Pop.... Pop Pop Pop.... Pop Pop Pop Pop......
"Bloody-"
"You need to relax. Roll with the kicks. Unless you really work on those arms, you won't be beating the gun. Just take a breath, take another, and then another." A gentle hand moved Pandac's arm to trigger of the rifle. Another clicked on the heart monitor in the suit Pandac was wearing. "Listen to that."
The machine began to beep conspicuously with each beat of her heart. "You're going to tell me to calm down now."
"Pretty much. Let your heart slow as you prepared to take your shot. Don't hold your breath. Just keep a steady flow and when you feel comfortable put your sight over the target and pull the trigger on the exhale." The hands left and Pandac focused on the device's tone. First two, then four beats passed. Raising the rifle, she slowly aligned the sight over the small target a mere ten meters away. She stopped listening to the monitor and focused on her breathing. In. Out.. In... Out....... In.......
Brriiing. Brriiing..... Brriiing. Brriiing. POP
She jolted from the sudden noise and her aim went wide of the mark. Frustratedly she dropped the rifle on the ground, being sure to keep it facing away from her. She looked to the chiss trainer. He was looking to his wall terminal and took the few steps in that direction. "Excuse me, I've been waiting for a call. One moment, I'll turn it off." The man opened the terminal to the message.
Pandac watched with observable annoyance before asking, "What is it that made me mess up the shot?"
"Don't know, looks like some sort of rescue note. Definitely not to me, perhaps a wrong address?"
Pandac felt a vibration from her pocket. Extracting the little mobile device she listened to it ring for a moment. Biing. Biing. Biing.
"Got a message of your own?"
"Maybe. But who would call me?" The Mirialan shrugged quizzically as she opened the message. Playing it aloud she watched static roll across the small screen of her device.
"...Gray Raxis.....alive....Midway....Roon.....Help..........."
"Huh, same as mine. Maybe scam?"
"Midway Rune? What kind of rune is that? Some sort of Force thing?"
A chuckle preceded the trainer's postulation, "It might. But I think it might mean the planet. R. O. O. N. Small world, not really well known unless you are into the crime game. Some kind of trick I would guess, the people on that world are not the nicest lot. Here take a look." Pulling up an image of the planet and some of its history, the Chiss stepped away and motioned for Pandac to come and see.
Turning off her device she pushed it back into her pocket and walked over the terminal screen. Rubbing her eyes she began reading the history. He was right, the world was rough looking over what had happened there. And it certainly was not the kind of planet that looked to be in the business of needing a scout, or truthfully wanting one. But she was no longer a simple scout. Pandac was a pilot in the esteemed Alliance, she was a bright light in a galaxy of infinite darkness. This might be a trap, but if it was then she was going to be the one to be caught. More importantly, if it was not a trap then she needed to rescue this person. It was her duty to do so, whether or not she believed it was likely to succeed.
The Mirialan turned quickly and marched over to the rifle and scooped it up off the floor. "We'll have to finish the lesson later. I already paid so it makes no difference when I leave."
The trainer sighed and stepped over to the younger woman. Firmly grasping the rifle he lifted it from her hands and turned it around in a more comfortable position. Pulling a latch he tugged the magazine out of its socket and twisted the bolt to fling the loaded shot out of the rifle. Handing the rifle back to Pandac he stopped to lift the bullet and dusted it off. Pushing it into the magazine he passed it to Leea with a final lesson, "Take care of your gun and it'll take care of you. Never run around with it loaded unless you are going to use it. Go on, I'll see you when you get back."
With that he turned and walked out of the room and up the stairway. Leea pulled the equipment filled top from her and put it on the terminal before getting into her light shirt. Then she followed suit and raced up the stairs. Sprinting from the Chiss' house, she made her way to the nearby spaceport, where she had left the Runner to be tended to. The ship lay alone in the small bay and Pandac stopped at the desk first.
"I need to rent an astromech, couple days at least."
The man behind the counter looked forlornly at the customer before pushing some keys on his terminal as he recited, "Here is the form, please fill out your bank information. We will-"
Pandac threw credits onto the desk and as she moved by yelled back, "Keep the change, I will pay back any extra later."
The Mirialan did not know if that would get her an astromech, but she knew time was a wasting. It turned out to be enough, for when she reached the fighter an astromech had been placed inside the spot on her fighter. The little machine warbled as she jumped into the cockpit. Waiting for the information to appear on the screen she began pre-flight procedures. In response to the droid's question she asked, "You can set up coordinates to Roon? Then get to it. We need the fastest route to the world possible."
--------------------
Now they had reached the strange world and Pandac realized that she knew practically nothing of where the person she needed to rescue could be. The spaceport was filled with many a strange person and she was not trustful of a single one. She had met many people though and perhaps there was one she would recognize in the crowd, or perhaps there were others that had caught the message as well. Certainly it had not been aimed for her ears alone, after all she did not recognize the name.
Turning to the ship Pandac spoke to the astromech, "Keep it locked and if something happens to my ship, I'm coming for you."
Checking her rifle was safely secure on her back and her trusty knife was slipped in its little scabbard, she moved out and dropped the credits to cover refueling and maintenance off at the desk. She felt her pouch and knew that it would not last much longer. Credits were hard to come by in a galaxy with little need for a scout. The Alliance hardly paid well and the Runner still needed a lot of work to keep running. Marathon running was out of the question, the memories were too painful. Perhaps she would be able to make some money on this world.
