Having contacts was a good thing. By the time he reached Stars End, Page was on bingo fuel, the ship was damaged and things were getting desperate. The names ticked by on his screen.

Calloway...no, he owed money to him.

Brannigan. Hell no. That guy was a jackass.

Gorman...no, there was that thing with his daughter. It was unlikely he'd forgotten about that...

Vance. Vance. Annikah Vance. Well. That was a bit of a long shot, wasn't it? Things hadn't exactly gone well there. But hey, that was 4 years ago! Surely she's calmed a bit since then...right?

Besides...they had a mostly good history. So, Vance it was. His fingers flew across the holo screen making the call. The com rang for her.

Annika's face appeared on the screen. Olive skin, Dark brown eyes, and black hair worn in a choppy, spikey bob, pulled back by a hairband.

"Well, well, well. Garrick Page, as I live and breathe."

Oh shit. It felt like his stomach did a flip, but dammit, he wouldn't let her see it. He forced a grin and responded. "Annie! Precious. Good to see ya!"

Uh oh. That look wasn't good. "You've got brass balls coming back here again, after the bull shit you pulled."

Page's grin faltered. "C'mon, Annie, it wasn't what it looked like."

"Oh, really? Because it looked like you were plowing Finnick Gorman's daughter."

"...Okay, maybe it IS what it looked like, but, that was a long time ago! I've grown!"

"Cut the bull, Page. Why are you calling me? What do you want?"

Well, at least she wasn't yelling and she hadn't hung up. That was a good sign, right? "I'm about to enter orbit and I need a place to set down. I'm on fumes up here and it's looking pretty dicey."

"And what do you want me to do about it? You know I can't accommodate that big ass tug of yours."

"Fig's gone, Annie."

"Who'd you screw over?"

"I didn't-"

She leveled a gaze at him. She knew him too well to believe that.

"Boggs."

She laughed, shaking her head. "Smart. What? Did he take your ship?"

"He destroyed it. Everything."

Her eyebrows rose in surprise. Was that a twinge of sympathy in her eyes? "Really? Jesus, you're a freakin' mess, man. What kind of equipment you on?"

"LumaTech Star Runner. Silver and blue."

"You flew all the way here from Naryan in a racer? Jesus, you must smell like the ass end of a dead rhino."

"Charming. Can I set down there or not."

She considered it a moment, mulling it over in her head for just a bit too long for his comfort. He was pretty sure she was doing it on purpose.

"...An answer would be great because this thing's gonna be drifting in a few minutes."

She sighed. "I'm way too damn nice..." Annikah muttered to herself. "I've got a read on you, bring it around to Port 1083. I'll meet you there."

A wave of relief hit the pilot. See? Everything was fine! No problem. "Thanks, Anna. I'm inbound. See you in a few minutes."

Page set his course.

He smiled.

He nodded to himself.

The smile faded.

She was going to smack the shit out of him wasn't she?

Annikah stepped into her office and shut the door behind her, a long breath released as she leaned back against it. Great. Of all the people. In her line of work, people didn't stick around, let alone come back. It had been 4 years since she'd seen him and she was perfectly happy with that fact. And then he just strolls in like nothing happened.

Granted, it wasn't like they were married or anything, but damn it, she actually trusted him back then. She wasn't the type to get vulnerable with anybody, so when he took off, it hurt. Not that Annikah'd ever admit it, of course. She hadn't really gotten close with anyone since then. Burying herself in her work. Putting up walls to protect herself. Really, she kicked herself over what happened.

But it had been 4 years. A lot had happened. She thought she'd moved on, but damned if seeing that son of a bitch again didn't open up an old wound. She still had a soft spot.

She sat at her desk, her fingers flew over the keyboard, pulling up the cortex. That was when a bulletin came up. A bounty posting. 170,000 credits for the capture, dead or alive, of Garrick Page.

Uh oh.

She glanced back toward the door, worry on her face. 170,000 could solve a lot of her problems. Get some of the collectors off her back...maybe expand operations...

But it would mean...God, she couldn't believe she was even considering it. Not that he didn't have some bad karma coming, but this was his life. She knew the kind of man Boggs was. He was a psychopath. A violent, cruel psychopath. If he got his hands on Page...he'd make it last. He'd make it hurt. And Page would BEG for death at the end.

What was the point in staying? He was clearly being played, so, maybe running would be the better choice. So, he'd lose the Star Runner. Big deal! He could get another ship!

Another ship.


Thoughts of the Moldy Fig popped into his head. She was more than just a ship. She'd been home, been a safe haven for him when times had gotten rough. He could still remember the day he'd "liberated" her from some junkyard in the Denarian system. He'd managed to upset some of the locals and there she was. Blending into the yard, a hunk of grounded junk. He'd used her to hide from his pursuers. When they'd gone, he'd spent the next few weeks salvaging bits from the carcasses of other ships to repair her.

The day he'd made her fly again was one of the proudest of his life. The owner of the yard was none too happy to see the ship suddenly start to ascend from the middle of his scrapyard and came running out with his blaster firing harmlessly at the freighter.

It had been Annikah's father who'd helped modify the ship into what she was. Byron Vance was a tough man. Very protective of his business, more protective of his daughter. Page would remember him mostly as being a good friend. A man who could hold his liquor, and spin a good yarn. Someone you'd want to be in a foxhole with.

The two had been thick as thieves. In fact, he was probably closer to Byron than anyone else he'd ever known. Annikah was only 2 years Page's junior when they met and Byron delighted in making sure the 21 year old Page knew to keep his distance from the girl. Though, given the girl...he never really had much to worry about.

Annikah had always been a bit...prickly. Never one to fawn or blush over man nor woman, she was always strong willed. Self-assured. She always seemed to get what she wanted out of sheer determination, but it was never given.

When Byron got sick, Page remembered, it was Annikah who contacted him. It was the first and one of the only times he'd ever seen that tough exterior cracking. She didn't even cry at the funeral, though he could see in her eyes she was hurting.

What made him think of Byron now, he wondered? Maybe he was being too hard on her. Maybe a bit of faith wouldn't go amiss.

A knock came at the door. With a groan, he sat up.

"Open up, jackass." came Annikah's voice from the other side.

His brow quirked and Page got out of bed, walking to the door. Annikah stared up at him as the door opened, still looking a bit on-edge from before.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"Come with me. I need your help."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The pair entered the shop, Annikah in the lead. "Listen. I've been doing a bit of thinking."

Oh, this should be interesting, he thought.

"I could make you go out, put yourself on everyone's radar trying to scam the locals out of their hard-earned coin..."

"I wouldn't call it scamming-"

She shut her eyes and held a hand up. "Shut up. Or..."

He tilted his head to her, this had his interest.

"I could make use of your considerable talents here and you can work your debt off for me."

That lopsided grin came to his face. She both loved and hated when he did that, because while it looked so friggin' arrogant...he looked damn good when he busted it out.

"Was that a compliment?" he asked, teasing.

"The deal. Yea or nay?" she responded in an annoyed tone.

"Yeah. Absolutely." he responded. Annikah only nodded and started away. Page looked after her.

"Thank you."

Annikah stopped and glanced back to him. "I'm not doing it for you."

She didn't need to clarify further. "And don't thank me yet. I'm going to ride you ragged, pal."

Another smirk preceded. "Promises, promises."

She stopped and was about to fire something back. Instead, she stopped herself and smiled sweetly, if not a bit...deviously. We'll see how much he's smirking after tomorrow, she thought.

Page arrived back at his room that night, his body just screaming with soreness. Okay, maybe he shouldn't have gotten cute about the whole "riding him" crack. The girl did seem to delight in torturing him.

The bed springs creaked as his body crashed upon the mattress. "Ugh....ohmygod. I think I'll stay here forever..." he muttered into the sheets to no one.

Page turned his head to the other side, eyes landing on the computer. A look of curiosity crossing his face as he rose his head. With a groan, he pushed himself off the bed and walked over, taking a seat. A few keystrokes and the holo screen came to life. He had access to the cortex now.

This was suspicious, he thought, glancing back at the door. A cursory scan for any recording or tracking programs didn't really show anything amiss, though. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe Annie wasn't lying about there being a technical issue.

He shrugged and pulled up an old account he sometimes used to communicate with clients. He called up the name of an old partner. Someone he'd worked with several times. His fingers flew over the keys as he relayed the message.

"Raylan. It's Page. Chips are down and luck ran out. In hiding, but you know me. I'll figure it out. When I do, I'm gonna need a proper ship. Where you hiding these days?"

It didn't take long for the reply. "Page! Yeah, I heard some messed up shit went down. But yeah, I've still got my contacts over in Byers' Shipyards, we can set you up with something nice, whenever you get out of there."

Page breathed a sigh of relief. Things were finally looking up. Another reply came.


"Where are you?"

Page finally got back to sleep after Annikah's big storm-off. God knew where she'd run off to. Probably to drink in solitude at this point.

The facility was quiet, everything shut down and dark. The staff all asleep and out cold for the evening. So nobody was around to see the figures sneaking in through the windows. A team of hunters dropped to the ground, in silence. All clad in black armor, all armed.

Their leader signaled back with her hand, her voice low through the black balaclava she wore. "Go dark." The group all pressed their goggles, activating night vision. They operated with hand signals, moving from the main garage into the living quarters of the facility.

Page shifted in his sleep, in the middle of a bad dream.

The assault team moved down the corridors, checking room after room.

Page's face twitched, gasping slightly while still in his nightmare.

The leader passed her men, weapon raised and turned into a room.

Page winced in the dream, his breath raising.

A door was kicked in and one of Annikah's brothers, Philo, the runt of the litter, shot up out of bed. Two silenced shots went off and he was hit in the chest with darts, a look of confusion coming over his face. He looked down at the darts and then fell back onto the floor.

The thing about a "silencer" was that it was a bit of a misnomer. It was anything BUT silent. Page heard the two shots go off down the hall. Page's eyes popped open and he lurched up from the bed, panting and looking around. Something was wrong. He grabbed his blaster from the nightstand and climbed out of bed.

Annikah was asleep in her bed, an empty bottle of whiskey rising and falling on her chest as she breathed. Blissfully unaware of the danger approaching her.

The assault team found her middle brother, Toren, sound asleep. Two darts made sure he stayed that way.

Page grit his teeth and pressed against the wall. They were coming. Plan! He needed a plan. He glanced at the bed a moment and an idea formed.

Argento was the oldest and largest of the brother. A solid, tank of a man. And a light sleeper. He heard the last two shots and was up and standing when they kicked in his door. Two darts hit him in the chest...and the shooters waited...but he didn't fall.

