[Kallile]

The smirk and comment did little in the way of having the effect Maddi had hoped she would have. Instead, she got a rather sour look on her face before releasing his arm about as harshly as she had grabbed it. “I am not getting mad about it.” She hissed, looking up the somewhat short difference between their eye levels. “The fact that you’re in such a good mood this morning could easily mean you’re just as crazy about me.”

The arm around her waist made Madeline noticeably bristle and she glared up at Prudii as he began to walk. She dug her heels into the ground but found he was stronger than she had expected and was dragged along regardless of her anchoring attempts. After a few steps she hesitantly began to walk of her own accord, deciding that eventually he’d get tired and just let go—something that would not end well for her. She couldn’t help but notice, however, his lack of comment on the ‘cuddling’ chide just a moment ago. That thought was rushed from her mind when he threatened (was it threatening? Well, close enough anyway.) to carry her along. She glared at him, crossing her arms gingerly in silent protest.

“You have a girlfriend…that doesn’t give you the right to be a caveman about it and drag me wherever you please. I can walk on my own just fine, thanks.” She grumbled, refocusing her eyes to the horizon as Prudii had done earlier in a clear ‘I’m not paying any attention to you’ gesture. She did smirk, however, and tilt her head as if she might be having a pleasant conversation with the tree line in the distance. “Which only further proves my point: you want to cuddle because you didn’t get your kiss last night.”

[33]

[MillietheWarrior]

"Oh right," Prudii snorted. "So the hissing and yelling and generally overall angry demeanor means nothing? I'll believe it when I see it." He had to smirk at what he believed to be his own cleverness. Prudii had found in life that, generally when someone got mad about something that he revealed to them, it usually meant it was true. In Maddi's case, even if she seemed mad all the time, he could pretty much tell that this was 'dang it, he knows,' kind of mad. He found her attempts to pry herself away from his arm faintly amusing, and glanced down at her to grin cheekily.

"Maybe it does give me the right," he said, releasing her from his grasp. He tilted his head and continued down the road, his sore arm still being held firmly at his side as his now free arm swung against  with each step. "But it doesn't mean I want to. Besides, my arm is still sore, and I think you'd be a bit heavy for me to carry right now." He glanced over his shoulder, smirking lightly. They'd almost fallen back into that comfortably familiar rhythm of teasing one another with snide comments and remarks. When she threw the 'cuddling' jibe back at him for a second time, however, he faltered in his stride, before snorted derisively.

"Bah, like I needed a kiss to go to sleep...And I was not cuddling; I was using your lap as a very comfortable pillow, for your information. Oh, and by the way..." He paused, turning slightly to look her up and down with a raised eyebrow, eyes lingering on her exposed legs, then on her face for a few moments. "Maybe you should think about wearing something a bit different...That outfit is way too distracting..." He wondered how she'd take that; it had almost become a contest of 'see who can freak the other person out more' with each passing comment.

[30]

[Kallile]

“It’s just how I talk, soldier boy. Get used to it.” She said with a slight grin, still not looking at him. She was going to renew her stubbornness on this issue—she was not going to give him the satisfaction of looking wide-eyed at him every single time he struck a nerve somewhere. Nope, not today. She was going to set the tone of this relationship right…right now.

“I’m pretty sure it doesn’t.” She said more slowly, seeming to ponder this. Well, he was a soldier…didn’t they tend to do the whole “port to port” thing? Maybe she was just another port for him…or maybe the whole notion meant he already had families he wasn’t aware of yet. Or, wait, that was navy they said that about. Either way, she left it in her mind that maybe army-rules of relationship were different to the point that was accepted. She shook her head at the thought, rubbing the bridge of her nose to try and wake the rest of the way up. Dang…it was early. Still morning dew on the ground and everything.

“A bit too heavy or a bit too hazardous? Honestly…do you really think you could get me to go quietly aside from clubbing me over the head?” She said, still as if she were talking to the road ahead of them. “That armor of yours has got to cave in eventually.”

