A/N: So, now things are hopefully about to get really interesting. Sorry that I'm still not at a chapter a week. Life keeps producing unexpected (though not bad) surprises. I've just spent an unhealthy amount of time over the past few days replaying KotOR 2 with both the Restored Content Mod and the M4-78 mod, so it's been a challenge pulling myself away from that to do anything else.

Responses to reviews are as follows:

AnarionRising27: Hey, it's my pleasure. Glad you liked it. :D

seabo76: Thanks. We'll have to wait and see about that... I'm not saying anything. :)

Chapter 16: Reunited

She knew what she wanted to say. Given the current situation, it was exactly the same as anyone would have wanted to. Indeed, anyone who found someone they cared about in the hold of their enemies would naturally want to make sure whoever they had come to rescue hadn't been harmed. If she had been looking at anyone other from Shepard, Kasumi would have been able to ask them whether they were hurt as easily as breathing, there being no difficulty whatsoever.

As she stared at him and opened her mouth, throat dry, no sound came out. He stared back at her, eyes betraying that he felt the sudden awkwardness between them as acutely as she did. She closed her mouth, clearing her throat nosily before managing to finally speak, though the single word she uttered came out more like a croak.

"Hi."

Internally she winced as he raised an eyebrow in response before replying, his voice coloured with amusement as he spoke.

"Hi."

The awkwardness didn't dissipate. If anything, it seemed to grow even stronger as the two of them remained where they were. Her still standing, him still sitting with his back propped up against the wall. Kasumi took a moment to scan him quickly for any injuries. Relieved when she saw nothing was wrong, not that she could see brilliantly in the poorly illuminated room, she opened her mouth again, only for Shepard to speak first as he noticed her examination.

"I'm okay," he grunted, beginning to get to his feet. "The batarians and the others whoever they are haven't done anything to me I don't think." She frowned as he struggled to rise, moving over to his side and slinging one of his arms over her shoulders. She winced again, though this time externally. Shepard might have been a couple of inches shorter than Rassen by her estimation, but he was better built, clearly placing a greater focus on strength than the Jedi, though she knew he could be staggeringly fast when he wanted to be. She had certainly seen him in action enough times.

"Stop arguing," she grunted, drawing a glare from him as she interrupted the complaints that had just begun. "You're clearly not at one-hundred per cent, Shep. So don't try to act like you are."

"I know," he replied, coughing slightly as she helped him to the exit. "I wasn't trying to. I'm just worried about you, though."

"What?"

"You're not exactly big, Kasumi," he joked. "To be honest, I'm surprised you're able to help hold me up."

"Well I am." She couldn't prevent the strain in her voice from making itself known. As much as the N7's words had been supposed to be funny, the truth was that Shepard was much larger than she was, and was also leaning on her more than she had expected he would. Being stuck in a cell tended to cause your strength to deteriorate pretty quickly, it was true, but it felt as though Shepard was too weak to support most of his weight, meaning her shoulders were already burning, even though he thankfully was wearing only a simple grey jumpsuit and not the armour she had come to associate with him. Combined with the guns she carried, Kasumi was barely able to get him to the door, beginning to feel faint as they reached it. Clearly her blood loss on Watchman was still an issue.

Suddenly, she found herself staggering backwards as Shepard threw her arm off and shoved her away. Kasumi gasped as she was sent tumbling into the cell to crash back first into its far wall, all air leaving her lungs from the impact. She looked up to see Shepard levelling the assault rifle that had just been attached to her hip at a point just out of sight and flicking the safety off, the weapon having unfolded in the brief period since he had thrown her back. She tried to shout at him to stop, but she was having trouble breathing. Despite that, she knew what was happening.

As she began to rise so she could stop him, there was a slight clicking noise, which caused Shepard to glance down towards the weapon he held in momentary shock before the rifle was wrenched from his hands and out of sight. Kasumi reached the doorway just in time to see Rassen holding it, though he kept its barrel pointed away from the man they had come to rescue.

"I am with Kasumi," the Jedi stated, for the most part sounding calm, but she could still detect a trace of alarm in his voice. Unsurprising, considering while he only knew a little about Shepard, she and Shaela had told him enough for him to understand the commander was a phenomenal soldier. "We came to rescue you."

Still gasping as she tried to get enough air into her lungs, Kasumi nodded quickly as Shepard turned to her for confirmation. "Yeah…" she managed. "He's… he's with me. Should have… mentioned that… huh?"

