Bounty Hunter Anon III

by Sunny Solaire

The Eleventh Hour

Sombra growls through his toothy grin and thrusts his arms forward. You are about to start blasting him when the Force hits you hard in the chest. Maud, Gilda, and Pinkie as well. The four of you yell as you all fly backwards across the room through the air. Maud is able to recover and land on her feet, but the rest of you land on your backs and slide along the floor before hitting the wall. That hurt.

You grunt and get to your feet again. Sombra leaps into the air from the top step and lunges towards you with his lightsaber at the ready. You don't dare attack first. His ferocity is astounding. He is clearly faster than you ever will be, so you decide to hunker back against the wall and brace yourself to play defense.

"Beskar, don't fail me now..." You mutter to yourself.

You raise your arms in front of your face and, a second later, Sombra's blade hits your vambraces harder than a train. He forces you to condense your body into a little ball to protect yourself, but your armor holds strong. He reels back and pummels you hard, his punishment increasing. You watch him behind the safety of your visor as he mercilessly assaults you again and again.

Behind him, Maud sprints his way and swings her own blade at him. He pauses his assault on you to turn around and lock blades with her for a moment. You quickly asses your limited options. You need to distance yourself from him, and you need to do it now.

As Sombra and Maud clash their blades with each other again, you think back to when you fought Chrysalis. She swung her blade down on your mechanical arm, and not only did it resist the impact, but you were also able to catch it in your hand and squeeze it. Sombra likely won't be expecting that. You keep yourself covered and wait for him to turn his full attention back to you.

They duel for a few more seconds before Sombra pushes her backwards. Once again, he turns his ferocity back to you and continues barraging you with attacks from his blade. You take hit after hit, just waiting for the right moment. Then, you see it. He reels his blade back to hit your left side, so you raise your arm to catch it. You reel your right arm back and deploy a small blade from your gauntlet as you prepare to counter him.

As he brings his blade down, you lock the servos in your arm and catch his blade in your hand, squeezing it tightly to prevent him from attacking you again. Sure enough, he is caught off-guard.

"Surprise!" You shout, channeling your inner Pinkie, as you bring your right arm forward. The small blade cuts deep into his face and slices clean across and up his right eye and forehead. He roars in anger and pain as he reels backwards. You immediately take advantage of this and activate your jetpack, getting some much needed distance from him.

You breathe a sigh of relief as you turn back to face him in the air. Gilda has completely recovered from the initial blast and decides to take a turn on him. Sombra is unable to recover in time to prepare himself for Gilda's onslaught of punches and kicks. From his right, Maud also rushes toward him with her saber at the ready. Despite Gilda's brutal assault, he recognizes the Jedi as the strongest threat and clashes blades with her.

They all fight for a second, two-on-one. Sombra is already on the ropes. You feel a rush of excitement as they pummel him and look to Pinkie. She's a bit distanced from them, but she charges forward with her blasters at the ready. You join her from the air and advance towards the Sith Lord.

"ENOUGH!" Sombra roars.

In a moment of dark fury, he shoves Gilda and Maud backwards and raises his arm into the air. Force lightning flows from his fingertips and arcs into multiple directions around him. The lightning hits Gilda square in the chest, making her scream and convulse as electricity surges through her body, the beskar in her armor enhancing its power.

Simultaneously, Maud gasps and raises her saber to try and block the lightning. Unfortunately, the sheer power forces her to drop her blade and make it fly off behind her. She also grunts and strains against the electricity as it courses through her body. She drops to her knees and has no choice but to endure it.

"Maud!" Below you, Pinkie stops running towards Sombra and covers her eyes. The intense flashing from the lightning must be blinding. Luckily, the both of you were far enough away from the Sith Lord that you were able to avoid being struck by it, which is a very good thing, because it looks like Gilda and Maud will be out for a while. You need to stop him from killing them.

