"SPLANK! SPLANK! SPLANK!"

Green lances of turbolaser energy slammed into Rancer’s front shields as he charged at the three Tie fighters head on. His red lasers burned into the black of space and into the cockpit of the lead Tie. There was a small explosion in the cockpit, then the engines went with a ball of energy that consumed the whole Tie fighter and knocked the other two around a bit. The two remaining fighters shot past him.

There had been four targets that his targeting computer had identified; three Tie fighters and a Corellian blockade runner. They were probably pirates, but most pirates were smart enough to use ships with shields and hyperdrives.

"But hey! The dumber the pirate the better!" said Rancer, as he hauled back on the stick. The two Ties had already regrouped and were setting up for another pass.

These guys were really stupid - most Tie pilots would have dodged the frontal attack and tried to get in behind an old Y-Wing, as slow and cumbersome as they are. When Rancer had pulled his ship around they came at him again. More green lances pierced the blackness and Rancer rolled his Y-Wing sideways, making his profile that much harder to hit. Rancer targeted the right Tie this time and let his targeting computer acquire a missile lock. Meanwhile, he was pounding away on the left Tie with his lasers. Two shots stabbed through the left Tie’s solar panels and melted a hole in one of its engines. The Tie spun off, out of control, and blew apart a few seconds later.

Rancer heard the scream of his Nav Computer’s missile lock. He squeezed the trigger and felt the concussion missile launch from its rack. He hauled back on his stick to finish off the other Tie - if he managed to evade the missile. As he came to bear, the Tie became a bright ball of exploding energy.

"That was quick!" Rancer said out loud. Then the blaring sound of an incoming missile warning made him remember the blockade runner.

"Shit!" Rancer swore. He dumped his laser energy into his shields and yanked the stick back towards the bigger ship. It had closed almost on top of him while he had engaged the Ties. His targeting computer got a lock on the inbound missile just as three batteries opened up on him. Blue light poured from the blockade runner.

"Ion cannon, huh!" Rancer said to himself. There were so many bursts of ion energy coming at him that Rancer thought it looked kind of like blue rain. He jerked and cut under most of the fire.

His front shields caught a few blasts as he headed under the ship. He pulled up as hard as he could, trying to roll right around the hull of the Corellian Corvette. As he came up from the ship’s belly, he saw the distance of the missile tracking him close to a very uncomfortable distance. He pulled back harder on the stick, thinking this was going to hurt pretty bad.

A flash from behind told Rancer what he wanted to know. The missile had tried to take the shortest route to him and had ignored the Corvette in between. The missile had impacted somewhere on the belly of the Corvette. Its shields took it easily but at least the missile wasn’t on his tail pipe any more.

Rancer shot back over to the other side of the Corvette and punched up his com. "Pate! Pate! Raise this ship - the big one! Tell them I have ten torpedoes locked on to them. Tell them if they boogie now they won’t have to eat em."

Static came over the com and lines of blue energy began racing towards him again.

Rancer pulled his Y-Wing down the length of the ship. He targeted the Corvette and got a lock almost immediately. He got two missiles away before he shot over the engine end of the ship. His rear shields were about gone from repeated ion hits, so he dumped the energy from his front shields to the rear and put as much distance between him and the Corvette as he could. The bigger ship would have to turn around to get at him this way. Rancer swerved to keep the ion blasts from hitting him, but they kept coming even when he was out of range.

Rancer’s com crackled. "They said they would let us leave if we dumped our cargo."

Rancer chuckled. "Tell them to go to hell!" He was about to pull his Y-Wing around to let the Corvette’s engines taste a few missiles when his com crackled again.

"Helloo Rancerrr. I trusst youu rememberr Bon-Do! I know youu have noo torpedoess. Youurr ship iss loaded with missiless. I checked it at Tatooinne. Leave me the cargoo and livve, or fight and die!"

The com crackled off as the sound of another incoming missile warning blared in his ears. This was not going to be easy.

Rancer equalized his shields and charged at the ion spitting vessel. He got his target lock and began letting missiles go, trying to pound the shields down. He had already spent three and was putting the remaining five to the best use he could think of. One of those five he sent off after the missile that was after him. The two missiles splashed into a bright ball somewhere behind him just as the first ion blasts came into range. The ion blasts were easy to dodge at first but the closer he got the more hits he took. He put everything he had into his front shields and managed to get the remaining four missiles off before he had to pull back. His rear armor had taken some damage in trying to get out of range.

