Kill or be Killed

[Minuteman75]

​

Rens Ahim was starting to wonder why he keeps coming back to this dust ball of a world. That was made more agonizingly clear with the stubborn Sullustan merchant he was dealing with at a wooden stall, within this small outpost on Tatooine

"Three hundred credits for that junk." She said in an tone filled with annoyance aimed square at Rens who was feeling the same way right now. He held a box with both hands, containing a small shield generator and a collection of a protocol droid's spare parts. Granted half of the parts were rusty Rens expected a better price for the generator at least since it was workable. Pretending to smile Rens replied.

"Come on, the generator is worth twice that. How about six hundred."

"Me not a fool boy. My stall, my rules, take that crap somewhere else if you don't like it."

Grunting in amounting frustration the Mon Cal fired back.

"You're ripping me off you overgrown Jawa!"

Not impressed with the young man's outburst, the tan cloaked merchant crossed her arms together with a stern face then said. "Four hundred no more. You won't get better deal." Scowling spitefully, Rens murmered fine and gave the stash to her then was handed his cheap reward. Could've swore he saw a smug glint in the Sullastan's expression, another reminder why most people don't take him seriously. Turning around Rens stormed away from the spot inside the makeshift marketplace.

A smuggler's life can be interesting or frustrating, depending on the situation, Rens had come to realize. Right now it was the latter, honestly selling crap for cheap prices wasn't what he strive for in life. Yet it didn't change facts to the Mon Cal that he needed money to get by with, in order to keep flying in an galaxy that's becoming more screwed up with the big war going on. That was on his mind, when mutitple gunshots rang out nearby, several people screaming for dear life. Pulling out his blaster pistol from a hostler to the hip. Rens dove for cover behind a broken speeder and looked out and saw a large host of Tuscan Raiders charging at the outpost's entrance, armed with projectile rifles and gaderffi sticks, uttering their fierce battle cries.

Meanwhile various people, shoppers and merchants alike were panicking and running in all directions. Some defiant souls took shelter wherever they could from the increasing gunfire and fired back.

Jacob Flores

 

[JDF]

The drink that Jaycob was sipping tasted like metal grease. However, it helped him get over the fact that The Accord was disbanded. After he drained it down, he asked for another.
"Where's your I.D.?" the bartender asked examining Jaycob up and down. Jaycob felt chills run up his spine, he was't old enough to be having these drinks. He pulled off his backpack searching though it, pretending to find his I.D.

"Uhh, seems like I left it back with my speeder" Jaycob replied. The bartender stared him down.

"Get out" he said, "before I call authorities" as if he's seen this before. Jaycob took a heavy sigh and grabbed his belongings. As he got up he realized that everybody was staring.

"How embarrassing" he thought. When the sliding door opened, he was welcomed with the burning hot twins suns of Tatooine. He turned left and headed toward the empty backlot that was supposed to be a makeshift parking lot and opened his speeder's storage compartment. Inside was everything he had: weapons, spare clothes, and the keys to his ship. He placed his backpack, full of credits, inside the compartment and closed it. As he turned around, he saw three bulky, well-armed men. All three pointing their blasters at him. Jaycob knew what was coming next.

"I'll save you the trouble" he said re-opening his storage comaprtment. He glanced at his backpack and at his blaster rifle deciding what he would do next.

But then, shots fired behind him.

"Am I dead?" he thought looking down at his body to see any blaster holes. He couldn't find any and turned around. The 3 culprits were turned the other way as well as if looking for something. The familiar war cry of the Tusken Raiders rang about and Jaycob decided to grab his blaster rifle. Un-armed civilians ran away screaming while the rest of the bar barged out with blasters in hand.

"Another war is about to start in such a sandy dustbowl of a planet." he thought as he aimed at the 3 men's backs.

 

[Minuteman75]

Rens had been naturally curious about the Tuscan Raiders ever since he heard about them. A fearsome nomadic race that plagued an already hostile environment, that is pretty exiciting when one hears about it...unless you're at the receiving of an encounter with them. Such is the case for Rens, who stayed behind his impromptu shelter as the unexpected battle enfolded. The young man had been in an number of gunfights and brawls, but noting like a war skirmish and needless to say he was absolutely terrified. Heart racing at seemly light space, Rens Ahim shook uncontrollably, grasping his weapon ever so tightly.

