First I would like to thank Kadirika7211 for being such an awesome beta for this chapter. So it has been a while, but this chapter is a bit longer so I hope that makes up for the wait. Reviews and criticism are welcome. Enjoy.

A Friend in Need Ch.4

The darkness seemed to seep in from everywhere in the Coruscanti underworld as four young children of various species ran through the streets. Many wouldn't have really noticed a bunch of urchins except these four wore Jedi attire. It drew much attention as they ran turning heads as many clone troopers with blue accented white armor were not far behind, taking shots at the group of younglings caring little for collateral damage and forcing many people to run for cover.

The zeltron youngling who seemed to be helping them navigate the streets, cursed as a shot flew by her head. She slid around a corner as she led them down an alley. The Zeltron girl stopped to help up a human boy who tripped on an old pipe. She used the Force knock over a stack of large crates in order to slow the troopers down as they ran down the alley. The Rodian boy was the first to exit the alley. He quickly checked for any clones and signaled the way clear. The other three moved up only to skid to a halt as a blaster bolt to the head ended the Rodian boy's life.

The shot came from troopers who had set up an ambush in the street outside the alleyway while the ones chasing them had penned them in like a herd of Nerfs. Three heads turned back to see the troopers who chased them climbing over the crates.

The zeltron girl looked up seeing an old rusty fire escape.

"This way," she called out as she began to leap off the brown walls of the alley.

They climbed up by jumping from one wall to the other. Two jumps and she landed on the fire escape, followed closely behind by the cathar girl and human boy. They made their way up as many shots whizzed by them as they began traversing the stairs of the old fire escape which did not even reach the full height of the building. They were forced to jump the opposite wall of the alley propel themselves up on the top the roof. The human boy went first followed by the zeltron girl. The cathar girl prepared to jump, but cried out as a blaster bolt hit her foot through the grate as she jumped. She missed the wall and tumbled down.

"Seri!" The Zeltron girl cried out from the rooftop. She prepared to jump down and assist her friend even with the clones moving in. She was held back by the boy as the cathar was shot several times on the ground of the alley. The Zeltron girl screamed as she was pushed back by the boy as blaster fire peppered the building's edge where they were standing.

"We have to go!" he shouted as he grabbed her shoulders and whirled her around to face him. She nodded reluctantly while holding back her tears. He then activated his lightsaber and the blue blade deflected a shot from a clone that had ascended the roof via grappling lines. She followed him as they ran along the rooftop, activating her own saber and the violet blade deflected another shot back at the same trooper killing him as his comrades followed him up. When they reached the edge of the roof, they began hopping the rooftops and jumping off the slow moving speeder traffic to make distance from the troopers. They returned to ground level after seeing a gunship pop around the corner and found an alleyway to hide in for the moment to lose the troopers on the ground. They both stopped, taking large breaths after such a hard run.

"They're gone. All of them," The zeltron girl whispered to herself. She looked at her friend seeing the same look of horror on his face after watching the last of their friends get gunned down. There seemed to be something else in his gaze as he looked at the wall. She didn't give it much thought as she remembered the group of eight that fled the temple now reduced to two. The girl looked around, "We need a disguise, something to throw them off our…" a blue blaster bolt cut through the air gazing her cheek and leaving a burned scar. They bolted through the alleyway. The boy found a hiding spot in a small nook in between buildings and tucked himself in. She tripped as she felt a hot stinging bolt of plasma pierce her back. She fell forward as the bolt forced her toward the ground and smacked her head hard on a dumpster, her vison fading.

Unknown Warehouse in Worlport, Ord Mantell

Vetrova's eyes snapped open and she let out a few horrified breaths. She looked around to get her bearings, unsure of her location as her eyes adjusted to the minimal light inside the cell. She tried to remember how she got here as her memories of the past few hours came rushing back. She remembered seeing Crous choking one of his lieutenants with the Force. She recoiled slightly as the memory seemed so vivid. She remembered how in her shock she'd moved just enough to give away her position. She chided herself for such a foolish rookie mistake.

