Safaeyet

Every sense in Mai tingled. Something was happening, and at the exact moment the weapon fired she stepped in front of Haydon. A loud ping, and the projectile ricocheted off the armour, leaving a dark mark and a small dent in the metal. With the next step, Mai moved to the other side of Haydon, her saber hilt in her hand. The blue blade ignighted with a loud hum, just as the dark figure ran from the alley.

The man's own blade hummed into life, a deep red colour, and crashed into Mai's saber, sending sparks around them. Haydon had his blaster in his hand, aiming it up to the rooftop, where the other male had just jumped out of sight. Mai's blows and deflects rained heavily, her assailant having a much better saber skillset. Mai was slowly being driven back aas Haydon spotted the other male again, running after him.

The sabers clashed, red on blue, the weight advantage going to the red blade, pushing down hard, edging closer and closer to Mai's cheek. The blades sparked and spat in a fury matched by those wielding them. Mai closed her eyes as she felt the heat and energy of the blade next to her cheek, slowly begining to burn the skin. Shifing her feet, she raised one boot, kicking hard between the male's legs, sending him recoiling in pain. Mai's cheek burned painfully, the skin blistering raw, but she ran forward, her foot swinging out again, connecting with the stranger's wrists, sending his hilt skidding across the roadway.

Mai focused hard on Ander in the few seconds respite. She knew he was closed off from the Force, but she hoped that she could at least get him to feel something was wrong.

<< <<Ander...I need you....>> >>

Ander was just leaving the prosthetic repair shop he'd found when his shoulder twitched, shaking his arm slightly. It was the same movement he made when drawing a weapon, readying himself to pull a blaster, or reach for an enemy. At first, Ander ignored the twitch, chocking it up to his old combat-worn nerves acting up. He continued walking lengthening his stride impulsively. He was heading towards the city center, a collection of large business blocks and industrial temples, and could see the smog hanging over that portion of the city. It made visibility from higher elevations to the ground clouded, and for a moment reminded Ander of the Works District of Coruscant.
He shook his head, I've spent far too much time in the Core.
Ander continued walking, banking down an alleyway that took him several blocks west of the prosthetic shop he'd just left. Again, he felt his shoulder twitch, and a tickling feeling had started buzzing at the back of his mind. He'd remained so closed off to the Force over the past couple years, he wondered if it wasn't trying to break its way back into his head. Out of instinct, Ander activated his wristcom, and keyed for Mai. After several moments, she didn't answer, and he began to worry.
Risking a slight amount of exposure, Ander opened his mind the slightest bit to the Force. What he felt made him reel. Fear, pain and anger broke into his mind like a shattered dam, flooding his presence in a hot wave. The mind connected to the emotions was Mai's, undoubtedly, and instantly Ander was spurred into a run.
He sent her a reassuring wave of feeling, focusing on positive thoughts to convey the message he needed to send, the message that he was on his way.
Ander keyed his wristcom a second time, activating a tracker on Mai's own comlink. She wasn't far off, but Ander drew slightly more on the Force to augment his speed regardless. He ran as fast as he could, keeping his pistol holstered as long as he thought safe. Several blocks down the alley, he hit a dead end, but rather than turning back, Ander jumped and grabbed onto a ledge some feet over his head, pulling himself up before grasping for a vertically mounted pipe off to his right. Ander pushed his feet up against the wall of the building and began climbing, one hand over the other, until he reached the roof ledge some thirty feet up.
Ander scrambled to the top and began sprinting across the roof, pulling his blaster keeping an eye out for any hostile beings. He saw nothing but a dreary industrial landscape around him, and for a split moment he wondered what Mai had even been doing in that part of the city.
He shirked the thought for the moment, and continued scrying the area for her presence. Her beacon didn't give so detailed a position that he could pinpoint her location on his wristcom, an upgrade he would not be forgetting to install later, if she survived whatever ordeal she was facing at the moment.

He finally spotted movement on a rooftop nearby, just two buildings over from his own. The figure was clothed in black, and carrying a long rifle of some make with him. It was a projectile weapon, Ander could tell, and for a moment he regretted not having his assault carbine on hand. But he'd make due. Ander looked down at the streets on either side of the figure's chosen building, catching sight of two lightsabers, one blue, one red, flashing brilliantly back and forth at one another. Instantly Ander's throat tightened, and he began fearing for Mai's life. He spotted Haydon down with her, but didn't relax a bit. He didn't know the younger man well enough to trust him in the heat of a fight, better to take the struggle on his own shoulders and worry about the consequences later.

