"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" The undignified screaming couldn't be helped as they plummeted, regardless of the fact that they were probably making themselves targets, desperately praying their only lifeline would hold. The floor zoomed closer and closer as their vision tunnelled, before suddenly they felt a jerk as the line pulled taut, their swing began. Hope blossomed as they began to swing across, their destination getting closer and closer and closer...They were going to make! They were going to-

With a loud 'punk!' noise, the cable jerked again, and to their horror, slackened under their grip. Zavvi looked up and saw the line had been ripped from the harpoon head, which had held admirably, but that was no use when they were hanging onto the cord.
So they began to fall.

In the blur of adrenaline, neither knew who was yelling, or anything else. The Twi'lek watched the ground rushing up to meet them, and just about managed to think: This is not the way I wanted to go... She turned, holding Corso tightly and buried her head in his body, not willing to see herself meet her own fate. She prayed her end would be swift and fairly painless.
This, however, jarred the mercenary out of his fear filled panic, noticing the smuggler clinging to him desperately, as if she needed him. It made him determined not to die, the world seemingly spinning away into slow motion.
He tucked Sparky into him, and turned in the air, putting his entire body in front of Zavvi's. He reached around to the metal pack on his back, smacking a lever and some buttons, and gave a little prayer to the Force. Please don't fail, please don't fail, please don't fail...

There was a roar, and Zavvi opened her eyes wide in surprise as she felt a punch from below, their descent slowing and their bodies turning slightly. She looked around, before noticing that the pack of Corso's back had now become a jetpack, hissing and roaring in a desperate bid to fight gravity. They were still falling, as its thrust couldn't take two people, but now there was a chance they'd get out of this alive. Hope kindled once more.
However, a couple of metres before the ground, the engine spluttered, coughed, and then died, and they were back to falling unaided. This wasn't too much of a problem though, as the jetpack had slowed their descent considerably, and the couple of metres they had left would only injure them, not leave them as red marks on the floor.

Still, Corso kept his body between the ground and Zavvi, hitting the metal first and letting the shockwave jar up his back, shaking him to his core. The jetpack buckled under the hit, but with no fuel there was thankfully no explosion, and they lay together a moment, a tangle of limbs and spare cable, to let each other calm down after what just happened, adrenaline screaming in their veins.

Zavvi's heart was doing a thousand beats to a gallon, threatening to burst out of her ribcage. She felt Corso shuddering under her as he too tried to calm his heavy breathing, both blind to the rather intimate position they'd fallen into. Despite the cabling that held her to him, the Twi'lek did want to stay laying on top of the human anyway. It was strangely comforting, and he was rather warm. She realized he'd deliberately put his body in harm's way for her, but this time she was grateful, if not a little guilty. What if his jetpack hadn't activated when it did? What if he'd taken all the force for her, and Void forbid, what if he'd died because of it? Or worse, survived, but broke his spine and became paralysed?
For the first time, she felt a cold stab of relief that he was alive, relatively unhurt. How did she get so concerned about his welfare all of a sudden? He was a crew mate, but he could look after himself, could he not? So why did she feel so fearful that he could have died? She breathed heavily, moving to press her ear to the pulse in his neck, feeling it throb comfortingly under her.
Corso wrapped his arms around her, feeling her shake, and they stayed like this for what seemed like hours, but in reality was only a few minutes.