She shook her head and made to sit up only to get a slight shock from a pair of what looked like to be a modified pair of stun-cuffs wrapped around her hands. From the glowing blue cord she could tell they were meant for force-users. Her feet were bound as well and she fell back on her back as her body seized from the cuffs. Her her body's convulsing only seemed to add to the shock she recieved. After few minutes of fighting to remaining still the shocks finally subsided. She growled as she tried again to stand careful not to move her wrists too much. She managed to sit up and look over herself. She sighed when she saw they took the top half of her beskar'gam by removing the plates off her flight suit. She scooted to the edge of the cell and leaned her back against the wall. She rested a hand on her ribs, which felt like a Reek had stepped on them while running full charge. She have to be careful not get hit there again or the broken bones may puncture a lung.

She took stock of her situation, which wasn't good considering she was trapped in a cell Force only knew where and she had no weapons or even her upper armor, and to top it off, she had a killer headache centered where that fat kriffer hit her with the butt of his blaster. She tried to use the force to undo the cuff. She closed her eyes and let it flow through her. She felt the sensation. Years since she had done anything like this and it felt like only yesterday as…

BZZZZZT!

She let out a small scream as the stun-cuffs gave her another more painful shock causing her fall over once more. She didn't know how long she laid there before the door opened revealing Crous, who had a cheerful smile on his face.

"You're awake," he walked over to her. The light of the hallway gave his features a dark ambiance as he crouched in front of her. She noticed he had swapped out shirts, trading his light blue one for a white one which meant she must have been knocked out a full day. It gave her some comfort knowing that S-Cee would come looking for her soon if he wasn't scouting and infiltrating the building already.

"I bet you're wondering when that droid friend of yours is going to get here. Don't count on it. I had my men track it down. They used a droid popper on it and brought it back here to be scrapped" He chuckled as she glared at him. "To be frank, Violet, I want to let you go, but you know who I am and my plans for the Empire. They have been in motion too long for you to ruin them." Her glare only intensified, "Oh don't give me that, I am sure you have worked long enough bounty hunting to know when loose ends must be cleaned up. So do you have any last requests? It is the least I could do for you. Any lovers or family members to give a piece of your armor to? Oh, yes I know of that little Mandalorian custom," His tone sounded superior, it was clear he held no respect for her or her people. Vetrova bit down her annoyance at the man and kept her cool. There was no sense in letting him bait her.

When she didn't respond, he sighed. "Well at least say something. I am getting a cramp." He shook his head and stood up. When he reached the door Vetrova called out.

"You're insane," Crous turned around and the calm easy demeanor was gone. She only saw his rage filled gaze bore into her. His eyes flashed yellow for a moment before a cruel smile formed on his face.

She could feel his anger wash over her when he spoke. It was overpowering to say the least. She cursed her species for the natural empathy she had and Force for only adding to it.

"Not entirely, but my eyes have been opened," He turned and left the room, the door shutting behind him with awkward thud as she was left in darkness.

She stared at the floor for a time. She pulled her legs up and wrapped her cuffed arms around them. She rested her head on her knees taking stock of her situation. She clenched her teeth and began working her left thumb around, preparing. I really owe my buir for teaching me this. With a crack she broke her thumb biting her lip to avoid crying out and alerting the guards. She began to work her way out of the cuffs, slowly, as to not get another shock and her thumb still throbbed with a bit of pain. She had to get out of here. She had to stop Crous, because if she didn't millions would die. That and her cyar'ika would kill her if she died without at least putting up a fight.

Insulted was probably the best word he would use for the situation. The fact that those thugs thought a simple pulse grenade would destroy him, if he were organic, he would have growled at the thought, but he wasn't organic was he? He had never tried to be in the first place.

As such he had his memory core and his hard wired circuitry shielded long ago from such devices. It allowed him to fake a power failure on the chance that those fools would either take him with them or simply leave him to allow him to simply follow them to their base. Either way he would end up at their base of operations where they no doubt imprisoned Vetrova. The fools had performed the former perhaps in hopes of reprogramming him for their operations.