It was now that he realized he needed to run. He needed to get the hell out of here before he became space debris, then that damn old conscious kicked in. Rancer had not broken a promise or reneged on any agreement since he fled the military. The guilt from breaking his oath still haunted him. He had told himself over and over that the Empire was not the same government he had promised to die defending. But the wound, even though scabbed over, still pained him at times.

Rancer pushed his ship as hard as he could, trying to get far enough away so that he could rebuild his shields. He checked his rear view and saw that the Corvette was still pouring ion energy harmlessly in his direction.

"Man those guys are stupid," Rancer announced to his targeting computer.

Once his shields showed one good layer of green all around he turned back toward the Corvette. He came in low at the ship and decided he would try and take out the ion batteries one at a time.

His first pass provided little enthusiasm. He lost most of his front shields and picked up two more missiles. And he didn’t manage to take out any batteries.

Rancer made three more passes and took out two of the five ion batteries that had been pummeling him. The ion barrage had lessened some but the missiles were still coming on a regular basis. He had taken hits from two of them. They knocked out his shields long enough for a few ion blasts to get through. As a result he was running a little slower and his maneuverability was horrible, plus his rate of fire was a lot slower too. In addition to that, his shield generator was recharging slower. If he kept this up he was going to get killed.

He had been in combat for about a half an hour now. He was shaking a little bit; he couldn’t tell if it was from exhaustion or adrenaline.

He punched up the Star Rider on his com. "You guys better start getting clear if you can. I don’t think I can hold them off much longer."

His com crackled. "Copy, Rancer, we’re out a here." A few seconds after that, faint star lines twinkled and faded in the direction of the Star Rider. Now it was just him and the big boy.

He turned his ship towards the Corvette and slugged toward his inevitable death.

Kateri was dying with anticipation. She sat at her post in one of the larger rooms that had been filled with most of the children in the ship. It was her responsibility to protect them. She had her blaster carbine, three concussion grenades and a gas grenade that produced a toxic gas that paralyzed humanoids. She knew what she was supposed to do in the event they were boarded and she was ready to protect these children, including Rita, with her last breath. But now all she could think of was Rancer. He had charged out of here like a legendary Jedi Knight to defend the innocent. This was possibly the most exciting thing that had ever happened to her and no one was telling her anything!

There had been several ship wide announcements. Mostly that all things were in place and that they were ready to jump to lightspeed if things went poorly. Kateri paced about the small room gnawing her already short nails.

He is just a mercenary, Kateri! There is no reason for you to be worrying about this man. Besides he is quite capable of taking care of himself.

Kateri heard the next roaming patrol coming down the passage. She rushed up to the doorway to give them the all clear and see if there was any information. Her friend Sara Lonna was with this patrol group. She was one of the few single women in the group. She had come with her father Ran Lonna.

Kateri sighed. As always, Sara looked like she had just walked out of a beauty pageant. Fatigues, lipstick, grenades, perfect hair, and a blaster carbine - what more could a man want. Unfortunately, most of them did seem to want it, which was something Sara absolutely reveled in.

Kateri quietly thought to herself, She must have gotten those fatigues at a children’s store. I thought they were supposed to be loose and allow movement, not tight and accentuating. Well, at least if we ever need extra pins for the grenades we could use her bobby pins. She seems to have a never ending supply just in her hair.

Kateri put on a big smile as the two men and Sara walked up to her post. "All is clear in hear. Have you guys heard anything about what’s going on out there?"

The guys just shook their heads. But Sara had a knowing twinkle in her eyes and wiggled her eyebrows at Kateri. "Oh, boys, hang on a sec. I want to talk to Kateri about something." They replied in unison "Sure, Sara!"

Sara walked a bit inside the room with the children and stood close enough for Kateri to hear her and no one else. "Have you heard what’s going on outside!" she said.

Kateri was happy to hear news and terrified about what might be happening. "No, I have been bottled up down here. What’s going on?"

