Four Keronians awaited Giroro and Natsumi outside the elevator, Giroro fired at one whilst Natsumi body slammed the others into unconsciousness. She knew she was a lot larger than the Keronians and she planned to use that to her advantage. She lifted one of the Keronians blasters from the ground where it had landed. Inspecting the weapon she found it had no damage. She removed the holster from the Keronian's chest; it fit perfectly on her thigh. She held the gun firmly in her hands sliding back the top of the gun, loading the next shot. Giroro handed her a sword that would work as a knife for her. She strapped it to her arm.
The sound of the elevator descending behind them set their pulse racing a million miles a second. It could only mean one thing; Garuru was coming. Off like a shot they dashed down the hall engaging and out-maneuvering several other Keronian guards in combat. They didn't make it far when the firing of a blaster behind them caught their attention. At the end of the corridor they had just come from was Garuru standing with his weapon ready in his hand. He pointed it at Natsumi; Giroro jumped pushing her around the corner and out of the shot in just the nick of time.
"We have to get moving and fast! If he catches us we're dead!" Giroro spoke as they dashed down the corridor.
"Right." Natsumi responded.
She chose to fight using hand-to-hand combat as it was her specialty. Giroro used his blaster to pick off any enemies coming at a distance. Every step they took Garuru was not far behind. Effortlessly dodging his fallen comrades he kept his pace evenly matched with the escaping prisoners. They ran through the building as fast as they could. Reaching another elevator they were forced to stand their ground as they waited for it to arrive.
The moment they had turned back around their enemies were upon them two squads of Keronians bared down on them with their blasters. Without much cover Giroro and Natsumi were at their mercy unless the improved their position. Giroro aimed for the enemies at the front, his objective was to obtain some of their riot shields. The shields proved to be too effective though, his shots glanced off the shields he grumbled loudly. They needed those shields else they were done for.
Natsumi sensed Giroro's desperation and matched it with her own level of determination. She pulled out her knife and held it reverse style in her palm, the sharp blade facing outward as she gripped the handle. Leaping forward into the fray she rushed behind the enemy giving them quite a shock. she slashed two of the Keronians holding riot shields and broke the spine of a third with a powerful kick. Grabbing two of the shields for herself and tossing one to Giroro she dashed back to her position beside Giroro and fought off their attackers; awaiting the real threat.
Garuru rounded the corner, catching up with the other Keronians in no time. Natsumi glanced up at the elevator to check its progress; it was still 5 floors away. She clenched her teeth and hoped that they could hold out that long. The moment Garuru was in range he began firing, his barrage on the riot shields caused Natsumi and Giroro to flinch. He was an expert at taking down even the most heavily armored opponents. The measly riot shields would not fare long. Garuru's deadly accuracy made him able to identify the points to hit that would be the most likely to throw them off balance.
Natsumi's large size, which up until this point had been a huge advantage, made her the easier target for Garuru. She held the two riot shields stacked on top of each other, leaving her unable to return fire like Giroro. Her job was obviously to hold out as long as she could, which wouldn't be very long if Garuru had his way. He fired evenly at them both but tactically was watching Natsumi for an opportune opening. Giroro was trying to take out the other opponents since he knew he was in terrible conditions to attempt to take on his older brother, and even trying was more than likely to get him killed. However if he had been able to focus on him a little more Giroro might have noticed Garuru's planning.
When Natsumi received the full tactical onslaught of Garuru she was thrown slightly off balance, if she hadn't been on the defensive she may have ended up leaving her vitals open. Thankfully she was able to avoid that through strength, will, and honestly sheer luck. The force of the attack set her off balance, exposing a small part of her leg. The most vulnerable part was quickly covered again however Garuru was not going to let this mistake go without causing some damage. He fired a shot grazing Natsumi's leg, it wasn't enough to cripple her but she would be slower now. Garuru hoped to gain a better opportunity to stop them dead.
However he wouldn't get the chance. Once Giroro noticed Natsumi had been wounded he instantly backed up her defense. The elevator was so close they could hear it, holding out for a few more seconds the doors slid open. Giroro quickly tossed a flash grenade, the nearest thing he had on hand, and dashed into the elevator with Natsumi quickly closing the doors behind them. Before the doors closed however they could see Garuru unfazed by the flash grenade due to his visors. They panted heavily as they rode the elevator upwards towards their next battlefield.
"Knowing him he'll dash up the stairs and be on us again in no time. We had best be ready once those doors open." Giroro adjusted his belt and wiped his brow. Natsumi tore part of her dress and tied it around her wound in makeshift dressing. She smiled meekly and exhaled a loud breath.
"This is gonna get harder since I can't run as fast as before. Thankfully it's not that serious." Giroro nodded and placed his hand on hers. They stayed like that until they approached their floor.
