Ask The Driving Force Behind Motivations

[Korre Belasi]

"You know, I'd usually ask if you wanted to come along with me, but I know how tedious you find these little science meetings." Korre's lips upturned into a smile as she spoke with her assistant, referring teasingly to his distaste for the sort of scientific gathering the Belascan so often loved to attend. The assistant in question, Florin, just shook his head and smiled at his datapad. He didn't need to voice his appreciation or his amusement. "If you could just make sure my ship is ready for tomorrow morning, I'd appreciate that."

A day later, Korre was touching down on Ord Mantell. It wasn't a planet she'd usually visit, but she'd been invited to a convention where they'd be talking about some new technology that'd been developed regarding genome sequences (or something similar like that). The convention was open to the public as well, but her special status meant she'd get to go and rub shoulders with the VIPs and view it separated from the public. She arrived in a cream-colored, silk dress with her hair tied back and pinned up in a braided low bun.

"Miss Belasi, welcome. Right this way," the waiting attendant greeted, gesturing for her to follow through to a door off to the side. She followed the hallway until she reached a balcony overlooking the open convention room. Below she could see all sorts in the crowd, from what looked like field trips of students, to those who'd wandered in off the street out of curiosity, to cleanly-dressed scientist-looking folks of all kinds. She even swore she saw a helmeted figure in the crowd somewhere, but her blue eyes lost the figure as soon as she'd found it.

"Hopefully all goes well!" she commented absentmindedly to whoever was beside her, some well-off looking lady of sorts. The woman agreed, responding with the hopes that "those ruffians off the street" didn't find it necessary to ruin such an event. Korre didn't respond, her eyes trained on the trio making their way on stage.

tag: @TWD26

 

[Rynn Itera]

"Chu'ba'ta..." The voice of a large wooly alien roared through the lower convention room floor. Faces of humans and creatures of all different shapes turned to see the mammoth place a large padded hand on top of a human's shoulder. Spilled electronic parts littered the ground and an astromech could be seen turned over and squeeling as it's little feet pushed left and right, creating a tink...tink..tink... noise as it tried to get itself up right.

"It was just an accident." The human man looked up and stammered, pushing the hand from his shoulder. But, the larger alien's grip only tightened. "It's not my fault your astromech tried to cut around in front of me and now your power converters are kriffed beyond recognition..." The man's voice let out an awkward chuckle as he responded, "What are you going to do...kill me over it?"

The lumbering alien stepped forward and put another hand opposite of the other, gripping both shoulders. Hushed voices escaped the gathering crowd of on-lookers. Some turned their faces out of sheer horror for what they expected to come, while one or two even cheered it on. Even amongst a crowd of scientists, engineers, and researchers violence was something that was seen as a game.

Metal hands pushed through the crowd, stepping towards the large shaggy alien whose back was turned to them. He stood over six feet and the armor along with his athletic frame gave off the impression of a walking tank. The word Mandalorian was muttered in silent breaths as Rynn reached outwards with his gloved hand, tapping against locks of brown fur.

The large creature released the man's shoulders, giving him time to scurry away while the alien wasn't looking. Becoming lost in the crowd. The large snout of the alien tilted as it came into direct contact with the horned helmet and his signature golden visor staring directly at him. "Boo.." The gruff voice of the Mandalorian cracked through his helmet's comms system, causing the mammoth to step back and nearly trip.

But, Rynn reached out with a gloved hand, catching him before he fell. "Rule thirteen," his metal hand pointed upwards towards a floating probe droid which was broadcasting a holographic diorama above the convention floor. One by one the different rules flashed until it came upon Rule 13: All Violence and conflicts are to be handled off of convention premises. Security has authorization of force to stop any and all guests who violate this rule.

The larger alien shook it's head and threw its hands up as it began to grumble in its strange tongue, but the hostility had already subsided. Rynn stepped away from the creature and helped up the Astromech droid which chirped its thanks with a low whistle. The man simply offered a nod and emerged back into the crowd -- A mighty Mandalorian regulated to a glorified convention security guard.

tag: @lizziie

 

[Korre Belasi]

Everyone's attention was grabbed by the furred alien's roar, especially Korre's. She watched, dreading the outbreak of a fight, fingers drumming against the flat metal railing she was leaning up against. She just wanted to see some new developments, not a shit show on the floor below.

