[OOM] Ilum, Jedi Enclave.

[stuck_mynock]

They have all of an hour to get up, shower, have breakfast and get ready before Atton is rushing off, yelling back at Will and Guppy about how they should start making tracks.

Five minutes later, they arrive in the hangar bay, and Atton starts looking around for their snowspeeders. He's a little miffed when he sees what they have instead.

Furry animals, about halfway between mammal and flightless bird, with reins and harnesses.

"I thought we were getting snowspeeders, not tauntauns," he protests.

The Jedi he's talking to shakes their head, sadly. "Snowspeeders are all broken."

Comments

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

They don't seem too fazed by the blaster bolts. They are, after all, made of thick metal.

"Overly Enthusiastic Introduction: I am HK-51!" One of them says.

"Similarly Enthusiastic Introduction: I am also HK-51!" The second says.

"Markedly More Enthusiastic Introduction: I, too, am HK-51!" The third says. "Euphemistic Reassurance: We are here to facilitate communications, and put an end to hostilities."

"I really wish our HK, HK-47, had come along on this trip," Atton murmurs to Guppy. "Their self-preservation modules would've forced them to obey him. Also, he could've made us some snacks."

He draws his blaster, aiming it at the droids.

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy keeps his blaster trained on them, but can't help looking around edgily for the clown.

"At, just before they appeared, I saw the clown."

[will_scarlett]

"Bothersome when they talk."

So he keeps firing, hoping he can somehow take one down.

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

"I know," Atton says to Will, sympathetically. To Guppy: "Another vision, maybe? If you see him again, tell me."

Will gets in a hit on one of their eyes.

"Irritated Observation: My vision," the first HK-51 says, "is compromised. Enraged Command: Vaporise their fleshy organic bodies."

The droids level assault rifles at them, and start firing.

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy ducks and shoots back, but feels something slam hard into his left arm.

It's odd. Feels more like being hit by a sledgehammer than being shot. He's sure the pain will kick in in a minute, but for the moment, he fires off a few more shots whilst being glad that he's not dead.

"I think I might have been shot." he says to Atton, in a disproportionately calm voice.

[will_scarlett]

Its hard to duck the bolts and Will's glad he got one hit in as he keeps dodging and firing.

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

"Find cover, I'll heal you when they're all gone."

One of the droid crumples as one of Will's shots sears through its neck. Atton spins his gun in his hand (show-off), before gunning down a second one.

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy looks for cover; he's not bleeding but the pain is suddenly very intense. Spotting a nearby ice formation, he makes a stumbling run for it, then continues to try and fire at the last droid with his remaining arm until his vision clouds and he decides it's not safe to do so any more.

He looks at his arm; the bolt has struck the edge, leaving the bone broken and the skin burned. He lies as flat as he can without getting face frostbite and presses the burn to the ice.

[will_scarlett]

Now that Will's started to see the weak points, he's firing with more accuracy though its worrying to see how Guppy stumbled off.

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

Under fire from blaster bolts from both Atton and Will, the last droid quickly crumples.

Atton mutters something about bounty hunters, and hurries towards Guppy, setting a hand to his arm and starting to heal it.

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy is starting to lose consciousness by the time Atton gets to him, but is alert enough to feel the relief as the pain subsides and the world starts to come back into focus.

"'m sorry." he whimpers, trying to sit up, in case reinforcements are coming.

[will_scarlett]

Will comes to help support Guppy and get the beast ready again,

"Ye'll sit front o'me, Guppy an will be gone soon."

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

"They're pretty efficient bounty hunters, in fairly limitless supply, they won't have come all by themselves. We should make tracks for the ship."

[guppy_sandhu]

"Thanks." Guppy says to both of them. He leans on Will a bit, and manages to get up onto the tauntaun.

He makes a mental note to ditch the shirt with the blaster hole in before he goes home.

"So there's a price on our heads?"

[will_scarlett]

As soon as Guppy's up, Will get up behind him and gets the reins,

"Ye'll na fall off an least these beasts move quick."

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

Atton cocks his head, as in the distance, there's the sound of humming. He turns, to where three black dots are moving closer.

"We should go," Atton says, mounting his tauntaun and setting off.

He doesn't bother trying to keep it at a manageable pace. It can go as fast as it likes, as far as he's concerned.

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy clings on hard to the fast moving creature with his better arm; his other is still a bit sore. He doesn't want to fall off, and he feels very unstable up here.

[will_scarlett]

Will's behind him and holding him on as best he can while just letting the tauntaun follows Atton's and go as fast as it can.

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

The dots are getting closer. They can be seen clearly now - they're speeder bikes, with HK-51s on them.

"They're faster than us," Atton notes. "I wonder if there's any thin ice around here ..."

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy looks behind at the approaching things.

"Atton what do we do?!"

[will_scarlett]

"Passed a river, that might work."

Guppy looking back gets the balance a bit off and Will holds onto the reins for dear life.

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

"Rivers are good," Atton agrees.

[guppy_sandhu]

"But how do we know we won't fall in too?"

[will_scarlett]

"Move fast 'nough an we willna, also motors an all make 'em 'eavier."

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

"Ice planet, the river'll be frozen. We melt it after we're over."