Bounty Hunter Anon III

by Sunny Solaire

Backup

You stand at the end of the gunship's interior and press the button on the wall next to the doors. They slowly slide open and you turn around to face your fireteam. Applejack, Big Mac, and four Mandalorians.

You're all going to fly out of the ship together on your jetpacks and kill or incapacitate any pirates you see. Once they're all dealt with and the ship is yours, you're going to head to the bridge and steal any valuable information they have. Along with any goodies they have as well.

"Mandalorians! Remember! The devaronian MUST be taken alive! Spare the pirates if you can, but do not kill Discord!" Applejack and Big Mac nod at you and you turn around again, grabbing your blaster pistols. "Go!"

Once the door is open enough, you leap outside and fly into the air, turning around and spraying blasterfire around the closest group of pirates you can see. Discord is retreating away from the gunship, but firing a pair of blasters at it in a panic.

Wait. Those aren't blasters, they're slugthrowers. That's pretty ballsy of him, you're not going to lie.

Behind you, Applejack and Big Mac fly out of the gunship and proceed to open fire as well. They slowly descend towards the ground, and take cover behind a few crates, still firing when able. They were a bit skeptical about using jetpacks, but they seemed to get the hang of it back on Mandalore, after a few tries.

The rest of the Mandalorians quickly fly out of the ship and join you in the attack. Anon is in the air with Pinkie and firing at the pirates as a few of them shift their attention to you. The gunship is still firing at the ground around the pirates and causing one hell of a distraction. You join him in the air and fight alongside him.

Pinkie stops firing and turns to you. "Hi Sunset!"

"Hi Pinkie!" You smile under your helmet and continue to corral the pirates into a group.

Discord looks panicked, along with the remaining pirates he has around him. Finally, he stops firing and tugs on the arms of the two closest pirates to him before running away to the other end of the hangar.

Just as he does, you see your ship enter the opposite side of the hangar and proceed to land. Within seconds of touching down, the ramp opens and Jedi Master Maud Pie exits, igniting her blue lightsaber.

Pinkie scrambles a bit and puts her finger to her ear. "Maud, be careful! Discord uses slugthrowers!"

"Thank you for the tip, Pinkie." She replies over the comms.

Jedi can't deflect slugs with their lightsabers.

Maud starts running toward the pirates and a few of them open fire on her. She deflects the blaster bolts back with ease. Discord skids to a stop and frantically looks around. He's surrounded.

"Inside! Now!" He tugs a few pirates and leads them through the hangar doors leading into his ship.

"Stop them!" Anon descends toward the ground with Pinkie and the gunship ceases fire. You follow right behind him.

He drops Pinkie and they both head after the pirates as they proceed back into the ship. The hangar doors start to close behind Discord, leaving a few pirates outside with you. A couple of them manage to wiggle their way inside before the doors shut, but not all of them. Only three are left. They stop firing and frantically pound on the door, trying in vain to get it back open.

Anon stops advancing and points his blaster rifle at the group of trapped pirates. "Drop your weapons! Now!"

"Right now! Do it!" You echo.

You stand beside him and Pinkie and point your weapons at them as well. Across the way, Maud Pie stands with her left arm extended in front of her and her lightsaber in her right hand, pointing at the pirates. You recognize it as the stance for Soresu. Lightsaber form III.

Beside her, one of the Mandalorians on your fireteam, Lyra, lands and also points her weapon at the frightened pirates. Her armor is different shades of green. Mostly deep green, though not as deep as the green on Anon's armor, with minty green accents. The other four Mandalorians are still in the air above you.

Next to you on either side, Applejack and Big Mac respectively stand to your left and right, also pointing their weapons at the pirates. They don't have a prayer and they know it.

---

"I said, drop your weapons!" You command again.

The three pirates practically throw their weapons onto the ground in front of them and raise their arms into the air.

"Lyra, Bon Bon, bind them. Get them onto the gunship."

"Yes sir!" Lyra proceeds toward the pirates, lowering her weapons and raising her gauntlets.

Bon Bon, a Mandalorian in light brown armor with blue and pink accents, lands beside Lyra and they fire their whipcords at the pirates, ensnaring them. The gunship lands with a thud behind you.

They lead the captured pirates toward the gunship and you lower your weapon and look at Maud. "Master Jedi, get that door open. Big Mac, cover her. I don't want to take any chances, knowing they have slugthrowers."

Maud nods and proceeds toward the hangar door while Big Mac joins her.

Applejack turns to you. "The ship's been disabled, right?"