Thankfully, someone stepped in. The same helmeted man from before - the one she'd lost sight of in the crowd - reappeared and deescalated the situation with three words. The Belascan immediately felt grateful to the man, and she found herself looking in his direction while he disappeared back into the crowd.

"What a shame. A Mandalorian working as a security guard for a convention," The woman next to her huffed judgemental, earning a side-eye from Korre. "To think they were once considered a terror - a great power! - in the galaxy." She laughed, and a few others joined nearby.

"Well, you have to admit, the getup is intimidating," Korre pointed out. The furred alien, as willing as he'd been to fight minutes ago, had backed down almost immediately at the sight of the Mando. The helmet itself was iconic, and who could have anything but respect for the strength of beskar? Korre would love to get her hands on even the smallest piece to study, but it was outside of her sphere of influence. She was a biological scientist, not a material one.

Before long, now that the commotion was over, one of the trio who had come on stage stepped forward to speak into the mic. "Ladies, gentlemen, others, and aliens! Welcome to Ord Mantell's forty-sixth annual conven-"

Something terrible hit Korre in the middle of the address, and she would've lost her balance if she hadn't been leaning into the railing in front of her. A sense of dread, like a shiver down her spine magnified tenfold, crawled through her skin and widened her eyes. It made her, even if just for a moment, keenly aware of her immediate surroundings, but it was gone within an instant. She felt sick, her world was spinning, and all she could do was stare at the unfocused ground far beneath her.

This was to say, she didn't notice the screams. A man in the midst of the crowd let out a burst of energy from him, screaming nonsense about something terrible. His voice was shrill and panicked, and from his pocket, he drew a blaster and began wildly shooting at those around him. Chaos erupted then, with crowds surging to escape while this man lost his mind. He wasn't the only one, and others unaffected by the surge drew their own blasters in response, muddying the room with blaster fire, bodies, and noise.

Blaster shots whined in the room. Blood stained the floor. It was chaos, and Korre had since passed out, left alone on the balcony while the others around her evacuated.

tag: @TWD26

 

[Rynn Itera]

The crowd's attention turned towards the mainstage of the convention which had been designed to overlook the complex from its floating rotund that slowly shifted in space. All around the complex the probe droids broadcasted the holographic images of the speakers, giving each and every person in the crowd a better look at the festivities that were about to begin. Rynn looked up towards the platform, gazing at the various faces and strangers, only one caught his eye. He paused at his position along the floor and focused on the woman with the flowing red hair and the cream colored dress. Images of his past surfaced in the back of his mind, buried deep in the recesses of his memory. The sound of the jungle, the smells of Nar Shaddaa, the quips, her face -- all of it hit him one after the other.

Streaks of blue holo-light clashed with the amber of his visor, dancing a mini projection of the speaker's face as she begun the opening speech, yet Rynn heard not a word. His mind had still been lost in the nuances of his past, which left him zoned out from the things around him. The Mandalorian lacked that aptitude to feel the echo across the galaxy and with his concentration drawn towards the platform above, he missed the eruption that quickly followed.

First came the shouting and then a hail of red and green streaks sparked across the convention hall as pure chaos erupted. Rynn broke out of his trance and stepped to the side as a crowd of victims began pouring towards the exit. Dozens upon dozens of citizens, guards, and doctors began firing upon each other, striking down each other and those caught in the middle. The Mandalorian reached for the quick release of his blaster pistols, bringing both into his hands as a Rodian came charging towards him with a vibro-machete that he had stolen from a Doctor's booth.

Rynn rolled to the right to avoid the leaping green alien's grasp. A ball of metal flipped and turned upright onto one knee, letting off a single shot towards the alien's chest, striking him down. Though any moment of potential respite faded as a series of blaster fire came spraying towards him, snagging the Mandalorian's left shoulder pauldron once. The green bolt blasted off of it and upwards, sending an immense pressure and scorching heat into his shoulder.

