"Aqura!"
"Osi'kyr," the Mandalorian grunted. She turned her head to see Mako crouching behind a group of crates. Gault must be on the other side, probably with more crates and cannonfire lighting up his face.
Aqura's head hurt. She'd slammed it hard against the back of her helmet. There was probably blood.
What the shab was this room, anyway? Who was the person shooting at them from above, and why was there an above to shoot from? Everywhere else they'd been was strictly two-dimensional.
"Aqura, are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Mako," Aqura groaned. "Just playing dead until my head stops aching. I need a cushion in this thing… and you should call me Mandokarla on the job."
Mako's expression softened into relief. That was good. That made Aqura feel better. Not physically, of course. Her chest was going to be a bruise later. Still, way better her than Gault or Mako.
Her eyes followed the metal struts near Mako all the way up to a catwalk above, one that apparently extended down - no, wait, that was further into the room - further than she could see without moving her head.
"Hey, verd," she asked, "who's shooting at us?"
"Not many," Gault said conversationally. "Just well-armed. I think there's three of them."
"I think it's the chief engineer," Mako muttered, then swore as a crate by her head rattled with blasterfire.
"Tion'haat? Sounds like my kind of engineer. Do we have a spot open on the team for that?"
"He just shot you!"
Aqura grinned at that and tried to move her head in such a way that she could catch a look at the guy and not have him shoot her again. She didn't manage it, mostly because she was sure moving her head any more would be way too noticeable, but from all the blasterfire coming out of there, she was pretty sure where he was.
"Alright," she said conversationally, "hold for something kandosii."
"Better you than me," Gault muttered.
Aqura snorted, then kicked up off the ground. As soon as her feet her over her head, she planted her hands and launched herself into the air and brought her feet forward as fast as possible. Once she'd passed horizontal again, she ignited her jetpack and launched herself at the engineer she honestly had yet to see.
She did lift her head in time to see the catwalk railing and dodge it, after which she slammed into one of the men standing on it. Whoever that was, was dead. No question.
Aqura, on the other hand, had to keep moving, so she tried her best to hit the floor feet-first and draw her blaster. She was half-successful, and hit the wall bordering the catwalk back-first. She also dropped her gun.
It wasn't the best situation, having her back to a wall with a cannon and a blaster rifle pointed at her, with no pistol of her own. It also wasn't actually much of a problem. Hand empty, Aqura raised her left hand and activated her flamethrower.
Flames hit both Republic soldiers, and they screamed as much in fear as pain. It only took a few steps and some very quick work with a vibroblade to make sure their ends weren't too painful.
The flesh across the lower half of one man's face was blackened and cracked with char, and Aqura tried to be careful as she pulled her blade from his throat. She let him down gently on the catwalk, and even then some of his skin flaked away as ash.
He'd done his job well. All three of these men had. It wasn't their fault she was just better.
"Hey, Mako," she called down, "how far to the engines or whatever?"
Mako sighed loudly. "The hyperdrive controls aren't technically part of the engine, those are-"
"Yeah, but how close are we?"
Mako glared up at her and Aqura tried to give her an unimpressed look back. It didn't work so well with a helmet on.
Well, upsides and downsides. Less blaster holes, can't sass friends. It was probably worth it, overall.
"Three rooms over and up an elevator, except this door is about as broken as it can get. There should be one up there you can use, though."
Aqura looked around and, sure enough, there was a small door that led onto the catwalk from another room. She pointed and said, "that one?"
Mako looked ready to say something rude, but Aqura beat her to it and fired a grapple line down to her and Gault. "Climb up. We'll deal with this, send our warning, and go get Tarro."
Mako gave the line a skeptical look, then grabbed it and… well, the less said about her attempt to climb it, the better, but there was a reason she was a slicer and not a front line soldier. Eventually, Aqura took pity on her and just pulled the line up with Mako standing on the piton on the end of it. Then she did the same for Gault. Her arms burned by the end of it, and there was no way she could have done it twice without the armour, but she was proud of the accomplishment.
By the time Gault made it up, Mako was already in the next room, fiddling with the controls. There were a lot of them, and she was completely ignoring the console for something on the wall that was all curved metal and, well, engine-looking stuff.
After almost two minutes, Mako stepped back and said, "alright. Now help me up."
Aqura glanced back at the catwalk. "You mean help you down."