You nod. "The weapons and hyperdrive are both shot, just like we planned. They won't get too far on sublight engines if he tries to escape."

She nods and the remaining two Mandalorians land in front of you. Coco Pommel and Tempest Shadow.

Coco is a fairly young Mandalorian. Her armor looks the newest out of everyone here, showing hardly any signs of battle. It's brown in color, with a tan accent, and she has a brown cape behind her right shoulder.

Tempest's armor is mostly dark purple and black, with a deep pink accent. Her helmet has a very noticeable scratch running down the right side over her visor.

If memory serves you right, she got into a fight with some beast when she was young that nearly killed her. Its claws severed her helmet in two and wounded her badly, but she still managed to walk away from that fight the winner. She was able to repair her helmet, but chose to show where it had been damaged, so her enemies know that she's survived worse. She is a fierce and cunning warrior.

Tempest walks toward you and looks around. "Anon, what about reinforcements?"

Pinkie chimes in. "I don't think we need to worry about that too much. Discord isn't very popular with other gangs. If he calls for help, a couple of them might try to help, but they should back off if we scare them enough."

Coco hums. "Scaring them shouldn't be too hard."

You chuckle a little at her response.

Sunset speaks up. "There might be other pirates on their way here though. I doubt they all came back at once."

"I agree." You turn on your comms and contact Lyra, Bon Bon, and the gunship's pilot. "Thunderlane, once the prisoners are secure, watch over them but keep the engines hot. More pirates might be arriving. Lyra, Bon Bon, you two take position in front of the energy barriers closest to the gunship. If anyone tries to enter the hangar, kill them."

All three of them acknowledge your order. "Yes sir!"

You shut off your comms and turn your attention back to Tempest and Coco. "Same goes for you two. Keep the hangar secure, and kill anyone that tries to enter."

The two Mandalorians nod once before taking off into the air once again and heading toward the barrier behind your ship on the opposite side of the hangar.

You turn to the door and lead Sunset, Pinkie, and Applejack toward Big Mac and Maud. She's almost finished cutting through. Pinkie moves behind Maud while you and Sunset raise your weapons at the door. Applejack draws her blasters, but stays behind you.

Maud finishes the cut and moves directly in front of the door, in your line of fire. "Pinkie. Help me push this door. Hopefully, it incapacitates any pirates on the other side."

Pinkie pauses for a second before nodding. "Okay."

She moves beside the Jedi and stares at the hangar door, a large, glowing circle of melted steel in the center.

"Together, now." Maud says.

Pinkie nods again and inhales deeply. They both pull their arms backwards before thrusting them forward at the same time.

The familiar low booming sound of thunder echoes through the hangar and the cut section of the door goes flying away from them, hitting someone on the other side. You hear a few screams following the sound of clanging metal.

You and Sunset move around Pinkie and Maud and point your weapons into the ship, scanning for any pirates. The cut section of the door had hit someone in the head and flipped over onto another pair of pirates before coming to a rest.

A fourth pirate was far enough away that he didn't get hit by the door. He looks up at you and moves to point his blaster at you, but you and Sunset blast him.

Once he goes down, you and Sunset advance into the ship, keeping your guard up. The pirate that got hit in the head is either unconscious or dead, while the two that are resting under the door are groaning in pain.

You and Sunset keep your attention on the corners of the hallway ahead of you and proceed. She's on your left, so she peers down that side of the hallway while you check the right side. The hallway is empty.

"Clear." She says.

"Clear." You reply.

You both turn around and look down at the two pirates trapped under the door. A twi'lek and a rodian. Both male.

"Master Jedi, Big Mac, get these two onto the gunship, then return here." You say. "Applejack, Pinkie, you two are with us. Let's go."

Applejack and Pinkie step over the pirates on the ground on their way towards you. Maud deactivates her lightsaber. You all need to hurry. Discord probably wouldn't abandon ship under normal circumstances, but he won't be able to escape into hyperspace this time.

"Where is he going, Pinkie?" You ask.

Pinkie thinks for a moment. "Probably to the bridge. It's our best bet."

From within the ship, you hear the sound of a muffled roar. The four of you turn and face the left hallway to see a pirate exit a room and run down towards you as fast as he can.

"Well, we can't go that way. Looks like the Rancor is still out of control." Pinkie says.

The pirate skids to a stop about twenty feet away from your position. You raise your rifle and kill him in one shot.

Sunset turns back to Pinkie. "Is there another way there?"

Pinkie nods. "It's the longer way, but yeah!"

It's the same route you took on your way back to the hangar.

