"We're scheduled to drop out of hyperspace in about two minutes," Black's voice came from behind Kadira as he reentered the cockpit, settling into the copilot's chair and leaning back.
Kadira gave a silent thumbs-up in response, focused on the holorecording she'd been studying in her HUD for the past few hours. It was only a small amount of footage, featuring the man they had come to know as Shaen Mog. The man was a Death Watch member who had become a nightmare for Kadira and her crew on their last mission. She'd pulled up every bit of video evidence they had on him, starting from her own glimpse of him on Coruscant and ending with the feed from Laniff's helmet that showed the shot to Mog's head that had killed him. Altogether it amounted to less than five minutes of footage, but she'd been studying it for most of the trip. Something about the entire thing bothered her. She didn't know why, exactly, but there was something that she had to be missing, something that would explain why she felt so strongly that they had missed something.
"What made you move from smuggling goods to smuggling people?"
Kadira looked up at Black's question, shutting off the holofeeds she'd been viewing as she did so. It was time she took a break anyway. She was close to driving herself crazy about the whole thing, so Black's interruption was a welcome one. Kadira hesitated a moment, thinking through her answer before responding.
"I've spent the last few years as a Mando and a smuggler, Black. Laying low and trying not to get caught smuggling all sorts of osik. I guess it was time I started sticking my neck out again."
Black tilted his head in response, checking the ship's systems as the two began to prepare the ship to drop out of hyperspace.
"And your boyfriend?" Black asked.
"Long story," Kadira responded. "But he's not my boyfriend."
Black's responding chuckle showed no sign of believing her protest.
"I heard he kidnapped you a while back," he said, glancing sideways at her. She knew the motion was for her benefit, as his HUD was equipped with a 360 view, same as hers.
"And then helped rescue me," Kadira pointed out, flipping a row of switches.
"But he did kidnap you," Black pushed.
Kadira hesitated, then tilted her head in confirmation.
"And you still fell for him?"
Kadira stayed silent, determined to neither deny nor confirm the guess. She saw Black glance sideways at her once more.
"You know, I think there's a syndrome that explains that..."
Kadira's laugh was short and startled as she looked over at Black. She was grateful for the helmet that masked her expression, though it did nothing to hide the humor her laugh had revealed. Black chuckled at the reaction, turning back to the navicomputer readings.
"Your boyfriend doesn't look the right age for being a clone," Black added after a moment of silence, his helmeted gaze turning in her direction briefly before returning to the control panel.
Kadira turned to look at him, hearing the faint threat underlying his words. It was a sharp contrast to the joke he had cracked a few seconds before, but it hardly surprised her. She had been wondering how long he would hold back the question.
"I don't have a cure, Black," she said bluntly. "If I did, you know I would have handed it over to Skirata and his boys without even thinking about it. Jett's just…" she struggled to find the words, as it was something even she couldn't fully explain, "a special case."
"How?"
Kadira sighed. She'd been expecting this, too. Black was one of the most loyal and capable Mandos Kadira knew of. He'd survived the entirety of the Clone Wars and had gotten the clones under his command out of the army when it turned into the Galactic Empire. He was a Bounty Hunter, a sergeant, and a hero in more eyes than just hers. But it was common knowledge that he hadn't exactly been able to turn off from the war. He was good at what he did, and he was loyal to his vode, especially the clones who had been under his command. It was why she had been expecting him to demand an explanation for some time now. Jett hadn't aged at the accelerated rate of his clone brothers because of the years he'd spent encased in carbonite, but Black had no way of knowing that. To him, it would undoubtedly look like Jett had been cured of the advanced aging, when in truth it just hadn't become noticeable yet.
"He was encased in carbonite just before the purge, and released only a little while ago," Kadira explained, keeping her answer simple and to the point. "The carbonite kept him from aging. He hasn't been cured of anything. Just delayed."
Black was quiet for a moment and Kadira could practically feel the disappointment coming from the other man. No doubt he had been hoping there was a cure he could bring back to his own men, some way to give them back the years the Kaminoans had stolen from them by giving the clones advanced aging in order to grow an army. It was one of many reasons the Mandalorians had little sympathy for Jedi. To take a slave army without even asking questions didn't sit well with a culture of warriors.