You arm yourself with three concussion rockets and fire them from your wrist launcher in quick succession. They loudly explode at Sombra's feet, producing a blinding light. He shouts as his vision and hearing is temporarily impaired and stops his volley of Force lightning. Now is the time to act.

"Pinkie, grab Maud!" You shout.

She nods and runs towards her sister and quickly pulls her away from the Sith Lord. At the same time, you fire a whipcord at Gilda and ensnare her arm before pulling her away in the air. The four of you get some much needed distance away from Sombra while he's incapacitated. Good timing too, because he recovers a few seconds later and glares at you. His cocky smile has been replaced with an angry snarl.

You land on the ground and stare him down behind your visor. Pinkie joins your side a second later, staring him down as well. She uses the Force to call Maud's dropped saber to her hand and ignites it. Sombra's eyes widen at her and he hesitates for a moment before grinning again. He reaches to his belt and produces another lightsaber, activating it as well. He swings them through the air for a second before touching the tips of each blade into the durasteel floor, making them spark and flash at his feet.

"That the best you can do, Mandalorian?" He growls.

"Oh, I'm just getting started..." You reply as you pull out your slugthrower. Time to hit this guy with the cortosis.

His pupils dilate slightly as he focuses on your new weapon. You point it to him and fire. The little spheres in the gun's shell rocket through the air towards the Sith Lord. However, instead of blocking it like you hoped, he evades your blast completely and makes his way to Pinkie, clashing blades with her. You growl loudly as your shot misses, and you cock another shell into the chamber. Sombra has moved behind Pinkie so she is between you and him. You don't have a clear shot.

Pinkie is immediately overwhelmed by Sombra's assault. She's clearly out of practice with a lightsaber, and it shows. Sombra is taking full advantage of that. He attacks her again and again with his two sabers, grinning madly. You sprint over to them and try to save her.

He sees you and shoves her backwards. He immediately throws one of his sabers directly towards you and it buzzes through the air. You gasp and instinctively drop to your back, holding your weapon out in front of you to try and block the saber. While the blade narrowly avoids hitting you, it does slice clean through your weapon. No more cortosis for you.

"Anon!" Pinkie shouts. She sees you on the ground and assumes the worst, but you show her that you are unharmed. She grits her teeth and charges at the Sith. "Don't hurt my friends!" She yells.

Again, she and Sombra clash blades. He's down by one, and Pinkie is fighting more aggressively now. He grins and continues to duel her with only one hand. His other hand is still reached out towards you. You're about to get off the ground to join her when you realize what that implies.

You look around and see his other lightsaber flying through the air back to you. It hovers directly over your chest for half a second before plunging towards your heart. You grab the blade with your robotic arm and stop it, but there is some clear resistance. Sombra is keeping you down and fighting Pinkie at the same time. His power is impressive.

As you struggle, you look back at them. Sombra is taunting her and gaining the upper hand again.

"I sense...much fear in you, Pinkamena... I can feel your anger..." He hisses. "Much more than Limestone ever had..."

They lock blades and Pinkie struggles to hold her own footing. She cries out as her muscles begin to fail her. She won't last much longer without help. Sombra reels back and strikes her blade hard once again, making Pinkie drop to a knee. She's breathing hard and starting to panic.

"Embrace that anger! It's the only way to save your friends!" He continues.

You growl and struggle under the floating saber's force. As you hold the actual blade in your left hand, you push it to the side and reach up to grab the handle with your right. With the strength of both hands, you're able to pry it from Sombra's Force grip and finally get to your feet again. Sombra obviously notices and shifts his full attention back to Pinkie, finally overwhelming her and forcing her to her back. She drops her saber.

From the corner of your eye, you see that Maud has recovered and is sprinting towards Sombra. She holds her hand out and calls the fallen blue saber to her, igniting it in the air. As Sombra is about to kill Pinkie, Maud leaps towards him and stops him, clashing blades with him once again. Sombra turns his focus back to the Jedi and they proceed to duel each other. Pinkie scrambles away from them on the ground and you use your jetpack to quickly close the distance between Sombra and yourself. Now that you have a lightsaber, you'll be able to help again.

