Chapter: 14 The Battle of Mandalore

"Are you sure about these allies of yours?" asked Vala.

"Trust me," said Bo-Katan. "My nephew is anything but corrupt."

The Nite Owls remained hidden in an alleyway as a speeder came hovering down. Four adolescents emerged from it, and Vala struggled to recall their faces. As a handsome young man stepped forward, Vala's presumptions proved true. "Korkie?" she asked. "Korkie Kryze?"

Her former classmate raised a brow. "Have we met?"

She removed her helmet. "A lifetime ago."

"Vala? Is that really you? My goodness, you've changed."

"So have you," said Vala.

"Looks like I've lost our bet, Soniee darling." Korkie chuckled to the green-eyed brunette behind him. Soniee was another former classmate of Vala's. She'd grown into an elegantly beautiful woman.

"What bet?" asked Vala.

Korkie put an arm around Soniee. "We had a bet to see how radical of a student you actually were. After your expulsion, she bet me fifty credits that you'd join Death Watch."

Vala clenched a fist. "Oh did she? Well look who's teaming up with who now."

"Would you all cut it out?" snapped Bo-Katan. "We're here to bust Satine out of prison."

"Of course," said Korkie. "Anything for Auntie Satine."

"Here's the plan." Bo-Katan pulled up a holographic schematic of Sundari prison. "Vala will lead the Nite Owls to secure the landing platform while Korkie and I free the duchess. Switch blaster configurations to blue laser rounds. Some of Maul's warriors may still be wearing our armor and try to trick us. We can expect heavy resistance once we leave. That's where the Nite Owls and I will fight to hold off any attackers. That should give you enough time to get Satine out of Sundari. Maybe she can get a message to the Republic."

"The Republic?" questioned Vala.

"These are desperate times," replied Bo-Katan. "We'll need enemies of our enemies if we are to win this battle." The Nite Owls jetpacked to a skyscraper overlooking the prison. "Remember Vala, keep it quiet."

"The most you'll hear is the snap of a neck or two," said Vala. She leapt from the building and maximized power to her jetpack. The sounds of it were shrouded by the bustling of ships passing by. She eyed a prison guard and launched herself into him. She quickly put him in a chokehold and dragged him to a corner. With a swift jerk of Vala's arms, a crack sounded and the guard fell limp. She glared down at her former brother. He along with the rest of the Maul sympathizers had repainted their armor to match his black and red skin. Some even put fake horns atop their helmets. "Disgraceful," Vala whispered to herself. She crouched and rounded the corner. The other prison guard was still wondering what had happened. Vala repeatedly knocked on the nearest wall. While the guard was smart enough to not walk towards the incessant sound, he remained focused on what it could be. The distraction was enough for another Nite Owl to swoop in and grapple him. The warrior struggled for several moments before his former sister slit his throat with a wrist blade.

Vala called in, "Platform secured. You are clear to enter, lieutenant."

Bo-Katan jetpacked down with Korkie wrapped in her arms. Bo-Katan placed a hand on Vala's shoulder. "Another prison break awaits us. It must be nice to be on the other side of the bars this time."

"Yes, ma'am." Vala drew her pistol and guarded the door. The platform was eerily quiet. Such silence was short-lived when the prison's interior erupted into a storm of laserfire. The doors swung open as Bo-Katan and Korkie emerged with the duchess. The stresses of the past year had taken their toll on Satine. Grey hairs lay woven between the rest of her blonde waves. Her blue dress was tattered from her harsh imprisonment.

Korkie handed her his comlink and she said, "We need to get a message to the Jedi Council."

"All frequencies are jammed," said Korkie. "We'll have to get you out of the city, Auntie."

Bo-Katan ushered everyone onto the speeder. "Let's get going before the guards realize what's happened." One of Korkie's other classmates, Lagos, took the wheel and flew the group out of there.

Vala sat across from Satine and felt a persistent desire to speak to her. She didn't want to apologize to the duchess. She just wanted to show that she was on her side now. Vala figured being present was enough of a statement and kept her mouth shut. Suddenly the speeder came under heavy laserfire. Three of Maul's minions were jetpacking towards them. The traitors' scorching red lasers grazed the speeder. Bo-Katan rose from her seat. "Take them out!" Two Nite Owls sprung into action, each tackling a foe in mid-air. Bo-Katan fired her whipcord at the third enemy and swung them into the side of a building. While three of Maul's warriors went down, six more were quick to take its place.