S-Cee powered back on and sat up from the work table he was placed on. He was in what looked like a simple droid repair room with scattered tools and droid parts lying about on tables and the floor. He slid off the table and opened the door and found the hallway unguarded. Were S-Cee organic, he would've been smiling as he stepped into the hall. No one ever suspected the droid after all. It was an advantage that he played off regularly. He walked to the terminal at the end of the hall and downloaded the building schematics. S-Cee looked them over while he marched down the hall. He scanned for life signs as well, finding none in the near vicinity. He wondered why. Where had the Over Hounds gone off to?

He didn't bother looking for the armory yet as he didn't need a blaster. The blasters built into his palms would suffice for now as he marched for the detention area which turned out to be a cargo bay full of shipping containers positioned with the boxes against either side of the room creating a narrow hallway for the guards to patrol. He stopped at the corner and an optic cable zoomed out of his wrist guard. He looked down the hallway seeing only two guards standing on either side of one of the cell doors.

S-Cee was able to scan the container and found only one life sign in the interior. It seemed the guards were talking among themselves, a perfect opportunity. They just stood there, complaining about being left behind and something about fireworks. S-Cee didn't give them both a chance to finish as he popped out and leveled two shots with his blasters and two bodies dropped outside the cell. He marched over and opened the cell door. Vetrova sat against the opposite wall with her arms on her knees.

She looked up, "S-Cee, you're here!"

S-Cee nodded and as Vetrova stood up, walking with a slight limp. She had a hand over her ribs as well.

"You need medical attention." S-Cee stated which only seemed to agitate the woman.

"No, we have to get to Coruscant and warn Cor-Sec about the attack the Over Hounds are planning." Vet began jogging down the hall. "You know where the armory is?" she asked.

S-Cee called up the schematics and pointed down the nearest hall. Vet turned and ran, ignoring her injuries until she came to a stop outside the doors. Luck wasn't on her side as S-Cee assumed she had hoped to find her armor by the annoyed look on her face. She grabbed a pair of blaster pistols and let out a hiss of pain as she tried to use her broken thumb. She holstered that one immediately although the different modeled weapon did not fit well in it while she kept the other in her good hand.

S-Cee heard her sigh as she looked around the armory noticing that that it contained many E-11 blasters, the standard rifle for the Empire's stormtroopers. Known for being able to put bolts down range fast, but not for their accuracy.

Vetrova shook her head and opted to carry the pistol she had already taken. She threw one to S-Cee which he caught with ease. She then dashed out of the room.

"S-Cee, where is the Cargo bay?" Vet asked checking the corner, both pistols raised seeing no one else she took off once again. S-Cee could tell she was wondering where all the gang members went. He had assumed whatever they were planning required many hands.

Vetrova darted ahead once again, leaving S-Cee to catch up. She waited for him at the door to the cargo bay. S-Cee didn't not fail to notice that her breathing was even more labored and his scans had shown two broken ribs. She counted down and opened the door. S-Cee went in first as he was the most heavily armored. He noticed many workers and blue armored gang members loading crates on to a cargo ship. They were being supervised by a heavy set man in thick brown plastisteel armor with a pistol on his hip. The heavy set man turned around. He looked at the two Mandos and sneered.

"Well aren't you two persistent. However you weren't persistent enough." He pointed at the duo and most of the guards set their loaded canisters down. "We have all we need. Take care of these fools. We're taking off." As he walked up the ramp the hydraulics let out a high pitch tone as it shut behind him. The ship's engines flared.

S-Cee pulled Vet behind a stack of canisters as blaster fire peppered all around them. Despite being filled what appeared to be some kind of gas, the canisters where heavily plated with durasteel and likely better cover than most of the leftover crates. Vetrova seemed much more angry than usual she watched the ship take off. It could wait as they had a firefight to deal with.