"That doesn't explain the blue eyes," Black pointed out finally, turning to look at her fully this time. "Fett clones have brown. Not blue."
Kadira met his helmeted gaze with her own, glad she hadn't been the only one to notice the oddity, but disappointed at the same time. She'd been hoping it was some sort of mutation, but if Black had never seen it before…
"I wish I had an answer for that one, vod," Kadira said slowly, shaking her head. "I really do."
Black was silent a moment, no doubt weighing her answer, before he nodded abruptly and turned back to the console.
"Preparing to drop out of hyperspace," he said, his voice back to its usual all-business tone.
Kadira took his cue and gripped the controls lightly, hoping the ship wouldn't blow up. It was rickety enough that she wasn't entirely convinced that their entry into the planet's atmosphere was the safest decision.
"On my count. Three. Two . One," Kadira instructed.
The ship dropped out of hyperspace abruptly, shuddering briefly. Both Black and Kadira tensed, waiting for warning lights or signals to blare, but the ship steadied and the control panel remained normal.
"Think we can do this with so few people?" Black asked, not turning to look at her. Their previous conversation seemed to have been entirely forgotten.
"Normally, I'd say no," Kadira answered honestly, flipping a row of switches on the command console as she got ready to bring the ship into the planet's atmosphere. "But with this team and the skillsets we have here," she shrugged. "I think we have a pretty good chance."
Black nodded. "I agree. Let's show these aruetiise what happens when you try to a frame a Mando."
Kadira wedged her shoulder against the support strut of the ship casually, ignoring the fact that the entire team waited just out of sight behind her with weapons drawn, ready to intervene if something went wrong. The customs officer waited below her, fidgeting slightly as she fixed him with her helmeted stare, arms crossed over her armored chest. He was apparently unused to demanding bribes from a Mandalorian, and seemed to expect her to take out her pistol and shoot him at any moment. He continued to glance over his shoulder nervously, clearly blaming his superiors for sending him here without any backup. Kadira smiled wryly at the thought, remaining silent as she waited for him to speak again. He cleared his throat nervously, glancing back over his shoulder once more before looking back to her, avoiding looking directly at the T-Visor of her helmet as much as possible.
"As I said before, there's an additional docking fee that must be paid before you can gain entrance to the city-"
"Contrary to popular opinion, we Mandos aren't the idiots you lot seem to think. There's no extra docking fee, and there's no way in haran I'm going to pay you six hundred credits to keep my ship in this pile of scrap you call a spaceport," Kadira cut the man off sharply, gesturing to the grime encrusted walls laced with cracks and carbon scoring. The man hesitated and Kadira leaned forward slightly, taking advantage of his obvious nervousness and sending him skittering a half-step backwards.
The man hesitated, then swallowed hard and lifted his chin. Kadira sighed, recognizing the stubborn gesture for what it was. No doubt he feared his superiors more than he did her at the moment.
::Hurry it up, Sal, or I'll just shoot him myself,:: Stazia's voice growled over the comm and Kadira stiffened, shutting off her vocoder and letting the customs officer continue his lecture without interruption as she turned her attention to the woman inside the ship.
"You will do exactly as I ordered, Stazia," Kadira snapped in reply.
::And if I don't?:: Stazia challenged.
"Then Black will drop you with a stun bolt," Kadira replied.
::And leave you drooling on the floor while we make the rescue,:: Black added in coolly.
::You-::
"Can it, Stazia," Kadira cut off the woman's protest sharply. "I'm not putting up with your osik. You follow my orders or you thumb a ride back to Manda'yaim. Decide now."
Kadira didn't wait for a reply, shutting off her comm with a blink. The customs officer was still talking, apparently taking her silence as a sign she was thinking of changing her mind. His speech stammered to a halt as she strode forward, stopping directly in front of him. He was slightly taller than she was, but he cringed as she leaned forward, the T-visor of her helmet centimeters from his ear. She turned her vocoder back on with a blink and murmured something, her voice low enough that only he could hear. The man paled and stepped back, studying her with wide eyes before nodding briskly.
