Bullet Full Of Love

[Hira Mitsae]

​

Monastery - The Jungles​

[member="Maleah Talith"]​

The tree branch whined softly under the weight of the Mandalorian. A few clicks away his optical visor was already picking up the target in question - Talith scion, as far as he was aware. That family was supporting the Galactic Alliance effort pretty stridently with one of the sisters a Jedi Marshal and the others helping the Alliance’s endeavors as best as they could. Elijah didn’t have anything against the fledgling nation himself, they were doing an admirable job of fighting the Sith in the Core… it was simply not his fight. His fight was all about credits and currently that meant taking assignments and bounties from the One Sith, because they were the highest paying employer out there in the Galaxy right now - soon followed by the Silver Sanctum, but they weren’t exactly hiring on Bounty Hunters right now, so that was irrelevant.

Point was, he had tried to work with the GA in the past, but their payments barely covered expenses. Some patriots surely balked against such a mercenary attitude. That wasn’t Elijah’s problem. His current problem was Maleah, pretty lass all things considered, but she was basically an emissary for the Alliance.

She was just coming back from a meeting with the Order of the Sacred Circle. Their temple was reasonably far off from the main starport of the world with a long track through the jungle as a consequence. Perfect ambush point with little opportunity for patrols or would-be heroes to stand in his way.

Spreading the Galactic Alliance’s word to the neighbouring worlds they hoped that said planets would join as client-worlds to the Alliance. Obviously something that the One Sith wasn’t keen on, hence the bounties placed on any GA personnel that had value to the government or important people attached to said government.

"Approximately two minutes before she enters the clearing, sir." VI program integrated into his helmet. Pretty nifty thing, it had a variety of uses, but currently it was tracking Maleah’s movements and predicting when she would roughly arrive.

 

[Louise]

The meeting had gone well enough, or so she thought.

It was hard to say, really, Aela had given her more or less a script to work on and the main points to work off of in the spreading the word of the Galactic Alliance's work. Was it still propaganda if you were the good guys? Best not to think about that, it was pretty heavy stuff.

Her real focus was on her wanderlust, he constant exploration of new worlds and with the bonus of not feeling guilty about it by helping an effort that all of her siblings were a part of. Aela had assured her that she didn't need to alleviate guilt by helping there cause but still, they were family and well, family was super important. She didn't particularly mind, a mild detour in her adventures was no great loss, I mean, Maleah Talith wasn't that selfish.

Now with her mission over there was a chance to do what she had come her for. Explore. Of course, she had to pop back to her ship to get supplies first, she was aware of just how unfriendly the rainforests of Monastery could be. Preparation was no joke when it came to survival and the Force only knew how long she would be staying out here.

She felt at home amongst the dense jungle brush as her boots wandered down the path carved out through the trees, enjoying the calls of the nature around her, even if said calls were all just various demands for procreation.

Crass, perhaps but that was simply the nature of beasts.

---

[member="Samael Rekali"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Maleah Talith"]

"One minute, sir." the VI piped up for a moment, before going silent again. Instead a red blurp materialized out of nowhere on his HUD to clearly mark the target's slow approach. A trajectory line was drawn too. It got updated with a very slight delay to account for the usual things: gravity, hills, slippery slopes and the tendency of a walking human being to suddenly rush off into a different direction for no apparent reason. Oh, wait. Elijah's software didn't have anything to account for that, but hopefully it wasn't necessary either.

"Twenty seconds."

In the background the confident, digitized voice continued its countdown. The steady drone-y sound was filtered out of Eli's perception as he focused intently on Maleah's approach, his verpine shattergun was readied and linked up to his helmet for extra telemetry readings. It was loaded up with non-lethal ammunition, grape rounds in essence, they would hurt and blow the wind outta here, but nothing more than that.

They didn't hire him to kill her.

"Two seconds... one... mark."

The round would be sent flying the moment she entered the clearing. Silent, the velocity tuned down to incapacitating degrees, it should do the trick. Though she was a Forcer... so anything could really happen.

 

[Louise]

While Maleah walked down the path, she opened herself up, letting the Force flow through her freely so she could be better in touch with her surroundings, the very thrum of life that surrounded her.

She touched upon the presence of the various insects that littered the flora, small vibrations in the air that fluttered and flurried, the various birds that perched above in the nests and the small mammals that made their home in burrows below. The more ominous and noted creatures lurked quietly in the background of their head, one thing on their mind and that was prey.

Even the trees had small signatures themselves, most of them older than she was. There was something that brought peace to her soul to be in-tune with the natural.