Applejack gestures toward her. "Lead the way then, sugarcube."

Pinkie turns around and leads you three down the right side of the hallway. You run beside her while Sunset and Applejack both run behind you.

Retracing your steps, you go through the ship again as you make your way toward the bridge. Hopefully he's there and not hiding in any of these other rooms you keep passing. You have neither the time, nor the patience for a game of hide-and-seek right now.

The four of you round a left corner after about a minute of running and hear another monstrous roar directly ahead. You slow your pace a little, but press onward, passing the door that leads into the Rancor room. Inside, the Rancor's back is to you, but you see it pick up a dead pirate and bring him to its mouth. Hopefully, that isn't Discord.

You continue forward, the sound of crunching coming from behind you.

Applejack shudders a little. "Gross..."

Up ahead, you spot a couple pirates laying on the ground. They're the same ones you killed before.

"Right here!" Pinkie yells.

The four of you turn the corner and step over the bodies before stopping at the elevator doors. Pinkie presses a button on the wall, but it's unresponsive.

"It's not working!" She presses it a few more times, but nothing happens. No sound, no lights, nothing.

"He probably shut off the elevator. Locked himself in the bridge." You say.

Sunset steps forward. "I can get it open."

She holsters her weapon and presses a button on her gauntlet. Her cutting torch sparks and pops into a small flame over her wrist and she reaches up to the top of the two elevator doors.

She starts cutting right down the middle through the elevator door's locking mechanism. It's not as easy to cut through as it was for Maud's lightsaber, but she makes good progress. Applejack and Pinkie are watching your six, while you cover Sunset's twelve, just in case there's someone waiting for you when those doors open.

As she nears the floor, Pinkie lowers her weapon a little. "Oh, this isn't good..."

You turn to face her and she looks at Sunset. "What do you mean?"

Just then, Sunset finishes the cut and the doors open automatically. You turn around again and point your blaster into the elevator, but it's empty. In fact, there's not an elevator car at all.

You're about to step forward, when Pinkie grabs your and Sunset's shoulders and pulls you backwards as hard as she can. She must've used the Force to enhance her strength, like she did when you fought her on Nar Shaddaa, because you and Sunset both lose your footing and fall backwards.

Literally one second later, the elevator car comes screaming down the shaft from above to crash onto your level, just in front of you. It immediately gets crushed, and a light cloud of smoke bellows out as some piece of machinery on the car also explodes, along with a few pieces of debris. Applejack screams.

You look at the destroyed elevator car in surprise. Pinkie is panting hard beside you and Sunset, but looks relieved. Applejack looks at the damage in shock as well. Thankfully, no one is hurt.

From inside the elevator shaft, you hear Discord's voice echoing. "No! Damn it! Leave me alone, bounty hunters! You're not getting up here!"

You exhale and stand up with Sunset. "Good call, Pinkie."

She smiles a little and turns back to the elevator shaft.

Applejack is taking a closer look at the destroyed car. "Well now how do we get up there?"

Sunset stands next to her. "I bet we could fly up there."

You take a closer look at the elevator car. It's completely destroyed, but the ceiling has caved in some, exposing the roof of the car. There is a gap on the roof of the car big enough for you to climb through.

Pinkie can't fly, and while Applejack still has her jetpack, you don't like the idea of leaving anyone alone. You and Sunset could head inside the shaft and fly up to the bridge yourselves.

"Sunset's right." You say. "She and I will head up and capture Discord. Applejack, you and Pinkie wait here for us to get back."

Applejack nods. "Sounds good."

"Okie dokie!" Pinkie says.

You step toward the elevator car and grab onto the edge as you start to pull yourself onto the roof. Sunset puts her hands under your left boot and hoists you up. It's a bit of a squeeze to get into the shaft with your jetpack, but you manage to slide in.

Once you're on the roof of the car, you turn around and extend your arm toward Sunset to pull her up with you. "Careful."

She grunts as you pull her in enough to bring her legs in and she stands up.

"Whew. Thanks, Anon." She says.

"Anytime, love." You smile and look up the elevator shaft.

It's a bit dark, but you can see well enough. The door to the bridge is about forty feet directly above you.

Sunset turns around. "We'll be right back, you two. If you need us, call us."

Applejack nods. "Sure thing, Sunset."

Sunset follows your gaze up to the bridge level. "Let's go."

The two of you activate your jetpacks and fly straight up, leaving Applejack and Pinkie behind.

Author's Note:

Lightsaber Form III. Soresu.

Tempest Shadow.