15 Chapter Fifteen

-Colt Pov-

In the end, I denied that offer for now.

But at least I didn't burn that bridge. Keeping in contact with fellow mercenaries was never bad, if they were trust worthy.

Pressing a button that would allow three crates to hover, I brought them outside to my hoverbike and attached them using the magnetic field. Checking if they were secure enough, I hummed at the positive result before sitting down behind the wheel.

The drive was three hours long, so I had the time to think. If I did join them, things would get complicated. For now, they didn't know my face, and neither did they know my age, but things might spiral out of control if they knew that I was fifteen...

At this point I'm just looking for a reason to not interact with people, wasn't I?

Sighing, it leaned back in my seat as I relaxed minutely. I was out of the range of any detection but there might be satellites, even though to my knowledge there were none in the entire star wars universe.

I pondered some other things, like the meaning of life and why noses run and feet smell for the rest of them way before finally arriving at the designated meet up point.

Entering one of the many small places surrounded by big rocks, I immediately spotted my partner in crime. I say partner loosely, because I trusted her as far as I could throw her, which was admittedly, pretty far but... Details.

She had short blue hair and red purple skin. She was beautiful, and had a body that most men would drool after spotting her, but I couldn't let her looks deceive me. She was efficient and had a hefty bounty on her head from what I could find. She was of Keshiri race as well.

her crew mates, if you could call them that, were gathered around the small clearing, sitting on rocks while one was behind her. One was of Iktochi race, his hors coming down on his shoulder blades while the other two Trandoshans, their lizard bodies would creep out anyone who hadn't seen them before.

"You're finally here. Took you long enough."

Ionia, the Keshiri woman said after a snort as I got out off the hoverbike. I rolled my eyes under my helmet and walked over to the crates, detaching them from the bike and pushing them towards the customer.

She opened it and looked inside before proceeding with the next one. The others got closer to take a look as well. The crates were full of ammunition since you couldn't restock in space, unfortunately.

She looked at me and nodded, indicating that she was satisfied with the product and reached behind her. Taking this as an indication that I was getting paid I started extending my arm, hearing the hum of a vibro-blade all too late before I felt a pain erupt from my back.

This bitch.

My eyes widened as I noticed her taking out a blaster and aiming it straight at my head and pulling the trigger.

The blaster bolt shit forward from the barrel of the pistol, impacting my helmet and throwing me back. It was hot and I was loosing blood, but I was conscious, if just barely... I remained still on the ground, though, not wanting to give up the advantage I held right now, even in my state.

"Search him, but leave the armor on, the empire put a high amount of bounty on his head after his little stunt."

I heard a click of a blaster being holstered as Ionia said blandly, as if she was talking about the weather and the disintegrating helmet was getting really hot, making me clench my jaw.

As the two lizard man walked closer, I burst into action, making the new wound on my back flare up again but that little fact went ignored. My hand gripped the wrist of the closest lizard that was in my range and jerked him down. In one smooth motion, I took out my blaster Shooting the man in my grasp in the head, the blue bolt burning through his scales and then brain. Getting up quickly, I let go of the dead body as I turned to the other one that was scrambling for his blaster. He didn't get far before a blaster bolt passed through his neck, his body dropping down to the ground like a puppet with it's strings cut.

Rolling to the side, I ignored any pain that action brought me in favor of avoiding a shot that would be fetal with my helmet no longer being able to absorb any more damage in its disintegrating state.

With a quick tug, the helmet that was suffocating me with its heat flew off my head and landed in a distance as I finally breathed in fresh air. Absently, I suspected that the reason so many clone troopers died in the war was because of... That.

Putting that thought on the back burner, I aimed the barrel of my blaster towards my next target. The Iktochi was the one to die next, With his knee being burned through, his heart following suit. He made the mistake of not wearing any chest armor biting him in the ass right now.

My eyes turned to their leader, Ionia, who didn't really seemed to care about the death of her partners as she aimed her blaster towards me but didn't full the trigger.

We stared at each other silently, my blaster still not aimed towards her like she had hers toward me.

"You know, I always wondered what you looked behind that helmet, didn't expect you to be easy on the eyes, I'll be honest."

She remarked with a shrug and I deigned her with a raised eyebrow, wondering what she was getting at before ignoring that thought as well. My breathing was getting heavy, I could see the pool of blood, my blood, at the place I was laying at and those quick movements only made the dampness I felt grow more apparent.

I narrowed my eyes as I noticed her finger twitching and leaned to the side, avoiding a blast that was heading to my head again. At this close of a range, her blasters showed their effectiveness, unfortunately for her, so did mine.

Her instincts helped her survive but not get off scot free, proven by the new burn mark between her shoulder and and her neck, burning right through her shoulder blade.

This would prove to be her demise.

-Later-

I was going to die... Again.

That was a fact that I was not okay with but came to accept as I rode towards my tower. I couldn't stich my back by myself so I needed to get home. At least to get some treatment. The bandages that I managed to wrap around my back were too damp and getting damper by the second.

"That can't be good."

I muttered under my breath, chuckling as I imagined an achievement popping up, granting me the title of "Mr. obvious".

That was bad. My sight was getting blurry and breathing was slowing down. Deciding that enough was enough, I slowed the bike down and stumbled off the seat. The fact that I managed to last for two hours, give or take ten minutes or so, was a miracle in and of itself.

Propping myself up against the hoverbike, I look up at the sky. Here I was, the infamous ghost, known for "dying" and coming back to life, actually dying. Pretty ironic. I couldn't help but chuckle, maybe I would be lucky enough to be reincarnated again. I doubted it, but hey, a man could hope, right?

As my eyes started drooping, I felt my senses expand and the force, something I haven't felt for years, rush towards me, no longer held back by my denial.

That was the last thing my mind registered as I Unconsciousness took me away from the pain and into the blissful darkness.

----

... Hey... I'm back, so... Haaai.