Peace that was interrupted.

Instinct, or as her sister had called it the Force sent pangs of warning throughout her mind as all of a sudden there was danger afoot, only she didn't know where, why or even who. All she had was her gut, screaming at her to move now!

Taking no risks, Maleah dived to the right, landing into a roll as she did so. Always the girl of skinned knees and climbing trees she was lithe, and quick on her feet. Hopefully avoiding the unknown danger that was posed to her. She still wasn't sure what it was beyond a small fwup that whizzed past. Remaining crouched, she moved her head around, trying to spot whoever or whatever it was that threatened her.

“...y'knoooooow,” she said, really drawing it out the know, “...I'm not a fan of hide and seek.”

---

[member="Elijah Rekali"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Maleah Talith"]

The mark of a good hunter was the ability to stay relaxed under pressure. There did not come a single curse from his lips, no sudden tightening of his grip around the stock of the rifle, his eyes did not even shutter a fraction in irritation - there was just the singular focus of a professional who saw that the game was changed now. Part of him had hoped her precognition sense wouldn't be good enough to avoid his first strike, but a good bounty hunter made sure to be prepared for situations like these.

Methodical, surgical, mechanical, those were three words that could describe Elijah as he replaced the ammunition of the rifle. Non-lethal grape shots were replaced by even smaller bullets that could discharge electrical currents at impact. Nothing too wild, but just a 1-2m area of effect weapon that could aid him in the effort against this target.

Elijah finally smiled as the last bullet entered the rifle. He hadn't been counting the seconds, but only a brief period of time had passed since her shout and him finishing the reload.

Again the Mandalorian would take aim, but this time said aim would be more indirectly... his experience with hunting Force wielders wasn't as big as he would have liked, so he didn't know if that would make it harder for her to sense the shot coming, but it couldn't hurt to try. In the meanwhile Elijah wasn't wearing any obscuring tools - no taozin modules or anything, so if she had enough time to focus she would probably be able to track down her predator through the Force.

 

[Louise]

There came no response, a pity really, since she genuinely didn't like hide and seek (Micah always won), the young woman much preferred games like tag. Well then, if her hidden aggressor wouldn't change the game, she would have to take things into her own hands.

Still crouched, her body position made her seem like a feral woman out upon the hunt, although she had not yet reached for the lightsaber pike that was strapped to her back.

Aela's teachings came back to her in that moment. Stay relaxed, loose. She thought of the Force like a water and how it moved. It wasn't tight or clenched, it flowed freely, sometimes still and at other times a torrent. At that point she needed that calm to find whoever it was attacking her.

She sought through the buzz of non-sentient life, seeking that which was more elusive, that which could think. The trees. Head turned and a scowl came across her features. There were a lot of bloody trees. The signature of another life vibrated within her senses, she had the general direction but not the exact location.

Another pang, danger knocking at the door once more and again she moved, this time practically pouncing forward but this time she was not so lucky, or perhaps her opponent was just better prepared.

Another fwup hit the ground right next to her, which you think would have been good news but it wasn't. There was a sting, an unpleasant buzz that encapsulated her entire being for a moment, causing her to stumble forward as she lost control of her body for but a moment.

It didn't even hit her! Whoever this was, was definitely well-prepared.

Scrambling back to her feet, Talith grinned, revealing those fangs of her Garhoon nature to the jungle around her before running at the trees in which she felt that presence.

Whoever it was, they'd have probably reloaded again and she didn't want to find out what nasty surprise was coming next.

---

[member="Elijah Rekali"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Maleah Talith"]

Target hit.

The notification was somewhere at the back of his head, but he was already reloading again for the second salvo. This, too, would be ammo loaded with electrical discharges to press the advantage, before moving into close-quarters comb- the HUD projection started going nuts with warning signs. It had lost the target and as Eli tried to peer through the treeline... he realized she was gone. Finally a curse started to roll away from his lips, until a sudden thunk at the base of the tree caught his attention.

He looked down and came face-to-face with the actual face of one grinning Maleah. It wasn't his fault, of course. How was the Mandalorian supposed to know that the Taliths were part of some kind of elusive species that had a few natural advantages over him? Instincts took over, the rifle was discarded in favor of him pulling for the revolver at his belt.

Too damn late, skippy.

The lithe girl pounced on him. Scrawny leather, meat and bones crashed into him and it took a lot out of him not lose balance. Not that Elijah should have bothered, because as he was trying to dislodge the sentient animal from him, get some space to do something, a loud snap got both their attention. The red visor looked over Mal's shoulder and noticed just in time as the branch snapped like a little twig.