Her eyes flashed up at him, much to her dismay, at the comment on her being distracting in the way she dressed. For a minute she pursed her lips thoughtfully and focused on quelling the rose-tint from rising on her cheeks. What might have been expected to be another angry outburst was, instead, met with something very different.

Leaning up so that her head weaved slightly around his shoulder, her voice came out as a velvet purr of seductive tones. “If you think this is distracting, I’ve got news for you. It's just the pretty bow to an even prettier package that you’re not allowed to unwrap. And since it bothers you so much...I think I'll keep it around. Just as a tease.”

Ignoring the fact that she had no idea where they were going, Maddi picked up her pace a little to walk slightly ahead of Prudii, grinning smugly to herself in triumph. And…of course…trying to stay out of Prudii’s reach playfully.

[34]

[MillietheWarrior]

Prudii rolled his eyes, ignoring her comments easier than she was able to ignore his. He decided he’d let the armor jibe go; it wasn’t worth it to start a fight over the durability and lasting quality of his armor. It was good stuff; she just didn’t know what she was talking about. However, when she leaned up to speak softly into his ear, he felt a shiver run unbidden down his spine. That was unpleasant; he wasn’t used to flirting. In fact, it was completely foreign to him. Now the game had evolved from ‘make the other person uncomfortable’ to ‘more than uncomfortable, and treading in dangerous waters.’

It was so unexpected that Prudii actually stopped dead in his tracks for moment. His eyes slid over Madeline again, and he frowned. ‘No, no. Don’t look. She’s just messing with your mind. It’s all some kind of mind game. Ignore it, ignore her, forget about it.’ He started walking again, watching her all but sashay in front of him. A low growl escaped his throat, and he narrowed his golden eyes as they kept walking along, trying to be oblivious to one another’s advances. This was all very odd for him; he’d never spent this much time with a woman. And Maddi was making it odder still; she was infuriating, annoying and very, very strange. He’d never had an experience like this.

He ran his hand across his face, wishing the base was just beyond that horizon. “Whatever,” he grumbled, looking away pointedly. “Anyone ever told you that your crazy? Provoking a solider; sounds like a death wish to me.” He smiled wolfishly, revealing slightly pointed canines. “Good thing this solider likes you…” He rested his hand on his blaster; not menacingly, but just to settle his injured shoulder somewhere a bit more stable than his stomach. “Anyway,” he began again. “Since we have some time to kill, might as well get to know each other a bit better. Let’s start with you.” he smirked, his eyes narrowed as he caught up to her. “Anything you’d like to tell me about yourself?”

[31]

[Kallile]

Casting a still flirty glance over her shoulder at him, Madeline resisted the urge to push matters further. The fact that she had stopped him in his tracks was very satisfying and she couldn’t help but wear the proud expression on her face. Take that, model sister. She could at least make one man’s jaw drop.

“But wasn’t it you who said I was trying to get myself killed? I’m just trying to fulfill your prophecy.” She chided, deciding perhaps against her better judgment to slow her pace just slightly so that she hung just at the edge of his reach. The plan seemed in vain, as Prudii was at her side only moments later.

Making a mock pouty face, she looked up at him disappointedly. “But I was having so much fun making you squirm…” She remarked, giving a grin to him. “You already know most of the important things. My stubborness is stuff of legend.” She said, waving casually at him to try and dismiss this digging into her being. It was uncomfortable to say the least.

“I’m from a family of six that tends to push me away, I enjoy walks in creepy places—as you’ve found out, and apparently I have a thing for gun-happy soldiers.”

The answer was flaky at best, and Madeline rubbed at her arm awkwardly. “If you want to know specifics you’re just going to have to ask because I’m not good at this whole ‘get to know you’ process. Unless of course, you’d like to teach me the ropes.”

The statement was a challenge—a call for Pruddi to do exactly what he was asking. And if he did it better…well, who was Maddi to argue?