"OH SH-" one of them started to say before being slammed into by the raging monster of a man. The impact sent him flying across the hall and into the wall. The second shooter wheeled around, desperately trying to get his bearings. Too late, it turned out. Argento grabbed him by the face and slammed his head against the door way over and over again, muffled screams coming out against his mask, drawing the attention of the rest of the assault team. They turned their rifles on him and fired...into the back of their own ruined teammate as Argento used him as a human shield.

He threw the limp, unconscious body toward them, knocking them off their feet. He was getting woozy when he felt a figure jump on his back. That perked him right up. He whipped around wildly, but she held on, one arm reaching behind and grabbing her tranq pistol. She shoved it against his neck and pulled the trigger. Argento's head whipped back as he tried to bellow. The black overtook him immediately and she rode him to the ground.

That didn't sound good, Page thought, hearing the thud. Then they were right outside his door. The fugitive pressed himself up against the wall, flat as he could. Breathe. Breath, Page.

The door burst open and two men filed in, firing at a Page-shaped mass under the covers. "We got him."

The first blaster bolt tore through one man's head, sending his body limp and careening to one side in an instant. The second hit the other center-mass as he wheeled around to face Page.

Page rounded the corner, firing on the remaining five of the team. They all took cover and tried to return fire. He caught one in the stomach as he leaned out to shoot, spinning him around to land in an agonized heap. He moved out into the hall, backing down towards Annikah's room while laying down a suppressing fire.

The team returned fire, forcing him to take cover in a storage closet. That was when the team leader made her move. As he turned to aim his pistol she was low around corner, coming up from a crouch. In one smooth motion, she grabbed him by the wrist with her left hand, slammed the pistol against the wall, just as her right came up in a vicious palm-strike to his face.

Page stumbled back in a daze, his pistol falling from his hand. The team leader drew her tranq pistol, but he had already recovered, grabbing her wrist and redirecting the fire upward, the projectile bursting a light over head.

The two wrestled for the gun, and eventually she ended up with her back against him. He forced the weapon toward her remaining team mates, firing a dart into each of them. She was on her own. She threw her head back and caught him in the nose, hard enough that he stumbled backwards a step. She leapt, spin-kicking him in the chest and knocking him back against the wall.

Page recovered just in time to see her raise the weapon at him and pull the trigger.

Click.

Empty.

She reacted immediately, throwing the useless weapon at him. He brought his arms up to protect himself, but found two feet slam into his chest, the air leaving his lungs with a loud grunt. The two hit the ground at the same time, but unlike him she rolled backwards back up the her feet. The bounty hunter snapped open a telescoping baton, the shaft arcing with a blue electric energy. He scrambled backwards in a sort of crab walk as she attacked, the baton barely missing him each time. It clanged and zapped against the concrete floor as she swung at him again and again.

Finally, he managed to get up to his feet as she came at him again. He caught her wrist and redirected the woman, throwing her against the wall, the baton rolling harmlessly away. Page attacked, moving to stomp her chest, but his boot heel caught nothing but the ground. She rolled out of the way and kicked his legs out from under him.

His body hit the ground with a loud thud, a hard grunt escaping him just as she pounced on top of him.

Annikah was STILL asleep. One of those amazing, dreamless, drunk sleeps where it's so complete that it feels like you might never wake up again, and you really don't care.

CRASH!

The combatants bashed in through the door, their fight still on-going. Page got up from the door he'd been kicked through. Apparently, the bounty hunter had gotten herself an ax, and was now swinging it wildly at him. He was barely managing to elude her attacks.

Annikah snapped awake immediately falling out of her bed in a panic. "WHAT THE FUCK?!" she exclaimed.

Page dodged another swipe with the ax, and reached back to the bed, grabbing a sheet. As the next ax swing came, he leaned away and caught it in the sheet, wrapping it around the handle. With a rough, tug, it ripped it from her grasp, sending the weapon crashing against some of Annikah's decorative personal effects. When the hunter moved to grab him, he managed to get past her attack and wrap the sheet around her face and pull her back into a head lock, his fist slamming against the woman's face again and again through the sheet.

Annikah crawled quickly out into the hallway, getting her bearings on the fight and noticing the bodies strewn everywhere. He heart sank when she saw the huge form of Argento out cold, possibly dead on the ground. She looked down then and saw the baton, rage overtaking her.

The bounty hunter, bent over backwards and getting pounded in the face, threw an elbow back hard into Page's kidneys, and brought her foot up on the footboard of Annikah's bed. Another kidney shot and Page loosened his grip. she kicked off the bed, free from his grasp as her body flipped, knee catching him at the back of the neck.

Page hit the floor, seeing double. She pulled the balaclava from her head, revealing short, rust colored hair askew from the tight bun she wore it in. Her bloodied face seething. The woman's desperate, wild eyes looked around before seeing a small holdout pistol. She lunged and grabbed it, wheeling it around on Page as he started to get up. With a kick to the chest, she knocked him onto his back, leveling the gun at him. "Unfortunately for you. The bounty didn't say you had to be taken alive. Say goodnight, *** hole."

The shock baton hit her in the back, he body jolting wildly as her eyes rolled back in her head. Annikah pulled the baton away as the woman fell the ground. Annikah glared down at her. "Good night, *** hole." She spat down at the woman.

Page was panting, staring up at her, beat up and exhausted. Annikah extended her hand to him. After a moment, he took it.

Page gripped the Bounty Hunter by the bicep, his gun placed against her spine as they made their way to her ship. Annikah played lookout, keeping a few steps behind and her eyes peeled for any danger lurking around the corner. Her hand hovered at a blaster at her thigh, itching to draw. Her two other brothers had carried Argento elsewhere, getting him out of the city to a rendezvous point. They would be safe. They weren't targets anyway.

The bounty hunter glared back at Page. "You're stupid if you think this is going to be simple. He's going to find you, no matter what hole you crawl into."

"That's why you're coming with. You're our insurance policy." Page said digging the barrel into her back to keep her moving.

She grit her teeth, more annoyed than anything. "You think he cares about me? I'm a hired gun. He'll turn me into dust same as you."

"Then it's in your best interests to keep us alive, isn't it?" The smugness in his voice drove the captive hunter nuts. She wanted to turn around and rip out his throat. Now was not the time, not when a twitch of the finger could relocate a few vital organs.

The trio made their way into the starport without incident and boarded the lift to her landing platform. Annikah fidgeted, on edge. "Something's wrong. I don't like this."

"What are you talking about, this is a cake walk." Page said.

"Exactly. This is too easy."

Page caught the smirk on the bounty hunter's face. "What are you grinning about?"

"You think I came alone?"

The doors slid open and 4 hover droids came out from the ship's loading ramp, their belly-mounted guns opening fire on the gathered group. Page and Annikah, barely got out of the way of the blasts. Page gripped the hunter, holding her at-bay.

"Brilliant ****ing plan, brainiac! Now what?!" Annikah shouted to him as blast bolts zipped past them, exploding against the back of the lift in a shower of sparks.

"I don't see you offering any ideas!" he yelled over the onslaught, still keeping his weapon and an eye on their prisoner.

The hunter gave him a nasty smile, "You're both dead. You just don't know it yet." she said, her voice filled with venom.

GOD, Annikah hated this woman. She turned out the lift, her blaster raised and opened fire, catching one of the drones right on the repulsor. The machine spiraled wildly, it's weapon firing blindly as it careened into a railing, parts and sparks bursting as it tumbled to the ground below in fiery pieces.

Page leaned out, trading fire with the drones, still trying to come up with a plan. Then it occurred to him, for a woman stuck on the wrong end of a firefight, the Bounty Hunter was suspiciously calm.

Well. Worth a shot.

Page yanked her in front of him. The hunter wasn't expecting it and moved easily as Page stepped out into the line of fire, his eyes squeezed shut just in case the plan didn't work and they got peppered with blaster fire.

But that didn't happen. As soon as they saw her, the guns stopped. The Hunter cursed under he breath. Annikah and Page exchanged glances, raised their firearms and blew the remaining drones out of the sky.

A lopsided grin was directed at Annikah. She returned it, but it fell as she saw another lift rising toward them. "Time to go, we're about to have company!"

The trio ran toward the ship, and climbed up the ramp.

http://i.imgur.com/0x3MdTN.jpg

Page sighed loudly, slumping back in his seat. They'd escaped. For the moment at least. He hefted himself out of his seat. "You got the coordinates?" he directed to Annikah.

The slim mechanic nodded and took out her datapad, pulling up the information. Page stepped up to the bounty hunter, his pistol out. "Alright. Up."

Nara glared back at him. "What?! I just saved your worthless hides!"

"Yeah, because that had literally anything to do with us and NOT you saving your own ass."

She stared daggers at him. "No way in hell am I giving you my ship."

"You're out of options, princess." Page grumbled at her. "Up."

"Look. Tell me where you want to go and I'll set a course." she tried to compromise.

Annikah, drew her own blaster. "Bitch, did it SOUND like he was asking?"

Nara glared at the two of them, knowing they had her by the short curlies. "Fine. But soon, I'm gonna be on the other end of the barrel. And we're gonna have this conversation again."

Page rolled his eyes, "Yeah, can't wait. Now get up. Slow." Annikah slid into the pilot's chair as Nara left, taking over piloting duties.

Page escorted the red haired bounty hunter into the back at gun point, keeping close in case she tried anything. Nara looked about her ship at the burns from the blasters. "God damned Riles..." she muttered.

"Yeah. Real bitch having your home shot up, isn't it? You can tell your boyfriend Boggs all about it later. Arms up." He ordered, reattaching her binders.

"What's your plan, Page?" Nara asked spitefully. "Where are you gonna go? Let's say you dump me off wherever we're going. You figure out my killswitch sequence, you break atmo, and you make an FTL jump outside the system. What then?"

He stepped back from her, pulling the release for the barricade that had saved their lives. "Never think that far ahead. You plan too much, things always go south."

"That's a damn fool way to live your life. Amazed you've made it this far."

"It's called skill."

"It's called blind, stupid luck." She retorted. "And the thing about luck is that it tends to run out."

Page turned to face her as she continued. "I don't know why, but Boggs decided to make you his pet project. Now, I don't know the man all that well, beyond reputation...but I know he's not known for giving up. So, you better have a more substantial plan than just flying by the seat of your pants."

"Didn't know you cared."

"I don't care about you. I care about my ship." She stared at him. "I'd rather you not take her down with you when Boggs catches up to you. And he will, just as sure as the worlds are spinnin'. Just because you're a marked man with no foresight beyond the moment doesn't mean you gotta drag my baby down with you."

He knew she was right. He had a bit more of plan than he let on, but once he got out of the system he had nothing. Not even a faint idea, and now Annikah was involved...

What a mess.

The mechanic sat at the controls and glanced back as he entered the cockpit. "All strapped in?" She asked.

"Yeah. For now." he mumbled, taking a seat.

Annikah could sense something was wrong with him. She glanced over. "You alright?"

