Told you guys I was on a roll! Here's the next chapter to Syzygy! As usual, all forms of support (faving my stories, and especially reviewing) are greatly appreciated! There are quite a few times where Adriaan speaks to the Mandos in their native tongue and doesn't bother to translate into basic, and since this chapter is in Kan's POV (and since Kan hasn't bothered yet to learn Mando'a) I'll render the words and phrases into English here:

Mando'a Translations:

buy'ce – helmets

Gar Mando'ad, shabla jetii? – You one of us (a son/daughter of Mandalore), you screwed-up Jedi?

Aruetii besom, mhi n'cetar at gar! N'jurkad Mando'ad! Sooran, shab! – We will never lick your dirty foreigner boots. Don't mess with Mandos! (Sooran shab is a bit harder to translate: basically it's a contemptuous and triumphant comment which can be translated as "Suck on that, chum!")

Kebiigaan – Rune explains that the markings on her armor represent her family name, Kebiigaan, which means "blue hand" Her first name is derived from the Mando'a word runi, which is the poetic use of the word "soul" So, roughly, her name can be translated as "The blue hand of the ghost [soul]"

Se suru. Se kad. Se darasuum kote – TCW fans may recognize that this and the following phrase was taken from the Mandalorian episode arc in Season 2. These two phrases are actually spoken in the Concordian dialect, which is fairly similar to pure Mando'a. Basically it means "I die for eternal glory (so our cause shall grow stronger)"

Ki norm'iim darasuum kote – Yes, sleep in eternal glory.

Let me know what you guys think! We've finally got some fight scenes going on here! The opening quote, the argument between Adriaan and Klamin, and the conversation with Adriaan and Kan prior to interdicting the Mando vessel are both based on snippets of conversations (and debates) I've had with real-life people. Hope you guys like!

Chapter 4

"I wish you would smile more; you are the most beautiful woman in the world when you smile."

"It didn't come naturally; you know I used to have crooked teeth? It was so bad people called me disfigured. The Jedi Council didn't care about what I looked like; they said there were flaws in everyone, that flaws were what made each of us unique. So I grew up thinking that way, and was for the most part able to ignore my deformed smile. But when I was enslaved by sith cultists, they saw my overbite as a disfigurement. They didn't want me, and knew that I wouldn't fetch a good price if my teeth weren't straight. So they invested in some braces for me. It all goes to show just what the galaxy thinks of beings now – if it isn't perfect, then they don't want it. Who cares if you've got a great personality? If you aren't hot, no one will go for you. No one cares anymore if you have a soul or not. The concept of the dignity of life is lost on this generation." – Wolf and Adriaan, respectively, during their unauthorized vacation on Nubia.

✶ The Fortitude, 0630, 407 days ABG ✶

Kan began to follow Ember, but the marshal commander was halted by the bridge officer, who reported something that demanded the ELF's immediate and absolute attention. Thus Kan was left standing awkwardly in the middle of the floor and discomfortingly within earshot of his Master, who was hardly mincing words as she gave Klamin a justly merited tongue-lashing.

"Seriously, Klamin, did you really need to make those derogatory remarks?"

"I was only speaking the truth; it is no crime to acknowledge truth."

"No, you were merely stating your opinion, which is bizarre and illogical at best."

"Who are you to judge my opinion?"

"You do realize that certain opinions of yours do not exactly help you gain any close friendships with anyone on the team, right? Can't you see that we all despise you, that no one can stand having you around?"

"You cannot read hearts; how do you know that everyone else despises me? You have only half the friends that I have, and the ones you have you are friendly with only half as well as I am with half of my own. Your first Apprentice, Kan, trusts me more than he trusts you. Even Kay is better friends with me than she is with you."

She snorted derisively. "You just said that I cannot read hearts; I would dearly like to know how you acquired a skill I apparently do not possess."

"Because I am a Shi'Odo, a species that is – and I mean no disrespect – superior to the human race in almost every way imaginable."

