Quinn was in shock. As she stared intently at the body, one thought went through her mind.

'I failed.'

For she had reached a dead end. All remaining links to Ezra had been cut. She had failed her mission. She sat there for several more seconds, before realising where she was. She got slowly to her feet, and walked to the door.

She had never failed a mission before. She always pulled through, somehow. But unless some sort of spectral mist or something showed her the way like in books, she really had no other choice. She would go back, back to the Resistance, and tell them she had failed. With one, sad sigh, she tugged on the door handle, out into the warm sun, which was completely devoid of spectral mist.

Her first thought was, 'where has everyone gone'? But she never got further than a first thought because at that moment, blaster fire rang out.

For standing in the courtyard were five people. They wore strange suits often associated with mercenaries, and carried blaster rifles. And as soon as Quinn appeared in the doorway, someone screamed,

"SMOKE 'EM!"

Quinn dived out of the way as blaster bolts whizzed past her, so close she felt them rustle her hair as they passed overhead. Rolling into cover in the side of the doorframe, she extracted from her boot, a small and powerful blaster pistol. It was one of two weapons she carried, the other being her vibroblade, but if there was ever a time for a concealed blaster pistol, it was now. She leaned carefully around the door, and squeezed the trigger.

A blinding blue bolt of energy flew from the weapon, hitting one of the men square in the chest. He doubled over and fell to the ground, and as his partner ran to check him, Quinn sent another bolt his way, and he cartwheeled over in the air, hitting the ground with an air of finality.

With three to go, Quinn considered her options. Cowering in cover of a wooden house wasn't going to work for long, in fact, just as she thought this, a red bolt of light punched right through the walls of the house, almost hitting Quinn square in the face. She considered for a split second, and dive-rolled out of cover.

Throwing a flashbang grenade she kept in her pocket for emergencies, she watched as the enemies doubled up, hands over their faces as they tried and failed to clear their vision. Quinn leapt down the steps, pushed her way past two of the men, and continued to run, full-tilt, towards the gate. Blaster bolts whizzed over her head, some red, some green, and she knew that she was being pursued. She sent more blue bolts over her shoulder at random. She heard a soft thud and knew she had hit one, but there was no time to turn around and check. Reaching the gates, she skidded to the side, to where her Tammbak was tied up, just as a green pulsating bolt whizzed past the spot where her head had been a second ago.

Saddling her Tammbak, she leapt onto its back, but before she could order it to go, a blaster bolt whizzed so close to Quinn's leg it grazed the Tammbak's side. Immediately aware that it was under attack, the creature reared, and suddenly galloped off down the path, faster than any human leg. It ran and ran down the path, with the forest on its left and the flat plains on it's side. But as it sprinted, blaster bolts continued to fire above her head. But, suddenly, without any sort of warning, a tree branch, stretching over the path, came into view. Quinn, temporarily looking behind her, did not see the branch in time.

With a huge SMACK, Quinn was thrown off her Tammbak. Without missing a beat, the creature continued to gallop off down the path.

Quinn sat up gingerly. Behind her, she heard the sounds of running feet, and of blaster fire. However, when she turned to continue after her Tammbak, she heard voices down the path.

"Look! Her Tammbak!"

"Let it go, we don't have time to stop. We have to catch her."

"She's got nowhere to run! Stop worrying, Derringer, it'll be a piece of cake. We find the girl, shoot her, collect our paycheck, and go."

Flanked on both sides, Quinn had two options. The flat plains on her right she ruled out immediately. There was no cover there, all it would take was a decent sniper and she's a little dark spot in the meadow. And besides, even if she did reach the cliffs, there was no way she could scale them in time. That left only one option, and not one she found particularly inviting.

Quinn gritted her teeth. There was no other way. It was either that, or die at the hands of mercenaries.

She took a deep breath, and dived into the forest.