Disclaimer: I own nothing. This is purely for recreational purposes.

XXX

Ok, I had to admit that the markets of the 'Mercenary Town', as it had come to be called, were rather impressive in that they were filled with so much stuff. Dozens of different weapons stalls with armor and weapon smiths offering people rates to build custom weapons, even a few Mandalorians offering to sell alloyed Beskar armor to people, though it was definitely not in the style of normal Mandalorian armor, probably as an indicator that the people wearing it weren't Mandalorians themselves. A few were even selling vehicles, mostly a few Landspeeders, though I had spotted a few merchants selling Headhunters, mostly older models that had been retrofitted with newer systems like sensors and the like.

Still, I felt that some of the stuff that was being sold around here was of limited use, especially given the ground warfare that seemed to be dominating this conflict.

"Damnit... No luck..." I looked up from my musings as I heard that, seeing Avun emerging from yet another stall, seemingly unsatisfied with what she had found, not that I blamed her since I could see that most of the stuff this idiot was selling was little more than rusted junk with a, rare, few good weapons. Then again, I had spoiled her when I had upgraded her Blasters with technical knowledge and materials that were well above some of the local tech. Sure, I'm sure that a custom-built weapon from the best weaponsmiths in the Galaxy could have beat them, but I doubted it would have been cheap. Still, I made a note of looking into the problem, especially since it might require me to make something from scratch.

"Still no luck?" I asked, already knowing the answer even as she shook her head, I was just making conversation.

"None. Frankly, I think we've come too late, most of the good weapons have already been taken, and what few weapons that might be better than my own ones are Mandalorian, and most of them are too heavy for my tastes." She remarked as I nodded.

"What about that heavy weapon you were looking for?" I asked as we started walking, causing her to follow after me even as she shook her head, pressing her hand into her visor in an attempt to massage the bridge of her nose. Even as we moved, I noticed the way the crowd parted around me, a quick scan of Telepathy told me why, mostly a mix of the reputation of both myself and Avun, but also because I was a guy wearing a three metre tall suit of armor that looked like it could, and it could, tank hits from warships. It didn't really matter, but it was nice for them to give us some space, especially since it meant that I wouldn't have to step on any of the bloody midgets running around the place. Yes, I knew they're race had a proper name, I just didn't care to use it.

"Bah! Most of them are out of heavy weapon stock or the ones they do have are not even worth the materials they were made from!" She retorted, her tone showing her annoyance as I nodded at that. Chiss, from what I had learned, were a lot better than normal Humans at controlling their emotions through mental discipline, but they still had limits.

"... You do know my offer is still on the table, right?" I remarked as she nodded sharply at that, but said no more. I sighed at that, but didn't comment either, since I knew that doing so would have gotten me into more shit, but it had been something I had offered to a friend.

Basically, I had offered to build Avun a new weapon from scratch. She was tempted at the time, but refused on the simple fact that she didn't know how to use any of the technology I had created, not only that, but also because she disliked the weight that a lot of the weapons I knew how to make were. Even the lightest ones were not her style due to one reason or another, I didn't comment on it, but was more than happy to help modify her weapons since she refused anything else.

Shaking my head slightly, I said nothing as I kept walking, considering the six hours within this camp and the utter lack of anything interesting to find. Even with a few Psionic sweeps to see if I could find anything within a limited range, I had found precious little that had attracted my interest, and what little I had found was just a few random pieces of tech that went for an absolute steal. Weapons and armor were off the table, Bacta was something I had recently stocked up on and, aside from a few Droid parts to look over at a later date, I found little of interest within the entire encampment.

However, as I walked, I noted something, the busy streets around me suddenly going quiet as a shadow was cast over the 'town', glancing around and up as Avun did the same, we realized why as swarms of ships feel from the sky. Looking up, I saw dozens of retrofitted freighters, armed with weapons and looking like they had had their cargo holds expanded to serve the purpose of carrying more troops... Or more prisoners...

It didn't take more than a second for the shock of what was coming down upon us all to wear off as Mercs suddenly scrambled into action, Kaleesh moving in a storm of activity while merchants quickly grabbed as many weapons as they could and started handing them out. Said merchants, while greedy, knew what their options were and would have preferred losing a profit to being killed or, worse, becoming a slave. I glanced around at that, not saying anything before glancing down at Avun, who was looking at me in turn.

"I'll head them off at their landing zone, try and slow them down. You going to try helping some of these idiots?" I asked, getting a nod and a snort of amusement from her.

"Can I expect your Droids to help?"

"They're already on their way, I told a few of them to remain back at the ship, but they'll be here in a minute or less."

XXX

People often didn't think of it, but flying was actually rather liberating, especially at high speeds.