Blaster and projectile shots rang out across the outpost, mixed in with screams, in fear or fury. Remembering what Viridux, his smuggling mentor taught, breath in and out before focusing, Rens began to follow that advice. Once slightly calm enough, Rens Ahim stood his head to peek behind the junk speeder, spotting dozens of Tuskans swarming the outpost. Bringing up the pistol held in both hands, Rens aimed at the nearest one in front, brandishing a gadderff stick and then fired three shots. The first two bolts struck the exposed chest and the last one into the head, a moment later, rendering the raider dead before hitting the ground.

The battle was only beginning...

 

[JDF]

A mixture of red, blue, and green blaster bolts flew passed Jaycob's head. He hopped over the hood of his speeder and took cover behind it. The three muggers that Jaycob encountered earlier were totally focused on the tusken raiders now. Jaycob took the opportunity to pick them off one by one.

"Hehe, shouldn't of done that..." he thought. But, the green blaster bolts, from his gun, grabbed the attention of raiders and they turned there eyes on him. Ptff Ptff the raiders rifles went hitting his speeder, causing it to lose it's anti-gravity powers. Jaycob peeked from cover and saw that 2 raiders were advancing on his position. He pulled up his rifle and shot 4 green laser bolts in their direction. Two of them managed to hit each one; one in the shoulder and one in one's face. The other two missed and headed towards another fighter's (Rens's) direction.

 

[Minuteman75]

Rens downed a second and wounded another, earning the attention of many more to his horror. One pistol isn't going to be enough he realized but that thought when two shots struck at his direction, missing him by a few inches to the head. He ducked away, swearing in fright and turned toward the direction of those shots, that's when the Mon Cal saw the rifleman in an more speeder. While still pissed at being shot at, accident or not, Rens Ahim knew saw an opportunity.

Rushing toward Jaycob's position, Rens then used his jet boots to leaped straight into the vehicle, feet first next to the human. It hurt the legs but he can deal with it. Turning to Jaycob he quickly said. "Safety in numbers."

Then he focused back to shooting at the raiders.

 

[JDF]

Jaycob was too busy shooting at the raiders to notice that another being just launched right next to him.

"Safety in numbers" Jaycob heard. That grabbed his attention. He turned to look at the Mon Cal and realized that he was a friend, at least for now. Friend or not, they had a problem on their hands, the raiders. There were still 15+ of them in the small village and there were no signs of retreat. One by one, villagers were being shot down. Jaycob's speeder was broken and there was only one way to get out of this mess, fight his way through. He peeked over his speeder and fired shots over and over towards the raiders. 3 fell to his green bolts.

"Alright, but what's your plan on getting out of here?"

 

[Minuteman75]

"Plan? My plan is simply. get the frak out." Rens replied trying to sound more confident than he actually felt and hide the fact he didn't know how they will survive this unfolding massacre. The sand people were proving their reputation, routing what disorganized resistance existed inside this outpost, he can hear people cry in both pain and death. His blaster overheated from constant fire and couple of the raiders were about to encircle Jaycob and him at their position. Rens Ahim didn't really want to die to be some savage's dead prize. Pulling out his only stun grenade and igniting it, Rens said.

"Cover your eyes!"

Then he tossed it in front of the attackers and followed his own advice. It give off a bright flash, halting them in their tracks as they howl in pain. Then he looked over and saw the nearby bar was still holding out, its occupants turning the establishment into a mini fortress. Grasping Jaycob across the shoulders he murmured. "Hold on."

Then he lifted them both up backward with his jet boots, toward the bar. They smashed through the reminding intact window in the front by the left side, shocking the survivors as they crashed upon a table.

Well glad that worked but man it hurts like hell. Rens thought, groaning with his back spiked in agony.

 

[JDF]

Both blindness and pain plagued Jaycob's body. One second he's behind his speeder using it for cover and now he's laying on his back atop a table with shattered glass everywhere. Once his vision was completely cleared, he looked at himself checking for any damage. Nothing. The mysterious acquaintance had just saved his life.