Vala stood over the duchess and fired several shots. "Keep your head down!" she ordered.

"Vala!" screeched Bo-Katan. "We need you out here now! They can get the duchess out if we cover them!"

"On it," Vala rocketed from her speeder and joined her fellow Nite Owls. An all-out battle erupted high above the streets of Mandalore. Amidst the chaos, Vala lost sight of the duchess' speeder. Soon the group came under attack from all corners. Maul's warriors multiplied until Bo-Katan had no choice but to withdraw.

"Fall back!"

"But what about the duchess?" asked Vala.

"We can only hope she made it! Now follow my lead!" Bo-Katan dive-bombed the streets. She blasted two foes down, clearing a path through an alleyway. A stray laser struck one of the Nite Owls in the neck, killing them instantly. "Kavas!" called Bo-Katan. Kavas' body skid across the street below and she rushed to his side. She nodded honorably and plucked the jetpack from his back. Vala dropped a thermal detonator to buy them time to escape.

The Nite Owls remained hidden in the abandoned shantytown for the next several hours. Some well-placed smoke bombs had screened their escape, but Maul's troops were certainly looking for them. Vala sat back in a decrepit chair and kept her blaster trained on the door. Meanwhile, Bo-Katan and another warrior tried to configure if any frequencies weren't jammed. They could only do so much before running the risk of being tracked. A jetpack sounded outside and everyone readied themselves. They stood down when a voice said, "Raptor." Vala carefully opened the door to see one of her fellow Nite Owls. Her armor was chipped and cracked. Blood dotted her vambrace and flak vest.

"Vixa," said Vala. "Glad to see you made it out."

Bo-Katan stood up. "Are there others?"

"No." Vixa removed her helmet and pulled back her curly bronze hair. Her forehead was bruised from blunt force trauma.

"There have to be others," insisted Vala. "There can't just be-"

"They're all gone, Vala!" snapped Vixa. She narrowed her reddened eyes and bit back a scream. "I watched them get blasted all around me! One by one. The bastards didn't give us a chance." She kicked the nearby table, snapping it in two. "Damn all these traitors!"

Vala grabbed Vixa by the arm and yanked her back. "Enough! I'm angry too, but we'll be discovered if you keep breaking stuff."

Vixa forced herself to breath deeply and dropped to her knees. She looked up with pursed lips. "They're all gone, lieutenant. All of them. Maul's recaptured the duchess. I don't know what the hell happened to her nephew and his friends. We're all that's left. What can six do against an army?"

Bo-Katan looked around at her fatigued, hardened warriors. "We can make six fighters feel like sixty. Nite Owls never surrender. No matter the odds."

"So what?" asked Vixa. "We just go out there blasters blazing and hope for the best?"

"No," said Bo-Katan. "There may be Death Watch warriors back on Zanbar who have not heard the news yet. If we can get a distress signal to them, we can get an army of our own down here."

"And make Maul pay for our dead brothers and sisters," snarled Vala.

"Exactly. Our small number makes it easier to be stealthy. We'll scout the northern docks for signal first. If that doesn't work, we'll try the southwestern side. Everyone stays together. No one splits up unless I order them to do so. Look around you because we're all that remains of the Nite Owls. We fight for each other. We protect each other. No one gets left behind. Conserve ammo and jetpack fuselage. Salvage what you can from your kills and stay off communications because Maul could be listening. Understood?" Vala and the others saluted her. "Good. Let's move out."

The Nite Owls moved stealthily from building to building, using shadows to screen their movements. The pressure of being discovered outweighed the discouraging thought that only six of them remained. They reached the northern dock by sunrise and hid atop a maintenance balcony. Maul had taken complete control of the shipyard. His red-armored warriors patrolled the brink while smugglers like the Moogans carted shipments. Bo-Katan nudged one of a male Nite Owl. "You're up, Niko."

He knelt down and equipped an antennae attachment to his vambrace. "Damn it! Signals are still jammed this far out. If the duchess did manage to place a call, they've blocked any others from being made."