The Mandalorian followed the trail of fire to find one of the teachers had fallen victim of the craze and had taken a blaster rifle from a fallen guard. The Mandalorian cursed beneath his breath as he pulled himself up with a pained cough. He didn't want to kill the woman, though every natural drive in his body told him to do so. With a flick of the switch, he set his blasters to stun and sent out two rings directly towards the woman, hitting her twice with super-hot white pulses. She quickly crumpled to the ground, allowing the Mandalorian to pick her up and slide to the right of a booth.

The sound of crying quickly revealed a series of children huddled beneath the table. The Mandalorian placed the teacher beside the students and paused. The sight of his red and black armor, the horns on his helmet gave a demonic appearance that seemed to strike fear into the children. A twi'lek pushed back against the back of the booth's lower wall, trying to make itself smaller.

"Relax." Empathy came from the raspy voice of the Mandalorian, "She's going to be okay. I won't let anything hurt you." He stood up and took a look around the room. Shooting was still breaking out, but it had begun to move away from the area. "Stay here."

Rynn pulled himself up and looked to the platform above. His hand pressed against the side of his helmet as he spoke in, "Central, does anyone respond?" Nothing came but static. Remember the mission, everything else is secondary. The directives of today began playing through his head, each contingency plan, action, all like a holo-movie that ran in real time. Save the H.V.T.

He aimed his left gauntlet upwards and squeezed his hand into a fist, sending a zipcord that hooked around the floating stage platform. With a press of a button the armored man began slinging upwards the lift. He used the forward momentum to propel himself over the railing and onto the platform with a subtle roll. His head swiveled in a one eighty direction. He found the mysterious Korre passed out with one of the head speakers broken into a frenzy. She had taken to trying to grab the ambassador and push her body from the ledge towards the convention floor below.

With no thought the Mandalorian fired two shots, sending one into her left leg and the second into her rib, impacting her with scorching red heat that sent her falling from the side to the floor below. He stepped forward towards Korre and placed a hand against her neck, checking her pulse. "M'am." His left arm scooped her up and held her close to his chest. If she awoke, she'd find a lightsaber that was attached to his breast plate was practically in her lap. "I'm getting you out of here."

tag: @lizziie

 

[Korre Belasi]

Korre was not asleep, so she did not dream, nor did she recall any significant memories. Instead, an unknown amount of time later, she came back in the arms of- well, someone. She was surrounded by arms of stiff, unmoving plates of armor, and her face was pressed against a breastplate of similar material. Something, a necklace maybe, hung down in front of her, tapping against the plating in stride with whoever was carrying her. She stared at it from under her lashes, eyes barely open, wondering what it could be.

It looked like a necklace, but something about it seemed oddly familiar. It was cylindrical in shape, with an obvious grip, something that looks vaguely like a switch... 'Lightsaber?'

The Belascan's eyes widened, and she was greeted by the sound of panic, blaster fire, and sirens as she fully came back to reality. Rynn would feel the woman stiffen in his arms as she became more and more aware, more and more awake. "What's going on?" she demanded, her hands gripping the man's forearm as if she might simply be dropped at any moment. "Please put me down, I can walk."

The whine of blaster fire whistled by the two of them as a flurry of red blaster bolts hit the wall behind them. "WHY ARE WE BEING ShOT AT?" No more calm Korre. Last thing she'd known, she'd been sick, now she was being shot at while being carried by someone glad in Mandalorian armor.

@TWD26

 

[Rynn Itera]

The Mandalorian propelled adjusted the woman in his arms and holstered his right blaster. He knew he would have limited mobility with Korre against his chest, on top of the added restrictions that would need to be considered to keep her safe. Rynn knew it wasn't going to be an easy task. Her safety is priority, everyone else that can be saved, second. He tapped against the button on his gauntlet, retracting the zipcord back to his forearm, readying it for another launch.

Rynn turned along the platform and began a slight jog, making sure to secure Korre against his chest before reaching out with his right hand to launch the zipcord along a support rail that hung above a maintenance walkway that was a little lower down from the floating stage. He planted the power into his back foot as he let the momentum build up, before pulling up into a slight jump over the railing. The pair swung in a light arc as blaster fire bounced and flashed past their streaking bodies -- Rynn paid this no mind and focused on the task at hand.