Ander pushed himself forward once more, drawing only as much on the Force as he needed to jump the gap between his building and the one ahead of him, then continued sprinting and jumped the second gap to the shooter's roof. The man saw him at the last moment, as Ander came crashing down on him, slamming the butt of his pistol into the back of the man's skull. He crumpled to the ground with a sick crack, his body still.
Ander grabbed the man's rifle and rushed to the edge of the roof, where Haydon and Mai were still struggling with their lightsaber wielding attacker. Haydon seemed to still be recovering, searching for the man on the rooftop, a fact Ander confirmed as a pair of shots impacted into the brick just below him. He waved his arm wildly, trying to get Haydon's attention and show he wasn't the shooter, but it didn't seem to work.
Ander ducked behind the roof ledge and rushed to another corner of the building, hoping to escape Haydon's sight for a moment so he could take a pot shot at Mai's attacker.
He angled the rifle down over the edge, dropping his sights just over the large man, but was unable to find a clean shot. He growled in frustration, refusing to risk hitting Mai, and dropped the rifle just as he saw the original shooter rushing toward Ander with a knife in his hand.

The man swung his spare blade heavily through the air, blazing a red arc towards Mai. He was overcoming the blinding pain in his groin, and was determined to renew the assauly on his target with renewed vigour. He had to admit, she was putting up a good fight, but it wasn't to be good enough. A shape caught his eye as he reeled backwards from a block, moving between rooftops, landing heavily onto his associate.

Come, come now, that's not exactly playing fair, is it? He remarked to Mai, who simply growled and lunged at him. As she ran forward, the man raised his fist, connecting it to her burnt cheek, sending the medic sprawling backwards in pain. An evil grin spread across his face, raised his hand, and clicked his fingers once.

Instantly two more cloaked figures leapt into the fight, one heading straighted for the armoured man, the other setting up a small shoulder mounted rocket launcher, aiming it straight at the rooftop where two were fighting.

There, this should even the odds a little. he smiled cruelly, adjusting his gloves as he moved towards Mai.

At the point he heard Mai cry out in pain, Haydon's world slowed to a stop. In a split second instant, he took in his surroundings.

Mai had been fighting well, furiously and accurately, much as she had with him, however her opponent was doing much better. The person on the roof was now joined by another, who, he wasn't sure. And now two more were joining the fight at ground level.

2 of them against 5.

No... He recognised the strong rugged look of Ander, fighting -against- the rooftop sniper.

3 against 4. Better odds.

His shoulder was throbbing painfully, but he'd have to ignore that for now. Mai was injured too, currently cradling her cheek. The man focusing on her seemed to not want to kill her just yet, just do her as much damage as he could, so it was down to three.

Time ticked slowly over, a second lasting an eternity. Three assailants. Three shots. The first would have to go to the attacker running straight for him. He raised his blaster and shot instantly, hitting the chest of the gunman, their own weapon spraying loose shots a few ricocheting off his armour. The second would be rounded onto the guy with the rocket launcher. He aimed for the back of the knees, shot and watched as he crumpled in agony. The third, Haydon aimed up to the rooftop.

A glint, a flash of silver. Haydon narrowed his eyes spotting the knife in the rooftop assasin's hand. Ander was laying on the roof, turning just in time to see. Haydon adjusted his aim and shot.

His legs were taken out from under him, the rocket launcher swinging out from them. The man wielding it was on his knees in pain but determined to fight on. Haydon landed heavily on his back, his boot kicking out, connecting with his attacker's jaw with a crunch.

Haydon's final shot continued and travelled up to the rooftop, narrowly missing Ander's head and lodging deep into the assasin's hand, the knife flung aside as he yelled out in pain.

Mai's head had exploded with pain. The burn had seared deep into her skin, and now the last punch had sent blinding spots infront of her eyes. She had dropped her hilt and the stranger was advancing towards her. He kicked her saber hilt away, then shoved Mai hard to the ground. She sprawled onto the floor, grunting as she tried to catch her breath.

She tried to crawl backwards quickly, but found herself against a wall. With a gasp she looked up at the stranger, who's cruel smile turned into a menacing chuckle. Narrowing her eyes, she kicked out with her foot, ramming it hard into his shin, causing him to grunt in pain. Scrambling to her feet again, she unclipped her spare hilt, ignighting the silver blade.

The stranger tugged at his lost hilt through the Force, recalling it to his hand. Ignighting both, the red sabers hummed as menasingly as the stranger smiled.

Haydon, Saber! Mai called, Haydon tossing her his hilt. Now they were evenly matched, his two red blades against Mai and the silver and yellow sabers. The fight began again.

