A/N: In this chapter, Zeb will be learning all he can about the hunter's ship. He will find out it won't be easy, also he will be getting a visit from some unwelcome guests...

Chapter 11 Showdown Aftermath

Zeb placed the last of the rocks on the makeshift grave he prepared for the hunter leader after defeating it the day before. The Lasat felt a twinge of guilt at the alien's death but knew it was for the best. He thought of taking the dead creature's weapons but as a former member of the Honor Guard, he knew that would be wrong.

"You fought a good battle," he said as he stood up and bowed in respect, "I only wish that things could've turned out differently. An enemy can become a friend."

He thought back to the time he was stranded on that ice moon off Geonosis with Alexandr Kallus. Zeb had despised the man before learning the truth of what happened on Lasan and also Kallus telling him about a Lasat mercenary wiping out his entire squad on Onderon. The two had become allies and were now as close as brothers.

Ne'Roos who was still inside the ship, let out a loud mewling sound showing she was scared at not having Zeb nearby. He put the mask/filter on his face so he could breathe aboard the alien craft. Somehow, he had to figure out how he could make the air breathable for him and Ne'Roos. He couldn't wear a mask all the time and the baby animal couldn't stay locked up in the clear cage. He walked back up the ramp and to where the little animal was whining obviously frightened of all the noise she heard outside from the battle.

"Here I am," he said picking up the cage so she could see him. Her whining turned to purring at the sight of the Lasat.

"Let's you and I explore more of this ship," he said heading to what looked like a stairway to an upper level of the ship, "I wonder where this goes? Maybe to the control center or cockpit?"

Carrying Ne'Roos in her "cage", Zeb ascended the stairway and it lead up to what he figured was the control center of the ship. What he saw amazed him. Two large seats sat in front of a complicated console of buttons and levers. A large viewport showed the vast trees of the jungle and an area burned away by the ship's landing. Zeb walked over to what he figured was the pilot's seat and sat down, placing Ne'Roos' cage in the other seat. He was dwarfed by the immense size of the seat.

"Karabast!" he muttered, "These guys are huge! I thought being a Lasat made me big, but these guys make me look as small as a human!"

Ne'Roos purred and she pressed her nose against the cage side her nose twitching at the strange smells.

"Sorry, girl, you have to stay in there until I find a way to clear the air. Let's see, I wonder if any of these buttons will clear the methane out. Maybe this button will do it."

He pushed a yellow button and the air began to clear of it's methane haze. Zeb removed his mask/filter and took a deep breath. The air was full of oxygen with just a slight methane undertone. He picked up the clear cage container with Ne'Roos and opened it up. The little creature was thrilled to be back in her "parent's" arms and took a deep breath. Setting Ne'Roos down, Zeb began to look around more at the control console.

Zeb pushed a blue-colored button and a rumbling sounded from deep within the ship and then the whole craft began to shudder.

"Opps!" Zeb cried out and pushed the button again, the sound stopping, "Must be the ship's power. Gotta be careful of what button I push next."

He pulled a lever that didn't do anything and then pushed a red button and all of a sudden a bright light appeared below the ship and Zeb watched as the trees in front were vaporized by a laser blast.

"KARABAST!"

Nearly frantic, Zeb pushed the button again and the laser weapons ceased their shooting. He leaned back in the huge seat and wiped a hand across his face.

"Oh, boy! I gotta watch out which buttons to push! Too bad there wasn't a manual with translations for these controls! Guess I'll have to be more careful!"

Ne'Roos came out from under the co-pilot's seat and whined, scared of the loud noises. Zeb picked her up to cuddle and the little animal settled down. With her in his arms, Zeb got up to check out more of the alien ship. He walked down the stairs and discovered that a hatch opened to another part of the ship that housed what looked like crew cabins, not unlike what was aboard the GHOST. Zeb walked down the cooridor and pushed a button on what looked like a door. It whooshed open and Zeb walked in his eyes widening at what he saw was the main cabin of the lead hunter. The room had a huge bed-like bunk in the middle of the room and what looked like a refresher off to one side. Off in one corner sat something like a chest that was open. Zeb moved over to peer into the open chest. Inside was a full set of hunter armor and weapons. It looked nearly identical to the lead hunter's armor except for one difference. This armor was much smaller and would fit Zeb. He lifted out the shoulder armor and to his surprise, it fit perfect!

"Hey, Ne'Roos! Looks like I've got me some new armor!" he said to the little animal who was now sitting at the foot of the large bed, "Just in time, too! My chest and back armor are nearly worn out and this loincloth doesn't keep me very covered...or warm. First things first, I'm gonna see if this refresher has a tub or shower."

