Chapter Nine: "I've actually got a blaster pointed at my head."
The soft whine of a starship's repulsorlifts slowly became audible in the distance. Jaren glanced at his chrono. That must be the Intel shuttle that Bullwinkle is on, he thought briefly before taking a final look around his sniping area. He had spent the last hour planning possible ways to protect against an oncoming attack.
Jaren slowly stood up, stretched, and started moving back towards his base to brief the rest of Blue Group on what he had learned. He had only moved a few meters from his sniping position when he noticed another sound that was not so familiar. Several other ships were approaching at high speed.
Jaren hit the ground as the starfighters screamed by just above tree level. He couldn't make out the type, but he was sure they were not anything that Red Group would have. What did that mean? Did someone mistake the small planet for a refueling stop? Did someone get the wrong location for a cargo drop? Neither scenario made much sense.
Beginning to make his way stealthily back to base, Jaren took note that the fighters had since grown silent and had probably landed very close to his position. Keeping his cool, he pulled out a pair of macrobinoculars and searched through the thick forest for signs of the landing. Unfortunately, he was too far away to even see the area, but he figured the landing had taken place near the plain that he knew was not too far away. Jaren pulled his communicator out of his tactical vest and set it for an encrypted burst transmission.
"Talon Five to all of Talon Squad," he began, making sure to keep very quiet. He had to steady himself to make sure he was analyzing it all properly. After all, it could have been a setup from Red Group. Maybe not. There was no way. He continued. "I have an emergency. An unknown dropship and several starfighters have landed near grid six-four. Again, starfighter support is present. I am moving to rendezvous with the Hawk. Over."
Jaren was about to return the communicator to his pocket when a signal came back to him. It was his team at Blue Base. Apparently Red Group had seen the same thing that he had. He plugged the coordinates into his pocket-comp and began the trek to rendezvous instead with the entire squad.
Falling into the role of the sniper, Jaren suppressed his anxiousness and settled into the mindset of a soldier, ready for any course of action the captain might decide to take.
*****
Ty and Kendrick, on the captain's order, had remained with the Hawk to provide air support. From that and the fact that he had given no other indication to his intentions, the two had come to the conclusion that the Talons were going to investigate the unexpected visitors who had crashed their party. They were prepping the transport for a quick entry (or exit) and awaiting Captain Ski's further instructions, or at least an explanation for what was going on.
"Do you think Intel knows about these guys?" Ty asked casually, maybe in an attempt to make friends with Kendrick. The two had battled it out in the simulators, but it seemed Ty's more upbeat manner almost intimidated Ken.
Kendrick shrugged. "It's hard to say. Without knowing what kind of transports they've got or what their markings are, they could be anything from smugglers to mercenaries, or even worse, a branch of the Imps."
"The Imps?" Ty snorted, inspecting the space available in the cargo bay. "There's no way they'd run this close to Coruscant."
"And smugglers or mercenaries would?" Kendrick posed back, moving some spare equipment to the side of the cargo bay. Ty was maneuvering a huge box of stain ammunition into the corner furthest from the actual boxes of ammunition on the starboard side of the cargo bay. "Given that no one could properly identify the ship, though, I doubt it's Imperial."
Static began to come in from the cockpit. Both Talons dropped their current projects and rushed to the front of the transport, eager to hear what Captain Ski had to say. He had already begun by the time they settled into the pilot's and copilot's seats.
"... and Intel still assures me that the area is clear, but every piece of data we've collected proves otherwise. Muir has seen craft like this before and thinks it is the Black Fire Mercenary Group. If that is the case, they've figured out that this planet already has base support and might be looking to take it over."
"This is going to be their new base?" Ty questioned quietly, still watching and listening to his leader from the video feed.
Ski continued after reading some more information from his datapad. Apparently his conversation with Intel had not gone well. "It all makes logical sense, but only from Intel's point of view." He frowned. "An abandoned location near Coruscant would allow mercenaries to strike the New Republic fleet as they please. The threat that this group is posing to the New Republic is not something Intel is taking lightly."
"It still seems too bold of a move," Mekial voiced her opinion of the whole ordeal from off-screen.
"And it is kind of ironic that this all happened while our exercises were going on," Stone said, the sound of prepping his weapon louder than his obvious displeasure at the IHC. The Intelligence High Council had ordered Talon Intelligence Squadron into combat. All Talons were in the process of dropping their stain mounts. Thankfully, the large cargo holds in each of the ships stored quite an excessive amount of ammunition.
