[Kallile]

Tracyn seemed to forget that Duke even existed as she began to formulate plans of attack. Whereas Spike seemed so sure that he could rise victorious from this encounter...Tracyn was rather skeptical. These people were three hired thugs and two higher level politicians. Where as Spike might have the skills to deal with the first, she doubted either Clone had the reasonability to keep death out of the scenario. No one could die here; news would grab it. Blow it up. Then this entire base would be done for and the tribe wiped out. She growled at the very thought.

"You better get a good idea of what you're dealing with." She said warningly as they strode outside. The growl about Drali had not gone unnoticed; Tracyn, in fact, couldn't help but grin. "She does miss her new toy."

She picked up her pace, the hulking shadow that was Drali still easy to spot in the fading light. She seemed content to lead the two men; she didn't fear their weapons. They were bred soldiers--not bred mercenaries. if they lost her to their own stupidity then they'd just lost all chance of getting the tribal people freed. "I'll need one man t come with me, one to deal with the thugs and start unlocking some cages. The cleaner we do this the quicker these royal pains are out of our hair."

~*~

It was a bold move, that much she had to agree with. but...this guy sounded so lost. Ziris couldn't help it. She may be a merciless hacker--the modern day Robin Hood helping others steal from the rich and...do with it what they pleased. BUt she had a soft spot. Granted, it was buried way down in her heart, but it was there.

"Soooo, Duke, right?"

The voice leapt directly into his helmet, though no comlink popped up. It was as if she was just...in there with him. She paused on purpose, waiting for the freak-out she figured would come. it wasn't often their helmets talked back without command.

[59, 3]

[MillietheWarrior]

Spike really didn’t fancy seeing that two ton lizard a second time, but it couldn’t be helped; where one annoyance went, the other followed. In this case, those annoyances were Tracyn and Drali. “I’m an ARC,” Spike snorted. “I can usually get a good idea of what I’m dealing with after the first whack on the head.” It was obviously a jibe meant for her, but Spike now seemed intent on focusing on the group that waited down below. He blinked, magnifying the image. He could see the groups of hunters and the cages containing their quarries. It didn’t look like it’d be too difficult to disband this illegality, but Spike wasn’t very good with politics. He was more of a hands on kind of guy. But he was also loathe to send Duke into the fray with Tracyn. He didn’t trust either of them not to get something wrong. Spike quickly took snapshots of each man he saw moving about the camp; three thugs, one wearing tan, one in green, and another in gray. Two politicians; one in gold, and one in maroon. Four captives in cages; one a females with pups, the other a male. He quickly accessed Duke’s HUD icon, and sent each snapshot to him through their shared links. “Tan man, green and gray man. Critical threat level. Take them out as quietly and discreetly as you can. Once you’ve neutralized the opposition, begin securing the captives; make sure we get those damn cages open. Understood?” Spike opened his outward bound speakers, and turned to Tracyn. “Your with me, psycho. Try not to flip out. You and I have some politics to discuss with our esteemed colleagues over there…Try not to screw this up.”

Duke jumped slightly, his eyes darting around for the source of the voice. Tracyn hadn’t spoken to him, and certainly the commander didn’t sound like that. He turned to glance behind him, even if his 360 degree HUD vision allowed him to see what was all around him. He wasn’t even picking anyone up on his scanners. But the voice had been there, clear as day. Duke quickly copied the audio and replayed it, watching the little wavy green lines bouncy across his screen. Yes, it had definitely been a female voice. “Er…Hello?” he managed, swallowing hard. Duke suddenly realized Spike was speaking to him, and quickly flipped over to their shared audio channel. “Understood, sir,” he said slowly, before he turned and disappeared into the brush; he’d need to circle around to approach the came discreetly. He moved quietly through the forest, slowly circling around to the back of the camp and the cages that contained the hostages.

[Kallile]

Tracyn stood beside Spike as he took inventory on all involved. This was not going to end pretty no matter how they decided to tackle it. But she'd have to make do with this tiny, rag-tag squad. At least she knew she had one competent member on board, even if not physically so. They were approaching Drali fast and the creature seemed beside herself to see her rider back safely. Tracyn was quick to hold up a hand an motion to the beast that she had to remain still, which Drali obeyed.

"You'd better hope none of them have a knack for knocking people out." She chided right back as she gathered herself into the role she must play. these men were powerful politicians...she was just the lovely eye-candy of a guide. But, perhaps that eye-candy quality would be enough to give them the upper hand.

Ziris chuckled, but otherwise stayed quiet so Duke could hear the plan. When he started moving again she opened the invisible comlink back.

"Hi there. Don't act so surprised. What else is a hacker to do for fun?" Her tone was up-beat and playful even in this situation. Well, why shouldn't it be? Her skin wasn't the one on the line to get injured. She's was just an "all-seeing eye" in this scenario.

"I'd take out ole gray first. He's been the real go-getter of this--probably the highest paid. He also happens to be one seriously mean cuss of a man. Leave him for last and things are bound to get ugly. The other two seem like family-bond guys; they've each had their fair share of coms to a private channel off-planet. Either a boss or family, either way they're not in this for themselves."

Rapid typing could be heard and a few defiant clicks as she brought something up from where ever she was. "Smile, honey, you're on camera via satellite." She said with a grin apparent in her voice. There was more soft typing, another hard click. "Alright, you're best plan is to stay your course. You're on a dead-set path to meet up with all three thugs on their patrol."

[60, 4, 35]

[MillietheWarrior]

((-Rubs the back of her head- Er...Ah...Forgive the novel. I just couldn't help myself. xD By boys finally got to see some action.))