"No." Mako pointed up at the roof above the controls she'd been working with, up at a hatch in the roof. "I need a couple of minutes up there, with the hyperdrive engines themselves. Then we should be done here."
Aqura exchanged a shrug with Gault, then climbed up the two rungs and tried the hatch.
"Right," Mako said when the hatch didn't budge. "The chief engineer should have the key-"
She cut off when Aqura popped her vibroblade and used it to cut out the hatch's lock.
"Or we could do that."
The hatch opened easily, and Aqura helped Mako up into the next room, which was filled with all sorts of pipes, whirring mechanical bits, and a nerve-wracking humming sound.
There was a lot of power in this room.
"How long will this take?" Aqura asked, peering past all the grey metal and trying to catch a glimpse of a wall. How big was this place?
"I just need to find the right switches and throw them. They shouldn't be far…" Mako looked like she was having the same thoughts as Aqura was, scanning back and forth across the room like the right interface really should just be there. "Just let me…" Her eyes flickered for a second, then she nodded. "Right!"
A few steps took her over some pipes, then she turned left around what Aqura was pretty sure was an engine, and a few seconds later, she said, "done. We'd better go."
Aqura took her hand to lower her down through the hatch, and Mako caught the first rung and lowered herself the rest of the way. Then, once she'd moved away, Aqura dropped herself through.
She landed with a clang that made her wince, and stood up to both Mako and Gault staring at her.
"Nobody in armour that heavy should be able to land that quietly," Mako said firmly.
Aqura frowned. "They'd have heard me in the next room. That wasn't quiet at all."
"I don't know," Gault said, "I've never seen a Mandalorian land with anything less than an explosion for style."
Aqura shrugged and pointed at the nearest console. "We need to warn the crew. Will that work?"
Rather than answer, Mako darted over to the console, pressed a few buttons, and started talking.
"Listen up. The Aurora has been boarded and we've just sabotaged the hyperdrive and set it to manual jump. To the surviving engineers on board: junctions peth-III to senth-I have been torn out. You know what that means. Tell your superiors, and get off this ship. We're here for Tarro Blood and Master Kellion Jaro. You don't have much time."
Mako stood back, a grimly satisfied look on her face, just in time for Gault to lean in and press the comm button himself.
"And, Master Jaro? If you're thinking of abandoning ship with your crew, you might want to think about how easily we infiltrated your battlecruiser. I doubt anything less than the Mandalorian Killer himself will be able to stop us, and anybody we kill hunting you down is on your head."
He stepped back, too, nodding. "That should do it."
Aqura didn't like the way any of that had gone, but maybe that was for later. If she were to be honest, the idea that a Jedi would run from any fight, even one on a doomed ship, hadn't occurred to her, but putting all these deaths on Jaro's conscience? That wasn't fair.
And Mako had taken way too much pleasure in threatening the crew. That wasn't her. Mako didn't actually like hurting people, she just knew it was necessary for the job.
At the catwalk, the grapple line dropped Gault quickly to the floor and Mako followed him before Aqura even thought to ask, "this is the right way, right?"
"Yes," Mako called up. "Now hurry up."
Aqura sighed, stepped off the catwalk, and activated her jetpack just before she hit the ground. It didn't quite cancel her momentum, but she was practicing. She'd pick it up eventually.
After a few steps to catch her balance, she nodded at Mako.
Mako caught the meaning and stepped in front to lead the way.
The average soldiers they passed simply weren't anything to be concerned with. Most of them were running for the escape pods, but some were either determined to hit the intruders, or they wanted to get to the hyperdrive to fix it. The few that did meet the crew, though, were a little embarrassing, but it did give Aqura the chance to bring something up.
"Mako."
The girl didn't even notice. She'd set her shoulders and was barely slowing down for Aqura to kill whoever got in their way.
"Mako!"
Mako slowed enough for Aqura to catch up and Gault moved to cover them in case of any more attacks, but Mako didn't look happy about it.
"What, Mandokarla? We-"
"Do you want the kill?"
Mako's head snapped to face Aqura so fast, Aqura imagined the sound of a whip cracking. "What?"
"Do you want the kill? On Tarro. This is something we should have talked about ages ago, but I could never find the right moment. So, for Braden, because you were closest to him - he was your buir - do you want Tarro?"