"We have our orders," Ski said, ignoring for the moment the questions to everything that was happening. "You all have been trained for a moment like this, and you know what to do. This cuts our training a bit short, but I've no doubts in your abilities. From here out I want you all to obey standard mission procedures and maintain the codes set apart by New Republic Intel for Talon Intelligence Squadron. Is that understood?"
Everyone, even Ken and Ty, and Kaiba and Kithera on the Eagle, responded with a solid affirmative. There was even some shuffling amongst certain groups. It was assumed that everyone would be performing in his native role. From what Ty and Ken could see, Stone wasn't the only one prepping his weapons.
"Fifteen," Ski addressed Rinin, who was alone because his usual Ops II teammates were running the air support, "you'll be running with Ops I as a backup support team. Support, be ready to engage if Intrusions needs you."
With their instructions in hand, the Talons geared up for their first ever run with a real enemy.
*****
It was actually quite beneficial to be dressed for war games and then be called to real duty. Talons Nine through Twelve, Intrusions, were dressed for success and prepped. Every member had at least two weapons on his person, and the only one with that and no more was Trika, who was loaded with her own weaponry of slicing materials. The infiltrators had moved toward the last recognized landing location of the supposed mercenaries. The mission at this point in the game was to see what was happening past the plain where the freighter had landed and check out the spot where Stone had last seen the rogue Human on that particular hill.
Stone was signaling everything back to Captain Ski and Support, who were not far behind their own position. As the Talons came into view of the plain, they noticed that the transport was still there, but it was now almost unloaded. Gray-clad soldiers were rushing a multitude of boxes and crates out of the cargo bay and up the hill in the distance, as if they were setting up something just over the hill. Intrusions kept silent as they trekked up the hill and slowly began to creep forward to get the first view of all the commotion.
Stone was on his communicator immediately.
"When we came in from the other direction, we didn't see this," he told Ski in an aggravated grunt. He made no effort to hide the displeasure coating his tone. "This base has to have been here for at least a few months. There's no way this kind of activity just happened overnight. They've been here a lot longer than Intel thinks."
Ski's frown was evident even without the visual aid. "Intel said that if they had set up any sort of base or perimeter, we should proceed with infiltration and retrieval of vital intelligence concerning their plans. I just got word that the New Republic has sent two cruisers for support and we can expect them at zero-seven hundred."
Jane Muir made a face at the revelation. "Is that to assist in the taking of all of these ships and the base? That's a lot of air support for a rogue group."
There was no response for a long moment, as if Captain Ski were thinking. Really, he was considering how to relay the next bit of information without getting too angry. "They're not coming to capture anything."
Suddenly, it all became clear. Trika's eyes doubled in size. "We've got two hours to do the job and get out before they open up?" she asked incredulously, playing absently with a few of her computer components. "Did you tell them to kiss my -"
"Talon Two has cracked a bit of the air network these guys are running on," Ski continued, attempting to get through every piece of information quickly so that he could give the intrusions team the time they would need to complete their mission. "They've set up some anti-air defense measures and other security that would enable them to scramble if anyone gets within range of their sensors and satellites. When I told that to Intel, they decided annihilation was the only course open to eliminate the threat to Coruscant. Your mission, however, stays the same."
"Wonderful," Milan scowled, probably anxious to begin killing someone in order not to lash out at his teammates.
Ski sounded like he was upset, and he had a right to be. Was his squad even ready for something like this? Intrusions had proven that they could work together, but their first live mission was meant to be a fake intrusion assignment on Coruscant. This was real, and the stakes were very high. Any mess-ups, even incidental ones, could remove him from his post and break apart his squad, if not get someone killed or injured. "Two came up with something. It's not much, but if you can possibly disable the security systems once you're inside, Intel might spare the base and apprehend anyone who escapes. It would put you all in a bit of a conundrum, but Support is behind you to provide cover fire and assistance on your perimeter.
"Good luck, inside. Proceed with radio silence until you've disabled any security or are ready for the Hawk to pick you up. Talon Lead, out."
And that was it. The intrusions team looked each of their teammates over and decided that they had stood around long enough. With a myriad of thoughts flying through their heads, the team moved out, unsure if any of them knew what to expect or what to do.
*****
Closing her eyes momentarily, Danya tried to get a hold of herself. She was vividly aware of the squadmembers around her and the blaster strapped to her waist. She prayed that she would not be called upon to use it.