Spike sighed. “If they do, then I’ll just throw you at them and run. Then you can discuss ‘knocking out’ techniques,” he muttered, giving Drali a wide berth and a wary glance. He stared down the hill, his gaze slowly roving over the thugs they’d brought with them. They seemed preoccupied with the cages and their captives, so Spike wasn’t worried about being spotted; besides, he was fairly sheltered by the massive form of Drali. It would be rather hard for them to see him even if they tried. His gaze quickly switched to the politicians and he frowned; this was a delicate operation. He’d need to tread carefully. He beckoned for Tracyn to follow, hand waving impatiently as he silently told her to hurry it up. As they neared the camp, the two politicians, who had been speaking to one another in hushed tones and extravagant gestures, immediately turned to see their ‘guide’ returning with an extra person.

Spike lifted his hand and tipped off a smart two fingered salute. “Good evening, sirs,” he said suavely, trying to sound as intelligent and diplomatic as he could. “Commander 665, Spike, at your service. I’m afraid it’s come to my attention that your hunting illegally on Republic held territory.” The first politician, Gold Man, as Spike had dubbed him, turned with slow menace to Tracyn, giving her a disdainful look. Maroon Man seemed the more diplomatic of the two, and put on a rather innocent face which didn’t suit a politician in the least. “Commander. We were informed of your presence here, but we never thought we’d actually have the pleasure of meeting you face to face.” He was lying through his teeth, and Spike wasn’t an idiot.

“I am Senator Skeena Ha. This is my colleague, Senator Dorum Kai. I’m afraid to inform you that you have been mislead; we’re not conducting any hunt of any sort here. We’re merely on a rather pleasant two-day outing; we’ve heard this part of the planet was lovely this time of year, and it certainly has not disappointed.” He smiled in a way Spike didn’t quite like. “May I ask where you received that preposterous information?” Spike tilted his head, before he reached up to lift his helmet off and tuck it under his arm. The two senators had given him their full attention now, and both seemed somewhat surprised to see his face; it always surprised people to know he was flesh and blood like them, and not a droid. “My colleague here,” he said, purposefully using the same word the senator had used when describing his oily looking partner.

“Has informed me of your intentions. And I am afraid I cannot abide by them. I’m going to ask you to vacate the premises. If you refuse to cooperate, I will have no choice but to use force to remove you. My apologies senators. You will be accomodated at the base until transport arrives to take you back to Coruscant.” Spike watched as Dorum Kai’s face slowly turned white with anger; Skeena Ha looked rather amused, hands folded lightly over his stomach. “Commander, I must insist that these allegations are preposterously out of sorts. Our so-called guide is obviously intent on misleading you. I’m afraid she’s rather unreliable and only in it for the money. She obviously intends to benefit from this monetarily in some way.”

He shot a dark look in Tracyn’s direction, and Spike resisted the urge to chuckle. This was going rather well. He shifted from foot to foot as the silence became palpable. Would Tracyn react and blow the operation? Spike certainly hoped not; unfortunately, his attention had wavered from Dorum Kai as he took a discreet step back. Spike didn’t notice the way the man subtly reached into the oversized sleeve of his elaborate, brocaded robe, or the way he slowly tilted something inside his sleeve in Tracyn’s direction until it was too late and the shot had been fired.

-------

Duke was too good at what he did to be thrown off for long by a strange, disembodied voice inside his helmet. “Your that woman’s friend then,” he said, deadpan as he moved silently among the low lying brush of the forest. He blinked, bringing up the image of the man in gray; scruffy, scraggly, probably late forties, with a multitude of weapons hidden beneath his cloak. “Very well,” he said quietly, instinctively keeping his voice low, even though it was impossible for anyone outside the helmet to hear him. Duke tilted his head. “You can see me?” he asked, scrolling through the schematics of the terrain. He’d trained here multiple times, running up and down the landscape as he went through his training exercises. Duke was grateful for the information, but an enemy was an enemy; it didn’t matter if they had family or not. If they tried to kill him, he would return the favor and he would do it without remorse. It was a job; nothing personal.

He managed to get to the perimeter of the camp; he could see the captives clearly now, and he quickly diverted his attention to each individual man. Slowly, he drew his blaster from the holster at his hip, calibrating it to specific settings. He breathed softly, voice coming out in no more than a whisper. He forgot about Ziris, about the captives, about everything but him and the man he was about to kill. “Wind, 2 kilometers. Set for recoil. Check the back spring…Ready. Aim…Dead center. Take a killing shot. Don’t let him get up. Head shot….No, turn back to face me, you di’kut…Aiming…Fire.” Duke took a breath, held it, and fired. The gun barely made a sound as it shook his arms backwards. The man in grey didn’t stand a chance; he dropped like a sack of rocks, crumpling to the ground and lying in an unmoving heap. Duke knew without checking that he was dead.

Instantly, the men in green and tan turned towards the spot where the shot had come from; they withdrew sidearm’s from beneath their cloaks, diving for cover as they fired. Duke felt the shots sizzle past his armor, leaving small scorch marks as he leapt to his feet and shimmied behind a tree for cover. Duke brought up Spike’s comm channel, but after a few moments of trying to raise the commander, he knew that Spike was not wearing his helmet. A stupid move on the commander’s part, but Duke wasn’t in a position to speculate on why Spike did what he did. He ducked from behind the tree, firing off a shot at the tan man as he tucked and rolled across the clearing. He could see the captives in the cages; they weren’t taking this well, but then, they weren’t technologically savvy, so it was probably more frightening to see the bright bolts of blue light whizzing back and forth than it was to be stuck in a cage.