Sparks flew and the sabers clashed as the ferocity of the fight began. Mai's eyes had a steely determination as she blocked and parried every move the stranger gave her. She was not used to fighting with two blades, and quickly lost the silver saber. The stranger grinned and pressed the advantage. Haydon raised his blaster, hoping to get a decent shot, but the dance between them was too fast. Mai twisted under the blades, swinging out her leg to catch the stranger off guard, one of his legs buckled, but it brought the blades down with him, singeing the corner of Mai's tunic. Rolling away, she raised her elbow, and caught one of the hilts sending it flying from the strangers hand. They were matched once again.

The fight continued in ernest, yellow against red, and Mai couldn't focus on anything apart from the blades. The stranger's foot came from nowhere, colliding hard with her stomach, reeling her back to the floor, the yellow blade skidding from her grip. The stranger grinned evilly and created a Force push towards Haydon, sending him flying backwards, slamming into a wall, rendering him unconcious. Mai cried out, rolling over winded, the stranger advancing back towards her. He kicked her again, keeping her on her back, then raised the saber in front of him, the blade pointing downwards at her chest.

Mai Owani. You are no longer hunted. was all she heard him say. All she could do was close her eyes, tears leaking from her eyes, her body in too much pain to move.

The man rushing Ander on the rooftop staggered, fell to his knees. One of his legs had been shot through by a blaster bolt from Haydon's weapon, a decent shot from far down the road. Ander silently nodded his approval, looking back down below.
He watched Mai lose her weapon, then take a vicious punch to the face, knocking her down. He growled in anger as Mai was beaten around. As her assailant stepped forward, Ander shouldered the rifle and began pulling the sight up to his eye to fire, but was distracted as a searing pain cut into his side. The rooftop sniper had gathered himself and leapt at Ander, thrusting the knife into his side, just under his ribs.
He shouted out in anger and pain, releasing the weapon's grip and backhanding the man so hard in the face his head was slammed into the ferrocrete wall behind them both. It struck the material with another loud crack, but this time Ander wasn't taking any chances. Dropping the rifle, Ander pulled the knife from his side and grabbed the man by the hair, stabbing the knife into the side of his neck and thrusting down with all his strength. The muscles of the man's neck were tough to cut through, but Ander only needed to saw at him long enough to tear up his jugular and bleed him to death.

Ander released the man's hair, his face dropping back to the rooftop and splashing into a growing pool of his own blood. He stood and dropped the knife, then looked back down on the street scene below him. Three stories down, and two blocks west of his position, he watched Haydon take the brunt of a powerful Force Push, throwing him across the road and into a building wall. He slumped to the ground unconscious.
Mai was in the fight of her life, alone and outmatched, Hadyon had dispatched all but the first attacker, his twin red blades offset by Mai's
Gritting his teeth, Ander drew his pistol again, then crouched slightly and dropped from the edge of the rooftop, falling swiftly towards the street below. He drew slightly on the Force to cushion his fall, then closed himself off to it once more, blocking Mai's pain and unabated fear from his mind and focusing on the task at hand. He didn't need assistance from the Force, he didn't need to augment his strength or speed or mind any more than the adrenaline in his body was doing it for him. Mai's life was in danger, she was hurt, about to be killed. That was all the motivation Ander needed.

He sprinted full speed down the road, crossing one block, then starting on the second, where Mai was now laid out on her back, her attacker's lightsaber pointed down at her chest. Ander could see her face, a soft, pale cheek burned and bleeding, her eyes wide in terror despite her Jedi training.
Only combat had steeled his own nerves against the threat of death, and his innards still recoiled like a frightened child when it steered his way. The Force was indeed as powerful an ally as it could be a great foe, but it couldn't stop a man, or a woman for that matter, from exposing their true colors in the face of death. Mai was strong at heart, but her mind and body were designed for other tasks, for healing and for helping. Ander had been trained to dispense death, even in the face of his own.
He raised the pistol as he ran, firing off a handful of shots as her attacker muttered something and moved in for the kill. Tossing the weapon aside, Ander dove forward, landing on his hands and rolling towards the man, grabbing the hilt of Mai's yellow-bladed lightsaber as he skidded across the ferrocrete ground.
Flicking the weapon to life with his thumb, Ander came up on a knee, thrusting upward toward the small of the man's back, hoping to gut him from behind and cut into his heart at the same time.