It hadn't been a little twig. Was the Mandalorian's last thought before they were sent crashing down to the ground. It was a long fall, he had specifically picked this branch because it gave him a wide angle and because it had been sturdy - but two people with one of them in heavy beskar? Yeah, that wasn't going to happen no matter what.

Gravity did the rest. Her in his arms, him being pulled to the ground like a brick. Eli didn't think, just acted, sheltering her from most of the damage the fall would cause. No thoughts... just actions.

 

[Louise]

Maleah hit the tree running, literally. Aided by the Force flowing through her body, and by many many years of free running and jumping the young woman actually managed to run up a good portion of the tree before having to grab onto it, feet clad in lucky boots finding grip and stumps of broken branches to kick off of.

After speeding up the tree the Talith twin finally laid her eyes upon her assailant, armour-clad and perched upon a branch. Much like the monkey child she used to be, animal instinct acted in the same manner and she actively leapt upon the armoured man.

Which wasn't the best idea.

The was a large snap, the all too familiar sound of a branch giving way (in learning how to climb trees, one had to fall out of many in the process). This wasn't too bad of a situation, except for the fact she was clinging to an extremely weighted man.

They fell together, hurtling a fair distance to the ground.

She could feel his arms wrapping around her, strange, given that he was shooting at her only moments before. Guess he had his own instincts too.

They hit the ground with an almighty thud, the man's heavy armour probably denting the ground somewhat upon impact. Suddenly she wondered if such armour had significant padding inside, otherwise that wasn't going to feel all too great.

Laying on top of the man, her head pressed against his visor Maleah gave him that same grin from before, this time those fangs were definitely visible to him now, not that she had a hope of biting through those layers.

“Well howdy, stranger,” she chirped, voice strangely playful considering he had been, oh yeah, shooting at her!

---

[member="Elijah Rekali"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Maleah Talith"]

Unf.

"Is that a flying, pink unicorn?" the Mandalorian replied a few moments after she said something to him. The armor did have padding, a lot of it, mostly because beskar wasn't exactly a material that dampened the kinetic damage whatsoever - so what usually happened was that something hit ya and instead of a wound, you were left with broken bones. Not exactly a thing you enjoy during a hunt. So power liner was arrayed all around his body to dampen some of the worst blunt damage. Still felt like he had been hit by a train though, but the Rekalis were made outta stronger stuff.

Meant that it only took him a second to realize what had happened. His arms were still wrapped around her thin waist... and any other time Elijah might have had some thoughts about that, but right now? The only thing that came to mind was to act, once again. Maybe his instincts made him save the girl, but his instincts were currently going into full predator hunter-mode.

Left palm touched her back. Left hand... shock hook.

Elijah braced himself for the shock feedback that would hit him in under a second......... nothing happened.

"Lass, are you made outta rubber, by any chance?" the metallic clunk of his voice sounded confused. External audiofeed clattering a bit as systems were reinitializing, but that grip around her wasn't loosening by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[Louise]

Flying pink unicorns? His head must have gotten rattled inside that tin can of his, not that she was too concerned about his well being, he had been SHOOTING AT HER prior.

For a moment she was just stuck there awkwardly being practically hugged by the armoured man. His grip was still pretty tight, with barely any wiggle room for her to break free from the strange embrace. Unbeknownst to her, the man was encountering a slight technical error, one that benefited her greatly.

She'd probably never know.

“I dun' know about rubber, mister man,” she replied, still very much jovial and cheeky in the face of his visor, “but I am per-itty flexible.”

Her tactic her was...well...a stranger one in the realm of tactic but years of wrestling with her older brother (who eventually grew bigger than her) had given her some experience in escaping from clutches. Although, it would have been easier if he wasn't wearing that fething armour. However armour or not, there still had to logically be some gaps to enable movement.

Hands snaked up both of his sides, fingers waggling menacingly as they made the approach. The armpit. Perhaps it wasn't the time for a tickle fight but if her attacker was moderately ticklish then it would possibly give her the means to wriggle out of his grip.

What? It was a better plan than just struggling.

---

[member="Elijah Rekali"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Maleah Talith"]

Huh. No rubber, which probably meant that his equipment was busted from the long fall. That wasn't good... not good at all, but if Elijah was anything it was adaptive in the face of an ever-shifting situation. Usually. But currently his options were fairly limited; killing her wasn't one of them, for one it just didn't feel right - whatever that meant, secondary reason was that they needed the target alive. Probably needed or wanted information from her, maybe use her as bait for the Talith clan who were fairly supportive of the Alliance's cause.