There was suddenly a slight pressure on each of her shoulders as Shepard placed his hands on them and gently began to examine her. "Are you all right?" he asked, all of his military experience still unable to prevent him from hiding the worry he felt. She instantly knew why he was concerned. He had always cared about those he had fought with, often at his own expense by helping them with whatever problems they had.

"I'm… I'm fine," she coughed, breathing beginning to return to normal. "You didn't know. Next time you push me out of the way, though… try to be a bit gentler." She smiled up at him, trying to put him a little more at ease. It worked, Shepard nodding slowly in response before allowing himself to smile in return.

"You're a sight for sore eyes, Kasumi," he admitted.

"Aren't I always?"

"We do not have time for this."

Both of them turned to face Rassen, who held out the rifle to Shepard, visor meeting the commander's eyes. "It is only a matter of time until we are discovered," he explained. "There is only one other person with us, we need to get moving so we can avoid as much fighting as possible."

She watched as Shepard nodded in reply, taking the weapon before flipping the safety back off. "How did you do that?" he asked. "You didn't touch it, and you clearly didn't use biotics."

Rassen shook his head. "We can explain everything to you once we are back on our ship and away from this place. We need to go now, though."

Kasumi nodded, allowing Shepard's hands to leave her shoulders as she moved to take point. "Rassen, can you help him along?" she asked. "I'm a woman of many talents, but apparently heavy lifting isn't one of them."

"Can I have my lightsaber back?"

"Of course." She turned away for a moment before tossing the black and silver cylinder to him, causing Rassen to stare at her in surprise as he tried to work out where she had been hiding it. "One glow stick, as ordered. You two play nicely, I'm going to contact our resident camera specialist."

A crackle of static caused Shaela to jolt upright, the familiar sound almost causing her to drop the object she had been examining. Gently placing the syringe back in the bag, she returned her attention to the camera feeds still being displayed by her omni-tool. She had only taken her eyes off them for a moment, having felt she had to make sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that she hadn't misread what was written on the side of the syringe earlier. While she had plenty on her mind, the substance contained within the simple vessel kept returning to her thoughts. She knew what it was, but that did not take away from the fact it made her feel extremely nervous she had it in her possession.

Kasumi's voice then reached her, the thief enquiring as to whether anyone was approaching her and Rassen's current position. Needing only a brief moment to examine the different feeds, Shaela noticed to her relief that nothing had changed in the few seconds she had taken to inspect the syringe. There were certainly groups of Mandalorians and batarians moving about, but there were none in the vicinity.

"You're clear at the moment, I think," she said slowly, silver eyes moving from side to side as she continued to watch for any immediate threats. "Most activity seems to be near the hanger, so there are quite a few corridors between you and the nearest patrol."

"Good." Kasumi's satisfaction was obvious, despite the less than ideal quality of the connection. "We have Shepard and have just started making our way back. They haven't hurt him, thank God, but he's weak. Rassen is helping him walk."

Shaela ignored as best she could the revelation that the man who had done more than any other person to save everybody from the Reapers was on his way to her current location. They had known in advance they would try to break him out if he had indeed been a captive, but the fact she would soon meet him hadn't truly dawned on her until now, given how distracted she had been with, well, everything. "That's good," she replied. "Is Rassen okay?"

"He's fine." Shaela frowned as she noticed Kasumi sounded slightly apprehensive, as though she were not sure what to say. "Shep nearly shot him, but he's got his lightsaber back, so he's probably not too annoyed."

"What do you mean he—" She was interrupted by Kasumi's reply, the other woman elaborating quickly.

"Shepard saw him and thought he was a Mandalorian, you know, because of the armour. Both of them are fine, though. No one got hurt."

"I—" Shaela was interrupted for a second time, though this time not by the woman on the other end of the line. She had been examining the camera feed in the bottom left-hand corner of her omni-tool display, but a flash of movement out the corner of her eye caused her heart to stop in her chest. A moment later she saw what had caused it.

Three Mandalorians were heading directly for the group, which was currently only two corridors away from them. Even with their pace being slowed by Shepard, she could see the three of them would be face to face with the three armoured warriors in less than a minute. How she hadn't noticed how close they were she didn't know, though she suspected the fact not all of the base's cameras were working hadn't helped.