The stranger was so wrapped up in completing his kill, the tackle on him was missed. As he rolled to the floor, he silently cursed himself, drew on the Force around him, and flattened himself to the ground as the yellow blade ignighted across his back. The energy from the blade seared through the material of his cloak, leaving a scorch mark up his spine. Rolling over he swung his foot out, connecting it to the hand wielding the blade, knocking it out of the way enough for him to move. Springing to his feet, he recalled one of his saber hilts to his hand, reignighting the dark red blade and standing over his assailant and in front of his mark.

I must say I was rather fond of that cloak He commented offhandedly, one hand drawing slowly behind him. He pointed his saber at the man before him, and drew on the Force through the other. Behind him, the woman gasped, her hands leaping to her throat. Invisible hands had begun to choke her. His mouth twisted into a cruel grin

Now I suggest you put that down, and not do anything, or she dies faster.

Ander would have laughed at the man, but for the danger Mai was in. She was grabbing uselessly at her throat with one hand, her face slowly turning red as her attacker choked her to death. Instead, Ander gritted his teeth, determined to conquer his enemy without assistance from the Force. He let the man decide between keeping his sword hand and keeping his concentration on the invisible grip he had on Mai's throat.
"I don't negotiate, and I don't compromise," he growled coarsely, flicking the tip Mai's blade in a tight circle and slipping it past the man's wrist, intent on severing it.

The yellow blade flicked towards his wrist, pulling it away a moment too late. Pain seared through his wrist. it wasn't cut off fully, but enough to render it useless. His grip on Mai weakened, and she gasped and spluttered behind him. Cradling his hand, he swung around, creating a Force push on Mai, sending her screaming across the street, landing close to the armoured man.

That wasn't a wise move... he replied menacingly, arching his saber down hard onto Ander in a swift movement aimed towards his right side.

Ander watched as Mai went sailing across the road, slamming loudly into a far wall, landing in a crumbled heap. Ander let his anger fuel his focus, pushing his hips back and parrying wildly, giving the impression of a man caught off guard. He truly hadn't been expecting the man to recover so quickly if his blow had landed, but years of combat experience had told him to always be prepared in case it didn't, so Ander was ready when the strike came.
He batted the man's blade out of the way, which kept Ander's own between his attacker's blade and body, leaving him hard pressed to defend himself as Ander brought his blade back in to counter striking at the man's open chest.

The blade arced into his chest, the burning energy of the yellow blade cutting deep into his chest, slicing through his ribs. His cry of pain lost as the air from his lung slowly burned. Collapsing to the ground, he managed to fling his red blade backwards with suprising accuracy, heading straight for Mai.

Ander retracted his blade as it cut across the man's chest, digging through his ribs and into the organs beneath. The man had flung his lightsaber away from him, aiming for Mai across the road. Ander's decades of combat experience and drilling kicked in; he reached out to his right, catching the weapon by the hilt with his free hand, then brought it back to his left in a slashing motion, aiming to cut the assassin in the same direction as before.

Haydon's head throbbed under his helmet. Groaning his hand reached up, pushing up his visor. He blinked at the scene.

Two men lay scattered on the street, one still quietly wimpering as he slowly bled out. The other lay still, his vital signs no longer there. Ander was cutting the original instigater to shreads, but Mai... where was she?

He looked around stiffly, and found her lying close by, very still. His heart sank. Summoning all the energy he could, he crawled over to her. Gently rolling her onto her back, he sighed in relief as he saw her chest move whilst breathing. Relief was shortlived as he took stock of how bad she actually was.

She had lots of cuts to her hands and arms, and one major cut over her eye. The burn on her cheek was blistering and bleeding slowly, and he had no doubt her clothing were covering other cuts and bruises too.

Mai groaned quietly, her body aching from head to foot after the fight. She gently slipped from consciousness to unconsciousness frequently as her internal functions tried desparately to keep her going. In her satchel tossed across the street, her com-pad had flickered into life, a medical program designed by one of the students to help others should their medic become ill was coming into life. A gentle quiet bleeping registered her heartbeat from the tiny chip lodged deep within her wrist. The curled up image of Mai on the pad highlighted one red and many orange areas, the red parts being her most serious injuries. Currently the red area was highlighting her right hand chest, where a broken rib was gently pushing onto her lung. The other areas showed all her cuts, grazes and areas of minor internal bleeding.

A wailing siren came down the street, a speeder with two passengers sped into view, the vehicle decked out with the planetary medical logos across its side. Haydon sighed and smiled, waving his arm to call over the medics. Both men pulled off a bag each, one knelt beside Mai the other sat Haydon up to check him over. Now sitting with his back to Mai, Haydon kept trying to look around, but the medic kept his head facing away as he held a small light up to his eyes.

