enough about her to know that this wasn’t something she could just let sit. She’d told him that Ixor had confessed to killing her father, and likely knew (to some degree) that he was the reason the Star had been hers. He’d confessed to talking to her mother before he’d left Concord Dawn, and while Italia hadn’t told her buir everything that had happened or all of why, Kiva knew enough, and was wise enough to have put more of the pieces together than Lia wanted to admit.

Nodding to his words, she pulled her rifle over her back and checked her gear once more. It really didn’t take long for her to recheck the bandolier, belt and blaster holster, her hands automatically running along the various weapons tucked away in their various places and making sure that everything was in order. She’d restocked and cleaned her weapons and armor when she’d come back from her little outing into Dxun’s jungles while he’d been away getting the Ante fixed up. Of course, the armor was scuffed and scratched, bloodied and muddied again after the fight not long ago…but the things she’d picked up and stored away for his return were still all there and her rifle hadn’t been used, all its dirt and blood had been acquired today as well. Assured that everything was in place, she headed out of the Ante and to the storage locker she’d temporarily hijacked to keep her gear in while waiting for Daryn’s return.

Keying in the code for it, she pulled out the extra munitions, replacing the empty spaces on her bandolier and belt. Extra ammo for her rifle, blaster cartridges, flash-bangs, a smoke bomb or two in one pouch, a few missing throwing knives replaced…the rest of her resupply, of course, was carried back into the Ante and sorted through to store away. He would return to find her doing just that, sorting through the rest of what she’d gathered, squirreling away some items while placing others in a small pack. She barely heard him enter as she sifted through the last of it, placing the last medical supplies in the pack. It was busy work, really, making sure she had the pack she’d taken with her out into the wilds repacked, resupplied, and ready to go. Lia knew she probably could have gotten by without doing it, but Daryn had been right…they needed to be as ready as they could be for whatever might be waiting and rushing out wasn’t going to help. So, instead of just grabbing her half supplied pack and waiting impatiently for him, she’d decided to do something on the more intelligent side and repack, making sure she had everything they might need (short of food, which she could hunt out easily enough) for a couple of days…if it came to that.

“Let’s get this over with…”

Turning to look at him finally, she nodded a bit, eying the new coat half curiously. It certainly wasn’t the typical hot-rod flyboy jacket she was used to seeing him in, and she mildly wondered ‘why the change?’ For a moment green eyes lingered on his before she closed her pack and slung it over her shoulder. He was good at hiding how he felt most of the time, but she could tell this whole thing was eating away at him…there was just this look about him. Walking over she’d gently tug on the open flaps of his coat near his chest. Her brow furrowed for a moment as she felt the armoring in it, before smiling slightly up at him. ”Armored, eh?”

That…hadn’t been what she’d meant to say to him, but…well, that was what had come out at the unexpected feeling under her fingers.

[Vex]

He looked back into her eyes as she stared at him, taking in his form as he entered once more. He watched her move over to him and take those flaps in her hands. He knew she'd be able to feel the plates of armor woven into that jacket. It wasn't what he'd normally wear...wasn't as flashy as he normally went. He knew that. Normally, however, he didn't have a reason to use it. Even on Shogun...if he'd needed it then, he'd have been in some serious crud. That wasn't to say, however, that he never thought ahead or attempted to prepare for contingencies that might come up.

Besides...he still did attempt to do freelance bounty hunting ever now and then. It was less now and more then, but it was still applicable. The jacket had come in handy in the past...and come to think of it...he probably should have used it more often lately.

Ever since he'd met her...actually.

At her surprise and her words, he'd shrug slightly. "Had it laying around. Figured it might come in handy now since I'm volunteering for suicide missions in order to keep cute, slightly crazy redheads from getting themselves killed."

He flashed his usual, teasing grin and bumped his forehead against her own in a "kiss". He pulled away then, tightening up the straps on his pack and arching a brow at her. "Ready when you are, Red."

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

That comment, followed by his typical roguish grin, earned him a sigh and a shake of her head. At least he had something slightly protective on. It made her worry just a little less for him. His mirshmure’cya, that keldabe kiss, had her almost wishing she could just turn her back to Ixor and forget all of this idiocy…just go on with life. He was just too much of a threat to do that with, though, and if she didn’t make sure he was good and dead now, he’d make sure she was good and dead later. As he pulled away and gave her that look, she avoided his eyes, picking up her helmet and putting it on with a quiet snap as she attached it to the rest of her suit.

”Right, let’s get a move on then…just be sure to watch yourself, Dar, okay? Gedet’ye?” The vocabulator didn’t let much through in the way of emotion, but the addition of that one ‘please’ at the end was sure to make her point clear enough even without it as she squeezed his shoulder on the way past him.

------------------------------------

The jungles of Dxun were not pleasant.
They were not kind.
They were not safe.

If people learned nothing else about Dxun, those were the three things they needed to learn, or they’d never make it off alive.

Italia had been forced to learn this the hard way quite a number of years ago, so she was able to traverse the thick and harsh jungles with some sort of ease. Not that she would have called it easy…it simply wasn’t. She and Daryn had worked their way into the jungle some time ago and the trail this deep in was beginning to get hazy and mixed up with that of the native creatures. Those very same native creatures were more than happy to be on their trail as well, causing Lia’s head to constantly be turning, eyes moving behind that helmet without resting on one thing for more than a few moments. The closer it got to dark the more anxious she got to find the pirates, but it seemed it wasn’t going to work out that way.

