“-Are you two done gossiping so we can get this over with?” Kylo snapped briskly, interrupting Rhell and making her soft expression go cold and snide while he trudged towards the bounty hunter and Inquisitor, the knight removing his helmet and shooting the friends a glare while grunting, “We don’t have time to be playing around, so I’d suggest you two hurry up whatever stupid shit you’re doing and get ready to head off.” He growled, pulling his helmet back on and turning on his heel to get back to where everyone else was standing at the edge of the clearing.
Raising an eyebrow and letting her hand fall from Caez’s cheek, Rhell’s eyes narrowed as she yelled back at Kylo meanly, “Oh, you’re just jealous because you’re a shoddy second to me, oh dear Knight of Ren! Truly, I feel sorry for Caez! With all that dick in your personality I doubt there’s anything substantial left in your pants!” She snapped, earning a snort from Caez before Rhell shot the bounty hunter a wink and trotted off, giving Kylo a hard boot to the ass as she ran past him before finding her personal guard.
Snickering and rolling their eyes, Caez sighed and pulled out their blaster as they ran over to where everyone else had converged, Kii giving the signal to head into the forest as Caez trudged up and took Rhell’s left flank, the Inquisitor staying quiet as they moved. Aside from the audible crunching of boots, the area was silent and calm, the white-grey skies looking like the sun never shone on this part of Mandalore as they thought about how nice it’d be to visit here on a trip. Caez could easily picture them having a hideout on a planet like this - they could make a treehouse to live in far away from everyone and just enjoy the solitude - but knew better than to really consider it. There was work to be done, and when people like Rhell and Kylo were around there wasn’t much of a chance of Caez being able to get any sense of vacation time. Ah well, it was a nice thought at least. A thought for someday in the future if they ever left The Order.
Still trudging amongst the large black trees, Rhell led the way as she used her Force skills to hone in on their target, the troupe coming up to a shabby looking treehouse aloft high in the air as Kylo circled the hidden alcove, him giving the signal that he was sure that their target was holed up in there. Nodding back at the knight, Caez quickly began clamouring up the ladder with Kylo following suit, them getting onto the balcony of the run-down fort and kicking open the tired wooden door as the bounty hunter raised their blaster, yelling into the darkness of the space, “Tigelle Criddar, you are to be taken into the custody of the First Order for questioning. Come quietly and we won’t need to resort t-” Caez started, before stopping suddenly and lowering their blaster from the lone figure sitting in the darkness, the stranger standing up and closing the glowing holocron of Tigelle that Caez had been trained on before stepping into the light coming through the doorway.
Eyes going wide, Caez looked at the familiar Mandalorian in confusion as they recognized the electric greens and purples of their armour, the Mandalorian raising a trigger in their hand and flipping the switch, explosives going off underneath the tree fort as Caez and Kylo listened to their companions yelling in surprise. Not taking the time to question their assailant, Caez raised their blaster again and began to pull the trigger just as the tree started to lurch and fall, the Mandalorian running and crashing through a window as they made their escape, leaving Caez and Kylo to fall and be crushed by their devious diversion.
Turning back and looking at Kylo as the tree they were in began to fall, Caez wrapped their arms around the knight and closed their eyes tightly as their feet lifted off of the floor, the sickening feeling of what they didn’t doubt would be a very painful death lingering in their stomach just as the tree ceased falling, Caez screaming as themself and Kylo slammed hard against the wall of the fort abruptly, fall suddenly halted and pain radiating from the back of Caez’s skull leaving them in a daze while they tried to recuperate from the shock. Gasping and slumping for a moment, Caez listened to Kylo groan behind his mask as he clamoured over them and shattered the window to their left, him sticking his head out of the hole before calling back to the bounty hunter, “Rhell is holding the tree up! C’mon, you idiot! We have to move before she drops us!” He barked, climbing out of the small window - which, for a big guy like Kylo, it took a bit of effort to achieve - and falling nimbly to the snowy ground, Caez exhaling deeply and following suit, stumbling as they hit the ground before following Kylo as he yelled out orders, “Our target has conspirators and they are extremely dangerous! Do not hesitate in taking out these assailants, but remember we need Tigelle alive!”