Mako opened her mouth to speak. Then she closed it, took a deep breath, and turned with Aqura to shoot one of the soldiers coming down the hall. One shot, two from Gault, and two from Aqura. They only killed one of the soldiers, and the rest fled, but Mako missed entirely, and her hand shook. She didn't even lower it as the soldiers ran. She just watched her blaster shake in front of her for a few seconds, until Aqura reached out and wrapped the girl's hand in hers.
Aqura opened her mouth to say something to her sister, then realized that anything she was going to say, it would come out in Mando'a. That wasn't Mako's language, it wouldn't be the same. In the time it took her to come up with something to say, though, Mako began to cry.
A look to Gault had him grimace, but nod and move to cover the corner. They could spare a few minutes. Hopefully.
Beskar was a hard metal, and always cold. Not suitable for comfort of any kind. Even so, Mako leaned in when Aqura drew her into a hug. Tears dripped onto the charred gold chestplate, and probably just a little snot, too. That would scorch away in the next firefight. Mako took one last deep breath, and tried to pull away.
She got as far as arm's length, but Aqura didn't let go.
"Uh, kids, hate to rush you," Gault grumbled, "but…"
"I can't do it, can I?"
The question wasn't for Aqura. She stepped to the side and let Mako and Gault look at each other. Gault raised an eyebrow. "Do what?"
Mako practically spat out the words, "kill Tarro Blood."
They all knew the answer. Mako, especially. It wasn't fair to Gault to make him say it.
He had to, though. Mako wouldn't admit it, and it was a matter of honour for Aqura to offer the kill to next of kin.
"You can kill him."
What!?
Aqura spun from facing Mako to look at Gault. The devaronian looked more regretful than happy, as if he thought he wasn't saying something they'd like.
He was right. Aqura didn't like it.
"But you can't fight him."
Wait.
Mako just nodded. "Of course," she whispered.
Gault rolled his eyes. "Is that what all the tears were about? You've got to stop thinking like helmet-head here and start looking to fight smart. I can only keep you two alive so long, doing what you do. Now, can we hurry? We can discuss dirty tricks on the way, if you really need to get some petty revenge at the last second. And I have a few things to say about petty revenge, too."
Aqura snorted. "Yes, uncle Gault."
Gault shot her a glare, then shooed them forward.
They kept up a running conversation on the way, as best they could with Gault practically pushing them forward the whole time.
"He's right. I can't fight him."
"I know, I just wanted-"
"Thank you. But- he's Mandalorian, like you, right? I didn't mean it that way! I just meant, an honourable death in combat is his thing, right?"
"... yes, but…"
"I think we should leave him. I want to talk to him, you know, to let him know what happened, but he should die in whatever cell they put him in."
"I don't know, Mako. Codes matter. Blood abandoned his, and look where that got him."
"Your code is yours, Mandokarla. Mine's different. I'm not a Mandalorian."
That stung, and it shut Aqura up. There wasn't anything she could say to that. After all, it was true. Mako wasn't Mandalorian. Her choices were her own.
That didn't mean she had to like them.
They reached the cell block exactly when Gault was expecting. It was a little uncanny. The whole place was empty, just filled with rows and rows of empty cells.
Except for one, the only one with a glowing red energy shield covering its entrance.
It was the first time Aqura had ever seen Tarro Blood in person, and she was struck by how boring he looked. The man had been stripped of his armour, leaving him with nothing but grey shirt and pants and a shock collar. His face was so… plain. Except for a blocky, brown tattoo following his cheekbone across the right side of his face, Aqura would never have glanced twice at him in the street.
This was the man who'd killed Braden and Jory? This man had made it to the end of the Great Hunt?
This man was about to die.
Tarro Blood looked up at them casually and got to his feet like he had all the time in the world. Smirking at Aqura, he asked, "so, you're still alive, hm? You might be worth killing after all, dar'manda. Hurry up and let me out of here, so we can settle this once and for all. Unless facing me as an equal frightens you."
Aqura held back a snarl. There was nothing she'd like more than to strip off her armour and beat the man to death with her bare hands, just to prove she could.
But this wasn't her fight. Mako had toryc kyr'amur - the right to the kill.
"Nar'sheb," she spat, and stepped back behind Mako.
Mako stepped forward, arms crossed and glaring right into the eyes of the man who killed her family. "Remember me?"