He put on a brave face, still working things out. "Yeah. Let's just get you to the rendezvous point."

She gave him a concerned look but turned her attentions back to flying the ship.

Nara tried to sleep, but doing so sitting up against a pole with your hands behind your back wasn't quite so easy. Not to mention the brothers snored like a saw mill. Their snorts echoed in the big open Hangar, further keeping her awake.

She stared up through a hole in the ceiling at the stars above. This place was turning out to be more trouble than it was worth. At this point, she didn't care about the credits. She just wanted to get away from them. Get in her ship and go. This Page guy saying he was going to take the DragonTooth from her? Over her dead body!

And then there was little miss attitude and the moron triplets. Bunch of overgrown muscle heads. The girl wasn't much better. She'd never seen someone so in denial. Yeah, she put up a hostile front, but body language didn't often lie. And the looks she gave him when she thought nobody was looking. Oh yeah. She had it bad for the scruffy old gambler.

To be honest, Nara totally got why. He did have a sort of natural swagger to him. Were he not her prey she'd wouldn't kick the man out of bed, herself.

She heard his footsteps before she saw him. He walked over near her, crouching and keeping his voice low. "Hey."

She glowered at him with those emerald eyes. "What do you want?"

"I've been thinking..."

"Sounds painful." she retorted with a smirk.

"Annikah had a point. Maybe leaving on my own isn't a great plan." Page continued.

"You think? So, what's this? Some sort of ****y church confession booth? Why are you telling me this?"

"You're coming with me."

She knew she couldn't show the elation in her heart or he'd know he had a measure of power over her. Yes, she knew she was currently his prisoner. Screw you. But as long as she was near her ship, she had a chance.

"Why should I?" she asked, keeping up appearances.

Page quirked an eyebrow at her. "It wasn't exactly a request. Besides. You're the one who's been bitching about losing her ship."

Nara's jaw clenched. Really putting on a show of inner turmoil.

"When we get where I need to go, I'll hand you your ship back."

She narrowed her eyes. "I have your word?"

"You have my word."

The corner of her mouth upturned in a grin. "Alright. When do we leave?"

Annikah lay in her bed, sound asleep in the darkness of the early morning. She didn't hear them loading up. She didn't hear the whispers or the careful footsteps.

What she did hear were the engines whirring to life. Her brown eyes popped open and she sprang out of bed. What the hell? That son of a bitch was leaving NOW? She looked around frantically realizing that the Bounty Hunter was gone too.

Oh no.

She grabbed a blaster rifle off a rack and sprinted outside. The ship rose from the platform, hovering. Annikah shielded her face from the light of the engines before her eyes adjusted.

"PAGE!" she screamed pointlessly into the noise of the engines. She brought the rifle up to her shoulder and fired on the ship. The engines burst with blue light, the ship shooting off into the early morning sky. The thrust knocked her onto her back, a groan escaping the slim mechanic as she propped herself up on her elbows.

Page was gone, and it was likely that bitch had him captive.

Boggs walked up onto the bridge of his ship, The Allomerus. A call pulled him out of his personal penthouse/quarters where he was spending time with his paid companion. An interruption that he was less than thrilled about.

Be stormed into the room, a scowl on his face. One of his men sat at a console in the grungy, low-lit, rust colored command center. "What is it?" Boggs asked.

The console tech shot a glance up to his scarred commander. "We got a ping on Rey's ship. DragonsTooth was spotted leaving Rhydin headed toward the Numerian Outpost."

"Numerian Outpost..." Boggs said, trying to recall the place."

"Refueling station just outside the Belt. Popular last chance stop for outgoing vessels." his lackey reminded him.

"Sounds like the kids are gassing up for a little trip." A smirk crossed Boggs' face. "Make the call. Get the mercs onboard and get us over to that outpost before they can leave. They're not getting off this system."

The tech nodded and started pulling up contact lists. Nobody made a fool of Boggs. Definitely not some lowlife cardshark like Garrick Page. He was going to learn his lesson today, Boggs would make sure of it.

Annikah stormed into the shop, tripping on a tool box as she entered the hangar. She barely managed not to fall on her ass. "God DAMN IT!" She kicked the box over, sending the metallic contents scattering across the concrete ground with a loud clatter.

The sound of the engines woke all but Argento from their slumber. "Boys!" she called out.

Philo was the first one out, his shaggy black hair a tangled mess on top of his tan head. "What's up, chica? What's all the noise about?" He asked, squinting at her.

She passed him, turning around as she walked further into the hangar. "You bring what I asked?" She inquired of him.

Toren lumbered out in the middle of the conversation. Philo looked to him before answering. "Yeah, yeah, we got it over here. It's under the tarp in back."

Annikah was just livid. No way that idiot had run off with her. She'd sell him out at the drop of a hat. "Is it ready?" she asked?

Toren crossed his arms. "Who you talkin' to?" he asked as if she was being ridiculous.

Annikah walked up to the tarp and pulled it off. The Star Runner sat there, wings folded up for storage. Repaired, fueled, and a little present thrown in. Two cannons were now mounted on the fuselage. She was lethal.

Her eyes trailed over the ship. She had to admit. It was a thing of beauty. "Good. Perfect."

She had a ship. Now she just hoped she got to them in time.

Nara was at home at the controls of that ship. For a big boat, she could move. On the view screens they could see behind them, missile fire raining down on the corkscrew-like station from a ship that appeared to be made entirely of jagged metal. A vicious looking craft as she'd ever she'd seen.

Once the attack first hit, the station responded with their own forces, but they were woefully outmatched. Several small fighters launched from both the ship and the station, engaged in a vicious dogfight.

Some of them spotted Nara the second they left the hangar, moving to intercept. "We got a few on out tail. I need you on the guns." She said to Page, without looking as she adjusted a few settings.

Page nodded and climbed down a ladder and made his way to gunner's pod, pulling on a headset. "I'm in."

"Good. Strap in. This is gonna be a bumpy ride." She launched the ship into a series of twisting, banking maneuvers avoiding the enemy fighter's fire. Girl knew her ship. The fighters barely kept up with her.

Page was struggling on lining up a shot, firing when he thought he had a good one, but missing. "Come on, come on!" He grit his teeth.

Nara suddenly lurched the ship into a diving barrel-roll as a missile whizzed past right where they had just been.

"Holy shit, you see that?!" Page yelled up.

Nara's jaw tightened "More shooting, less shouting!"

The DragonsTooth's guns screamed, firing bolts of red at their pursuers. One of the fighters was not lucky. A bolt caught her and shredded through the engines. The fighter bursting in brilliant flash of light and debris. Taking no time to celebrate. Page went after the second, watching it bob and weave on his targeting computer, timing the next shot just right. He squeezed the trigger and watched the ship disappear just the same as it's companion had.

"Good guns!" She shouted down to him. They had more on them almost instantly, Nara taking evasive maneuvers as they opened fire.

The fighters were relentless. And that meant Nara had to spend more time evading, and less time coordinating the FTL jump. They were practically swarming now!

Page took aim and blasted another out the sky. This was not how he saw this day going. Laser blasts poured around them and he lined up a shot, firing back, another ship bursting in flames. A triumphant grin on his face as he swiveled around to find another target.

The DragonsTooth bucked as another blast hit them. Page grimaced and brought the gunners chair around and returned fire. Out in the corner of his view screen, he could see the outpost, burning. He fired off a few more shots before everything suddenly went white. A flash lit the stars so bright he had to turn away. When his eyes adjusted, the station was drifting apart in fiery, burned up chunks. Just obliterated. He just stared in stunned awe.

Luckily, the sight distracted his attackers for a moment. Anger filled him and he went right back to work, firing wildly at the fighters pursuing them.

The distraction over, the fighters began to swarm. The ship rocked again and again by laser cannon fire.

"We can't take much more of this!" Page said into his headset.

Suddenly two fighters exploded. The shooting hadn't been their own. Page's brow furrowed in confusion. The Star Runner tore past them as Annikah's voice came over the comm. "You look like you could use a hand!"

Page let out a stunned, but not unhappy laugh. "About damn time!" he said into the mic.

Nara's voice came over the channel. "Keep these *** busy, will ya? We need to plot out our jump."

"Roger that. Page! Watch my six." Annikah said.

"You got it!"

Page climbed up from the gunner's station as just as Annikah rushed up into the cockpit, the two of them colliding excitedly in an embrace.

"Holy HELL did you see that thing?!" she asked.

"I know, right?! Thing MOVES, doesn't it?!"

"Oh my GOD, yes! I've flown a bit before but that was-"

At the same time they finished the sentence, "Amazing!" The pair of them laughed and hugged tightly. Nara stared at them with wry look on her face.

Both of them suddenly released each other, smoothing their clothing out. Page cleared his throat. "So...so, what are you doing here?"

Annikah shot him a look. "I came here to rescue your ass."

"From WHAT?"

She raised her eyebrows as if to say "Really?" and then pointed at Nara.

Page looked to the bounty hunter who just smirked and sent an upnod his way.

"Oh." Page mumbled. His gaze returned to his friend. "We, uh...we made a deal."

Annikah blinked. "A deal? What was it? That she'd feel BAD when she stabs you in the back?"

Nara snickered and turned back to her controls.

"She's getting me to the Brennig system and she lives and keeps her ship." Page explained.

Annikah just squinted at him, like he was the most gullible man in the galaxy. A small, bitter laugh left her, and she just turned and started back toward the cramped Cargo hold.

Page looked after her confused. "What? Hey, where you going?"

Annikah descended the staircase. "I'm getting the hell out of here."

"We're in the middle of an FTL jump, are you suicidal?"

She wheeled on him. "I'll take my chances! Better than sitting around waiting for the knife to drop with her!"

"Annie-"

"DON'T call me that." she said with narrowed eyes.

"Annikah. She's my best chance at getting out of the system. Besides, if she was going to turn me in or kill me, she had PLENTY of opportunity back at the Outpost."

Annikah knew he was making sense, but after what that woman did back at the shop... "You can't trust her."

Page glanced back at the cockpit and lowered his voice. "I don't. But for now, we need her. Once we get to Brennig Prime, we'll be done with her. Trust me. I have a plan."

She wasn't very convinced, but she didn't argue. A smile crossed Page's face. "It's good to see you."

Annikah's brown eyes shifted to him, a smile creeping out despite herself. "I'm gonna see if I can't make a few repairs. She's a bit beat up." the mechanic said, nodding to the Star Runner.

Page nodded to her and watched as she walked off before returning to the cockpit.

Snow kicked up all around the craft as they landed in what appeared to be a scrap yard, the sky above a brilliant blue in the biting cold. The trio, wrapped in coats and scarves stood and waited as the ramp descended.

Nara checked her rifle as they waited. "Just follow my lead. And don't do anything until I tell you."

