Writing Right Back At It [PG-13]

[Justin]

"Why fault perfection?" Kylju said innocently.
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"Where can I find Blaire Regal?" Kylju put a firm fist down on the desk.

"Do you have an appointment?" The secretary asked.

Kylju could feel his temper rising, turning his blood into ice water, "No, [i]lady[/i]." Suddenly, his voice became iced over with a tinge of the Force, "I don't need an appointment."

"You don't need an appointment. You will find Mr. Regal on the 7th floor, he's busy at the moment so you'll have to wait."

"You will tell me the security layout of this facility."

"I will tell you the seciurity layout of this facility. There are hidden holocams along all the walls, sensors to detect any weapon discharge, and well-armed security personell and droids on constant patrol." The secretary said in a daze.

"Thank you." Kylju proceeded down the hall.

Ana followed him, "So, you are a Jedi?"

"No." Kylju didn't much care for conversation at the moment. Every few steps he would reched out and touch either side of the wall.

"Then, how can you do [i]that[/i]?" Ana gestured back to the secretary, who was still in a daze.

"I'm Force-sensitive. I have slightly developed skills, but I cut my training short." Kylju stopped and closed his eyes. Then, a security guard fell out, choking, from behind a desk in an annex next to them.

"Slightly?"

"I'm gifted." Klyju disarmed the dead guard and then continued down the hall. He paused, and ducked inside another annex, pulling Ana with him.

"What ARE you doing?" Ana asked.

"Stopping. We need a plan."

"Ok, shoot." Ana said.

"Me? I was hoping YOU had one..." Kyju poked himself in the chest.

"Oh, Copal..."

-Justin

[BabyGirl]

[color=purple] ??maybe we shouldn?t touch him now. We should wait until he?s at home or something.?

?That?s what we?re doing, Ana. We?re [I]following[/I] him there.?

?Oh.?

Kylju pointed toward the ceiling, ?We just need to figure out how to get up there. Are you any good at seducing??

Ana?s jaw dropped, ?You?ve got to be kidding.?

He shook his head, ?I can slip past people a bit more easily than you.?

?No. Absolutely not.? Ana crossed her arms, hardly willing to flaunt herself around a few guards with raging hormones, ?And how would that work on droids, anyway??

?I can take care of the droids?it?s the living beings that I need your help with.?

She groaned and found that irritation was catching up with her again, ?I can?t denounce myself to that.?

?Ana, listen, you?re the one who wants to get this guy?I?m just along for the ride. You can do it my way or not do it at all?either way, it doesn?t matter much to me.?

Ana tore her gaze away from his eyes, they were mesmerizing her, ?No. I won?t do it your way. We?ll do it my way.?

Impatience caused Kylju to ball his hands into fists, ?And what exactly would that be??

?Find me where all transports are docked in here and I can tell you exactly which one he flies.?[/color]

[Justin]

Kylju and Ana were laying one atop the other in a small cargo compartment of Regal's transport. Kylju felt strangely tense, being so close to Ana. He was rather sure she was thouroughly disgusted, but he was itching with anxiety about it.

"Close quaters, huh?" He said, shakily.

"Yeah." Ana feined disgust as best she could, but she found that she really didn't mind being pressed against him like this. In fact, she almost thought she felt something she had not felt in a long time--desire. Desire for a man.

"Look, I'm sorry. But there's not a better place. We'd get caught anywhere else." Kylju explained.

"If you don't quiet your mouth we'll get caught anway." Ana tried being as mean as possible.

"Whatever. Stupid *****." The last part wasn't meant to escape his lips, but it did.

"[i]What[/i] did you call me?" Ana rolled over to face him and the expression of rage on her face nearly scared Kylju.

"You heard me. I tried apologizing, you lash out at me. There's just no pleasing you, huh?" Kyle gazed at her coldly.

Ana suddenly realized she wasn't very angry at him, but she did want him to shut up. But before she could fully decide what to do, her lips were already pressed tightly against his. Except this time it was [i]her[/i] who did the kissing.

Kylju released his grip and found himself returning the passion in Ana's kiss with his own.

Ana pulled back, "Why does that keep happening?!" She asked with frustration.

"Hey...it was all you this time, lady." Kylju raised his hands up to face-level.

"Stop calling me that!" Ana said, trying to clear her head.

"Whatever, [i]lady[/i]." Kylju said. "We're slowing down. We must be nearing his home."

"Finally."

-Justin

[BabyGirl]

[color=purple]They waited until the ship had been settled for fifteen minutes before they attempted to move. Better safe than sorry.

