Credit Where Credit's Due (Closed)

[Poprockz]

“Ssh! It’s time for bed!” She whispered. “We both need to go to sleep-it’ll be dawn in a couple of hours.” It was obvious that Gra’tia didn’t know which way was up even if she could move.

Meanwhile there was another groan from Sigrun as she tried to sit up, “you cunt, did you have to hit me so hard?!” She hadn’t yet realized that Redar was on the ship.

 

[guyloveshotstories]

Okay. I wasn't going to get away quickly with Gra'tia out of it. Looking her over quickly told me she didn't have much time.

While also summing up my worth. Sigrun exclaimed she had been hit. Maybe she was also hurt. That may give me a chance.

Biting my lower lip and glancing st the wounded Mandalorian at my feet, I was about to male another dumb decision, to go and try to finish of Sigrun.

My mind flashed with what to do. Go in blaster blazing. Wait. She may be still wearing that armor it was blaster resistant, right? I doubt her head could sustain a direct hit. The helmet itself would survive un damaged bit not her brain inside.

"Just try to hold on, Gra'tia. I'm going to go finish this."

 

[Poprockz]

Sigrun swore and one could hear a thunk on the ground, and the sound of her getting to her feet. She had taken off her helmet and there was blood dripping down her face from where Gra'tia had hit her on her head. Her hair near her forehead was damp with blood, and the woman looked like she too wanted to simply sit down and rest. As it was, she needed to get Gra'tia subdued and treated for her injuries if she was going to get them both to their destination in one piece. Who knew what Redar was doing- probably attending to the slice she had given his ship.

She started to walk over to them, though she did so with a slight limp. It turned out that she was a bit more banged up than she thought. The armor was a great defense, but it didn't protect one completely if they were bounced around like beans in a maraca.

 

[guyloveshotstories]

Pausing in my steps. The shuffle of feet across metal. Someone was coming. Stepping to the side and pressing myself behind one of the corridor struts. Right hand holding the blaster. Left hand with the wrench.

'Hit and then shoot?' I write with my left and shoot with my right.shuffling drew near. If it was Sigrun...shebcould be injured. That would give me an advantage.

Closed me eyes for a moment. Cleared my head. Focus on the fight. Be quick. Be decisive. If it gets drawn out she would use her litany of gadgets. While all I have are the detonators, a blaster, and a wrench.

Still closer. Drew in a breath and let it out. Okay. This is it. Take down Sigrun. Bail out with Gra'tia, and take her to some place with enough Bacta to drown a Bantha.

Still closer. A faint shadow on the floor gauged her distance. When I felt it was close enough, I struck.

"Gaaaah!" letting out a yelling whilst stepping always from the strut and bringing down the wrench as hard as I could.

 

[Poprockz]

Sigrun was taken by surprise and the wrench it her square in the head. There was a sickening crack as she crumpled under his blow, a puddle of blood pooling under her where she lay. If Sigrun wasn't dead already, she was going to be very soon. The sight of Sigrun on the floor brought about a moment of lucidity for Gra'tia, and she stared at the woman she had thought was her childhood friend. A strong pang of sadness was felt in her heart for her, wishing that things hadn't come to this. She had wanted to escape, but she had never wanted to kill Sigrun. It felt like a nightmare, and she hoped that what she was seeing wasn't real.

Gra'tia's lucidity didn't last long though, and soon she was looking in another direction absent-mindedly, wondering whether the lights had always hurt her eyes with how bright they were.

 

[guyloveshotstories]

I saw red. It wasn't blood on my face. It was rage being released. Standing over Sigrun in a daze, at her crumbled up body at my feet. Taking deep breaths. That was much easier than expected.

Nothing to laud over. She had to die. Took no pleasure in it. Shook my head and walked away. Such a waste.

Going over to Gra'tia and crouching back down, "Just hold on. I know this is going to hurt, but I have to move you." Before holstering both the blaster and wrench.

Then I picked up her body in both arms and entered the air-lock. Through the small window I could see Outlander. Processed the thoughts, by my calculations, I can get to the Outlander in twenty seconds. Easy for me as I have the pressure suit and jetpack. Was Gra'tia's helmet ready for the vacuum of space?

 

[Poprockz]

It was hard to tell what Gra’ita was thinking under her helmet, but in this case she was just noticing how she seemed to be floating above the ground. Her helmet had an auto-sealing feature when it felt temperatures below a certain degree, but her body was still in just a dress. If he wasn’t quick, she would be a popsicle before she suffocated. However, there were some space- ready bags hanging up that might be big enough to fit a person into.