Sara smiled hugely, knowing she had the scoop. "Well, you know that hunk of a pilot that is escorting us. He is out there right now, fighting pirates that are trying to steal our cargo. Isn’t it exciting! I heard there were four ships against just him. I hear he doesn’t stand much of a chance with those odds. But he went anyway. To protect us. He is so brave! Have you gotten a look at him yet?"

Kateri was suddenly not feeling well. "Huh, yeah, I have seen him a time or too."

Sara gave Kateri a conspiratorial look. "Isn’t he gorgeous!"

Kateri fought off a blush. "Yeah, I guess he is kinda cute."

Sara looked shocked. "Cute! Honey, I have seen some good looking men before, but I could stand to see some more of him." Sara giggled. "I‘ve already seen a lot. More than anybody on this ship anyway." Sara winked suggestively and Kateri blushed.

"SARA!" one of the guys shouted from the hallway. "We gotta move on!"

Sara looked to the hallway and back to Kateri. "I’ll see ya later, hon!" and then she was gone.

Kateri didn’t know how to take all this. First Rancer was supposedly out there alone fighting four other ships. Which made her very worried about him. Then Sara had made it quite clear that she had seen Rancer. What that really meant was hard to say. But it still made her a little jealous and a little angry at Rancer.

Suddenly she wanted to stab Sara with all of her stupid hair pins. Then just as that satisfying vision was fading the ship wide com came on. "Attention all crew! Attention all Crew! Prepare to jump to lightspeed. Report to your appropriate stations immediately!"

Kateri rushed to get the children strapped in and ready for the jump, just like they had practiced. It only took a few seconds because most of the children knew what to do. Kateri had a horrible thought as she was buckling her harness. What does this mean? Is Rancer dead?

Rancer was almost in range for his next pass when he noticed something strange. The ion cannons had stopped. There were no missiles indicated by the targeting computer either. Rancer didn’t know whether to press the advantage and get some shots in or wait in hopes of them pulling out. He knew they were trying to decide what to do now that the cargo was gone. But he wished he knew what there next move was gonna be.

Rancer suddenly thought, There are only three batteries left on this ship. There is one on the bottom, one on the top, and one in the front. If I can take out that bottom one right now, they will have a blind spot a mile wide.

Rancer slowly approached the ship with out firing and nestled himself right in front of the bottom battery. His lasers were at full power. He reached for the trigger.

"SPLANK! SPLANK!"

Two ion blasts shot out of the cannon he was targeting. Rancer let go with his lasers. Ten seconds, later Rancer was pounding the underbelly of the Corvette and the ion cannon was a melted hunk of durasteel. The Corvette tried to roll to get its other cannons to bear but Rancer managed to hang with it. Rancer watched as his targeting computer counted down the percentage of the Corvette’s hull integrity.

Rancer’s com crackled. "Okay Rancer, we’ll bug out now. You win! You win! Stop pounding the bridge!"

Rancer just chuckled and hit the com. "I gave you that option before you shot my ship all to hell. I am afraid that option no longer exists for you."

Just then an Imperial shuttle shot out of the Corvettes small launching bay. Rancer couldn’t and didn’t want to engage the shuttle. He knew it had plenty of guns to fight him and it was probably fresh. Seconds later it slipped into hyperspace.

Rancer stopped his barrage of laser fire and raised the Corvette on the com again. "I suppose that was Bon-Do pulling out on the shuttle."

The com crackled again. "Yes, it was. That scum left us here to die."

Rancer spoke into the com. "How many of you guys are left?" The voice on the other end spoke "There are, uh . . . five . . . if you count the engine crew."

Rancer guffawed, "Right! I thought about helping you guys before you started lying to me! I’ll see you guys in Valhalla or hell or where ever warriors and liars go when they die!"

The com crackled again as Rancer began to limp away. "Wait! I’m not lying, there were only ten of us to begin with! I promise! This ship is mostly automated! Please don’t leave us here!" Rancer hated to hear people beg, plus the idea of an automated capitol ship was interesting. He had taken a lot of damage to his ship and there was no way the five hundred credits Pate’s bunch was going to pay him would fix his problems. But a Corellian Corvette - now that is a different story.

Kateri felt very strange. She was afraid to think that Rancer might be dead and even more afraid to think that it mattered. She kept trying to tell herself he was just a stranger, someone they hired to do a job. He had done his job and it was not their fault that his job had big risks. Hell, she had known people before who had died and not necessarily in pleasant ways. Tusken Raiders were not known for their mercy.