"Sir, I finished the second device," Quis alerted Captain Ski. "It will work, but only for a couple of minutes."
Captain Ski, his attention and vision lost in the horizon of the battlefront, never bothered to turn back. "I doubt we will need the second one, but keep up the good work."
Danya turned a kind face upon him. She was sitting the closest to him and could see his hazy blue eyes. Worry etched nearly every part of his face. "They'll be fine, sir," she said, calling him back to the present. Ski made an effort to look at her, and he smiled at her optimism. "You've got the best people out there. I'm sure everything is proceeding as expected."
Rinin was helping Quis with the spare parts to her stealth machine. "I've seen Intrusions survive some pretty intense practice without a flaw. They'll make it through," he said, adding to Danya's assurance.
Quis couldn't help to add her own words of encouragement, though she was practically a nervous wreck. "Support is more than prepared for assisting them, too." With a wink, she added, "They've got my stealth device, remember?"
*****
Sergeant Bullwinkle returned to the control center on his Intel transport, a little bucket of bolts he liked to call the Claw, with his cup of caf and pastry. There was a good deal of commotion as he took his seat. "How are the teams fairing, Ensign?" he asked his Epicanthix pilot, curious to see who had gotten "killed" or captured so far.
"I just got a transmission from Talon Two, the hacker," Ensign Qui-Sein Delph replied, bringing up some images on several screens. "There's a mercenary base near grid six-four and the squad has been ordered to infiltrate the base for reconnaissance."
Bullwinkle's eyes bulged as he spewed hot caf into the technician's face. "It's a trap!"
Ensign Delph nearly lost control of the Claw for a split second as he wiped his face clean of Bullwinkle's caf. "It sure seems like that, Sergeant," the pilot answered. "I'll let you know of any more transmissions."
Bullwinkle nodded, his steel-trap of a brain hard at work. He wanted the Talons to make it back in one piece. He was getting a good deal on the food supplies, and losing one of the troops would mean leftovers, something that would permanently ruin his cooking rhythm.
*****
Jaren and Telia moved silently through the forest toward the enemy base. Their job was to set up crossfire and cover both Intrusions and their two teammates, Rubi and Mekial. The two slick Talons were poised to take advantage of the outside perimeter and plant the few explosive devices they happened to have had onboard the Eagle and the Hawk. There were two ships in particular that seemed like the best areas to target, but the two were confident they would succeed in at least blowing something up.
It was good for Jaren to be working with Telia again. They complimented each other's abilities very well and, despite the fact that they weren't on the best of terms, could still work together to get the job done.
Jaren covered Telia as she climbed a large, old tree with wide branches. She perched herself high up in a position that would hide her from view. She began to prepare her rifle, recently refreshed from the stain-mounting. When she was done she signaled Jaren to do the same while she covered him.
He approached a proper position and began to prepare his rifle. After settling in for a long ordeal, he used his laser range finder to measure the distance between several points at the base. He selected a scope from his pack, attached it to his rifle, and made a few minor focusing adjustments. He then signaled to Rubi and Mekial that he and Telia were in position with a double-click of his comlink.
After a few minutes, he saw the faint form of Rubi come into view carrying a couple of small, but powerful bombs, and one certain cloaking device. The results of Quis's machine were incredible. He knew that Mekial was working twice as hard just to keep herself hidden while she planted her own explosives.
Rubi approached a stack of boxes near the open cargo bay of one of the transports, paused for a moment, then moved slowly away, carrying one less bomb.
"Seven," Jaren called to Rubi through his comlink. "Target, thirty degrees north-northwest. Twenty meters out."
She ducked back behind the boxes as a gray-clad trooper patrolled past. If she had been without the cloaking device, the trooper might have spotted her.
"Clear," Telia's voice came over the comm as the trooper moved out of view.
Rubi continued her sabotage while Mekial began her own. The support team continued their vigilance and assistance, hoping that the intrusions team was having the same bit of luck.
*****
Jane Muir led her intrusions team to a side entrance in the base and took one last look at the perfect cover set up by the support team. She knew they were likely planting the explosive devices by now, and they had to hurry.