Everyone murmuring agreements to Kylo’s words, he waved everyone off as they all dispersed, Rhell walking over and brushing her gloved hand against Caez’s still-shaking shoulder for a moment, tuning tiredly, “See? I got your back, Caez.” Before following Kylo and the bounty hunter, Stix taking up the back and keeping his blaster raised while they trekked through the trees trying to find where their target could’ve run off to.
Now the silence seemed sinister, almost like every pitch black tree and shadow was about to jump out and attack as Caez felt their fingers shake against the trigger of their blaster, eyes flitting from side to side and ears trying to hear any sort of irregularity just as the steady tmp tmp tmp of something approaching them from the left had Caez raising their blaster and reeling, them screaming, “Watch the fuck out!” Just as a wild Strill bounded down from a tree and leapt at them, Caez letting off a few shots and watching the monster fall to the ground with a heavy thud as they gasped and tried to regain their composure.
Rhell kneeling down and holding Caez’ shoulders as their chest heaved - Caez not even remembering how they had fallen on their ass during the attack - Kylo stalked over to the Strill and started to investigate the large corpse, Rhell calling back darkly, “Fuck, Kylo! Leave the poor nasty thing alo-” Before shutting herself up as the Knight of Ren ripped off a control-collar, holding the stolen Order tech up for his three companions to see as Rhell scowled and hissed, “... Those are still prototypes... How... How did these people get them? How did they know about them?” She asked, hands tensing on Caez’s shoulders as she helped the bounty hunter to their feet.
Shrugging and pocketing the item, Kylo gritted out darkly, “Doesn’t matter now, we’ll get answers from Tigelle once we catch her. FN-6106, comm everyone and alert them of this. Everyone be on the watch for any approaching creatures that seem hostile. We can’t risk that they aren’t being controlled too.” He stated firmly, Kylo’s hand brushing snow off of Caez’s shoulder as he walked by them before taking up the lead again and pulling out his lightsaber, Rhell’s mouth going into a stern line as she pulled her own lightsaber out as well, the familiar hum of the Kyber weapons putting Caez at slight ease while they followed suit.
Still trudging forward for a bit longer, Caez wasn’t sure what to expect as Rhell suddenly ran ahead of everyone, them yelling out, “Hey! Rhell?! Fuck, come back!” Before running off after her, Kylo and Stix about to follow suit just as two more Strill leapt out and began to circle the two men, Caez looking back and halting for a moment - unsure of what to do - before heaving a sigh and continuing to chase Rhell so she wasn’t alone, them trusting that Kylo and Stix could hold their own as they sprinted through the trees to try and catch up to the Inquisitor.
Only catching glimpses of Rhell as she dove between the trees, Caez felt their chest begin to ache from exertion just as a blaster shot rang out around them, both themself and Rhell halting in their tracks as they looked back and spotted their target - Tigelle - just as a painful twinge radiating from Caez’ side caught their attention. Looking down, the bounty hunter was shocked as they touched their glove against their side and it came up slick with blood, the realization that they had just been shot only being cut off as Rhell suddenly yelled out, “Cam?! Camren!” Before hastily running off in the other direction, leaving Caez alone with their target as Tigelle glared at them.
Unsure of what to do - and far too panicked to want to risk jumping at the Zygerrian with their lightsaber - Caez kept a hand placed firmly over their wound as they called out shakily, “... Tigelle Criddar, you are under arrest by the Order, and will be taken into custody. Come quietly and avoid making this messier than it needs t-” Before diving and dodging another shot let off by the woman, Tigelle snarling at Caez as they got up from the ground slowly.
“You... You demons! You’ll have to kill me and skin me before I come with you anywhere!” Tigelle screamed, barring her teeth menacingly and taking a few steps towards Caez just as they got to their feet, the bounty hunter starting to feel sweat accumulate on the back of their neck while they tried to figure out what to do. Looking around and finding no one from their group in the vicinity, Caez thought for a moment before finally acting once Tigelle was close, them kicking up a pile of dirty snow at the woman and spinning to make a run for it as they dove in between the trees, the pain from the wound on their side a lot more noticeable now that they were trying to run for their life.
