Private Hunter's Chicken

[Zephyr Krayt]

Location: Takodana
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It was setting up to be an easy win for the Mandalorian. Although he had little experience tackling Jedi, he had some advantages over the Padawan which gave him confidence. The pay and target were reasonable so it was just another routine job. Although he didn't know the exact reason for the Jedi's bounty, he knew it wasn't related to the Sith which was good enough for him. The Jedi and Mandalorians shared a common enemy but that didn't make them friends by any means and so the Jedi weren't exempt from being bounty targets.

Zephyr had been tracking Cas for a few days, waiting for him to leave Jedi Order territory before making a move and today was that day. Since the target was wanted alive, he left behind the heaviest of guns, opting for the manoeuvrability of a jetpack, and swapped all toxic darts for paralysing ones. With the Force against him, he knew the Jedi could likely anticipate his attack but hoped that it wouldn't make much difference as he expected the Jedi's skills to lack so he would be able to capture him with relative ease.

He had been following the Jedi overhead, covered by the dense foliage above, waiting for a clearing in the forest to launch an attack. There was someone with him but he doubted it was another Jedi as he had seen the Padawan arrive alone earlier, however he was mindful of the thought and knew if he was with a Jedi Master with him then he would need to abandon the job. Upon seeing a clearing ahead, he took a blaster in each hand, one set to stun and one set to kill and descended through the clearing, immediately shooting to kill the woman he was with when she came into sight. He landed on a four metre tall rock and fired stun bolts towards Cas, hoping to have distracted him enough with shooting at his companion.

Cadere Tess

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[Cadere]

With no current assignments being bestowed on to him, at request, Cas had been granted Meditative Retreat and he already knew what he'd been using his time for. After getting into contact with Tess, he arranged to meet her somewhere remote and where no one would recognise or care about him being a Jedi.

Agreeing to meet on Takodana, Cas arrived at the forest planet in his starfighter alongside BB-5. After leaving his astromech with his ship, he would go on to rendezvous with Tess but on his way there he felt a strange feeling within the Force - not quite a disturbance but, his instincts told him to stay aware of his surroundings. Finally seeing her, he greeted her with a wave before planting a kiss on her lips "Sup." he said with a grin "Not to say I missed you or anything but I was feeling withdrawal." he quipped before engaging in further conversation.

As the two walked and talked, Cas filled her in on what he had been up to since they had last met including the time he fought a Sith Apprentice and survived. Approaching a clearing in the forest, the Padawan halted his recount, stopping in place he had sensed something... someone else nearby. Silent, his face was focused as he looked up to the trees and began scanning them for any threat. Seeing someone come out of nowhere, shooting off a blaster bolt caused the Padawan to react - needing to get Tess out of harm's way, he outstretched his hand and pushed her out of the way with the Force.

Getting a better look, the Kiffar realised it was a Mandalorian. If not for the circumstances, he may have geeked out over seeing one - back on Kiffu, his Clan respected and admired their warrior culture, so right now it was like seeing something out of a story come to life. Although, the teen quickly pulled out his lightsaber and dispersed of the stun bolts before aiming his hand at the Mandalorian, sending a telekinetic wave at him in hopes of knocking him over off the rock. "You alright?" he asked, referring to Tess but eyes still locked on their attacker.

Tess Zephyr Australis

 

[Tess]

When she saw his face on the bounty board, she knew she had to find him. Losing him meant that she would lose her only eyes and ears into the Jedi's movement. So far she had already traced his Master through their interactions. His datapad's microphone and camera also helped to get a few shots of her face. Though what was curious was the fact that she never said a word...yet Cas spoke to her the whole time. Losing him now meant that all of this intel would be meaningless. There was also a type of tug over the thought of him dying. Though she dismissed it. It wasn't the first time she felt it and wouldn't be the last. What was important was keeping him alive and out of jail.

His device made it easy for her to find him, and the bounty puck in her pocket gave her a good excuse. She reached out to him and in no time at all they met up. She was surprisingly greeted with a kiss which she reciprocated. She chuckled at his comment. "I've been told I can be rather...infectious." she joked with a wink before giving him a more serious look. "By the way, you got a great mugshot, you know that?" she quipped as she showed him the hologram of his face on the bounty puck.

As they walked, he filled her in on what he's been up to and she returned the favour. She explained to him how she was moved from being a simple ranger to being a literal spy tasked with infiltration and information gathering. Essentially the best the Rangers have to offer. Only half true, of course. But it would make future meetings a little easier to explain if they ever bumped into each other. "So now you can say you slept with a spy." she quipped as she walked beside him. Though her mood shifted as they walked through the woods. The creaking of trees and irregular rustling of leaves warned her of their pursuer. Cas' stopping confirmed her suspicion.

Out of nowhere their attacker made his move. But Tess was ready. Her pistol was drawn and levelled...then suddenly she was shoved aside by an invisible force. The Mando's shot zipped past harmlessly and Cas got rid of the stun bolt easily enough. "I'm fine." she said flatly as she eyed the Mando. She held her right hand at the ready in case she needed to do something, and her body was ready to move if needed. "You're not taking him in, Mando. He's under my supervision. No bounty here for you today." she called out to him, her pistol ready to fire if needed. She knew he wouldn't back down, so instead she made ready for a fight.

Cadere Zephyr Australis

 

[Zephyr Krayt]

Precautions had been taken to combat the abilities of a Jedi but nothing could come close to countering the Force so with little other options Zephyr was knocked backwards off the rock but upon feeling the telekinetic grip of the Jedi he quickly activated the jetpack again to stop himself from falling, leaving space between himself and the Jedi.