Annikah and Page exchanged doubtful glances. They moved down the ramp into the scrapyard...to find nobody waiting. Page looked around, his breath like a puff of smoke. "So...dependable people, huh?"

"Shut up." Nara said, her eyes remaining sharp. The sound of a weapon racking to her right snapped the woman into action, her rifle instantly up and aimed at the man to their right, Page and Annikah following suit. His patchwork woolen clothing covered frost and snow, a pair of goggles on his face and a grey knit cap upon his head.

They heard him mutter something in a language they didn't quite understand. Nara responded icily in the same language. They were silent a moment before a grin snuck onto the bounty hunters face and the two started laughing and walking forward. They embraced each other and carried on their conversation in the unknown language.

Page and Annikah looked to each other. "I'm assuming that's good." She said.

"Hell, I'm hoping so." Page responded.

Nara lead the man over. "Cyrus, this is Garrick Page and..." she gestured to them each, in turn, forgetting or not knowing the woman's name.

"Annikah Vance." the slim mechanic responded shaking his hand, throwing a shaded look over at Nara.

Cyrus pulled back his goggles revealing one grey eye, the other socket completely vacant. His face was covered in a thick dark beard His voice heavily accented, he spoke. "Ey. You law' 'ave a bi' a ba' loo, eh?"

Nara snorted. "Bad luck? They're on the run with ME. Don't get much worse than that."

Cyrus chuckled. "Righ' Righ. C'maw. We ge' you's all sitoop."

He gestured for them to follow. Nara offered the path to them. Page walked with her. "What about the ship? Anyone who flies overhead is going to see that thing."

Nara breathed out a laugh and just glanced at him, before continuing to walk. Behind them there was mechanical whirring and clanging. Page turned around to see the ship pivoting around as it lowered into the ground, disappearing into the subterranean facility this Cyrus ran.

Her arms ached and her knuckles raw even through her leather work gloves. Annikah tucked her lips in, a determined look on her face as she pulled on a spanner, trying to loosen a part of the hyperdrive. She groaned with the effort, her muscles burning as she pulled. Finally, it came loose, a loud grunt leaving her.

She pulled the part from the mess of engine working and frowned. "Damn.."

Page was moving some of the excess equipment from the cargo hold that Nara said she didn't need anymore. He glanced up the stairs where the crew quarters and engine room were.

The tall smuggler leaned in the doorway. "That sounded bad."

Annikah looked over, her face smudged with sweat and grease. She held up the part. "Catalyzer's shot." She said grumpily, getting to her feet.

"That's bad?"

Annikah snorted. "Uh. Yeah. Without the catalyzer, the compression coil overloads, and basically turns into a really expensive toaster. Let's say you're running at full burn in an FTL jump and this thing blows. Everything inside gets super heated, your lines rupture, and now you've got a white hot bunch of metal covered in oil. See the problem?"

"That *is* bad."

"For anyone not interested in dying a fiery death." She tossed the busted part in a bin. "We're lucky she cut to sublight when she did or we'd be the crispy remnants in a big ass stove." She hated to admit it, but she sighed. "Girl knows her stuff."

Page nodded in agreement as Annikah removed her gloves. "So. You were just going to leave me?" She said, not looking up at him.

Page shut his eyes, guess he couldn't avoid this forever.

"Annie-"

She interrupted and the tension in her voice apparent though she tried to sound casual about it. "No. No. Pretty shrewd move. Just sneaking off in the middle of the night." She scrubbed her arms, trying to get the grease off her tan skin. Those accusatory brown eyes turned to him. "Again."

Page looked so guilty. This pleased her. "But hey." She plastered on a sarcastic smile. "That's kinda your MO, isn't it?"

"I did it for your own good." He said, sternly.

"You don't get to decide that!" She snapped at him. A bitter laugh escaped the mechanic as she slowly shook her head. "You and dad. You always felt like I was something that had to be protected. I wasn't! I'm a big girl, I can make my own decisions and deal with the consequences." She loved her father. But he was protective. He never trusted her to handle her own affairs while he was alive. The two had butted heads so many times over the issue, and sometimes it could color her mood to this day.

"Annie, listen-"

"You listen. I can make my own mistakes. I don't need you deciding what I can and cannot handle. Do we understand each other?" She stared at him, defiant.

This was something he loved about her. The girl had a will of steel. Page just nodded. Annikah stared at him and wiped her face with a cloth. "Good."

Repairs went on late into the night. Annikah had fallen asleep beneath the engine, a torque wrench in her hand when Page found her. He grinned down to the slumbering mechanic as she muttered something in her sleep.

"You're the one with the...face....kick your...mmph..." she stirred slightly before looking peaceful again.

Page carefully scooped her up, the tool falling from her hand. Unconsciously, her arms came up and wrapped around Page's neck. The little mechanic burying her face in his chest, still dead to the world.

Page smiled down to her. He liked her like this. Quiet Annie was pretty damn adorable. Soon, he was setting her down in her bunk. He looked down at her a moment, just thinking. She'd put herself on the line twice already for him. He couldn't figure out why. He'd never done anything particularly great to deserve it. Hell, more often than not, the two were screaming and yelling at each other. So...why stick her neck out for him?

Annikah stirred again, a small smile on her sleeping face. Page blinked down to her, silent for a moment before he pulled the blanket up to cover her.

Page held a wooden staff in his hands, his shirtless side to Nara as the two squared off. Clad in tight-fitting workout gear, she held her staff tight up the back of her arm and across her shoulders. Green eyes watched the man like a predator as they rounded the blue mat. Page lunged forward, a jab at her midsection.

Nara immediately turned to one side, catching his staff with her's behind her back. In one fluid motion, she redirected his blow upwards, ducked under it, twisted her body as she leapt, jump-kicking him in the chest. Page stumbled back, but remained on his feet. Nara shook a few stray hairs from her face, her red locks pulled back in a pony tail.

Page struck at her from high, forcing her into a rising block, which she redirected into the ground. She sent a swift reverse strike across his jaw. After the follow-through, she swept low, catching her dazed opponent at the ankles, sending him face-planting in to the mat.

"You're too aggressive." She said circling him. "I can see every move coming a mile away."

Page grit his teeth and growled as he tried to sweep her legs. She was ready, of course, jumping over, letting his momentum carry him forward, right into the back end of her staff. It caught him in the forehead and put him on his back. "You're thinking all wrong. This isn't some drunken brawl where you can just live in the moment. This is chess." a smirk came to her lips. "You have to plan. Know what you're going to do next. And know what you're going to do if that fails."

She brought her staff down at him, fast and hard. Page reacted immediately, a rising block catching and immediately turning away her strike and jabbing her hard in the sternum. Part of him was vaguely aware that she let him land a hit to prove a point, but he still felt a little thrill of victory. Her jaw tightened and she winced, stepping back. "Good. That's it!" Page rolled backwards up to his feet, ready for her again.

The sounds of their sparring rang out in the cavernous garage while Annikah stepped in from the frigid scrapyard, wrapped in a warm jacket, a fur-lined hood over her head. She pulled the hood back and rounded the corner to find them in a vicious back and forth, exchanging blows , dodging, retreating and coming back. A twinge of jealousy rising in her as she watched the two scantily clad fighters spar. Page ended up behind her, his weapon pulling back toward her throat. Nara had been disarmed and was gripping the staff, trying to push it away from her neck. Her body pressed against Page's, further drawing the jealous feelings from Annikah.

Page was distracted by Annikah for less than a second, but that was all it took. Nara threw her head back into this nose, ducked under his staff as she spun around, and slammed it into his face. His weapon now in her hands, she turned it on him placing one end at his throat as he hit the ground.

The battered and dazed Page held his hands up in submission. He'd had enough. Nara grinned and offered a hand. "Good match."

He let out a little laugh, taking her hand. He groaned as he was pulled to his feet. "Thanks." he muttered wiping a bit of blood from his lip.

Annikah stared at the two of them, looking rather nonplussed. "If you're done playing grab-ass, I found us a catalyzer." she said with spite in her voice.

Page grabbed a towel and threw it over his shoulder, rubbing his bruised jaw. "Yeah? How long you think til we're up and running?"

Annikah looked over his lean, battered body, ignoring the feeling in the pit of her stomach the sight gave her. "Probably about a day. I have to replace the coolant lines as well before she'll be safe to fly."

"The sooner the better." Page said, passing her.

Annikah barely glanced as he passed. Nara was stretching when she felt the mechanic's eyes burrowing into the back of her skull. A small grin on her face as she arched her back, getting a pop for her efforts. "Mm...You gonna tell me to stay away from your man?" She asked throwing a glance over her shoulder.

The mechanic stared her down. "What game are you playing?"

Nara grinned and pulled a loose-fitting shirt on over her tight tank. "Who says I'm playing games?"

"I do. One minute you're trying to kill us and the next you're acting all buddy-buddy. I don't buy it." Annikah narrowed her eyes.

Nara walked up to her, moving close. "No? Well, guess what, princess? I don't care. Now, I appreciate you helping out in a pinch, but you're on my boat. You wanna get off? This here's your port of call. Hope you packed warm."

Annikah glared at her, but Nara continued, unintimidated. "Or you can stick around until we get you and your boyfriend to whatever your next big ****-up is. Choice is up to you."

Those emerald eyes gazed into Annikah's, oozing confidence, her voice dropping to quieter tone. "Of course...if you still have a problem...I suppose you could pick up a staff and we can work this out?"

Annikah swallowed and took a few steps back. "You screw us over, I'll kill you." She said simply, turning and walking away.

"That a 'no', then?" Nara called after her an antagonistic tone to her voice. The bounty hunter grinned and turned, heading off to shower.

One of Cyrus' workers, a scrappy attractive lad named Mart?n sat in the cockpit of the Star Runner while Annikah was underneath the engine. His wavy black hair tied back and out the way, he glanced back, waiting for her signal.

"Try it!" She called to him, sliding out and putting some distance between herself and the ship. Mart?n fired up the engines. They began whirring to life, bringing a smile to Annikah's face. Then they heard a pop and smoke started pouring out. "Shut it down! Shut it down!"

Mart?n powered everything down as fast as he could. Annikah climbed right back under the ship. "God damn it..." She muttered, peering into the engine compartment. Mart?n slipped his wiry body in beside her. "Sounded like a Primary Buffer solenoid."

Annikah shook her head. "I just put a new one in."

He looked over "You pull it from the yard?"

She nodded, still peering up.

"Where you get it from?" He asked, peering at the solenoid.

"Vermire Mk. VII..." She said trailing off. Mart?n glanced over with a dashing little smirk. "Holy hell. You're right." she said, bringing her hand to her forehead. Of course that wouldn't work, the parts were not compatible.

"Christ. I'm an idiot..." She muttered. Mart?n gave her a nudge and a sympathetic look.