Flying through the air, I took in what was ahead of me with calm indifference. the Huk had created their landing zone, landing multiple Action VI Freighters, YV-929 Armed Freighters, YV-929 Light Freighters, Vulture Droids and a few dozen other types of fighters that I didn't recognize as I soured through the air. Images flashed through my mind as I noted each of them, marking their locations while the starfighters seemed to hover protectively over the landing zone, probably to create the illusion of safety.

I smirked at that.

"Time to show them what real war is like..." I muttered to myself as I shifted, the power armor around me shifting with me as I suddenly found myself in a steep dive, wings folded in to create a smaller profile as I readied my weapon of choice, a QST-188 Particle Assault Cannon, the same as those used by Silver Wolf Glitter Boys, but modified in such a way that it had been miniaturized to look like an oversized Assault Rifle for my armor. It was also one of several weapons I had built to use with my armor, though, a few of them could be used in or out of this armor. Swooping down, I smiled as I readied it, along with my other weapons and waited for a moment as I drew closer.

Then I acted.

As I went parallel with the first fighter, I acted, my augmented biology allowing me to react faster than most races, the Huk being no different, I pulled the trigger to each weapon I had as my wings unfolded, my body feeling the G-forces, testing the Inertia Compensators to their limits and beyond, but unaffected by them due to the upgrades I had given this armor. As I pulled up, a number of things happened, results of the trigger pulling I was doing.

First of all, multiple Fighters suddenly found themselves exploding as a barrage of mini-missiles hit them before they had a chance to react, blasting them to pieces as the Thermal Detonator-like warheads did the rest of the work. Two Freighters found themselves reduced to scrap as Rail gun shells rained over them, Flechettes made from a lesser M.D.C. material rained down on them at over Mach five, durasteel offering no protection as those ships were ripped apart, internal explosions ripping the rest of them apart, while several other ships found their hulls ripped apart, crippling them until repairs could be effected while a Particle stream dug a trench through the remains of two other ships, butchering a dozen Huk in the process, as another Particle stream rained over what looked like an ad hoc command centre, one that suddenly found itself turned to dust.

All that happened in the space of a few seconds as I flipped around, swinging around and going for another pass, folding my wings away as I crashed into the ground, impacting into a thick crowd of Huk and smiling as I deployed a pair of Vibro-blades from my off-hand while sweeping another group with my Assault cannon. My Dual Boom guns fired, sonic booms hammering anyone that was within two hundred metres of me, bursting what amounted to ears on the insects as I cut down those that remained. Corpses fell to the ground for ten seconds as Vibro-blades cut, Particle streams burned and irradiated, and flechettes caused anything they hit to be reduced to so much multi-coloured paste that it wasn't even funny.

Still, once the Huk managed to work around their surprise and shock, they were quite to counter attack.

Blaster cannon bolts started to rain down as Starfighters went on attack runs, only to be intercepted by snap-shots from the Laser cannon I had mounted underneath the main barrel of my Assault cannon. Dozens of Huk ran at me, screaming their rage and hate at me as I smirked at them in turn, firing my Boom guns at them and enjoying it as they disappeared into so much paste. Those Huk with heavy weapons tried pinning me down as I hopped around, making extensive use of my Repulsorlift and jetpack to make myself as hard a target as possible. Still, even with that, I did still get hit, multiple times in fact, but they did little damage to my armor as, after two minutes of shooting through them, wrecking their shit and being a general pain in the ass, I pulled. I wanted to conserve ammo for later, not to mention the fact that I had, at the very least, made sure that that Landing zone wasn't going to be too much of a problem.

At least for a while, anyway.

XXX

Looking up from the bushes that he had thrown both himself and his comrade, Jedi Master Jmmaar looked up at the devastation before him, eyes wide at the destruction brought by a single being.

"By the Force..." He whispered to himself as he felt the deaths of those Yam'rii that had been sent to aid them in ending this conflict that the Kaleesh had started. Now, originally, he had had a few misgivings about the conflict, but knew that he had sworn, as a Jedi, to safeguard the Republic and it's member races from any threat, both internal and external. Intellectually, he knew that the Kaleesh had been hiring mercenaries, but having faced one that seemed to appear from nowhere, slaughter so many, before taking off on some kind of oversized jetpack was something he had not been expecting, especially not the sheer devastation that said mercenary had wrought. If it hadn't been for the Force, he and his fellow Jedi Master would have died, but, looking around at the carnage, Jmmaar couldn't help but feel his resolve harden as he shook his friend awake.

He would see this war end, and see that thug imprisoned for what he had done here.