[35]

[MillietheWarrior]

Prudii decided he was going to stubbornly ignore all of her flirtatious behavior; no matter how hard it really was. Right now, she was acting more like a girl than like the Madeline he knew. He was very surprised he hadn’t already been smacked in the face for everything he’d said. Maybe she was feeling a bit more generous today. However, after she decided to give her ‘answers’ Prudii decided he was very wrong in that assumption. He snorted, shaking his head lightly. The sound of his helmet bouncing against his hip filled the silence between them as they walked through the bright green grass. “Your really not good at socializing, are you?” he muttered, more of a statement than a question. “Fine. How about I tell you about me, and you can takes notes? Then tell me about you.” He looked thoughtful as they traipsed along, one hand resting on his blaster, and the other against his hip as he tried to figure out what he could tell her.

“All right. My full name is Prudii Skirata. I was adopted by a man named Kal Skirata when I was very young, along with my five other brothers: Jaing, Kom’rk, Mereel, Ordo and A’den. None of them ignore me, and my family is the most important part of my life. I have no mother and I was born in a test tube. I am a Mandalorian; something I’ll explain to you further after we’ve spent some more time together. I am a solider and a lieutenant, and I am very good at what I do. I kill people often and without remorse, because none of it is personal in a war. I dislike heights, and have a very biased opinion of politicians. I also don’t like my job. I have fought droids, Sep rabble, rebels and just about anything you can think of. I am an expert tracker; almost as good as my brother Jaing. And I am a very, very good shot.”

He paused for a moment, glancing across the field as a slight breeze ruffled the tall grasses. “I have never been in a relationship with anyone, nor have I ever cared to--until now. I don’t like stupid questions, and I can’t stand whiny people. My favorite color is light blue, and one day, I plan to paint my own real set of armor black and blue.” He fell silent for a long moment, before finally turning to glance at her out of the corner of his eye. “I am a Clone, and one of the very first ones, at that. I like sweets, and I eat a lot. And for now, I think that’s all you need to know about me.” Prudii managed to smirk wryly, gold eyes twinkling with challenge. ‘Top that,’ they said, glancing down at her with obvious amusement. “Now I think it’s your turn.” He reached over and pinched her cheek lightly, obviously enjoying their conversation and time together. “Unless of course your life isn’t as exciting as mine.”

[32]

[Kallile]

Maddi again smirked proudly—two wins in one morning. She could get used to this ‘boyfriend’ idea if things worked out like this most of the time. She only smirked wider at his comment. “Natural born loner.” She agreed. She really didn’t care how good she was at socializing. Most people were too afraid of her or her look to want to get to know to much about her. Her attitude in general to strangers and most other people may have had something to do with that. But she was feeling generous today even if she was chalking it up to having a mild concussion from their heads cracking together first thing.

She listened, trying to keep up and take mental notes of what he was saying. Not really for information purposes, because raw information tended to be forgotten since she never used it again. But if she remembered it with purposes of throwing it back in his face later, she knew she’d remember most every word. She never forgot a good snide remark.

The pinch to her cheek elated a near snarl from Maddi, and she glared up at him as she started thinking of what all she was going to tell him. This whole thing felt unnatural and awkward, in her opinion.

“Fine, I’ll top that.” She chided in reply to the unspoken challenge in his eyes, crossing her arms so there was less movement to distract her. Awkward situations never bothered Maddi before, but now that it was one she really couldn’t escape she found herself a little trapped.

“My full name is Madeline Ancyn Moonbane. I picked my own last name, as did all my siblings, because my parents are both idiots. My dad is a gamer freak named Obi Starkiller, my mother is a psycho-hyper woman named Nakira Moonbane. I took her full last name because my dad has never liked me and therefore I’m not giving the jerk any satisfaction of having his last name on all his precious offspring. I have a sister and two brothers; Kyrie, Atlee, and Xander. Kyrie is the only tolerable one in the group. My family is something I try to escape—ergo why I’m clear across the ocean from my home.”