Tarro Blood sneered back. "Why would I care about an outsider child? At least your friend's clan was once Mandalorian. You're nothing. Your friends were nothing, just another obstacle keeping me from what I'm owed."
Aqura lurched forward to break the hut'uun's ribs one by one, but two things stopped her. First, Gault grabbed her shoulder. Second, Mako spoke.
It was cold, but it was furious. "What you're owed is a cold death when this ship is ripped to pieces, scumbag. We won. Braden won."
Kandosii.
Tarro Blood went red with anger. "You'll die! Jaro will tear you apart, you little wretch!"
Mako snorted. "Oh, yeah? I've been listening in. The only reason you're still in one piece is you surrendered as soon as you saw him. You're pathetic."
With that, she turned and walked away.
"No!" Tarro Blood punched the the energy shield. His glove sizzled and burned, but he punched it again. "You can't let me die like this! I'm Tarro Blood, you worthless piece of filth! I'm the future of the Mandalorians!"
"So long, slimeball," Mako muttered, but she stopped when Aqura stepped past her and came up face to face with Tarro Blood.
"Let me out, damn-"
"Tarro Blood," Aqura said in the tone of one pronouncing sentence. She unclasped her helmet and pulled it off. Through the shield, she looked the man in the eye. He shut up. "Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc. Gar digyc, ni ven'kemir cin vhetin."
Even through the red tint, Blood visibly paled.
"You- you can't! That's right, you don't have the right! You're dar'manda! No, come back here! I will not be forgotten! I'm Tarro Blood! Tarro Blood!"
Aqura slipped on her helmet as she left the room, the forgotten one still yelling at her back.
Mako slipped in beside her at the door.
"What was that?"
Aqura tried to smooth out the armour-weave cloth at her throat, and eventually had to stop and let Mako help before saying, "which part?"
"'You're forgotten, I walk pristine snow?"
That caught Aqura up for a second, until she realized it was a decent translation of what she'd said into Basic.
"I'll explain on the way." The three of them hurried for the bridge, out into halls that were a lot straighter than most of the rest of the ship. All roads lead to command, it seemed. "Gault, how much time do we have left?"
"A lot more than we would if you'd stopped to fight," Gault said drily.
"Good. Hopefully everybody's evacuated by now."
Mako cleared her throat. Aqura bit her lip, then tried to see if she could find the words. "That was… a cleansing ritual, I guess. Everything that man did, Mandalorians are bound by honour to forget. It's not dar'manda so much as dar'cuyir. No longer existing. Not just dead, but truly gone."
Then Mako asked the question Aqura didn't want to hear.
"Dar'manda? Not Mandalorian? He called you that. What does it mean?"
Aqura picked up the pace, forcing Mako and Gault to keep up at a jog. She didn't want to answer the question. She didn't even want to think about it.
She couldn't help it, though. It burned in her mind.
Dar'manda. Not Mandalorian. Not like others thought, not like aruetii, the outsiders, but dar'manda - cast out and shamed. To be everything a Mandalorian was not.
The opposite of Mandokarla.
"Anything that prisoner said doesn't matter anymore," she said, and stepped up her pace enough that neither of them could ask more. She didn't even see their faces again until they reached the bridge, and when they stopped, Mako was too busy catching her breath to say anything.
Aqura took stock of the situation while her friends rested.
The three were standing on a raised platform at the bridge's entrance, one with stairs on either side leading down to the main of the bridge. As for that, most of the bridge was empty, like a room waiting to be filled, with just computer terminals lining the walls and the in a row through the center.
Why there were two clear paths to the front of the bridge, Aqura had no idea. She supposed it gave them an option for how to approach the the raised area that took up a third of the bridge, the entire front where the windows showed endless space ahead.
Standing at the front, right in front of the windows, were two people.
Why two? One of them had to be Master Jaro. The other one, as best Aqura could tell, was a child, a girl younger than Mako by several years, and smaller, too.
Both figures were dressed in robes.
The girl's identity clicked.
Apprentice. No, the Jedi had their own word for it, Aqura just couldn't remember it. Hm. Jet'ad, then.
"Ready?" she asked.
Gault gave one last gulp of air, then stood up straight, and Mako managed the same a second later.
Good. They'd need their breath for this next part.