"D'oon, wake up! We must move! Now!" Jmmaar spoke as he rapidly tried to wake up his friend, giving him a gentle slap on the cheek to wake the Human up, causing him to snap awake from his unconscious state, caused by Jmmaar throwing him from the command tent with so little warning.

"'m up! I'm up!" D'oon cried back as he darted up, slowing down as he suddenly felt the reflection of death in the Force and looked around to see smoking corpses and the burning remains of starships, glass trails burned into the ground.

"What happened...? All I remember was you throwing me through a window after hearing the Force scream in warning. What happened, old friend?" The Human asked, getting a grim look from his comrade.

"A Mercenary the Kaleesh hired." Jmmaar replied, getting a nod from the other Master. No other explanation was needed after that point, after all, it was easy to see what had happened, especially with the remains of seven freighters, twelve starfighters and a few dozen Yam'rii lying around. It couldn't even be called a battle, more like a slaughter of epic proportions.

Still, pushing down their combined disgust and regret for the Mercenary and the dead, respectively, they went in search for other survivors. Quickly, with the aid of the Force, they found others, Yam'rii helping one another walk around, medics tending to horribly injured survivors, some missing limbs while others were suffering from burns that covered entire sections of their bodies, having burned away plates of chitin. Most of them were being brought into a quickly deployed tent and laid on stretchers as medics moved quickly to heal them. Stepping in, the two Jedi did their best to contain their emotions, reciting sections of the Jedi Code to keep themselves from allowing themselves to fall to their emotions.

Only the Dark side awaited them down that path...

"Who is in charge here?" D'oon commanded as he stepped into the tent, drawing a look from one of the nearby Medics, but nothing more.

"That... Would be me, Master Jedi...Commander Kitac... At your service." Came the clicking voice of one Yam'rii as he walked closer, both Jedi seeing that the being in question wasn't looking all too good. The Yam'rii in question had suffered badly, his left eye was covered in bandages soaked in Bacta while he was missing his left arm from the mid-bicep down. Not only that, but the Yam'rii's chitin was covered in the blood of his fellows, along with his own, something that only caused both Jedi to work harder to keep their calm as they both nodded towards him.

"How are the casualties, Commander?" Jmmaar asked first, the centipede-like Jedi speaking first as he heard the Yam'rii click his tongue in thought.

"Over 250 dead, almost double that in injured along with multiple ships either destroyed.. Or rendered unable to break the atmosphere of the planet... Thankfully, though, the other landing zones haven't suffered attacks quite like this... Merely a few... Probing attacks..." The Jedi both nodded at that.

"Then we must move quickly. If we can secure the Kaleesh capital and force them to surrender, then it will prevent any more bloodshed while the Senate works to prevent the Kaleesh from being a threat again." Kitac nodded at that.

"Yes... But first... We must reach their capital... Which is on the other side... Of this..." Reaching his remaining hand out, he presented a holo-prjector that sprang to life and presented an image of a massive collection of landed ships, a massive tent city filled with people. However, what brought the Jedis' attention was not the actually encampment, but it's surroundings, mainly the heavily fortified positions and dozens of mercenaries and Kaleesh that filled trenches, barricades and emplacements. Looking up, they both looked to the Yam'rii in question for an answer.

"We.. Cannot move around it... It blocks the quickest path to the... Kaleesh Capital... To go any other path would mere... cost more lives and drain us dry... we must attack..." The Commander insisted as the two Jedi looked to one another, before sagging in despair, knowing that more lives would be lost this day.

"Very well... We shall prepare to move out when you are ready."

XXX

Avun smiled as she watched Michael land at the defense line that had been set up in advance around Merc Town. All around him, dozens of others looked on in a mixture of interest, awe and caution as he walked through the parting crowd, calmly looking over the gun in his hand as he placed it on to a magnetic clamp on his thigh as he grabbed another weapon from around his waist. Said weapon had three barrels, looking very much like an oversized pistol in his Armor-clad hand.

"What's the situation?" He asked as he approached, checking over this weapon before holstering it once more, clearly ensuring that it was ready for a close range battle, something that everyone was expecting at this point. Avun moved over to him and started walking with him as he moved deeper into Merc Town.

"The defenses have been prepared, your attack bought time, but the Huk have landed in five other locations and are advancing on our location. Best guess is that they want to try and make a run at the Capital to try and force the Kaleesh to surrender, though, most of the Kaleesh seem to think that will never happen. Air support isn't possible, mostly because what Starfighters were here are busy keeping their Starfighters from making a run on us or for the Capital. Aside from some point defense, Anti-Air turrets and Concussion missile launchers, we don't have anything else to defend against an air assault." Avun explained, getting a nod from the Rancor Hunter.