…

That fat kriffer, Nerman left only enough men to cover the cargo ships escape. Vet felt a sense of helplessness as the Warehouse rooftop door opened and let the craft leave. She let out a growl as her fear was replaced by anger and she took out her frustration on the remaining guards as they popped up. The few guards that stayed behind suffered fatal wounds all except one who ran. She shot one of his legs out as he tried to bolt for the doors, his blaster skidding away from him as he fell to the floor behind some remaining canisters.

She stormed up to him, ignoring the pain in her ribs and knee and pointed a blaster at his head. The orange skinned Twi'lek man held up his hands. "How many ships like that does your boss have like that going to Imperial City?!"

The twi'lek flinched slightly, "That was the fourth, but he has several shuttles that will secure the LZs so the workers can inject the sewers in the gas when the cargo ships arrive. The other's already left. Can I go? This whole operation is insane. The boss is using everyone at his disposal." His body seemed to shake even more, "Are you going to let me go?" he asked nervously.

Vetrova held the pistol for a moment, letting it hover over the man's forehead. Part of her wanted to. Her hand tensed, ready to pull the trigger when a robotic hand reached out and gently pushed her arm down. She looked up at S-Cee, "There is no honor in killing an unarmed opponent."

The twi'lek took this as his cue to bolt as Vetrova continued to stare at S-Cee who looked away and began walking toward the door. She wondered briefly how the droid had become the way he was and for the first time since meeting S-Cee really wished to know who created him.

"We must go if we are to get to Coruscant and warn the Imperials." The irony of his statement snapped her from her thoughts.

"Yeah let's go save the Imps," Vetrova stated with mock enthusiasm as she followed S-Cee. They both ran toward the entrance of the warehouse making their way back to Vet's ship.

MandalMotors Birgaan Class Freighter Model-46s, Designation: The Forgotten

It took longer than expected to get to her ship as the rush at the spaceport was at an all-time today. She hoped that the goons Crous sent to take S-Cee hadn't done anything to sabotage her ship. Luck appeared to be on her side when she found her ship unharmed.

"Crous' thugs must not have had time to actually take anything with all his plans in motion," Vetrova remarked as she pulled out a used security spike from the keypad and typed in the code for the ramp.

S-Cee didn't say anything and made a beeline for the cockpit. Vetrova saw him running though prefight checks. She let him do it, making her way to the armory of her ship where most of her weapons were stored. Mostly, because this ship had a weapon in almost every nook and cranny she could think of. The door slid open and she stepped inside. She tossed the pistols she took from Crous' base on an open crate for parts. She instantly replaced them with a pair of WESTAR-35 blasters. However these weren't as heavy modified as her old pair. Nonetheless, the familiar weight felt comforting as she went to her room to get her back up beskar'gam. She felt the ship lurch as S-Cee took off and carefully made her way to her room. She sat at the desk of her chair and strapped in while the ship broke atmosphere.

She sighed and thought about how she had to deal with Crous. Part of her knew this would end up in a showdown. She swiveled in her chair and stared at her safe where she knew it was stored. If did come down to her and Crous fighting it out, she would need it especially without her beskad. When the ship stabilized she unhooked her belt and went to the safe on the other side of the room. She placed a hand on the handle and sighed as the biometric scanners unlocked the key pad. She typed in the code, safe door opening with a hiss revealing a semi-large stack of credits that she kept in case her any of her hidden accounts were frozen, wiped or stolen. She reached behind them and open another more secret compartment and a small square shaped slot opened pushed out revealing a small black box. She took it and opened it and there it still sat. The violet crystal shined a bit in the light of her room as she picked it up and looked at more closely before closing her hand around it. She then went about opening up various nooks around the room pulling out pieces of black painted beskar she had made one by one over the years why different beskar smiths.

She sat down on the table and laid the pieces out. She stared at them for a few moments deciding if this was a really good idea. Ah, screw it, she thought. She closed her eyes and reached out and formed the picture in her mind and the pieces on the desk floated around each other, assembling themselves together as they rotated around crystal forming a black cylindrical hilt. Just like riding a speederboard, she mused before it fell apart and the pieces clattered on the top of the desk. Vetrova let out an annoyed groan as one of the pieces fell on the floor and under her desk. Vet got off her chair and knelt down trying to reach it. The little focusing crystal was just out reach. She struggled a minute as she reached for it before she smacking her forehead.