"Three Mandalorians are heading straight for you," she reported, it now being her turn to cut off Kasumi, who had started to ask what was wrong. "I can't see any others nearby, but they're very close."

She heard Kasumi mutter a curse, though it was so quiet her omni-tool was unable to pick it up well enough over the ever-present static to translate it. "Got it," the thief stated firmly. "I'll try to create a distraction and lead them away."

Shaela shook her head as she replied. "No. This might just be a regular patrol. If you do that then they might sound an alert. You're going to have to quietly take them out." She swallowed. Even though Rassen could look after himself, she still hated knowing he would be in danger while she was stuck on the ship. Not for the first time since they had come up with their plan, she cursed the fact there was no way she could fit inside a suit of Mandalorian armour on account of her different leg structure.

"Understood." Kasumi was deadly serious now, no trace of her often light-hearted nature on display. "I'll tell the others. Keep watching for any other groups."

"I will. There don't seem to be any more of them nearby, but you're going to have to do it now in case that changes." As she heard Kasumi explain the situation to the two men with her, Shaela again made sure her pistol was ready and nearby. She had a horrible suspicion she would need to use it shortly.

Rassen found himself having to make a conscious effort to walk in a straight line as he helped the man next to him along through the dimly lit corridor. Shepard would have been difficult enough to assist had he been unarmoured or even wearing his normal gear, but the heavy pieces of Mandalorian armour, while providing excellent protection, contributed to making progress much slower than he would have liked. As he had done when they had set off only moments ago, he glanced over at the man's face.

Shepard's strong features were set, a look of determination in his eyes as they walked. The rifle he had returned to the commander was held in a firm grip, the weapon appearing to be rather old, though well-maintained. Rassen wasn't sure of the model, aside from the fact it was not an Avenger, given how long he had spent outside this galaxy trying to find a way back. At first glance then, the man leaning on him certainly looked the part of a renowned war hero.

Upon closer inspection, though, there were indicators that he was far from his best. Obviously there was his inability to walk without help, but there were others too. A slight sheen of sweat had already broken out across the dark-haired man's forehead, the exertion of them having travelled only a short distance clearly taking a considerable toll. While his fingers held the grip of the rifle tightly, the rest of his arm trembled, the limb clearly unused to carrying any real weight for any period of time. Shepard's eyes were narrowed almost imperceptibly, indicating he was in considerable pain as they slowly made their way to the hanger.

"Are you well, commander?" he asked, causing the other man's eyes to move from where they had been looking ahead to meet his own. "Are you hurt in any way?"

"No," Shepard replied, shaking his head slightly before grunting as he stumbled, prompting Rassen to take more of his weight before continuing. "I don't know why I'm so… so feeble. I don't think I was tortured, though that might be because there was too little time for Balak to do anything to me."

"Balak?" The name didn't mean anything to Rassen, but he instantly gathered whoever it belonged to was important.

"When I woke up, I was in this container, this tube," Shepard tried to explain. Rassen noticed he was wincing now as they kept going. "It was full of liquid that drained out and then there he was." Seeing his confusion, the commander continued. "Balak is an old friend, well, enemy. He didn't tell me anything and had me dragged away. I passed out and woke up in that cell. I don't know how long ago that was, but they only gave me food and water a few times before you and Kasumi turned up."

"That tube was a kolto tank," Rassen nodded. "Kolto has excellent healing properties, but as an individual can be submerged for days or more, it can leave one feeling very weak, even if they are completely healed."

He turned his gaze back in front, eyes meeting Kasumi's for the briefest of moments before she turned her own gaze back ahead. Her pace suddenly faltered slightly before resuming, but before he could ask her what had happened, the man next to him spoke, drawing his attention back to him.

"I've never heard of kolto."

"That does not surprise me," Rassen said, adjusting the arm over his shoulders slightly. "It probably does not exist for anybody in this galaxy aside from the Mandalorians." As Shepard opened his mouth to ask what he meant, he spoke first. "The Mandalorians are the group working with the batarians. If you are about to ask what I mean by 'this galaxy'… well, it is a long story that can wait."

"Okay," Shepard nodded slowly, though Rassen could tell his curiosity had been very much piqued. "How far is it to the ship you mentioned?"

"Not too far," the Jedi replied. "We are not exactly making great progress, but it should not take us too long to get there."

Naturally, that was when he noticed Kasumi was walking back to them, a look of worry on her features.