One....two....three...four... The seconds counted down in his mind as the pair approached the apex of their swing, and on the fifth second the Mandalorian would snap the zip cord and the pair would begin a fall directly over the metal platform. Rynn brought his legs upwards like a ball as he put both arms around the princess, bracing her for impact. Hard metal plates of the Mandalorian's boots crashed against the metal walkway causing it to buckle and shutter beneath the sudden collision.

Rynn removed his right arm and reached for his sidearm and brought it up to aim, but there was no one on the platform itself. Twenty feet below the sound of blaster fire and yelling could be heard. Bodies littered the convention floor and the sound of shooting seemed to echo from outside the convention building itself -- something was seriously wrong.

"What's going on?" A voice stirred from a stiffened position against his chest, causing Rynn to look down towards the woman with that lifeless amber-clad visor. The Mandalorian's left leg settled against the ground, easing the woman down per her request.

"I don't know," the Mandalorian stated in a low tone from beneath his helmet as he turned his attention back towards the convention floor in search of his next plan. The streaks of blaster fire cracked past their heads, sending the princess into a state of elevated emotion. Rynn didn't seem to react to the shots, making no attempt to dodge or duck. Instead, he aimed his pistol and fired several shots in the direction where the blasters came. His left hand reached out and placed it firmly against the princess's shoulder.

"Relax." Rynn had found himself saying that word more and more as of late, maybe he had grown desensitized or the galaxy itself was growing more unhinged by the day. Probably a mixture of both.

He pushed the thermal optic that was positioned along the side of his helmet, sending a small square down in front of the visor. He adjusted the focus and swept pass the blurry blue images of the hall until he found what looked like a bright red and orange light to the far west reaches of the convention floor. "There..." The Mandalorian's voice trailed as he turned to face the princess directly. "That's where we'll escape from." Rynn could only hope that Korre wouldn't buckle under the pressure of the situation.

tag: @lizziie

 

[Korre Belasi]

"I am about as relaxed as I can be right now," Korre stated, gesturing to the chaos around them, then to herself. It didn't take a genius to see that she wasn't exactly the sort to get involved in the dangerous side of life. She was a scientist - sometimes a politician - and she was certainly not in the sort of shape that would put her a bit at ease in a situation like this. If she was a six foot plus towering, broad-shouldered, mysterious Mandalorian? Maybe her 'relaxed' would be a lot more so.

But - Korre took a deep breath - she could at least keep her head on straight and her wits about her. The Mandalorian pointed out their escape across the convention floor, marked by a flashing orange light. Her eyes followed and settled there before drifting back across the path they'd have to take. There was still a lot going on, and she could only imagine things would get worse the second security reinforcements arrived.

"Okay, let's do this."

Korre took a second to look around for any sort of weapon, settling for a bloodstained holdout blaster that had been tossed aside, probably by a dead person. She leaned over, snatched it into her hands, and tried really hard not to think about how unsanitary touching another person's blood was. "Don't worry about pathogens right now, Korre. Focus."

"Lead the way."

@TWD26

 

[Rynn Itera]

The Mandalorian turned his attention back towards the princess as she slowly regained some form of composure -- the best most normal people could muster in a situation like this. Rynn's head nodded as he pulled himself up, towering over her within his gunmetal grey and red armor. A blaster bolt streaked across hitting off the side of his chest armor and bounced upwards towards the ceiling. "Good."

Rynn's hand reached out and clasped her forearm out of a symbolic sign of respect. There had been so much force behind the movement, and yet the hand gracefully glided along the flesh of her forearm with a subtle tenderness and care. What faced them below was uncertain, but that was the fun of combat in his eyes. He gave her one last look, studying her face from behind that lifeless visor of his. "This is the way."

The Mandalorian turned and removed both his blaster pistols from his side holsters, flicking them into lethal mode. The princess would see the blaster rifle slung around his side, the lightsaber fixed to his lower breast plate, as well as a Kukri style vibroknife that was hooked to his pauldron -- only the visible weapons of a much larger arsenal. Rynn said no words as he jogged forward along the platform, ducking and shifting his massive body weight to miss the shots that snapped in their direction.

