Laniff skidded around the street corner, Ran following close behind as the pursuing stormtroopers continued to gain ground.

"You just had to choose a blasted maze, didn't you?" Laniff grumbled, dodging a merchant's stand and ignoring the owner's angry shouts.

"If it's slowing us down, it's slowing them down too," Ran reminded him, ignoring Laniff's mumbled comments.

The Mandalorian skidded around a second corner only to come to a dead halt, nearly causing Ran to slam into him at full speed.

"What are you-" Ran stopped short as a gold armored woman stepped out of the shadows holding two pistols, one aimed at each of them. "Sithspit."

Coorta chuckled, gesturing to them with her pistols. "It looks like you've made a wrong turn, boys. The worst part is the other street was wide open, just waiting for you to take advantage of it. Just trying to keep the game fair, pity you chose to turn here. Now, would you like to tell me where Kadira has wandered off to? I have some… business… to discuss with her."

"Do you really think I'm going to tell you where my vod'ika is?" Laniff spat, clenching his fists and fighting back the urge to draw his own pistol. He knew Coorta was too fast for him to risk getting Ran killed. "I would think even you dar'manda Kyr'tsad would expect more loyalty than that."

Coorta stepped forward and slammed her pistol into Laniff's unprotected neck, simultaneously smashing her booted foot into the back of his knee. Laniff crashed to the duracrete pavement, coughing painfully and clutching his throat. Coorta drove her armored boot into the red and gold Mandalorian's side repeatedly, each blow harder than the last and driven by fury as Laniff fought to regain his breath. The Mandalorian attempted to fight her off, but her blows only increased, leaving him to block them as best as he could and trust his armor to absorb most of the damage.


Ran started forward to help Laniff with an angry shout, only to find himself staring straight into the barrel of Coorta's second pistol. The woman was breathing hard with anger, but her pistol barely wavered as she stepped back from the Mandalorian. Laniff stayed on the ground, causing Ran to lean forward as if to help him to his feet.

"Not another step, Scorlo. Let the Mando scum scrape himself off the ground. You move and I'll put a blaster bolt through your head so quickly…" Coorta's voice was low and soft, holding a danger not unlike the few times Ran had seen Kadira's temper flare. But Coorta's voice held another element, an utter lack of the control Kadira exhibited, leaving Ran with no doubt that Coorta would carry through on her threat without hesitation.

Slowly, Ran stepped backwards, his hands raised pointedly. "What exactly did you say?" he mumbled to Laniff as the Mandalorian regained his feet painfully, still rubbing his unarmored neck.

"I called her 'No longer Mandalorian'. Don't look at me like that, it's a big deal in the Mando culture," Laniff rasped.

"Great plan," Ran snapped, glaring at the red and gold armored man. Most of his irritation was rooted in concern, as the other man's movements were slow and obviously painful. Ran could only be thankful that Laniff had been wearing armor, else he doubted the Mandalorian would be able to so much as stand.

Laniff muttered something under his breath in Mandalorian, causing Coorta to laugh again.

"Welcome back to the game, Dreysel. You lose. Again. And Scorlo, it's nice to finally meet you. The Empire has wanted to get its hands on you for a long time."

"How did you find us?" Ran asked slowly, eyeing the gold armored woman suspiciously and speaking before Laniff came up with another brilliant comeback. "I covered my tracks."

Coorta lifted one shoulder in a shrug. "Believe me, if I could take the credit I would. But it seems you have an enemy here. We were tipped off by a clone trooper, one we were actually looking for. He let us know your location on the condition that we leave him be. Pity his information was so good, seeing as he won't get his side of the bargain."

"Jett," Laniff growled, clenching his gloved hand into an angry fist.

"Very good, Mando," Coorta said condescendingly. "I'm surprised you didn't figure it out sooner. But I suppose Scorlo really is the brains of the operation. You and Kadira are just the dumb muscle. But then again, things wouldn't be half as fun if you'd actually figured out that Jett had his own angle. Now, as much as I'm enjoying this little talk, I have more important things to do. Such as hunting down your new friend Jett and finding Kadira. I can't have you two getting in the way of all that. Lights out, boys."

Ran barely had time to blink before Coorta fired, the stun bolt striking him and causing blackness to overtake his world.