"Three Mandalorians are heading this way," she said quickly. "Shaela thinks it might just be a routine patrol. We need to take them out without making any noise."

"Understood." Rassen felt Shepard's limbs tense as their owner prepared himself for the incoming confrontation.

"No deal, Shep," Kasumi replied firmly. "Ras and I can handle this one."

"Kasumi, I can still—"

"John."

Shepard suddenly went completely still, only his quiet pants of effort meaning Rassen could tell he was even breathing. Frowning beneath his helmet, he glanced between the man he was supporting and the woman opposite them. He did not have long to ponder the significance of what Kasumi has just called him before the thief spoke again, stepping closer to the man she had been addressing, so close, in fact, barely a foot separated them.

"Please let us handle it," Kasumi whispered softly. Rassen felt Shepard adjust his position slightly, clearly about to argue, only for Kasumi to speak before he could. "I'll be fine, Shep."

"I…" Rassen looked away from the conversation, feeling as though he were intruding. He could not, however, give the two of them space, given he was the only thing keeping one of the speakers on their feet. "Okay," Shepard finally relented, though he was clearly unhappy about it. "Just be careful."

"Always am," Kasumi chirped, the vulnerability she had just displayed transforming into satisfaction. Rassen turned his head back as he heard her cough. "You can, uh, lean him against the wall, big guy," she muttered, causing him to smirk slightly as he noticed her cheeks had coloured slightly once she realised he had heard everything.

"Very well." Rassen kept the amusement out of his voice as he helped the man he was supporting over to the nearest wall, ensuring Shepard had propped himself against it at a decent angle before turning back to the thief. "Do you have a plan for how we can take them out quietly?"

Kasumi's expression changed from one of concern to mischievousness as she turned her gaze from Shepard to him, causing Rassen to raise an eyebrow, not that she could see it. "Yep," she replied happily. "Here's what we're going to do."

The sound of heavy boots against the metal flooring of the adjoining corridor told Rassen the patrol would be in sight at any moment. Ensuring the blaster pistol he held was ready, though he hoped he wouldn't need to use it, he kept its barrel directly pointed at the man leaning against the wall, who had placed both of his hands on top of his head. The Jedi also ensured he was standing sideways on to the direction the three Mandalorians would be approaching from, meaning the left side of his body, where he had attached his lightsaber, was concealed from view.

"Any second now," he muttered, drawing a single nod from Shepard as the latter remained in position, doing his best to play the part of someone who had been so close to freedom they could taste it, only to be caught at the final hurdle. Rassen carefully glanced around, noting in approval that Kasumi was nowhere to be seen. She was very close, though, of that he had no doubt.

The patrol emerged from around a corner about twenty metres away, the three men pausing at the sight in front of them before marching towards it. The man in the centre, though he was virtually indistinguishable from his comrades, signalled for the other two to raise their blaster rifles, though he kept his own held so the barrel faced away as they drew nearer. He spoke once they were ten metres away from Rassen and Shepard, his voice filled with suspicion.

"What the hell is going on here?" he demanded. "What are you doing with the prisoner?"

Rassen gave away no signs of unease as he replied. "I found him sneaking this way," he said calmly. "No idea how he got free, damn batarians clearly can't guard one unarmed captive properly."

The ruse apparently worked for the moment as the leader nodded once. "I told Mandalore we should have had custody," he grunted. "It doesn't matter what Balak wants him for, the damn four eyes have no discipline. Part of me guessed this would happen." Rassen felt the atmosphere shift slightly as he looked around before returning his eyes to the Jedi. "Why didn't you sound the alarm?"

One of the other Mandalorians adjusted their grip on their weapon, but Rassen ignored it. "I only just caught him, sir. I was about to but then I heard your patrol approaching. Should I sound the alert now?"

"No, I'll do it." There was a sudden flicker of movement from behind one of the other two Mandalorians, though none of the three noticed, so intently were they focused on him and Shepard. Rassen muttered an affirmative as the leader turned to his men just as one of their heads snapped to the side accompanied by the sound of an electronic distortion combined with a heavy impact. As the first Mandalorian fell to the floor unconscious, the flicker of movement vanished, only to reappear behind the second, who received the same treatment before he had even managed to turn his head in the direction of the disturbance.

