Tag
It was a decent enough shot.
If he hadn't been wearing the beskar they'd have him dead to rights. Din was blasted backwards into the side of his ship, falling over with a grunt. Either the rebel pilot-turned-hunter had never encountered beskar before, or they were inexperienced—they stood for a few seconds in shock that he wasn't dead.
And that was all the time he needed.
He threw the vibroblade as he rose to his feet. The hunter's respirator crackled with static as they dodged out of the way, still not fast enough. A bright flash of red blossoming out of their shoulder as the blade grazed right through their thick jacket.
There was no more hesitation from the hunter then. They charged him, knocking him back to the ground. They had a blade of their own in hand, raise to strike. Din lunged upwards, kicking them off of him. They tucked into a backwards roll, skidding onto hands and knees before springing up again with a lithe twist.
Not so inexperienced, then.
The knife left her hand with ease, Din scattered it aside with his vambrace. She had another ready to follow it, and Din had just enough momentum to block the onslaught a second time. They backed off and fired another blaster shot at range, a low growl rumbled through their helmet as the beskar remained, scorred, but otherwise unmarred.
His turn.
Unhooking his blaster he fired three shots in succession. The hunter dodged with a speed that defied their physical form, using the side of the Razor Crest to gain height and leap behind him. A blast caught the back of his helmet, making him see stars for only a moment.
But they were on him again like an angered vornskr. He ran backwards, slamming their head into the bottom of the aft engine. A grunt of discomfort from the hunter, a second hit and they slid off of him.
He had his blaster on their prone form only to find they had one drawn too, even with their head down on the ground.
"Who sent you?" Din panted.
Silence from the formerly talkative hunter and it was impossible to make out what they were thinking with the tinted helmet on. "Move, they gasped, rising to their feet, "and I'll shoot."
"Do it and I'll double it. Only one of us is wearing armor."
"Good point," they replied with only a mild tone of amusement. "Rain check."
They were fiddling with something on their utility belt. "No, wait!"
Smoke filled the area and relief coursed through Din's veins. He had thought it was a detonator. Din's hunter was gone as the smoke cleared, their only trace was the empty smoke grenade lying at his feet. He picked it up, examining it.
Standard issue, no identifying markers that he could see. In fact it looked hand crafted. Pocketing it, he ran back up to the ship's doors to check she hadn't entered.
"Hey, kid," Din poked his head up past the ladder into the cockpit where the baby was keeping itself entertained by the window. "Alright in here?"
Assured that the foundling was still safe and well, Din went back to the engine. A panel had indeed been removed and someone had gotten into the wiring. It took nearly an hour, but he managed to fix the mess left behind.
Just who was that hunter?
He shut the doors as he reentered the ship.
Getting the Razor Crest airborne again, he opened a comm frequency. He had gone dark in his communications over the last few weeks, not wanting anyone tapping in or tracking him. But if one hunter was already on his tail…
"My friend!" the small holo of Greef Karga answered, "to what do I owe the pleasant surprise?"
"Thought you said the Guild wasn't hunting me anymore." He did not have time for pleasantries.
The holo frowned. "There's been no mention of bounties to my knowledge, though the guild is still scattered thanks to the imperials."
"Well someone is still after me. Ex-rebellion I think. Modified pilot's uniform and helmet. Mechanic. Possibly makes their own weapons. Sound familiar?"
Greef shook his head slowly. "Not exactly, but I'll do some digging."
"Ask Cara, if the hunter is a former rebel she might know."
"She's offworld now, but I'll send a message out. Stay safe, friend, I'll let you know when I have something."
Din closed the channel and sat back in his seat with a sigh. It might not be worth it to stay on Raydonia after all. Not with a new pursuer so close. "Change of plans, kid."
He took the Razor Crest into orbit. If he wasn't careful, he'd run out of backwater planets soon.
The hyperspace trip was a short one, intended only to throw off any would-be pursuers. It was still relatively empty space out there. A few planets glowed distantly, giving Din some semblance of time and space.
He began inputting the calculations for a second jump to the closest of the three planets visible when another ship pulled out of hyperspace in front of him. It was an older Lancer class ship, with most of its paint stripped off. A perfectly ordinary, unremarkable ship, if not a bit outdated.
Din's comm channel crackled to life, but he knew who'd be on the other end before they spoke.
"Hey there," came that same, vaguely disinterested, oddly amused modulated voice. The Lancer's ion cannons swivelled to meet his ship and open fired.
Din had just enough time for evasive maneuvers as the cannon fire lit up the blackness of space. From behind him the foundling gave a startled cry. "Hang on."
The ship wasn't ready to make another jump to lightspeed again so soon. Best bet was to continue to gain some distance. No time to engage.
The Lancer was a much more maneuverable ship compared to the Razor Crest, but it was nearly as large. If he could get ahead of it, he could shake them off. Didn't answer the question of how they found him out here in the first place. He had looked for a tracking beacon when he first fixed the engine and seen nothing.
"Who sent you?" He tried hailing them again, swerving to avoid another cannon shot. The guild wasn't sending hunters out for him anymore and even if someone else was they were unlikely to divulge. Switch tactics. "You'd get a lot more money for bringing us in alive."
"Maybe," the Lancer shot low and Din felt it reverberate against the shields.
That was always the trouble with agile ships. They thought they could fly circles over you. Din pulled back abruptly, taking them into a tight spin and letting the Lancer carry forward on its own momentum. Din fired two shots. It was more than what he needed to take out one of the shields. The Lancer pulled back and Din shot forward, punching the last coordinates in for the jump to lightspeed. He didn't have time to see if the Lancer recovered before they went careening into hyperspace.
The shields would need some fixing, but they had only been 35% depleted from the encounter. It could wait temporarily. The priority was landing. No settlement stops this time. It was more imperative than ever he hide with the child. There were three possible planets the hunter would believe he had escaped to in relative short range. They only needed to be right once. And whoever this was, they were smart enough to track them without a standard beacon. He couldn't underestimate them a second time.
It only took two days of hyperspace travel to reach their next destination. The planet Akiva was rather similar to Raydonia, but with far lusher tropical forests at its equator. Perfect for disappearing for a few days. They'd camp near the ship in case they needed to make a fast getaway.
His comm channel blinked on and off and Dinn registered Greef's call signature. "Hope it's good news," Din barked. "Whoever they are, they have decent tech. Got followed through hyperspace."
"Depends on what you consider good," Greef replied. "They're not part of the guild. And Cara says just because she's ex-military that doesn't mean she knows every single soldier."
"Worth a shot."
"A contact did recognize the description you gave. Your hunter is a merc. The helmet was the giveaway. Seems they've picked up a bit of a reputation. Goes by the signature The Rebel. Never brings anyone back alive."
"That explains some things at least."
"If I hear anything else I'll let you know. You and the kid alright?"
"For now. Can't tell you where I'm going, but I'll be in touch," Din toggled the thrusters to prepare for the descent into the atmosphere. "Any chance you could get hunters on them?"
"I could, but I doubt you have the money to hire them," Greef laughed before closing the channel.
"Guess that means we're on our own," Din brough the ship down near a small clearing. With the engines off the sounds of the lush, tropical jungle began to permeate. He had seen signs of a few towns and settlements on the flyover, but he'd do his best to avoid them until it was absolutely necessary.
"Come on," he unstrapped the child from its seat, hoisting it up with on arm. "I can show you how to set up a perimeter."
It would be five more days before Din caught sight of the Lancer entering Akiva.
A/N: This story is 3 chapters in on AO3 so I'm hosting all of them at once to catch up. :) As always do consider leaving a review and tell me how you like the story so far!