"Right, yes, I suppose we could wave the fee, just this once," he stammered, backing up quickly and holding up his hands as if to ward off an attack. He nearly tripped over one of the many pieces of debris scattered on the ground, but regained his footing just in time to avoid a fall. Kadira simply crossed her arms over her chest, tilting her head at him. The man swallowed hard and continued nodding "Right. You're free to enter the city, enjoy your stay."
With that he turned and scrambled off, glancing back at her repeatedly as if to be sure she wasn't about to pursue him.
Kadira simply waited, unmoving, until the man was out of sight before switching her comm back on.
"You all can come out now," she instructed, looking back as the team filed out of the ship. Jett came to stand next to her, tilting his helmeted head at her curiously. She could imagine the frown on his face as he studied her.
"What did you say?" he asked finally. "To get him to back off like that."
Kadira tilted her head and lifted one shoulder in a shrug. "Please."
Jett chuckled slightly, clearly not believing her.
Zarah Reden rested her forehead against the cool stone of their prison, looking up at the round grate illuminated by the prison lights above them. The cell she and Jay had been placed in was so deep that none of the light from above reached the bottom, leaving it shrouded in darkness. Zarah scowled. Leave it to the Empire to come up with a totally new way to hold people where they didn't want to be. There were no electronics at the bottom, no wires to be cut or doors to be sliced. Just a deep, dark hole with smooth metal walls and a durasteel grate at the very top, secured with a high-tech lock.
"Osik," Zarah muttered, borrowing a curse from the Mandalorians as she continued to glare up at the grate.
"No luck?" her cellmate's voice echoed from the dark and Zarah sighed.
"None. You?"
Jay appeared next to her, tilting her head up at the grate as well. "Nothing," the woman answered, shaking her head.
Zarah ran one hand through her hair, studying the walls. There was no visible seam to take advantage of, and even if there had been, she and Jay had no way to burrow through the rock and earth that no doubt surrounded them. The only way out was up, but the walls were too slick to climb and too far apart to try to straddle.
"How do you think Thalia is holding up?" Jay asked finally. Zarah heard cloth rustle as Jay crossed her arms over her chest, waiting. The darkness kept the two from being able to see anything of one another except silhouettes, but Zarah knew Jay could read her body language easily. It was a side effect of working with Mandos for so long.
"She's smart. She knows not to do anything dumb," Zarah replied finally. It wasn't a solid answer, but it was the only one she could offer. Neither of them knew their teammate especially well. They had interacted on the field, but had been separated once they were arrested.
"Think they stuck her in the dark, too?" Jay asked.
Zarah sighed, looking away from the grate. "Probably. Hopefully Thalia's as tough as they said, otherwise…" Zarah shrugged.
"It's bad enough for us, not being able to see," Jay murmured in agreement. There was silence for a moment as the two women stared up at the single spot of light above them. "They know we didn't do it," Jay mused finally, more to herself than to the arms dealer who shared the cell. Zarah lifted one eyebrow questioningly, though she knew the other woman couldn't see it.
"Meaning?"
"Think about it," Jay replied with a shrug. "We're supposed to be assassins who killed the governor, and yet they stuck us down here. Together. With no guard," Jay counted off each point calmly and Zarah winced, seeing how obvious the clues were now.
"So the eloquent speech I've been preparing for arguing our innocence isn't going to help. Lovely," Zarah replied with a sigh. "Not that there's anyone up there to argue with…"
Jay chuckled in the darkness and Zarah smiled wryly in response.
"We're going to have to try it again," Zarah said finally, earning a sigh.
"We almost fell last time," Jay pointed out, though her tone lacked any hint of complaint.
"And we did fall the time before," Zarah agreed. "But I don't see any other way. Do you?"
Zarah saw Jay shake her head and the woman turned around so her back was to Zarah. Zarah followed suit and the two women locked their arms together, their backs resting against one another.