Not hearing Tigelle giving chase, Caez didn’t trust themself to stop running until they found someone they knew to help as backup, the almost-permanent pain radiating from their chest only intensifying as they sprinted between tar-coloured trees, every single one of them looking like they might jump out and try to kill the bounty hunter as they kept running. They had to keep running, otherwise they might not get the chance to keep moving afterwards. Muscles of their strong thighs protesting as they ran on uneven terrain, Caez only came to a stop as the ground ran out before them, heels of their heavy regulation boots grinding against dirty snow as they tried to right themself and not topple off the cliff’s edge, the sound of their own heartbeat slamming in their eardrums as they looked down and took observation of the waterfall and clear lake underneath them, the fall looking too steep to survive without injury, but Caez really didn’t feel like if it came down to either jumping or getting shot full of holes that they’d be too picky about breaking an arm if it meant surviving.
Still trying to figure out where to turn next, a rustling in the bushes had Caez whipping their head back around to the tree line, Tigelle stalking out slowly and giving the bounty hunter a merciless look as she gritted her teeth and raised her blaster again, fear response overtaking flight as Caez stood there while the Zygerrian growled out, “You stupid Order puppets... Always think you can just take anyone and they’ll obey. That you can burn down any world and we will all kneel for you! You all disgust me!” She snapped, face contorting into an animal-like snarl as she screeched, “You child-murderers! You thieves! You all deserve to burn!”
Not sure what to even do, Caez tried to buy their time for a bit longer until someone maybe found their location, their hands shaking at their sides while they asked, “...Child murderers? Lady, you’ve got the wrong fuckers if you’re tryna blame us for that one! I-I mean, sure we’re bad and shitty and do other bad stuff, but kid killers? Seems a little-”
“-Shut the fuck up you rat!” Tigelle cut off, voice tight and cruel and causing Caez to jump slightly before looking back and trying to keep rom accidentally falling off the ledge they were cornered on, the Zygerrian slave-seller growling and raising her blaster finger tensing on the trigger while she hissed, “... Any last words, rat?” She asked, as if to mock Caez or expect them to give her a reason to shoot them just as a voice behind Tigelle grunted out.
“... Yeah. Fuck you, bitch.” Kylo gritted out behind Tigelle, both the slave-trader and bounty hunter looking over at the knight as he limped over - Kylo’s shoulder sustaining a large bite on it, his helmet long discarded and dark hair sticky with sweat, plastered to his high cheekbones - and raised a hand-blaster, shooting Tigelle in the arm and forcing her to drop her weapon as her ears pinned back in anger, the Zygerrian looking ready to pounce and rip Kylo’s throat out just as the fast running of another intruder cut through the silence, the same Mandalorian from before - from the tree house, from the attack on Takodana - running and jumping through the crowd, them tackling Tigelle and launching the both of them over the ledge and going into a fall just as a large enemy ship flew by and up, the Mandalorian holding onto their target and escaping on a rope dangling from the vessel as Caez and Kylo stood and watched uselessly.
Turning and walking over to help Kylo, Caez let him lean on them as they both limped back to the clearing where their own ship was stationed, Kii taking Kylo and inquiring as to what had happened to them as Caez shifted away from the knight and walked over to Rhell and Stix, both of which looked rather shaken up while Rhell mumbled under her breath, “... She escaped, didn’t she.”
Pausing and taken aback by the sudden question, Caez went solemn as they nodded, muttering, “Yeah. She got taken by the same anarchist that set up the treehouse diversion. Kylo seems to b-” They started, before gasping and jolting in surprise as Rhell reached out a hand and pressed it to their wounded side, Caez relaxing as they felt Force-healing magic start to mend their wound as Rhell muttered.
“... It’s okay. We’ll get them next time. But for now, you should let me heal you up a bit, then go see Ren. According to Stix the ugly fuck tried to chase after you and almost got his head ripped off by a Strill.” Rhell commented, giving Caez a crooked smirk before pulling her hand away from their newly mended side, her turning and walking off towards the ship with Stix and giving the bounty hunter a casual wave as Caez stood there for a moment, finally mumbling under their breath.
“... Yeah. I’ll remember to do that.”