Eventually, the smuggler began to undo the bonds that held her to him. She decided to break the oppressive silence that crowded them.
"I'm sorry about Whiplash, Corso. Can you make her a new harpoon head?" She asked. Corso peered at the mechanism bolted to the rifle, which was looking worse for wear, having been strained to its limits.
"Yeah, I'm sure I can. It'll take time, though." He sighed. "I left all her spare heads back on Ord." Zavvi nodded.
"When we get my ship back, we'll head back there and pick up the rest of your stuff."
Another silence fell, Riggs watching her nimble fingers undoing the knots that had held impressively during their fall, mesmerised by her movements.
"You never told me you had a jetpack, Corso." She said. He blinked out of his trance, looking guiltily up at her.
"I got it off some of those guys from the Migrant Merchant's Guild. She works pretty well, but she doesn't have enough fuel for another other than short jumps or to save our skins like that." He shook his head. "She'll need refuelling, and repairs now I've crushed her a little." He expected her to be angry, but was surprised when she said;
"I'm impressed, Corso. It looks like a pack any old Republic soldier would wear, but you've managed to build the jetpack into it." She looked at him. "When did you build it?"
"Bits at a time, Captain. Whenever we stopped off at a medical droid, I started repairing the thing whilst you were talking to it. It didn't take much; it's a pretty simple model. So long as you keep all the engine components separate from where you put your stuff, it's easy." He shrugged; feeling a loss as the Captain finally untied herself and got off him.
"Fair enough." She extended a hand to him, which he gratefully clasped, using her strength to help him stand. She noticed him wince. "You alright?"
"Don't worry about me, Captain. Just some bruising, s'all." She frowned.
"I don't want you unable to fight if Skavak is in here. We can't harpoon him if he runs away, that's the thing." She looked him up and down. "Are you sure you'll be alright?"
"I'm sure, Captain, trust me." He nodded. "Come on, I can't wait to get Torchy back." He gestured to the opening to the corridor just up the ramp.
"And I can't wait for him to tell me where my damn ship is." Zavvi growled, pulling Flashy and her other gun from her holsters, and beginning to stalk up the ramp.


They heard voices as they went down the corridor, one Corellian, one definitely Imperial. The pair looked at each other with grins, and thinking the same thought: We've got him now.
As one, they ghosted up the wall, listening in. Zavvi didn't pay attention until she overheard that Skavak had a starship merchant hanging about in a docking bay in the spaceport. That had to be her ship he was keeping there! She was suddenly on fire with the need for vengeance, and Corso saw her tense up, just as she always did before a battle.
"With me, Corso." He nodded, raising his rifle as they stormed into the middle of a meeting, ready to kick ass. "Sorry we're late to the party boys," Zavvi announced, grinning triumphantly, "traffic was crazy!" She looked to Skavak, a feral grin on her face. "Skavak! I believe you have some things of ours!"
"Skavak! Is some sort of trick?!" The Imperial commander snapped at the thief.
"Captain." Skavak snorted. "Seriously, I admire your persistence, but this is ridiculous." He seemed rather put out, which the Twi'lek revelled in.
"Skavak, who is this woman?! One of your many conquests?" The Imperial exclaimed.
"Heh...She wishes." Skavak sneered, the smuggler having to hold herself back from shooting him in the head.
"I wouldn't touch you if it were to save my life." She spat. "In fact, I'd rather shoot myself in the head!"
"Fiesty..." Skavak purred, before Corso growled menacingly, eyes cold and bloodthirsty.
"You ain't gonna be nothing more than a floor stain when we're done with you, Skavak." He hissed, turning the Corellian's attention to the mercenary.
"Corso, heard about your job. Don't let unemployment make you bitter, alright?" The Mantellian's hackles rose.
"You leave him alone, Skavak." Zavvi snapped at him, and Skavak turned back to her.
"You the one who fouled up my identity record and sent half the galaxy chasing after me, Captain? That wasn't very nice." The Twi'lek laughed humourlessly.
"Hah! Says the thief who got Rogun the Butcher snapping at my heels! Let's see how much you like it!"
"You know, holding onto anger like that will give you health problems."
"I wonder how many health problems she can give you when she gets hold of you." Corso muttered to himself.
"I can't believe you kept that Sullustan lawman alive, Captain. If it weren't for the Justicars, the little runt might have actually caught me." Skavak said, annoying everyone in the room.

Corso heard something, and glanced to his left, but noticed nothing amiss. Strange, he could have sworn he heard footsteps...
"Enough of this!" The Imperial growled. "The captain is your problem, Skavak. Deal with it."
"Commander, would you mind vaporizing the Captain for me instead? You see, I've got places to be..." The Corellian replied with a grin, before sprinting off. Corso spun around and charged at the thief, but was tripped before he could bash Skavak over the head with Sparky, falling onto his face.
"Skavak!" The commander shouted at the thief, scowling furiously. "Blast that scoundrel! Always leaving me to clean up his messes."
"Do you enjoy being Skavak's maid, Commander? 'Cos, you know, you'd look pretty in a dress like that." A howl of laughter came from Corso, who wasn't expecting a joke like that, which also made the other soldiers snigger quietly.
"Silence!" The commander barked, and the soldiers quailed, the mercenary trying to stifle himself but not being able to get the image out of his head. The Imperial looked at Zavvi with death in his eyes. "You won't be leaving here alive, alien scum. We'll give you and your friend very nice unmarked graves."
"I'd like to see you try." Zavvi grinned.