The companion with the Jedi didn't look like a Jedi and the pistol at her side told the tale. She would be hard to predict but if she wasn't a Jedi then he liked his chances. Zephyr almost laughed at the woman's response but said nothing in reply. Supervision? Since when did the Jedi need protectors? Her words meant nothing to the Mandalorian who had no idea what she was capable of, though they did spark his interest. Both seemed to want to protect the other which could prove to be a weakness that could be exploited as he didn't care what happened to the woman, he only wanted Cas alive.

At such range it was far easier to deflect bolts in his direction and though the armour could withstand limited blaster fire, it didn't offer the same level of protection against stun bolts so he holstered the gun set to stun and focused on eliminating the interference of the woman which would require incapacitating the Jedi, at least temporarily. With his left vambrace, he shot whipcord towards Cas' legs in an attempt to immobilise him and sent a slew of bolts in Tess' direction, ready to further the distance between them if necessary as it was wise to stay out of melee range of a Jedi.

Tess Cadere

 

[Cadere]

The Padawan breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Tess' confirmation that she was fine. Cool. The Mandalorian had a jetpack - Cas rushed over to Tess to keep her protected, although she was capable of defending herself, a Mandalorian was a whole other ballpark. As he made his way toward her, he neglected to realise that the Mandalorian had shot a whipcord at his feet.

As the fibercord wrapped around Cas' feet, he stumbled and fell to the floor. Rolling a few feet forward, he quickly got his head back in the game and used his lightsaber to cut the cord wrapped around his feet and stood up ready to keep going. The Kiffar watched as their airborne adversary continued firing at Tess, he needed to get him out of the air - then they'd have a better shot at stopping him.

"Hey!" he called out, trying to get the Mando's attention and with a twirl of his lightsaber he called out once more "If I win, does your employer get a refund?!" before outstretching his arm and sending another telekinetic wave at him in hopes of knocking him out of the air. When he would send the wave, Cas would rush toward him in hopes of closing as much of the gap as he could before the Mandalorian recovered, lightsaber ready to deflect any stun bolts.

Tess Zephyr Australis

 

[Tess]

Tess was starting to get a little annoyed with Cas and his focus on trying to protect her. To put it simply, he was getting in the way and risking himself needlessly. But there wasn't any time to clear this up with him now, they had to stop this Mando.

She was ready for the Mando to make his next move. When he got ready to shoot at both her and Cas, she opened fire. She fired three stun bolts at him. Two offset to the left and right of his center mass if he tried to dodge, and one aimed at his head in order to hit him dead center if he tried to fly up. Likewise she moved to the left as she fired in order to clear his line of fire if he still tried to shoot at her. If he persisted in his actions to fire at her and Cas, he would be stunned into the next solar system. To place some more strain on the Mando, she tossed a concussion grenade at his feet, set to detonate on impact in hopes of throwing this Mando off his game.

She didn't keep still, though. With her blaster kept on stun in order to get past the impenetrable armour, she fired two more rounds, both offset as well to compensate for his movement. "Cas, get your head in the game!" she ordered him flatly, her white eyes locked onto the Mando and his movements. She knew her options were limited, so staying on the move was her only chance of survival.

Cadere Zephyr Australis

 

[Zephyr Krayt]

Surprisingly, the woman with the Padawan appeared to be an experienced combatant and was proving more difficult to take out than he had hoped, invoking a begrudging respect from him. However, the same could not be said for the Padawan whose witty remarks only caused the Mandalorian to look upon him with disdain.

Zephyr was knocked backwards forcefully by the telekinetic wave but regained control in enough time to descend out of the line of fire and being aware of what the pair were attempting, he remained in the air but to little avail as a grenade below him sent a shockwave which knocked him out of the air, landing on his feet though they buckled beneath him due to the impact.

He pressed a button to release the whipcord and activated the shield emitter from his left vambrace, then lifted it to deflect the bolts that zipped towards him as he got back to his feet, his focus on the woman who was causing the most issues. He concentrated three shots on her while allowing for her movement but then quickly changed aim for Cas and fired a paralysing dart out of his right vambrace before returning fire to the woman again in one swift movement. Should they have gotten too close then he was prepared to fly out of reach again.

Cadere Tess

 

[Cadere]

"Right..." he snorted, chuckling "My bad." Cas retorted as he continued sprinting toward this Mandalorian. This was easier than he thought, there was no way the Mandalorian could handle both his and Tess' contrasting fighting styles, with his being melee and hers being ranged.

As he drew closer, Cas easily and quickly sliced the paralysing dart in half aided by his reflexes enhanced by the Force. The Padawan quickly continued his advance against the bucket headed bounty hunter, extending his free arm once more and using the Force to hold him in place and then pull him toward him. Cas kept his lightsaber in place and was ready to defend himself in case the Mandalorian retaliated.

When he would pull the bounty hunter close enough, the Padawan would attempt to engage his opponent head on.

Tess Zephyr Australis

 

[Zephyr Krayt]

As the Padawan drew closer, Zephyr took a few steps away to maintain distance as he prepared to fly out of reach, only to feel the invisible grip of the Force around him again. Without hesitation, Zephyr reached for his vambrace and activated the flamethrower in the Jedi's direction, not with the intention of harming him but rather warning him to stay back.

Once he was far away enough for comfort, Zephyr activated the jetpack and rose above the trees to allow for the coverage of the dense foliage above as he made a tactical retreat - He was not getting paid enough to deal with this bounty.

[End Thread]​