A broken down freighter came lumbering down from the clouds. Rusted and leaky, the old ship barely managed to dock. Vala used her rangefinder to zoom in on the ship. "What the hell?"

A helmeted man in yellow garments came stumbling out. He uttered something to the warrior on guard and beckoned him in. The two were inside for several moments before the warrior emerged. Something was different about his stride. Any suspicions were solidified when Vala got a closer look at his face. She caught a glimpse of his auburn beard just before he placed the helmet on. Bo-Katan kept her eye on the so-called 'warrior' and stopped Vixa from shooting him. "Something tells me Satine did get a message out before her recapture. We need as many allies as possible, so let's tail him and find out more."

"I can get the signal through," said Vala. Bo-Katan turned with a raised brow. "You tail this potential ally. I'll head for the southwestern dock and patch...or at least try to patch a signal through."

"Absolutely not. We have to stick together."

"You said it yourself. We need as many allies as possible. You five go. I can look after myself but you have to trust me. Just as you have trusted me through everything up to this point."

Bo-Katan sighed and yielded a nod. "Be quick. Stay off comms unless it is a last resort." Vala started heading out when Bo-Katan stopped her. "Good luck."

"Thank you, lieutenant." Vala saluted her and then jetpacked towards the southwestern docks. Her solitude gave her time to reflect. For the first time since she had joined the Nite Owls, Vala's actions now decided their fate. Without reinforcements, she and her team would surely perish under Maul's wrath. She was nearly to the dock when a sentry spotted her.

Vala launched herself towards her, sparing her just enough time to say, "I've spotted one of the rebels heading for-"

THWAP!

Vala tackled the sentry to the ground. She ripped her enemy's blaster out of her hands and smashed it against her helmet. The strike was enough to knock her helmet off and reveal the mohawked brunette beneath. The foe recognized her armor and uttered, "Vala? How could you betray us?"

"It is you who has betrayed us!" Vala retaliated.

"You cannot win. Lord Maul will crush you and the treacherous lieutenant. Your demise will-"

Vala smashed the back of her head against the duracrete floor with enough force to kill her instantly. She scavenged her former sister's blaster charges and thermal detonators before hiding the body. As Vala did so, she noticed a cylindrical device fastened to the corpse's vambrace. Recognizing it from her smuggling raid, Vala equipped the personal shield generator to her own armor. Her encounter proved how much more careful she'd have to be if she wanted to get a signal out. While the southern dock was further than Vala anticipated, it too was heavily guarded. She propped herself inside a crane overlooking the shipyard. Stealth in broad daylight was impossible and she could only hope that the other sentries would investigate her previous handiwork, leaving the docks free for her to sneak through. Much to Vala's dismay, even more troops came to guard the docks. Hours passed and Vala watched the sun arch across the sky. Her frustration heightened. It was already dusk and none of the guards had shifted positions. Unable to contact the Nite Owls, Vala had to make a personal decision. Every moment she waited meant an even greater risk for Mandalore. She couldn't wait any longer and stepped out of the crane.

"Here goes everything," she whispered to herself. "If this is to be my end, let my valiance be remembered." She cocked her WESTAR 35 and tread across the platform. "This is for Carden." She optimized her flamethrower. "This is for Dee." Vala stood at the edge of both the crane and her life. She proudly raised her blaster and yelled, "For Mandalore!" She jetpacked down to the docks, unloading several lasers into a warrior's chest. The others sprung into action and Vala was quick to engage. She angrily grabbed a foe and repeatedly slammed his face into a crate. A sentry grappled her, but she pointed her flamethrower directly under his helmet. He screamed as his face was set ablaze and Vala blasted him twice in the chest. She jetpacked to the furthest point of the dock and activated her comlink. "Zanbar HQ! Please respond!" A laser grazed her shoulder pad and she spun to return fire.

A voice crackled on the comlink and a man's image appeared. "This is HQ. Go ahead."

"This is Vala Ketra of the Nite Owls. I speak on behalf of Lieutenant Bo-Katan. Mandalore is in ruins! Maul and many of our brethren have betrayed us. We are heavily outnumbered. Traitors are marked in red and black. Please send immediate reinforcements! We cannot hold forever!"

The man was mortified. "This must be a ruse!"