Trika snapped off the cover to the password-protected lock and inspected it for insertion areas. She frowned, seeing no such place for her devices. "Piece of Bothan excrement," she mumbled inaudibly, keying in a couple of basic commands and scrolling through the couple of instructions the lock gave for entering. Two-zero-four-eight encryption, standard advanced algorithms on a single-mute system, she thought, running through three different logic charts in her head. This is exactly what the slicer ate, drank, and breathed every day. It was time to perform. Pressing the final command, she watched as line after line of code began to fly across her vision. Catching each one and manually computing the answer in her head, she awaited the final line and punched in the ten-digit code that resulted from all of her computation. Just as the rest of the group was getting impatient, the door flung open with a satisfying whoosh.
Trika slapped the cover back onto the lock and gave a short chuckle. Amateurs, she thought with a satisfied smirk.
The infiltration team rushed in and took a defensive formation – perfect for unknown scenarios such as this one. Blasters charged and aimed, Jane and Milan spread out in front while Stone and Trika supported them from the back.
The door slid shut behind them. Not a soul stirred as Jane and Milan traced separate lines with their laser sights down the two barren hallways that ran perpendicular to each other through the base. Stone and Trika had similar weaponry, but their sights were on completely different items. Stone's video recordings would help Intel determine structural anomalies that could single out similar structures belonging to Black Fire Mercenary Group. Trika's electronic machinery would map out most security feeds and terminal technology.
"Clear," Trika informed her teammates. "The base has been here a while, but apparently it's still too new for a lot of security feeds. We're safe as long as we stick to the hallways."
Milan turned to his partner. "Which way, Eleven?"
Trika studied her equipment screens. "I'm reading possible terminal plugs in both directions, but the most information is traveling that way," she pointed to the right, following the trail of electric power running through the compound.
"What if they rerouted their information to hit somewhere else first?" Stone asked.
"It is a possibility," the cold Jane Muir conceded. "We should split up."
Milan tensed, a good sign he wasn't fond of the idea. "I think we should stay together. There's no need to get caught by splitting up. We have plenty of time left to hit both locations if the first is a dud."
Jane shook her head, with her mind obviously made up. "I don't want to miss anything big. If we reach two spots and can analyze them both, we'll know we've gotten all of the information, just in case of a data split. It won't take that long in the end and might lead to something else," she explained herself. "Ten and I will take the left and signal two clicks if we find something."
Stone began to see the potential as well. "I can get double the footage. It could help not only Intel, but our teammates right now."
His deep, brown eyes narrowed, Milan backed off. "Let's do it, then," he said, his tone an indication that the only reason he gave in was because Nine, in fact, outranked him. With a flick of his wrist and a slap from his other hand, he made sure his BlasTech carbine was charged and ready.
The two partnerships split down separate hallways. One hour and forty-five standard minutes to eliminate the air defense system and hack the base, Milan thought as he and Trika stalked down the dark, gray hallway, or else I'll never be able to throttle Jane Muir for her tactical ignorance.
*****
"This feed is incredible," Danya marveled, showing Captain Ski everything that Stone's equipment was recording. "Where did we get this stuff?"
Captain Ski hid a slick smile. "You don't want to know where we got the equipment, but the credit for the tweaking goes to Quis."
Danya gave a brief nod the engineer's way. She and Rinin were still working on the second stealth device, but she had the time to give a curt, shy smile. The hacker continued to sort the images as they came in from the base. "Some of these are coming out at a resolution well above twenty-five hundred by fifteen hundred, and in this kind of action!"
Suddenly, before Ski could take another look at some of the footage, the feed cut and died. Danya stared blankly at the now equally blank screen. "Whoa, wait a second. Who took all the pretty pictures away?"
Quis, almost sensing a problem, ran over to see what was happening. She was on the matter in an instant, probably being the most familiar with the equipment Stone was carrying. "Four to Ten: something is interfering with your signal. The footage might be good on your end, but we can't see anything that's going on."
No answer.
"Ten?" Kevin called to Stone. Danya was busy trying to bring her signal back, and Quis was inspecting her routing equipment to make sure everything was transmitting properly.
"Something's been done to his electronics or they've got a jam on him," Danya said worriedly, looking up at her captain.
"You said they split up?" he asked his partner, suddenly getting a bad feeling about the entire situation.
Danya nodded. "No more than ten minutes ago."
"Switch comms to Milan and Trika," he ordered. "Something weird is going on."
*****
Danya was not the only one who noticed that something was amiss.
"Sarge, something just happened with the feed," Ensign Delph called to the Talons' cook. "It just... well, it just disappeared."
"Well, I'll be!" Bullwinkle exclaimed, sipping on another mug of caf. "This is strange indeed. Like that time my gre'-gran'poppa ate my gre'gran'mama's poisoned doughnuts. He burped 'em up and ran off cursin' obscenities, but we never saw 'im again!"