You pass Pinkie and step into the fray alongside Maud. She is determined and focused. Her teeth are gritted as she stares Sombra down. Together, you and her lock blades with Sombra, who shifts his angry gaze between you two.

---

The door to Engineering slides open and your group quickly moves inside to the control room. You are met with a few Sith engineers who look at you with surprise before reaching for a few weapons. They offer hardly any resistance and you gun them down.

This room is relatively small. There are chairs in front of terminals and computers that oversee the engineering operations for the entire station, or at least a good part of it. Beyond the terminals, outside some windows, you see two massive cylindrical reactors, each about five stories tall. They've got to be what's powering this station's engines.

"We're here." You announce as you quickly scan your surroundings to ensure no one else is in this room. Things seem quiet now, but you aren't taking any chances. More Sith could show up at any moment.

Applejack and Big Mac move into the room and head towards one of the terminals. "Is there a self-destruct option here?"

Limestone follows them. "If there is, Sombra would be the only one to authorize it. We're going to have to go in there and destroy them ourselves."

"Good thing we planned for that." You say as you retrieve your explosives. "Applejack, Coco, you two head to the right one and pepper the inside with your charges. I'll go with Big Mac and do the same thing on the left side. Lyra, Bon Bon, you both be on standby in case we need extra help. Everyone else, stay here and keep us covered."

Everyone nods and gets to work. Coco leaves your side and runs over to Applejack. The two of them head to the right side of the room and make for the exit that leads to the actual reactors. You and Big Mac do the same thing on the left side.

The doors slide open and you enter the larger reactor room. The engines buzz loudly at a constant, steady pace. It's just loud enough to be uncomfortable. You can see that Applejack is covering her ears and wincing from the sound as she quickly makes her way towards the reactor with Coco. You feel a twinge of guilt at asking the Apples to do this without ear protection, but it's too late to be cautious now.

You take out your charges and run towards the reactor's base with Big Mac. It takes a few minutes of running, but eventually you arrive. These are powerful charges, but you'd rather get as close to the reactor core as possible with these before detonating them, just to be safe. That means you're going to have to fly up to the core and place charges as close as possible.

"Mac, give me your charges!" You yell above the sound.

He pulls his own charges out and hands them to you before covering his ears as well. He's clearly not having a good time in here. You can only imagine how Applejack is faring. Your helmet offers a little bit of hearing protection, but not a lot. You need to be fast if you don't want to end up deaf.

With Big Mac's charges in tow, you take off flying towards the reactor core. Once there, you can see the hot ball of plasma spinning around at a rhythmic pace inside, its fusion powering this entire station. Its roar is the only thing that you can hear right now, so you plant the charges quickly. They magnetize onto the durasteel with no problem.

After a few minutes, all charges are placed on the reactor and you return to Big Mac. When he sees that you're on your way back, he turns around and makes his way back to the control room. As you land on the platform, you look over to Applejack and Coco. She seems to have had the same idea, because she's currently planting charges on the reactor near the core just like you were.

You take off again and fly over to her to try and help. Applejack is looking up at you and covering her ears. You doubt she can hear you, but you yell and shoo her to get back inside with your hands. She nods, seeming to understand, and runs back towards the control room while you assist Coco.

"Hand me a charge!" You yell.

She looks over at you and gives you two of them. She has four left.

The two of you quickly plant the rest of the charges and fly away from the reactor core. These charges are linked to your vambrace computer, so you're going to wait until you're a good distance away before detonating them. You want to go home in one piece today.

Once you're back on the walkway, the two of you run back into the smaller room and shut the door behind you. Finally, the blaring sound of the reactors is done and you can hear again.

"Sunset!"

You whip around. "What?!"

Rainbow is staring at you. "I said, are you guys okay?"

Maybe your hearing isn't completely back yet.

You take off your helmet and stick a finger in your ear, wiggling it around. "Yes, I'm okay. I may need to learn Sign Language when this is over, but I'm okay."