"Greedy son of a *****." Ana muttered as she slid out of the transport and caught sight of Regal's extensive ship collection.

"Did you expect anything less? Stay close." As she started to wander away from the transport, Kylju pulled her back, "There's security all over this place."

Ana was still oogling over the ships, "They're all of the Brion line. He was always partial to Brion."

"We can talk about the merchandise later, Ana. First we have to figure out how to get from here to inside the house."

"Right." Ana nodded and glanced up at him, "I take it you don't have a plan again?"

"Very funny. And actually, I [i]do[/i] have a plan this time."

"Praise Copal."

Klyju had pulled out a handheld device that Ana didn't recognize, "When we're done I'm going to make you explain who the hell this Copal person is."

"Oh, he was?"

Kylju held up a finger to stop her, "When we're done."

"Fine. What is that?" Ana pointed to the handheld.

"It's locating hidden security for me, and," Kylju stopped to listen and smiled when a constant hum suddenly fell silent, "shutting all of it off."[/color]

[Justin]

"Tada.."Kylju whispered in Ana's ear. They were in a ventilation shaft now, in the ceiling of Regal private bed chamber. Regal was just starting in on some innocent young girl.

"Grrr..." Ana moved to kicked open the vent, but Kylju caught her foot.

"Do you [i]want[/i] to get caught?!" He said in a raised whisper.

Ana was, at first, angry that he had stopped her, but then she realized that he was the experienced one in doing things like this. She just wodered how long she'd have to sit in this cold shaft with him.


"Now...go." Regal ordered the young girl. Without so much much as a look, she obeyed.

"Bring me something to eat and a good bottle of Corellian whiskey." He shouted to his aid outside in the hall.

"Yes, sir."


Kylju waited until Regal was completely drunk with the whiskey and nearly asleep, tehn he kicked the vent out, and he and Ana dropped into the bed chamber. Regal didn't even noticed them.

Kylju moved, swiftly and silently, to a position at the door, and drew his blaster. Not sensing anyone on the other side, he turned his attention back to Ana.

Ana was standing over an unconscious Regal, nearly quivering with rage. Kyju watched her stand there just like that for nearly 10 minutes, and finally, he began to wonder if she was actually going to go through with it.

-Justin

[BabyGirl]

[color=purple]Ana's eyes were narrowed as she spun back to face Klyju, "Find me a holo-anything."

"Holo...anything?"

"I need to record a message," she started rummaging through Regal's desk, "preferably one that shows my face. Ah!" She pulled out a holocube, "This will work! Hold it for me."

Kylju, seeing that he wasn't in any position to disturb her, obliged.

"Ok, press record. I'm ready." Ana took a deep breath and nodded at him as he switched it into recording mode, "Hello Blaire, you'd never guess what happened to me today. I just happened by Borleias and decided to check up on my old friend...you! How [i]are[/i] you?" Klyju was taken aback by her approach, he'd expected her to be cool and glaring, instead she was dangerously friendly...there was no mistaking the underlying hatred in her voice.

"Well Blaire, here's the deal. I was remembering the old days at the academy, and I thought that perhaps you'd like to play a little one-on-one with me. You, me, and our starfighters." She glanced at the chronometer above his bed, "Meet me at 0800 at the Larghri docks." She reached toward the cube as if to turn it off and paused, "And Blaire, don't try anything stupid like showing up with a bunch of your henchmen...or not showing up at all. Until then." She flashed a brilliant smile, and nodded at Klyju to switch it off.

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"That was interesting." Kylju dropped down a window outside of Regal's place, "Are you sure he'll come?"

"He can't resist a challenge, a chance to once again prove that he's a better pilot than me. Which," Ana quickly said, still fuming, "is incredibly not true. I'm not trying to put myself on a pedestal, but he's always thought he was better than I and always trying to prove it and I'm sick of it!" She shook her fists at the sky to accentuate her point.

"I see. What if he [i]does[/i] show up with a bunch of henchmen?"

"That would cramp his style. He's too prideful to do that."

"Well," Kylju muttered as the two set off in search of a transport back to the spaceport, "I sure hope you're right."[/color]

[Justin]

I've decided to revive this story--to bring it up, and finish it off. I would've asked Jenna's permission to do so, but my efforts to contact her recently have failed. I extend an invitation to her and her alone to join me in the effort. If you read, then enjoy.
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Kylju hit the ground running in a way only someone with the Force's aid ever could hope for. He was hoping to get to his own ship with enough time to prep it. There was a bounty on Regal's head too, and he didn't intend to walk away from this thing empty handed should Ana not make it out alive--at least, that's what he wanted Ana to think he was thinking. He was trying his best to make her avoid the thought that he truly cared what happened to her. That he might be prepping his ship in case Blaire were to try and cheat.