"Easy, easy there, chica. You're just exhausted." He said quietly, an easy smile on his face. Annikah glanced over to him, smirking a bit.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing. Just...Chica. My little brother calls me that." She gave a little laugh.

"Yeah? Well, that ain't good." he said, his face taking on a look of concern.

Her brow arched, "Why's that?"

"Because it would be a damn shame if a woman as fine as you looked at me like a brother." His eyes stared right into her's. The confidence, the smile, those eyes. Yeah, it landed big time.

A blush colored her face. Was he hitting on her? He was definitely hitting on her. She went to talk, but no words came out. It had been a long while since someone had openly flirted with the slim mechanic. And as far as men went...he wasn't at all unpleasant.

Mart?n grinned and turned his attention back to the engine. "So. I'm thinkin' we grab some coats, hit the yard, and see if we can't scrounge up a LumaTech somewhere out there. I think I know where to look." He turned those dark eyes to her. "What you think?"

A grin crossed her lips "I think I'll get my coat."

"Alright, try it!" She called out, coming to a stop at the tool box. The engines whirred to life, powered up by Mart?n. Annikah clenched her fists waiting...but no pop, no explosion. Just the smooth sounds of the engine running as it was supposed to.

"How's she looking?!" She shouted with a smile. Mart?n glanced back at her "All systems are nominal. She's runnin' better than showroom."

He powered down, the room much quieter now, aside from Annikah letting out a little victorious woop. She rushed over to Mart?n and wrapped him in a hug.

When their embrace broke, he started toward the kitchen, pointing back at her. "Drinks. We need drinks. Celebrate our good fortune."

As she entered the kitchen he set down a bottle of Patr?n and two shot glasses. "You..." he said, pouring the first shot. "Are impressive as hell. Where'd you learn that stuff?"

Annikah's brown eyes glanced down to the glass, watching him fill it. "My dad. We ran a shop back on Rhydin. Been putting engines together since I was like....5, I think?" She grabbed a salt shaker and prepped for the shot.

Mart?n shook his head. "Well, here's to your pops." He said with a grin, raising the glass to her.

He smile weakened a bit, thinking about her dad. "Dad." She clinked her glass to his, licked the salt from her hand, knocked back the shot and bit a wedge of lime. Her eyes shutting, wincing as the liquor hit her system.

When it settled, she sighed happily. The corners of her mouth upturning into a grin. "Another?"

Nara lay in a hammock in her quarters on the DragonsTooth, thumbing through her datapad humming an old Omnian tune. Things were going well with the repairs. A few more things and they'd be in great shape. The state of her new temporary crew, however...That she wasn't sure of.

Boots clanged on the metal floor plating outside the room, sounds of angry storming. That HAD to be loverboy. She leaned her head back and smirked. "Hey! Quit trying to stomp the ship apart!" She called back toward him.

The footsteps redirected to her quarters. Page leaned in, arms clutching the side of the doorway. "Rey, how much is left to do until we get this thing airborne?"
Nara rolled out of the hammock and stood, sauntering toward Page.

"In a big rush?" She asked, almost taunting him.

"Yeah. I want to get out of here as quick as possible."

She leaned against the doorway, and pushed a strand of crimson hair behind her ear. "Why don't you go ask your little girlfriend?"

Oh, she was having fun! Page...was not.

"She's busy. To hell with her. How long?" He said curtly.

Nara stared up at him, pursing her lips and nodding. "We find and throw a new set of lines on the FTL drive, we should be set. You wanna grab a coat and go scrounging, be my guest. Gets pretty cold out there at night."

Page grimaced, considering it for about half a second. His shoulders slumped as he sighed.

Nara sat on the edge of her hammock. "So, what's up? Trouble in paradise?" she asked.

Page's eyes turned up to her. "I'm getting pretty sick of you screwing with us."

The bounty hunter brought her arms over her head, stretching. "Aww. Is baby upset?" She taunted, puffing out her lips.

Page glared. "She's not interested." He turned around and started away.

"Did you talk to her?" She asked, watching him pause. "I'll take that as a no."

She stood again moving toward him. "Look. You can't drag your feet and then act surprised when she mounts another guy."

She found it odd that she was giving him relationship advice, considering the manner in which they met.

"Why are you-" he started

"Because the sexual tension between the two of you is getting annoying. When we get out of here, I need you focused. So, bed her, leave her behind, or...hell, I dunno. I don't care. Just figure it out."

Page clearly wasn't sure how to respond to that. Part of him didn't want to admit those feelings. Not to her, and least of all to himself.

Nara lay back down in her hammock. "Shut the door on your way out." She said and waited for him to leave. As fun as screwing with them was, eventually they would all have to have their head on a swivel and they wouldn't be able to do that if they were too busy trying NOT screw like rabbits. Either that or she was going soft. She chuckled lightly to herself and went back to her checklist.

Page lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling, deep in thought. Man, that floor was uncomfortable. The jacket on the ground spared his bare back from the cold steel. And the slim goddess currently curled up against his side certainly made it much more tolerable.

Annikah's head rested at his bare chest, a content smile on her face, listening to him breathe. Her arm was draped across his stomach, her leg over his thigh. She turned those beautiful brown eyes up to him. "Are we insane for doing this?"

A grin worked its way onto Page's face, his eyes on her. "Oh, hell yes. I mean...this floor? Most uncomfortable surface in the 'verse, you reckon?"

A small laugh escaped Annikah and she lightly headbutted him in the chin. "Not that, you jack-ass."

Of course, he knew exactly what she meant. He smiled down to her. "I think...maybe we don't overthink it."

Annikah nodded slowly, considering that. "Okay."

She paused a moment and then glanced back up. "You know I'm still gonna, right?"

Page chuckled and ran his fingers gently through her dark hair. Annikah's eyes shut happily as she leaned her cheek against his chest.

"This is good." He said. "Let's just let it be good."

She smiled "Mmm...sounds like a plan. Maybe next time, though...maybe we use a bed?"

Page laughed. "Deal."

The DragonsTooth came out of FTL in the Brennig system, coasting through space as she dropped into sublight. Page stepped up onto the bridge as the huge blue and green planet of Brennig Prime grew closer in their viewport.

Nara glanced back at him. "Coming up on Brennig Prime." She said, her voice a bit gravelly from a lack of sleep. "You got our landing coordinates?"

Page slipped into the co-pilot's seat and pulled up the navigation console, inputting the coordinates for her. Nara's fingers flew over her computer, setting their course. Finally, she leaned back in her seat, letting out a breath as she put her feet up on the console. Page settled in, his mind going through the next steps. He was finally there. The goal, the end-game.

But now what? Where would he go? Surely, Raylan would set him up with a ship...but after that? And Annikah was as big a problem. After the other night things had...developed. He couldn't, wouldn't ask her to abandon her family, her life for him. What were his options even? Abandon her again? He didn't think he could handle that. Turn himself in? That was certain death.

"I can HEAR those creaky wheels turning." Nara said, staring at him. "You're thinking about the girl, aren't you?"

Page's eyes turned toward her. He just nodded.

"Not a lot of options there, is there?" She asked.

Page was still not entirely comfortable talking personal business with her, but...she was involved. "I can't take her with me. She's got too much to lose."

"And what do you have?" Nara asked, leveling her gaze at him.

Annie. Annie was all he had to lose at this point, he decided. And he'd rather give her up than have her taken. "When it comes down to it...I need you to get her home."

Nara shot him a look...was it disappointment? It sure as hell looked like it. She looked away from him. "Yeah. Yeah, kicking and screaming, I'll get her there."

Page stared ahead, at least she would be okay. He could at least ensure that.

"I'm gonna go drop a line to my contact. Let me know when we're on our final approach."

Nara nodded and glanced back watching him leave. Slowly she shook her head. "Idiot."

Raylan Quarls made Annikah uneasy. He was slimy...like a bad game show host or sketchy used car salesman. His smiles all seemed false, and his laugh a mere show to give the illusion that he was at all invested in those around him. She didn't like him.

The man did, however pick a cherry place to hang his hat. The warm breeze caressed her skin, a brown tank top worn on top of her old, baggy utility cargo pants. The spread he'd had ready for them was absolutely delectable. She had more than her fair share of the salted pork and pineapple and was indulging pretty freely in the margaritas he's offered them.

Raylan held court telling a story about Page, his perfect, pretty blonde assistant sat at his side. Perfect posture, looking very businesslike in her grey skirt and white blouse. He golden hair was pulled back into a tight bun, a pair of dark-rimmed glasses on her flawless face. Annikah didn't like her much either. Thought she looked like she had "enough sticks up her ass to build several small condos", as she put it to Page.

"So, it's about 4 AM, we leave the bar, and this guy..." Raylan pointed to Page. "Is just ripped. Can't say his name correctly, RIPPED."

Page shook his head, slightly embarrassed. "This is all hyperbole..."

"I get us a cab, and he climbs up front next to the driver. One of those T-87 droids, right?"

Page shut his eyes and nodded.

"We get...maybe half a mile down the street, and this guy's talking to the droid, asking it's got kids and what it wants to be when it grows up. You know, just being a jackass..."

Annikah couldn't help the smirk that came to her face, glancing to Page. His blushing did please her.

"So, he's up there, making small talk with a droid and then...BOOM. Just boots all over the thing. And I mean, projectile, emptied his stomach and about 300 creds of alcohol on the thing. " Raylan started chuckling along with Nara. Annikah laughed despite herself.

"This is a terrible story." Page muttered and smirked.

"So, so, the bot pulls over and starts in on the spiel 'Attention Passengers: Regurgitation alert has been triggered yadayadayada' and the rest of us in back are all talking over eachother trying to tell Page not to worry about it and we'll pay for clean up..."

Page held up a hand, trying to stop the story. "alright..."

Raylan continued unabated. "But he just gets out of the car. We're like 'G! Get in the cab!' And he looks at us, and it's the dead of winter, mind you, and yells 'NOOOOOOOOO!'" Raylan was barely able to contain himself, he was laughing so hard. "And-and he-he just takes off running into the night!"

Page put his head in his hands and shook his head slowly. Annikah chuckled and gave him a nudge "Awww...poor pukey."

Page shot her a weary look. "They found me sitting outside the apartment with 12 tacos in a bag and one splattered all over me. Terrible night."

The laughter died down and they just relaxed. Annikah's attention returned to Page's friend. "How long you been out here on Brennig?" She asked.

"About ten years. Came to visit, fell in love with the place. Decided if I gotta hold a steady job, might as well do it in paradise, am I right?"

She nodded slowly. Ugh. Even the WAY he talked bothered her. "And what is it that you do."

Raylan sipped from his bottle of beer, peering down the table at the inquisitive little mechanic. "I'm an information broker."

Her brow furrowed at that. "What's that?"

He put on that plastic smile. "Well, let me ask you this. What is power?"