Rainbow chuckles and looks around. "All the charges are placed. We're ready to go when you are."

You nod and look around the room. Sure enough, the terminals are littered with detonation packs. This place is going to become a massive fireball in a bit. You've got to reach a minimum safe distance before you detonate them. That train of thought gives you pause.

"We may have a problem." You begin. "If we try to detonate them from the hangar, we may be out of range. We'd have to backtrack and keep pressing the button to make sure they go off."

Applejack comes up to you as you talk. "What are you sayin' Sunset? One of us has to stay behind?"

You quickly shake your head. "No! Of course not. I can change the detonators so they're timed instead. The only issue at that point would be how quickly we get out of here."

Applejack breathes a sigh of relief and Limestone approaches. "Look, I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to spend another minute aboard this station any longer than I absolutely have to."

Luna nods. "I think it would behoove us to feel a bit rushed. "

You shrug a little. Neither of them are wrong. You want to leave too, but you want to leave while you're alive.

Turning around, you bring your vambrace up and begin cycling through the active charges. They are all armed and ready to detonate. You give a shaky breath as you set a timer for twenty minutes. Once you press that final button, there's no turning back.

"Is everyone absolutely ready to go?" You ask.

Everyone in the group nods at you. They're all at the exit doors waiting on you.

You take a deep breath. Hopefully, Anon is okay. You need to see him again after this. You just need to.

"May the Force be with us all..." You mutter as you press the button. The countdown starts and you whip back around to face everyone. "Okay. Run!"

---

Sombra swipes your saber with such power that it actually knocks you off your feet, and you fall onto your back. He glares at you for half a second before returning his focus back to Maud and engaging her again. She is panting hard and exhausted, but she is still giving it her all.

Before you can get to your feet, Gilda scoops up your saber in her hand and activates it, charging towards Sombra.

Sombra growls and quickly changes tactics. He twists around Maud and pins her saber down with his before shoving his elbow in her face. Maud yells in pain as her nose starts bleeding and Sombra grabs her by the arm, throwing her across the room. She lands with a thud and focuses on Gilda.

As they fight, Pinkie runs over to Maud to check on her. "Maud! Are you okay?!"

Maud strains to answer, but she's clearly out of breath. She's been nicked in a few places and her face is covered with the blood from her nose. She's having a hard time even standing.

Upon seeing Maud's injuries, Pinkie snarls and glares at Sombra. She raises her blasters at the Sith and fires a few rounds, barely missing Gilda in the process.

Sombra notices this and flashes a toothy grin at her. "There's that rage."

You quickly get to your feet and charge towards Sombra and Gilda as well, but he shoves you both away and blasts you with Force lightning for a few seconds. You both yell in pain and convulse on the ground at his feet.

Sombra stops and Pinkie shoots him again. He easily deflects her blaster bolts around the room for a moment before deflecting one back at her. It hits her thigh and she yells in pain as she goes down to the ground. He's gotten the upper hand over all four of you.

"I will see you embrace the Darkness yet, Pinkamena..." He towers over her and gives a sinister grin. His eyes dart upwards towards Maud and his grin widens. "...You simply require motivation!"

From there, Sombra raises his hand and calls Maud to him. Maud's eyes widen as the Force grips her by the throat and she flies through the air towards the Sith Lord. Pinkie watches in horror as Sombra finally grabs the Jedi by her face and dangles her above the ground. Maud tries to free herself, but Sombra starts to back away, swinging his red lightsaber around himself.

Then, in a moment of pure brutality, he plunges his blade into Maud's chest. Her eyes widen in shock as he deals her a mortal blow.

Time seems to slow as Maud tenses from the saber impalement. After a moment, her body goes limp and Sombra yanks his saber out of her chest.

"NOOOOOO!!!"

Pinkie abandons all sense of rational thought and acts on pure instinct as she runs at the Sith in a vain attempt to seemingly save Maud.

