Upon setting down in one of Dathomir's few spaceports, Jaina, Tahiri, and Partner disembarked from the latter's Firespray with Kendros, who was held by his elbows by Tahiri and Partner. The Sith was walking with some slight grogginess, as if he were still drunk from his time at the Mandalorian space station, while wearing some clothes (which Partner kept in a storage compartment aboard his ship for a "rainy day," as he said). Of course, by now, the inebriation from the alcohol had long worn off, and Kendros was now constantly on the verge of falling asleep because of a dose of the very same drug that Partner had given to Tahiri when he brought her back to Bastion.
"He's an escaped manservant for one of the tribes," Jaina had explained to the portmaster when the latter met them to inquire about their business. "We were hired to bring him back home. He's been drinking, in case you're wondering."
"Don't let 'em take me!" Kendros said with a slur in his speech. "I'm not a manservant, I'm-"
He was cut off from saying anymore when Tahiri swatted him across the head.
"Quiet, imbecile!" she yelled. "Or I'll inform your mistresses of the full extent of your indiscretions!"
That swat to his head made Kendros way too dazed to respond properly.
The portmaster, an aged woman who looked like she couldn't care less about what they were doing here, said with a shrug, "Okay. Go on ahead."
As they walked away, Jaina wondered if that woman would have cared if they had dragged Kendros out while he was still in his underwear.
It wasn't long afterwards before the four of them were deep within the forests of Dathomir, by which point Jaina selected a tree and used the Force to pin Kendros up against it.
"This won't intimidate me, Jedi!" the Sith slurred. As he shouted this, Partner brought out, from his belt, the metallic cable that had trapped the Sith to the Firespray's copilot's chair previously. The Mandalorian then began to wrap the cable around Kendros as the latter continued with, "If you think that luring some ugly witches to me so that I can be used as their sex slave is going to force me to tell you anything, think again!"
"You know, honestly," Jaina said, "it's probably not the witches you should be worried about; it's the rancors."
"Rancors?" Kendros asked. "What are those?"
"Oh, you don't know? Why, rancors are some of the most fearsome beasts in the galaxy! Not only do the witches on this planet ride them, but when they eat any living being, their digestive tracts keep those beings alive long after they've been ingested. In fact, their prey is still alive... even after they've been defecated out.
"How is that possible? Through an enzyme called... hedrocosin, I believe it is, so when you finally emerge from a rancor's ass, there will still be enough left of you to be alive even after most of your body has literally been turned to poodoo. Thus, not only will you be writhing in pain when you finally exit its body, but you will smell like poo. And guess what? You don't actually die until another rancor comes along and eats the rest of you, and only then will you be a hundred percent poodoo instead of fifty percent. Or was it sixty percent? I can't remember the exact figure."
As Jaina told these "facts," ridiculous though they may have been, she could barely hide her amusement as she saw the look of horror that dawned on Kendros's face. She could only guess that the drug that kept him too groggy from using the Force was also influencing his mind into believing such a tall tale.
"Now," Jaina continued, "if you wish to avoid being part-man, part-poodoo, or all sex slave to some hideous witches, just ring me up on this." She then handed him a commlink. "Activate it when you're ready to tell us where the Hagamoor 3 beskar is and maybe we'll save you."
"Maybe?" Kendros asked.
"Well, if you don't respond quickly enough," Jaina said, "we might not get to you in time." She gave him a smile.
"Oh, and before we leave," Tahiri said.
She then ripped open the front of Kendros's tunic, revealing his muscle-bound torso.
"That should be attractive to those hideous witches," Tahiri teased.
With that, Jaina, Tahiri, and Partner began walking back to the spaceport where the Firespray was parked, all the while ignoring Kendros's protestations that he wasn't scared and that he'll never give them what they want and whatnot.
By the time they were far enough out of earshot from Kendros, Tahiri asked Jaina, "You know, if he's actually discovered by some witches and finds that they're not as unattractive as we led him to believe, he'll start to doubt everything else about the threat."
"Maybe at the start," Jaina conceded. "But I have a feeling that once they start treating him like a second-class citizen, if not outright human garbage, maybe he'll start to look at ugliness from a different angle."
"That could take some time," Tahiri pointed out evenly. "Maybe not as much as we should be wasting with this subterfuge."
Jaina stopped the trio in their tracks right there as she said, "Jag can take care of the Imperial Remnant against the Mandos, Tahiri, if that's what you're wondering."
"I wasn't questioning that," Tahiri countered. "It's that every second we waste here instead of getting right to the point with Kendros means that more Imperial lives are lost in that pointless war with the Mandos."
"We're not wasting time here," Jaina insisted firmly.
"Aren't we?"
Jaina looked curiously at Tahiri. "Why are you interested in getting to the truth so quickly, Tahiri? Even if it means having to resort to the dark side?"
"Sometimes, Jaina, the dark side is what's needed to get the job done."
Jaina looked gobsmacked. "That's never the way and you know that! Haven't you learned anything when you were brought back from Cae-"
"Don't you dare say his name!" Tahiri growled as she leveled an accusatory finger up at Jaina's face.
"Why not? What are you afraid of, Tahiri?"
"I'm not afraid of anything."
"Oh, no, I think you are. So why don't you spill it?"
"There's nothing to spill."
"There is, though; if not what you're really afraid of, then how about how you really escaped from Bastion?"
"What?"