Together, they crossed the room and came up in front of the two Jedi. It wasn't Aqura's favourite position, barely meters from two people with lightsabers, but the stories said Jedi could cover most distances in less than a second, anyway. It couldn't hurt to explain themselves, maybe get the kid out of the way beforehand.
Master Kellian Jarro was a bald man with a look about him that said, "I'm better than you, and I can kill you." At least the girl, a waif of a thing with the yellow skin and tattoos of most mirialans, had the decency to look worried.
Master Jarro started talking before Aqura even reached the top of the ramp to him. In a voice that confirmed everything his face hinted at, he said, "you've caused quite a bit of trouble, but I'm afraid it's over now. I'll ask you to drop your weapons and surrender."
"So, if we do surrender," Gault wondered offhand, "we don't have to fight a Jedi, right?" At Mako's glare, he raised his hands in mock defense. "Kidding, kidding!"
Aqura grinned. Gault might pretend to be a coward, and he was definitely scared, but he'd stick with them. He was reliable, in his own way.
"Think of it this way, Gault," she said. "We get to fight Master Kellian Jarro." To the man himself, she said, "you're a legend, Mandalorian Killer. I'm honoured."
Master Jarro, however, looked vaguely disgusted, like he'd just been served a meal with slightly wilted greens and was thinking of sending it back. He raised his hand and, with a casual wave, commanded, "you will drop your weapons and surrender to me."
Aqura reached down to drop her blaster and surrender before she even realized what surrender would mean for Mako and Gault. Mako's implants would make her valuable. Gault's identity would be discovered, and he might be killed.
Instead of dropping it, Aqura's hand tightened on her blaster and she drew it from her holster.
Mako copied the motion, waving her hand and sing-songing, "you will realize what a complete idiot you are."
Aqura snorted, and the synthesizer in her helmet made it sound like static mixed with a bantha sneeze.
"Master?"
The jet'ad finally spoke, and she sounded so worried and innocent that Aqura's heart broke a little. At that age, Aqura had had a few kills to her name. This girl probably had yet to see her first hunt.
And Master Jarro's expression changed, too. He stood up a little straighter, held himself less like he was looking down on them and more like he was powerful enough to stop them. Held himself like a protector. "Be still, Padawan," he said, "I will take care of this. These bounty hunters are of stronger will than the other one." Then he looked Aqura right in the visor and said, "listen, I know the Mandalorians want me dead, but the Battle of Coruscant was years ago. Revenge profits no one. I implore you not to throw your life away. Abandon this hunt."
Aqura looked over to the padawan girl, then back at Master Jarro.
"I'll make you a deal."
"Wait, what?"
Aqura held out a hand to shush Mako, then thought twice. She lowered that hand and held up the other to the Jedi Master so she could turn her head away and look at her partner.
"Do you need in on this fight? Do you NEED it?"
Mako looked confused. "Well, no. Why? You're not planning something clever to win without fighting him, are you?"
Then Aqura looked to Gault. "And you'll sit this one out, if possible, right? If it means not getting anything chopped off?"
Gault definitely didn't like the phrasing, because he gave her a very unimpressed look, but he shrugged and nodded. "Yeah, I tend to like my parts attached."
"Right." Finally, Aqura turned back to Master Jarro and lowered her hand. "Like I said, I'll make you a deal. My family sits out on this, and so does your padawan. No matter who wins, they walk away clean."
"What, no!"
"Master, please, don't."
Both Mako and the padawan went ignored, though. For Jarro's part, he looked to be considering it, until his eyes came down on Aqura's left hip.
Oh.
Right.
"Why should I believe the word of someone who wears a trophy of my people?"
The lightsaber.
Aqura drew the thing, slowly, with her left hand, and held it out to Master Jarro. He tensed, then his face went smooth again. Controlled.
"This isn't mine," Aqura said. "It's not a trophy. When a Mandalorian dies, sometimes there isn't anything left, so we keep pieces of armour, or a weapon, to remember them by. I know Jedi aren't the same, but this belonged to a padawan named Yadira Ban. She died bravely, protecting somebody weaker than her and serving the Republic. This lightsaber… under better circumstances, I'd ask you to take it back to your people."
Master Jarro stared at the lightsaber, his face unreadable, but it was the mirialan girl who spoke.
"Yadira? You killed her?"
Aqura's breath caught as she remembered the defiant young twi'lek, but she said, "yes."
