The Hoard of Nord
"These are Calo's rooms?"
"Uh huh." Canderous grunted as he beat at the lock with the hilt of his scimitar.
"Stop that, some one will hear you and anyways you'll nark it up, I have a pick.'
"This is the old style of lock," he breathed between bashings, "You can't use a security spike on it…"
"I'm not going to." Pol said as she removed a pin from her long dark hair.
"A hair pin?" he asked dubiously.
"Yep." She said as she bent it into the desired shape.
"That actually works?"
"It's why I keep my hair long enough to hide these in." Pol mumbled resizing the clip with her teeth.
"Unbelievable I just thought you kept it like that cuz it looks pretty." He murmured.
"Well," said Pol as the door clicked open. "You show me a good old fashioned lock pick as good as this and I will HAPPILY wear that in my hair instead…Do you really think my hair is pretty? Actually don't answer that now." Beaming like an angel Pol said, "I don't need you to hold the door open for me, but you could keep a look out for Calo"
Ferreting industriously through the stunted bounty hunters possessions Pol found: A game hunting trophy that looked valuable, 5540 credits, a chain-mail g-string, and a datapad that was serving as a kind of journal. Pol left the undergarment but swiped the rest. To Canderous's astonishment she used her hair pin to lock the door behind herself again.
The exchange is going to be violently ill if they ever realize how close they could have come to recruiting this one.Canderous almost felt guilty about stealing her out from under the interstellar crime organization.
"The credits and trinkets I get, but what's with the datapad?" He asked.
"I think it's supposed to be Calo's memoirs."
"Isn't that what old men do when they retire, just before they die?"
"Yeah I think so."
"Perceptive of him to sense his days are numbered. What are you keeping it for?"
"I am going to trade it on the holonet for a packet of crispy fried squid bits and a pair of Jamoh Hogra's knickers!" Pol joked, stashing the datapad in her pack.
Canderous grabbed her arm unexpectedly. Caught completely off her guard, Pol scrambled mentally trying to find a way out. Canderous's grasp was like a vice, there was no escape without fighting him, still unsure of what was happening, and unwilling to start a brawl with her new ally, she relaxed and let him forcibly turn her until they were facing.
"Pol." He said quietly.
"Canderous?" The Mandalorian loomed over her in such close proximity that Pol felt threatened by him for the first time, until he spoke.
"First lesson in stealth: Do not make your company giggle."
"Ha-ha ok, now lemme go." Pol snickered but she could see he had a point.
"We clear?" Canderous demanded stifling a smirk and gripping her arm, a little harder than necessary, to prove his point.
"We're clear." Said Pol sobering up, she was her own worst critic and she knew she had to work on the stealth thing. Who better to teach her than a Mandalorian?
Canderous let go of Pol's arm slowly and said, "Now salute me." The order was delivered in a deadpan, but his eyes gleamed with a challenge so Pol responded aptly by punching Canderous hard, in the shoulder.
Seconds later they were side by side merrily lopping the tin can tops off Davik's security droids. Stealth this smarty pantsThought Pol as she raced trying to dismember more droids than Canderous, as quickly as she could. The bots exploded in dazzling showers of sparks, the sound rang loud, a vile crunching clang of frotzs', squees, beeps, dwoos and blarfs. The clank of blade on metal echoed cruelly in their ears.
Once the security office was conquered, Pol accessed the mainframe. Her familiarity with computers enabled her to shut down the remaining droids, take all the turrets off line, disable the Ebon Hawk's security, nuke the cameras and even gas some poor unfortunate Duros they didn't have time to kill.
"Great now let's go pick up your friends."
"Yeah…" Pol said absently activating the comlink to Bastila.
At that exact moment in time the Sith began their now infamous bombardment of the surface of Taris. "Ah crud I knew this would happen!" Pol snarled.
"Maybe it's an omen; we can still leave without them… If you want to." Canderous suggested subliminally. He was still dreading sharing cabin space with a mob of former war enemies. This is not going to be a fun ride. He told himself as the landscape they could see transformed to rubble.
"I heard that, and the answer is 'NO WAY', we get them, or die trying. I owe my life to those people and I won't let them down." Pol insisted, and instead of feeling resentful as he would have done, years ago, Canderous nodded respectfully.
"It's ok Pol think I understand." I must be mellowing in my old age.