Somebody cleared their throat, and all eyes turned to a very familiar Sullustan lawman, Zavvi and Corso's eyes widening in horror.
"Attention, Imperial lawbreakers! You are in violation of Statute 1983 of the Sullustan Criminal Code. Drop your weapons and surrender the gem!" Miel spoke, approaching the group.
"Who do you think you are, giving me orders?! You're just as good as dead, alien filth!" The Imperial said furiously.
"Miel, get back! It's too dangerous!" Zavvi cried, but her warning was not heeded.
"Imperials, you are guilty of smuggling and crimes too numerous to mention. Do not make things harder on yourself by resisting arrest! I have already disabled your comlinks and cut you off from reinforcements! Drop your weapons now!" A horrible feeling coiled in the pit of Zavvi's stomach. She knew where this was going...
"Spare me your false heroics." The commander spoke. "Men, kill these alien scum! I'm sure the human has bastard blood somewhere as well!"

Zavvi leapt to the side as the rifles boomed, and Corso's shield generator flickered to life just in time to take the hits. Miel, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky, a shot hitting him in the chest, spinning him away.
"Miel!" The Twi'lek cried out, before she popped out of cover, Flashy and her other gun spitting plasma bolts.
Corso charged forward, jamming his shoulder in between the commander's ribcage, forcing the man to the ground, the mercenary pinning him down.
"You might think you're 'pure', Imp, but I was born true too." Corso growled, Zavvi's attacks keeping the other soldiers from aiding their commander whilst the mercenary forced his rifle's barrel under the Imperial's chin. "And let me tell you this; the Captain is better than you'll ever be, alien or not." Sparky bucked against his shoulder and the man was dead.
Corso quickly rolled off the corpse as one of the soldiers fired towards him, retaliating with his own shots from Sparky, when the explosion of a thermal grenade threw bits of the other soldier to the ground. The last soldier made to panic and flee, but Corso gunned him down; they couldn't risk any more Imperials coming down on them.

They hurried over to Miel, laying on his side and bleeding out. Zavvi fell to her knees beside him, Corso looking on to make sure no-one could ambush them.
"Miel!" She said. His large black eyes were starting to cloud over.
"I...I do not think I will be filing any more reports." He said, agony in every word.
"No no, don't say that." Zavvi begged. "W-We'll get you to a kolto tank, you'll be alright! You'll-" The Sullustan shook his head very slightly.
"It is too late for that..." He grunted, pulling on his last reserves of strength. "I am unable to maintain the pursuit of Skavak. You must go on without me. I have something that will help you." He reached for his datapad.
"Poor little guy..." Corso murmured softly. "He don't deserve to go out like this..." Zavvi took Miel's datapad from shaking, weak hands.
"Find Skavak. Bring him to justice...for me..."
"No, Miel!"

But it was too late. After a last, shuddering breath, Miel's muscles relaxed, and the light went out of his eyes.
"No..." Zavvi bowed her head, lekku falling from her shoulders, and Corso closed his eyes.
Nobody moved for a while, until Corso opened his eyes again. He took the liberty to crouch down beside her, gently closing Miel's eyes, impressed his fingers didn't shake.
"He was a good person." The Mantellian said to no-one in particular, silence his only answer. He looked to her, and saw her eyes hollow and numb. He didn't know what she was feeling or thinking, but knew for certain that she was hurting.
He reached out, paused, then rested a hand on her shoulder. "I'm here for you, Captain." Riggs felt a muscle twitch under his hand, and he gently squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. Captain, you can cry... he thought to himself, you can cry on my shoulder...I wouldn't think anything less of you...

After a moment, though, he felt her body fill with strength once more, and let her shoulder go as she rose to her feet, brushing her lekku back over her shoulders. In her eyes was hate and rage, burning like a forest fire. His fists were clenched; she looked ready to enter battle once more.
"I'm going to kill Skavak." She said coldly, emotionlessly. "I'm going to make him wish he'd never even been born."
Getting to his feet without the slightest complaint, though being slightly nervous about her new disposition, all Corso said was:
"Lead on, Captain."