“Gotta finish this quick,” Duke whispered, the sound of his own heavy, adrenaline fueled breathing filling his helmet. Instead of darting from the same side of the tree he’d used before, he instead rolled off to the other side, landing in the bushes for cover. The two men continued to fire at the tree, and Duke took steady aim at the tan man this time. “Immobilize him. Try not to take a killing shot. Keep him immobile.” The shot landed square in the man’s shoulder, and he staggered backwards, crying out as the bolt seared through his skin and into his flesh. The blaster flew from his hands, clattering across the earth and landing too far away for him to reach. The man seemed unwilling to try for it anyways; he was writhing and twitching in pain, clutching his shoulder and whimpering. Duke blinked to turn on his outbound audio, and his voice boomed from his helmet over the miniature battlefield.

“This is Theta-007 of the SO Brigade, Republic Special Forces, Theta Squad. Surrender and you will not be harmed. Drop your weapon and come out with your hands in the air.” There was silence; no shots, no talk-back, nothing. Just the sound of the crying and whimpering man who lay rolling on the ground. Then, after a few moments, green man came out from his hiding place, throwing his gun into the air. His hands were held above him, and he looked…tired. Duke had seen that look on plenty of his brothers when they tired of fighting the good fight. “On your knees,” Duke called as he slowly scooted forward on his belly. He reached into his belt pocket without looking and pulled out four plastoid ties; he’d need those now. He lifted to his feet, rifle still trained on the two men, and stepped forward. Green man watched him with a beleaguered look. “Republic forces, huh?” he said quietly. “Guess this wasn’t as legal as they made it out to be. You gonna help my buddy?”

Duke didn’t say a word as he tired the man’s hands together, and then his feet. He grabbed him by the back of his cloak and dragged him to his downed colleague, whose feet and hands he also tied. The man was still writhing, but to his credit, he fell still and silent when Duke turned his faceless t-visor on him. “If you stay still and quiet and don’t cause any more trouble, then I might patch you up after I'm done.” The man just stared up at him with watering eyes, the same tired look his colleague wore nearly smothering any sign of pain he might’ve been feeling. Duke snorted, slinging his rifle over his back, and trotted over to the cages. He didn’t have time to search for the keys. “Stand back,” He said as he reached the first cage, the one with the mother and two children in it. He aimed his rifle at the lock, and took a clear and precise shot. The lock whizzed through the air to land with a thud in the dirt behind him. “Get yourselves out,” he said dispassionately, as he moved on to the next cage and did the same. He certainly hoped the commander and his consort were faring as well as he was.

As the second lock whizzed over his head, Duke took a moment to grin at the fact that he'd was doing John Wayne proud. Man, he was cool.

[46/6]

[Kallile]

Tracyn ignored the looks of hate and betrayal. She was well aware of what she was equivalent to with these men of 'high standings' and she'd heard their excuses a hundred times before. However, this time she knew she was the one who would be believed--if the discarded stack of credit chips still lying around in Spike's room had anything to prove. She had no plans on seeing the man a third time.

"There's nothing in this venture for me, Senators, besides a clear conscious." She said cooly and calmly, reigning in her boiling anger and distrust at the pair with great difficulty. All of which came to a blinding, physical reality a second later.

She should have seen it. She should have had both eyes open. But she didn't. As the badly aimed shot ripped through the tough muscles between the right side of her neck and her shoulder. Just barely missing the all-important jugular vein. Tracyn only stood there for a moment that seemed to be moving at a snails pace. She swore she could see the blood-spray hanging in the air. She heard herself gasp for air as the muscles were ripped apart and dropped to her knees to hold the side of her neck.

Behind them came a roar just before the very ground shook as the monstrous form of Drali came thundering down the hill to her fallen rider. The creature skidded to a halt over her rider, lashing out long claws to try and drive the senators back as she opened her wide jaws the threaten them with massive fangs.  One foot from her middle set of legs carefully reached down, maneuvering Tracyn so the monster could gently cradle her bleeding rider against her underbelly for protection.

-----

Ziris remained quiet--simply watching and waiting for the Commando to do his job. She knew well enough how the boys usually operated and with no signs of ambush around there was no reason to interrupt. He had, surprisingly, everything under control. A smile rested on her dark face; at least he listened a little. She watched the multiple screens of satellite imagery flash before her before one in particular caught her attention.

The hack blinked, then scrambled to enhance and play live feed. Her worst fears were confirmed when Tracyn didn't immediately say something over their comlink; she was hit. She pulled up Duke's link to live play and tried to hide the frantic tone in her voice.

"We've got a new situation--make it due south-east to the Senator's and your Commander now." She hissed. It wasn't anything personal against him, of course, that caused the hissing voice. But the worry of just how badly Tracyn was hit was a concern. The fact that her mount blocked all possible angles with which to assess the situation further wasn't helping. She liked that giant bag of scales, but at the given moment Ziris found herself loathing that damnable bond between a Raider and their mounts.

"Hold your weapons aloft, boys." She said in dire seriousness--this time in both Spike and Duke's helmets. "Those things get homicidal if their rider dies. Don't put yourself in any threatening positions or I can't promise you'll come out alive."

Ziris sat at the edge of her seat, headset clipped over one ears. And she waited for the worst.

-------

The four needed no second telling--still in lupine forms all took off back into the forest. The brightly colored orange female led the two oddly cat-hybrid looking pups after her, a green and purple male at their heels and looking carefully over his shoulder.

