They drew closer. Fel checked the load in his Power5 one. more. time. and held the det loosely at his side, taking a few deep breaths. There was no preparing for an interaction like this. There was no prepping his ‘crew’ for what was to come. He secretly hoped that Zane, and Aellyn made it out of this ok... they hadn’t signed on for his past to come callin’. Jet – he didn’t worry so much about. He always had the subconscious feeling that Jet would be fine, no matter what their current predicament. He couldn’t explain it, but he just had a feeling the older mech would outlive them all. Maybe it fed into his feeling about karmic payback. Jet’s karma was in the black. He was owed by the ‘verse. Himself? Not so much. 

The dust cloud grew closer, and then closer again, until Fel could make out goggles, hats, individual wisps of hair caught by the incessant wind. The noise of the swoops whooshed and soared, and then fell silent as a speeder bike stopped on each side of Abilene’s dapple grey, no more than a dozen paces from the foot of the UA’s time-and-weather-beaten landing ramp. More horses appeared, ranging themselves in an arc around their leader. Finally, the skiff appeared, drawing to a halt behind the first row. Most of Abilene’s folk remained in the saddle, but the sound of feet on the parched Earth meant that the skiff was emptying. Fel would have bet dollars to pesos that Abilene herself would remain in the saddle… but he’d have been wrong. The older lady slid to the ground, boots crunching on the surface, and took a few strides toward the small smuggling crew. 

[color=F7941D]“Abilene…”[/color]
[i]“Fel. How you doin’, boy?”[/i] There was no smile. Barely a question behind the pleasantries. 
[color=F7941D]“Lotta folks for carrying a half dozen crates.”[/color]
There was no visible reaction that told Galdaart they had an understanding, or that any of this exchange was good-natured. 
[i]“Well, can’t trust the untrustworthy. Can you…”[/i] she intoned. He didn’t reply. No point in provoking. 
[color=F7941D]“It’s all here. The star charts. Your families’ life savings. The colony transceiver. And the emitter.”[/color] He pointed toward the device, a half dozen paces off to the smuggler’s left. [color=F7941D]“We did you the favour of setting it up here, so you all can be on your ease.”[/color] He raised his voice at that last bit so that all of Abilene’s folks could hear. 

[color=F7941D]“This puts your colony back on a paying basis, I reckon. And I’m glad it was me and mine could deliver it to you. You put it out there to them was listenin’...but when I saw the message on the ‘net, I knew it had to be me. I owe you that much.”[/color]
[i]“More.”[/i] Her thumbs worked their way into her gun belt, shifting it slightly, while looking casual. Goddamnit lady, don’t. Just take your shit and leave.
[i]“Couldn’t help but see those charges placed on the Prowlers’ emitter, there. Hell of a thing for you to do, Fel.”[/i] His own hand strayed, hovered over the butt of his pistol. “You know how many good people we’ve lost to those sithspitting sons of whores, while you were schlangin’ about, taking your time?”
[color=F7941D]“Don’t gotta go this way, Abilene. Take it. Take it all, please…”[/color] 

There was the unmistakable sound of more than one slugthrower cocking its action, and one of the swoop pilots went to draw down on his thigh-holstered blaster. Frack. Frack it all to the dark place…

The pistol was in his hand before the swoop jock could jerk his steel free. He missed with the first shot, the thick red bolt sending a shower of sparks off the nose of the speeder, but the second, and third found their marks, burning the young man down where he sat. Then he swung the blaster toward Abilene, though he hesitated. [color=F7941D]“I don’t want this, lady. Never did!”[/color] It was enough time for a shot to ring out from somewhere in the low hills to their left, striking Fel in the lower leg, dropping him as the leg crumpled under him…

As the shots rang out, Aellyn pulled the Doc behind the crate of Kolto, insisting he stay put. The Chiss  didn’t argue with her. The other side, Jet's instincts kicked in, and his rifle was aimed at the group ahead before he even registered drawing it. The sight of Fel taking a bolt to the leg ignited a fierce, protective rage within them both. Aellyn peeked around the crate seeing Jet making his move toward Fel kneeling on the ground. His stance steady and his aim unwavering as he trained his rifle on the group. The tension in the air was palpable, heightening the urgency of the situation. Jet moved into a crouch beside Fel, his eyes never straying from the potential threats ahead, scanning every movement and calculating every possibility. Aellyn then moved as Jet did, pistol aiming toward Abilene, stepping in front of Fel and Jet, shielding them. 

