06-09-2016, 03:30 PM
The first thing Carmelita had done once the door trap had been replaced was to call Chip. The girl’s voice rang in her ear.
++Is he okay?++
“He’s bedridden but otherwise secure.”
++May we speak?++
“I’ll pass you over.”
Carmelita removed her left earpiece and offered it to Nimo, who took it and spoke into it. She sat nearby, listening to their conversation quietly.
“Chip?”
++NIMO! You had me so worried!++
“I didn’t even know if you’d survived the dunes, don’t talk to me about being worried.”
++You sent a last message! How could you?++
“Well I hadn’t heard from you and I didn’t want my last words to be ‘Hope you packed your sunscreen sis’. Besides, I was half delirious! I had a single tank of bacta and Sullivan is still hunting me down.”
++Fine! Well Carmelita’s there to get you back on your feet! You are not allowed to die on me, brother, not when you know perfectly well that I’d kill you if you did.++
“Heh, sis-”
++Shut up and get better you loon. Carmelita, you still there?++
She smiled and coughed once before speaking.
“I am, yes.”
++Right then. Get my brother back on his feet. I am going to get back to work, knowing he’s in safe hands. Nimo, call me regularly. Love you lots.++
Chip left her brother with a rueful grin on his face, sighing before handing Carmelita back her earpiece.
“Thank you,” Nimo said. “For being there for her.”
Carmelita smiled and began summoning basic medical equipment.
“No problem.”
---
It was as she was administering the last of the Bacta necessary to clean up the bullet wounds that the bounty hunter burst through the door.
The six armed armoured mercenary stumbled backwards as the knife stuck into his helmet’s visor, and Carmelita and Nimo scrambled for their weapons.
Slamming the door shut with a sweep of her legs, Carmelita threw herself against it and took a quick glance over to Nimo. The boy had his shotgun rested in a firing position, while his newly healed body lay flat on the bed. Despite his proficiency with the weapon, he had clearly not been in many fights before: one hit would take his maroon furred backside into the floor, straight through the rickety cot he lay on.
Carmelita’s thoughts were jarred from their analysis when the door was slammed into, opening enough for three pairs of armoured gauntlets to start forcing open the gap. Carmelita didn’t panic and swiftly up the two pairs of cuffs she had left on her. Slotting them around two of the pairs of gauntlets was the work of a moment, and just as she was finally flung from where she had been standing the first of the electric shocks ran through the attacker’s system.
The scream of anger and surprise was quickly followed by the sound of shotgun blasts crashing into the heavy armour, impact craters left from the point blank firing. Carmelita rose from where she had been thrown with her shock pistol raised and charging in time to see the attacker use his two unhindered arms and grab an axe from his belt.
She let loose the moment the man raised the axe to strike her, the charged shot crashing into the suit and a cry of surprise as the man lost his sight for a brief moment was easily enough to roll to one side. The empty bacta tank, hefty as it was, made an excellent improvised weapon of her own as she swung it by the handle and clobbered the attacker over the head with a loud ringing noise.
Nimo’s shotgun found a chink in the armour and the mercenary slumped backwards, bleeding profusely from the neck. Carmelita found a moment to breathe heavily before checking out the door for any more attackers. Finding none, she turned to Nimo.
“So why was he after you?”
Nimo winced, reloading the shotgun and gathering what few possessions he had on him.
“Sullivan was an independent Imperial dogsbody. Not officially with them, but does dirty work for them. Of course, I didn’t know that until I dug up who had attacked our peaceful cell, but anyway, he was hunting us down to get extra credit with his handlers. I’m the only member of the cell still alive in Coruscant, the rest are either dead or had access to a teleporter.”
Carmelita nodded. Removing her cuffs from Sullivan’s arms, she popped them back in her belt and took Nimo’s bag, handing him a crutch and a cover for the shotgun. The two of them left the bunker, heads down as people began moving towards the sounds of a disturbance.
The two of them quickly made their way out of the gang territory and found themselves a secluded alley to discuss what their next move was.
“I’m going to meet up with a cell that specialises in safe houses. Hopefully I can get myself out of Coruscant soon, but I need to keep my head low for a while longer until Sullivan’s handler gives the all clear.”
“How will you know?”
“I specialise in communications. I’ve got wire taps on several important phone lines, it was how we found out a lot of the Empire’s dirt we laid out for our protests and pamphlets. I put a few on Sullivan’s lines after I found out who he was, so I’ll know when they give him up as a lost cause. I’ll ring Chip soon.”
“Right.”
“By the way, what job do you have her running? If it’s anything bad I swear I’ll-”
“I’m establishing a policing group. She’s a mechanic.”
“... what?”
Carmelita gave a pointed look. Nimo blinked.
“You mean you’re a cop and you’re helping me?”
“Apart from a few offences to do with information gathering, you’ve not broken any laws that should see you receive any punishment, let alone one as harsh as death. I personally think that an uncorrupt outside force with influence in Coruscant might not be a bad idea. Stay in touch, I may have a job for you when you’re out of the city.”
A smile spread across Nimo’s face and he winked with his leftmost eye, before leaving the alley with a quick wave. Her duty done, Carmelita did the same, heading back for the lift out of Tier Six.
---
It was a while before she was certain she looked no different from when she had arrived in Coruscant, but she spent the time to summon a third set of Fisti-Cuffs and replace her soiled overcoat with a fresh one. She made her way back up the tiers, eventually reaching tier one without incident.
She checked the time as she made her way through the sunny streets to the portal. She had spent around eighteen hours in the city, and it was about time she made an exit.
The stormtroopers on duty didn’t recognise her, so presumably they were a different shift. With a quick flash of paperwork, as well as a note that her business had been attended to successfully and that the EPD would find no further action needed to be taken, Carmelita stepped once more through the portal to the Endless Dunes.