"What's this Calo? We've got thieves… In the hanger?" Davik Kang arrived backed by Calo Nord. Both were heavily armed and ready to lay waste to anything that blocked their escape route. "So you do have those codes Canderous you lying scheming bastard! Calo, take care of them for me, while I prep the ship."
"Leave them to me. I've been looking forward to this for a long time." Calo said taking aim. Canderous had a mere second to switch on his blaster shield, but it was enough. He stormed over to the smaller gun toting man and hurled him like a rag doll across the hanger.
Davik ran for the boarding ramp but was cut down by Pol before he could reach it. Having finished off the crime lord in good time Pol turned her attentions to the flying bounty hunter.
"This is my fight." Said Canderous staking out his territory "Go prep the ship I'll be in shortly"
Pol made good on the request, contacting a panicking Bastila, one more time to tell her they were on their way.
Calo reached for his long sword as the maddened Mandalorian closed the ground between them. He took a few decent swings that landed emptily. Ah crap he's using the old Mandalorian melee shield too, the coward. Calo thought.
As if reading Calo's thoughts Canderous spoke as he pounded Calo's face with a clenched fist. "Necessary force to remove all opposition; I'll use any means to your end!"
"Oh yeah? Well you may have me overmatched, out gunned and out numbered, but if I am going down I'm going to take you all down with me!" Calo yelled as he pulled his arm from behind his back to reveal a thermal detonator. As Calo activate the bomb, the Sith's attack stepped up a notch causing the south side of the hanger roof to cave in. It crushed Calo's body and smothered the majority of the blast. Peppered with shrapnel and bleeding heavily Canderous made it to the Ebon Hawk.
Safe at last
"I never thought I'd say this, but I am glad you're here Republic, take over will ya?" Canderous said. The Mandalorian was in dire need of healing. Pol had emerged form the gun turrets, they had just hit hyperspace and were far from danger at last.
"Well, I have to admit I wasn't sure you would come though for us, but I'm glad you did." Carth said accepting the flight controls.
"Ha! Like I ever had an option with Pol on my back." Canderous growled.
Mission threw a tear stained smile at Pol, and scowled at Carth. "I told you she'd never leave us!"
"Where's Bastila?" Pol inquired.
(Meditating,) Zaalbar howled, from the vicinity of the co-pilot seat.
"I could use her help in the med bay when she gets done." Pol said to no one in particular. Supporting Canderous as they walked she said to the Mandalorian, "C'mon lets get your ass to the med bay Ordo."
Med Bay
"Nice shooting." Canderous said to Pol.
"Yeah I'm thinking of getting one of those bumper stickers for the Hawk; you know the ones with 'HOWS MY AIM?' printed on them in Galactic Basic… Sorry this will hurt, but you have a hunk of metal in you… Right here, deep breath and I'll get kolto on it as soon as it's out."
"Aaaaaaarg"
"There is out, see? It was a big one too!" Pol said proffering the metal shard that had come from his side.
"You don't need to show me each piece you remove Pol. I felt them all go in remember? Ugh what a perfect time for my melee shield to quit on me."
"No kidding by the way, since no one else said it, nice flying."
"Ha. Thanks. So Valor you fly?"
"Yeah but I can't parallel park…Just kidding. Are you still trying to case me out?"
"Old habits die hard. Damn that hurts, be quick about it! …So do you really fly?"
"Actually I do"
"Then tell me, why was I flying with a hide full of shrapnel?" Canderous groaned.
"Because you didn't give me a chance to, remember? You surged on board and shoved me out of the way. You were all: 'Damnit get out of my way woman! Lets save these diarrheic gizka you call friends quickly before this whole goddamn place blows!"
"Not so loudly." Canderous sighed.
"Why… Do you care if they hear? I mean it's good if you do, but it seems out of character."
"No, my head hurts and you're too loud."
"Sorry." Pol whispered, slathering the curative kolto into the remaining wounds.
"I'll let you off this time Valor." Canderous said quietly.
"Yeah like you could do anything in this state… Mr. Baddass Mandalorian pfft." Pol rolled her eyes and resumed her field surgery.
"Never underestimate a Mandalorian." Canderous said cryptically as he passed neatly out of consciousness.
"Ordo?" Pol prodded her patient gently. "Ordo? Canderous? Damn I thought that anesthetic would NEVER kick in." Pol shook her head wearily and adjusted her gloves.
Bastila appeared in the med bay in a way that made Pol wonder is everyone in this crew stealthier than me?