"Ready?" Jay asked.
"Nope," Zarah responded cheerfully. "But we might as well get this over with."
The two began pushing against one another, sliding their feet up the wall, each using her weight to balance the other and keep their feet pressed firmly against the smooth walls as they began to walk up the side of the pit. The first few steps were jarring as they tried to get their rhythm, with the very first step being the hardest. Neither of them really knew how to accomplish it, so it was usually done through trial and error until they finally found themselves moving up somehow.
"Step," Zarah directed in a whisper, the occasional instruction helping them both keep up a rhythm as they made their way up the walls. The strain on their legs was immense, lessened only somewhat by the tension their linked arms provided. Only the even distribution of their weight kept them pinned between the two walls. As they continued their halting ascent Zarah's breath grew more ragged and her legs cramped from the effort of walking up the vertical walls.
"Step," Zarah said again, though this time it came out more forced than the last few. She and Jay stepped at the same time, having fallen into a rhythm now.
"What if there's a guard up top this time?" Jay asked finally, her voice strained from the effort of talking and trying to keep their weight balanced at the same time. Jay was a good few inches taller than Zarah, making their venture all the more difficult to accomplish. Jay was having to do more of the work than Zarah, as all Zarah had to do was press her full weight against Jay in order to balance them out. Jay was having to keep a close watch on how far back she leaned, lest her height throw off the balance and they fall. It had already happened once, and neither woman was eager to do it again.
"Lean back a bit more," Zarah instructed first, struggling to keep her breathing even enough to talk as her foot slipped ever so slightly on the smooth wall. "You're not going to crush me." She felt Jay's weight readjust, pushing against her and evening out the balance once more. "And if there is, what are they going to do?" Zarah answered Jay's previous question. "Poke us with a stick?"
"I was more worried about a blaster," Jay grunted in response. Zarah's own legs were beginning to noticeably shake from the strain of climbing, and they were only about halfway up. She was suddenly glad she couldn't see the bottom when she looked down, cloaked as it was in shadow.
"We have to make it to the top before that becomes an actual problem," Zarah pointed out, hearing Jay laugh slightly in response. So far, this was the furthest they'd managed to come. Zarah winced at the thought. The last time they'd fallen had been painful enough. She didn't need to be able to see the bottom to know that a fall from this distance would doubtless result in a broken bone or two.
Zarah leaned forward too far on the next step and felt Jay slip behind her, her footing lost. Zarah immediately threw her weight back again, pinning Jay in place as the other woman scrambled to regain some of her lost footing. After what felt like a lifetime Zarah felt Jay's weight push back once more. It was only then that she realized she'd been holding her breath and her heart was hammering in her ears. The two women stilled for a moment, their gasping breaths echoing in the hole as the two tried to recover from the fright.
"…My bad," Zarah managed finally by way of apology.
"Let's not do that again," Jay panted in response as the two began to move upward again. Above them, Zarah could see the grate growing larger, but it still felt lightyears away. She muttered something under her breath and heard Jay's strained laugh in response.
Soon, they were close enough to the top that Zarah stopped calling steps, just in case Jay's worries came true and there was a guard above. The last thing she wanted was to give them time to react.
"No guard from my view," Jay murmured finally and Zarah nodded, careful not to shift her weight. A fall from here would do more than just break bones.
"Alright, grab the grate like we talked about and let your legs hang," Zarah instructed. "The grate will hold both our body weights."
"There's a lock on it," Jay reminded the Mirilian, earning a nod in response.
"That I can fix. On the count of three. One…" Zarah reached up and wove her fingers through the grating. "Two…" she felt Jay doing the same and waited a breath, giving the other woman a split second longer to strengthen her grip. "Three."
The two dropped their legs from the wall, giving their shaking limbs a moment's rest as their weight hung from their arms.
"No way down but to fall," Jay reminded Zarah as the arms' dealer glanced down into the shadows below.
"Just a minute," Zarah replied, loosing one hand and drawing a lockpick out of one of the many small hidden pockets in her clothing. "There!"