"I'll provide support from the air along with deal with any concentrated formations of forces. How many Mandalorians are here? And how many of them have Jetpacks?" Michael asked after a moment of consideration.

"Just under a hundred or so, and all of them have jetpacks, along with a few dozen other Mercs that are flight capable in one way or another, myself included." Drake nodded at that.

"I'll talk with the Overseer, see if he can be convinced for something other than a protracted defense." Avun looked at him at that, curious as to what was going through the man's mind, and what he thought was a better option given that the Huk had them outnumbered, which meant that the coming fight, even with their superior position, was not going to be an easy one.

"What are you planning, Michael?" He glanced down at her at that moment.

"I'm thinking that if this becomes a head-to-head fight, we're going to lose. Badly. So, instead, we need to bleed them dry, those with jetpacks or repulsor-packs have the advantage in mobility to get in, kill a few dozen before pulling back, laying traps on the way out to bleed them further. Eventually, it should mean that, by the time they get here, we should have a significant advantage on them, after all, it is easier to beat a demoralized, heavily mauled force than it is one that is fresh off their transports, and looking for blood, eager for a fight." Michael remarked as Avun nodded in understanding. Yam'rii may have been cruel, sick bastards, but even they could get demoralized, and even if they didn't, they'd get angry, they would start making mistakes due to their own bloodlust and anger.

"A clever plan, but one that was risky." Avun noted, Michael, in response, shrugged his massive, armor-encased shoulders.

"Who dares, wins." He remarked simply before walking onwards, not really offering another word as she remembered the saying, the motto of the SAS of his homeworld.

He who dares, wins indeed.

XXX

Shedon Jeffruf was many things; A Mandalorian, a weaponsmith, an armorsmith, a part-time drunk, a full-time warrior and an amateur musician, but one thing he was not, was a coward. As such, he could only grin as he looked over at the White Huntress as she and everyone else hid in the branches of trees, the dense undergrowth of the planet and in any shadow they could find. Honestly, if he had a chance, he fully planned to shake the hand of the Ramikad (Dangerous Motherfucker) and offer them as much Ne'tra gal (Black Ale) as they could manage.

Truthfully, he had been bored until these idiots had attacked, him and the rest of the Mandalorians with him. When they thought they were going to be stuck on the defensive, they felt annoyed since it meant more waiting when they had an enemy to fight, a battle just waiting to happen. Yet, instead, virtually every Mandalorian had nearly jumped for joy when the orders had come down from high above, instead of being tied up in defense, someone had the bright idea of going on the attack to bleed these bugs dry before they even had the chance to reach Merc Town. Shedon had a good idea who it was, given that said Beroya (Bounty Hunter) had gone off on his own to blast one such landing zone apart just for the hell of it.

Still, the Mandalorian knew better than to distract someone on the eve of a battle, such things would have l only made them an easier target, something that Shedon knew from personal experience during the Mandalorian Civil War.

"Delta team, hold position. Targets are almost in the kill zone, check your gear as quickly and quietly as possible, we've got three minutes, Reaper Actual out." A voice suddenly came over the comm., one that they all had recognized as belonging to the now famous, and infamous, Rancor Hunter. Looking to the White Huntress, who was already doing as instructed, Shedon followed her example as others followed while those that didn't remained alert of anything approaching. True to the Rancor Hunter's words, a column of bugs soon started marching passed them, they watched from the side as the bugs moved along a dirt path through the forests, heading for Merc Town as they all held still.

Subconsciously, the Mandalorian felt his fingers tighten their hold around his weapon as he surveyed the dead bug's walking before him, waiting for the order to attack. However, as he watched them, already picking out targets to fire on first, he spotted two figures that clearly didn't belong, both clad in brown robes that covered them in baggy fabric. However, it wasn't until he saw the glint of silver and gold that he knew what these two beings were, but even before that, he had a sneaking suspicion as to what they were.

"Delta lead, this is Delta Two. I've got eyes on two Jetii (Jedi), both are armed and are advancing near the front of the Huk forces. Over." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the White Huntress pause in her work before she started moving once more.

"Understood, Delta Two. I've contacted Reaper Actual, he'll be on stand-by to assist if things go bad, but he has put some of his Droids on overwatch for us. Be advised, they will be taking shots from random angles, so try and watch yourselves. Over." The White Huntress stated as she went back to work, the Mandalorians looking about themselves, grinning as they knew that this was the chance to get a bit of payback against the Jedi for what they did during the Mandalorian Civil War.