"It's no ruse!" Vala savagely gunned down another member of the Shadow Collective. "I implore you by all that you hold dear to Mandalore. Help us! Now is the time!"

"Of course, sister Vala. We will send a detachment to-"

"No detachments! Send everyone! Get every able-bodied warrior to come and-" Maul's forces jammed her communications. "Dammit!" Vala slammed her fist against the comlink and directed her rage towards the attackers. "Come on!" her voice boomed. "I'll kill you all!"

"Vala," Bo-Katan called in.

"Lieutenant? You said to stay off comms unless it was-"

"A last resort, I know. This is one! We're heading towards the northern docks but have encountered intense resistance."

"Standby!" Vala shot another sentry and then launched herself into the air. She weaved to evade lasefire and caught a glimpse of her companions. Accompanied by the auburn-bearded man, the Nite Owls jetpacked away while the Shadow Collective remained in hot pursuit. Vala maximized power to her jetpack's thrusters and collided with one of the pursuers. She kicked him down and regrouped with the team.

"Did you get the message through?" asked Bo-Katan.

Vala nodded. "Let's just hope they act on it!" She ducked under a scorching red laser and flipped over to return fire. Another laser blasted a Nite Owl in the back, sending him plummeting to his death. Bo-Katan and the armored stranger took point within a transit tunnel. Vala's eyes widened when the man activated a blue lightsaber. She turned to Bo-Katan. "And you said you'd never work with a Jedi!"

"Yeah well it's a day of firsts for me!" Bo-Katan blasted away at incoming enemies while the Jedi backed away. "See if you can get the door behind us open, Kenobi!"

Vala had heard tell of the legendary Obi-Wan Kenobi. She never imagined she'd be on Mandalore with him, fighting for the fate of the planet against a horned madman and an army of defected warriors. But as Bo-Katan stated, it was a day of firsts. An enemy laser struck down another Nite Owl, prompting Vala to avenge her fallen comrade. She activated the missile attached to her jetpack launched it through the tunnel. The missile struck a warrior just as he was jetpacking in. The clang from the hefty collision was accompanied by a tremendous explosion that shook the transit tunnel. The other warriors darted in, forcing the Nite Owls to engage them in hand-to-hand combat. Fists flew as Vala kicked a foe down and stomped on his neck. She growled as another wave closed in on them. "How's that door coming?"

"Got it!" hollered Kenobi. The tunnel's main gate opened, revealing a completely different battle. The remaining Death Watch fighters had answered Vala's call and were now heavily engaged in a battle with Maul's forces. The docks were set ablaze with laserfire while missiles sailed overhead. Kom'rk ships descended with extra garrisons of reinforcements. One of them was blown to pieces by a trio of missiles.

"Vixa," said Bo-Katan.

"Yes lieutenant?"

"Now we go out blasters blazing and hope for the best."

"I was afraid you'd say that."

"Come on, Nite Owls!" Bo-Katan lunged into battle. "For Mandalore!" She twirled her pistols and blasted any foe that crossed her path.

"For Mandalore!" reiterated Vixa. She went tackled rocketed into the fray, tossing thermal detonators to hapless foes below her.

Vala went back to back with Niko and the two fired at hovering enemies. "Secure the dock!" ordered Bo-Katan. "Fight to the last!" Kenobi leapt through the air and drove his lightsaber through a foe. A Mandalorian transport hovered near the edge of his position and lowered its ramp. "Go back to your Republic and tell them what has happened."

Kenobi was taken aback by her command. "That would likely lead to a Republic invasion of Mandalore!"

"Yes and Maul will die! But Mandalore will survive!" Bo-Katan gunned down another opponent. "We always survive. Now go!"

Kenobi was nearly into the transport when he sensed a somber disturbance in the Force. "You're Satine's sister, aren't you?" He flashed a mournful frown, hinting at the ultimate worst. "I'm so sorry," he said before departing.

Enraged by the news of the duchess' death, Bo-Katan intensified her fighting style. She bashed a man's face in while yelling to her fellow Nite Owls. "Keep fighting! Fight until every last traitor is dead!"

A member of the Shadow Collective blasted another Nite Owl down. Vixa tackled the man and pinned him to the ground. She then withdrew a hidden blade from her wrist and repeatedly stabbed him in the neck with it. As she did so, a warrior drove his own blade into her lower back. He dug it right between her armor plates and she screeched from the pain. Vala swooped in and blasted the attacker. She yanked Vixa to her feet. "Hang in there!"