When the duo came upon nearly thirty feet left of platform space left, he'd aim his blaster pistols upwards towards the support cords and would fire three shots into each into the far end cables. The metal grating would arch down as the support on that end was lost, creating an opening descent that would provide them ample momentum to make it.

The Mandalorian did not chastise the princess nor question if she even had the capability to make the power slide down the newly created ramp. In his mind, everyone was capable of strength if they were willing to show it. Show me what you got, princess. He thought to himself as he shifted his feet to their sides and bent his knees a bit, allowing the momentum of his bodyweight and armor to begin gliding him down in an upright position.

As the feet left the metal he pulled his knees upward and braced for impact onto the convention floor. His eyes closed as he counted the seconds down, and once the crunch of the floor below was heard he'd pop his body upwards, letting the momentum create a subtle bounce back to his feet. Rynn aimed his blasters and fired three shots, striking two guards who had fallen mad. But, the third shot went crashing into the side of a booth as he felt momentum against his back as he was pushed forward violently.

Rynn crashed into the floor and rolled onto his stomach to see the large alien from before come lumbering towards him. He used the strength of his arms to shuffle himself backwards a bit along his back, creating enough space so that as that alien overextended it's legs to try and reach for him. The Mandalorian's left leg wrapped around the stout leg like a snake, locking itself into place as he sent a powerful leg kick from his right.

The beast roared as it felt backwards with a snapping sound coming from the locked leg, which allowed for Rynn to roll himself upwards and to aim the blaster to the creature's head. There was no hesitation or thought, a kill shot was sent straight through the head. The chaos around him though had not subsided and more blaster fire had already been directed their way.

Rynn slid from the body, his heart rate elevated, and gave the princess a subtle nod as she made her way down the ramp in whatever fashion befit her. He ducked low avoiding a few stray shots and motioned her to do the same. "Do you know how to fire that?" He asked at her newly acquired blaster. There was a smile beneath his helmet, even the gruff raspy response gave it away. "The safety is on," his right hand reached out, taking her wrist and guiding it back towards the switch. With a gentle press of his hand against hers, he'd switch it off. "Finger on the trigger only when shooting."

He gave one last nod before turning his attention away from her and back to the chaos that would lead to their safety. The princess had guts, he'd give her that. You're getting soft...Those words lingered through his mind as he pushed forward through hell.

 

[Korre Belasi]

Korre was so focused on the bloody gun in her hands that she didn't quite notice Rynn reaching out his hand until his gloved fingers wrapped around her freckled skin. She looked up at him then, eyes just a little wider. It was a strange sort of moment between them, but not in a bad way, she wouldn't say. Not at all. But soon it was time to get to business, so she hardened her gaze and did her best to keep up.

The Belacan watched as Rynn created the makeshift ramp with a mixture of surprise and admiration on her face. On one hand, it was very cool. On the other... 'Fuck.' She was wearing heels.

Again, Korre was not a solider. She was the furthest thing from a mercenary. She'd grown up in wealth, spent years pursuing academia in college, graduated and pursued politics, then retired and dove right into her scientific studies. Yes, she'd faced danger as a politician. There were thousands of people who had wanted her dead when she was the Prime Minister of the Free Worlds. But she'd never quite been in a situation like this, and it was obvious. Despite the lack of ease with which she attempted to keep up, she managed to do so.

As the ground began slipping out from underneath her, Korre kicked off her shoes in a hurry and scrambled to find some sort of balance. Her feet turned sideways and her hand drug behind her as she slid, creating a bit more friction to slow her descent so she wouldn't end up tumbling all the way down. She landed much less gracefully than Rynn, but she was still able to get up and prepare herself decently quickly.

'Do you know how to fire that?'

"Yeah," she answered breathily, curling her finger around the trigger. She instinctively flinched and ducked as blaster fire went by. "Oh, erm, oops." Her cheeks were already colored from physical exertion, but they grew even more pink as he grabbed her hand to correct her mistakes. Once she was properly handling her weapon, she nodded firmly and held the pistol with both hands toward the ground. She had taken shooting classes before. No more embarrassing herself in front of Mr. Mandalorian.