Kadira came to slowly, the pounding in her head confirming the blurry memory of Jett's drugged dart. She raised her head cautiously, trying not to move too quickly. The room itself was little more than blurred shapes and shadows, leaving her just as disoriented as she had been with her eyes closed. She blinked repeatedly, trying to force her vision to clear as she quickly took stock of her situation. All her weapons were gone, she could tell that much right away. Her armor was also missing, though that hardly came as a surprise. Jett would have been careful to make sure she wasn't left with anything that might give her an advantage. What did surprise her were the stun cuffs attached to each wrist and the chair she was seated in. She expected to be restrained, but not by cuffs as high quality as these felt. They weren't the cheap kind you could find anywhere in the galaxy – the kind she might have been able to pick if she was lucky. No, these felt much more expensive and sturdy, ruining any hope of a quick escape.

Footsteps alerted her to another presence in the room and she squinted, trying to bring the shadows into focus. A blurred figure made its way into her line of sight, coming within a few feet and crouching down. As her vision began to clear she felt herself go still, memories she had thought long buried rising to the surface.

Kadira paced outside the commander's office, the sound of her booted steps seeming loud in the silent hall. It was her first review as a scout and she could feel herself shaking with both nervousness and outright fear. She'd worked hard for this position, spent years honing her piloting skills to bring herself to the level she was at. And now everything rested on the next few minutes.

"Relax, Beautiful," the voice was accompanied by a strong hand on her shoulder, something she could only assume was meant to be comforting. "It's just a review."

"Touch me with that hand again, Spike, and you won't get it back," Kadira responded in her whispery voice, shrugging his hand off and ignoring the man's chuckle.

"Fine, fine. Just trying to be friendly is all," Spike responded, stepping back with both hands raised. "Let me know how it goes, Gorgeous. Good Luck."

The office door hissed open and Kadira stepped forward tentatively, trying to fake the confidence she was far from feeling. As she stepped through the doorway she glanced back in time to catch Spike's roguish grin and a wink before the doors slid shut and she turned to face the commander.

"Good to see you again, Gorgeous," Spike said, smiling that familiar grin as Kadira lurched forward, fury burning in her eyes. "Now, now, is that any way to greet an old friend?"

Kadira stopped struggling and glared at him. "Talyc hut'uunla besom," she snapped in reply.

"I swear Kadira; if I didn't know better I'd think you weren't happy to see me. Would you be so kind as to translate, Jett?" Spike tilted his head to the side, waiting for Jett to speak up.

"Sorry. All I got was 'cowardly," Jett replied, stepping out of the shadows with a shrug. "All the rest was too complex."

"I said you bloody, cowardly lout," Kadira translated grimly, wanting him to know exactly what she thought of him. "I should have guessed you'd be behind something like this, you shabuir."

"Don't think I want to know what that means," Spike said, flashing his all too familiar grin. "It's good to see you again, Kadira. After you left, I assumed you'd either gone to ground or been shot in some back alley. You were on our radar and then suddenly it was like you didn't even exist anymore. Even the Empire lost sight of you. Then you pop back up, as a smuggler and Mandalorian no less. Who would have ever guessed?" Spike chuckled softly, shaking his head wryly. He leaned forward, taking Kadira's chin between his thumb and forefinger, suddenly serious. Kadira felt herself stiffen slightly, recognizing the change.

"Now, before you use any more of those fancy words you've been learning from your new people or start trying to get free, let me explain something to you. My patience with traitors is very short. No, don't try to deny it. You walked out on the Empire when we needed you. You turned your back on us, you betrayed us. So let me make this clear. You make even one escape attempt and I will kill you without hesitating. You continue to insult me with every breath and I will kill you. I have no qualms with ending your life, no matter what used to be between us. Do you understand?" Spike's eyes were dark and menacing, reminding Kadira of just how ruthless he could be.

"I understand that you're a murderer and a liar," Kadira responded finally, her ruined voice low and filled with both memories and pain. "But I also know you want me alive. If you didn't, you wouldn't have wasted your time dragging me here. You would have had Jett shoot me in the back and leave me in the woods to rot."

Spike was silent a moment before he smiled, though the expression never reached his eyes. "Ah Kadira, always so observant. You are right in one sense. I want you alive, if at all possible. But other arrangements can be made, Gorgeous. This is just the most convenient one. I suggest you try to remember that."

Kadira smiled tightly in response before slamming her head forward into the bridge of his nose, causing him to stumble backward with a string of curses.

"And you berate me about my language," Kadira said impishly, her mouth pulling upward in a smile. Spike turned back towards her slowly, his eyes dark with anger.