"She didn't!" Mako stepped forward, glaring at Aqura rather than either of the Jedi. "A Sith killed Yadira, and A- Mandokarla agonized over it for ages afterwards. And you," she pointed at Aqura, "should stop blaming yourself for it. Now oya or whatever, we're on a hunt. Act like it."
Everybody was staring at Mako.
"I see," Master Jarro said slowly. "You did not kill Padawan Ban, but you are here to kill me."
Aqura shrugged and turned back to the Jedi. "That's the job. Just you, though. I'm happy to let your padawan go."
"Master, you can't-"
"Thendys. Take Padawan Ban's saber. This woman has come a long way to deliver it to us."
Padawan Thendys went quiet and nodded, but she moved hesitantly, scared to come close to Aqura. And… she was angry, too. Scared and angry. That would be a dangerous combination, if she fought, for her and for them.
She stepped back after she took the lightsaber, moved away to attach it to a clasp at her hip.
At least it was going back to the Jedi. Yadira Ban deserved that much.
"You and me, then?" Aqura asked.
Master Jarro took his lightsaber from his hip. "Very well. But if your… family attacks us after your defeat, we will be forced to defend ourselves."
"Hear that?" Aqura asked. "I die, you take my helmet and head straight for the Cosmic Torrent."
"The Cosmic Torrent?"
Aqura grinned at Master Jarro. "Mako chose the name. She thinks it sounds kandosii. Ready?"
Master Jarro waved his padawan away, and Gault and Mako stepped away at the same time. Then he ignited his lightsaber.
That was as good a signal as any. Aqura skipped backwards, firing her blaster pistol at the Jedi Master.
He was expecting it, of course. Who fights a Jedi and doesn't go for distance at the first opportunity? So, when he stepped forward, blocking every blaster bolt as he did, she bent a knee and spun to kick out his legs.
He jumped, and she would have followed with an uppercut, but his feet came down on her chest and slammed her backwards.
Aqura rolled, leapt, and activated her jetpack, already firing a missile at the Jedi.
It missed. He sidestepped it and leapt right after her, past the missile while it was still in flight.
Aqura laughed and caught the Jedi's lightsaber on her gauntlet, then smacked him in the face with her blaster pistol. Without ground beneath him, he didn't have any way to dodge.
First hit, Aqura.
She laughed again, grabbed his wrist with one hand and levered the other off his shoulder, and reoriented to face her jetpack down.
On the way down, he let go of his saber, spun it around, and caught it reverse-handed to swing it at her arm.
She was pretty sure he couldn't hit her weakly-armoured joint from that position, but he was the Mandalorian Killer. It wasn't worth the risk.
Her jetpack disengaged and she shoved, hard.
His lightsaber skittered off her beskar, then they both hit the ground.
In the time it took Aqura to roll off her momentum and get to her feet, Master Jarro was already on her again, aiming at the weak armour under her shoulder joint.
He expected her to lower her arm. That would just leave her neck exposed.
She lunged forward instead.
The lightsaber hit her shoulder, but she got within arms reach before he could hit her in the neck, and caught him in the sternum with her elbow.
He fell, hard, and Aqura brought up her pistol-
And flew backwards, hit by nothing and knocked across the room.
The Force. She'd never actually seen that in action.
She had to use her jetpack to get right-way up again, but she landed, skidding backwards and already firing her blaster.
It barely slowed Master Jaro down.
Change of strategy. Aqura launched her grapple line at the window. Transparisteel cracked, held, and the piton secured itself. Aqura kicked herself into the air and activated her jetpack, barely keeping off the ground as she sped past and around Master Jarro. She felt when the line caught him, changed direction, and headed towards the window.
She almost hit it, she was moving so fast.
Master Jarro did hit it. Hard.
Aqura's arm was in place before he could recover, and the air filled with fire. She must have let the grapple line go, because it didn't get in her way when she started walking towards him.
It wasn't the way she would have liked to kill a Jedi - too easy, honestly - but if it worked, it worked.
Something invisible knocked Aqura's arm aside and blew away the flames.
The Mandalorian Killer charged out of the fire.
Aqura slapped her blaster into its holster and popped both vibroblades, laughing. "Oya!" She caught the lightsaber on one blade stabbing with the other. There were a flurry of strikes that proved two blades wouldn't be enough to get past Master Jarro's defenses, but Aqura kept it going for a few more seconds anyway.
