Blaze wrote:“…definitely has the same design, although the name is different. This time it‘s the ‘Crysta Moore‘.” *Kett ran a thick finger over the hull of the small, unassuming freighter parked in the hangar, his dark eyes thoroughly scanning every inch of the dirty metal plating. He’d been patiently tracking its pilot from planet to planet, port to port for six months now, but his patience was wearing thin. The girl was good at staying out of the spotlight, masking her movements, changing her transponder codes. But he was a bounty hunter. He tracked people down for a living. She’d put up a good fight; his burned up arms and legs proved it. But it was time to finish business.*

“It’s hers.” *Mourta, his partner, tapped a spot on the hull with the end of his blaster. A dark line interlacing three black dots--the symbol of its previous owner.* “I remember this mark. Saw it back on Tynna before she figured out we were trackin’ her.” *He sniffled, wiping his nose on his sleeve and chuckling.* “Looks like she tried to cover it up, too.”

*Kett thought a moment before nodding sharply.* “Well, she’s watching us, I’m sure. Her or her little droid. That girl ain’t dumb. She’ll have a plan.” *He bent, retrieving something from the duffle bag he’d placed on the ground next to him.* “And you can bet it involves fire,” *he added, throwing a dark jumpsuit to Mourta.

Mourta didn’t ask questions. He knew was it was. Fire-resistant suits. The two of them had wised up after their last encounter had left them both with some nasty first-degree burns. He scowled at the memory.*“She’s really startin’ to piss me off, you know. We ain’t hurting her, why does she gotta hurt us, huh? And nobody told me anything about fire. Wasn’t even in the bounty order. Just said, ‘bring her back alive’.” *Mourta set his rifle down and removed his trench coat.* “Of course, we can’t do that if we’re roasted.”

*Kett snorted, shrugging out of his own jacket.* “Just put the damn overalls on so we can get this over with. I don‘t like standing around here in the open with a--”

*But Kett was interrupted as he and Mourta were suddenly engulfed in flames and blown backwards.

The freighter had exploded.

Kett screamed in agony, holding the side of his face as he rolled away from the flaming ship. Metal pieces clattered around him and Mourta, and a thick acrid-smelling smoke poured from the destroyed vessel.*“That schutta!! That fekking schutta!! Aaaghhh!”

*Mourta, his back stinging from the piece of metal that had sliced across his back, scrambled across the ground towards Kett, dragging their weapons with him. Coughing, he turned his partner over.

Kett’s left side of his face was blood red, swollen, and already blistering.* “She blew my face off!! I’ll kill her!!! You hear me?! Kill her!!!” *Still yelling in pain, he shoved Mourta away as the man tried to help him up, and stumbled to his feet himself. A scream of rage bubbled up from his gut, and he let it out, viciously kicking away a piece of the landing gear that had landed near him.

Mourta stood frozen in fear at his companions outburst. Never had he seen Kett so furious before. He knew the man was in pain. They had to get to a medlab before the burns did anymore damage.* “Kett, c’mon, she’s just a girl, I was kidding when I said before that--”

“EXACTLY. SHE’S JUST A GIRL.” *Kett grabbed Mourta by the neck and yanked him forward, his bloodshot eyes radiating hatred. He shook the man violently.* “SHE’S JUST A FEKKING GIRL, AND LOOK WHAT SHE DID!! I DO NOT. GET BESTED. BY A SCHUTTA!!!!” *Throwing Mourta away once more, Kett swiped his gear from the ground and loaded his blaster-rifle. He didn’t bother trying to calm himself down. He was in too much pain and his mind was made up. Bounty or no bounty, this quarry was going down.

Elayna ‘Blaze’ Tenaali was going to pay for this.*

“Uh…” *Mourta swallowed, watching Kett hesitantly. The man had murder in his eyes. And he knew when Kett wanted to do something, he did it, regardless. That’s what worried Mourta. They needed the money from this bounty, and he doubted they’d get it if Blaze was dead. He inched closer to Kett.* “…Are you really gonna kill her?”

*Kett was silent as he loaded the last power pack.

Mourta looked at him nervously.* “But we need the money, and the bounty said to bring her back alive…”

*Kett rose from his crouching position, hoisting the huge rifle over his shoulder, and closed in on Mourta. He towered over him, breathing ragged, and shoved the E-11 into his arms. His voice was low and deadly as he moved to find a hiding place.* “Mistakes happen.”


=========

*RT-10 turned suddenly, swiveling his eye sensor to the entrance of the hangar.* “I am detecting movement. Four organic life forms.” *The droid fine-tuned his sensors a bit, and made a discovery.* “They are all carrying weapons and are moving at approximately thirteen miles per hour. They will be coming around that corner in three seconds.”