As the sun sunk lower in the sky and the jungle was bathed in thick shadows, she huffed a bit and upped the light amplification. ”I'm not sure how much deeper they might’ve gone, and we shouldn’t move on in the dark or we’ll risk running into ‘em on accident. Hope you’ve got something to cover up in, Dar, ‘cause it looks like we’re gonna be out here for the night…”

[Vex]

Daryn was under the impression that sentients had made ships and speeders for a reason. That reason was so they didn't have to go galavanting around through the great wide wilderness like this. When he'd gone camping as part of his youth, it had been to those artificial slopes on Coruscant. It had involved skiing and snow bunnies and when he got tired he went back into the lodge and focused solely on the snow bunnies. That had been a whole different sort of terrain appreciation and exploration.

He was suddenly wishing that he could go back to that sort of wilderness exploration now. He was sore...his feet hurt, his back hurt, he smelled. Lets face it...being a bad mama jamma looked a whole lot easier in the holo vids.

When she spoke and said that they were stopping, he was only too happy to agree. He gave a thumbs up, tiredly, and would go to unshoulder his pack. "Put a thermal blanket in here somewhere....just wish I'd packed an extra set of feet."

Slumping down against a tree, he'd pull out his comm link, checking the signal and keying it once. On the other end, House keyed it twice. They still had a strong signal...and he hoped it stayed that way. There was only one backup plan for this little suicidal mission he'd just agreed to. He just hoped upon hope that it wouldn't have to come to that. Unfortunately...

...he had a bad feeling about this.

That, of course, didn't mean that he didn't rack out like a rock. The exertion of the day had him so tired that he was practically comatose. It wasn't exactly the best thing when you were sleeping in the middle of the Dxun forest, but they were fortunate this night.

In the morning, he was surprisingly rested. That interminable energy reserve had been filled back to the brim and he was ready to go, albeit still slightly sore from the previous day. Checking his gear, he'd do his best to make sure he was packed up and ready to go when she was.


"Let's hope their close....the farther they are away, the farther we've got to walk back."

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

Was she tired? Hell yes. Was she sore? Of course! Could she have gone on another couple of hours? Most likely, but that didn’t mean the city-slicker could. One backward glance at Daryn had told her just about all she needed to know…hence the stop for the night. With a light huff she’d pulled her own pack from over her shoulders and looked up to the nearest tree branches. Before she could say another word, however, he was down on the ground and tinkering with his com. ”Ya know, it’d be safer ta sleep in the tree than on the ground, flyboy. I can’t build a fire with us not knowin’ where those frelling pirates might be.” With a quiet grumble to herself, she knelt down and shifted through her pack for a moment, pulling out several small metal disks and setting them on top. Keying through her gauntlet’s systems, she found what she wanted and picked up the disks, moving to place them at the base of several of the trees that surrounded the one Daryn had decided was home-base for the night.

Well, at least now she’d know if anything decided to creep up on them…though that likely meant she was going to be woken up every five seconds as well. Huffing, she returned to where Daryn was and lowered herself down as well, carefully pulling out her weathered leather poncho and pulling it on to keep out whatever rain or condensation might come during the night. She didn’t even bother talking to Daryn as he was out like a light sooner than she could ever hope to be. Lucky man.

She was also lucky. While the proximity alerts were triggered a few times that evening, pulsing an alarm into her helmet and waking her up, it seemed that most of the creatures of the planet knew better than to come sniffing around…and the ones that did were frightened off easily enough. By the time dawn came around again, she had patched herself up a little and gotten some amount of sleep. She was already up and collecting the disks for her proximity alarm by the time he started stirring, and had already packed them away by the time he’d actually started checking and repacking his own gear.

“Let’s hope their close…the farther they are away, the farther we’ve got to walk back.”

”Perk up, city boy…you wanted to follow me around, you got your wish. You want to keep being around me, get used to walking. At least you’re not in armor, or 13, or both right?”

With that she pulled her hood up over the helmet, picked her gear and rifle back up, and headed deeper into the jungle. It was beginning to sprinkle slightly, but that wasn’t unusual for the tropical moon and chances were it’d let up sooner than later and not get much worse than this. Luckily for Daryn it was only about an hour until clear signs of habitation could be seen here and there in the undergrowth, as well as the occasional shout in the distance. Stopping, Lia glanced around the area, then back up to the tree branches and pointed up. With a swift slice from one of the various daggers she had around her person, a thick vine that had been growing around one of the trees closest to them was cut free and she was testing it to see how much weight it could hold. Certainly it seemed strong enough, so she tempted fate by using it to help her climb up the thick trunk and into the lowest branches, motioning for Daryn to follow.

Sure she made it look easy, but the reality of the situation was that with a hefty pack, a rifle, and a small armory strapped around her person, plus the armor itself…it was a hassle and a half. Part of the idea of climbing up, however, was to get their packs to a semi-safe place where they could leave them and not have them spotted, do a bit of searching, and then come back for them before making their move. Another hope she had was that these particular pirates were as dumb as they seemed to be…and didn’t make a habit of looking up unless they really thought something was up there. With all the fauna around and in the trees as well, chances were they were more likely to assume Lia and Daryn were critters than people. That was the hope anyway.