The pups, too, looked back over their shoulders carefully--making strange hissing and growling noises at Duke as they fled.

[61, 5, 36]

[MillietheWarrior]

The shot was so quick, and so unexpected, that all Spike could do was stand there in blank shock for a fraction of a second. He blinked, ruby eyes glittering with surprise, before that surprise turned to rage. For a moment everything moved in slow motion, and he could almost hear his heart beating painfully in his chest. Then the next moment, he had plowed into the maroon robed senator, sending them both crashing to the ground. Spike wasn’t in such a haze that he didn’t remember he couldn’t kill them, but the blow he landed to the man’s face was enough to send him into unconsciousness. The golden robed man was too preoccupied with fending off an enraged Drali to be much of a bother to the commander, but Spike eased himself off the now unconscious man and turned with slow menace to his companion. Spike strode forward, heedless of Drali’s kicking legs as he deftly dodged them, and yanked the man forward by the robe.

“That,” he snarled dangerously, drawing his fist back. “Was a very stupid thing to do…” To the woman I love. His fist connected with a wet thwack of bone against bone, and the man’s head snapped backwards as he flew to the ground with a thud. Spike leaned over him as he groaned softly, and plucked the gun from his hands, reeling back and throwing it as far as he could; he didn’t see where it landed, and he didn’t care. Spike stared down at the man for a moment, before seeming to realize exactly what he’d just thought. It startled him so badly that he very nearly lost his balance and fell over. Did he just…did he just think what he thought he did? No, no. it must’ve been a fluke, right? He was just…just angry, wasn’t he? He’d never…That was far from being true. She infuriated him, she was everything he hated, she’d kidnapped him, and put him through hell…So why…Why had he…

His heart pounded painfully in his chest, and he bent over the man lying on the ground, intent on trying to get over his shock and deal with the problem at hand. Of course, what he had thought was a huge problem too, but that could be dealt with later. “Stay still. Move, and your ‘diplomatic immunity’ won’t count for osik.” He whirled and turned to a still bellowing Drali, and his eyes immediately went to Tracyn. Shab…Shab, shab, shab. What was he going to do about this? He held up his hands, deciding he’d treat Drali like a frightened equine; horses were difficult to deal with at the best of times. But a panicking an enraged two ton lizard? This was gonna be a bit difficult. “Easy there, Drali,” he said carefully, taking a tentative step forward. “Just put her down, and let me take a look at her. I promise I won’t hurt her.”

He paused to consider, then pulled his two blasters out of their holsters and threw them behind the giant lizard, out of both his and the senator’s reach. “See? No weapons. I won’t hurt her. Just…let me take a look.” I don’t want her to die, his mind chimed in, and Spike was once again blind-sided by a rush of affection that should NOT have been there. He took a deep, shuddering breath; today had gone to haran in a hand basket.

----

Duke watched dispassionately as the captives escaped. A voice suddenly sounded in his helmet, and it was not the commander; it was Ziris again. “Copy that,” he responded to her command, and cast a glance at his new prisoners. “Stay there,” he growled, trying to make his voice as menacing as it could be. He turned and sprinted off over the hills, his heart racing. The sight that greeted him as he crested the rise wasn’t a good one. “That’s the thing you were talking about?” he asked Ziris quietly, watching the enraged and semi-psychotic looking beast freak out. His eyes flew to the commander, and he frowned, withholding a small gasp of surprise.

“He’s an idiot,” he breathed, before he raised his rifle and leveled it at Drali. He slowly aimed for her head, switching off the safety as the blaster blipped as he charged it. “If she makes a move towards the commander, I’m afraid I’ll have to shoot it,” he said almost apologetically; why did he feel the need to apologize? Ziris wasn’t the one who rode the beast, nor was she directly involved in this. She was a disembodied voice inside his helmet. Still…Duke settled the butt of the rifle against his shoulder, lining up his sights. He was one of the best snipers the army had to offer (Although Sev could give him a run for his money). If he had to shoot the beast…he wouldn’t miss.

[47/7]

[Kallile]

Drali's head was nearly at the ground though she was still eye-level with Spike. Her massive mouth opened and she gave a few threatening roars. Don't come closer, I'm not afraid to kill you. Her eyes seemed to say. The fact her lethal-sized fangs were bared at him didn't hurt either. She uttered a much softer hiss that was quickly followed by a few low, panicked, confused chortles from deep inside her throat. She carefully studied the guns. Humans didn't need guns to kill...but Armor-Men liked their guns. Why was he throwing them away?

Her intelligent golden eyes darted back to him in quick consideration before she slowly rose her head. Passing tracyn carefully from under her body to her front-most set of appendages, Drali held her as carefully as her clawed feet would allow like an offering to Spike. But she wasn't about to let her rider go.

As if to back up that point she gave a few low grumbling noises and rose her scaled lips testingly over her fangs. If he wanted to see her rider, he'd have to come to her.

Tracyn's eyes slid closed as the motion of Drali passing her hand-over-hand jostled her wound a little. She could feel trickles of blood flowing down the creature's scales and soaking into the silken material that clung to her body. She willed one eye open and glanced up at her beast; what was she doing? Her gaze slid over to Spike, still trying to soothe the savagery of the creature. Better question, then, was what was he doing.

"Got my...just desert, eh?" She remarked softly and tried to force a sad smile on her face. Her neck all but screamed in pain as muscles that were no longer attached tried to contract. She winced, causing Drali to let out a panicked hiss. Tracyn weakly patted the creature's foot to calm her. "What now? Coming to say you wish me a slow, painful death? Your...job is done."

-----------

"No, hold fire."