So no killing, but they were at a stalemate right no- what.

"...what are you d- No. Stop that." the Mandalorian replied, an indignant huff washing over his voice as he tried to ignore those annoying fingers poking at his arm pits. "I said... no. Nooooooooo."

As that last 'no' rolled out of his mouth he started to shift around, trying to get away from those tinsy tiny, lithe fingers that were poking, prodding and crawling in places no self-respecting man should be prodded, poked or crawled on. Nervous laughter bubbled up, distorted slightly by his armor's audio feedback - she would feel a slight ease in the tightness of the grip.

Just enough to slip through if she was fast enough.

 

[Louise]

"Ticklish, huh?" Maleah grinned, displaying a mischievous face of glee and no mercy.

Good.

If he weren't then she was going to look incredibly silly. Not that she didn't look silly tickling the man in full armour, but hey, you know what they say, if it's stupid and it works then it isn't stupid.

Fingers with nails that were perhaps overly long worked to spider across the man's armpits, poking and prodding, trying to find that sweet spot that would really man the man squirm and loosen his grip. It wasn't too dissimilar to when the young woman was giving her nexu, Toofless some good hard scratchies…

...and it was working!

She felt the man's hold upon her loosen, this was her chance to break free! He'd already seen how fast she could be, and now he would witness that her flexibility was no lie either. She opted to wriggle from out of his arms and move down his legs, and would go into a backwards roll to put some distance between them.

Granted that he didn't manage to grab a hold of her during this manoeuvre.

---

[member="Elijah Rekali"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Maleah Talith"]

He wasn't wearing booster boots or a jetpack - though the latter probably would have been wrecked from the fall, regardless. But that meant that his ability to maneuver was worse for the wear while lying there, especially with beskar'gam and her wearing leather. Mobility was her forte in this one, but thankfully he didn't need to move to get one above her.

Whilst she wriggled free moving down his legs - and accidentally grazing some rather sensitive parts - Elijah had to do one singular act. His left hand snapped to his revolver, unholstered it, aimed at the rolling girl and shot two, three times in a fast rapid gesture.

It was a special revolver. Unlike his Verpine rifle it wasn't projectile-based, instead it was more akin to a blaster with different modes to it. One of which was an incapacitating stun functionality that was very handy when it came to life bounties.

"Hope that didn't tickle, lass." another huff. Eli tried to forget the bubbling laughter that had rippled from his lips. Tickling. Who does that on a battlefield, though it was a bit melodramatic to consider this a battlefield. The point stood though! At least use a proper knife, slide it right through the cavity and puncture a lung or something.

At least that would have left his dignity intact.

 

[Louise]

Another twang in the gut, this time it came mid roll. She was beginning to tire of these notions of danger that made themselves known in her gut, they were largely disruptive and unpleasant.

Instinctively her hand reached for the pole strapped across her back, the young woman having no other means of defending herself this close, well, not against a man in full-armour (unless she dropped him out of a tree again).

Of course, it wasn't just a pole.

It was in fact the lightsaber pike that she had crafted alongside her older sister Aela (or perhaps more correctly, it was the lightsaber pike that Aela had crafted and Maleah had helped). She had opted for the style of weapon for utility purposes rather than anything else, the blade itself was a lot smaller but she could use the pole itself in a variety of ways.

With speed that could have only been aided by the Force the green blade snapped to life, and was brought before her in a swing to try to block/deflect/dissipate whatever was heading straight for her. He was beginning to annoy her with this constant offensive.

“Can you not?!”

---

[member="Elijah Rekali"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Maleah Talith"]

While Mal was dealing with his shots Elijah took the time to climb back up to his feet, coming face to face with a lightsaber pike, but of course his bounty target owned one of those things.

It wasn’t like Eli got any breaks in his job: there was always some kind of hiccup that made things needlessly complicated.

Like a lightsaber pike.

"Job’s a job, lass." Elijah replied with a smirk behind the visor. "Can’t you just give up already?"

His revolver whipped up again, aimed squarely at her.

It wasn’t that he was enjoying this - well, that was a lie. Elijah loved his job. Chasing the various bounties was one of the most gratifying things a man could do in this Galaxy. The chase, the fight and the final takedown? There ain’t anything comparable to that feeling.

But she was young. What would the Sith do with her?

Not his problem. Non.