"From here we have to reach the outside docking station. Getting a ship won't be too difficult, it's staying alive with Garuru on our tails that's gonna make things crazy." Giroro explained the layout of the area ahead. They would come out directly into a cargo bay where just outside the ships were all stationed. Security would be tight but the cargo would give them plenty of cover. Once they reached a ship the armor should protect them from almost anything.
When the elevator came to a halt and the doors opened wide, everything was exactly as Giroro had said. The room was filled with plenty of cargo, and enemy soldiers. On the adjacent side of the room Garuru and several other Keronians came out of the door leading to the stairwell they must have come up. When they spotted Giroro and Natsumi they dashed across the room, firing their weapons. Diving for cover Giroro and Natsumi drew their own weapons. Quickly they dashed from cover to cover, returning fire and eliminating as many enemies as they could. They sped on as fast as they could, their hostile predators in hot pursuit.
As the approached the door, Giroro jumped and rolled out the door stopping with one knee planted firmly on the ground. She fired his weapon, killing the two guards outside the door. Natsumi came running out shortly behind him. The area was more open so they stuck close to the extra cargo close to the walls. They were half way along the side of the building when Garuru exited the same door they had. He looked quickly to one side and then the other before he quickly spotted them. Taking aim he fired a shot that whizzed all too closely above Natsumi's head. She ducked down lower to avoid another close call.
As they approached the docking area they came upon a problem. In front of them lay a large open area between them and the ship. Getting to it fast enough without being shot by Garuru was going to be nearly impossible. They could sense his hungering eyes boring into their skin from behind their cargo cover. Natsumi had an idea; taking some smaller boxes of cargo she swung them towards Garuru and the other Keronians. The boxes crashed closely to the Lieutenant, sending up dust and dirt in the air. It may not blind him, but if it was dusty enough for a few moments even his visors wouldn't give him that good of vision.
Throwing several boxes to stir up a good cloud of dust, Natsumi took their chance and ran for the nearest ship. Garuru heard their movement and fired his gun. He couldn't see where they were but he was close, the shots sunk deep into the dirt a few inches away from the fleeing couple. Giroro threw open the doors to the ship and locked them once the two of them made it inside. Heaving and huffing so heavily that their lungs felt like they would explode they took a moment to catch their breath. When they were able to they spoke again.
"GEEZE does he EVER give up?!" Natsumi said loudly as she gasped for air. Giroro could only shake his head as he sputtered through his own heavy breathing. Fear had taken more wind out of them than the fighting itself.
"He's the perfect soldier; once he gets his mission nothing will stop him from completing it." Giroro explained his face dark with memories from tales of his brother's relentless devotion.
When he was able, Giroro dashed to the controls and quickly started up the ship. Not wasting any time he raised the ship from the docking station and blasted out into space. They had made it far but were not clear yet. Following suit Garuru hopped into a ship and headed up behind them. Once they exited the planet's gravitational field Garuru began to fire upon their ship. Other Keronians followed suit. When Garuru got in close her rammed them, he was determined to take them down one way or another.
Giroro maneuvered their ship to evade his next swing, trying to gain some distance between themselves and his brother. Garuru pulled back a little and resumed his firing barrage with the ship's blasters; he was joined by the attacks of the other Keronian pilots.
Giroro engaged the ship's rear defense system, returning fire with Garuru and his forces. His first few shots glanced past their attackers but he managed to clip one of the closer ships, sending it spiraling through space till it exploded from the inside. One of the other ships was tight on Giroro's end; he quickly moved the ship up and around the enemy, blasting it from behind.
As two other ships approached they nearly took one of Garuru's shots themselves, barely evading in time. The shock left one of the, open for an attack. Giroro let loose a rapid fire of blasts at one of the ships, it attempted to evade, crashing into the other ship and blowing them both up. Now it was only Garuru left in pursuit. He opened fire on their read flank hoping to cripple their ship, seeing the attack coming Giroro pulled away just in time, but Garuru was counting on him to dodge. Changing his point of attack Garuru began to focus on the other side of the ship which was now right where he wanted it.
Garuru began to land hit after hit on their ship but they were still evading him too fast for him to be doing any serious damage. Deciding to up his fire power Garuru fired one of the ship's hidden rockets. Giroro barely evaded the in time, but it clipped the edge of the ship, causing a loss of power. Giroro tried everything he could to get the ship going again but it was pointless.
He hopped out of his chair, grabbed Natsumi by the hand and quickly led her to the escape pods. They opened the door and saw that power was still keeping the pods active and viable for escape. Climbing inside, Giroro engaged the pods, and waited for them to activate before they could close the doors.
"We did it, we finally made it." Natsumi said to him. In his own ship Garuru flipped the cap covering the switch to fire another much more powerful rocket. He spoke softly, his words carrying through his empty ship.
"I'm sorry, brother." he flipped the switch firing the rocket, the sounds of their ship exploding swallowed by the vastness of space.
-To Be Continued…