 

[guyloveshotstories]

Right. The dress. Druk. The Space Ready bags! Wrap her up in that bag. Keep her warm for those few seconds.

Hated to move her but I had to slide Gra'tia's body into a bag and seal it. Then I remembered that this ship had other stuff.

Loot!

I'm a smuggler. Giving myself thirty seconds, I ran out and grabbed whatever I could find and threw it into a second Space Ready Bag, including some tools to repair the Outlander.

I felt Sigrun owes me for what she put us through.

Shutting the air-lock door and depressurizing it, I tied both bags to my body by a line so I didn't lose them.

"Hep! Here we go," picking up Gra'tia in my arms. Outside the Outlander was lined up with us.

I pressed the hatch button.

 

[Poprockz]

Gra’tia found herself being shifted, and it hurt. She groaned as he put her in the bag, and the next thing she knew, everything was dark. Was she actually dying now? If that was the case, then why did her head still hurt? Death was really shitty if this was actually death.

 

[guyloveshotstories]

Out we went. Back into the vacuum of space. The Mandalorian in my arms and the bag following us.

Eyes focused on the Outlander. Gentle adjustments from the jump pack. The glance I gave the bag holding Gra'tia was opaque. Couldn't see her, but I can feel her.

Almost there. Almost there.

The hatch was close. A puff from the jet pack pushed me forward a little faster. The closer we came the higher my heart rate went.

Left hand touching out and grasping a piece of the ship, I pulled us into the ship's hull, and then into the air lock.

Sealed and pressurized the compartment.

 

[Poprockz]

Maybe this wasn’t death. Maybe this was just her cocooning herself like a butterfly so she could turn into goo and emerge as some other type of being. If that was the case, then perhaps she would have three tits and four arms. That would be interesting. The tits wouldn’t matter, but it would be nice to have more hands to hold more blasters and such.

“I’m a butterfly…” she mumbled to herself, crossing her arms over her chest as though preparing herself for such a transformation.

 

[guyloveshotstories]

As soon as the compartment door opened Gra'tia was spirited towards the sick bay. "Get online, and get to work!" Calling out to the medical Droid.

Carefully placing her body onto the examination table, unzipped the bag and parted the flaps. She was muttering, she was still alive!

"Get going!" I implored the Droid.

The machine said, "You need to leave."

"What? Why?"

"Her religion prohibits a living being from seeing her face," the Droid replied.

"Ah, crap. Ah. Fine!" turning around and stomping out of the room, hands removing the helmet and setting it aside. The door shut behind me and the machine went to work.

In our run through the ship I forgot I was still tethered to the bag of loot, and it was dragged along.

 

[Poprockz]

Gra’tia was vaguely aware of what was happening around her, but she got a shot of adrenaline when the droid tried to remove her helmet. She struggled weakly against it, but the droid simply scolded her gently and took the helmet anyway.

She was then stripped into her skivvies and placed in the bacta tank to heal for a while. The droid left her to float and sought out Redar to give him the medical assessment.

“She has a broken thumb, broken arm, two broken ribs, a punctured lung, a fractured skull, some light brain swelling, and a concussion. In summary, she is very injured currently, but there is nothing that cannot be repaired. Had she been left for another hour or two, she may have had permanent brain damage.” The droid clicked disapprovingly. “She needs to be more careful. Your guest is currently soaking, but I will inform you when she regains consciousness.”

 

[guyloveshotstories]

That was good news. Sinking into my chair and rubbing my tired face, "Can I-" before catching myself. Right. Can't see her face.

The medical Droid departed, saying, "I will keep you updated on her progress."

Left alone in the cockpit, my eyes became fixated on Sigrun's ship. She was dead. Can't let anyone else find this and capture it. Then again, I can't blow it up because that giant laser of her's took out one of the missile launchers, and damaged the other.

Turned back on the targeting computer.
What I got left was the laser cannons. That should be enough.

Locked on.

Fired.

Both turrets fired and kept firing. Striking Sigrun's ship again and again. No shields. Then the hull was penetrated.

Boom!

Now it was thousands of little pieces.

Rather anti-climatic. There went that horny Mandalorian. Never saw her face. Then again she tried to kill both of us.

The whole time I was talking to myself, without realizing it. Trying to rationalize the events. Killed a person in self defense. Done it many times. Now it felt personal. Wonder how Gra'tia would feel knowing I killed her kin.