Still, Rancer had seemed a decent man despite some of his unrefined aspects. He deserved a memorial or at least someone to mourn him.

Why was she even thinking this way! She didn’t even know if he was dead or not! I hope he isn’t, she thought.

Kateri felt the ship come out of lightspeed. She waited for the com to announce some news.

It came after what seemed like an eternity. "Attention all crew! Attention all crew! Condition green! I repeat condition green!" Kateri sighed in relief. At least they were safe now. But what about Rancer?

Rancer pulled his Y-Wing in line with the Corvette’s small hangar bay. He left his shields on and eased on in. The tractor beam had been damaged according to the guy on the com and Rancer couldn’t think of any other reason not to want to use it.

He let the Y-Wing hover inside the ship and looked around through his cockpit. He rotated the ship, looking all around him to see if there was any sign of an ambush. As the ship twisted back around to face the interior of the ship, three men came walking out of a blast door with their hands held high.

"Three," Rancer said to himself. "Okay, where are the other two? I’m not this stupid."

Just then, two more came in; half walking and half running. The one that seemed to be the leader took a comlink from one of the new arrivals and turned back to face Rancer’s ship. Rancer tuned his com to receive all signals so he could hear what this guy had to say.

His com crackled. "Okay, we’re all here. The only crew member not accounted for is a Wookiee. He was with Bon-Do before we hired on. He may have left with him on the shuttle. I am John Holden; this is Rysk Tane, and Fepu Wran, Tansk Warlkenskishon, and lastly, Grrangra Hassn."

Rancer looked them over. They were all human, except the Hassn fellow. He was some kind of predator creature; short, gray skin, corded muscles, short but sharp looking claws. Rancer had never seen anything like him before.

Rancer hit his com. "Okay, looks good. I’m coming out. Get a manifest ready and a list of damages." The five immediately huddled together and began talking.

Rancer dropped his shields and let the ship settle on the hangar floor. He popped his canopy and grabbed his carbine. He raised the canopy up just as a roar erupted from across the hangar bay. He looked in the direction of the sound and tried to get his blaster into firing position. What he saw both amazed him and scared him.

The huge Wookiee came running out from behind some crates and began firing at the five surviving crew members. The one called Hassn reacted faster than Rancer thought possible. He sprang to the side as the powerful bolts lanced into the group. One caught John right in the chest and vaporized his torso. The others missed, luckily. The little predator named Hassn moved incredibly fast and closed the distance between him and the Wookiee before more shots could be aimed.

Hassn launched himself at the Wookiee, nearly fifteen feet away, hissing and baring teeth. Big teeth. The Wookiee, enraged, dropped his bowcaster and met the challenge.

The little gray creature landed on the Wookiee’s chest and plunged his maw at the Wookiee’s neck. The Wookiee howled and struck Hassn several blows with his fists. Then he grabbed the creature and looked as if he were trying to pull him off of him. Rancer heard a ripping sound followed by a howl from the Wookiee as Hassn’s claws were torn out of the Wookiee’s chest and his teeth ripped the flesh of the Wookiee’s neck.

Hassn spat a large chunk of what must have been Wookiee flesh out of his mouth. The Wookiee held Hassn at arms length, which proved a poor move for the Wookiee as Hassn shredded the Wookiee’s face and head with a tirade of claw slashes too fast to count.

The Wookiee threw Hassn toward Rancer’s ship. The little creature flew about twenty feet through the air and landed on the deck.

The Wookiee howled again, blood rolling off of him like a waterfall. His fur had become wet with the fresh blood and it seemed to cover him completely. The giant bloody creature began to move toward Rancer or Hassn. Rancer was not sure which but at this point he really didn’t care. He lifted his blaster in warning but the Wookiee didn’t even notice him. The Wookiee took about five rapid steps toward them and fell forward as blood gushed out from his body. The Wookiee tried to get up but fell again.

Quiet hovered over the hangar bay as Rancer looked over at the remaining crew. They had all huddled over John Holden’s remains. He glanced back toward the Wookiee in time to see Hassn grab his head by the fur and rip out the rest of his throat with his claws.

This is going to be real fun, Rancer thought to himself. Real fun.

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