She cast him a distinctly grumpy glance—her dislike of talking about her family obvious. “The first actual thing I ever killed were those two droid…things. I hate spiders and have killed too many of those to count, though I don’t count them as things I need to be concerned about killing. Right now I don’t have a ‘real’ job, as my father would tell you—I write and sell my poetry and a few paintings. I like making body jewelry but don’t do it often because everyone wants bright and sparkly and I don’t do sparkly. I’d love to how to tattoo and it’s one of my only dreams. I tend to have a general lack of concern for most everyone which is why I’ve never decided to take on a boyfriend before you. My ‘hate’ list is longer than my ‘like’ list and I can’t stand most blonde girls because they’re all idiots. I’m wearing my favorite colors, and yes I said ‘colors’ because just one color is boring and way overdone in the goth community. I dress goth to keep the bubbly people away, mostly. I like spicy, tongue punishing food and like my mother I have a weakness for truffles.”

She looked up at him, uncrossing her arms and casting a dark grin. “There, oh master of the social life. How was that? Feel informed yet?”

[36]

(( Her middle name is pronounced "An-sin". ))

[MillietheWarrior]

Prudii couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled to the surface. Rich and full of barely contained amusement, it broke the silence that hung between them after Madeline has finished listing things about herself. “When you take up a challenge, you really commit,” he said, his voice just as rough and rich as his laughter. “I’m honored to be your first boyfriend,” he continued, raising one eyebrow. “And yes, I do feel informed. I’m actually surprised you shared as much as you did with me. I didn’t expect you to be that open.” He shrugged his good shoulder, before reaching his free arm up to drape it lightly on her shoulders. “Glad you finally came around.”

His grin, however, was cut short as a loud crack echoed through the air. Prudii let out a strangled gasp, before his arm slid from around his shoulder and he lurched forward and crumpled to his knees. Silence reigned in the surrounding area as he kneeled, stunned, on the ground for a few moments. He reached up a hand to touch the now gaping hole that had gone clean through his collar bone and out his back, straight through his armor. Absently, almost as if in a trance, he reached up to place a hand over the hole, his gloves stained crimson as blood poured from the wound. “Sniper,” he wheezed, looking dumbstruck. How had this happened? Who had just shot him? Where were they and how did they find them? Prudii’s golden eyes became slightly hazy from the pain, and he gritted his teeth as he kneeled in the dust.

“Maddi, you should probably run right now,” he said softly. He almost seemed as if he was in shock; and he was. He couldn’t believe he’d been so careless, so stupid. How could he have let something like this happen? He pressed his glove against the hole in his shoulder, trying to staunch the flow of blood and try and regain some of his senses. But the blood was flowing too fast, the wound too grievous, and Prudii couldn’t seem to manage to regain his footing. Slowly, he reached for his blaster, handing it to Maddi. “Fierfek, I said run!” he croaked softly. “I…” He hissed in pain, managing to haul himself to his feet. He kept one hand over the hole in his chest, and the other resting on his blaster.

“The shot came from…The north…East…” he huffed, suddenly feeling light-headed and out of breath. “I…I can’t seem to see very well…” His vision was beginning to blur slightly, and he knew he was in trouble now; if he collapsed, Maddi would pretty much have no choice but to leave him there. Another crack rang out and the dust at their feet sprang up, spraying grit and dirt all over their legs. Prudii pushed Maddi with a strong shove, stumbling after her. “Move!” he shouted, trying to keep his footing and willing himself not to be a di’kut and pass out.

[33]

[Kallile]

Madeline had been ready to playfully toss his arm off her shoulder before a loud shot rang out and Prudii crumbled. She looked down at him, in shock herself at the sheer amount of blood pouring from his shoulder, and then around her. She’d never been trained, never had experience with snipers, but it was easy enough to tell the general direction it had come from. In some sort of almost primal instinct she got lower to the ground in what was almost an elongated crouch, near enough to Prudii that she might have momentarily looked protective of him.