"I'm fine!" barked Vixa. She staggered to her feet and hobbled forward, blindly firing her blasters at anything red. "Bring it!" she roared. "Come on!" Two lasers struck her thigh, yet still she remained standing. Her pistols overheated, so she threw them at an enemy's face. While he was dazed from the strike, Vixa removed her helmet and beat him to death with it. Her blood-stained curly hair swayed with each savage swing. Vala provided covering fire for Bo-Katan while Niko sniped enemies from atop a stack of crates. A laser struck Vixa's arm, but she fought through the pain and scavenged a rifle from her kill. She set it to rapid-fire and unleashed a storm of lasers across the dock. "For Mandalore!" she screamed through bloodied lips. She tried to fly up but was shot in the torso.

"Grenade going out!" Vala threw her detonator into a group of enemies. A blast sounded and their red helmets went rolling through the smoke.

"Nite Owls!" called Bo-Katan. "We've got one more Kom'rk coming in with reinforcements. We've got to defend it from enemy fire!"

Vala and Niko jetpacked to join their lieutenant while Vixa battled on the ground. Vala heard her grunt and looked back. "Vixa!"

"Just go!" she screeched. She was barely able to stand. "I'll buy you as much time as I can!" The rapid-fire setting caused her rifle to overheat, so she clubbed an enemy with it. Several warriors landed to engage her. One of their shots struck Vixa in her calf, making her stumble forward. She spread her arms and taunted. "Is that all you got? Come on! That's nothing!" The troops unloaded laser after laser into her. Though Vixa's voice and mobility faded, she still dared to yell. "That's nothing!" She could only take so many lasers, and collapsed when another blasted through her chest. The foes advanced over her remains without knowing she placed a finger on her last thermal detonator. As death claimed her, Vixa's grip on the device loosened. Her thumb departed from the trigger and a blip sounded. The grenade exploded, taking all three enemies with her.

"Pick up the pace!" ordered Bo-Katan. "We can't let these men reach the transport!" She, Vala and Niko worked together to blast the opposition out of the sky. The transport was nearly to them when a stray missile struck its core engine. The ship burst into flames, instantly incinerating every person onboard. The scorched remnants of the ship spiraled out of control. Unable to pull up in time, the Nite Owls were caught in the ship's collision. "Brace!" shouted Bo-Katan. Niko grabbed hold of a piece of the craft and extended his free hand to Vala. She clenched it, but the ship's remains crashed into the transit tunnel. The trio held on tight as the debris tumbled through, scraping across the tunnel and sending sparks flaring everywhere. Vala felt her hand slipping with each crash.

"Hold on, Vala!" urged Niko.

"I'm trying!" The debris struck a nearby building with enough force to send Vala flying.

"Vala!" shouted Niko.

She struck her head on the building's edge and plummeted into blackness.

Vala awakened to feel a pulsing pain in her head. A faint ringing sounded in her ears and her eyes struggled to see through her dust-ridden visor. She removed her helmet and coughed up a tuft of dust. Her body was coated in a thick layer of the powdery substance. She heard the crackle of burning debris around her and looked up to the blinding light of dawn. Scorched bodies of the Kom'rk's passengers lay strewn across the floor around her. Beyond them was a carnage like nothing Vala had ever seen before. Hundreds of Death Watch and Shadow Collective warriors lay dead in the streets. The bodies were piled high atop one another. Blue and red helmets littered the streets. Some were merely scratched while others had been blasted in half. Missile shells dotted the massacre along with a countless array of discarded blasters. The devastation coupled with an eerie silence, making Vala feel all the more unsettled. She forced herself to stand and winced at the soreness on her right leg. She must've landed on it during the crash.

Despite the large quantity of dust, Vala forced herself to speak. "Lieutenant? Niko? Anyone?" She heard a rumble from behind and immediately aimed her pistol. Vala immediately stood down upon realizing the sound came from a black-haired Mandalorian. "Niko!" she gasped and knelt at his side. His arms trembled and he struggled to breath. Vala wiped the dust from his face and cradled him. "You're safe now, brother."