This time her voice was of a much more serious nature, though it held a curious tone to it.

Ziris had witnessed some fairly amazing things from that overgrown gecko; but nothing could compare to what she was witnessing on her screens now. Drali--the monster of the sands hell-bent on Tracyn's safety--was offering her rider over. To a man. Who had earlier wished her dead; from the accounts Tracyn had shared in the previous debriefing. Dark eyes narrowed their gaze. there was something going on.

"If Tracyn's alive, that 'thing' will stay as reasonable as any grieving family member will. If Tracyn dies...shoot her."

The tone of her voice marked easily that the idea pained Ziris. But the death of a Rider...it drove their mounts into blind, homicidal rage before they eventually died of exhaustion. They would take their grief out on everything in sight until they literally could not physically avenge their master any longer. A shot to the head would be a much kinder fate...should the worst happen.

"There's something...almost miraculous happening. Just wait."

[62, 6, 37]

[MillietheWarrior]

Spike held up his hands in surrender, his eyes watched Drali’s intently. There was something in them that made his spine relax and his arms nearly fall to his side in relief. When she held Tracyn up for him, Spike slowly made his way towards her, hands still held up as if showing her he meant no harm. “Easy,” he said softly, but whether he was speaking to Tracyn or Drali wasn’t readily apparent. His eyes darted quickly down to Tracyn and the blood flowing down the gaping wound between her neck and shoulder. Spike had seen far worse on the battlefield, but somehow, seeing this delicate but dangerous woman lying so still and weakly in the arms of her mount made his heart thud painfully. He reached into his belt pouch, pulling out a small rag, a wad of gauze and some patches of bacta.

“Yeah…Don’t be an idiot,” he muttered, bending over her slightly to dab at the wound and clean the blood from around it. It seemed as though the blood never stopped, so he quickly slapped the bacta patches over the burnt, seared, and now open skin. He quickly wrapped the gauzes around her neck, applying a gentle pressure to staunch the flow of blood. “Just shut up and don’t die,” he growled, before his voice turned softer. “Your not supposed to die, remember? Your…er…needed elsewhere.” Yeah, here.

He stared down at her, suddenly feeling somewhat uncomfortable with the entire situation. He was getting too close, too attached. This was all wrong; why did he feel this way about a woman he…hated?  “Just don’t die.” He laughed wryly, but it was a horse, strangled laugh, and there was no humor in it. “Who else would drive me up the walls if not you? I…” He fell silent. “I….er…need you here.”

-----

Duke was silent, but he didn’t lower his rifle. He didn’t know who Ziris was, and frankly, at the moment, he didn’t care. He had to put the life of his commander above all others, and he wasn’t about to take any chances. “Sorry ma’am. You can never be too cautious,” he breathed, managing not to jostle his rifle or throw off his aim. “Miraculous or not, I may still need to shoot the beast. I’m afraid I can’t let it harm the commander.”

But with his magnified vision, he managed to catch Spike kneeling down to help Tracyn. So the beast wasn’t going to harm him after all? Interesting. Duke still did not move; if he wanted, he could read the commander’s lips to see what he was saying, but something inside him told him that would be an invasion of privacy. “What are you going to do if Tracyn dies, ma’am?” Duke didn’t really care; she’d be another casualty of war, and one he didn’t know, and therefore, could not and would not mourn. But he was curious…how would Ziris feel about this? How did a civilian mourn their fallen comrades?

[48/8]

[Kallile]

The massive lizard shifted her main four limbs anxiously as she watched the solider. He had threatened her rider; cursed and wished harm on her. This entire offering up of Tracyn could bring about only folly if she had misread him. but...something was different in his red eyes. Drali didn't know what to make of it, but something gave her lizard-heart a glimmer of hope.

Tracyn flinched away at Spike's touch with a small growl. This was her own fault; she would deal with the consequences. Even if it meant dying. She was a Mando and a Raider--she should be in the process of being prayed over by the Tribal priest to be kind to her soul as she walked the desert towards the Eternal Oasis. Not, as was currently happening, being bandaged up by the Clone she had kidnapped. "What are you doing?" She managed, but fell just as quickly silent. Not because he had requested it, simply because it was the logical thing to do.

Her lighter red eyes slid over his face as she carefully studied his expression. It was certainly one she hadn't seen from him yet and that worried her a little. She lay helplessly still; she had lost too much muscle to properly move her neck. it would take weeks to heal to a state she could even consider turning her head without experiencing blinding pain. That was, of course, considering that she'd survive that long.  She had no choice but to let the man in front of her bandage her neck...but what he said while doing so nearly had her leaping off of Drali's paws.

"Excuse me?" She asked quietly as she stared up at him in disbelief. Then her eyes narrowed. 'What are you playing at, Spike?"

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

Ziris's side of the link went silent for a moment as she watched her screens and considered. What would she do if Tracyn died? Not that the Raider-woman was any great ally, but they had been squad-sisters for several years before the teams disbanded. Tracyn had been the only one dumb enough to try and lead a normal Raider life and keep contracts coming in for big game hunters. Which, of course, always lead to some contact with Ziris herself on an 'assist' basis.

"I'll cry...a few days probably. We spent years living together like you and your brothers do now. She'll always be my squadron-sister even if the squad isn't around anymore." She paused and frowned at herself. Would she cry? She supposed so. "There will definitely be a few nights I drink myself to sleep...be it with a stranger or not."

That sounded more like the truth. A true fallen-warriors mourning. Drinking away the sadness.

"Why, want to know if you should invite me to the funeral or something?" She asked absentmindedly.