With the leader's back now to him, Rassen lunged forwards, wrapping one of his arms around the Mandalorian's neck, bracing it with the other. As the man realised what was happening and started to fight back, he stepped backwards, pulling the Mandalorian off-balance and making it much harder for him to escape the hold. With his neck being much more poorly armoured than the rest of him, the Mandalorian's struggles quickly grew weaker and weaker as Rassen began to slowly lower him to the ground, not releasing his grip until his struggles had stopped.

He looked up as Kasumi passed the assault rifle she had taken for the duration of the confrontation back to Shepard, only to see the commander looking at him in surprise. "Not bad," the bulkier man shrugged. "Where did you train to learn that?"

Rassen straightened up as Kasumi turned to face him as well, a look of interest on her face. "I learned that from… from first-hand experience a couple of years ago," he admitted. Sensing Shepard was about to ask for more information, he pressed on before he could. "Like I said earlier, we can discuss it once we are away from this place."

"Fair enough." Shepard turned to Kasumi. "Is there anywhere we could hide the bodies?"

The thief shook her head. "We need to keep moving. Bringing them with us would just slow us down, and we could run into another patrol before we found a good spot."

"Agreed." Rassen walked over to Shepard before pulling his arm over his shoulders and gently lifting the other man off of the wall. "We need to get to the hanger as soon as possible." He frowned beneath his helmet as he noticed a rather serious problem with their plan. "It was full of batarians when we arrived, though. How are we going to get past them?"

Kasumi tutted slightly, causing him to glare at her, though if she saw it she paid it no mind. "Took you long enough to figure that out, Ras. I'm way ahead of you." She raised a hand for quiet as she contacted the fourth member of their group. "Shaela?" she asked. "Where's the nearest console to the hanger?" Rassen frowned again as he watched her nod while humming quietly. "No, that's perfect." She turned her attention back to him. "Don't worry about the hanger, Ras. I've got something special to deal with that problem. Let's worry about getting there first, okay?"

"Don't argue with her." Rassen noticed Shepard grinning as he turned his attention back to him. "She knows what she's doing."

He held his free hand up in surrender. "Fine. This brings us back to where we just were, though, so we still need to keep going." At the nods he received from the other two, the three of them resumed their slow progress, him continuing to assist Shepard while Kasumi walked in front of them and continued to talk with Shaela about whether anyone else was coming their way.

Rassen silently thanked the Force as they finally reached the last corridor between them and the hanger. Despite the encounter near the start of their withdrawal, Shaela had managed to give them enough warning for them to avoid any other patrols, Kasumi scouting ahead enough to locate side rooms for them to hide in. Whenever a group of either Mandalorians or batarians had headed their way, he had helped Shepard to one of the rooms, the two of them emerging once the patrol had passed.

As he prepared to help the commander, who looked ready to drop, down the last twenty or so metres to the hanger, Kasumi suddenly turned to face the two of them before pointing to another of the seemingly ever-present side rooms.

"Both of you stay in there for a few minutes. There's a terminal nearby."

Remembering her earlier words about clearing the hanger, Rassen nodded tiredly, a motion he felt Shepard repeat, since the other man staggered forwards while doing it, nearly causing them both to collapse to the floor. Righting him with difficulty, Rassen waved a hand at Kasumi's concerned expression.

"I can still get him the rest of the way," he muttered, the exhaustion in his voice obvious even to him. "Do what you need to do and get back here as soon as you can."

"Will do," Kasumi replied, vanishing seemingly into thin air a moment later. At Shepard's nod, Rassen helped him several metres to the door the thief had indicated before opening it, which revealed a storage room much like the one he had hidden the Mandalorian from Horizon in earlier. Staggering under the other man's weight as they entered, Rassen gently lowered him so he could sit on a metal crate before closing the door behind them, checking quickly to make sure he hadn't dropped either his lightsaber or blaster pistol during their journey. Noting in relief both were exactly where they had left them, he turned to face Shepard.

"What exactly is that?"

"I'm sorry?" he frowned in confusion at the question, understanding only dawning when Shepard pointed at the cylinder attached to his hip. "Oh, that. My lightsaber."

"Never heard of it before," Shepard began scratching at his stubble in thought. "What is it exactly? Some kind of weapon?"

Rassen was about to ask why he was so interested, only to quickly step towards the other man and steady him as he rocked forwards, nearly falling off his seat to land on the ground. As he checked to see what was wrong, he began to understand why Shepard had asked now rather than doing so earlier. With the two of them unable to do much until Kasumi returned, his adrenalin level was dropping, his body determined to try and rest. Rassen could feel the same happening to himself, eyes drooping slightly as his own fatigue threatened to overwhelm him. Shepard was trying to distract himself from his exhaustion, trying to focus on something else lest his body give out completely.