Qui-Sein paid the cook half of his attention. He continued monitoring the controls, hoping the feed would quickly resume.
*****
"This one is actually encrypted twice," Trika explained to Milan, who was dragging the body of the lone guard he had taken out away from the panel where Trika needed to work. The base, as they had come to find, was under minimal security, and Milan had taken care of that. Black Fire was apparently counting on their air defense to prevent intruders.
They apparently hadn't counted on the Talons being on the ground.
"And you do that all in your head?" Milan asked curiously, not quite understanding anything to do with hacking or slicing. He set the body down in the corner of the small room they had found just off the eastern corridor.
Trika chuckled. "That's what they pay me the massive credits for. There aren't too many in the Sector who can do this kind of thing without machinery to help."
"Sounds ridiculous," Milan returned, not familiar with much more except killing. He was now keeping watch down both ends of the hallway just outside their door.
The blessed green light gave her the go-ahead. "It's saving your butt, mister," she told him flatly. "Did you know that some security systems will cause the entire base or ship to self-destruct if I don't crack it in time?"
"Like this one?" the Kiffar returned, expecting Trika to continue rattling off useless facts and pointless praises for her trade.
Trika snorted. "No, but that would make for a really cool, heroic story to tell everybody once we get out of here." She began to count to herself, coming to some form of an answer. "This one does seem to have some funny alarms attached at either end... unless I can make a path around..."
Before Milan could respond with his extreme appreciation for her skills, both Talons heard Captain Ski ringing in their ears. "We've got a situation."
Milan tightly gripped his weapon and scowled. "What kind of a situation?" he demanded.
"Two has just lost visual and audio connections with Nine and Ten," Kevin said, informing him that they had effectively lost all contact with Jane and Stone. "They might have run in to some trouble. We need the two of you to check it out. I'm alerting Five and the rest of the support team to the situation."
"I sent the signal that we found a terminal," Milan told the captain. "They should be on their way."
"They might have been captured," Kevin replied, hiding the sigh of worry that had forced its way to his throat. "They might not have gotten that signal."
"Sir," Trika began, still typing codes to remember into her spare datapad, "I'm dealing with some heavy code and can't really afford to leave to play games. Now, I can either go play hide-and-seek with my teammates, or I can keep the squad alive. Ultimately," she continued to ramble, "it's your choice, but I'd say -"
"Wait, you haven't heard from them since the split? Why haven't they signaled in?" Kevin interrupted. "You don't know where they are?"
Trika stopped decoding and turned to look at Milan with a thoroughly frustrated face. "We all went silent until someone found something of value. We haven't heard a word," she told Ski, following a gaze from her partner that she thought most odd. As soon as she saw Stone being escorted into the room with his hands in front of his body and in bonds by the impressively intimidating Jane Muir, Trika knew that Kevin was right. They did have a situation.
"Never mind," Trika called back nonchalantly, unsure of what exactly was going on. "I think we found them."
"Good," Ski replied, seeming to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Not really," Trika countered, seeing Muir train her two nasty blasters on both her and Milan, who was being motioned to toss his own weapon away. "I've actually got a blaster pointed at my head."
Trika didn't get to relay any further information and didn't even have time to imagine the look on Captain Ski's face. Muir grabbed the slicer's small headset, threw it on the ground, and crunched it with the heel of her boot. She moved quickly to Milan and snatched his own comm from his grip, tossing it into the wall and smashing it into tiny pieces.
"You're not funny, Trika," Muir kept her teammates still with her weapons, moving back behind the flat-faced Stone. With little more than a smooth, single motion, Muir slammed Stone's head into the wall and sent him sprawling to the floor. With one blaster aimed at Milan and another at the slicer, she approached Trika quickly, causing her to back against the terminal wall where she had been working. Muir met her step for step until the blaster was pressed hard against Trika's forehead. She smiled wickedly. "And you never will be, unless you do exactly as I say."
Milan made a quick move for his side holster. Muir, never even looking his way, charged the blaster for firing at Trika. "You can toss that aside, too," she said with haughty confidence, hardly looking back at the angry Kiffar. Her complete focus was on Trika. He obeyed with a pang of regret and moved closer to Stone to make sure the corpsman was all right.
"Now," Muir smirked slightly, gesturing toward the terminal, "exit the program without deactivating the air defenses."