Name? Came the gruff voice of the medic

Haydon Owani, and thats my sister, Mai, is she gonna be ok? he replied hastily.

She will be out of danger shortly. Came the reply, as the medic kept his head still.

The man kneeling over Mai had simply bent down to study her face, until Haydon had actually done the wrong thing.

Stated their names.

He bent close, a gentle click and small trust of his arm. Mai's back arched and her eyes squeezed shut. The man stood up and moved back towards the speeder, as did the man keeping Haydon distracted. Mai's com-pad went balistic in her bag. Lights flashed and a pulsating alarm kicked in. Automatically it sent a distress signal to Yavin 4 Medical bay, and without warning, Ander's wrist-comp kicked into life too. Without him realising, Mai had linked her pad to his communicator to recieve the distress signal.

Haydon looked over at Mai, his confusion was quickly replaced with horror. A long knife hilt was protruding from her chest, the rises and falls diminishing quickly, a large red area slowly seeping into her clothing. Deep into her chest, the blade was resting in the bottom edge of her heart, the blade keeping the bloodflow out fairly minimal unless it was moved. Haydon's mind went blank. So he did the only thing he could. He yelled.

ANDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ander was standing over the man he'd just cut down as he heard his wrist comp beeping, and Haydon screaming his name from across the way. He turned, narrowing his eyes at the sight of the medical transport that had arrived on scene. The rest of their attackers were dead or dying, the body at Ander's feet was severed in half from shoulder to hip, and smoking.
He caught sight of Haydon, sitting down with his arms out behind him, as if he were scrambling away from a great danger. Mai was laying on the ground, on her side, the front of her tunic stained with blood, and the sharp glint of metal protruding from her chest.
Ander grit his teeth and deactivated the lightsaber in his hand, clipping it to his utility belt with one hand while pulling his rifle up with the other.
As he brought the sights up to his eye, his saber hand, now free, clasped the rail grip under the barrel of the weapon, and he began popping silent shots off at the two figures assaulting Haydon and Mai.
One of them stumbled, a round penetrating his neck and blood jetting into the air as he hit the wall of the building behind him and slumped to the ground.
The second figure made it about two foot steps before Ander caught him in the side and thigh with a coupling of shots, crippling him and sending him to the permacrete sidewalk.
Ander bolted across the roadway, letting the rifle drop back to his armored side and drawing his pistol with one hand, leaping behind the crippled man and scruffing him at the base of his neck, holding him captive by the collar of his tunic. Casually, Ander put a pair of rounds through the back of the man's head, letting his body fall lifelessly to the ground as blood sprayed onto the sidewalk moments before his face splashed into it.

He dropped to a knee beside Mai, who was laying unconscious on her side, her eyes open and staring. Ander felt his jaw clench, as he gently pulled apart the front of Mai's tunic, exposing her chest, and the gruesome wound at its center.
Ander looked up to Haydon, worrying etched over his face.
He stripped the gloves from his hands, then dug his fingers into Mai's neck to read her pulse. It was neither strong nor weak, but rather erratic, which told Ander her heart was struggling and her blood pressure was unstable.
Adding that information to the placement of the knife in her back, Ander quickly deduced her heart must have been nicked by the blade, which would still be lodged up against the wound, keeping blood flow irregular but continuous at the very least.
He pulled apart Mai's tunic further, saving her dignity for a less dangerous time. He was unable to turn her until the knife had been removed, which meant Ander had to slow or stop the bleeding in her heart before he could remove the blade, or she'd bleed out within seconds.
Ander gritted his teeth, then bent low over her, opening himself to the Force in a very acute manner. His connection spanned onto as far as Mai's heart itself, the organ pulsing slowly, struggling to do its demanding job.
He allowed his medical knowledge and the Force itself guide him gently, grabbing for a small incising tool from the back of the medical transport still parked several meters from where Mai lay.
The rest of his supplies he grabbed from the pouches on his belt, gauze, clotting factor and a small IV kit that contained a small supply of self administered nutrients.
He blotted blood away from Mai's wound, his worry increasing as blood began trickling from the corner of her mouth, dripping slowly from her cheekbone and onto the ground.

Using the protruding tip of the blade as a guide, Ander activated the laser cutter, putting just enough power into it to penetrate her skin and the center of her sternum. The cutting took nearly a minute, but left him with a small incision just below the wound itself, enough space for him to insert the application needle of the clotting factor. Along with it, Ander inserted a small camera device he used for checking unsealed entranceways, bringing the feed up to his helmet display. Inside, what Ander saw confused him at first, a dark, mottled assembly of tissue and organs, easy to identify in that area of the body.
He quickly glimpsed the blade of the knife, following it to the organ Ander couldn't possibly mistake: Mai's heart.
It was pumping weakly, what little he could see of it in the view of the camera's lens, but the injuring was obvious. A dark red splotch on the feed, blocked mostly by the blade of the knife in Mai's chest.

