The crashing in the undergrowth was getting louder as the animals outpaced Kadira and the others. Both Kadira and Laniff had broken into a full run by the time a second explosion went off. This one was much closer, causing both Mandalorians to duck and find cover as a string of other explosions went off at the same time. The ground itself shook under their feet, making keeping their footing a struggle.
A loud rumbling signaled some sort of destruction, causing both Laniff and Kadira to sprint forward as soon as the explosions ceased. They came within sight of what had been their path at the same time, causing Laniff to send up a string of curses more impressive than the last.
::Laniff, Kadira, what's your status?:: Ran's voice came over the comm, his heavy breathing indicating he was still running.
"We're fine, trapped by a rockslide," Kadira answered, glancing over at Laniff who was inspecting the slope. He turned to her and shook his head. "We can't get to you. It looks like we'll have to find another way around, Ran. I could use my jetpack, but I'm not willing to leave Laniff here without cover-"
A flash of gold at the top of the slope was her only warning before the ground in front of Laniff exploded. The red and gold armored Mandalorian went flying, crashing back into the foliage as Kadira dove for cover, just barely avoiding the wrist rocket meant for her.
"Laniff, are you alright?" Kadira snapped, rolling to her feet and swinging her rifle down from her back.
::I'm fine! Go at her from the left, I'll flank her!:: Laniff ordered.
Kadira darted out, only to jump back to cover when a string of blaster fire riddled the ground at her feet, almost as if Coorta had known exactly where Kadira would be.
"What the…" Realization dawned suddenly. "Laniff, she's listening in on our comms."
::Switching,:: Laniff acknowledged grimly.
The two both switched to a channel linked directly to their HUDs, making it harder for Coorta to find.
::This won't take her long to crack,:: Laniff warned. ::There's a bunker entrance off to my right. I almost landed on top of it. If we make a run for it, we should be able to make it inside. She's got us trapped between her and the animals she panicked with that last blast.::
Kadira ducked as another wrist rocket impacted off to her right.
"I don't have a better plan. Comms off while we make a run for it," she responded, sending a few shots in what she judged to be Coorta's general direction.
::Copy. Start running in three,:: Laniff acknowledged before the comm went dead.
Kadira counted to three under her breath and then ran, firing continuously in case she got lucky. She saw Laniff ahead of her one moment and then he was gone, presumably down into the bunker.
"I must be crazy," Kadira muttered before running to the point where Laniff had disappeared. She felt the ground drop away from her feet and suddenly she was falling, only to strike the floor a moment later. She turned the hard landing into a roll, coming up with her rifle pointed at the entrance. Laniff was working on an outdated terminal, sending sparks flying as he struggled to get the doors to close. The old durasteel let out a squeal of protest as it began to slide shut, rusty from years of disuse. When the doors finally slammed closed, Kadira sighed and lowered her rifle, switching on her vocoder so Laniff could hear her without the comm.
"All in one piece?" she asked, rising to her feet and looking around grimly as her HUD adjusted to the darkness.
"More or less," Laniff replied. "Heh. I had no idea the floor dropped away like that. I nearly had a heart attack coming in- Kadira, you're bleeding," he interrupted himself, striding over and taking her arm to examine the damage done by the zakkeg.
Kadira shook him off, pacing in front of the closed door. "Ran and Zul are going to need our help. Do you think there's another way out of here?"
"It's a weapons bunker, Kad'ika. There's only one entrance so no one can sneak in. You know that," Laniff replied patiently. "Now hold still and let me see your arm. Don't look at me like that, do you want to face Coorta again with only one good arm? Or die of infection? Or you could always bleed out first."
"How would you know how I'm looking at you, Laniff? I haven't taken my helmet off."
"I've known you long enough to guess. Now sit down, I have a med kit in my pack," Laniff replied, digging around in the small pack he had brought. Ripping open a small package of bacta, he gestured for her to lean forward. Kadira did so reluctantly, anxious to find a way out of the bunker and get back to Ran and Zul. She didn't like the idea of leaving them to face Coorta alone, not with the amount of ordinance the woman apparently had at her disposal.
There was silence for a few minutes as Laniff worked on her arm, seemingly content to leave Kadira to her thoughts.
