A/N: Back! I feel like I've been very sporadic with this. My summer job just started up after a week of nothing so I feel like I'm trying to get back into things. It's tough. And a bit annoying.
9
Carth walked Anna to the dueling area the next night, leaving the others to find their seats. They reached the door to Ajuur's side of the cantina, and she turned to him.
"I can take it from here, Carth."
He nodded, resting his hand on her shoulder. She was trembling. "You'll beat him, Anna."
"I . . ." she swallowed as her voice failed, and answered him with a weak smile. "I might pretend otherwise, but even I get scared, Carth. A hundred wins and no losses in death matches is a far better record than mine."
"Then be his loss." Carth, before he could stop himself, kissed the top of her head. Anna shuddered as she felt it flood through her body, down into her toes. "Good luck, gorgeous."
"I'll harass you later, flyboy," she whispered.
He watched as she started to walk toward Ajuur. "Anna!" She turned. "Bendak's bigger than you. I know you like those vibros, and you're good with them, but don't get close unless you have to."
Anna's smile was genuine. "Thank you." She turned and continued her march toward the Hutt, and then disappeared through the duelers' hatch. With a sigh, he entered the arena to find the others in the crowd. It was easy to spot them – they were in the front row, and Zaalbar was the only Wookiee in attendance. Several on-and-off-duty Sith peppered the audience, easily spotted by the silver pin on their chests. Bastila shook her head as he sat down next to her. "I cannot condone this."
"She'll be fine," Mission said. "Anna's good."
"I am afraid that Starkiller may be better," Bastila replied. "I have faith in Anna's abilities, but without seeing Starkiller's I cannot truly judge the outcome."
Bendak was the first to appear in the dueling ring. Whether he was calm or not was sort of a toss-up because of his mask, but he seemed it as he adjusted his blaster.
Anna stepped into the ring not long after him, the red suit of Bonadan armor Carth had bought her the day before – easily some of the better armor in the store – hugging her. He swallowed – he hadn't really noticed the fit before, but he shook his head to clear it. It'd only be useful right now if it distracted Bendak. She gripped her vibros tight in both hands as the announcer began to speak.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" Carth scowled. "Come with me now on a journey to the savage days of years gone by . . . to a time when two combatants entered the arena and only one came out alive. They're illegal, they're banned, and they've been outlawed for nearly ten years – ("How can one man say 'illegal' so many different ways?" Bastila asked) — but we've got one for you tonight! A good, old-fashioned death match!
"In this corner, a living legend. A man whose very name would make his opponents shake in their boots . . . if any of them were still alive!" He laughed. Carth, squinting, caught Anna's scowl. "Out of retirement for one last battle: Bendak Starkiller!" The closer Carth looked, the more panicked Anna seemed.
"Calm down," he whispered, wishing she could hear him.
"And who would be crazy enough to step into the ring with such a lethal legend? Who would be mad enough to face almost certain death merely for your enjoyment? Ladies and gentlemen, feast your wondering eyes on . . . the Mysterious Stranger!"
There was no smile, no wave to the crowd like her previous bouts. She stared at Bendak, her face drawn in determination, knuckles likely white from the grip she had on her blades.
"And now, the moment we've all been waiting for – let the death match begin!"
Nothing happened. The crowd sank into surprised confusion.
The two opponents stared at each other, Anna sinking deeply into her irregular stance. Bendak's arm twitched, and something – too small to really see from the stands – clattered onto the floor. Carth recognized the noise. "He threw a grenade."
Anna dove to the side, rolling back to her feet as the grenade exploded into a bright, sticky blue mess. Her on-hand vibro disappeared as she produced a blaster, a shimmering blue shield covering her.
The death match didn't seem to be going the way the crowd wanted it. Anna grimaced as Bendak's armor seemingly absorbing her bolts, her jaw clenching together in frustration. He was advancing towards her, slowly but noticeably. Her own shield was starting to flicker, and she bit her lip. She was going to have to get up and personal with a Mandalorian duelist who was three times bigger than her.
She flipped her blaster back into its holster and redrew her vibrosword. Bendak sped up, using momentum to send his sword slashing down on top of her head. She dodged, feeling a breeze as the sword missed her by inches. She swung back, missing Bendak's neck by several inches.