"I don't know...politics...holding office...commanding armies. Stuff like that." she responded.

He shook his head. "Governments, dictators, armies have all been toppled because they lacked knowledge. Mistakes in intel, not knowing where and when to strike. Not knowing who out there wants you dead. Not knowing who is and is not your friend. Information. THAT is power." He leveled his gaze at her, pride in his eyes that she didn't particularly feel comfortable with.

"Signals bounce around all over the galaxy. Secrets, lies, messages home, love letters, troop movements, bounties...everything. And I get my hands on all of them." Raylan flashed his grin again. "Imagine you're a general. You've got 15,000 troops stationed on a rock, waiting for an attack. Now, imagine you could know exactly when the enemy is going to attack. Exactly where and how. How much would you pay for that information?"

She narrowed her eyes slightly, that seemed wrong. "You put a price on people's lives?"

"I put a price on a service. My clients or potential clients...they've put a price on human lives."

"And you just profit from it." She added in accusatory tone.

"You don't like it." It was a statement, not a question. "Let me, guess. You'd just throw that information out there for everyone to get for free?​" He sniffed a laugh. "Your idealism is endearing, but na?ve. The universe isn't a nice place. It's brutal and hard and sometimes people die. If you aren't willing to do what you must to survive, then you won't. Simple as that. If it wasn't me, it would be someone else. And not everyone's quite as friendly a gent as I am."

The way he stared at her boiled her blood. She wanted to scramble across the table and beat him to a pulp. She wasn't even entirely sure why. "I think you underestimate people."

"And you overestimate them, sweetheart." he spat right back, his face never faltering.

Page saw the look in her eye and interjected. "Alright, alright. Take it easy, you two. Annie. Let's go for a walk, huh?"

She glared over at Raylan, her jaw tight. She blinked slowly and looked to Page, putting on a smile for his benefit. "Sure. Let's go." She stood and allowed Page to escort her away.

When they awoke the next morning, Annikah, Nara and Page discovered messages affixed to the outside of their rooms. And invitation for the three of them to join Raylan for big breakfast before they got to work that day. Each showered up and dressed, ready to go.

Sunlight poured in through the windows, everything bright and cheerful in the tropically decorated corridor. Their boots clip-clopping in the cavernous hall. "God help them if they have bacon." Annikah muttered, pulling her hair back in a band. "Because I will eat all of our body weight in that ****."

Page chuckled. "If he has REAL bacon and eggs, there might be a fight."

They reached the grand white doors that lead to the dining room, the glass windows blocked by the curtains on the other side. Page pushed the door open to find the room empty.

His brow furrowed, but he didn't panic.

"Late to his own party. Nice." Annikah said with a smirk. The three of them stepped into the room, Nara immediately set on edge. They wandered further into the dining room, walking along the long table.

"Ray?" Page called out, his voice echoing in the empty room. His own voice was the only response.

Suddenly, the 4 skylights overhead burst with a shattering bang, glass showing down toward them even as armed men dropped through them. Annikah was too busy covering herself to notice the man who dropped immediately behind her, but Page wasn't. The man grabbed Annikah from behind, but Page had already drawn his weapon. The blast seared the air, passing Annikah's shoulder so close she could feel the heat. The bolt slammed her attacker in the face, sending his suddenly lifeless body careening back into the wall.

As Page and Annikah were dealing with their own problem, Nara's arms dropped to her side, a pair of hold-out blasters sliding down a mechanism from inside her sleeves in her hands. Safeties off. She brought them up, immediately opening fire on one of the mercs just as he landed. His body was rocked from side to side as she riddled him full of holes. There was just enough time to see him hit the ground when she felt something large slam into her back and knock her to the ground. Her arms barely caught her as she hit, one of the pistols knocked from her hand and sliding across the marble floor.

Meanwhile, Page was grabbed from behind. He fought, trying to throw back an elbow, struggling against his foe before throwing his head back into the man's face. Page heard a sickening crack as blood burst from his opponent's nose. He slammed his heel down on the man's foot and shot back his elbow into his ribs. Finally, he managed to break free and whipped around just in time to get clocked across the face with the butt of a rifle. His head snapped back, a searing pain entering his skull as his vision seemed to go red.

As soon as Page had shot her captor, Annikah spun herself around, dropping to a knee, swiping his weapon from the ground. She turned and saw Page and then Nara go down. It seemed like both would be dead in the next few seconds if she didn't act immediately. She shouldered the rifle, took aim and squeezed the trigger. The first shot passed through Page's attacker's back and out of his chest. Page rolled to one side just as Annikah redirected her weapon to take aim on the man looming over Nara. He reached down and grabbed her by the shoulders and roughly turned her over. All the better to strangle her.

The bounty hunter let him roll her onto her back, but once she was facing him, she had her second pistol drawn, the barrel pressed against his chest. He looked down and then back at her.

Nara blew a kiss at him.

In unison, the three pulled their trigger, each putting a blast bolt through the last attacker, his body going rigid and still as the red laser fire burned through him. His mouth opened in stunned, fading agony, he dropped to his knees and then flat on his lifeless face.

The broadside of a weapon was shoved against Annikah's back, knocking her forward, barely able to stay on her feet. She shot a dirty look back at the burly male merc who shoved her. "Hey, Princess? You shove me again, I'm gonna shove that thing up your ass, okay?"


He smirked and gave her a rough shove. Annikah just gave a disbelieving laugh. "Oh-ho-hoooo...someone's getting a rifle-barrel colonoscopy..." She committed his face to memory. She would remember him when the time came. Out of the corner of her eye she saw them loading Page and Nara onto two separate shuttles. All the better to avoid them banding together and escaping, she guessed. The cramped passenger section of the shuttle was almost filled with armed men.

She was shoved into a seat. "Siddown." her captor muttered before turning to one of the others. "Lock her down."

Annikah glared up as she was roughly cuffed to her jump-chair. She stared up at the man locking her in. "Having fun?"

He only glanced at her, keeping at work.

"You look like you are. Enjoy it while you can. Because pretty soon. We're gonna escape. And you...him...all you mother ****ers are gonna die screamin'."

The merc laughed and locked down her last free appendage and left her sitting there. God, Page. The shit he'd gotten her involved in. He or the redhead had better come up with something soon or she was going to feel pretty stupid in front of the firing squad. Because she was plum out of ideas.

The ship rocked and rattled around her as they lifted off, breaking atmo and entering space shortly after. Annikah flexed her hands, trying to keep the circulation flowing as she listened to chatter on the radio. Suddenly there was flurry of activity on coms.

"HOLY- OUT! -AYDAY! MAY- OU-!" and then silence. The pilots looked to each other in confusion and turned on their own comlinks. "We didn't copy that, 117, repeat, over?"

Silence followed.

"I say again, 117, we did not copy your last transmission. Repeat. Over."

A small smile crept across Annikah's face.

Boggs sneered across the crew compartment, those dark eyes watching Page. Trapped like a rat. Finally, he had him. And, boy, he was gonna make the man hurt.

"I know what you're thinkin'." Boggs said. "You're thinkin' you're gonna weasel your way out of this. Like you do with everything else in your life. " Boggs leaned his elbows on his knees, his head tilting to one side.

"But you're not. You're gonna beg. And you're gonna scream. And when I'm bored, then you're gonna die." Boggs leaned back against the bulkhead as the coms crackled to life, full of activity. "What's going on?"

Brynn glanced over her shoulder, back at him. "Not sure. They're breaking up. Must be atmospheric interference."

Boggs quirked his eyebrow. "Ring them back."

Brynn pushed a button before speaking. "We didn't copy that, 117, repeat, over?" She waited through the silence. This was setting off more than a few red flags. "I say again, 117, we did not copy your last transmission. Repeat. Over."

Finally, the response came. "This is 117, situation under control. The bounty hunter is down. We have casualties."

Boggs grumbled and sat back in his jump seat. Brynn it the coms again. "Copy. Will deal with clean up upon arrival. Over."

Brynn's fingers moved over the controls, dropping the ship back suddenly. Page shot a look her way. She wasn't buying it. She fell in behind the shuttle, lining up the guns. The pilot's voice came back. "Uh...101, this is 117, you've dropped out of formation. What's wrong."

Boggs just stared at Page. "Blow her out of the sky." he said with acid in his voice.

The shuttle had it's shot and fired. Nara's shuttle suddenly launched into evasive maneuver's cork screwing away from the blasts. Brynn looked over her shoulder. "Strap in, this is going to get bumpy."

She dove after Nara's ship, guns blazing. The Shuttle narrowly missing every blast. Nara led her toward the Allomerus, engines kicked to full. The underside cannons swiveled backwards and fired a few suppressing shots back at Brynn. The blonde turncoat lined up a shot and fired. The direct hit nailed their deflective shields. The shuttle banked harshly with the impact, before righting itself.

Nara lead them into the mess of spire-like sensor arrays at the front of the Allomerus, keeping tight quarters, weaving and bobbing around the spikes. Another direct hit nearly sent them slamming into one of the spires.
Brynn was trying her damnedest to keep up, but Nara was one HELL of a pilot. She rolled downward in a stomach turning dive. Brynn jerked the controls, their wing clipping one of the arrays. She winced and grit her teeth. "Son of a bitch..."

Nara's shuttle spun wildly as laser fire flew all around her, using every bit of her skill to dodge them and the jutting spikes of the Allomerus. Brynn locked her eyes on an approaching spire an directed a shot that would force Nara into it. The squeezed the trigger and it ALMOST worked. Nara looped away and them immediately back where she had fired. But Brynn was ready. Even as she was looping back, the blonde was squeezing the triggers.

Nara's shuttle jerked with the impact of the shots, her shields suddenly failing. Brynn's system told her what she knew she had seen. A sinister smirk crossing her lips as she opened fire. The blasts hit their target, bursting against the hull and engines. First the port exploded in fiery bit s of shrapnel and debris. Then the Starboard joined a second later. A burst of light and Nara's shuttle blew apart before Page's eyes.

He couldn't believe it. Nara was gone.

Page saw Annikah take a hit and lunged forth just before the butt of a rifle slammed against the back of his head.

The world went away. Nothing. Just blackness. He was at peace. No pain. No worry. No Boggs, no Brynn. No more running and hiding. Just blissful unconsciousness.

The world came flooding back, a blinding light right in his eyes and a swelling, searing pain radiating from behind his head. He tried to move his arms but found they were strapped down tightly at the wrist. The surface was flat, hard and metallic. Not at all comfortable. He tried to move his legs and found they, too, were locked down.

Well, this was bad. Think, think, he told himself. There had to be something he could do. There was always a way out. Right?

Page heard footsteps behind him and immediately knew who it was. That ugly mug came into sight. Almost without thinking Page yanked his arms as if he could break his restraints and choke the life out of Boggs.