"No one is safe," he coughed. "Vala, it's over."

"Don't talk like that. You'll make it."

"No. I mean everything's over. Death Watch...the Nite Owls...Mandalore. It's all finished."

"Not yet it's not," assured Vala. "Bo-Katan will-"

"She's gone, Vala. The lieutenant is...dead."

"No," uttered Vala as she looked towards the wreckage. She eyed Bo-Katan's iconic helmet as it lay tilted against a heap of debris. "No!"

"Vala..." Niko gasped for air. "Can you help me up? I can't feel my legs."

Vala glanced down and realized why he couldn't. Both of Niko's legs had been blown off in the crash. His state of shock prevented him from realizing it. Mortified by the sight, Vala released her grip on Niko's face and rushed to recover Bo-Katan's helmet. "She can't be gone! This can't be happening!" Vala frantically searched every direction of the desolate battlefield. She eyed a pair of legs poking out from beneath the wreckage. Several other bodies were piled around them. Vala stepped closer, pondering if the legs were the lieutenant's. She moved up again, this time making out the blue coloration on the leg armor. Vala's heart sank and she staggered back. She didn't know whether or not the body was Bo-Katan's. She didn't need to. Everything and everyone had been cruelly ripped from her life before. Why would anything change now? This disarray was further intensified when Vala turned to see that Niko had passed from his injuries.

She stumbled back and almost tripped on a body. Her emotions spiraled out of control while time around her seemed to slow. She activated her jetpack and rocketed over the slaughter. Exasperated, alone, and genuinely frightened, Vala went to the only place she could still feel safe.

One of Sudnari's richest districts was now one of its most damaged. Bodies littered the streets before smashed windows and charred buildings. Vala stopped at a mansion she knew all too well. Her jetpack nearly gave up on her as she crashed in front of the manor. She limped towards the laser-riddled door and broke it down. Her childhood home was dark and decrepit. Light fixtures were ripped from the walls and cabinets were looted. She stumbled to the cracked sink and cupped a slither of water in her hands. She splashed it over her bloodied face, equipped her helmet and peered up at a painting in the foyer. Despite all of the destruction the Ketra family portrait had somehow survived. Vala was about five years of age in the painting, beaming and full of life. Her mother grinned while holding her tight. She examined her father's overjoyed smile and heard his voice as she did so.

"To this day I still wonder where I went wrong," he said.

Vala turned to see her father donning shredded garments. Her mother was in a similar state as she rounded the corner. Her face was bruised on one side, mirroring the cuts on her father's face. "Are you happy now, Vala?" asked her mother. She gestured to the ravaged home. "This is what you wanted, isn't it?"

Vala shook her head. "No, mother. Death Watch was overthrown by a foreign-"

"You let all of this happen," her father spat. "You let the duchess get murdered. You let your minions pillage the streets and murder innocence. How many of your own have you killed? Eh?"

"None, father. I-"

"I am not your father," he growled. "You are no daughter of mine." Vala felt her dwindling heart shatter at his words. "You chose your path, terrorist." He grabbed his wife's hand and pulled her away. "Come on, Deba."

"No," said her mother. She pried her hand away and approached Vala. "I...I need to see her." She stood face to face with Vala and said, "Take off the helmet. Let me see my daughter as she truly is."

Vala sighed and removed her helm. Her mother broke out in tears immediately as she did so. She placed a trembling hand on Vala's bloodied cheek and then brushed the top of her short hair. She felt the sides of it as if mourning the long, blonde locks that once swayed past her shoulders. Lastly, she looked into Vala's eyes and gasped. Vala reached for her mother but she shuddered away. She slowly stepped back as if avoiding a rabid animal. "You're...you're not her," she uttered. "You're not my Vala." Her husband held her as she screamed through her tears. "You're a beast! A monster! Just like the others!"

Vala was devastated. She prepared to respond when the whir of a Republic gunship sounded outside. She rushed to the window to see waves of white-armored clone troopers rappelling down and rescuing civilians. A young Jedi leapt down with them and ordered, "I want men in these buildings now!"

A trooper saluted him. "Yes, General Skywalker!" Several troopers poured into the Ketra mansion and secured Vala's parents. "It's alright!" said one of them. "You're safe now."