“I’m not leaving you here, you idiot.” She hissed, not looking at him. Her eyes were darting around the area the shot had come from. There was fear in them, though Maddi did her best to hide it on her face. Her wild eyes shot over at him as he stood up, slowly moving to mirror his actions. Her eyes flowed from the blood trail up to the source, then back to his face. There was a sudden fear deep within her that the first guy who actually liked her was going to die in the first 24 hours of meeting her. She took the blaster, inhaling sharply. This could be it.

His words almost confirmed it in her mind—he was fading fast. She stumbled to the side as dirt showered them, but her hand was raised and poised. She had seen where it had come from, or at least the general area, and she fired off two rounds in that direction before she grabbed Prudii by his waist and hauled him to the side where there was at least some tree cover.

“I doubt I got him.” She huffed, still trying not to look at him. “I can’t see where he is and I’m just shooting blind.” She slowly turned her wide eyes over to look at his face and forced a smile on her face. “If it ends this way—I regret not giving you that last kiss.” She said, feeling flooded with emotions. Fear, anger, sadness…she wasn’t sure what all was spinning through her head.

Quickly, she removed her gloves and tore out the midsection of her top so that her flat stomach shone. She kept watch mostly on Prudii’s face as she pressed a glove onto each hole on either side of him and bound them as best she could by wrapping the torn material under his arm and pulling it tightly. It wasn’t the best, but any pressure she could get on the wound to slow his bleeding would only add precious time to Prudii’s consciousness. She wasn’t sure if she could do this without him.

"I’ve got to go back out there and get his position better…” She said softly, looking very afraid and very determined. She had to be her own reinforcements and target. Prudii wasn't in the best shape to shoot, let alone be a target. She cast him one last look, placing her hand gently on the side of his face. This might be it--the last time they'd see each other alive. For the first time, Maddi cared. “Don’t…don’t die on me.”

[37]

[MillietheWarrior]

Prudii collapsed with his back to the tree, sucking in deep breaths as he pressed his palm against the wound. He was nearly doubled over with the pain, but he made little to no sound as he hissed through his teeth. “I know,” he croaked. “I could only pinpoint general location. There’s no guarantee you hit him; but you might have.” He suddenly looked up at her with bleary, pain laced eyes, managing to smirk through the pain. “Don’t worry…I don’t plan on letting it end this way…” He lifted his hand, but hesitated to touch her. His gloves were covered in his own blood, and he wasn’t keen on smearing it across her cheek just because he wanted to reassure her. He let his hand fall limply back at his side, as he watched her with half-lidded, barely open eyes.

“What are you…?” he croaked softly, before she shoved the gloves into his wound, binding them with the strip of cloth from her midsection. He let out a soft cry of pain, not having expected that or the sharp, painful ache that went through his entire body. Blood immediately soaked into the fabric, clotting against the gloves and his torn skin. Gritting his teeth, he tried to sit up, but found it was harder than he expected. With a groan of pain, he slumped back against the tree. “Maybe I could…” he tried to get up again, only to have the wound at his shoulder and collar stretch and tear.

More blood trickled down his cracked armor, standing the ground beneath him. “Maybe I can’t,” he said, smiling painfully. He reached down and carefully removed his second blaster, handing it to Madeline with a raised eyebrow. “Fine. I expect to get these back, though. So don’t you dare get killed.” He tilted his head, gritting his teeth against the pain. “I won’t die on you, if you can do the same for me…Just aim, and shoot. Forget about everything else. And run like heck…”

[34]

[Kallile]

Maddi winced inside at every painful expression that crossed his face. There was nothing she could do, not with a sniper hanging around. There was nothing she could do without him either, other than ‘run like heck’ and hope she stayed alive long enough to get back to civilization. But if it came to that…she shook her head violently. She didn’t want to think of Prudii being taken, tortured, killed on the spot, anything. No matter what he was trained to deal with.  With that thought solid in her mind, and let her hand fall away from his face and onto the second blaster, taking it firmly from him. Her eyes were still terrified, but Madeline’s face held only anger. “I promise. And I’ll get him. No matter what.”