Those dark eyes scrutinized him carefully, a smile on the scarred face. "Look. At. You. Guess that famous luck ran out, eh, Page?"

The smuggler's hazel eyes locked onto Boggs, not dignifying him with a response.

"What's the matter? No threats? No snarky comeback?" Boggs asked, picking up a shock rod. "Maybe you're just shy, huh? Let's see if we can't get you talkin'." He flipped a switch and jammed the prod into Page's side. Agony shot through his body as his back arched so hard he thought his spine might break. Every nerve was screaming, every inch of him in pain. His his fists clenched hard and pulled against his restraints, his body writing and shaking and his mouth open in a soundless scream.

Boggs pulled away the prod and Page slammed down against the table, gasping for breath, those eyes bleary and weak. Boggs circled around him, chuckling. "Oooooh yeah...Now we're talkin'. You like that?"

Page grit his teeth and pulled as hard as he could against his restraints, groaning through his teeth.

"Still a hard head, huh? Good." Again, that prod hit him in the side, again his body writhed in anguish.

Boggs pulled away, again laughing. "Yeah...we're gonna have ourselves a *good* time." He switched off and threw away the prod. His scarred fist wrapped around a handle and yanked open a drawer. Boggs produced a vicious looking knife, holding it up in front of his face a moment, admiring it's gnarled blade. He turned his head slowly to Page a small grin working it's way to his face.

Page breathed in through his nose, trying to prepare himself for what was to come. His body still ached from the prod, and things were only going to get worse.

His screams could be heard echoing well done the hall.

One Hour Earlier

Nara was in the copilot's seat, half clad in her armor and trying her damnedest to evade the laser fire coming all around them. The Pilot had relinquished controls and was currently curled up in a terrified ball as Boggs' shuttle pursued them. "Hey. Shaky! Straighten up. I need you on that cannon!"

The pilot looked over to her in wide-eyed terror. She gave him a withering look. "Man, I'm not ****in' around here. Get on that gun. Suppressing shots only, we're not trying to kill them!"

Hesitantly, he took the firing controls and opened up on the pursuing ship. Not that he would have been much good as a gunner in his current condition. Suddenly the ship lurched as they were hit. "God dammit..." She put her engines to full and shot off for the Allomerus, flying with one and hand sliding on a gauntlet with the other. She about had the glove on when another impact knocked them sidelong into one of the giant sensor arrays. Nara's eyes went wide as she scrambled to correct.

Beneath her gloves, her knuckles were white, gripping the controls. The quarters were tight as she banked and weaved, more than once scraping the wings against the spires. The laser fire was intense and near constant, getting closer and closer by the second. She saw one blast coming and broke right...her heart dropping and eyes widening as she almost blasted into a sensor spike. She bit down on her lip, throwing the shuttle into a barrel roll to the left, just barely getting out. She looked over to the stunned pilot and the two shared a laugh.

Their revelry was short-lived, though. The ship took a direct hit and klaxons sounded. Their shields were gone. "Oh no..."

Suddenly another blast burst through the back of the ship, passing through the engine block and the crew quarters, erupting through the chest of the pilot. Nara stared wide-eyed at the smoldering hole. Hull breach alarms sounded as the ship was pounded with blasterfire. She got up out of her seat as the left engine blew, stumbling to the emergency exit, her fist hovering over the release. She pressed a button at her neck and segmented helmet rose, forming over her head. Nara jammed her fist against the release and the door blew. The bounty hunter leaped out into zero gravity.

She was lucky the blasts that took out the engines had slowed them down otherwise when she hit the spire it might have broke every bone in her body. As it was it just knocked the wind from her temporarily. She worked through it, though, clutching hard to the metallic spike as the shuttle continued ahead, erupting in a blinding flash, Boggs' shuttle passing through the debris. Nara stared ahead, getting her breath back, magnetic grips keeping her from floating.