Still barefoot, Korre pushed forward through the chaos alongside the Mandalorian. She did her best to keep her wits about her while attempting to avoid stepping on debris. 'What had caused all this?' From what she could tell, there were a hell of a lot of scared people, and a few people who just seemed.... crazed. The line between them was hard to tell, and people seemed to be blurring it further as they scrambled to get out.

Was it just her, or did the room feel kind of hot all of a sudden?

"FIRE!"

@TWD26

 

[Rynn Itera]

Look at that, the schism has already broken out. Perhaps we should sit that one out. Osha's voice rang through his memories as he stepped over bodies that lead towards the exit. She had always warned him of getting too drawn into the theatrics of the battle, losing himself to the challenge and grit -- some things never changed. "I need a weapon." Rynn stated mainly to himself, he could see Osha rolling her eyes from halfway across the galaxy. One Day you're going to get yourself killed trying to impress me.

He looked over the body of two body guards who had perished in a failed attempt to escort out a science detail team. He picked up a DH-17 short carbine and pulled back the slide on it. Now this is what the ladies like. The subnosed variant of the larger DH-17 blaster carbine took a standard light ammo cartridge, which meant his current ammo packs would work with this rapid fire blaster. She had a kick, but all the best weapons had them. With one last look over he found that the other guard had been carrying the same weapon. Double the trouble. The Mandalorian hummed to himself as he armed his left hand with the same exact mini-carbine.

He pushed forward, focused on the task at hand, only turning back every so often to make sure the Princess hadn't fallen behind or he hadn't taken off too much in excitement. She was holding her own and being barefoot in a floor covered in blood and broken glass was no small feat, Rynn respected that.

As they got closer to the exit, a heavy heat would begin to radiate against his armor. Smoke signatures began to cross his visor and then came the flames. Something had caught fire within one of the booths, and the heat and carnage of the chaos had only brought the flame to grow bigger. The easy way out would be possible for him, but the princess in her dress and exposed skin would have no shot at making it.

"Divert, we'll cut right and go through the center." The Mandalorian shifted his feet and turned around the corner and made his way down the straightaway that lead into the large center. Blaster fire screamed down range towards their direction, causing Rynn to bring his dual carbines up and ready for prefire.

With a gentle squeeze at both triggers, his elbows jet back and his forearms went upwards as the kickup from the rapid fire spread. A hail of blasterfire poured down on a group of Guards who had taken up post along a right center booth. Hail of red fury, splashed against the booth's walls, leaving a line of scorched black in its wake. She kicks nice...real nice. The Mandalorian smirked to himself as he pushed into the center stage, only to be met with a concussion blast that sent him flying back into a model land speeder.

His armor crunched against the metal door, leaving an imprint and a heavy grown escaping from behind his helmet. As he opened his eyes he saw that it was not a blaster that hit him, but the butt of a cannon wielded by a Herglic. He counted two of them in the center room, both carrying rotary blasters. Seldaz Brothers, I thought they had death marks on them?

The Mandalorian rolled himself upwards and barely escaped a rotary blast that began tearing up the speeder he once was laying beside. His breath heaved as he rolled and sprinted the best he could out of the blaster's range. He counted down in his head, waiting for seven seconds -- That's when it will run hot,strike then.

As the red glow along the rotation came to a head, the Mandalorian would quickly pivot and would begin firing the last of his rounds from both carbines in the direction of the mammoth whale aliens. The light rounds pinged off the armor and went flying in several directions. Without a second thought the Mandalorian would throw both carbines towards the beasts and would reach for his lower chestplate, grabbing the lightsaber and bringing it into his hands.

With a flick of a button the golden stream of light would ignite and hiss, screaming slightly through the force as the non-force user wielded the blade. He could feel it unnatural within his grip, fighting against him as it always had. With active thought that pushed back against the blade he'd slide forward towards the right Herglic, holding the blade out to slash through the metal leg plate, and cutting it cleanly off. Once behind he'd bring the blade up and would strike the creature in the back, piercing directly through it.