"No!" screamed her mother as she pointed a finger at Vala. "She's one of them!"

"Arrest her!" yelled her father.

"Mother? Father!" Vala stood in utter disbelief as the clones closed in on her. "How could you do this to me?"

Her father's brows furrowed. "How could you do this to us?"

"Hands up!" ordered the clone. "We won't ask again!"

Vala withdrew her pistol and headshotted the clone. The others opened fire as she weaved for cover.

"Take her down!" shouted a clone trooper.

Her mother screamed and was ushered out of the mansion. She tried to return fire, but her pistol jammed. Facing overwhelming odds, Vala dropped her last thermal detonator, blasting the mansion and making her escape. She didn't look back once, only hearing the sound of Republic rifles. Vala pressed towards the southern dock, all the way until her jetpack ran out of fuel and sent her tumbling into several crates. She could hear a gunship closing in from beyond the shipyard. Out of options, Vala threw herself into the nearest shipping crate and sealed herself in with a fusion cutter. It was only a matter of time before the crate was hoverlifted into some sort of spacecraft. She could only hope it wasn't a Republic vessel.

The passing hours gave Vala time to reflect on all that had happened and all she had lost. Such somber memories subsided to a boisterous clanging atop the crate. "What the hell did the Moogans put in here? Spices shouldn't be this heavy." The crate as severed open, and Vala stared into the bulbous eyes of a Rodian smuggler. He immediately took aim with his blaster, but Vala caught and broke his wrist. He screeched in pain as she bashed his face into the edge of the crate. Enraged and determined to survive, Vala sprung out of the cart and kicked another Rodian in the face. The green-skinned, blue-eyed aliens closed in on her, only to be slaughtered one by one. Vala gunned two down before her blaster jammed again. She grabbed a third and kneed him in the throat. "Stay away from me!" she roared. She used her wrist laser to send a beam bursting through a Rodian's chest.

She turned to face a lanky Rodian, who immediately thrust his arms up. "Don't shoot! Please!"

Vala pinned him to the wall. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't?"

His voice was slick, deep, and husky. "Because I have money and I can get you drink. It sure looks like you need one." he laughed nervously.

Vala released her grip. "Mandalorian Ale. Now."

"Yes! Yes! Of course!" The Rodian scurried down the hall and got some from the cellar. He beckoned Vala to a table in the ship's lounge and poured her a glass. "Great work killing my crew, Miss Mandalorian!"

Vala removed her helmet and raised a brow. "You seem so upset."

"Ahhh you know. People die. It happens."

"Yes it does," Vala scoffed before downing her ale. "Yes it does."

"More ale?" he asked. She slid him her cup and he filled it to the top.

"So what's a Mandalorian like you doing out here? Planet reject you?"

Vala scowled. "I rejected it."

"Ahhhh I see, I see. Well obviously a woman of your talents knows what she's doing. You're probably better off now."

"More lost than better off."

"No way!" rejoiced the Rodian. "I'm lost too! My crew's dead, you're a loner, and we have a whole ship to ourselves!"

"What are you getting at?"

The Rodian slapped his forehead, making his antennas bounce. "Where are my manners?" He stuck out his scaly hand. "My name's Daliz. Who might you be?"

Vala glared at him, then at his hand. Considering she had nothing left to lose, she shook it. "Vala. That's the most you'll ever need to know."

"I like the way you think." Daliz poured himself a cup of ale. "Vala...there's no doubt you and I have seen some 'things' in our careers. It's only made us who we are today. But why just survive when we can thrive? I mean, you're obviously an expert warrior and I know my way around this galaxy. I like to believe fate brought us together. Ever thought of going into bounty hunting?"

"How well does it pay?"

"That depends on the quality of scum you fry. A fighter of your caliber can make good money easy." Daliz chuckled. "We could be one hell of a team! You rack up the bounties, I'll manage profits, we both fly away thousands of credits richer."

"I don't know," said Vala as she clenched a fist.

"I completely understand not knowing. It happens to the best of us," placated Daliz. "So let me put it another way for you. Let's say you refuse to go into a successful career of bounty hunting with me. What would you do instead?"

Vala brooded in silence. She sighed deeply and said, "Money sounds good right now. So when do we start?"

Daliz flashed a smirk on his snout. "We just did."