Sorry for the long delay. I have had lab reports and tests about every day it seems. Who would have thought that chemistry majors have to do so much work? Also, writer's block sucks. Anyway, chapter 6 is now up, as you can see. It is kind of a filler chapter. Got the storyline all planned out, just have to work out the awful problem of working through these sorta dead periods. Suggestions are always helpful btw. By now, you're probably sick of hearing me, so read, enjoy, and review.

Chapter 6

That first night in the hospital was a rough one; filled with tossing and turning. What little sleep Nasheth did get was segmented and each segment ending in violent nightmares. More often than not, they were of the dogfight. The fighter he shot down having been his father, or his father firing on his shuttle from the corvettes. When morning did come, he welcomed the respite and the appearance of Saara. The young nurse was clad in her dark green scrubs that appeared to be the standard uniform for the hospital. Her hair was in a neat bun, which was quite the opposite of the mess it had been in yesterday.

"Good morning. Feeling any better today?" Saara asked as she checked the monitors that he was plugged up to.

"Maybe a little. I just want to get out of here." Nasheth took the opportunity to admire the young nurse's athletic figure. "You got any idea when I can leave?"

"The doc said you'll be clear to leave tomorrow. I don't know where you can go with no ship though."

"Not a problem. I can probably call in a few favors; get another Mando to come pick us up. Until then, I have no idea. I did lose a couple hundred credits worth of grenades in space….. And a shuttle…"

"I don't know how good your pilots are, but if you're any indication, you're going to be stuck here for a long time. Don't forget that pirates are still active in this sector."

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask you about that," Nasheth said, his mood becoming sober. "You said something about them shooting down another Mandalorian. Can you elaborate?"

"Well, Zarrev Hurmond's gang has plagued this system for a few years now, starting shortly after the Jedi Civil War. They didn't have much, just a single frigate and some fighters. But about two years ago, they seem to have gotten their hands on much more firepower. We keep requesting help from the Republic, but with the recovery, they didn't have anyone to spare. But that's most likely unimportant to you. As I was saying…" Saara stopped as the sound of blaster fire pierced the calm quiet that had occupied the hospital since Nasheth's arrival.

The blaster fire seemed to die down for a few seconds, only for the room's door to explode inwards. HK, his armor smoking and slightly pitted in several places, charged in. He immediately turned as lobbed a fragmentation grenade around what once was the door frame. It was followed by a dull thud and the scream of a man.

The hallway returned to silence. Saara peered through the opening, then turned back and shook her head, signaling that no one was out there. Alive anyway.

"Urgent statement: master, it seems they have found us." The droid pulled a pair of blaster pistols from a bag he had strapped to his back and passed them to Nasheth. "I would suggest relocating until you are fully functional again."

Nasheth nodded, and then turned to Saara. He was surprised to see the young woman was still calm. Then again, Nasheth thought, she probably sees the results of violence every day. He cleared his throat and proceeded. "Saara, I believe I will be leaving early. HK, I'll need my gear."

He quickly disengaged himself from the tangle of wires that monitored his vitals, and stood up. His muscles quickly screamed for him to go back to dormancy. Blood rushed to his head, giving him a temporary sense of blindness. As he started to strap on his armor, Saara finally spoke up.

"If it wouldn't be too much of a hassle, I'd like to go with you," she murmured.

Nasheth paused and stared at her for a minute. She was medically trained, and appeared to handle extreme situations well. But she was also a civilian, which posed serious complications to his plans. Then again, he really didn't have a way off this rock.

"If you can help us get a ship, you can come. But if you're going to slow us down any, we don't need you. But I have to ask, why would you want to join us?"

"You sure know how to flatter a girl, don't you?" Saara said sarcastically. "I've never been off this rock. Also, as it happens, I already have a ship."

Nasheth stared at her for a full minute with a blank expression. Finally, he shook himself out of it. "You tell me this now?"

"Well, you didn't ask. And besides, what was I supposed to do, tell you I could let you borrow my ship?"

Nasheth shook his head and returned to securing his armor. Each piece was heavy and would slide off if it wasn't locked into place, but once assembled, it was air tight. A Mandalorian could go EV for an hour or so in space before his suit ran out of air. He slid his gauntlets on and started fumbling in the bag. After a few seconds, he looked up.

"Um, HK, where is my helmet?"

"Hesitant answer: your helmet was damaged in the crash. I'm afraid you'll have to find a new one."

Nasheth was silent for a moment. "Well, this sucks," he finally said before pulling out his repeating rifle. He checked the charge of the power pack, then slid it back in.

"I guess it's time to go." Nasheth turned to go, and then hesitated. "Um, Saara, do you know how to use a blaster?"

"Well, not really. But I am a quick learner."

"Wonderful, just wonderful... I lost my helmet, I lost my ship, and now I have an aruetii wanting to tag along." Nasheth groaned. He paused for a moment and reconsidered his statement. "But we can use all the help we can get."

The slight wasn't lost upon Saara, who huffed, then left the room. Nasheth shook his head, then turned to HK-50. "HK, what armaments were you able to scavenge from the shuttle?"

"I managed to get a few side arms and about five fragmentation grenades. Most of the concussion grenades were lost. We still have a few sonic screamers left too. We lost half our power packs and all the plasma grenades. We have two blaster rifles, not counting ours, and a blaster," HK rattled off. "I would suggest you train the female organic to use them. Sure, she will never achieve the perfection that I posses, but that is beyond organic potentials."

Nasheth chuckled at this. He knew droids developed behavior quirks when they went some time without a memory wipe, but Zuka had given him one only a few days ago. This HK series may have some issues to resolve. It would explain why this was the only one he had ever seen.

"Well, that leaves us more to work with than I had feared. Go collect whatever items of use that those two had on them. I want to be ready for anything."

HK nodded in confirmation, then left the room.

There you have it. This chapter took forever to write. I kinda was tempted to show the actual firefight between HK and the hired guns, but decided to update as-in instead. I may go back and add it in later, depending on the feed back. Hope you enjoyed it. I have no idea when I will get to post the next chapter, so sorry about that.