Trika looked puzzled despite the worry of the barrel of Muir's blaster on her forehead. "You know what will happen if I don't finish the codes."
Muir narrowed her eyes and pressed the blaster harder into Trika's skull, making the slicer unconsciously clench her eyes shut against the somewhat frightening image of Muir showing her true colors. "I'm not stupid!" She was on the verge of yelling. "Just do it!"
The slicer hesitated turning around. She calmed herself and did so, but not without a question. "So, are you Black Fire or what?" It seemed a rather stupid question, but it was the only way Trika knew how to keep Muir somewhat engaged in conversation.
"I'm a lot more than that," Muir offered, keeping an eye on Milan and Stone, who was now on his feet again. The medic was sporting a nasty gash on his left temple and a river of blood streaming down his jaw line.
Trika kept her nimble fingers busy punching in codes. "So, you're not on the maps?" she ventured, attempting to connect the few facts that she knew. Trika felt Muir's blaster on the back of her head, and despite the harsh chill of the metal, she continued. "I mean," she explained herself with a gulp, "you've obviously found a way out of here, but you can't turn us in without turning yourself in. Lowering the defenses would prevent your escape, though, right?"
"I've my reasons and my orders. When my superior arrives later on, none of this secrecy will matter," Muir snarled. "Just don't try anything funny."
The young Chinaési woman pushed the final digit series into the terminal, the resulting green light a signal she had succeeded. She backed away slowly, pleased with her work. Muir seemed to know what had happened before the ensuing power surge spiked the lights and a general alert sounded that the air defenses had lifted. Against Muir's desire and threat, Trika had successfully accomplished the Talons' original mission.
Stone and Milan gave somewhat satisfied chuckles as Trika turned around to look a fuming Jane Muir in the eyes. "You said I wasn't funny, and technically, I can't pull anything funny if I'm not," the slicer smirked, satisfied with pulling one over on the traitorous Muir. "So, I hate to say it, but this is all your fault."
Muir's blaster had not moved, now pointing between those stupid, slanted green eyes. "That was extremely foolish for someone with a weapon at her head," she glared at her former teammate, whose stupid grin made her whole face look twice as ridiculous.
"You're not getting away now," Stone told the traitor despite the pain of feeling his pulse in his eyes and ears. He wiped what blood he could off his cheek with his tied hands. "New Republic cruisers should be here within the hour, and Jaren and Telia will snipe you before the exit door closes behind you. There's no way you're getting past Support."
Muir gave as evil of a glare as she had ever given. "Well, that's not exactly true," she said with chilling calm, turning her gaze back at Trika. "I'm going to have a little bit of assistance from my three best friends."
It was all too sudden to stop. Muir dropped her blaster's aim and pulled the trigger, shooting Trika almost point-blank in the stomach. The computer technician took the hit into the terminal wall.
Stone made a move for Trika before Muir switched her targeting. "Pustina saen!" he cursed sharply at the woman, his only concern to tend to his wounded teammate. A gasping Trika slid to the floor slowly and slumped over face-first, her hands clenching her torn gut.
Milan's death-look rested on Muir, but the treacherous woman could not have been cooler. "The Talons won't rest until you are killed," Milan threatened, his voice shaking with fury. He managed a look at his partner, who had come to rest on the floor and had stopped moving altogether.
"Pick her up," Muir ordered the Kiffar warrior gruffly. "That should keep your hands from doing anything they shouldn't." Milan, in an odd display of concern, forgot that he had a weapon trained on him and rushed to his partner's side. Turning Trika over slowly, Milan cupped his right hand behind her neck and pressed his left to her ghastly wound, hoping to stem the flow of blood pouring from it. The slicer's eyes came back to the front and she locked eyes with him briefly. Her lips attempted to form a word, but the air around her suddenly disappeared, her gasps paining her to tears. She took another breath before the suffering had her shaking. Milan gripped her body protectively in his arms before she sank into unconsciousness.
"Let me help her!" Stone practically pleaded, knowing how vital it was that his teammate received medical attention. Muir's blaster would have cauterized the wound had it been from a decent distance away, but Stone knew that such a close shot would have only opened up a serious hole that could kill a person in minutes.
Muir smiled sarcastically at the growing hatred bleeding from both Stone and Milan. "We're taking a walk, gentlemen." She gestured to the room's door. "I have an exit to make before your friends in the sky arrive, and based upon your cooperation in getting to my ship and the adjacent medical facility, we will all see whether Trika will get to live."