"Spike," Jett stepped forward and pulled the man back, obviously sensing that whatever was about to happen wouldn't be good. "You hurt her and it will make Scorlo even angrier. We need him to have a clear head for this."

Spike took a slow breath, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers and wincing.

"…You're right," he said finally, turning back to Kadira. "That was your only warning, Gorgeous. You don't have to be conscious for this plan to work. But as you well know, the drugs I'd use to keep you under have some nasty side effects. So either you behave or it's lights out until we have what we want. Your choice."

Kadira hesitated, studying his face as if to be certain he was actually giving her the option. "I'll behave," she said at last, tilting her head to the side in assent. "But I can't help it if you leave me an opening I can't resist."

Spike flashed another of his signature smiles, kneeling down and placing his face close to hers to make his point. She had no control here, he did. Still, she had to fight the urge to slam her head into his again just for good measure.

"You never could keep that pretty mouth shut when you had something to say. I did tell you it would come back to haunt you," he said, lifting her chin with one finger. He studied her face for a moment before dropping his hand and stepping back. "Jett, get ready to get in touch with Ran. He and Dreysel should be about done with their guests by now. We've waited long enough."


Laniff woke to the sight of duracrete passing in front of him rapidly, causing him to squeeze his eyes shut in an effort to fight off the nausea that threatened. He could feel the stormtroopers hands beneath his arms as they dragged him through the streets of the city, twisting and turning as they made their way into one of the poorer districts. The duracrete grew grimier as they continued to move, the lights overhead flickering. The HUD of his helmet was dark, leaving him only the T shaped visor to see through. Without the advanced systems his helmet normally offered, he was left practically blind. Even surrounded by a whole troop of stormtroopers, he didn't like being unable to see whatever might be lurking in the shadows here. He had heard rumors in the prison, stories of what happened in these districts. If push came to shove, Laniff had absolutely no faith in the stormtroopers abilities to keep him alive. He remembered Kadira saying once that stormtroopers couldn't hit the floor if they fell on it, and he was rather inclined to agree. As for Coorta, she was nowhere to be found. Laniff could only assume she was already on the hunt for Kadira, leaving him with an even greater sense of unease.

He turned his head slowly to the side, trying to catch a glimpse of Ran. What he saw made him wince, as the man was still unconscious and also being dragged. Unfortunately Ran didn't have beskar armor to protect him from scrapes and bruises like Laniff did.

Laniff sighed slightly, letting his head drop back down. He was going to have to get them out of this himself, since Ran obviously wasn't going to be much help. He timed his move carefully, waiting until they were approaching one of the many street corners. The troopers all tensed slightly and looked at the beings milling about with mistrust and nervousness, alerting Laniff to the fact that the troopers obviously didn't feel any more comfortable in this part of the city than he did.

Laniff smiled grimly before planting his feet and driving his body upward swiftly. The top of his head caught one of the troopers under the jaw, sending the man crashing to the ground. Laniff took care of the other trooper holding him just as easily, twisting the trooper's arm behind his back and slamming him into the sturdy walls of the surrounding buildings.

Laniff spun to face the other troopers, only to find them fending off the beings who had apparently decided to join in the fight. Laniff ducked as one of the combatants swung a wild fist, nearly catching him full in the faceplate.

"Hit the guys in white, di'kut," Laniff snapped, sidestepping a zabrak and stormtrooper wrestling over the trooper's blaster. Laniff continued to make him way through the crowd, taking more than one hit as he struggled to find Ran. More than once Laniff knocked someone to the ground, tired of being beaten to a pulp by anyone looking for a punching bag.

The brawl continued to grow in volume, leaving Laniff scrambling to find Ran as more and more citizens took the opportunity to attack the troopers. He finally found Ran still unconscious, thankfully out of the center of the fight. Muttering under his breath, Laniff managed to haul Ran to his feet, placing one of Ran's arms over his own armored shoulder and beginning to fight his way to the edges of the crowd. He could feel blows raining down on the back of his beskar'gam as he struggled out of the fight, elbowing aside anyone who was either too stupid or too stubborn to get out of the way.

As they finally broke through the last lines of the brawl, Laniff breathed a sigh of relief.

"Next time, Ran, you get to be the rescuer," he muttered, disappearing into the dark alleys to look for a place to hole up until he and Ran could begin their search for Kadira. He had a feeling this was far from over.


A/N: Sorry for the long delay in chapters, college life has been insane the past few weeks! So thank you all for being so patient with me. As always, I absolutely love reviews! …Please? :)