"What am I doing?" she shook her head as this time she reached out and the piece flew right into her palm. She got up and sat back down this time focusing harder clearing her mind entirely except the image of the saber. As she imagined each piece sliding together the hilt on the desk began to assemble once again.

This time when Vetrova opened her eyes a black-hilted lightsaber lay on the desk. She stood and picked up activating the blade as she swung it front of her face. She admired the violet blade for a moment before deactivating it and laying it back on the desk.

Vetrova stepped over to her lockers which sat right next to desk. She opened it to reveal a steel colored suit. She groaned, wishing she had got around to painting it, but it would have to do for now. Vet quickly stripped down and took off what was left of her old set. While she was out of her armor, she quickly took a shower in the fresher across the hall because there was no way she was donning a new set while dirty and sweaty. It seemed like a waste of time, but she had to wrap her ribs with bacta patches.

A few minutes later a clean Vetrova set about putting on the newer set. It fit rather well actually. She rolled her shoulders, allowing the suit to settle a bit more. She clipped on a black kama and holstered her WESTAR-35's in the side holsters attached to the outside of the belt-skirt. She turned around and examined herself in the mirror while holding her other helmet under her arm. She looked rather badass actually the silver armor over the black flight-suit went well together. She'd have to add some purple and black accents later. Vetrova reached out toward the desk where her lightsaber still sat and it flew into her hand. She stared at the blade a moment rolling it over in her hands and clipped to her belt. Despite not using one for years, the weight was familiar and came with a welcome sense of relief.

She donned her new helmet as she left the room. She sighed in annoyance as the Heads Up Display appeared. It was the standard layout which meant she would have to go in and make adjustments to get the settings the way she wanted. She grabbed a roll of tape and began taping up her broken thumb.

"Have you tried to contact the Imperials about the attack?" She said sitting down in the Captain's seat.

"Negative, I believe we should find out which sector the Over Hounds plan to destroy and make contact with the local authorities there as they would be more apt to hear us out."

"That makes sense. Keeps the spotlight off of us better, I guess that and some high strung Captain wouldn't really believe us anyway. Do have any idea where they would go pull something like this off?"

"Without a readout of the Coruscanti sewer system, I can only hypothesize." Vet nodded at S-Cee answer trying to think of something before S-Cee spoke up once again.

"However I was able to tag the ship with a tracker as it left. We should be able to locate it when we exit Hyperspace."

Vetrova smiled at the news, "Where would I be without you ner beskar'vod?"

"Probably dead." The droid answered back before he resumed to checking the ship's controls.

Vetrova shook her head, "Such little faith in my abilities."

"I did just rescue you from a warehouse prison." S-Cee said as he looked at her.

Vetrova held up her finger, "Hey, I was working on a plan to get out. I had just broken my thumb to get out of the cuffs they had on me. All I needed was the right moment to jump the guards."

"If you say so," Vetrova made a face at S-Cee which was lost on the droid as he checked more systems for malfunctions. They didn't really do a full pre-flight check after all.

Vetrova shook her head and worked her broken thumb. It might be a hindrance when she confronted Crous. There was something she could do while they were still a ways from Coruscant. Meditation might work. It had been a while but she entered a meditative state. She focused on herself and other injuries, using the force to speed up the healing process which was hard since she had forgotten most of the mumbo jumbo they taught as the temple.

The force itself wasn't as calm as she remembered. It seemed different. She wanted to explore more, but she maintained her focus on her injuries, mainly her ribs. She actually felt the bones slowly mending. Weird was hardly a good word to describe the sensation. When she opened her she realized she had been meditating for hours and Coruscant was only minutes away where she would find Crous and hopefully end this madness before millions died, not to mention the possible reward for saving the Imps' shebs.