Realising what was happening, Rassen drew the silver and black object from his side before holding it out for inspection. "In a sense," he admitted. "It is not exactly what you would probably think of first when you talk about weapons, but it definitely can be used as such. It is much more important, though, for what it represents."

"And what does it represent?"

"Anything depending on who you are," he explained, noticing how Shepard's features shifted into a look of confusion at the vagueness of his response and elaborating. "For many it represents hope. For many others, however, it represents cruelty."

Shepard chuckled. "And I expect that if I ask where it is exactly you got it from, you'll just tell me to wait until later?"

Rassen chuckled himself. "Exactly."

There was a moment of silence before Shepard spoke again, his voice more serious than before. "Thank you," he said honestly. "We've never met, but you're here helping me. When this is over I'm going to owe you one."

Rassen shook his head. "Kasumi asked me to."

"I know." A slight shudder went down his spine at the intensity in Shepard's eyes as they stared into his visor. No, not into it. Through it. "I still owe you a lot. The other one of you as well."

"I…" Rassen really didn't know what to say. "You are welcome, commander."

Shepard grinned slightly. "I still want to know who you are. You have me at a serious disadvantage."

"Not as much of one as you might think."

The door suddenly opened, causing him to turn, lightsaber ready to ignite. Shepard lurched off the crate, assault rifle at the ready. The two of them relaxed instantly as a petite figure flickered into view, a smile on her features.

"Good to see you boys getting along. We should go. The hanger is clear now."

Rassen stared at Kasumi in shock. "Just like that?" he managed. "We did not hear any of them go past us."

The thief scoffed. "I was hardly going to send any of them the same way we're trying to get in from. An alert conveniently went off on the other of the base to where we are, Ras. Highest level of alarm they had, they probably think a turian fleet just arrived in the system."

"You can do that?" Rassen had to admit he was extremely impressed. Kasumi had already proven how good she was on multiple occasions, but it seemed he had still underestimated her, despite his best efforts not to.

"Why do you think there were no guards just outside where they were keeping Shep?"

"Good point," he nodded once before moving back over to Shepard and slinging one of the man's arms over his shoulders. "Are you sure the hanger is empty?"

Kasumi nodded. "Yes, I made sure to scope it out before coming back. I would have issued the alert sooner to draw them away, but that ran the risk of someone realising everyone was on one side of this rock before we were out of here. This way by the time they do figure out it was a diversion, we'll be long gone." She looked at Shepard worriedly. "Are you still with us, Shep?"

"Just about." Shepard's face was drenched with sweat, his eyes barely open by this point. "I can make it."

"Okay." Kasumi opened the door before stepping out of it. "Let's go."

Rassen staggered after her as the thief set off, ignoring how his muscles protested as he found himself nearly carrying Shepard rather than just supporting him. They were only back in the corridor for a moment before they entered the hanger, which was exactly the same as they had left it, bar of course the lack of batarians. The three of them made their way towards the ship, which loomed larger and larger as they drew nearer. The loading ramp began to lower as they finally reached it, Shaela clearly having noticed them through the security feeds.

Shepard now barely more than a dead weight, Rassen felt the pressure on his shoulders ease noticeably as Kasumi lifted the commander's other arm, the one holding the rifle, over her own shoulders, the two of them together moving him towards the foot of the ramp. They then began to carry him up the incline, the effort seeming to take all of the strength Rassen had left.

A familiar noise suddenly sounded behind them, a bolt of scarlet energy flying past his head to crash into the ramp. Instinct kicking in, he twisted out from underneath Shepard, lightsaber igniting as he positioned himself between the commander and the person responsible for the shot. He heard Kasumi's pants of effort as she tried to get the commander the rest of the way up the ramp on her own, though they barely registered.

Filing into the hanger were dozens of Mandalorians, their blasters all aimed directly at the three of them. As he watched, they assumed firing positions, supporting one another with an efficiency only possible as a result of constant drilling and battlefield experience. A single figure detached itself from the others, moving to stand in front of their soldiers triumphantly as her visor stared directly into his own.

"A good try, Jedi, but not quite good enough, I'm afraid."