She leaned forward, pushing her lips against his roughly for a moment before she tore off around the tree. It was all up to her now—she had all the weapons and the most able body. And even though she was well aware a very big threat was somewhere close, Maddi felt completely alone. As she jogged along, working her way towards the northeast in strange, nonsense patterns. She needed to be shot at and the closer she was the more sure she could be of where her target was located.

It was possibly the dumbest idea she’d had in the past day, but she was doing it.

She had made it quite a ways without anything happening and like the inexperienced girl she was, Madeline began to slow a little. She wasn’t made for long jogs through rough terrain, at least not yet. Maybe she had got him…maybe.

Another shot rang out and Maddi felt her side light on fire. Just at the top of her hip rested a deep scorch mark. Her heart pounded—if this guy had been good enough to nearly hit Prudii in the throat, he was either injured or…

She gulped, taking cover behind a tree as she fired two more shots from around it. He was either injured, or now he was playing a dangerous game of chicken to see how close she could get before he had to kill her.

[38]

[MillietheWarrior]

Prudii winced slightly, nodding to Maddi as he did so. He had confidence in her; more so than he cared to admit. She was a good shot, for all her bluster about the kick of the gun. But the sniper was, undoubtedly, better. He was, after all, a sniper. You didn’t get a title like that by being a terrible shot. Prudii grunted in pain as he shifted himself to look around the tree. He was cursing himself for being so stupid; he shouldn’t have let his guard down, shouldn’t have been so careless. Now he was paying for it, and big time. He should’ve known it wouldn’t have been that easy to get back to base. He had figured they’d send some sort of battalion after them; or worse, super battle droids. Those things were a pain to kill. But a sniper? Completely unexpected.  

Prudii’s eyes tracked Maddi’s movement across the open space, a lump growing in his throat. This was his fault; if she got hurt, he’d never forgive himself. If something happened to her, he didn’t know what he could do to help her, either. A feeling of dread and guilt settled in the pit of his stomach and he banged his fist against his armor plated thigh. He felt useless; he needed to do something. But what? He’d given her both his blasters, and he didn’t carry anything else with him. A fuzzy scratching tickled his hand, and he looked down to see the spider crawling out of his pocket and skittering over his thigh in worry. Prudii managed an amused smile, before he felt a shooting pain go through his shoulder at the small bit of exertion.

He laid a hand over the spider and ushered it back into his pocket, unwilling to speak and assure it he was all right because he knew it would be too painful. He grunted and looked back around the tree, following Maddi’s movements with his eyes. She was a blurry little dot moving off in the distance. Prudii was having a harder and harder time staying focused. His eyelids felt heavy, his breathing slightly labored. He realized he’d lost too much blood, and concentrated on staying completely still to allow his wound to clot and stop some of the blood flow. He gulped in deep lungfuls of air, trying to stay focused, but he soon found it immensely difficult.

The sniper, meanwhile, had taken a shot at Madeline, and was glad to see it had caused her a bit of pain. Through the scope, the metal-made sharp-shooter, a droid in all senses of the word, took aim once more. There was a chink of metal, however, and one of Madeline’s shots caught it in the shoulder. The droid didn’t feel anything, but now it’s trajectory was off, and it could only use one arm to shoot. It whirred and clicked it’s displeasure as it tried to take aim, managing only to scrape off some bark from the tree with it’s bullet. Now that it’s aim was off, and it’d been hit, it needed to end this quickly; she’d know exactly where it was now. It slowly took aim again, trying to get a lock on it’s target.

[35]

[Kallile]

She willed herself not the think about what might be happening to Prudii. He said to forget everything else, and in this instance that meant him as well. If she didn’t do this right they were both dead and if she didn’t do it quickly…

She pushed the thought from her mind, her face held in a bit of a primal snarl as the pain rippled in waves through her stomach with each step. In that instant, she decided she hated sharp-shooters and snipers—especially ones with a sick sense of humor. It hadn’t been making it’s marks to kill, or else she was quite sure Prudii would already be gone. And the indented slice on her stomach certainly wasn’t marked for a kill. If the sniper had humor this sick, what must the rest of it’s team be like?

