Sunar suppressed a sigh as several armed people stepped into the hallway both before and behind him. He stood there and shook his head. “This seems like a lot of trouble to go to just to rob a random spacer.”
The male human standing in front of him sneered and raised a blaster. “Bobb Finkle sends his regards.”
Sunar hit the deck, and the shot sizzled through the space he’d just vacated. He drew in a breath as he fell, looked at the man, and roared. The sonic attack echoed down the hall, and the sound hurt Sunar’s ears. Right, try to avoid that in enclosed spaces. Check.
Both men went down, hands clutching their heads.
He looked towards the door from which he’d entered. An armed elf and orc stood between him and the door. Both blinked a few times, shook their heads, and then started to bring their weapons to bear.
Sunar flicked a shruiken into each hand and launched them. The elf ducked, but the orc took it in the shoulder. This bought him a couple of breaths as the orc winced and the elf straightened. He dug the claws on all four limbs into the cheap walls of the hallway and launched himself, skidding along the shiny floor, at the pair.
Their eyes widened as he rocketed towards their legs.
The orc fired, but the bolt missed, hitting the floor where Sunar had been.
Sunar curled himself into a tight ball. He heard something pop and a scream. Then the two tumbled down behind him.
He stretched a hand out, planted it on the floor, and used his momentum to flip to his feet and twist so that he faced his opponents. They’d gone down in a tangle of arms and legs, and Sunar started to just make for the door, but the elf spotted him. The guy stopped struggling with the orc and tried to get off a shot.
Duck. The shot sizzled the air close enough to feel the heat. Launch another shruiken. It slammed into the elf’s arm, eliciting a scream. Sadly, the guy kept hold of his blaster and fired again. The shot went wide as Sunar dodged into the wall. It shook as he rebounded.
Hmmm… Flimsy things. He punched the wall as he dodged low and listened to it rattle. Got it. Girders there… and there… meaning…
The orc had pushed free of the elf at this point and brought his gun up.
Sunar launched himself at the far wall and two shots hit behind him. Putting his feet on the wall and heaving with all he had, he sailed back at his launchpad while putting as much ki as he could muster into a punch. Thin metal screeched beneath his hand as he careened through and a jagged bit managed to score a tear in his left wing.
He could hear all four of his assailants cursing.
The first two have recovered already? Time to leave. A glance showed empty space big enough to park the ship in. He focused a little more ki into his legs and sprinted in the direction of his entry door. He hit the last door back into the corridor just as someone got through his hole and took a shot.
He ducked, bounded forward, hit the exit door with enough force to jar his arms, slammed his feet to the ground, leapt, unfurled his wings, and beat the air with everything he had.
Twisting in the air, he extended his claws, and used the warehouse wall to help him gain altitude. He looked down as he reached the warehouse roof to see the elf charge through the door, skid to a halt, and look around in confusion. He launched himself over the roof with the building’s edge, and into the sky. I’m glad that so few of my kind ever figure out how to make their wings work.
#
Sunar flew a few blocks, just enough to reach more well-traveled areas, then dropped into an alley, wincing as the adrenalin wore off and the pain from his wing’s tear began to speak to him in earnest. It took a moment’s concentration to staunch the bleeding, then he hailed a cab and hurried to the ship.
A few minutes later he got to the ship and found the Captain in the hold, facing away from him. As he walked up the ramp his comms device pinged, and the Captain turned towards him at the sound. She had her own comms in her hand, and arched an eye at him. “Page the dragon and he appears, huh?” She then took a real look at him and her eyes went wide. “You’re injured! What happened? No, don’t stand there and talk; get your shiny black tail to the med bay and talk on the way.
“Before you start explaining, though, you should know you have a call waiting. I tried to tell him I’d have you call him back, but he insisted on holding the line. I would have told him to sod off, but I believe you said the leader of that place you grew up was a Master Ikthan?”
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