Byron's lightsaber seemed to pain at the thought of death and hooked itself into the body of the beast, causing the Mandalorian to tear it from the body by force, slicing through his own bicep in the process with the blade. He cursed as sear marks began to glow against his arm. The time it took, lead the Mandalorian to being out of position for the brother to pick up the Mandalorian and toss him in a rage of anger, crashing him against a wall. The beast had turned its body away from the direction it came, and had its rotary cannon directly aimed at Rynn. The sound of the blaster could be heard spinning to life.

tag: @lizziie

 

[Korre Belasi]

The Mandalorian went ahead again as he had, and as she had, Korre did her best to keep up. Her baby blues kept jumping between him, the ground, and the surrounding area and it was only when someone screamed 'fire!' in a panic that she came to a stop. Rynn said something about heading to the center. She just nodded and followed.

He was faster than her, so even with all his armor and the weapons he wielded, she continued to lag behind. She could feel a cramp forming in her side, and the soft bottoms of her feet were sore from running on hard ground cluttered with debris. But, knowing she didn't have the option of stopping, Korre kept going.

While Rynn rained fire and hell down upon those who stood in front of him - then proceeded to get into a little predicament of his own - Korre faced her own problems. Someone grabbed her leg as she ran by, and her forward movement caused her to tumble into the ground. Before a moment went by, a woman had crawled on top of her and was trying to force the gun from Korre's hands.

"Give it to me!" she demanded, fingernails digging into Korre's forehand while her other hand tried to wrestle the hilt of the little blaster out of her hands. The woman, with her wide eyes and shaky hands, was clearly influenced by the infectious craze that had spread through the building. Korre didn't even have the words to respond; she just tussled with the stranger, trying to get her off of her.

The fight didn't last long, but it felt a lot longer than the twenty seconds it went on. It ended poorly, for the other woman at least. When a knife was pulled on her, Korre's self-preservation won out, and a gunshot rang out under the cacophony of existing blaster fire.

"I'm sorry!" she whisper-shouted to the woman as she scrambled up. She'd aimed at the woman's leg, and she was curled up cradling her wounded calf. "Fuck!" She couldn't just leave this woman behind, but she wasn't strong enough to carry her, let along drag her along. The Belascan shifted back and forth for a few moments before taking off in whatever direction Rynn had gone. She'd just have to get out as quickly as possible and let the first responders know the woman's location. It was the most realistic solution in that moment.

Korre caught up with Rynn just as he went flying through the air, his body crashing into the floor as the whine of a rotary blaster began to spin faster. Time seemed to slow down as she came to an abrupt stop, her shaking hand clamping over top of the other on her hold-out blaster as her arms aimed the weapon toward the Herglic. The noise in the room deafened to a dull hum. She could feel the pearls of sweat run cold on her skin. Wide eyes locked onto the alien. She didn't want to kill him, but still, her finger squeezed against the trigger.

THUD.​

The Herglic slumped to the ground, his gun following with a clang as whisps of black smoke rose up from where her shot had burrowed into and through his head. The Belascan stood frozen, wide eyes trained on his body as her arms slowly lowered, her hands still tense around the blaster. It was a lucky shot for everyone except the Herglic.

@TWD26

 

[Rynn Itera]

Rynn didn't have time to dwell on the situation. He knew they had to keep moving, so he charged forward again, firing at enemies who stood in his path. He heard Korre catch up with him just as he was thrown through the air, crashing to the ground. He quickly realized the source of the danger - a Herglic with a rotary blaster.

Rynn Itera didn't have time to dwell on the situation. One moment he had been sliding across the center floor in a dance of blaster fire and death, the next he was being thrown through the air like a streaking hunk of metal. The Mandalorian had crashed into the wall, cracking the structure around him as his lightsaber deactivated and rolled off to his left. The only thing he had heard was the sound of the Herglic's rotary blaster roaring to life. The Mandalorian had come to terms that this was it, no particular thought came to mind. Instead, he only felt regret that he hadn't gotten the princess out of the convention in one piece.