Again she snarled at herself. She had to stop and imagine that Pruddi was fine and the sniper was on a solo mission. Just she and the trigger-happy psycho. Happy thoughts.

She was trying to take moments of cover behind trees now to break up her movement pattern and give her some sort of shielding for the fleeting second she would be behind it. The pain was making her move slower—both in her burnt arm and the new stomach wound. No, no, she snarled at herself. Just focus!

Then she saw bark explode off a tree and she was sure. There was too much to have been a far away shot. She was close. She opened fire with both blasters, leaving herself momentarily venerable in order to get the clearest shots. The foliage was still too thick to see the glinting of metal from the sun, but Maddi didn’t need the sun. She could see the slightly wobbling barrel of the gun, and it was aimed at her.

Now, it was truly do or die.

[39]

[MillietheWarrior]

Prudii leaned back against the tree. He found he didn’t have the strength to hold himself up enough to look around the tree. This shouldn’t have been such a concerning wound. But it was, and it was his stupid fault. The blood wasn’t clotting, the bleeding was remaining at the same steady flow as before. He was lightheaded, in pain, and could barely keep his eyes open.

His head bobbed on his shoulders as he fought to stay conscious long enough to reassure Maddi he’d be fine. He lifted his uninjured arm up to press against the hole in his shoulder. He’d used all his bacta spray and patches on Madeline; he didn’t regret it, but he wished he’d brought more. Grunting softly, he shifted to try and staunch the blood flow and buy himself  a few more precious seconds of consciousness.

Meanwhile, the droid had been hit again. It lost control of the gun for a moment, the carefully aimed shot ricocheting off  a nearby tree and thudding into the soft dirt. The droid whirred it’s displeasure at having it’s aim thrown off, clicking softly as it did so. It had been assigned to destroy the Clone and the female human; both had been deemed dangerous by his high command. Both needed to be taken out before they could reach the base and alert the Republic to the Separatist presence in the area.

The droid hauled the gun around with it’s good arm, aiming once more for Madeline, before another one of her rounds caught is square in the neck, nearly severing it’s head from it’s body. The droid’s arms and les jerked with electronic spasms, but it was far from dead. It’s good arm still came around to hold the gun, though it was getting hard to aim. It could still see Madeline through it’s optic sensors, the cameras hidden there recording everything for the commanders. It made no noise as it took aim once more, clearly ready to kill or be killed.

[36]

[Kallile]

The shot rang out and was just as quickly muffled in the dirt it landed in, leaving Maddi a nice trail of gun smoke to pinpoint her mark. She ran towards it, suddenly shifting back so that she slid under the barrel of the gun and could take out the droid’s legs. The gun came crashing down with her as she hit its stand on her journey, the jolt causing it to fire one last shot.

Madeline was at the droid’s nearly severed head in an instant, glaring down at it menacingly. “I don’t care what the heck you’re doing out here, but I’m getting really sick and tired of this ‘let’s kill the man and his goth-girl’ plot. Any more of your buddies want to join you in the scrap heap…” She hissed, picking up its head. “I’ll deal with them all myself because, let me tell you, I’m pretty freaking ticked off.” With one hard yank over her shoulder beheaded the machine, firing a blaster shot into its chest just to be sure. And, for further good measures, she snatched the large sniper barrel off the ground and hauled it over her back. She could feel the still-hot metal sizzle as it touched the exposed skin on her back and she let a few choice words fly before quickly making her way back.

Out of breath and covered in scrapes and bruises, she nearly fell back beside Prudii as she neared the tree. “Here,” She said wearily, carefully placing the blasters and the sniper gun beside him. She carefully crawled over all the dangerous machinery, looking at the deep crimson material on his arm that was still dripping wet. “Prudii?”

Her voice was worried, as were her eyes. Knowing it would hurt and fully expecting a mild attack to follow it, she sat facing him and clamped both hands on either side of his shoulder over the wound. “Prudii…come on. Keep up your end of the deal. What do I need to do?”

[40]