Ander gritted his teeth and began following the camera with the clotting factor injection needle, ensuring to secure the tip of the injector as close to the center of the tissue as he could. Inject the factor too deeply, and it would slip into Mai's heart valves and cause a heart attack.
It took him several seconds to become comfortable with his placement of the injector, but when he was, Ander pushed in on the plunger and watched as a black liquid leaked out into Mai's body, coating the incision on her heart and sealing the hole caused by the knife.
As pushed the injected along the length of the incision, Ander gripped the hilt of the blade at Mai's back and began pulling it slowly, removing it from her completely once her heart had been properly sealed.

Ander slumped backwards momentarily, the chin of his helmet hitting his armored chest as his body began shaking. His muscles were sore from remaining so tense for so long, and his fingers ached in particular. Even so, Ander forced himself up again, kneeling over Mai and wiping down the blood seeping from her chest and back. He bandaged her within a minute, knowing that her lung was still punctured by the sound of her ragged and weak breathing.
Ander ordered Haydon to his feet, thrusting his pistol into the younger man's hand and together they carried Mai into the back of the medical transport.
As Haydon strapped her in, Ander began fitting Mai with a breathing tube, intubating her quickly and fitting her to a mobile respirator.
Haydon had just finished securing the straps over Mai's legs, and Ander had begun her IV when a handful of blaster bolts ricocheted inside the transport's hold, blowing several electronics, and one scorching Ander's chest plate.
He jerked up reactively, his rifle throwing round after round out of the back of the vehicle while he barked at Haydon through his external helmet comm to get to the cockpit and start the vehicle.

It seemed their would be assassin's had brought more friends than Ander had thought.

Haydon was panicking quietly to himself, watching Ander's careful work on his sister. Only when he was finished did Haydon dare to breath, let alone say anything that could distract the older man. Haydon followed instruction without any complaint, his mind fogged with confusion and worry. He glanced momentarily as he helped gently raise Mai from the floor, a new sense of admirality for the man. Securing Mai down, he looked on as Ander fitted her breathing unit, watching her weak breathing become a little stronger with the help.

Several loud pings brought him back to reality, as the blaster bolts ralleyed into the vehichle. Ducking instictively, he felt Ander's hand grab his armour, pulling him in and towards the front to get them moving. Scanning the console frantically he couldn't make out which button started the engines. In frustration he slammed his hands down onto a few buttons, one of which must have been right, as the medical vehicle shuddered into life. Punching the controls, he shot the transporter forward, hoping with all he had that Mai was well secured. The sound of bolt fires still echoed around them, as the persuers gave chase on landspeeders. Swerving around corners Haydon tried to find a way out of their location, his eyes flicking occasionally to the transport map on the console.

Hang on!!! Haydon yelled as he yanked on the controls, pulling the vehicle around a tight corner. Turn by turn the space between the hunters and their prey extended until Haydon swore loudly.

Two speeders came head onto them, shots ringing out from them directly at the medical transporter.

DUCK!!!! Haydon screamed as the protective glass of the front cracked then shattered sending bolts firing through the vehicle.

WHAT THE HECK DO THEY WANT?! He yelled as he frantically turned the vehicle down a sidestreet.

Calo had been searching for his father with his team for three weeks now. In that time they had searched two planets and were now in the low orbit of Anobis just above Safaeyet. The pilot of his LAAT/i signals to him that they are about to break into the upper atmosphere and to hold on. He and his nine man squad all reach up and grab hold of the handlegrips hanging overhead. Internal dampeners had been installed but going through the atmosphere in these things still shake you around a good bit. Along side his LAAT/i was another, in it were supplies and a full crew compliment. This op was not an offically sanctioned one. Calo just wanted to find his father. His intel put Ander somewhere in the Mid Rim, but they were not sure where. His team was already getting tired of the search, but for Calo this was personal. Ander had been involved in the events that took place on Mandalore and he had left Calo out of the loop of what was going on, then he actually left him behind. He was very hurt by that, he felt that his father betrayed him. If his father had a reason for what he did, then he wanted to know it; he thought angrily to himself: it better be a damn good reason.