[63, 7, 38]

[MillietheWarrior]

Every fiber of his very being was screaming to run away. Spike was frozen, staring down at Tracyn with wide, disbelieving eyes; his disbelief wasn’t directed at her, but at himself. Had he really just thought all those things? Had he really just been stupid enough to say them out loud? What was he thinking? He was an idiot…a babbling idiot. But something about seeing Tracyn in so much pain, wounded, lying there, helpless, seemed to strike an unsung chord in his heart. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his nose, feeling his heart thud painfully against his chest. He applied more pressure to the wound on her neck, and slowly began to wind the bandages around it to keep the bacta and the gauzes in place. “I don’t know,” Spike said quietly, his face a few inches from hers as he worked.

His voice was quiet, confused, and he seemed more frustrated at his lack of an answer than the fact that he’d said anything at all. “If I knew, I’d give you an answer…” He finished winding the bandages around her neck, and sat back on his heels, still hovering over her. “I don’t have an answer for anything anymore,” he said, sounding confused. “And it’s all your stupid fault, you know that? I thought you were gone; I thought I was rid of you. And then you come waltzing back into my life when it’s convenient for you, and turn it all upside down by going and getting your stupid self shot. And now you’ve got me all confused because I don’t know whether to be happy to possibly be rid of you for good, or freaked out because I might actually lose you.”

He clamped his mouth shut with an audible clack. Something was definitely wrong with him. He shook his head and hauled himself into an upright position, before turning his back on her; he didn’t want to think about this now. But he couldn’t stop the train of thought once it’d gotten started. His world was spiraling out of control. His carefully maintained orderly life was falling into shambles before his eyes. Spike was having a very small mental breakdown because everything was so…wrong. He scrunched his eyes closed and strode forward, intent on ignoring Tracyn now for as long as he could. Maybe the problem would go away if he pretended it didn’t exist. He stopped at the feet of the semi-conscious and blacked out senators, before he hauled the unconscious maroon robed man up by the front of his robes and hauled him towards Drali. Spike didn‘t even seem put off by her or afraid, though it was at a time like this when he should be; he'd passed the point of caring long ago.

He flopped the man over Drali‘s back, pausing at the shoulder of the giant lizard as he turned to retrieve the second man. “Your going to have to carry back our ‘expensive guests and their hired help. If you do that for me, I might let you tear apart the guy who hurt your…” He glanced at Tracyn. “-rider.” He fell silent as he hauled made it to the golden robed man, and reached down to squeeze a small point at the base of his neck. The man went limp and Spike dragged him back towards Drali to flop him over beside his companion. He turned and patted the giant beast's shoulder carefully. “Just a bit of extra weight for you. No problem, right?” He sighed, and turned, catching sight of Duke on the rise of a hill not far away.

“Let’s go pick up our other cargo. The faster we get back to the base, the faster I can get Tracyn some serious medical attention. She’ll be okay…” Who was he reassuring? Himself or the giant lizard? Spike wasn’t sure as he turned and began jogging across the grass, having no fear about Drali not following him or being unable to keep up; he knew the lizard would want to save her rider. And to do that, she needed Spike.

-------

Duke watched silently as the commander began loading up the two senators onto the back of that…thing. He swung his rifle onto his back, and frowned contemplatively, brows creased. He turned, chewing over Ziris' words and the commanders seemingly tender actions towards the wounded woman. “I don’t understand, Ziris,” he said quietly into his helmet. “When I watch John Wayne movies, everyone always seems sad when someone dies. And then there’s talk of revenge or shoot-outs and more killing. I don’t know why everyone is always so sad when someone dies. It’s part of war; it’s part of nature.” He jogged over to the prisoners, stopping in front of them. The two men raised their eyes to regard him in stoic silence as Duke unbound their feet.

“Up,” he commanded, swinging his rifle around to train it on them. They did as he asked obediently, walking slowly ahead of him as he herded them back to a rendezvous with the commander. His soft voice echoed in his helmet as he spoke once more to Ziris. “I don’t understand the idea of mourning a soldier. It’s our duty to die. We fight, we die, and we are not mourned. We don’t have funerals. There is no reason to dwell over those who have gone before us; we all follow eventually. I don’t…I don’t understand why you’d cry over something like that. Nor can I see why it would drive you into a stranger’s bed. Death is a release; it frees us from the burdens we carry in this life. Not everyone can monitor the world from the safety of a computer terminal; some of us face the horror of real life, and all the pain it brings. Dying is a way to…to free yourself, I suppose.. My team and I were created to die, and die we shall.”

He paused, as if thoughtful, as the captives neared the commander and Drali. “Would I be mourned when I died?” He didn’t say ‘if I died,’ because there was no if; he knew what his future held in store for him, and he accepted it without argument.

[49/9]

[Kallile]

Tracyn watched him placidly as she tried to keep her breathing even and shallow. The last thing she needed was to over exert herself--bacta and gauze could only hold so long before an open vein soaked through. She was in every literal sense counting down the last moments of her life and wondering when the flashbacks would start. But Spike threw off her thinking and willing acceptance of her death she was sure would come.

"Look, Spike..." She said softly, looking away from him. She was determined to overlook his outpour of emotions; or as close as he was willing to get to emotions. No, she wouldn't let him get the best of her. This had to be some sick final prank to get her back for the kidnapping. "Taking you was a load of osik, I'll admit it. I was saving my own shebs and trying to weasel a little help out of you while I was at it. So there you go--you can live the rest of your life in peace knowing I finally said I was wrong."