After setting the armor back down into the chest, Zeb walked into the large refresher station that was bigger than the one on the GHOST. It had everything a normal ship refresher would have, but the difference was the size. Everything was bigger! A big smile crossed his face at the thought of soaking in a tub of warm water.

Soon Zeb was up to his neck in a tub of warm soothing water that soaked into his fur and made his aching muscles and injuries feel better. The Lasat was nearly falling asleep and looked over to see Ne'Roos was sitting on the edge dangling a paw into the water. He let out a chuckle and closed his eyes. Zeb stayed in the water until it got too cold and he began to shiver. He got out, dried off and wrapped a big towel-like garment around his slim waist. He went over to the bed and stretched out to rest. He closed his eyes and fell asleep, Ne'Roos laying cuddled up to his chest.

The Lasat would sleep for two days, completely exhausted by his fight with the hunter leader. As he slept, out in space, a ship just like the one Zeb was aboard was approaching and began an orbit around the jungle world.

Zeb awoke and made his way to what he found out was the ship's galley and it was full of food that Zeb discovered wasn't fit for Lasat or a tiny animal to eat. The first time Zeb tried one of the packaged dinners from the cooler unit, he threw up! It was the most foul-tasting thing he had ever eaten! The Lasat was thankful that he had hunted alot when he and Ne'Roos were living inside the temple ruins now so far away. He had enough to last for awhile, but he knew he had to get more food.

He was sitting at a table in the galley when he heard a boom from outside and felt the ground rumble underneath the ship. He ran up to the control center and saw a huge alien ship land nearby.

"Ne'Roos!" he called to his furry companion, "Stay here! I think some more hunters are here!"

Running back to his cabin, Zeb put on the battle armor of the hunters and also the shoulder cannon. The Lasat was determined to defend himself and Ne'Roos to the death if he needed to. Swallowing hard, Zeb picked up his spear and descended the ramp and saw that four very tall hunters were standing at the bottom of a ramp leading into their ship that looked bigger than the one he was on. The lead hunter was a large brown colored being with black spots on his skin. He wore a helmet like the others but his had a different marking than the one the leader had that Zeb killed. Standing taller and his Lasat features in a frown, Zeb felt scared inside, but he appeared brave even though he knew he could die.

The tall alien, easily four meters in height, approached Zeb in the manner of an experienced hunter and stopped looking down at the smaller and shorter Lasat. Zeb swallowed hard, feeling his knees knocking in fear. The tall creature bent down to his height and lifted a hand up to Zeb's face. Zeb gulped thinking the creature was going to grab his head and crush it, but all it did, was run a long clawed finger over the scar between Zeb's eyebrow ridges; his hunter mark.

"Hunter mark," it said in a voice three times as deep as Zeb's.

Zeb didn't say anything, for he was too scared to move or speak.

"Hunter mark," it said again and gestured to the other hunters to come forward. They did and stood beside the leader. They in turn touched the mark and stepped back.

"Yeah, I got a hunter mark," the Lasat answered, "I don't know if you can understand me, but the hunter leader gave me this mark after I defeated him in battle. My people, the Lasat, call something like this, the Booshan Keeraw. It is the Lasat warrior way of showing respect for a foe that has defeated him in battle. In the Honor Guard that I served in, if this happened, the defeated warrior would reward his bo-rifle to the winning opponent. Since the hunter leader isn't Lasat, he gave me his mark. If you want to attack me fine. I'll put up a fight you'll never forget!"

"Worthy," it said to Zeb and touched his forehead again, "Worthy hunter."

The aliens turned and walked back into their ship. Zeb watched them, green eyes wide with shock and a little fear. The ramp closed and the engines fired up, the immense vessel taking off. Zeb stood watching it until it disappeared in the clouds and he fell to his knees, all the adrenalin leaving his body. He picked himself back up and went back inside...

On Yavin IV:

Ezra and Sabine were working on getting the PHANTOM II's com system to work more efficient when a strange signal sounded over the com.

"Ezra!" the Mandalorian girl said from her position on the shuttle's deck, tools around her, "There's something coming through on the com!"

"Is it Kanan and Hera?" he asked.

"The signal is weak and has an unfamiliar sound to it. It doesn't have an alliance signature either."

"It is Tarkaalian," came a voice from the hatchway. It was Ayessa, and the tall Barrelian beauty was bringing in some more tools for Sabine to use.

"Tarkaalian?" Ezra asked, "Never heard of them!"

"They are a nomadic species that moves from planet to planet, and my people have run into them several times," she answered, "Their homeworld Tarkaa was destroyed many centuries ago when their sun went supernova and the ones that got away, just roamed the galaxy hoping to settle down on a new world."

"Are they friendly, or like the Empire?" Sabine asked poking her head up from the console.