The two LAAT/i's began to shake as they were breaking through the atmosphere. All their gear had been securely fastened away though. They didn't want stray equipment flying around. As the shuttles finally broke through the shaking and jerking motions came to a halt, which was a relief to Calo's men. Calo had paid little attention to the shaking, he was more intent on checking the nosecam monitor, looking at the footage of the city below them. Once clear, the men eased up and sat back down. Now they just had to wait for the pilots to start making their sensory sweeps. If they could pick up Ander's comm signal, they would land near it and Calo would have a 'friendly' chat with his father; if they could not find it, then they would refuel and depart.

Calo hears a loud beeping noise coming from the cockpit. The pilot yells back to him, "sir, we've found Ander's signal!" Calo turns to the pilot and asks "where is he?" The pilot checks his readings on his console and responds "he'll be in view in thirty seconds!"

He walks up to the monitor and waits patiently for Ander's position to come up on the screen. When it does he sees a shot up medical transport fleeing from men on foot. It makes turn after turn going down side streets to avoid the enemy. He can see two speeders rushing toward it, they are on a collision course. Calo turns to his mean and with a sternness in his voice he orders "prep for a rescue op! We're going in fast and hard!" He turns to his helmet comm and links to the pilot of the other LAAT/i, "Castor, go in fast and knock out those two enemy speeders. We'll dismount and provide ground cover, you stay in the air, we'll probably need more air support". Castor's comm icon flashes, signalling his confirmation. The other LAAT/i jets foward, lining up its HEAP missiles on the two speeders. Once the shuttle is within range Castor yells "light 'em up!" and the gunner launches two of the missiles from the missile launchers.

The two missiles scream through the air as they fly toward their targets. The first one hits the top front right side portion of the speeder, scoring a direct hit to the engine, causing a massive explosion that kills the crew and turns the thing into a smouldering hunk of charred metal roadblock. The second missile collides into the side of the other speeder, hitting the fuel line, causing a massive inferno that envolpes the speeder sending it crashing into a nearby building on the narrow street. Haydon has very little time to react to the two metal hunks of metal in his way and the medical transport slams into the side of one. It manages to push itself through but the force of the impact makes the vessel crash into the ground, and very nearly into a building.

Calo's LAAT/i does a fly over as he taps his comm to try and talk to Ander, "Ander, are you ok? It's Calo!"

Ander raises his head and taps his comm, "Calo? What are you doing here?"

"Nevermind that, what's your situation? We see several dismounts heading your way".

Ander looks around the inside of the vessel, he sees Haydon trying to shake of disorientation from the crash and he sees Mai still secured in her seat, but still unconscious. "Calo, we got one in critical condition, I don't know if we can move her yet".

Calo motions the pilot to bring the LAAT/i down, "roger that, we will provide cover". As the transport nears the ground the side door facing the crash opens up and Calo leaps out. He hits the ground and his men follow. He motions the first fire team to take up position behind one of the wrecks and to cover the street. "Javik, take your team up to that building and provide cover. Gorith, I need you in that wreck with Ander, he says there is someone in crit, do what you can".

Haydon shook his head, trying to get the blurred vision from his eyes and a ringing sound from one ear. Standing u he stumbled clumsily towards Ander, unknown to him that a trickle of blood was seeping from his open visor. Grabbing his blaster and the pistol Ander had passed him earlier, he leapt for the back of the vehicle as the sounds of more bolts and charges were aimed at them. Haydon leant out, firing as best he could through the concussion, before diving back inside as a small missile was aimed at them.

"DOWN!!!" was Haydons only shout, instinct telling him to protect his sister. Ander had done the same, leaning over Mai's chest, Haydon protecting her head. A loud scraping sound signalled the missile hitting and tearing open the roof of the transport, showering the two armoured men with debris. Instantly, Haydon was back out of the doorframe, which now hung awkwardly from the sides thanks to its roof support now being in splinters on the transport floor and road. Unaware a rescue was being planned, he saw another craft approach them, several troops Armed and ready to fight emerged, Haydon fired, his shots not as accurate as normal.

"keep her safe!" he called to Ander, before leaving the transport on his own, trying to draw the fighting towards him rather than Mai

Ander lost consciousness after their stolen transport crashed to the street below them. His mind was wracked with staticy thoughts, like a damaged comm antenna struggling to send its message. His ears were ringing, despite his helmet's seals.
His muscles ached, in his years past, Ander had become used to drawing on the Force for strength in combat, and the continued practice had made his physical body soft. He'd kept up on his physical conditioning, but the experience of combat was unmatched when it came to the honing of a soldier's many skills.