The Mandalorian closed his eyes as the sound of a blaster rung out and there was a dull thud that impacted the floor. No jolt or impact had ever hit him, and when Rynn opened his eyes he saw the shock in the red head's eyes as she lowered the blaster, her hands still gripping it tightly. Rynn pulled himself up and grabbed his lightsaber. With a nod of approval, Rynn stepped forward and placed a hand against her shoulder. "Nice shot," he said before turning his attention to the chaos around them. The sound of screams and agony seemed to match the rising intensity of the smoke that had engulfed the floor.

The floor beneath their feet began to blister and break beneath the heat, no doubt bringing a burning pain to the soft underbelly of Korre's feet. Rynn grunted in pain as he picked the woman up and switched the filter on his mask to a low vision light. The clouds of black smoke rippled between them as the Mandalorian limped towards their exit. The sound of collapsing booths and pillars could be heard behind them, slowly engulfing the convention center further into darkness -- the light was only feet away for the unlikely pair.

He stepped through the doors and the heavy light of Ord Mantell's sun burst into his visor, temporarily blinding the Mandalorian. He grunted in pain as she made his way down the steps that lead onto the community plaza. It seemed the whole city had fallen into madness, but they could escape. Near the right side of the convention center was the security parking, Rynn's ship was there.

"We need to find out what happened and why the city has gone into madness." There was a cold determination behind the man's words as he set the princess down to walk again. "There's still work to be done." Perhaps, but even for a walking man in metal, it was evident he had taken heavy damage just escaping the previous ordeal.

tag: @lizziie

 

[Korre Belasi]

'Nice shot.' Those words echoed in her mind as she and Rynn continued their escape, stopping only once they'd finished running down the steps leading up to the convention. The Mandalorian began talking about finding out what had happened. 'There was still work to be done,' he'd said. The Belascan was still shaken and definitely in need of shoes, so her reaction to the proposal was... less than enthusiastic.

"I saw Force users in the crowd," she offered up, a little out of breath despite having been carried the last stretch. "Maybe it's a Sith attack gone out of control?" The Sith had been expunged from the Empire, not eradicated, so it was entirely possible this was some sort of terrorist attack gone wrong. 'Or right,' she thought to herself. 'But what was that... pulse?' She had a sinking feeling she knew what it was, but this was not the time to admit anything. She couldn't be... sure.

As determined as Rynn was to follow through, it was clear even to Korre that the man was injured. As he began to walk away, toward whatever danger he wanted to pursue, Korre reached out to grab the man's forearm. "You're injured," she stated firmly. "You'll put yourself in unnecessary danger if you go now."

Her words were firm and her eyes were steady on his visor, but there was an underlying concern in the woman's voice. Korre did not know this man, but he had saved her life, and for that she owed him greatly. She would not let him make what she knew was a poor decision.

"Let's at least find you a medclinic."

@TWD26

 

[Rynn Itera]

Missions change, they always do. The words of his adopted father rang through his mind as he limped along towards his freighter, with the princess lingering behind. Korre spoke of the Sith and sorcerers lingering within the crowd in the convention, he himself had not seen any, but that didn't mean they weren't there. His people had once been mortal enemies of the Jedi, though his own history was complicated and interwoven between the light and the dark -- no matter which side it was, people got hurt and many people died.

The honorable Mandalorian shifted through his mind as he felt the weight of the trigger pull and his death come back to him. He had killed the man under the orders of Darth Raze, he had served with him many times prior and yet the Sith had proven to have seduced their people and left them broken. Rynn Itera's teeth clenched as he was brought of his brooding thoughts at the gripping of his forearm.

The warrior shifted his weight completely to turn towards the princess and directly look down towards the woman's eyes. "We don't know if the whole planet is like this convention." He stated in a firm, but caring attitude. "I can patch myself on my ship." His hand wrapped gently around the arm that had gripped against his as he recreated the mutual showing of respect that his people so often gave. "My job is to keep you safe, the mission isn't over."

The pair found themselves standing outside the small port in which the Mandalorian's ship was docked. The sound of the battle had begun to subside, but the aftermath of the chaos was still evident. "This is the way."

tag: @lizziie