"You heard me. Don't think that I bought your lie for a second; I know Jag didn't let you out in secret, and I didn't even have to contact him."
"You don't have any idea what you're talkin' about, Jaina."
"How'd you do it, Tahiri? Huh? Who really helped you out?"
"You're delusional, Jaina."
"I'm not the one who's delusional here. You're the one who's deluding herself into thinking that you're trying to do some good for the galaxy when you're just trying to vent your anger to the world!"
"Oh, that's rich coming from you! As if you can really judge me when you have everyone on your side!"
"What are you talking about?"
"You have an entire family to look out for you, Jaina! I have no one! Not after Anakin died!" Tears started to form in Tahiri's eyes.
Jaina was silent for a long while before she said, "But, Tahiri... we were always there for you. Especially after Anakin was gone. You were with us for so long when we continued to fight the Yuuzhan Vong. It was your decision to leave with Zonama Sekot after the war ended, and when you came back, my family and I were willing to take you in, even after the Killiks, even after... Caedus. Yes, Anakin died, but that didn't mean you still couldn't be a part of our family. You're not alone, Tahiri; just please let us help you."
Tahiri looked away from Jaina as the tears really started to well up in her eyes. She then ran away.
"Where are you going?" Jaina called out.
"Away from you!" came Tahiri's response.
Jaina was about to go after Tahiri when Partner's hand on her shoulder stopped her.
"Leave her be," the Mando said. "Honestly, she's more useful to us gone than taggin' along."
"She has no idea what she's doing!" Jaina countered. "She could be hurt out there! She doesn't know this forest!"
"You can sense her Force-presence, yes?"
"If she's hiding from me, I might need to try a little harder to look for her, but yes."
"Then we can come back for her later after Kendros has his little change of heart. If you go after her now, you could compromise this mission. After all, Kendros can only be groggy for so long on that last dose I gave him, and if he gets his powers back, I'm gonna need you with me to subdue him."
Jaina sighed after a while. "All right, we'll do it your way. But if anything happens to Tahiri, I'm holding you responsible. Is that clear?"
"Hmm. Starting to sound like her now."
"What?" Jaina asked in disbelief.
"Blaming me for her actions; just because I convinced you not to go after her doesn't mean I'm personally responsible for whatever fate befalls her in this forest. It'll either be her fault, nature's fault, or the fault of one of those witches if they don't like her."
"Wow. That rationale must do wonders for your conscience."
"A conscience can only be so useful until it becomes a hindrance to what needs to get done."
"You mean an inconvenience."
"Same difference."
"Now who's starting to sound more like Tahiri?" Jaina retorted.
Before Partner could come up with a comeback, they heard a masculine scream out in the forest; Jaina and Partner turned in the general direction of that scream.
"It's Kendros, c'mon!" Jaina said as she ran to where they left the Sith tied up.
"I thought you left him that commlink to call you!" Partner called as he followed Jaina.
"I did! Maybe he just couldn't use it for some reason! We'll find out soon enough!"
Once Jaina and Partner arrived, they both skidded to a stop at what they saw.
Kendros sat slumped up, still tied to the tree, but his eyes looked glazed over, he was drooling, and his Force-presence was barely discernible.
And Tahiri stood over him, looking pitiably upon the catatonic Sith, before she looked over to Jaina and Partner.
"Little something I picked up from Caedus," she said. "Told me he did something similar to Ta'a Chume during the Dark Nest Crisis; would have done it to Velias if he hadn't been so cooperative."
"Tahiri, what have you done?" Jaina asked in shock.
"Got you the information you needed about where the Hagamoor 3 beskar went," Tahiri said. "And trust me, it'll be some very interesting proof to show to Mirta Gev. It's on Mandalore itself, in a private storage facility labelled Warehouse 66. You're welcome. And don't worry about me; I'll find transport off this rock later."
Tahiri turned and disappeared off into the forest.
"Mandalore, Warehouse 66," Partner said aloud even as Jaina was still reeling from what just happened. "Pretty easy to remember. She may be a bitch, but she pulled through for us in the end."
Jaina swiftly turned around and Force-shoved Partner to a nearby tree. She then turned back and headed after Tahiri, honing in on her Force-presence as she did so.
After a while, however, Tahiri's Force-presence simply disappeared from Jaina's senses. Still, she hurried on in the general direction in which she had been running anyway as she once again tried to lock in on Tahiri's presence.
But right before she did so, Jaina was promptly knocked out when Tahiri dropped on top of her from a tree branch above. The former Jedi then continued on her way toward the spaceport that was furthest from the one in which Partner docked his Firespray.
Not much later, Jaina came to, and hovering over the tree canopy above her was Partner's ship; its landing ramp open for her to Force-jump into.
Once she was aboard and in the Firespray's cockpit, she asked Partner, "Any sign of her?"
"No luck," Partner replied. "But I'm not sticking around to find her; we're going to Mandalore and to Warehouse 66."
Jaina grabbed at the collar of his armor, but before she could say anything, "Just remember, I've rigged this ship to knock you out in case you try anything, Fel. That's how I got Veila, it's how I'll get you. Now shall we go to Mandalore?"
She looked at Partner contemptuously. "I'm not giving up on her."
"Of course not; you're just prioritizing."
Partner then lifted off into the skies above; by the time the Firespray was clear of Dathomir's gravity well, she launched into hyperspace for Mandalore.