"Uh...more like the Empire," Ayessa replied looking down, "They don't take kindly to other species interacting with them and if any of their people get involved with other species, they are banished."

"Sounds like the Empire," Ezra added.

"What sounds like the Empire?" a deeper accented voice spoke from the hatchway.

It was Leka and Ele was beside him. The young Fulcrum agents had just helped Senator Mothma with some codes that she and other members of the Rebel Command couldn't figure out. They had been at it for hours and were taking a much needed break and wanted to spend time with Sabine and Ezra who they had grown close to.

"Sabine has picked up a signal on the com," Ezra said gesturing them to come in and sit near him and Ayessa, "Have a listen."

"Karabast," Leka whispered, his green eyes widening, "That's...That's...Tarkaalian. I'd know that signal anywhere!"

"Leka's right," Ele answered coming up to sit next to her bondmate seeing he was shocked, "We've...encountered them before in our dealings with other agents and mercenaries."

"The Tarkaalians are a rough bunch and we should steer clear of them. I've heard that they have taken both Wookiees and Lasat as...slaves since the Empire came into power," the young Lasat said his features changing into a look of distain. Ele held onto his arm more knowing how Leka felt about others being enslaved.

"I wonder if the Tarkaalians have encountered those alien hunters that captured Zeb?" Ezra asked, "They might know where he was taken!"

"Too risky," Ele answered, "If we contact them, they could sell us out to the Empire. I'm not about to endanger you or any of the other rebels. The cost is too great!"

"I know this sounds like a stupid question," Ezra added, "What do the Tarkaalians look like?"

"Think of a Kaminoan with long sapphire blue hair over their whole body and eyes as white as snow. Not many other beings have seen them, but my people have seen them in years past," Ele added seeing the looks of amazement on the other's faces, "It's like Leka said, they don't like to associate with other species."

"Maybe we don't have to contact them," Sabine said adjusting the controls on the com, "Maybe, I can pinpoint the location of the signal and that will give us a lead."

"How?" Ezra asked, "We can't exactly go out and ask them where they are."

The Mandalorian girl gave her friend a look of sarcasm and adjusted the controls more, "This signal is coming from an area out in Wild Space. An area that as of today, is largely undiscovered."

"Pinpoint it's location," Ezra said going over to help her. Ayessa frowned but felt hope at maybe finding out where Garazeb was taken. Ele and Leka also went over to help their friends. The Barrelian closed her eyes and reached out to try and locate her sycha. Lately, she wasn't able to reach him like she was able to at first. It was like the Lasat had disappeared and was lost.

"Please come home," she whispered as she reached out in her mind...

Back on the jungle world:

Zeb was leaning back in the seat on the control deck and he was drinking a fruity beverage that he found, when all of a sudden he felt something in his head. At first he thought it was the alcohol hitting his system. The pleasant beverage was full of an alcohol that was affecting him alot more than drinks had ever done to him before. It was even stronger than the Hutt Swamp Fizz he had tried on Nar Shaddaa in what seemed like so long ago. The feeling was pleasant and familiar.

"Ayessa?" he muttered and let out a loud belch that frightened Ne'Roos who was sitting on one of his knees. The little animal jumped down and went over to sit on the other seat, "What's the matter?"

He hiccupped and then leaned over nearly falling out of the big seat that dwarfed his Lasat body. Ne'Roos just turned her back on him and curled up to sleep. Zeb just chuckled and continued to drink the bottle of hunter booze getting drunker by the minute. Finally he passed out and lay hanging over the seat arm, his tongue hanging out. Ne'Roos walked over, hopped up onto his back and waited for him to wake up.

Hours later, the Lasat woke up with the worst hangover he had ever had in his life and spent the rest of the day puking in the refresher and trying to sleep it off. He was so miserable that he lay crying, naked on the refresher floor looking pathetic. Finally, feeling a little better, he made it back to the cabin and slept the rest of the hangover off.

Late the next day he woke up, showered, and got dressed in the hunter armor to try and learn more about the ship's controls.

"Last time I go on a bender like that," he muttered to Ne'Roos who was asleep on his knees, "Sheesh! About puked my guts out! Now I know to stay away from hunter booze! That was some wicked stuff! Bet I made a fool of myself! At least Rex isn't here! He'd never let me hear the end of it!"

Thinking about his friend made him feel sad and he closed his eyes hoping to see Rex again and the rest of the family. Tears came to his eyes and he didn't try to blink them away.

"I miss you...I miss you all!" he said and put his hands over his face the tears wetting his fingers. Ne'Roos nuzzled his hands trying to calm his sadness in the only way she knew how.

Back on Yavin IV, a Barrelian female kneeled before her prayer stone and reached out to touch her sycha in a feeling of the purest love...