"How are you doing back here, Carth said you wanted help fixing the Mandalorian." Bastila examined Canderous in a pragmatic way. "You anesthetized him?" She asked still not moving to help.
"Yeah but it took ages to kick in I've done the most painful extraction already, poor guy."
"I wouldn't call him a 'poor guy'." The Jedi began.
Pol summoned a rage from deep within. "No you wouldn't because you are an ungrateful scow! That 'poor guy' saved all our lives and as you're so damn indispensable to the Republic's war effort, he probably saved the Republic too. So if you really don't want to help, nark off and lynch yourself! Now let me do my work you heartless prok!" Tirade complete Pol dispelled her rage, took a centering breath and resumed her work serenely.
The Cockpit
Bastila fled a stream of worried thoughts flooding her mind. She is impossible; the council's plan will never work. Moreover being with that bloody Mandalorian is making it worse. I must speak with Master Vandar before her darkness consumes us all.
"Carth how far are we from the Dantooine enclave?" Bastila inquired stiffly.
"A day or two, Bastila is everything ok?"
"Fine, bloody perfect, if you count Pol biting my head off as a good thing."
"No offense this time Bastila, but you've kind of had it coming," Mission said with a bitter laugh. The young Twi'lek was emotionally holding up, but just barely.
"What have I done? What have I done?" Demanded Bastila getting more agitated with every syllable. Tears of rage and frustration came close to fallingThey do not know who she, really is. What she has done. What she may still be capable of. They do not know the pressure I am under. There is no emotion there is peace…
"It's more what you haven't done, Bastila." Carth said quietly.
Mission filled in the details. "If you don't feel like thanking her for rescuing you and getting us off Taris, you could at least get off her back a bit. She could have let us all down, many times, but she hasn't and she won't."
"Mission is right, She's just a scout, you said so yourself, a late Republic recruit like that is bound to have some spirit. She's not a dyed in the wool Republic soldier like me so her methods are a little unorthodox. But you have to admit she gets results. And despite the mumbo jumbo you've been saying about her Force sensitivity she is not your Jedi apprentice."
(She's just lucky Pol only bit off her head.) Zaalbar woofled to Mission in the Wookiee language; Shyriiwook.
"What did he say?" Bastila asked, for the hundredth time, languages were not her strength.
Mean While Back In the Med Bay
Pol closed the up the final wounds and looked Canderous over for any damage she had missed. He looked almost perfect, a little bruised here and there, but the kolto had performed miracles. What did we do before this stuff was discovered? Canderous had proven to be extremely resistant to the sedatives. Pol wondered how long before his super human constitution and cybernetic implant shook their effects.
"Well I'm done. I think." She said to the sleeping Mandalorian. Pol sat beside the prone muscle man and trawled her dark eyes over his form once more, just incase I missed somethingshe reassured herself. Like how incredibly gorgeous he is when he's sleeping. He doesn't even look like a killer right now
Pol traced the old scar above his lip with her finger, but was startled when he twitched in his sleepI wonder how he got that one. Or if he even remembers. Was the last thing that Pol thought before she succumbed to the desperate fatigue she had been fighting for days.
Waking to find himself half dressed Canderous frowned. O hell where have I been?
Collecting his thoughts and focusing his eyes he familiarized himself with his surroundings. Med bay, Ebon hawk, where's Pol?
It took Canderous all of a split second to locate her. Sleeping Hmmm. Pol was slumped beside the gurney, asleep with her head laid neatly on her folded arms. Canderous stood shakily. He was feeling poorly due to the anesthetic withdrawal.
"Pol, you shouldn't sleep here. Pol? Huh, still sleeping, well I'm going to pick you up, and take you to the dorms. If you wake up while I'm carrying, you please don't salute me. I don't think I can take it right now. And by the way, yes I do think your hair is pretty."
Zaalbar watched the Mandalorian carry Pol to the dormitories, and decided to follow.
"Hey Pol, too bad you're sleeping, this one is louder than you." Canderous said to the insensible woman in his arms. "Relax big guy, I'm just making sure she gets some where comfortable to sleep." He reassured the Wookiee. "See I'm putting her down… And I'm walking away now that she's safe. I'll be in the garage if she needs me." Canderous wasn't sure what the Wookiee life debt incurred, but he could appreciate a sense of responsibility for the life of another. He had learned that early on in his military career, though not in a way the Republic understood.
Zaalbar expressed what passes for a Wookiee smile. And set to guarding his sleeping mistress.