Ana was convinced Regal was too prideful for that. But Kylju knew this type all too well. Sure, he'd go it alone, until he knew he was finished. Then, he'd pull something out of his sleeve. "[i]Just in case.[/i]" Kylju thought, "[i]Just in case.[/i]"

The door slid open, and Kyju was almost instantly at his fighter. By the time Ana caught up, he was already inside prepping it. "What are [i]you[/i] doing? Our deal was that [i]I[/i] would get to kill him; you've done your job, sir."

"Don't worry, [i]lady[/i], I'm not gonna take your glory from you. But there's a bounty on his head too. Should you not limp away from this one, I don't want to leave this place totally empty-handed."

A sudden flash of rage came of Ana, "Is that all you think about? Yourself? Whether or not [i]your[/i] sorry self gets anything or not?! You're so selfish!" Ana stormed around to her own ship, and began prepping it for battle.

"If you only knew..." Kylju said, far too low to be heard by anyone but himself. "If only..."
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It was much, much later in the day when Blaire finally awoke. It was to the sound of a beeping, blinking holocom. "What the--?" Blaire reached over and turned it on. It was Ana, of all the people in the Galaxy. Not only was it Ana, but she was smiling.


"How dare she?!" said Blaire quivering. "Her, challenge me!? She's nothing but a coldhearted daughter of a wampa! Who is she to challenge me!?" Once he had viewed the message in its entirety, he shot straight up, only to stumble and fall back down. He called for his butler with a raging, quivering voice. The butler came and helped him up. Then, he shot, stumblingly off to his locker room to prepare to finally [i]remove[/i] this thorn from his side once and for all.
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"Are you ready over there?" Kyju broke the 20 minute silence that had settled over the docking bay.
"What does it matter to you?" Ana barked back.
"Oh, not much. I'd just like to know if you'll make it out or if I'll hit payday today." Kylju said with vengeful sarcasm.
"Don't count your credits 'til you've earned them, sir." She said balefully back.
"I haven't yet, lady. Not yet." He said, and then closed his cockpit before she could say anything else.

In the silence of his cockpit (one which was broken only by various hums of machinery, and the occasional bleep or chirp from his astromech, R5), he let his mind wander. It was a dangerous thing, especially in times of uncertainty--times like this one. He thought of the last few days, and suddenly found himself longing again for Tatooine. "[i]Anything,[/i]" he thought, "[i]but this place.[/i]"

Ana was driving him mad; mad with anger, with passion, even...maybe...with something like love. "No." He said. "No." He pushed the thought away from his mind. Women never brought anything but trouble, he’d learned that much in his time. She was no different, no different at all.

-Justin

---

Blaire took a few pills to kill his hangover. He was no fool, no idiot. Ana was good, very good, he knew that. "[i]But not enough, girl.[/i]" His voiced had iced over. His rage had sharpened to a cold point. Like a vibroblade, he intended to cut Ana apart.
"Why now?" He wondered aloud. "[i]And what for?[/i]" He thought. "[i]Revenge, control? Pure pleasure?[/i]" He began losing his point, and he slammed his fists into a locker with a screamed of rage. "I'll kill that girl..."

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"Changing, this galaxy is. And losing our power, we are." The short, green Jedi Master said

"Sir, troops are coming up the steps! What should we do?" A terrified security officer said.

Yoda laced his hands together, and his features all drew tightly together. "Leave. Go, you must. Fight them, you can't. Worry about me, you should not." Yoda stodd up, and slid his cloak back. "Go."

"Uh--yes...yes, sir!" The security officer used a hidden escape route that led down to a hanger filled with shuttles.

Yoda's sensitive ears heard the clone troopers charging up the stairs, but his Force senses had foretold this event a week ago. It was a week ago that Chancellor Palpatine had declared the Jedi Order an enemy of the State for collaborating with the Seperatists. It was a week ago that the Purge began. And now, a week later, he stood here in the Temple as the last surviving member of the Council. They had held their own against the seige of their sanctuary, but one by one, they had been overwhelmed. He stood now, the last Jedi alive on Coruscant.