The crowd was back into it as Anna and Bendak traded blows, parrying each other off as they attacked. Carth rubbed his forehead. "I told her not to engage him –"
Bastila ignored him, her own thoughts a long way away. Anna's motions were fluid and controlled, if desperate. She frowned. Anyone who had seen . . . no. No one would have. No one here, or alive, at least.
Bendak's vibro slammed into Anna's side, glancing off her armor. She staggered, thrown off balance, wildly swinging back at him. She got a lucky hit on Bendak's arm, and he stepped back. There was a pause as they both regained their balance, and re-attacked with a vengeance.
Mission was leaning forward on her knees, hands covering her mouth. Carth put his hand on her shoulder comfortingly, trying to keep it from shaking. Frakking Anna and her big mouth.
Anna grit her teeth, beating Bendak's sword aside. The attack didn't work, and he almost took her arm off with his parry. Her other sword thwacked into his helmet, doing little more than leaving a dent but making her feel a little better.
To her surprise, as soon as the start was called her panic had disappeared. She was eerily, strangely calm, parrying and attacking the far larger Bendak with the coolness of a professional soldier. She wasn't sure why, and didn't really have time to figure that out.
There'll be time for that later, she thought, allowing herself a brief thought that possessed hope because otherwise her mind was going to be a really dark place and that wasn't the best mindset for something like this.
The battle remained a stalemate for a while, but Carth could see that Anna was starting to tire. He dug his nails into his thigh through his slacks. Bendak was bigger, stronger, and seemed more experienced than her, and the Mandalorian was obviously growing frustrated at the length of time the death match was going on for. The crowd had stopped screaming, but the intensity radiating through the air hadn't disappeared.
Finally, Bendak slammed his foot into Anna's torso. She staggered back into the wall, collapsing.
"Sithspit," Carth muttered. Mission had her eyes covered, watching through a small slit between her fingers.
As the crowd yelled, Bendak calmly walked forward, aiming to finish her off. Anna pulled herself to her feet, dropping back into her crouch, vibros ready. He said something – Anna responded, but over the crowd the conversation was unintelligible.
Anna ducked into herself and charged. Bendak swung.
And before they knew what had happened, Anna was straddling the duelist, both vibros driven straight through his armor — one through the armpit, one up under his helmet. She collapsed to the side on her knees, Bendak's sword through her shoulder with one hand on it protectively.
There was a stunned silence as Anna slowly climbed to her feet, hand holding the sword in her shoulder, breath heavy. The announcer, sounding startled, came back onto the intercom. "Bendak is down! It's over! The fight is over! Bendak Starkiller is dead! All hail the Mysterious Stranger, the greatest duelist to ever grace the rings of Taris!"
Four seats had never been vacated so quickly - quickly enough that they didn't wait for Anna to either limp or be carried out of the ring. Carth, Bastila, Mission and Zaalbar were out of the arena and into the dueling area before anyone else had moved, pushing past the posted mercs to disappear into the duelists' area.
They found Anna in the medical room, collapsed on a slab. Her eyes were closed, her breathing shallow, and they couldn't tell if she was awake. One hand still held the sword upright. Carth shot to her side. "Hey."
Her eyes fluttered open. "Hey, flyboy." Her voice was strained, and he really hoped that there wasn't a trickle of blood at the corner of her mouth.
"How're you feeling?"
She coughed, small specks of a frothy, slightly pink foam splattering across her cheek. "I'd be feeling better if there wasn't a sword through my lung," she replied matter-of-factly. "Unless you -" Another cough, accompanying a dreary blink. "- missed that."
That explained why she wasn't moving, and why her breathing was so shallow, and . . .
"What happened? You took him down so fast . . ." Mission asked, trying to avoid looking at the large piece of metal stuck through Anna's chest.
Anna coughed again, her voice weak. "I'd been weakening him, and pulling him in by thinking that he was wearing me down." Another cough, and a brief head-shake. "He fell for it, but threw a spanner in the works when he kicked me into a wall. I think he broke several somethings in the process. But the good news was that I had enough sense about me to knock him off balance and get my swords into the weaker parts of his armor." She nodded slightly at the sword. "Unfortunately he got me on the way down."
"We noticed," Bastila said dryly. "Where's the medical droid?"
"Pronouncing Bendak dead, and hopefully giving me back my vibros. Apparently it's a rather difficult process." Anna coughed, and again splatters of obviously bloody foam sprinkled across her face. Carth grimaced, watching as her eyelids fluttered again.