 

[Poprockz]

About four hours later, Gra'tia surfaced back into consciousness and found herself on a medical table. She sat straight up and noticed that her helmet was gone. A shot of panic went though her and she hopped off the table and looked around wildly. This place looked familiar... She paused and wracked her brain. That's right! This was Redar's ship. How was that possible though? The last thing she remembered was fighting with Sigrun, and the rest was fuzzy to the point that she couldn't really remember what had happened.

The woman had a lot of questions, but her first priority was finding her helmet.

There was a disapproving click from the corner and she eyed the medical droid as it approached her. "Here is your helmet. I have disinfected it due to the blood that was collecting bacteria on the inside."

She examined it and was surprised at how perfectly the droid had cleaned it. "Thank you. This helmet hasn't been this clean for ten years."

The droid made a disgruntled beep and shook its head, "that is very disheartening. Please clean your helmet more often- it is vital for your skin, eye, and lung health."

Gra'tia put her helmet back on and nodded, "I will accept your advice."

With that, the droid brought her one of her body suits and her armor, and she quickly dressed herself. It wasn't long before she was walking into the cockpit, looking for the captain of the ship of course.

 

[guyloveshotstories]

Don't remember when but industrial have nodded off. Not before inset our course for Mandalore. Outlander went into hyperspace. The cockpit filled with the alternative blue and white hue of the tunnel.

By now my mind and body had calmed down. To the point I fell asleep in my chair, feet on the console and hands behind my head.

There was no delight in what happened. No joy in killing. Not even the bag of loot that lay behind me, next to the door, brought any joy. Only thing I could think about was what to do with Gra'tia.

It lay in the skills of the medical Droid. A two rotations journey to Mandalore. So many questions. Too few answers. What did Sigrun want with Gra'tia? Would the Mandalorians be angry knowing I killed one of their own? It must be big if Sigrun was willing to let me, and the cargo, go but keep her?

Then I heard the door yawn. Eyes fluttered open and head turned. Eyebrows buckled. "Oh! You're awake!" Seeing the clad woman in armor.

 

[Poprockz]

“I am, yes.” She replied in her usual even voice, crossing the room and standing over him where he sat in his chair.

The woman silently loomed over him for a moment before getting to her knees and resting her hands near her knees, tipping her head down. “I owe you a debt, Redar. My memory ends after I dislocated my thumb to get out of my restraints and fought with Sigrun in the cockpit, but it’s obvious that you came back for me and saved me. As a warrior, it is humbling and shameful that I allowed myself to be captured like that. I must also apologize for the way I conducted myself at the casino- I allowed myself to become intoxicated and conducted myself in a manner unbefitting of a Mandalorian.”

In Gra’tia’s eyes, the smuggler must view her as a fool with no self-restraint. If a warrior wasn’t strong of mind, then it made them weak, and that was how she judged herself to be during the past events. A weak warrior was a liability to everyone around them, yet he had chosen to go out of his way to recover her. She couldn’t fathom why he would do so when he had the cargo to deliver.

 

[guyloveshotstories]

Seeing her up and about filled me with such relation. Not the girly dresses but back in her armor. She looked better in her armor anyway.

When she lowered herself to the deck, I sat looming rather perplexed.

When she finished, there was a pause between us. One that didn't know how to answer. I didn't want to laugh or discredit her ways, and shrug what happened, all of it as nothing special.
It was, for both of us, on many different levels.

We were both battered and bruised. Her more so. That was the first time I had to kill someone that closely. For that I didn't take any delight.

Gra'tia was a woman of character. She felt shame for going to that level. For a guy like me, what happened back there was almost par for the course for my life. Not for her. She felt shame. I should as well, for I was part of that.

There I sat, looking down at her, being still. "Well, I think we both have a lot of things we regret. There's no need to apologize. You were taken advantage ofhee. Someone you thought you could trust. It's not your fault, Gra'tia. I'm just glad that you're okay!"

Leaning forward in the seat, I offered my hands to her.

 

[Poprockz]

She felt a warmth in her heart at his words, though she wondered if he regretted what had happened between them. The pang of sadness she felt at that thought was promptly shoved deep inside herself. Feelings like longing, loneliness, and insecurity had no place between them, not when she needed to keep her distance from him for both their sakes.

Her head tilted back up. The woman then took his hands and stood back up, removing her hands from his as soon as she was on her own feet. "Thank you for your kind words," she responded, a hint of fondness in her tone. "But I will need to reflect on this further in my own time. Weakness of the mind and the inability to control one's intimate desires can put everyone in danger, and I need to be better than that."