"Understood, Delta lead, Delta two. Out." With that, he merely had to remain there and wait as he readied himself. Around him, many Mandalorians started planting mirrors beside them for a reflected shot to hit the Jedi, something that most of them wouldn't see coming since the Jedi only felt someone that was trying to kill them, they, on the other hand, were merely shooting a mirror that might cause their shots to be reflected and hit the Jedi.

Seconds ticked by as the enemy forces drew closer, everyone keeping their calm as the White Huntress hovered her finger over the button to activate the mines, another indirect method of killing the Jedi since they would die from stepping on a mine, not by someone pulling a trigger. Still, grips tightened around weapons, those with heavy weapons checked and rechecked shot counters and power packs even as they held their scopes steady over the horde of Huk. The newer Mercs held themselves steady, having been advised to attack the horde rather than the Jedi as to not give themselves away.

"... Now." The word came in a whisper, but that whisper may as well have been the howling shout of a banshee as it echoed through them all. It didn't even take a moment as Blaster fire rained down upon the advancing forces. Huk died by the Cargo load as grenades were thrown, rockets launched and blasters sung, throughout which, dozens had taken to the air, firing and trusting to their skills and the armor to protect them from the return fire as the Huk returned fire. Still, the chaos served its purpose well, the Huk were falling over themselves as mines exploded under their feet, making movement nearly impossible, but some still managed. Some suffered of their forces suffered damage, scuffed paint and dented armor from the specially made weapons of the Huk, Blasters that they could use with their mantis-like arms. The Mandalorians among them suffered little, their Mandalorian Iron, whether pure or alloyed, armor held well, preventing them from taking damage that would have killed a lesser man, but the other mercs were less fortunate.

Potent Blaster fire hit them and caved in armor, ruptured fuel tanks and caused them to fall to the ground, unmoving, while their comrades fought onwards, towards victory. Still, even with the threat of death, they gave a good account of themselves, killing dozens of Huk before pulling back, their jobs done even as fire rained down from snipers outside of their visual range. Support came as missiles and invisible lances started hitting the Huk, their proximity preventing them from escaping the blasts...

But failing to kill their main targets.

The Jedi had survived the main bombardment and fire, their robes in tatters, burns and bleeding wounds covering them, but still alive and able to fight as they wielded their Lightsabers as they were fired upon from above. The two Jedi moved quickly, dodging and jumping out of the way while using their blades to reflect incoming attacks, others were turned aside as the Jedi moved, trying to get into the thick of things as the Mercenaries avoided them like the plague. Still, even as that happened, the White Huntress entered the fray without pause.

Out of the corner of his eye, Shedon saw her engage in the fight, and he honestly couldn't help but feel impressed by what he saw. Each shot from her weapons was a killing blow, burning straight through the hides of the bugs with ease while she didn't waste more than a single shot on those that died before turning in the air and launching a stream of missiles at the Jedi while spreading her fire, doing her best to make them move as much as possible to deflect her shots. She could have kept it up for a long time, but it seemed she didn't need to as one of the Jedi was forced to reflect a shot from a different angle, one of her own shots got through. It impacted the Centipede-like creature, hitting the front left manipulator arm and burning straight through it, blasting it off the creature as his comrade could only look on in horror as he tried to cover his friend.

To do this, he reacted by throwing his Lightsaber, a bad move in this kind of fight as he grabbed his comrade and tried to drag the wounded being away, but it hardly mattered. The Lightsaber continued to fly through the air, heading straight for the White Huntress, who saw it coming and jinked to the left, but wasn't fast enough, the Plasma blade of the Lightsaber cutting into her armor as she twisted, where it had been aiming for her torso, it hit her in the arm, cutting through her armor and removing her left arm from the shoulder down. The blade also cut into her backpack as she fell to the ground, the fuel having been ignited and she was thrown to the ground at that.

Seeing her go down, the Huk hissed as they felt victory might have been theirs, not that they realized that this wasn't a real battle, but they rushed forwards as Shedon slipped from his position, moving towards his group leader as he continued to fire. Behind him, his Vod (Comrades or Brothers and Sisters) advanced to cover him as he quickly grabbed her even as he heard her hiss in pain, something that caused him to look at her in surprise and cause his respect for her to grow just that little bit more. Still, he needed to work quickly as he ripped a Bacta-coated patch from his belt and slapped it to the stump that remained of her shoulder even as he accessed his comms.

"This is Delta Two to Reaper actual. Delta lead is down after engaging and injuring one of the Jedi, we require assistance and support to cover our retreat. Over." He spoke calmly and quickly as he hoisted her over his shoulders before leaping back as more Huk advanced.

"Acknowledged. Support is enroute, give me ten seconds." Came the return voice as Shedon had ten seconds to consider that as his eyes widened and his lips twitched into a grin.