The grate unlocked with a click and Zarah took a breath before using one foot against the curved walls of the cell and pushing upward. The grate parted in the middle and Zarah's momentum carried her up and over the lip of the cell. Zarah immediately reached one tattooed hand back into the hole, hauling Jay up onto solid ground, where the two collapsed, staring up at the ceiling blankly.
"Well… that wasn't so bad," Zarah said finally, earning a disbelieving laugh from Jay.
"Now we just have to dodge the guards, get Thalia out, get out of here, find a ship, and manage to get off planet without being caught," Jay pointed out, earning a mock groan from Zarah.
"Pessimist," the Mirialan accused lightly.
"Keep it up, vode. You're doing well," Kadira spoke into her comm, moving through the lower city marketplace and earning a multitude of nervous glances from the locals. She and the others had split up, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. Kadira had expected it to be a difficult task for the others, dressed as they were in full beskar'gam, not exactly the most subtle of materials. But the large amount of mercenaries and hired guns roaming the streets proved to be working in their favor, at least for now. While Kadira had yet to spot any other Mandos, those who had caught sight of them seemed content with glares or hefted weapons in the case of the other mercenaries. Kadira bit back a smile as one of the mercs stepped forward slightly, lifting his weapon as if to display it better. No doubt he was trying to inform her that this was his territory, not hers. Kadira raised both hands subtly, displaying her lack of drawn weapons and lifting her shoulders in a shrug. The mercenary hesitated a moment, looking her up and down and no doubt taking in her light armor and the lack of heavy weaponry. Finally he nodded and stepped back, clearly deciding she wasn't enough of a threat to bother with.
Act like smugglers, not beroya, she had instructed her team. Keep your heads down. We're going to be noticed, but let them think we're trying to stay under the radar for other reasons. They'll be looking for Bounty Hunters, not smugglers. Somebody gives you a nasty look, just nod. They cuss you out, wave and move on. Especially if they're soldiers.
She had instructed them to ask specific questions at a few stalls, mostly on the cost of certain goods, or how much people were paying to haul goods out of the system. Local authorities were sure to have informants spread around the markets and lower sectors of the city. If word got back that Kadira's crew was looking for a job smuggling weapons or spice, they'd be even safer. Unless, of course, a bored customs' officer got word of the crew looking for a job. Then they'd just have to improvise.
Occasionally a patrol came through the streets, causing Kadira to step quietly into the shadows until they had passed. More than once the soldiers stopped to hassle a civilian or shout at a shopkeeper. If Kadira had expected defiance from the locals, she was disappointed. Not a single one stood up to the soldiers, or even met their gaze. Fear was palpable, and it made Kadira all the more eager to be out of the streets. People had a way of doing stupid things when they were scared, and judging from the hostile glances sent her way, Kadira had a feeling she and her team would be the first to suffer.
"We need to find Vhetin soon," Kadira spoke into her comm. "Keep an eye out. Our luck won't hold for too much longer."
::Agreed,:: Black's voice came over the comm. ::Waiting on word from him.::
"Still nothing?" Kadira asked grimly, noting the obscene gesture one of the shopkeepers made in her direction. Kadira lifted one hand in a wave in response, smiling grimly as she saw his reaction.
::Nothing,:: Black replied simply.
"Keep looking, he may be-" Kadira stopped short as a figure stepped out in front of her, blocking her path. The figure was clad in dark gray armor with two light gray stripes down the side of his helmet. "Found him," Kadira spoke into her comm as Vhetin jerked his head to the side, indicating she should follow him. The man turned on his heel abruptly and walked away, moving easily through the dilapidated streets, avoiding patrols without even seeming to try. Kadira followed without question, checking her HUD to see her team's status.
"Try to make your way to me without drawing too much attention, vode," Kadira instructed, one hand placed to the side of her helmet as she followed Vhetin through the winding streets around the marketplace. The Mandalorian didn't glance back, either using his HUD to make sure she was keeping up or simply assuming she was following.
A light flashed in her HUD and Kadira immediately blinked, granting access for Vhetin's HUD to hook up to her own. An instant later, his life-signs showed up in her view, as well as a small locator arrow on the small map in her HUD. A comm channel opened up at the same time.