Sitting down in the seat next to him, she sighed and looked out at the hyperspace tunnel. "I must also thank you for coming back for me, though I don't understand why you did so- Mandalore would have understood if I were to be captured; I am expendable as long as the cargo is delivered."

 

[guyloveshotstories]

Both of us needed a period of self reflection. While my eyes followed her to her seat, I said nothing of that. Thinking it wouldn't be wise words. It felt that way, in my mind, but my heart was saying, don't do it. Gra'tia was feeling regret for the casino. For me, that was just a typical end of the day romp. Except with two Mandalorian women.

Despite my desires on that, she was feeling regret when she shouldn't have. It was natural to have lust and desires. Some would say it would be a good idea to release them, with the right people. A growing idea sat in the back of my mind, was I in the right as well? We'd all been drinking, except I probably had more control of myself, my emotions.

That's what I do. That's how I ended up here. In control of the Outlander and running from Imps and spending time in lavish casinos and backwater worlds.

"Well, your people may have understood that, Gra'tia. However, I'm not Mandalorian. I can't be losing my clients. I didn't think I would be able to explain to them that the reason why you went missing was, you being drugged at a casino while wearing a dress. Some might think that's weird" leaning towards her slightly in my seat.

 

[Poprockz]

Ah, so that was it: he had done it because he didn’t want his reputation to be sullied by the loss of a client. Her heart clenched upon hearing that despite that she felt she had no right to feel that way. Gra’tia had thought that they had shared a connection in the dark of the casino, but she now figured that it was simply an illusion brought on by the booze- she was the only one who felt drawn to the other. She felt like a foolish, naive little girl.

She shook her head, “all you would have had to say was that I was captured and they would have accepted that, though I can understand what you mean about keeping your reputation intact. Regardless of your reasoning, I am grateful, and it was a very brave and commendable thing you did.”

“By the way… whatever happened to Sigrun?”

 

[guyloveshotstories]

I sat there thinking to myself, maybe those weren't the right words. Gra'tia may not understand my sense of humor. Dry or sarcastic as it is, I've used it as a shield against the Galaxy since I was a child. It's what kept me alive. Others may not appreciate it.

Given a moment to think it over, I turned to her, to clarify what I meant, that what we had between us may be more than that of a professional, or a client and supplier, relationship. Then she interrupted me, asking what became of her friend. "She, uh, she didn't make it," I said slowly turning away in my chair.

I didn't want to gloat on it, but Gra'tia deserved to know the truth. "I went after her, and demanded that you be returned. Then she turned a damn laser on me, damaged the ship," pointing at the console by my head, showing a flashing red light for one of the missile bays. I boarded her ship, and she tried to stop me, so I, uh, had to put her down," biting my lower lip and stared straight ahead.

 

[Poprockz]

Gra’tia’s heart sank, though there wasn’t any indication of that from an outside perspective. She didn’t say anything for a minute, but when she spoke her tone was quiet.

“That is regrettable. I understand that it had to be done though. She would have killed you without a second thought, so it’s only right for you to defend yourself. I… really wish things had not ended up this way, but it was likely inevitable.” The woman didn’t look at him, not wanting to meet his eyes for fear she might break and be emotional in front of him.

 

[guyloveshotstories]

My eyes glanced her way, then back forward. Again, I wanted to say that I saved her life by dragging her to the airlock, wrapping her up and then flying through the vacuum of space, that was self gloating. Sigrun must have meant something to her. Again, I didn't take any delight in killing her. The more I thought about it, the more I thought-how could I have done things differently? She was a Mandalorian. Skilled and armored. She would have mopped the floor with me. Then where would Gra'tia be?

How to break the ice in this conversation?

"I don't mean to pry, Gra'tia, when I was taking you back to the ship, you said someone's name. Meep-ie. No, it was Melfie? I think it was Melfie, and you said you didn't have any candy at the moment. I wanted to ask, who was Melfie?"

 

[Poprockz]

She looked at him and tilted her head to the side slightly, completely confused. “I don’t know anyone named Melfie-“ though as soon as she spoke the name, her head started to ache, a splitting pain going through her.

“Fuck!” She hissed, holding her head in her hands. Why did she feel such a pit of sadness when she heard that name? Who was it? Why did that name make her feel like her blood was pounding in her ears?

Gra’tia felt bewildered, the woman staggering to her feet and managing to say, “I think I need medical attention.” Before lurching her way in the direction of the medical bay.