ᴄʟᴏɴᴇ ᴏɴᴇ ꜱʜᴏᴛꜱ

Humble Savior (Crosshair x OC)

possible TW - injury

Crosshair's excellent timing changes Kinley Renoux's life forever.

This one is remarkably longer than the rest, at a proud 5,400 words.  Let me know if y'all think I should split it into two parts!

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Kinley sighed, staring into the distance as she listened to the sounds of a distant battle raging. The pops of explosives and sizzles of blaster fire wouldn't let her sleep. She knew that her home was far enough away from them to be in any danger, so she sat near the bottom of the hill by the tall trees, and just waited. What for? She wasn't sure. But she was too restless to stay inside.

The Separatist invasion had been going on for several weeks, though that day was the closest they'd gotten to her and her home. She feared they'd advance until they were on her doorstep, forcing her grandma and her to leave. Or worse.

A chill went down her spine at the thought. She shook her head and instead looked down at the grass by her knees. She sat cross-legged on the side of the hill about five hundred paces from her home. The wildflowers were in bloom. Her favorite time of year. She picked at one, bringing it to her nose to smell its fragrance. A heavy smile formed on her lips as she recalled a happy childhood before the war, playing in the fields with her parents.

They returned to Ryloth to help fight for the Republic, and she rarely contacted them anymore. They were busy. As a young adult, she had to remind herself that she didn't need to talk to them every day. It was a luxury that she would have to live without until the war was over.

A loud clanking drew her from her thoughts and she suddenly looked up. In front of her was a line of Separatist droids approaching her. They stood tall with blasters at the ready. That was about all Kinley saw before she got to her feet and took off toward the house. She only made it a short distance before noticing the group of droids that had flanked her. But why? What did they want with a nobody who wasn't even involved in the war?

She stopped dead in her tracks, blood pumping in her ears, as they closed in. There was nowhere else to go. Now that she was forced to look at them, their lanky forms and uniform movements shot terror through her. She spun as a droid behind her spoke in a high-pitched, scratchy voice.

"What should we do with it?"

Another answered, "I dunno. Shoot it for target practice?"

"Okay," the first one seemed unsure of itself. The thing raised an arm in the air.

That was when Kinley knew that this was it. This was how she'd die: alone in a field, surrounded by lifeless hunks of metal who didn't even know she wasn't a soldier. Her arms and legs shook violently as tears clouded her vision. She thought she would be peaceful in a moment like this, but thinking about just how insignificant her death would be drew her to panic.

The pain hit before the sound did. Kinley flinched. A sizzle and a thud. She coiled in on herself.

"What was that?"

"Sniper fire?"

She wiped her eyes and looked around. The droids were no longer staring at her. There were two... three droids on the ground smoking. A blaster bolt found home in yet another and it fell. They began to panic in a much more dramatic fashion that Kinley had. She wanted to do something. She should've run to the house for cover. But instead, she was stuck. Her limbs were frozen. She watched as one by one, the droids were taken out in a uniform manner.