*Blaze didn’t need to hear anymore. She knew who they were and why they were here. That had been the plan, to draw them to the hangar using the explosion and have them discover she was ‘dead’. However, she wasn’t supposed to be here when they made that observation.
The young woman didn’t have time to react. Kett, Mourta, and two of their crew had already rounded the hangar corner. They had already seen Blaze. And from the look on Kett’s burned and disfigured face as he swung his rifle towards her, they were here for blood.*

Seamus Altair wrote: *Reacting instantly, Seamus brought his right hand back to the revolver holstered behind his right hip, closed his fist around the cold wood and steel grip and squeezed the trigger before it was even out of the holster. Bringing it out and up to aim over the girl, who was now on the ground, he simultaneously brought his left hand over to where the gun would be when it was brought to bear and pulled the hammer back with the back of his left thumb, releasing it in the same instant. The already depressed trigger meant that there was no lag time between the release of the hammer and the shot itself, which streaked out of the barrel an instant before he fanned the second shot out of the chamber with his index finger, then the third with his middle finger and the fourth with his ring finger. All of the shots leaving the barrel fast enough to create four resounding reports so close together it sounded like only a single shot was fired. But that wasn't the worst part.*

*The instant the bullets all cleared the barrel, Seamus reached out with his mind and latched onto each bullet, arcing the first two into the pair of blaster bolts heading for the girl, stopping the blasts as they impacted the cold metal slugs. The other two bullets had a much less benevolent purpose, the first arcing toward the man whose face was a mask of rage and burns, plowing a hole through his forehead, and the second arcing into the chest of the man immediately to his right, directly through his heart. At this the last man stopped. Frozen, like he didn't believe that what he had just witnessed was real. Seamus took this opportunity to slide the revolver back into the holster and reach a hand out to help the girl up.* "Come on, unless you'd rather wait here for that last goon to regain the use of his brain."

Blaze wrote:*Blaze scrambled up from the floor, shrinking away from Seamus’s proffered hand like it were infected. What? He wanted her to come with him? Why would he offer something like that, he didn’t even know her. She couldn't go with him, it was too dangerous. For him. She spun around, eyes scanning wildly.

Kett was dead on the ground. As were his cronies. All except for one.

Mourta.

The man was standing in the middle of the three dead bodies, face shocked.

RT-10 floated quickly over Blaze’s shoulder, hovering protectively in front of her. His bright green sensor, or ‘eye’, blinked at the man for a moment before the little remote droid spun on it’s invisible axis and met Blaze’s gaze.* “We should accompany Seamus.”

“No.” *The answer was more of a reaction than a thought-about answer. Blaze shook her head, sunny blond hair fluttering over her shoulders. Her eyebrows were pulled down in anxiety, her lips a thin, tight line. Her prideful, Independent Woman streak flared. She sidestepped Arty and nodded to the man.* “Thank you for your help, but I can take it from here.”

*Arty scoffed. Yes, scoffed.* “You have no ship, no money, and authorities will be looking for you. This is not the time for your human misgivings.”

“The authorities will think I’m dead, remember?”

“Wrong. The human tracker, title Mourta, has seen you. It is logical to assume he will report everything.”

“No, he’s…” *Blaze turned. Mourta was gone. He must have ran when Arty arrived. Damn! She could feel panic rising again. She’d failed. It had all gone so wrong. It was supposed to have been easy. Their plan would have worked if not for her idiot obsession with suppressing every fire she passed. Arty was right. Her human ‘misgivings’ always brought trouble down on them.
Blaze turned back to Seamus. He’d re-shouldered his knapsack. She eyed his face, her expression one of hesitation. If she secluded herself…got off at the next stop…Could she? Could she take the risk? She could leave right now. She could run away. Leave and spare him the danger that followed her wherever she went. He’d saved her life. It was the least she could do.
But she had to get off this planet. And she doubted, with the explosion, that she could get a stolen ship past authorities now.

Blaze couldn’t make up her mind. But she didn’t need to.

The local authorities made it up for her.

Their sirens sounded in the distance, closing fast. Blaze knew it would be the undoing of all her work for the past four years if they caught her. She didn’t have time to deliberate any longer. Her nervous blue eyes locked with Seamus’s sharp, intelligent green gaze.

He saw everything, she realized in that moment. Every detail. In a clarity she wished she possessed.

As the three of them, man, woman, and droid, ran through the hangar towards the vessel, Blaze wondered where Mourta had gone.

She wondered if leaving him alive had been the smart thing to do. It had been the right thing, yes. But smart? No. He’d most certainly report back, tell everyone what really happened. Mourta was a smart, sneaky man.

Blaze was pretty sure he’d find some way to turn the situation to his liking.*