When the two finally stepped back to catch their breaths, it was hard to tell whether Master Jarro was impressed or frustrated.
"Your… laughter… is unusual," the Jedi said between breathes.
"Sorry." Aqura didn't even try stifling a grin. "This is just the most fun I've had… ever, I think."
Master Jarro nodded as if that was the most normal thing in the galaxy, which Aqura appreciated, then he stood up straight, took a single deep breath, and it was like they hadn't just traded blows so fast Aqura could feel it in her joints.
That just wasn't fair!
Then he attacked again, and she didn't care. She just wanted to keep doing this forever, to fight somebody who could anticipate her movements so well that she had to change up her fighting style every couple of seconds. One strike would need the strength of her armour just to drive it back, then the next three would flow in the Echani style, then she'd have to use her flamethrower or a missile just to keep the Jedi on his toes. If she died right now, it would be worth it!
Then her missiles clicked empty and Master Jarro's lightsaber cut deep enough through the armour weave at her throat that she felt it. and she realized she absolutely could die right now.
For the next pair of seconds, she worked on catching a glimpse of the noncombatants around them.
They'd backed up quite a ways. Of course they had. The entire area was scorched and gouged black.
Inventory time. Suit, gauntlet vibroblades and one on her thigh, flamethrower running low and not enough time to reload it from her spares. Cryospray? That was full, at least. Missiles were out.
Wait.
Aqura sparked on an idea and started moving towards the window.
Transparisteel was durable stuff. Normally, it didn't shatter. Otherwise, why would anyone build windows into starships?
Her gauntlet started humming, barely audible even inside the armour itself, but there wasn't time to think about that. With a roar, Aqura slammed the lightsaber to the side and took off into the air. With the half-second's breathing room, she drew her blaster and dropped a fuel pack to the ground. Halfway to Master Jarro, she shot at it.
The fact that she managed to hit it was a miracle she considered after the fact. Flames expanded to blind her and, hopefully, Master Jarro. That was the plan, at least.
She had two more fuel packs. If that wasn't enough, this was going to be very hard.
A shift of weight carried her backwards towards the window. She hit the ground, skidding slightly, and let the charged cryospray loose, all of it, on the window. With her other hand, she threw the last fuel back at the base of the window.
Once she'd done that, she grabbed the grapple line and wrapped it firmly around her arm. Just in case.
When the flames cleared, Master Jarro moved more slowly this time, probably sensing the danger. It didn't matter much. As soon as the freeze spray was spent, Aqura stepped away and shot it.
If she'd known how spectacularly successful the effect would be, she would have stepped back further. As it was, transparisteel shards exploded out of the window, blowing Aqura backwards and cutting through the weak spots of her armour. The breath was knocked out of her, then knocked out again when she hit the ground several meters away.
What did not happen was the air getting sucked out of the bridge spectacularly, and Master Jarro along with it. Aqura was left to look up groggily from where she'd been thrown onto her back.
As Master Jarro stumbled away from a window with a pretty impressive dent in it, it occurred to her that she probably should have come into this fight with a plan.
At least this had finally rattled him. He stumbled and his lightsaber drooped in his hand.
And then, he just… fell, and Aqura saw thousands of shards of transparisteel buried in his body.
"Master Jarro!"
That had not gone anything like what Aqura had been expecting.
"Great," Gault shouted, "now hurry up, we have to go!"
Padawan Thendys ran up to her master's body, kneeling down just as Aqura was getting to her feet.
It hurt, just a little, when the girl looked up at her with tear-filled eyes.
"He fought well," Aqura said. "He deserved the name Mandalorian Killer. You should go now. The Aurora is going to be destroyed."
The Padawan didn't speak, just kept glaring at her.
"Mandokarla, we have to go, now!"
Aqura started to back away. Then, when Gault yelled at her again, she ran. Before they left the bridge, she asked, "shouldn't she come with us?"
Gault snorted. "The escape pods are a lot closer than that hangars. She'll be fine. Besides, you just killed her master. You don't want a vengeful jedi on the ship, no matter how much you like picking up strays."
That was that, then. They left the kid behind, crying over her dead master.
As they passed the cell block, Aqura decided that some parts of bounty hunting weren't nearly as fun as she'd always thought.