"Fall back! Fall back!" He ordered as the others formed an orderly fighting retreat, pulling the Huk into another position as the Mandalorians primed detonators for vast amounts of explosives that they had planted around the forest. Still, such things were there just to cover their retreat, the real support was coming, and it came in the form of the clearing exploding from multiple impacts that almost felt like artillery strikes, clouds of dust being thrown up as a beam of energy raked over the clearing, killing more Huk before He joined the fight, landing on top of the Huk as swords extended from his wrists.

Shedon knew that the Rancor Hunter was something to see in a fight, regardless of the massive suit of armor he was currently wearing, but what he saw before him was truly something else. The man fought like he was possessed, one hand holding a massive gun that sprayed bolts of Plasma all over the place while his other hand was used to hack and slash at the Huk while the massive turret on his shoulder sang with savage glee. Missiles stormed out from his shoulders and shins while he moved forwards, undaunted by the Blaster bolts that impacted him as he crossed the distance in moments, little more than a black and grey blur that trailed blood behind it.

The Huk stood no chance as he carved into them like a rabid Rancor hungry for a meal, sweeping hits killed them by the dozen while those that were too close to him found themselves deafened and disorientated before being killed by Plasma and Vibro-blades. Soon, he had cleared a wide path through the enemy formation as he advanced on the Jedi deep at its heart while they pulled back, knowing that they should do so as they had already done their jobs.

Still, some of the Mandalorians, himself included, stayed behind to watch what was happening with interest as the man advanced on the Jedi, firing away at anyone that got too close before firing at the injured one, he was too slow to react, and, as a result, was blown to pieces by so much kinetic energy being transferred into him that caused flesh, bone, carapace and chitin to be sprayed everywhere. The Human Jedi didn't do much better as he raised his blade to attack and moved quickly, to others, such an attack would have seen the Rancor Hunter dead, as the Human Jedi came in too fast for a normal being to react.

Then again, few had ever considered the Rancor Hunter to be normal.

Dropping his Plasma cannon as it retreated on a long chain to his waist, he raised his other hand and more blades extended, blocking the Lightsaber, shocking all those present, especially when the Lightsaber itself suddenly fizzled and hissed as the blade shut down. So shocked at his main weapon being defeated, the Jedi didn't manage to react in time to the swipe that removed his right arm from his body, nor his left, nor the hand that clamped itself around his neck before the three metre tall behemoth lifted him into the air with a single hand even as the turret on his shoulder blazed away.

"..." The Rancor Hunter offered no words to the Jedi as a crunch and crack was heard throughout the clearing before he dropped the Jedi to the ground, who's neck was now significantly thinner than it was before. Even as the turret continued to fire, Shedon saw the Beroya quickly picking up the Jedi's fallen weapons and taking them with him even as he fired a few more shots. Leaping into the air as his wings unfolded, Shedon saw him take a few more hits as he returned fire with an oversized rifle-like weapon that left another trail of death behind it like the weapon in his shoulder turret.

"... We're done here. Pull out." The Rancor Hunter stated as they obeyed without question. Many knew of the skill and capabilities of the Rancor Hunter, and, after that little display, none disobeyed him.

Still, Shedon felt more than a bit apprehensive on the flight back, especially as the Beroya seemed to hover near him, or, more likely, the White Huntress.

Silently, he wondered what the relationship between the two of them were even as the surviving Huk tried following after them.

The sounds of distant explosions seemed to work to convince them otherwise.

XXX

As soon as we had returned to Merc Town, I grabbed Avun from the Mandalorian with a nod of thanks, throwing him a Credit chip full of about ten thousand credits in thanks along with a promise of buying each other drinks at a later time. I absently agreed to such things, but wasn't paying much attention to it as I rushed back to the Dakka Hunter, moving passed the A-63 that had remained to guard my ship, I made my way into the cargo bay as fast as possible as I mentally checked on Avun, who had fallen unconscious during the trip back to Merc Town. I frowned at that, but sighed in relief that her vitals were still going strong as I put her on a bench that I had swept clear of the random bits and pieces that were on it. Quickly, I brought out a Bio-computer and began scanning her as, with the aid of some telekinesis, I started stripping her of her armor.

Slipping out of my armor in the process, I looked over the readings with a frown, her left arm was gone from the shoulder down, she had multiple fractured ribs, thankfully nothing broken, and some damage to her lower spine that, normally, would have meant that she would have been paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of her life.

Not really something that was a problem. No, the problem came in the form of her missing arm since, while I could heal her, I still needed Biomass to work with. Healing things like bruises, cuts, burns and broken bones was easy enough, but trying to regrow a limb was well beyond me at this point. Even when I was enhancing myself biologically, I needed raw materials, resulting in me eating a hell of a lot more than I normally did. I grimaced at that, since I knew it was going to be a pain in the ass to fix, but I'd wait to hear from Avun before doing anything to it, since it was her body I was thinking of mucking around with.