Blaster fire came from both front and behind so he got up and pulled the other man off the table and dragged him to cover. Jaycob reached for his blaster rifle but it wasn't there anymore. He started looking around the bar for it and glanced outside towards the sand people.

"Damn" he thought. His blaster was lying on the ground across the way. Luckily, he had his sidearm still in his holster. He pulled it out and started returning fire outside. The bartender and another armed civilian were shot to the ground leaving only him, the acquaintance, and 2 other drunken shooters left. He had to think fast. There were two entrances to the place: one leading out to the open battleground and one leading to an alleyway. He decided to escape through the obvious route. So, he pulled up the acquaintance onto his back and handed the disoriented Mon Cal his pistol.

"Don't worry, I'll get us outta here. But trust goes both ways, don't shoot me in the back alright? The name's Jaycob."

 

[Minuteman75]

In pain but alive for the moment Rens smiled briefly, thinking of the stunt he just made. Complex plans may not be Rens' thing but improvising was his strong suit. The Mon Calamari murmured thanks as his new compatriot pulled him back up then gave his fallen gun. Once Jaycob spoke, offering a deal and introducing himself, the other smuggler panting, nodded then said.

"Fair enough, I'm Rens Ahim. Now let's go already, I'm not staying for some Tuskan victory party."

Then Rens followed Jaycob to the back door, limping and swearing in words from both Huttese and Laithraic.

 

[JDF]

Both of them ran outside thorugh the alleyway and came to a side street. What would normally be filled with speeders, the road was at a halt thanks to the tusken raid. Since Jaycob gave Rens his other blaster, he was unarmed. He would have to rely on Rens to clear the way. They ran farther down the street and farther into the town. More screaming civilians and armed vigilantes poored out of the different buildings. Jaycob stopped one of them and asked,

"Is there a securiy building or an armory of some sort around here?"

The man replied, "No, but there is a weapons shop not too far from here." motioning towards his back. Then, he ran past the two and toward the tusken raiders. Jaycob flicked with his head to the direction of the weapons shop telling Rens to follow. Jaycob needed to get his hands on another weapon and fast. He wasn't going to run around the town unarmed with an army of raiders breathing on their necks. While running, Jaycob tried to think of a way to get out of town.

"Once I get another blaster, we're gonna head towards the spaceport. My ship is parked there already and we'll get out of this dustbowl. Once we're in my ship, I'll take you to wherever you need to go and we'll call it a day, ok?"

 

[Minuteman75]

Rens kept focus on running, he really didn't want to find out what Sand People really do to captives. Of course that is assuming if they let him live, he told himself silently. Body was still sore but Rens maintain pace with Jaycob, as they ran for the weapons shop. Once Jaycob made his newest offer, the Mon Cal replied.

"Thanks but I got my own ship in the port too. I'm with ya till then."

A bullet nearly missed his left foot, hitting the sand instead. Rens yelled in fright. "Crap!"

 

[JDF]

Once they arrived at the gunsmith, the doors were closed. The owner left a sign that said, "Gone Hunting". Jaycob found some amusement and let out a little smirk. However, the Mon Cal wasn't impressed. Seeing the look he gave him made him uncomfortable.

"Uhh, we'll have to find another way in"Jaycob said walking towards the back side of the store. Once at the back door, he kicked it open to reveal a dark storage room. There were racks and shelves full of spare parts, small blasters, and grenades. Jaycob took the opportunity to replenish his ammo supply. After doing so, he opened another door leading into the main show room. He flicked on the light switch to reveal rows of rifles, pistols, and various launchers. Jaycob felt like a kid in a candy store.

"This will make a fine addition to my collection!" he exclaimed pointing to a MP-FRAB 22 blaster rifle. He grabbed it, ripped off the price tag, and loaded the first power cell. The sound made him feel empowered. He felt like he could take out all of the tusken thugs.

"To the landing pads we go!"Jaycob yelled as he kicked open the front door and shot celebratory shots into the air.

 

[Minuteman75]

Breaking into a shop, full of weapons suddenly made Rens feel like it's Life Day all over again. Not usually a freak about guns like Mandos tend to be, the Mon Cal was one for the moment, given the current life of death situation. Like his human counterpart, the other smuggler, looked at the stash, spotting an MST-R Repeating Blaster Rifle. To Rens, it looked like a priceless gem, quickly he took the prize tag off of the gun and took ahold of it.