Almost before he knew he had decided, Yoda was in his shuttle. He felt something like he had not felt since he was a young knight--the Force...moving him against his will. Normally, his will fell in line with the Force's. But not today. Today he wanted to fight to the death as his comrades had. But the Force called for something different. The Force, evidently, was sending him away from all this. He did not know where, but in moments, the blue of hyperspace was all his eyes could see.

-Justin

---

"There he is!" Ana said into her comm as she punched the jets on her craft. She wanted to completely throw Blaire off-guard. He would be expecting her to want to negotiate--to find some way to get what she wanted from him, without runnning the risk of facing his "superior" skills in combat. [i]"Haha."[/i] she laughed inwardly. [i]"Superior."[/i]

"[i]Slow down, sport.[/i]" Kylju came in. "[i]You should at least establish some kind of terms with him.[/i]"

Ana cut the comm off. She didn't feel like worrying with that sarlaac pit at the moment. She didn't feel like hearing the fodder from his selfish mouth. He'd warmed up to be so nice earlier too...[i]"No."[/i] she refirmed herself against such thoughts. He was a jerk, had been one since the start of this trip, and as soon as she got the chance, she'd fix it so that he'd neve bother her, or Verny, or Bismin ever again. As soon as her head cleared, she shot off to meet Blaire head-to-head.


"Girl!" Kylju shouted at the cold comm unit. He hated how hard-headed she was. She was [i]absolutely[/i] sure she had it right. He knew Blaire better than she did. He knew Blaire just because he knew Blaire's type. He didn't doubt the girl's piloting skills; but he [i]knew[/i] Blaire would pull some trick out in a crunch.

Suddenly, Kylju was overcome with the realization that this little was so pointless. It meant nothing next to what else was going on in the galaxy. The Supreme Chancellor, as he called himself, had just declared the Jedi Order an enemy of the State. People like Kylju had few options. They either concealed that they had any affiliation with the Jedi, destroyed their lightsabers, and never again make use of their gifts; they collaborated, using their abilities to aid this Vader guy in his Jedi Purge; or they fought an died. The Jedi Cause, he knew, was not his own. He'd skipped out on that crowd a long time ago. Yet...he felt like Palpatine was twisting his heart somehow. He knew it was the Dark Side--something he tended to pretend didn't exist--but it was easier to put Palpatine's face on it. [i]"As soon as this is over,"[/i] he mused [i]"I'm going to try and get hold of some other Jedi. Maybe I can help. Maybe there's something I can do, without having to get my hands dirtied up in this mess."[/i]

-Justin

---

Ana left her comm off, so even if Blaire were to protest, she couldn'r hear it as she stormed out of the bay and immediately hit him with studder fire. The blue sheen of shields became visible as it intercepted the laser fire. Ana growled and cursed in frustration. [i]"Should've guessed."[/i] she thought recalling the last spar she and Blaire had had where there were no shields involved.

She came back to reality when her cockpit began rocking erraticly as he pounded her shields with continuous fire. She swore by Copal she'd do far worse than she'd already planned if he hurt her ship. Suddenly as she went the motions that had been so drilled into her mind--sharp come around, but not too sharp, redirect shields to all forward, manuever him into line-of-fire, and flash him with continuous fire--she became aware of how passionately she hated this man. Her hatred burned all over her, filling her with the sense that she was, [i]herself[/i], a fire. A fire that longed only to touch Blaire Regal. For she knew that if she were a fire, she'd be so intense that merely standing too close would cause a human form to burst into flame. As she saw the flashes of coherent light pounding the blue of Regal's shields, she imagined that every little flash was herself being shot out, trying to pry into Blaire's security. Trying to crack, break, and devastate his own sense of self-worth, as he had done to her's.

Training came back to her--his shields had to be getting low, and he fighter was some sort of heavy missle carrier. He could not out manuever her. She fired a concusson missle, again imagining that the projectile was her own redoubled rage. And when it struck the blue sheet, a wave of energy flashed out through it, and then it fell away. She clicked her comm back on; she keyed in for Blaire.

"What?" the sound of his voice--exasperated--satisfied her. "What do you want?" it strengthened.

"To tell you how much I hate you. To let you know that you destoyed everything in me. But mostly, to let you know that [i]I'm still alive.[/i]" She sounded out the last three words clearly. "And, verly shortly, you won't be." She turned the comm back off.


The girl had clearly won, Kylju could see. Rregal's heavy fighter had failed to out-fly her's, and she knocked his shield out with a concussion missile. It was at this moment that he powered up his own fighter. His faithful Headhunter. At the same moment, he suddenly saw reason for it. He saw the reason behind Reagl bringing such a slow fighter to the duel: Regal unleashed--all at once--three cluster missiles. Each of the three broke into nine, making twenty-seven hostile projectiles all headed right for Ana's ship.