She growled softly, closing her eyes. no, this couldn't be happening. "Don't be a di'kut--turn her out. You're just bringing a ticking time-bomb closer to your base." She gave a slightly strangled breathe and quivered from the pain but did not cry out or weep. There was no point in that.

Drali seemed momentarily in agreement as she snapped softly at the senator tossed onto her back. She gave a low, hissing roar of protest at Spike as he walked by, ushering grumbling rumbles from deep in her chest like a child whining about not wanting to go somewhere. She failed to see how any of this would help her master; and the fact the attacker was now within striking distance kept her scaled lips raised over her lethal fangs as she watched the man responsible as he lay across her. She made several clicking, hissing, and generally talkative noises at him. One could only assume she had unleashed every curse word that she'd ever heard in her life at the man in her own language.

Despite all the grumbling, she made her way carefully after Spike as he walked towards the hill. She rose her primary set of limbs; holding Tracyn like a treasured china doll against her chest. She did not, however, appreciate seeing that there happened to be two more passengers she was expected to carry. Tracyn could feel the bitter rumble of a roar starting in her chest. "Udesii, Drali..." She murmured softly. "Help them, it's alright."

Begrudgingly the giant sand-beast let out a hiss at the new company she found herself among but lowered to her knees on the right side of her body to allow the new burdens up. She glared hatefully at them, making small snapping motions to accompany her chirping nagging.

---------------------
"It's natural and unavoidable, yes. But that doesn't always mean it's a rightful death or someone you won't miss." Ziris started, watching the events with a keen interest which she tried very hard to hide in her voice. So...the commander was suddenly going soft? This was an interesting turn of events. the fact that Tracyn's monster was assisting could be nothing short of miraculous.

"It frees those who have no choice..." She said sympathetically. "It doesn't mean those who you leave behind won't miss you. I spent time in my life with Tracyn....I'd miss hearing her voice or getting talked into her stupid schemes like we're in now. I'd miss the person she was; because there will never be another like her in the world. Crying, drinking, winding up with strangers...it's just how I express missing someone who fell out of my life."

She gave a soft and sad smile to the screens, typing in a few codes to bring the view around and zoom in to watch Duke's helmet as if she were talking to him face to face. There wasn't any need to show him who she was--her color wasn't exactly wide spread in the galaxy. In fact, she was pretty sure she was going extinct.

"Yeah, Duke, I'd cry for you. Maybe not drink myself into someone's arms...but I'd cry for you."

[64, 8, 39]

[MillietheWarrior]

Spike turned slowly to regard Tracyn over his shoulder. He raised both eyebrows, and it was clear and unfiltered surprise on his face as he gazed down at her unmoving form where it hung in Drali’s arms. “If I wasn’t already having a problem getting my head sorted out, that might have knocked me unconscious,” he muttered, turning back around to mull over her words. Tracyn was admitting she was wrong? Wow. She must really be in bad shape. His pace unconsciously quickened, and he hurried towards Duke, who was standing, unmoving and silent, beside the prisoners. Spike jerked his thumb at Drali, and the two men shifted nervously. “Up you get,” he growled. The two men shifted gazes between the lizard and the commander.

They instantly shivered and shook their heads. “Can we walk?” one of them asked timidly. Spike’s snarl must’ve been much more intimidating than Drali’s because the moment he turned angry ruby eyes on them, they skittered over to Drali and somehow managed to clamber on her back behind their unconscious and former employers. Duke shifted from foot to foot as Spike jammed his helmet back on his head and glanced down at Tracyn. He didn’t say a word, and slowly raised the emotionless t-visor to Drali. “When we get back and get Tracyn all patched up, you can have a…steak or something. A giant one. And maybe I’ll let you back in the garden,” he grumbled. He stepped past her, motioning to Duke to follow.

He’d send a clean-up crew to deal with the mess they’d left when some of the squads returned to the base. “Some problem this turned out to be,” He snorted at Tracyn. “You got shot over nothing…” Spike felt tired and he hadn’t even done much. He just felt drained and tired and beleaguered and he wanted to take a nap. But he had the prisoners and Tracyn to deal with…not to mention the report he’d have to file and the disgruntled politicians and generals he’d have to soothe. It was going to be a long time before he got this sorted out.

----

Duke followed along silently, rifle trained on the two captives sitting stiffly on Drali’s back. “Why?” He heard himself say over the shared link with Ziris. “You don’t even know me. I have never mourned a lost squad mate, and there have been many. Getting attached makes it all the more easy to be hurt. And when your mind isn’t on the fight, you get killed.” He watched as Spike picked up his pace until he was nearly sprinting alongside Drali, easily keeping up with the beast; he could hear Spike‘s breathing grow more rapid, and his heart rate began to climb with the physical exertion.

Their shared link allowed Duke to hear whatever the commander didn’t mind him hearing; the conversations with Tracyn, however, had all been private. Duke heard his own panting inside his helmet as he loped along behind. “I just don’t understand. There’s no logical reason to cry over someone who’ll never come back. It seems like a waste of time and effort.” He slowed down so the group jogged along ahead of him. He watched Drali’s mane bounce against her neck, lost in thought. “No use missing something you’ll never have back.”

[50/10]

[Kallile]

Drali glared down at the men who hurried over to her, snapping and roaring lowly at them in outward protest despite being rather cooperative with Spike. The promise of steak and garden privileges meant nothing to the sand-lizard at the moment--she only wished health and long life for her rider. If that meant harboring these four idiots who had harmed her; she would. If that meant eating them and making this whole ordeal a lot easier to explain; she would.

