Mos Espa

[haku]

Home to one of the most notorious podracing track in the galaxy.

[anders]

Jagged was hastily beating a retreat from his former position deep within the confines of Mos Espa, trying to reach his ebony starfighter. This day was not going as planned, already at 0900 he was being shot at. The sniper was using some kind of silenced projectile weapon, kinda smart for the usual ignoramus Bounty Hunter. There were no laser reports that gave away the shooter's position, but rather small dents in the dirt that kicked up after a projectile met the debris.

Vance kept moving, constantly jinking to various sides as projectiles barely missed his torso. From his count there were six rounds spent, but Jag didn't know how much the assassin truly possessed. He quickly broke his present cover, vectoring in on a cantina entrance. He was almost there when the bullet took him in the back right shoulder. The power from the impact spun the pilot and literally threw him into the building. After sliding along the dirty floor, Jagged came to rest with blood seeping from his shoulder. Quickly he moved to the counter, unnoticed by the patrons who were used to this kind of disturbance. The New Republic soldier knew better then to ask a random stranger for help. Odds were that they too were bounty hunters in this place. Jag staggered around the counter and slid to a sitting position, hidden from the doorway and bar as a whole. His shoulder felt on fire, and his jaw clenched from the pain. Looking around he noticed that the bar tender was the only one who had taken interest into Vance's presence.

A gloved hand slowly picked the spent casings from the ground and deposited them in the rifle case. Shutting the cover over the weapon, the assassin stored it under the bed for later use. She would be back for it, and didn't expect anyone to care about the house's former owner. Slowly she stepped over the dead body, blood seeping from a gash at the throat. The fake red hair seemed to fit her lifestyle as she stepped out of the home and started toward the cantina where her prey stumbled into.

"Can I help you son?" The man's question jerked Jag's head away from its present position and up to meet the bartender's eyes. The other man looked trusting, but still Jagged refrained from speaking about his past and present life. His shoulder was gushing blood now, and the pilot shook his head. "No, I'll be fine, could do with a drink though." The other man smiled, and then turned straight-faced again as his eyes turned to the Cantina's entrance. He noticed the woman who just walked in and looked back down to the pilot. "So, in a little trouble are we?" Vance nodded a bit before taking the chance to peek over the bar-table. He noticed a girl in the corner booth, dressed in black clothing and with red hair, no doubt a wig by the looks. Assassins had a tendency to change appearance to remain unnoticed. He ducked back down and looked up at the overweight man questioning him. "Do you have a back way out of here?" The Bar-tender nodded and gestured to a back door at the back of the bar. Vance quickly moved, and opened the hatch, struggling through and bursting out of the Cantina's rear into an alleyway. He started to walk quickly through the back ways of Mos Espa, gripping his shoulder and glancing around to make certain that he remained safe.

The professional killer smiled as she glimpsed a back door opening, quickly rising to her feet and moving out the front. She knew the city like the back of her hand, and started to track the pilot, arriving in the back alleys a few seconds after he vanished. Quickly, the woman followed foot-tracks with a small pistol in hand.

Jag was losing blood, and fast. If he didn't get to a hospital soon, he would most certainly black out and eventually die. However, he kept moving making sure that the assassin didn't catch up. He was growing weaker and slowing down, knowing that the hunter would eventually catch him. However, only a few more feet, and he would be in the middle of a busy street. Knowing that the assassin couldn't get him there, he turned the last corner smiling. The grin quickly vanished as his mind registered the black-clad woman holding a gun, training it on his chest. Her gloved finger slowly pulled back on the trigger, and a dart jumped from the barrel. Jag looked down stunned at the device protruding from his stomach before he fell to his knees. The tranquilizer knocked him out in mere seconds, and now the hunter had her prey. Slowly she dragged his unconscious body into a nearby building, and closed the door. She needed to unravel some information that the Imperials wanted before she killed the man.

[anders]

Jagged woke to a bright light, instantly clenching his eyes against the pain. Once the retinas slowly adjusted, the NR pilot was able to open them. It took his mind a few seconds to register where he was and what had happened to him before Vance started struggling to get out of the chair. To his dismay he was strapped down in the seat and wasn't going to be moving any time soon. Just friggen beautiful, he thought that this would have been a nice day, but it turned out pretty sour. He tried to turn his head to find out who else occupied the room with him, but couldn't see anyone at the moment which felt kind of weird. And just why was the Empire hunting him like this? Was he the only one, after all they could have tracked down Wedge or Wes or someone to that extent, not him. Then again from the amount of time it took them to capture him, he guessed he was the easiest target. His head drifted now to a bandaged shoulder, red staining the white wrapping. At least someone had the decency to help him out in those regards.

"The woman filled a needle with the illegal clear fluid. It was meant to retrieve answers and quickly. The only place where one could get their hands on it would be the low levels of Coruscant where they created all kinds of devices, illegal and deadly. She grinned as she moved into his vintage point, gripping the end of the syringe. "You know, you have lasted the longest out of all those I have hunted, I will give you credit in those regards." She moved over before continuing, "It is too bad that I need to kill you, but business is business."

Jag grimaced as the needle dug into skin before replying quickly to her remarks. "Yeah, that is too bad, then I won't be able to blow the crap out of Imperial metal." The fluid quickly moved through his blood-stream, and he found his head becoming dizzy. In a few more moments, the officer felt as though he could reveal anything to anybody, kind of like a little happy place. Deep in his mind, he knew questions were coming from the assassin, but didn't really care right now.

[anders]

There had to be limits, but so far she wasn't showing any mercy. In fact at the moment the hired killer was sliding a knife's edge along Jag's leg, watching as blood filled in its wake. The pilot was too hoarse to scream anymore, but his eyes clenched in pain while mouth lay open, trying to create a sound of some sorts. So far he had resisted the pain, but wasn't sure how much longer he could take the agony. Right now he just wanted to cease living. She finally pulled the blade away right above his knee and licked the red metal. Vance looked at her, breathing heavily, this woman was a freak. No normal human would look that pleased when torturing somebody.

The woman was slowly beginning to become annoyed. The pilot was truly resilient. Soon he would either break or die, but this information was vital, and she needed to try everything to obtain it. She was going to enjoy watching the pain in his eyes when the news that his squadron had been destroyed escaped her lips. But for now she would stick with physical torture, psychological was a last resort. The assassin smiled after licking his blood off the blade. "I have now cut you once for every answer you have refused to give, what shall I take next?" She was enjoying this way too much and continued. "A finger, an ear, or maybe an eye?" She pulled the knife up to his face, trying to prove a point. It would be ashame to rip out those pretty eyes, but like always business was business.

Jag sneered at the woman's questions and replied almost too casually. "Might as well take my tongue while you're at it, because I'm not talking." That was going to piss her off, but it gave him a distraction for the time being. Going unnoticed to the killer was the fact that Vance had almost succeeded in ripping his hand from the leather strap restricting it. He smiled, face catching her gaze before quietly speaking. "Now finish it." His timing would need to be perfect, but he could make this work. He smiled as she moved toward him again with the knife out in front. Quickly his hand flew from the chair's armrest and ripped the knife from her grasp, then with one swift motion, he plunged the blade right back into her. "Compliments of the freaking New Republic." He then pulled the blade out of her stomach and watched as her body fell to the floor, never to rise again. Quickly he cut his hands and feet free then stood up rubbing the feeling back into sleeping muscles. It took him a few minutes to find the exit, then he was free. The Tatooine suns felt wonderful and he immediately started toward the landing bays forgetting about the pain in his shoulder, it would go away eventually, but right now he wanted to get away.