With that in mind, I turned my attention to figuring out what I could do to replace the arm. Quickly, I discarded the idea of using Magic to heal her since, even after all this time, I was absolutely shit at any Magic that had anything to do with healing. I knew a few Biomancer spells, some Elemental spells, some innovations and a few other things, but those were only the things I was confident in using, everything else I either couldn't use or hadn't practiced enough to confidently use them. That left me with the idea of using either a Bio-system replacement, a Cybernetic replacement, or, if she was willing, a Bionic replacement. Honestly, the idea of using the first two was rather simple, the former being a cloned and attached limb while the latter was more along the lines of a metal limb like what Anakin had. A Bionic replacement, on the other hand, was only vaguely, though it did vary, Humanoid in shape and required extensive and invasive modifications such as strengthened bones and muscles to cope with it. However, it came with the added bonus of being far stronger and capable of using much heavier weapons than a normal arm could manage.

Still, I'd leave it up to Avun, something that I'd need to wait a while for since a quick Induce Sleep ensured that she wouldn't be waking up too soon so as to recover her strength as I moved over to one of the A-63s that was in the room, one of six in the ship.

"Call back both of the AA-60s and three of the A-64s. Have them aid you and your squad in defending this ship, with a priority on protecting Avun should the ship no longer be a defensible position. If that becomes the case, arm the scuttling charges and make an escape. Also, should she wake up before I'm back, ensure that she is fed and rests, check her injuries and ensure she doesn't do anything rash, such as making her way off the ship and towards the battlefield. Understood?" I asked as the machine nodded.

"Understood Master. It shall be done." With that, I turned, put my armor back on and left the ship.

As I left, I paused at what I saw waiting for me outside my vessel, mainly, it was the fact that I saw a group of Kaleesh, all of which were looking at me with differing levels of awe, and Mercs, who were looking at me with varying levels of interest and caution, waiting for me, the Overseer among them.

"Hunter, I trust that your companion is alright?" Came the voice of the Overseer as I nodded.

"She is stable, though the lack of an arm is something to be addressed at a later date." I replied as he nodded, gesturing me to follow him as I closed the ramp behind me.

"Good. Though I have called you for another reason. Mainly, I wish to know how you believe this battle shall turn out." He asked as I considered it.

"We shall win, probably with a fair number of loses, but we shall win all the same. This attack was a desperate gamble by the Huk and the Republic, but one that had a chance of success. Now though, that chance has dropped significantly with the loss of both of the Jedi. Now, we simply need to deal with the Huk on the planet, something that shouldn't be too difficult, though, I would advice caution since we don't know what they might have hidden away, though, I can say that they do have one thing in their ships. Nuclear weapons." I spoke, causing silence to descend upon the area as they all looked at me.

"Explain." Came the voice of the Overseer.

"My sensors picked up the Nuclear bombs inside their ships, I counted eight in total with three having been damaged beyond use by my attack on one of the landing zones. The remaining five have been spread among the rest of the group, but I think I understand what they wished to do originally. They wished to drop them on you from above, something that is no longer possible due to the current situation, since their fighter cover is being suppressed so efficiently. If they tried it, they would be torn apart before they even managed to make for their target." I stated as the Overseer looked at me with narrowed eyes before nodding at that.

"Then, it seems I have another job for you besides the one that I originally came to give you." He stated simply. "In addition to hunting down these weapons and rendering them unusable, I want you to attack their forces before they reach our defenses along with ensuring that they have no escape. Is that understood?" I merely nodded.

"And payment?" I asked, more out of curiosity than anything else.

"Name it and we shall see." I was rather surprised at that, but no one could see it through my armor.

"First pick of one of the Landing zones of my choosing, whatever the Jedi were carrying with them when I dealt with them, and a few favors that I might cash in at a later date." I stated simply, most of what I had said wasn't all that difficult, especially since I knew it was stuff that the Kaleesh had already promised. Seeing nothing wrong with it, the Overseer nodded.

"Very well."

"Then let's begin."

XXX

From such great heights, one can often think that the problems that plagued entire worlds were distant, unimportant things that mattered little to them. There was an almost physical disconnect from the concerns of the world around you as height increased until one left the world behind them and entered the void of space.

I hadn't even gone that far, two kilometres at most, but that was all that was needed.