"Shysa send you?" Vhetin was to the point, as always, allowing Kadira the freedom of answering without worrying about power struggles with the gray armored Mandalorian.
"We're here on his orders," Kadira confirmed. "I have Corey Black, Jett, Xander Darin, and Stazia Katar with me."
Kadira saw Vhetin's gait change for just a moment at the last name before he fell back into his usual stride. His shoulders tensed though, and she didn't miss the way his hand drifted towards the handle of the lightsaber pike he carried at his belt.
"You brought Katar?" Vhetin asked, his voice dangerous.
"Not my decision," Kadira answered, ducking beneath the overhanging balcony above her. Vhetin moved quickly, seeming not to notice the way the alley narrowed or the increasing amount of debris scattered across the ground. "Shysa insisted."
"Shabuir," Vhetin muttered. Kadira was certain she was justified in her assumption that he meant Stazia rather than Shysa.
"I assume you've been staking out the prison?" She didn't need to comment on Vhetin's statement for him to know she agreed with him. The two women's dislike of one another was common knowledge among the vode.
Vhetin nodded sharply in response, ducking through a doorway without warning. Kadira followed easily, her HUD automatically adjusting to the dim light of the hovel Vhetin had apparently chosen as a hideout. He stood in the middle, his crossed arms and tense stance the only indication of the strain this job was no doubt causing him. He was one of the best Hunters she knew, so for him to have felt like Xander needed to go back to Mandalore to get help…
"Nice place," Kadira said, wincing as a shower of dust rained down from a crack in the ceiling. "First the ship, now the base…" she muttered, running one hand along the walls and watching as the sensors in her gloves fed intel into her HUD.
Vhetin watched silently, arms crossed over his chest as he waited. Doubtless he had already run his own scans for bugs and the like, but Kadira was a smuggler. Paranoia was something that kept her alive even more than it did her Bounty Hunter brethren. She grimaced as more dust rained down from the ceiling, glancing up briefly to assure herself she wasn't about to get buried under a pile of falling rubble. She'd had enough of that for one lifetime. In all, the place was a disaster. She could see why Vhetin had picked it, since it was unlikely anyone would ever willingly step foot inside. It looked like a death trap from the outside, and her the readings her HUD was bringing up on the structure did nothing to reassure her. The only positive thing she could think of was that at least Laniff wasn't there. The last thing they needed in this building was an overabundance of things that could cause an explosion. The hideout was rickety enough on its own.
Finding nothing, Kadira settled back against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest. Vhetin waited in silence as well, both watching their HUDs as the rest of their team made their way to Vhetin's hideout.
"Anything I should be aware of before they get here?" Vhetin asked finally, breaking the silence briefly.
"Nothing you're not already expecting," Kadira answered simply. "Stazia's more or less behaving thus far."
"If she steps out of line-"
"We'll all just shoot her at once," Kadira interrupted. She saw Vhetin's head tilt to the side, questioning.
"They've already called dibs on who gets to shoot first," Kadira explained.
Vhetin chuckled and nodded, but she could hear the strain in the sound. He was no doubt worried about his partner, what with all the patrols and the like here. This planet was locked down tight, and judging from the glares of the people out on the streets, the locals weren't going to be much help at all.
"What are our chances?" Kadira asked, tilting her helmeted head at him. He would be honest about what he had seen.
"Slim," Vhetin answered finally. "Even with your team. Very slim."
Kadira considered his words, knowing he was watching for her reaction, waiting. The sudden tension in his posture made her wonder how many other teams Xander had asked for help before going all the way to Shysa. It was something she hadn't considered before, but now she wondered. How many of their vode had refused to help because of the risk? How many times had Vhetin been told he was on his own with this rescue?
Finally, Kadira shrugged and rolled her shoulders. "At least we'll have a challenge," she observed, noticing the way the tension slowly drained out of Vhetin's shoulders. It was subtle, nothing an Aruetii would notice, but she did. "It's never fun when it's easy."