Tracyn gave soft gasps against the scaled hide of her mount. Drali wasn't suffocating her, but the wound on her neck made breathing the hardest thing she could possibly do. She slid an eye open and looked at the slightly watercolor looking image of Spike through her hazy vision. "This is hardly nothing. This is atoning for my own bad judgment..."

As if on cue, two small humanoid faces with whiskers and upright ears peeked from around the tree, looking rather like the pups that Duke had just fred. And indeed, once Tracyn cast her eyes over to them they shifted back into their pup-state and fled back into the forests. "They would not say I was shot for nothing. That's all that matters."

----

Ziris frowned, wishing for a moment she could will herself to open a visual link. But things like that were dangerous--people could track visuals--track the things in the background to tell what galaxy, even what planet you were located on. She wasn't going to risk that to force a little emotional connection to make her point.

"I've seen war up close and very personal. It's why I got behind the computer screens--to help when others are left in a haze by their commanders. I can see things they can't and can relay it even faster. I make it my job to help keep people like you alive. Among other things." She sighed and ran her fingers through her dark black hair splattered with colors that didn't seem to have logical placement or palatable connections in hue and contrast.

"Just because you can't get them back doesn't mean it's not worth missing them. It's just...something people do to grieve. We need to miss people, to have that connection that will make us cry one day. It's what separates us from the beasts; keeps us sane and human. Gives us something to actually live for--to make memories with people while they're still here with you."

[65, 9, 40]

[MillietheWarrior]

They made it back to the base relatively easily. Spike let Duke take care of the prisoners, while he would need to tend to Tracyn. But first there was the matter of getting past Drali. Spike stared at the giant beast for a moment, before he stepped forward and locked eyes with it seriously, reaching up to place a hand just under her chin and drag her massive head down towards him. “Listen, Drali,” he said slowly. “I know you can understand me perfectly. I’m going to take Tracyn inside now and have a doctor treat her wounds. I won’t let her die…But if I do, I swear on my soul that I will let you rip me and the man who did this to her apart. Deal?” He felt the urge to smack Tracyn and tell her to shut up and stop being a self-righteous martyr, because that ‘I died for a cause’ osik was starting to grate on his nerves.

Instead, he kneeled closer to her, narrowing his eyes in annoyance, before his gaze shifted back to Drali. “I’m going to take her now. You need to wait out here. I promise I won’t let anything happen to her. She won’t leave me sight.” He gently slid his arms beneath Tracyn’s form, before he began to lift lightly, his eyes still locked onto Drali’s. He was ready to book it into the base if she decided to go ‘protective lizard’ on him and try to kill him. But he wasn’t going to just let Tracyn die out here; he still had a lot he needed to sort out where she was concerned.

---------

Duke was silent. He had no way to respond to something like that. This Ziris female was strange, and her views on the world were even stranger. “Why miss them? They aren’t coming back. It’s a waste of time.” Was that him talking, or what he’d been programmed to believe? Duke suddenly felt a lot like the droids he fought so hard to overcome; emotionless, uncaring, unfeeling. Maybe when the civvies saw the Clones as nothing but programmed droids, they were right. Did not missing someone when they died make him a bad person? Duke had never missed anyone; not even Scout. Sure, there was a pang of…something in his consciousness when Scout had been taken from them. But Scout was gone, and there was no use missing him; he wouldn’t be coming back. Why waste his energy mourning and crying over someone when it served no purpose?

“Maybe I’m not human,” Duke said quietly, before he shoved a blaster into the back of the first man who’d crawled off Drali’s back, and kicked him towards the base door. The two senators were conscious now, and while badly injured, they were able to walk on their own. Duke nodded curtly at Spike, who gave him a lazy salute, and herded the four prisoners ahead of him towards the brig. They’d be sorted out later, and either interrogated, executed, or sent back to their home worlds to await a trial for illegal crimes against the Republic. “What does that make me then, Ziris?” Duke asked, sounding no more like the confident solider he’d been a few minutes ago, but now like the lost child he truly was; he needed direction. It was all he really had in his life.

[51/11]

[Kallile]

The gaze of the giant beast was leveled with that of the Clone man, a wavelength between them trying to be reached as the massive lizard reflexively tightened her grip on her rider as she felt his arms slide between said rider and her scaled hide. A deep rumble was let out, but little more. Stare was met for stare, and slowly Drali relented the hold on her rider to this strange human. Words meant little to a beast who lived in an eat or be eaten world, but even the unspeaking monster could understand emotion when she saw it.

Love, also, was not in her vocabulary, so the thought did not pass through her mind. But there was something important about her rider to this man. She would, reluctantly, trust him not to kill her. For now. Stomping one of her feet three times, she gave a sharp snort and flopped down on the ground. "Three days", the action seemed to say, is all the longer I'm waiting here without her.

Tracyn's eyes fluttered closed, and though her breathing rate remained normal, her mental state had seemingly checked out. A body seeking to save it's energy for the important things and a sign that time was now of the essence.

----------

"It's not the matter of missing them or not. It's the matter that for some part of time you were part of one another's lives. You'll never get that time back, so why not mourn but cherish the memory of it? Besides, what's life if no one even bats an eye at your passing? Why have been here at all?" Though she knew the weight of those words may not hold the same effect she hoped they would, Ziris had to try something. Connections over wavelengths alone were hard to manage and even harder to find any kind of true connection through.

His question in return, however, bore more weight than she expected it to. How did you tell one in a million created from a test tube that he was human? "You're trained to tough, that's what. Keeps you around longer for little chats like this, though, so maybe some day I can chat that kind of thinking out of you."

[66, 10, 41]