Finally, after swabbing the wounds with bacta and bandaging them Laniff nodded. "Now, shall we see if we can find a way out of this hole? I really don't want Ran to beat Coorta without us. He'd never let me live it down, especially if we're cowering in a bunker the whole time."
Kadira laughed softly before getting to her feet and looking towards the sealed door.
"We sure there isn't any other way out of here?" she asked, watching as her HUD began a scan of the walls.
"Positive. These walls are solid durasteel, reinforced with extra solid durasteel. We Mandos build things to last," Laniff replied, rapping his hand against one wall for emphasis. "I think there might even be some beskar built in too," he added, referring to the nearly indestructible Mandalorian iron.
"So we won't have the element of surprise against Coorta. Great, I love playing fair," Kadira muttered sarcastically, turning to inspect the other side of the bunker. What she found made her grin. "Laniff get over here," she called.
Laniff joined her and let out a low whistle. "Speeder bikes, grenades, stun batons…"
"And an audio scrambler. If we link it to our HUDs and patch in Ran and Zul's comms, Coorta won't be able to read any of our transmissions," Kadira said. "And there are plenty of fun toys here for us to keep her on her toes."
Laniff nodded slowly. "Kadira… do you remember our last training mission here?" he asked, turning to face her. She could swear he was grinning, just from the way he leaned back against the wall, looking entirely too pleased with himself. "The survival one?"
"Yes. But what does that have to do with Coorta? Unless… Are you thinking-"
"That's exactly what I'm thinking," Laniff replied, causing Kadira to grin.
"Now this is going to be fun. Ready to even the odds a bit?"
Ran and Zul crashed through the jungle, fully understanding by now that Kadira and Laniff had been knocked out of the running. They were on their own unless the two Mandalorians could come up with some wild scheme to get back into the game. Something Ran wasn't willing to discount just yet.
"How much further?" Ran asked, glancing over to Zul's grim face.
Zul smiled slightly, halting next to what Ran had taken to be a sheer rock wall. Zul hurried to remove the hanging vines, revealing an old metal door that looked like it had been on Dxun for centuries.
"All we need to do is get through this door. Then we're home free," Zul explained.
Ran smiled grimly. "Then let's get to it before Coorta comes up with another surprise."
The two quickly got to work slicing the old door, careful to keep an eye on the jungle for fear of Coorta sneaking up behind them. Neither of them relished the idea of being shot in the back.
The bunker door opened with a screech of protest, two speeder bikes darting into the jungle before Coorta could even fire off a shot. She fired after them, knowing it was futile. The bikes were out of sight long before her finger hit the trigger.
Cursing profusely in Mandalorian, Coorta scrambled to her feet and began to run in the direction she knew Ran and Zul had taken. It had been a mistake to try to take the two Mandalorians out permanently before going after Scorlo and the Zabrak. She should have come back to Kadira after Ran and the spy were dead. Instead the tables had turned, placing Coorta at a disadvantage.
Still cursing her luck, Coorta slid to a halt when she stumbled into a clearing only to find Kadira Sal waiting for her, rifle aimed steadily at Coorta. Coorta's own speederbike was a twisted heap of metal, while Kadira's was wrecked beyond repair, Coorta guessed on purpose. Kadira wouldn't leave anything to chance. If the Mandalorian was to lose this battle, she was going to give Ran and Zul every chance of escape.
"Hut'uun," Kadira's voice was emotionless through her helmet's vocoder, her helmeted head resting against the stock of the rifle.
"Insults, Sal? And here I thought you were above that," Coorta responded, spreading her arms wide and grinning. She reached up slowly and removed her helmet, revealing blond hair braided tightly away from her face.
Kadira's rifle didn't waver as she spoke, still careful to keep any emotion out of her voice. "You killed an entire base of unarmed men. Mostly with grenades and execution shots. Do you really expect me to call you anything other than a coward?"
Coorta hesitated only a moment before grinning and rushing the green and gold armored Mandalorian. The game had just gotten much more interesting.
A/N: First off, sorry for the super long delay! My week just kind of got away from me. Second, sorry if this reads a bit choppy, I had a hard time with this chapter for some reason, so input is super appreciated (I mean it, promise :)
And last, thanks for reading all this so far! I'm hoping to keep updating throughout the week, hopefully more often :)