You Won't Send Tekka Into Danger; You Go

You don't like the idea of sending your crew into danger if you can take that on yourself.

"I think I can see whats wrong with the engine, but I need to go and fix it from the outside. You need to cover me. Don't stop firing, no matter what. Anything to keep them from getting a clear shot. Can you do that?"

Tekka nods grimly. She looks pale, and flinches every time a Weequay blaster bolt slams into the speeder, but you are impressed regardless. She hasn't shut down or run away. You nod back, press the lever to pop the speeder's hood, and make a run for it.

Behind you Tekka screams, firing wildly at the circling speeder. You note that her fire isn't really that close to the raiders, and barely manages to bother them. Too late now, you think, sprinting to the side of engine, fumbling around for the loose cable. You ram the cable back into the engine port, and shout triumphantly as the engine hums back to life.

You turn, ready to sprint for the cockpit, just in time for a flash of red to explode into your chest armor. The **** sends you spinning, slamming your head back into the side of the speeder before you crumple into the ground.

The world is spinning, and you forcibly wrench your brain out of screaming aimlessly in pain. Through your blurring vision, you see the other speeder end its circling and begin an approach. Apparently, they've determined you were the only threat here.

That turns out to be a mistake. Apparently, Tekka has caught on that her skills with a blaster need a lot of work. Instead, she guns the speeder's engine, dives out of the cockpit, and sends your vehicle careening into the encroaching raiders. The impact appears to incapacitate both of the Weequay in the front seats, and their leader is sent flying into the air, sprawling into the sand about ten feet from you. You watch as Tekka, tears in her eyes, limps towards the captain with her blaster drawn.

"You shot Corvin! How could you shoot him?" Her hands are shaking slightly, and pain and anger are clearly written on her face.

The Weequay barks a laugh. "What did you think would happen when Naraya made her move? She's not the only one willing to take advantage of an opening. If he was going to work for her, he should have been prepared to die for it. If it wasn't me, the Hutt would have gotten him eventually."

Her brazen defiance just makes Tekka angrier. Her blaster flashes, and the Weequay falls still. Tekka drops the blaster and rushes over to you, crying and holding your head to her chest.

It's actually pretty nice being pressed to her chest, you think idly, but it wouldn't do to let her go on thinking the worst. "I'm not dead, Tekka," you croak. "Not yet anyway."

The Twi'lek can't seem to believe it at first, before laughing with joy and covering your face in frantic kisses. You can't help but laugh along, even if breathing makes your entire chest scream, but manage to push her off of you. With her help, you pry your armor and off and lift your shirt. A massive bruise and a hint of a burn show that while the armor stopped the bolt, it only barely did so. You'll have to replace it, and breathing is going to be painful for awhile, but you are alive.

And you think you may have bigger problems. "Listen, Tekka. We may have a problem. While I don't usually take pirates' words at face value, I think what that Weequay said checks out. Naraya's making a power play, trying to carve out some territory for herself. I don't know exactly what's happening here, but it really can't be good. I'm not really in fighting shape, so our best move might be to try and lay low and hope this blows over."

"Uh, Corvin? We may not have much choice on that one." Tekka is pointing nervously across the dunes.

You see a cloud of dust rapidly speeding towards you. Unfortunately, you're in no shape to do anything but wait for them to arrive. You stand with your arms raised as a convoy of speeders loaded down with a motley crew of rough customers arrives. They don't identify themselves, or even let you stop and plead your case. Before you can talk, one of their blasters flashed blue, and everything goes dark.