"Pinkie!"

She ignores you. As she runs, she commands Maud's fallen saber to fly to her hand. It activates in the air and she grabs it. She runs and leaps into the air at Sombra.

With a grin, Sombra throws Maud off to the side like a ragdoll and clashes blades with Pinkie as she attacks him. Maud falls into a seemingly lifeless heap on the floor.

You wince in pain from the onslaught of lightning from before as you stand. That particular jolt of Force lightning was more concentrated and intense than before. You're not doing well right now. However, you are doing much better than Maud is.

Slowly but surely, you make your way over to Maud. You crouch over her and try to assess her injuries.

From your left, you catch more sparks and flashes from the blue and red sabers in the room. Pinkie is yelling and growling as she fights Sombra one-on-one. She sounds and looks angrier now than you've ever heard or seen before since you've met her.

Tears flow down her cheeks as she strikes Sombra's saber again and again with unnatural speed and ferocity. She's absolutely lost it. Sombra is playing defense now against her feral attacks. Despite this, he's giving her a sinister grin.

"Such rage... Such anger..." He hisses.

"I'LL KILL YOU!!!" Pinkie roars.

"Yes!" Sombra urges. "Use your aggressive feelings, Pinkamena! Strike me down with all of your hatred!"

Pinkie yells again and clashes blades with him once more. Her cheerful, sunny disposition has been replaced with one of pure hate. She is unbridled, untethered, and unstoppable. She is going to annihilate him.

"Pink....ie...."

From your feet, Maud weakly groans out and watches her younger sister fight the Sith Lord. "D...Don't.... lis...ten to... him...."

You look back and forth between her and Pinkie. You don't know what to do right now.

Very slowly, Maud looks up at you. A single tear rolls down her cheek. "D-Don't.... let her..." She groans out. "Please..."

You look back up at Pinkie again. She continues her attack and has Sombra on the ropes. Eventually, she forces him to his knees and he can't fight back. His blade is simply being held up in front of him as Pinkie pounds hers against his again and again.

Finally, with a roar, she brings her saber down on his arms and severs his hands. He yells out in pain and she kicks him as hard as she possibly can. He goes flying backwards toward you and slides on the ground until he stops just in front of Maud.

Pinkie scoops up his red blade and activates it as she stomps towards him. Her face is twisted into an enraged scowl. As she gets closer, you see that her eyes are not the usual bright blue that you're used to. They've turned a deep yellow-red.

You're actually a little scared of her right now...

Despite his injury, Sombra laughs hard. "Good!! Good!! Now, finish it! Use your rage! Use your hate!"

As Pinkie reaches him, she stops walking. She seems to hesitate as she shifts her gaze between Sombra, and the two sabers in her hands. She's conflicted.

Maud's eyes are open, but they seem to have glazed over. You don't know if she's still alive anymore. The last thing she implored of you was to prevent Pinkie from killing him. If she did now, she would be giving into her passions and ruining her life forever.

Her optimism, her happiness, her laughter, everything that makes her "Pinkie" would be gone and replaced with this rage-filled shell. It would destroy her. You don't need to be a Jedi to see that.

However, she deserves to have revenge. This psychopath of a Sith Lord just killed her older sister. The one person in the galaxy that she loves and cares about more than anyone and anything. Not to mention she would be doing the galaxy a great service if she killed him here. Setting an example like that would probably stop the Sith forevermore. She's earned this kill, and doing so would greatly benefit the galaxy as a whole for generations. It's a shame it's under these conditions, sure, but it would be worth it for the greater good... Right?

"Do it!" Sombra urges again. "Give in to the Dark Side!"

Pinkie looks at Sombra again with her rage filled eyes and grits her teeth. She takes a step closer to him and raises her blades up over her head. She's going to do it.

What do you do? You need to choose right now. Should you stop her? Prevent her from taking this man's life and fulfil her sister's desire for her, or let her kill him? She's earned it, after all.

What do you do?

Author's Note:

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