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Understood. Though, I do ask that you PM me as to why I cannot double-post. If I do not, the thread falls into the back pages, thus making it inconvenient to get to, and unavailable, essentially, to be read by others. And as far as I know, this forum is usable for personal, solo writing. Please, correct me if I'm wrong, so that we can reach a better understanding.
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Ana's shields were able to hold out against the initial wave of small missiles. A quick, glancing check revealed that they were at 63% after the first wave. If she had had time, she would've routed some off the power from her thrusters to her shields, but an almost immeasurable instant later, a second wave hit her shields, rocking her body inside the cockpit like an insect trapped in a bottle. Another glance as she tried to maintain control showed them at 27%. She dropped chaff into the sky, and after what was left of the third wave hit her, her shields stood at 5%--in other words, barely even active.

The pain of knowing she'd lost, knowing that Blaire had even more heavy fire-power stuck inside that fighter was overcome by relief when Kylju's Headhunter came out of the docking bay blazing coherent light like Coruscant's dark side. For all the threats she'd made, she was not angry at his interference. Maybe later, but not now. Not now when he had, most likely, saved her life from a cheat and a rapist.

As she looked on from her cockpit, she saw the Z-95 running circles around the...BX7 Rancorkiller, diving in and out, over and around, without taking a single hit from the much slower bomber craft. Not only was Blaire hit, he was [i]very[/i] hit, barely even flying so much as he was falling with some control.

It wasn't long before Ana became aware of the hot flow of tears streaming down her face. She'd failed to earn her pride back. She'd been outwitted by Blaire Regal. Raped, essentially, all over again...

-Justin

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"Hey, you snarky bitch. You wanted to kill him. Well?" Kylju's voice gargled from her comm.

"He won." She wasn't even watching anymore. Her fighter was just drifting higher towards the upper atmosphere.

"So, it's not about revenge, then? It's about proving yourself to him. Typic--." The comm link cut out without warning. Ana bank her fighter around to see what had happened, only to be greeted by a flurry of coherent light raking through what remained of her shields. "Shit!"

Kylju had been twice correct. Not only had Regal been stowing surprises in his ship, but he had a wingman waiting just outside sensor range to come to his aid if things got bad. That wingman had already sent Kyju's small Z-95 plummeting to the ground, and now Ana's proud fighter was beginning to spiral down as well.

"I just wanted to say this, whore:" Regal's voice sounded a bit haggard, but the air of victory was in it, "That's twice I've had my way with you."

And then it all just went black.


When Kylju found Ana's fighter, he didn't hold onto to much hope that she'd survived. Her cockpit was still closed, indicating she had not ejected; and by the look of the craft, she hadn't been able to enter a very controlled descent.

He had to use his lightsaber to cut open the cockpit. She was in one piece, covered in vomit, bleeding from her head, nose and mouth, and impaled through the gut on her flight stick. Kylju's heart sank at the sight. He was no healer.

He listened to...no [i]felt[/i] her heart still beating, however. Immediately he commed out for emergency medical assistance.


When Ana woke up, she was obviously in a medical facility of some kind. That was easy, because the world looked wet, warbly and blue, and her breathing was being handled by an apparatus attached her face. She was in a bacta tank.

There was only one sentient figure she could percieve outside. Tall, darkly dressed and sleeping in a chair against the wall. It could only be Kylju. Her relief bubbled up higher into the tank.

"Well, helllooo, nurse." Kylju said looking at Ana, now awake, from the outside of the bacta tank. "You owe me. Twice, really. I peeled Regal off your ass, then got blindsided by his goon. Wait, that's three times, because...oh yeah, I [i]brought[/i] your ass here."

"Actually, sir" the medical droid interjected,"you only called for EMA. When the parameds found you, both you and Ms. Ana were unresponsive."

Ana, amused at the exchange, started to chuckled but gasped at the sudden spasm it caused in her stomach. Kylju's face suddenly dropped at the show of pain.

"She will need some more time, sir. The damaged caused by the crash was extensive. By my calculations, the odds of her surviving a crash like that should've been 7,268 to 1. That she did survive is truly a testament to modern medical science." The medical unit beemed.

"Or to the response time of a friend." Kylju said, looking sidelong at Ana.

Ana caught the glance. She returned it, trying to convey her gratitude as much as was possible.

-Justin