p id="docs-internal-guid-cb339a93-7fff-a387-ac8e-23cfd376b728" dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The Mandalorians wasted no time surrounding the ship./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Surrender now!" they called out, their threats sounding much less threatening from inside an armored hull./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The ship started to pull away and head toward one of the many holes in the Mandalorian's wall, while their blasters began peppering the hull./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Jon and Teller stared at one another for a moment, neither seeming to know how to react./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Please?" Teller asked, tears in his eyes and his breath catching in his throat./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Jon aggressively pointed to a ladder on the right, leading up to a hatch on the ceiling. "Go to the turret. Shoot anything in armor and stay quiet."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The young man did as he was told, but stopped when he saw Jon heading for the ramp rather than the cockpit./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Massive gears groaned and clanked as it slowly began to close, but not before the first few Mandos burst into view with their rifles drawn. They aimed, focusing not on the ship but on the two men standing out of cover, only to find themselves engulfed by white hot energy./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Some form of unnatural lightning flew from Jon's fingertips, bright enough to blind the boy and dangerous enough to leave six Mandalorian warriors writhing on the ground in horrific pain./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The rest of the group was so stunned they didn't even shoot. Either that or they just decided to cut their losses and tend to the wounded./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The ramp door finally closed and Jon took two steps toward the cockpit, before looking at Teller, pointing a finger back at the cockpit and screaming, "Go!"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Teller moved even faster than before, reaching the seat in the gun turret just as the ship opened up its throttle and flew past the wall./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Debris scattered and dust flew into the air, as the ship found its way into open ground. Massive cables spread out behind them, like the wings of a bat, kicking up the iconic blue dust of Centrallis. Teller couldn't see anyone following them yet, but the wires left such a massive and conspicuous dust cloud wherever they went, that he figured it was only a matter of time./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"With the few seconds of relief he had, he thought back to what Jon had done, aside from hanging him out to dry./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He had never seen that kind of power before. There were plenty of alien species that did all kinds of weird things, but Jon was human, as far as Teller knew./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Was it some kind of weapon he hadn't seen? Was it an optical illusion? Was it the Force? Thayla had never mentioned lightning before./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Something just got into range of the radar," Jon said, through a comlink on the wall next to him. "Can you see it?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He looked hard, but his visor only came just above the dust cloud. "I think I see a shadow or something. It's pretty far back. Should I take a shot?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Not until they do. I don't want to end up shooting a transit speeder full of kids."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Since when do you care about civilian casualties?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Just watch the shadow."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Teller rechecked all the equipment, making sure everything was warmed up and ready to go./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Ok, that one blip just turned into three."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""It's getting closer."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Hang on. I'm going to swing around and hopefully force them out of cover."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Teller grabbed onto the handles of the cannons, as the ship swerved to the left and tilted forty-five degrees. Having grown up on a ship with artificial gravity, Teller wasn't used to feeling a speeder that moved under his feet./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Unable to copy the ninety-degree turn they had just made, an entire row of tightly packed speeders burst out of the dust cloud, along with two of the makeshift troops transports he had seen earlier and four Mandalorians with jetpacks./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""It's the Blood Battalion!"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Jon said something in return, but Teller never heard it. He opened fire immediately with the speeder's massive double-barreled blaster cannon, only to suddenly have his viewport blocked by a flurry of red bolts/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"With the element of surprise gone, the soldiers and pilots of the Blood Battalion fell back on their strict training. The speeders spread out into a V-formation, while the troop transports fell in between them. They kept low to the ground, that way they could have some cover from the dust clouds being kicked up by both the speeders and the mining ship./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Meanwhile, the Mandalorians kept a steady stream of fire on the dome-shaped pillbox near the back of the ship, but also swerved out to the sides, content to let the bigger targets take the bulk of the enemy's blind fire./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You alive, kid?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah," Teller responded, struggling to even find the comlink button with bursts of plasma exploding in his face./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Good. Look, I'm sorry for what happened before. I was a real piece of crap back there, but it looks like now we're going down together. I just don't want anything left out in the open."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah, it's… Wait, I have an idea."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Are you serious? Do you see how many there are?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I learned to fight smarter, not harder," Teller responded. "Can you trust me?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Jon sighed. "I don't really trust you to save my life, but I guess that's my fault. What's the plan?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Just keep going straight and be ready for a sharp turn. You'll know when."/span/p