"Bastila, can't you . . ."
"Move aside." Bastila started to unfasten the shoulder of her armor, using a knife to slice the fiberweave open directly. Anna winced, grabbing onto Carth's hand. She gently looked at the wound. "You are fortunate. The wound is straight through, and looks clean. We will have to pull the blade out – it will hurt, and will put you in immediate danger, but if it is fast enough then it will be a limited thing and should not affect you too much."
"That's comforting." Her voice was weakening.
"Mission, will you take her?" Carth passed Anna's hand over to her, and Anna released her grasp.
"Hey, Mish," she said drowsily, apparently starting to lose the will to stay awake.
"We need to hurry, Carth. She's losing blood quickly. Take the sword." Bastila rested her hands on Anna's shoulder, around the blade. "I will begin part of the healing process. Count to three, and pull out the blade." She closed her eyes. Carth swallowed.
"I'm sorry, gorgeous," he whispered. "One. Two. Three."
Carth pulled the sword out, and Anna bit down on her lip to prevent a scream. Almost immediately the wound healed up, and Bastila stepped back. Anna started coughing.
"How do you feel?" Bastila asked.
"A little better," Anna answered, still weak. She released her grip on Mission's hand when she noticed her wincing. "Do you still have any of your juice left?"
Bastila glared at her as the others chuckled. "The Force is not a joking matter, Anna."
She grimaced. "Whatever. Can you do anything about whatever's clinking around in my stomach?"
There was silence as Bastila worked. Two of her ribs had broken, but only on her right side when Bendak hit her. For what they were, the breaks were simplistic and easy to mend. After several minutes, while still in pain, Anna was sitting up and coughing out the blood that had started to collect in her lung before Bastila healed her.
The medical droid floated in, chirping. "Do you require any medical attention?"
"You're a little late," Anna said, struggling to stand. Mission lifted her uninjured arm around her shoulder – she was a little closer to her height, so Carth wouldn't have to bend down awkwardly. Carth, meanwhile, took Anna's vibros from the droid. "I . . . I believe I'll be leaving now. Anyone have a large, hooded jacket I can borrow?"
"Why would you need a large, hooded jacket?"
"So we can get back to the apartment in peace. I'd prefer to not get mobbed until I can stand straight."
There wasn't one, unfortunately. They walked back up to the duelist area, where Mission helped her to Ajuur.
Carth worriedly crossed his arms as he watched her debate with the Hutt, finally looking over at Bastila. "What was she?"
"Hm?" Bastila jerked out of her thoughts, which were fairly far away and involved quite a bit of confusion and panic.
"What was she?"
She shrugged. "She was a smuggler. I am not sure what your question is, Carth."
"She doesn't fight like a smuggler. She fights dirty, yeah, but she fights . . . well, she fights like a Jedi."
Bastila paused for a second, watching Anna barter with Ajuur. "I do not know what you mean. Whatever concerns you have, Carth, you must set them aside. She is a talented individual, but she is not a Jedi." Yet.
Carth frowned, obviously not trusting her answer. However, Anna turned and was helped over by Mission, and the discussion was cut short. She handed him a blaster.
"What's this?"
"It was Bendak's. Wonderful spoils of war. I want you to have it."
"Why's tha–"
"It's a damn good blaster, and your off-hand blaster sucks right now." She coughed. "Now can we go back to the apartment? I would like to go and remain immobile in peace."
A/N: All righty.
jivvin: Ugh. Getting Anna into the death match was tough. It's really not in her character to do really anything like that, because the game sort of gives off the feel that it's basically "for the lolz." This worked much better. And thanks for the bonus points. :D And I'm glad you're enjoying all my little random things - I like lampshading stuff, and I have an entire list of shout-outs and call-backs I'm going to use. And just really amusing banter between different characters.
MK: Yeah, would have made everything a lot more interesting if you ask me. I wanted to do the death match primarily because I'm convinced it happened (yay headcanons), but like I told jivvin it's not in Anna's character to do it for the hell of it (or even the money). So ... Bendak got a plot-induced IQ upgrade, and I regret nothing. And seriously, Taris was like the sidequest capitol of the galaxy. And don't worry - I've almost written up to Kashyyyk, so we're DEFINITELY getting off Taris.