When he came to, Ander found himself laying on his back, his left hand gripping the rail of Mai's gurney, his right hanging by his side. He figured the limp arm must be injured, though it coursed with no pain. Ander tightened his grip and attempted to pull himself up with his left arm, cursing as the limb failed him, pain lancing like fire through his nerves and blossoming across his chest on that side. He collapsed back onto the transport floor, his grip on the gurney loosening.
Ander discovered his right arm was in good order, and reached overhead, pulling himself up by the rail of the gurney. His left arm now hung weakly at his side, throbbing where it hadn't hurt at all before.
His head continued ringing as he struggled to his feet, kicking open the rear door of the transport and feeling a blast of hot air hit the respirator in his helmet, and he could see blankets of dust billowing all around him. A mottled desert tan LAAT/i hung in the air half a meter above the permacrete ground, its distinctive engines thrumming rhythmically.
His memory returned to him, he had just spoken with Calo, who had apparently tracked down Ander on Anobis, and destroyed their airborne pursuers.

Ahead of him, Ander saw Calo fully geared, pointing out in several different directions, his helmeted head shaking as he barked orders. Ander narrowed his eyes and looked around, the pursuing dismounts would be nearing their position now, and he was unsure of what anti-air craft weaponry they might have on hand.
The result of that evaluation gave to Ander a renewed sense of urgency, his mind forced to clear well enough to get him into action. He turned back towards the interior of the transport, smoke boiling from its engines and flames licking at the fuselage.
He unlocked Mai's gurney from the floor of the transport with one hand, and began pulling it free from the fired vehicle. Ander barked at Haydon through his outer helmet comm, and groggily his lover's brother scrambled from the cover he had found and helped push Mai's gurney from the medical vehicle, Ander kicking the gurney's repulsers to life.
Together, Ander and Haydon began rushing the repulser gurney over the permacrete ground, towards the hovering larty. Calo gripped Ander's arm at one point, as if wanting to speak, but Ander shrugged him off, focused solely on their imminent extraction, fighting a concussion as Hadyon was, and blurred vision.
With help from Haydon, Ander locked Mai's gurney into the rear of the LAAT/i's passenger hold, this vessel was outfitted for carrying platoons of GALSAF commandos, filled with only basic medical equipment and no specialized equipment.
The rebreather Ander had fitted on Mai when he had intubated her had a filter and battery that were enough for three hours worth of oxygen, but her overall physical condition was very tenuous, her survival hanging by a thread.

Ander called for Calo to recall his men, even as he looked out of the vessel's far cargo door, glimpsing their pursuing dismounts turning the nearest corner. Several of them, armored in black, crouched along the street, squeezing off handfuls of shots at their vehicle's open gull wing door.
Ander roared angrily at the pilot, ordering him angrily to close the outer door, then waited and listened to the pings of their enemies' blaster bolts ricocheting off the LAAT/i's outer hull.

After several long tense moments, Calo and the rest of his men had finally clambered back inside the vessel, and Ander listened, in the darkness of the sealed hold, to the screaming of the second larty's composite beam weapons, scorching the ground and cutting through any enemy dismounts fool enough to leave themselves exposed.
Ander felt gravity tug at his body, as if he were being pulled downward, as their vessel rose upward into the sky. Friendly and enemy weapons faded into silence, and the pair of ships made their way into orbit over Anobis.
Slumped against the wall of the passenger hold, Ander's painless, right hand found Mai's unconscious one, and he gripped it gently as he passed out of consciousness once more, this time to sleep.

Haydon sat down grogilly against the opposite wall to Ander, struggling to focus his eyes on the double gurney's and double Anders. Gently he tugged off his helmet, revealing a gash from metal debris straight down his forehead, drying blood trickling onto his nose. For those who didn't know him, Haydon was the spitting image of Mai, simply with shorter hair. His eyes had the same worried look Mai often carried, and the same determination to keep going. He watched Ander fall asleep at Mai's side, and slowly turned thoughts over about their first few days meeting. A tiny smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. He had to admit to himself, Ander was alright. Pretty handy in a fight too.

Fighting against his concussion and the movement of the ship, he swayed over to the sleeping Ander, gently unclipping and pulling off the older man's helmet, then resting it at the his feet. He moved to Mai's other side, brushed a wave of her hair from the cut over her eye, watching her aided breathing, ragged yet for now stable. Gently he lowered his head, and kissed his sister's forehead.

Keep fighting he whispered sadly to her. He sat down and rested his head against the gurney side, the intensity of the fighting slowly dissipating from him, leaving him staring into the midspace in front of him.

On the trolley, Mai's eyes flickered behind her eyelids, Her body still fighting to keep itself alive.