Like an early birthday present. Rens thought looking down at the rifle, admiring it. Then Jaycob yelled and kicked open the door, in front and Rens followed right after at him. Just as Jaycob fired in the air in celebration, several Tuskans from the front, spotted them and rushed forward, blaring their club-like sticks. Taking off the safety, Rens opened up with an autonomic burst into their midst.

 

[JDF]

As the tusken raiders charged towards the two protagonists, Jaycob realized that shooting in the air wasn't a good idea. He saw Rens fire some suppressing fire and did the same, slowly walking backwards towards the hangar and ship platforms. After about 5 minutes of constant fire, Jaycob's gun ran empty. He exchanged power cartridges quickly and tapped Rens on the shoulder suggesting they should vacate the area.

Once they reached the hangar, the duo came upon a dilemma. The hangar was transformed into a makeshift FOB for the villagers. Jaycob didn't realize how massive the situation had become until now.

"This is way out of hand" he said, running past a barricade with mounted gun detachments. He had to find his ship. Jaycob looked all around trying to remember where he parked the blasted thing. He kept running until he heard the gun detachment barricade open fire and mixed screams of both villagers and raiders. For some reason, the raiders were following them everywhere. What could they possibly want? Jaycob didn't have anything of value to the uglies.

Then, the firing stopped and the raider screams continued. The villagers failed to keep the raiders out.

"So much for an FOB. Where's your ship? I think it might be time to go our seperate ways my friend." He yelled back towards the Mon Cal. The raiders were closing in fast and his ship was in sight. The plan would be, once Jaycob got in his ship, he would provide covering cannon fire for Rens as he made his way to his own ship. Then, they'll leave the burning dustbowl of Tatooine behind. However, HIS plans don't always go smoothly.

 

[Minuteman75]

Rens' new gun overheated due to the latest skirmish, he had no problem following Jaycob again away from a fight. He panting more harder at this point from the constant running and fighting they keep finding themselves in.

Breathing hard, he ignored the barricades, beyond knowing how to pass through it. I need a drink...a real solid one if I make it through this. Rens considered. When his newfound friend, stopped Rens panicked, worried that the raiders will swarm the place soon.

When Jaycob, spotted his ship and bid his farewell Rens said.

"My ship is close by on the right. See ya around Jaycob, owe you a beer next time we meet."

Then without hesitation, Rens Ahim used what last bit of adrenaline he had left for his destination just as the raiders were advancing from behind.

 

[JDF]

Jaycob fired up his engines to his starship and aimed his cannons towards the raiders, and fired. The explosions of both barrels of fuel and raider bits were a magnificent sight. He covered Rens as he made his way to his own ship. Jaycob turned his coms to Rens' channel.

"One more thing, where'd you get those rocket boots from? I wanna get some of my own." Jaycob said in a comedic tone. But in all seriousness, he was determined to find out where he could get his hands on the gear because they could really help out in a pinch. But more importantly, he was looking forward to seeing his newly found friend again. He turned towards the sunset and warmed up his hyperdrive. Til next time Rens...

 

[Minuteman75]

Rens was screaming the word crap repeatedly as explosions ignited at his rear. He didn't dare look back, while activating his ship's ramp and it lowered. He didn't stop until reaching the cockpit, strapping in. Then he activated the freighter, closing the ramp and started to lift off. Surprisingly he received a call from Jaycob asking of all things where to get rocket boots. Bad time to ask was Rens' opinion but he answered instead;

"Nar Shaddaa, at a shop owned by a guy named Zarin. Gotta go bye."

Done with shopping questions and sand people, Rens Ahim ascended from the spaceport and flew away, thrusters speeding away. Once he was in the sky, far from any dirt loving savages, Rens breathed a big sigh of relief. Then he felt something wrong and glanced down at his pants...now wet. At first the smuggler was horrified but slowly and surely he started to laugh.

"Kriff, I pissed myself. Well that's one for the memories, embrassing as it is."

(OOC: The End)​