From such a height, my view was supreme. It allowed me to see all things that look place below me, like the view of a God peering down upon the lowly mortals below him from his heavenly throne. However, I cared very little about such ideas and the romance of such heights as I looked down at the world below, sensors taken from multiple sources working to detect my targets, locking on to them and tracking them as my turret moved on my shoulder. Mentally, I considered how to attack before I frowned, did it really matter how they died, besides the fact that they died?

Shaking my head, I realized the answer to that. No, it really didn't matter.

As such, thoughts raced through my mind, commanding my armor as I changed a few settings in my Boom Guns, altering their launching speeds to allow for a larger cone spray of flechettes, optimizing the weapon for a shorter range, but making it all the more deadly within that range. Not only that, but such a thing was also rather useful for attacking targets at greater ranges, as I could extend the optimal range of the Rail Gun by a few hundred metres. Such a difference, especially since it just meant that the flechettes wouldn't spread out as much, but it was useful if I wanted to try sniping with said guns. A wry smile came to my face at that, well, as much as one could snipe with an Anti-tank weapon.

With that done, I triggered my engines to stop, my wings folding back away as I dropped, falling straight for the ground as I leaned forwards, directing myself into a steep dive as my armor computer denoted the multiple nukes I had detected earlier. More detailed scans told me what they were, Fusion reactors that had been turned into ad hoc nukes, something that only made it easier for me as they had yet to be activated, meaning that a single shot from me to them and they would be ruined. Furthermore, what made things even better was that the Huk had been stupid enough to carry the weapons all together, not in the same vehicle, but certainly not far apart. As such, I raised my Assault Cannon in one hand, while my turret pointed elsewhere, targeting locks flashed in my HUD before I smiled, I waited until I was practically on top of them before I fired once more.

Sonic booms filled the air as I pulled the trigger on each of my weapons, aiming for their formation of Z-12 Cargo Masters, each one having been modified into an open air transport for their forced, one that obviously wasn't really going to work all that well. I smiled thinly as I didn't even have time to blink to see the results of my work, flechette rounds, having sprayed out of the two Boom Guns, had ripped three craft apart, mincing the passengers and crew as I watched them both go up in smoke, a snap shot from the turret-mounted Particle Beam erased another Landspeeder while the Beam from my Assault Cannon removed another from existence. As a consequence, I also found myself down four Nukes to deal with, leaving me with only a fifth one to destroy, something that was dealt with in short order as an armored panel on my left shoulder and launched a set of Mini-missiles at the fleeing craft.

It didn't get far before it's rear was detonated with the power of the warheads, shockwaves rippling through it, killing the crew while shredding the cargo.

Smirking in vindictive glee, I flipped, my wings unfolding as I swung around, having dropped straight into the middle of the Huk formation, a rather nice demonstration of shock and awe, before I continued to move on as Vibro-blades deployed from my off-hand as I swung down, cutting through the main engine and cockpit while a quick Mini-missile killed what remained of the crew. A second Landspeeder met it's end by being cored by a Particle Beam as the passengers tried jumping to the ground as I gunned them down with my Laser cannon, not even offering them a moment of rest as many more died even as I accelerated. Picking speed up quickly as the Huk finally recovered from the shock assault I had just deployed upon them, I folded my wings away once more as I slammed into another Landspeeder, breaking through durasteel armor through sheer momentum before firing out the other side as gore decorated my armor. Said gore was rapidly boiled away as Blaster bolts started flying at me, leaving scorch marks on my armor, but doing little beyond that as most of the incoming fire was either ignored or dodged.

Still, the Huk didn't have much volume of Blaster fire coming at me, few of the Huk seemed to have bothered with Blasters, and those that had were pathetic at aiming them. This was especially true when one considered the fact that they had only three Overlanders left, all filled with their troops as they tried to do a high-speed turn and make a run for their landing zones.

BOOM! BOOM!

Not that such a thing was going to happen. Two of the Repulsorcraft suddenly found themselves blown to hell by Boom Gun fire while the last one didn't even get that as I crashed into it at high-speed, knocking it off course as Vibro-blade deployed from my forearms and I went to work. The screams of the Huk filled the air as I cut them to pieces, Cortosis-coated blades working wonderfully to rip the Bugs apart before I finally finished things with a Mini-missile to remove what was left of the Huk before taking to the air once more. A quick scan followed to ensure that none had survived before I moved on to the Landing zones.

Twenty minutes later, all of the landing zones had found themselves annihilated, the ships ripped to pieces by a rain of M.D.C needles while corpses lay smoking around the area, some cut in half while others had smoking holes burned through tortured flesh.

In less than a day, the invasion of Kalee had finished, along with the last chance for a Huk victory over the Kaleesh.

XXX

AN: Here is another chapter of this. Hope you enjoyed it. Until next time!