They bought it. They thought she was dead. With a grunt she pulled herself up, and turned back to the ship. Now. To get in.

~~~

Nara worked her way carefully to the port bow, her magnetic boots keeping her from drifting. Finally she found herself at an access hatch. She pulled on the latch only to find it locked. The bounty hunter cursed under her breath. She pressed her fingers to her palm again. The light-blade glowing to life and forming around her wrist. Her jaw set as she brought her arm back. With a grunt, she jammed the blade through the last, a burst of oxygen escaping from within. She pulled the door open and slipped inside, shutting it behind her.

When she was inside, she climbed down the maintenance tube quietly as she could. She could hear voices and held up. Trying to hear where they were. One hand reached up to her helmet, touching the side and activating the heads up display. A 3D grid readout in her visor. One hand drew her sidearm as she readied herself. Nara pushed off the ladder, spinning her body as she fell to the steel floor grating. She landed in a crouch facing both. One arm raised and put a shot in the first man's chest as the second drew another pistol. Before the first man could even hit the ground she blasted the second man in the face.

Nara scanned the area, nobody else around, thank god. She rose up and moved to computer pulling up the schematics of the ship, looking for the detention block. Seemed like the most obvious choice. She only hoped she'd get there in time.

It was a day like any other. The pair standing at their station where nothing ever happened. Brad leaned his tall, muscular self against the door way, stun rod in his hand, flipping it end over end again and again, catching the handle.

Joe stared over at him, dim look on his face and a crossword puzzle book in his hand. "You have that turned off, right?"

Brad went to answer, but stopped himself and double checked. "...Yeah. Yeah, of course..." Subtly, he flipped the switch on the prod to the off position.

Back to flipping the shock Baton over and over again. Joe sighed to himself looking around. Oop! Was that something?! Nope. Nope. Just a maintenance worker.

"Dude, you ever say a word so much it stops sound like a word?" Brad asked.

Joe slowly looked over to his partner, almost afraid to answer.

"Like plug. I was saying plug the other day and it just kept bouncing in my brain, right? Plug. Plug."

Joe's brow furrowed and he stared off. "Plug..."

Brad looked over wide-eyed as if Joe was getting it. "PlllllUG."

Joe mouthed the word to himself again, staring off, before turning his attention back to his crossword puzzle.

"Six letter word for a sort of wild dog..." He said, thinking.

"Dog." Brad said immediately.

"...That's...that's 3. It says six."

Brad looked disappointed. "Oh...Bad...dog?"

Joe looked over to him as if exhausted with his stupidity.

"There's a k in th-"

"Killer dog!"

"N...no. No that's...like...20 letters."

Brad sighed and leaned his head back against the wall. "Duuuuude...this is effing boring! We should be out busting skulls and kicking asses! Not standing here holding up the wall!"

Joe shrugged "Eh. I'm good. Besides, we're doing something important. We're making sure nobody gets into the hangar bay. That's super important!"

"It's lame. It's dull and it's lame." Brad shot back in a dull voice. "Nothing's ever going to happen here."

The click of the rifle brought them around to figures now standing at the end of the hall. Three of them, all pointing weapons at them.

Joe immediately dropped his crossword book and raised his hands. Brad shot him a look. "Dude!"

The armored redhead stepped toward them. "Against the wall, both of you!" she commanded.

Reluctantly, Brad joined Joe as the redhead fished a pair of binders from each of them and clasped their hands behind their back. "On the ground, now!" She yelled at them.

Both men slumped to ground, hands cuffed behind their backs while she opened the door. The other two hobbled through before the Redhead passed inside. She popped her head out. "By the way...it's Jackal."

And then she was gone. Joe's eyes widened and he stared at his crossword book. Brad just glared at him and kicked it out of reach.

The Dragon's Tooth shot out from the Alomerus' docking bay. Nara sat at the controls, frustrated. "What the hell did they do to you..." She muttered. Whatever they'd done to get the ship airborne had completely jacked up her systems, which made plotting an FTL jump a living nightmare.

The Allomerus turned and pursued the smaller craft, raining laser blasts at the fleeing ship. Page was tending to Annikah's wounded shoulder the ship lurched, hit by a blast. He finished bandaging up her shoulder and kissed her forehead, leaving her lying on the cot. He climbed down into the cockpit and came up behind Nara. "What's going on? Why are we still here?"

"That bitch mucked up our systems. I'm trying to work through her mess so I can plot an FTL jump." She pulled the ship out of the path of a blast from their pursuer. "Not so easy when you're getting shot at." The ship was rocked by another massive impact. Shield warnings blared all over the cockpit.

Page slid into the copilot's seat, "What can I do?" he asked.

"Redirect power from the forward deflectors." Her sharp emerald eyes checking readouts, and keeping and eye out behind them at the same time. Annikah stepped down the ladder carefully, looking up at the view screens and seeing the Allomerus in pursuit. Her jaw tightened as she watched.

Snub fighters flew out of the huge mining ship, falling into attack pattern. "We've got incoming." Page said, a twinge of fear in his voice.

"I see them." Nara said in a monotone voice. "Get up on the guns, we're gonna need to keep them off us."

"What about you, you need help!"

Annikah put her hand on his shoulder. "Go, I've got this."

Page shot her a pained look. "You've got it? You've got one functioning arm."

"Yeah, and I'm better one handed at computer systems than you are with your whole body. Go!" She pulled him out of the chair, Page not putting up much of a fight. Annikah slipped her slender frame in the seat. "Right. You focus on keeping us from blowing up, I'll work the kinks out of the system and get us the hell out of here."

Nara smirked over to her and focused on flying. "Yes, ma'am."

Page strapped himself into the gunner station and pulled on his head set. His fingers flew across the screen, bringing the guns to life. "Alright, I'm in." He wheeled the main turret around at the pursuing fighters.

The turret let loose a series of shots, tearing a few of the small ships to fiery bits. The other's scattered under a hail laser fire.

On the bridge of the Allomerus, Boggs sat and watched the pursuit with a scowl. "Put me through." he said to the helmsman. "I want that ship brought down, you hear me? They do NOT leave the system this time."

The doors to the cockpit slid open and Brynn strode in, a bandage over one side of her face. "That won't be a problem." She stormed up beside him. "I scrambled their systems to hell and back. By the time they even get close to making an FTL jump, they'll be dust."

The Dragon's Tooth soared through the burning wreck of another fighter. Nara grimaced as Annikah reported two more. fighters on their tails. The bounty hunter pressed the com switch. "We're getting swarmed here, pick it up!"

"Doin' my best!" his voice crackled over the radio.

"Do better!"

Laser blasts shot back at their pursuers, igniting one in huge inferno. Another blast hit them, jerking the ship to the right. Page slammed against his harness. "We alright up there?" he called into his headset.

In the cockpit Nara and Annikah were in a frenzy. Alarms were sounding all over. Nara got on the coms, "Shields are down to 10%, we've got a flame out on the number 4 engine, and they've got a half dozen more bogies inbound. So, no!"

She sent the Dragon's Tooth into a wild corkscrew, evading as best as she could. Page grit his teeth, things had gotten very desperate. They were a giant target and it didn't seem like they were going to be able to make the FTL jump any time soon. Maybe they could use a distraction.

Annikah was hard at work when she heard the footsteps coming down the ladder. She threw a glance over her shoulder and saw Page going out the cockpit doorway. Her eyes went wide and she shot out of her chair. "PAGE!"

Nara looked back, frantic. "What the hell is he doing?!"

The door slide shut and Page locked it from the other side. He looked through the porthole at Annikah with apologetic eyes.

"Page, please! What is going on?! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?" She yelled, slamming her fist on the door, trying the get it open. She could see but not hear his words.

"Goodbye."

He moved as quick as he could, climbing into the cockpit of the Star Runner. Annikah pounded on the door desperately, tears streaming down her face. The smuggler pulled on his headset and fired up the little racer's systems.

Nara called back to Annikah "I need you up here! Come on!"

No response from the slim mechanic.

"Annikah! Get up here and get this ship's FTL system running or we're ALL dead!"

Finally, but reluctantly, she returned, sliding into her seat. Page's voice came over their radio. "Open the ramp."

Nara glanced to the speaker, "What are you doing, man?"

"Buying you some time. Open her up."

Nara glanced to Annikah, the woman staring back almost pleading for her not to. "I'm sorry." She said to Annikah. The mechanic's shoulders slumped, her heart dropping into her stomach Nara engaged the airlock sequence, the ramp slowly dropping.

Page engaged reverse thrusters and prepared the engine start-up sequence, counting down in his head. "Five...four...three...two..."

At one he kicked the reverse thrusters to full the little ship shooting backwards out of the cargo hold of the Dragon's Tooth, her wings lowering into flight mode even as she passed through the entry way of the larger ship. The second he was clear, Page threw the engines into full forward propulsion. He rocketed off, breaking away as fast as he could. Several fighters took off after him.

Page brought himself around heading toward the Alomerus, and putting all deflector shielding to the rear of the ship. Weaving, rolling and twisting, the Star Runner eluded the red lasers of the Merc ships. On the bridge of the Alomerus, Boggs laughed in disbelief. "Is that moron actually charging us?" He shook his head and turned to a weapons operator. "Lock on. End him."

The Star Runner continued onward, blasting ahead at full speed, the pursuing crafts trying desperately to keep up. The main cannons of the Alomerus locked onto him. Now, he stayed steady, letting them find their shot. As soon as the cannons let loose, he put full power to the forward underside thrusters, the tiny ship flipping around to face his pursuers. All engines forward.

The ships were torn apart as he flew past and the Alomerus' salvo tore through them in a blinding burst of light and shattered ship guts.

Meanwhile, the Dragon's Tooth was dealing with it's own pursuers, the automated cannon and Nara doing their best to pick off enemy fighters. "I got it!" Annikah exclaimed.

"What, the FTL?" Nara asked, focused on the job at hand.

"Nope. Even better." the mechanic said with a sly little grin.


The Star Runner burst through an explosion, flames from the other ship licking off her hull as she passed. Page led one ship directly into the path of another, maneuvering away just in time for them to slam into each other. Sweat beaded and ran down his forehead as he flew, keeping his attackers at bay as much as possible.

Boggs was growing impatient. Brynn stared out the view port at the battle, steely green eyes taking in the battle with a scowl. She turned to one of the operators. "Focus your firepower on the Dragon's Tooth. Do not destroy her. I want that ship crippled."

The Operator nodded. "Yes ma'am."

Those eyes locked onto the Bounty Hunter's ship a small smirk crossing her lips.

Annikah hadn't yet given up on the getting the FTL working, but now she was dividing her time between that and picking off fighters where she could. Suddenly, the ship lurched forward as an ion blast hit hard against the rear of the ship. Lights and systems flickered and then went dead. Annikah looked up in horror, as they did not return. "Oh no..."

Nara felt like her stomach just did a backflip inside of her. "We've lost flight controls...shields are...they're gone. Life support is...it's weak, but it's hanging in there."

"What about weapons?" Annikah asked.

"Automated firing is gone...but..." She gave Annikah a wide-eyed look. The two of them climbed out of their seats and the two of them ran for the turrets. The pair slid into their respective seats, bringing up the guns. "Alright," Nara said, "We can't run, but damned if I'm going out without a fight! You ready?"

Annikah set her jaw, this was going to be tricky with her arm, but she nodded. "Good to go." The women set their jaws and went to work.


Page watched in horror as the Dragon's Tooth was left drifting dead in the water. Fighters were already redirecting to attack their wounded prey. Page whipped around and kicked into full burn. Guns blazing he tore through space, taking out one of the attacking fighters as he passed. Nara and Annikah were doing their best, the ship still taking a few hits, but they were mostly keeping safe. One of the fighters chasing Page flew right into the path of Nara's shot, reducing it to flaming wreckage that slammed into another ship.

The Star Runner looped back, picking off enemy fighters here and there where he could. He knew they couldn't keep this up. Eventually, Boggs would get tired of this game and blow them out of the black. Why the hell wasn't he firing, Page wondered. He was the sort of sadistic bastard to toy them along, he supposed, but it was costing a lot of men and ships. Was he THAT far gone?

Boggs ran a hand over his bald, scarred head, the scowl on his face replaced with a smirk. He was enjoying this. "You believe this *** hole is still alive? Persistent sumbitch, I'll give him that."

Brynn was less than amused, she wanted this over with. "That's enough. Kill them. Kill them all."

Boggs held up a hand. "Give 'em a minute. Let 'em think they've got this."

"I'm sick of your little game, you psychotic fuck! Kill them now and let's get the hell out of here!" Brynn snapped at him, rage filling her voice and eyes.

Boggs' smirk faded. He drew himself up. "You watch your mouth, baby doll. You think I won't crack that..." He sniffed a little laugh "Pretty mug of your's, you got another thing coming."

Brynn glared up at him, her fists clenching, her heart pounding. She was ready to kill him.

"You keep lookin' at me like that, blondie, and I might have to get nasty." He said, arrogance in his voice.

She just turned and walked away. The command crew all watched her go and then turned their attention to Boggs who only grinned to himself. "Let her go. We don't need her."

Brynn took the first lift down to the docking bays. She stormed up to a shuttle and boarded, engaging the weapons even as she lifted off the metal flooring. She launched out of the ship and toward the Dragon's Tooth.

"Sir?" One of the operators said. "We're showing a shuttle heading for the Dragon's Tooth."

Boggs leaned forward. "Ballsy. But you're gonna regret it sweet heart."

Brynn focused ahead as she approached the fire fight. Page tore through another fighter, eyes on the turrets of the Dragon's Tooth. There were no coms, but the fact that both guns were still shooting was a good sign. Annikah was still alive, and as long as she was still alive, he would keep-

Suddenly the Star Runner was hit from behind, throwing him against his harness so hard it hurt. He looked around in confusion as two more blasts hit, absorbed by the weakening shields. He looked back and saw the attack shuttle gaining on him. He cursed under his breath and took evasive maneuvers. The shuttle was no match for the speed of the Page's Star Runner of course, but that wasn't the plan. She watched him zip past her, weapons firing harmlessly against her shields, and come back around behind her. She smirked and pressed a button on the control panel. From the rear of the shuttle a mine was released. She hit the engines to full, moving away as fast as she could. As soon as Page was in range, the mine detonated. His ship shuddered as the systems all went dead. The controls blacked out, the engines puttered to a stop. He was drifting.

Brynn sneered about ready to turn and finish him off when she was hit by a blast from the Alomerus. She was barely able to stay in her seat as the ship was rocked. That son of a bitch! He shot at her!

Boggs was not amused. He wasn't done with Page and she ruined it. She took away his toy. "Told you sweetie. Don't piss off daddy." He nodded to his gunners.

To hell with him, she thought. She'd catch up to him again. And she would make him pay. But not today. Brynn's shuttle suddenly disappeared, leaping away in an FTL jump.

Boggs glared, but he had more pressing matters. He turned to look at the drifting ships. Well. Might as well finish the job.

Nara and Annikah watched as the fighters broke off, returning to the Alomerus. Suddenly, it felt like the air left the room as they realized what it meant. This was not good. The women looked to one another. Nara gave her a sad smile. "Well. We had a good run."

Annikah lowered her eyes a moment and swallowed before turning her attention to the Star Runner. Page was in there. She would give anything to be with him right now. To hold him, to tell him what he meant to her. To kiss him and say goodbye. The mechanic slid her eyes shut and waited. Her plan had failed.

Page was in the cockpit staring at the Alomerus as it pulled into attack position. This couldn't be how it ended. He'd been in dire situation after dire situation and gotten out relatively unscathed. How could he die like this? But he was. This was the way his story would end. Out in the middle of space, separated from the people he cared about, once again alone in the cramped cockpit of the Star Runner. Just as this whole thing had started. He had a little laugh at that. It figured.

Suddenly, he saw little pinpoints of light appear...someone was jumping into the system. Seconds later, his face lit up as United Systems Military ships shot into view. Fighters and warships leapt forward, zooming past the crippled Star Runner. Annikah howled as the ships passed them, heading directly for the Alomerus. Her call for them had worked. Nara grabbed her from behind in her chair, hugging the girl tight. "GAH! ARM! ARM!"

Boggs' eyes went wide as the ships came into the system. He turned to his men. "GO! GO! GET US AN ESCAPE ROUTE!"

"Where, sir?" The operator asked in a panic.

"Anywhere!" he shouted back.

Proton torpedoes sailed at the ship from all sides, the FTL drive damaged and unable to jump. Boggs was losing his cool now. Their escape was effectively cut off. "Attention, rogue ship designation 'Alomerus', this is Commander Nathan Hudson of the United Systems Military. Stand down and prepare to be boarded." The voice came over the speaker.

Boggs' expression darkened. He turned on his men "Open fire!"

Page watched as the Alomerus turned and unleashed its payload on the military ships, earning a massive barrage in response. Fire poured in from all sides, explosions bursting all over the massive ship.

On the bridge of the Alomerus, warning alarms screamed over the sound of explosions all over the ship. "Sir, our shields are gone!" "Hull breaches on decks 7, 11, and 14!" "Propulsion systems are down!" It cames from all around him. The world was crumbling around Boggs. He just stared ahead, an angry, blank expression on his face. "We have a reactor leak in the main engine compartment! We're gonna overload! What do we do?!" His men looked to him expectantly.

Boggs ran his tongue along the front of his upper teeth and nodded, spitting on the ground. "You son of a bitch. Well played."

The black of space suddenly lit up as the Alomerus exploded. Page had to cover his eyes from the blinding light of the burst. The ship flew apart in thousands of burning pieces. He let out a breath, slumping back against his seat, a smile creeping onto his face. It was done. Boggs was gone. They were safe.