[color=AE91B8] “Listen, lady. Take your cargo and go. Otherwise, our air support will blast your colony to rubble. That will leave your fate to either the wildlife or our blasters and honestly, I hear the wildlife isn’t too nice.”  [/color] 

Air support? Fel’s mind raced. What in the seven suns was she talking about? That dog wouldn’t hunt…

[color=AE91B8]“ Wyler..  I’m going to need you to fire close to my position… we have some locals not playing so nice.” [/color]  Aellyn whispered in her comm. As quickly as she stated, the freighter hovered just behind the UA, on the edge of the canyon.  The shot rang about a hundred yards to their left, where the shot to Fel’s leg came from.  Aellyn held her pistol steady, never taking her eyes off Abilene.

As adrenaline coursed through the mechanic, he took note of Aellyn stepping up to take command. Her contact for the Kolto, an unexpected ally, provided cover. This unforeseen assistance momentarily startled Jet, but he quickly pushed the surprise aside to focus on aiding Fel.

[colour=ff0000]“Can you stand?”[/colour] Jet's voice was a quiet murmur, intended only for Fel's ears. He extended an arm, offering the support to lean on if needed, while he continued to survey the group ahead, ever vigilant for any further hostile actions.

Fel was already working toward getting to his feet, but the appearance of Jet made the process that much easier. [color=F7941D]“Where in the fiery place did she get a ship from?”[/color] he mused aloud, as the freighter blasted terrain off to their left. There was a cry of something akin to anguish, pain or anger, or mebbe all the above, from the ridge off to their left, where the inbound friendly (?) had strafed. The spacer shook his head in dismay, and more than a little sheepish guilt. [color=F7941D]“Didn’t see that comin’... Shoulda known she was going to place folk on that rise… I must be goin’ soft, Jet…”[/color] Fel nodded in thanks to his partner, turned an eye over his shoulder to Aellyn, with an unabashed look of ‘WTF’ crossing his features. Holding up a hand with outstretched fingers, he held onto Jet’s shoulder, and bled. 

He yelled out, over the din of the freighter hovering at just under a hundred feet. [color=F7941D]“Got you dead-bang, Abilene… Why don’t y’all lay down arms before my backup culls the population of this dustbowl right quick? And while you’re at it – send up a few of your men-folk – unarmed – and pick up these damn crates. Since when I gotta take a bullet afore you believe I just want to deliver what’s yours, ya kriffin’ Harpy?”[/color] He hopped forward a couple paces, far enough that the old lady could see easy enough, and tossed the det in the dirt. [color=F7941D]“You wanna make life easy for your people, grab a few cases marked with the Imp Seal, too. That there’s Kolto, and I’ll even give you the ‘friends & family’ bargain on it…”[/color] He set his jaw, the blaster wavering in his hand through a combination of adrenaline and pain, and called out one more time. [color=F7941D]”You want this to go hard… you just keep on firing. You do and I swear I’ll end this little ville. So for the void’s sake, put your weapons away, and let’s do business.”

The kid crouched, wide-eyed and frightened, behind the corridor beam that was mere feet from the loading ramp. Seeing Fel go down hadn’t made him feel any better. He had the E-11 blaster rifle at his side, white-knuckle gripped and finger near the trigger, as he watched the whole scene playing out in front of him. When the “THOOM” of the new ship’s cannons had hit dirt, he flinched a little, his breath raspy and quiet as he continued to watch everyone. If things started off again, Zane knew that he was likely going to have to take part in this whole shootout. He didn’t relish the thought; the other man that he had just recently put several bolts into kept flashing into his mind. Still, if it was going to be between his new crew and random strangers, then their lives and dreams were forfeit in his eyes.

From the moment the blast hit the hill, Abilene’s crew wasn’t so sure anymore. How were they going to compete with an extra ship?  She sat (literally) on her high horse, hearing the whispers around her. Her mind twirling with thoughts on how she could pull another trick off. Not this time, the son of a nerf herder, pulled it off. [i]“Lay them down.”[/i] Abilene dismounted, her head motioned to the speeder next to her, telling them to fetch the crates. [i]“What do you want for it?”[/i] 

Fel gave a thin smile, despite having been shot in the leg. Finally. Finally. [color=F7941D]“For bringing back what was yours – like we talked about months back. Nothing more. For the Kolto… thirty thou per canister. Two per crate. That’s sixty thou a crate.”[/color] He shrugged. It was a damn good price. And he knew she could afford it. [color=F7941D]“I’d take one canister’s worth in fuel and parts for the UA, though. If you can spare it.”[/color]