++Is he okay?++
“He’s bedridden but otherwise secure.”
++May we speak?++
“I’ll pass you over.”
Carmelita removed her left earpiece and offered it to Nimo, who took it and spoke into it. She sat nearby, listening to their conversation quietly.
“Chip?”
++NIMO! You had me so worried!++
“I didn’t even know if you’d survived the dunes, don’t talk to me about being worried.”
++You sent a last message! How could you?++
“Well I hadn’t heard from you and I didn’t want my last words to be ‘Hope you packed your sunscreen sis’. Besides, I was half delirious! I had a single tank of bacta and Sullivan is still hunting me down.”
++Fine! Well Carmelita’s there to get you back on your feet! You are not allowed to die on me, brother, not when you know perfectly well that I’d kill you if you did.++
“Heh, sis-”
++Shut up and get better you loon. Carmelita, you still there?++
She smiled and coughed once before speaking.
“I am, yes.”
++Right then. Get my brother back on his feet. I am going to get back to work, knowing he’s in safe hands. Nimo, call me regularly. Love you lots.++
Chip left her brother with a rueful grin on his face, sighing before handing Carmelita back her earpiece.
“Thank you,” Nimo said. “For being there for her.”
Carmelita smiled and began summoning basic medical equipment.
“No problem.”
---
It was as she was administering the last of the Bacta necessary to clean up the bullet wounds that the bounty hunter burst through the door.
The six armed armoured mercenary stumbled backwards as the knife stuck into his helmet’s visor, and Carmelita and Nimo scrambled for their weapons.
Slamming the door shut with a sweep of her legs, Carmelita threw herself against it and took a quick glance over to Nimo. The boy had his shotgun rested in a firing position, while his newly healed body lay flat on the bed. Despite his proficiency with the weapon, he had clearly not been in many fights before: one hit would take his maroon furred backside into the floor, straight through the rickety cot he lay on.
Carmelita’s thoughts were jarred from their analysis when the door was slammed into, opening enough for three pairs of armoured gauntlets to start forcing open the gap. Carmelita didn’t panic and swiftly up the two pairs of cuffs she had left on her. Slotting them around two of the pairs of gauntlets was the work of a moment, and just as she was finally flung from where she had been standing the first of the electric shocks ran through the attacker’s system.
The scream of anger and surprise was quickly followed by the sound of shotgun blasts crashing into the heavy armour, impact craters left from the point blank firing. Carmelita rose from where she had been thrown with her shock pistol raised and charging in time to see the attacker use his two unhindered arms and grab an axe from his belt.
She let loose the moment the man raised the axe to strike her, the charged shot crashing into the suit and a cry of surprise as the man lost his sight for a brief moment was easily enough to roll to one side. The empty bacta tank, hefty as it was, made an excellent improvised weapon of her own as she swung it by the handle and clobbered the attacker over the head with a loud ringing noise.
Nimo’s shotgun found a chink in the armour and the mercenary slumped backwards, bleeding profusely from the neck. Carmelita found a moment to breathe heavily before checking out the door for any more attackers. Finding none, she turned to Nimo.
“So why was he after you?”
Nimo winced, reloading the shotgun and gathering what few possessions he had on him.
“Sullivan was an independent Imperial dogsbody. Not officially with them, but does dirty work for them. Of course, I didn’t know that until I dug up who had attacked our peaceful cell, but anyway, he was hunting us down to get extra credit with his handlers. I’m the only member of the cell still alive in Coruscant, the rest are either dead or had access to a teleporter.”
Carmelita nodded. Removing her cuffs from Sullivan’s arms, she popped them back in her belt and took Nimo’s bag, handing him a crutch and a cover for the shotgun. The two of them left the bunker, heads down as people began moving towards the sounds of a disturbance.
The two of them quickly made their way out of the gang territory and found themselves a secluded alley to discuss what their next move was.
“I’m going to meet up with a cell that specialises in safe houses. Hopefully I can get myself out of Coruscant soon, but I need to keep my head low for a while longer until Sullivan’s handler gives the all clear.”
“How will you know?”
“I specialise in communications. I’ve got wire taps on several important phone lines, it was how we found out a lot of the Empire’s dirt we laid out for our protests and pamphlets. I put a few on Sullivan’s lines after I found out who he was, so I’ll know when they give him up as a lost cause. I’ll ring Chip soon.”
“Right.”
“By the way, what job do you have her running? If it’s anything bad I swear I’ll-”
“I’m establishing a policing group. She’s a mechanic.”
“... what?”
Carmelita gave a pointed look. Nimo blinked.
“You mean you’re a cop and you’re helping me?”
“Apart from a few offences to do with information gathering, you’ve not broken any laws that should see you receive any punishment, let alone one as harsh as death. I personally think that an uncorrupt outside force with influence in Coruscant might not be a bad idea. Stay in touch, I may have a job for you when you’re out of the city.”
A smile spread across Nimo’s face and he winked with his leftmost eye, before leaving the alley with a quick wave. Her duty done, Carmelita did the same, heading back for the lift out of Tier Six.
---
It was a while before she was certain she looked no different from when she had arrived in Coruscant, but she spent the time to summon a third set of Fisti-Cuffs and replace her soiled overcoat with a fresh one. She made her way back up the tiers, eventually reaching tier one without incident.
She checked the time as she made her way through the sunny streets to the portal. She had spent around eighteen hours in the city, and it was about time she made an exit.
The stormtroopers on duty didn’t recognise her, so presumably they were a different shift. With a quick flash of paperwork, as well as a note that her business had been attended to successfully and that the EPD would find no further action needed to be taken, Carmelita stepped once more through the portal to the Endless Dunes.