WotH Chpt 2

==War on the Horizon - Chapter 2 -==
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===First Contact===
Surface - 30 BBY, Beloria system, Seswenna Sector, Outer Rim Territories
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Sanal Adra shivered in fear as she shied away from her captors, her spine tingling as she shoved herself further into the corner.
 
"Aren't you a lovely one," a gruff voice said as a Bothan looked through the bars at the slaves. "I think I'll have you keep me company tonight-"
 
"You'll do no such thing," a human grabbed the Bothan and shoved him away from the bars. "We don't touch the merchandise until after we've ensured our getaway. This is Tarkin's territory, and we'll be needin' to get out if we want to cash in this payday. They don't take too kindly to our type running free around here. Now, start getting them fitted with the bomb collars, it's better that we not give anyone a reason to try an' do somethin' stupid."
 
"Hey boss," a Sullustian spoke up. "I've got the other two Gozantis loaded and the light freighters are close to capacity."
 
"I'm thinking that the Boss shouldn't be the boss anymore," the Bothan spoke up, his eyes shining red.
 
"Tresk, you idjit." The captain sighed. "You shouldn't a gone and done that," the captain's hand blurred as his blaster exited the holster and flashed, a new hole appearing in the Bothan's chest. "Did ya think that I managed to obtain one of these by chance?" The Human shifted his coat, showing off his trophy there.
 
"What do you want us to do with the body?"
 
"Leave it for the carrion," the pirate captain spat on the corpse. "Then get ready to leave, there's a profit to be made."
 
The Captain left the Gozanti class cruiser that was his current flagship and stepped out into the clearing, looking up at the stars as he sighed.
 
"We'll have to hit another sector after we pass through Nal Hutta," He muttered to himself as he considered the trees. "This sector is too wary for us to hit it again this year."
 
As the words left his mouth, the ground began to shake, causing him to look around in worry, this world wasn't known for its earthquakes, but it wouldn't be the first time he had encountered something that was known only to the locals on a world.
 
"What in the Corellian Nine Hells was that?!" a human asked as he finally regained his footing.
 
"No idea," The captain shrugged. "but I think we should start prepping for takeoff."
 
Then, a massive bipedal machine stepped out of the darkness of the forest, the ground shaking with every step. "
 
"This is Colonel Mark Hull of the Marksman to all pirate scum. Lay down your weapons and surrender and we may consider having mercy on you. But I'm honestly hoping that you don't."
 
"What is it saying?" Someone asked the captain as they hid in the ship.
 
"We shut down the protocol droid when it started acting crazy." another pirate whispered as if worried that the machine might hear them.
 
"Power up the quad cannons," the pirate captain ordered the human who was shaking in fear. "That outta do the trick on scaring this thing off."
 
The pirate just nodded, the shaking stopping as he grabbed a death stick and lit it before inhaling the vapors, climbing into the turret seat as his nerves stilled.
 
The turret moved and began stitching fire across the woods as it attempted to hit the bipedal droid, the machine moving faster than expected and only catching a single burst before it vanished into the trees once again.
 
"Good shots, son." the captain congratulated the gunner. "That'll teach them a lesson."
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"Everything alright, sir?" the pilot in the Archer asked.
"Armor state yellow," I replied. "Whatever that was it was the equivalent of two Large lasers it just moved slower, made it easier to dodge, but still effective once they hit you."
 
"Don't get hit by the giant red bursts of energy," the pilot snarked. "Sounds easy enough to me."
 
"I'm surrounded by smartasses," I swore as I muted my mice. "Peterson, you're clear to move in!" I ordered. "They don't seem to have anything bigger than small arms."
 
"Copy that, Colonel," the grin on Peterson's face could be heard over the comms channel. "We'll handle the pirates, teach 'em a lesson they won't ever forget."
 
"Everyone else, we're on standby if they need reinforcements," I ordered. "Archers, I want you over at navpoint Charlie, get ready to give some indirect fire when it's asked for."
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Sanal watched as the pirates cheered, her lekku swaying as she strained for a better visual, her eyes darting back and forth as she looked for any sign of the pirates moving or looking her way.
 
Swallowing briefly, she reached for her collar, a small strip of metal that she had concealed in her headdress falling into her hand as she did so. Twisting her wrist, she slipped it into the locking mechanism and began moving it in a pattern that she knew would unlock it.
 
Sanal stopped moving as she saw movement out of the corner of her eye, concealing the strip of metal once again and observing as something appeared out of the darkness of the forest, a small group of pirates vanishing.
 
Curling into a ball to make herself smaller to see, Sanal continued watching as the pirates disappeared in twos and threes until only a small handful were left, the pirate captain only taking notice after one of the people he had been speaking to stopped responding.
 
"What's that then?" the captain roared as he pulled out his blaster in one hand, his hand moving his coat out of the way while he grabbed the trophy hung at his belt. "Who goes there?"
 
There was silence, not a noise was made in the clearing, as if the world had stopped for a brief moment as an armored figure quickly crossed the distance, a handful of blaster bolts impacting the figure but not causing enough damage for it to stop, the figure slapped the blaster out of the hand as the captain ignited the trophy in his other hand, a violet blade of light springing forth and cutting into the armored figure as the pirate tried to cut through.
 
As the armor melted away, as the figure jolted back and away from the sword, one hand drawing what appeared to be a blaster from its hip and squeezing the trigger, while the other grabbed onto the hand that held the glowing blade. A loud but brief noise echoed through the clearing as the pirate captain collapsed with a large hole in his chest, the blade in his hand staying ignited as he hit the ground before shutting off with a sharp snap-hiss.
 
"Medic!" more of the armored figures surrounded the injured one as someone began to tend to his wounds.
 
Sanal's mouth gaped open as she watched the armored figures move to the ships, the groups of six spreading out and moving with a precision only seen in the Mandalorians in this day and age.
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Chapter 2