"How funny; I don't remember you ever mentioning that heart-reading is one of the, ahem, myriad of skills a Shi'Odo possesses."

"You are assuming things, as usual; I never said I was a heart-reader."

"Then how can you say that my Apprentices favor you over me?"

"Because it is true."

"Did they say so?"

"We never gossip," the gray alien said, drawing himself up indignantly.

"Then where's your proof? If they hold you in such high esteem, then why haven't they appointed you the Jedi Master and General and kicked me down to the Agri-Corps? Why, despite the fact that I've quasi-resigned from the Jedi Order, has not a single Padawan left my command yet?"

The Shi'Odo hemmed and hawed, morphing from red Twi'lek to Gran to monkey-lizard to Hutt all in an instant. At last he assumed the form of a female Pa'lowick, his pouting, sanguine lips protruding from a proboscis-like mouth. "Well, at least I don't give out red herrings, outright lie to my Apprentices, and worship some dead guy."

She reared up in high dudgeon, her eyes flashing like lightning. Pa'lowick-Klamin cowered and shrank away as she stepped forward and grabbed him by his stalk-like mouth, pulling him forward so that his face was just inches from hers. "And what's it to you whether I don't tell you guys everything?" she hissed. "Even though we are at war with seceded systems, we still live in a free Republic, whose constitution guarantees every citizen's right to privacy. I am not obligated to give you every last paltry detail of my existence, and you have no authorization to breach my privacy, you stalker. Why the haran are you so obsessed with me? I know you're still new to the Jedi Order, but even you must know by now that there are rules you have to observe! If you can't do that, then you should've picked a different dream to pursue. So why don't you man up and get the shab out of my business! You can't always get what you want in life, so get over it!"

"Get over what?" Klamin asked sullenly, feigning an injured innocence.

"You know what I'm talking about. I know why you're doing this –"

"You are not me, so how can you know what is in my mind?" Klamin interrupted surlily.

"Because all Jedi are taught how to read the thoughts of the weak-minded," Adriaan snapped.

Kan winced Touche, Adriaan.

The Shi'Odo growled, shapeshifted into a Hutt, and slithered away, uttering Huttese imprecations under his breath.

His Master was quiet on the flight to the RV, and Kan could tell it wasn't an "at ease" silence of the satisfied, but the solitude of a brooding, festering anger. Kan sat in the copilot seat awkwardly, remembering how he had lied to her and tortured her friend. The horrible secret weighed him down so much he almost blurted out a confession to her. He didn't like living a lie, but he was afraid of what she would do if he told her the truth. Images of her disowning him and kicking him out of the Varactyl Clan, or even worse, outright murdering him in a rage, kept popping into his mind. He wouldn't exactly blame her if she did either of these horrible things. As bad as this feeling like a clandestine murderer feels, it can't be as bad as what will happen if she finds me out, he thought, looking at his Master's face reflected in the cockpit screen. The dusky blue light on the console set off the blue of her eyes and dyed her lips indigo, and darkened her eyebrows, giving her a grotesquely furious expression. I have to get her snapped out of this mood; she can't possibly focus if she's irate like this.

"Don't mind Klamin," he began timidly, his voice cracking in the middle. Curse going through puberty… "He just speaks the first things that come to his mind; he never once considers that some of the thoughts his brain hatches are inappropriate to say aloud, or something you shouldn't proud of. He's not worth freaking out about."

"I'm not freaking out," she said flatly. "He doesn't get under my skin."

"Then why do you look so furious? You haven't said more than a handful of words this entire flight," Kan pointed out.

"I'm naturally taciturn; I'm just trying to focus," Adriaan argued.

"Now you're playing Klamin's stupid debate-denial game," Kan said bravely.

"I am not acting like him!" she said vehemently.

"You're in denial again," he said.

She raised her hand and he recoiled involuntarily, but she simply tightened her fingers into a fist and smashed it down on the console, almost breaking the navigation system. "I didn't take you along just so you could put me on trial," she spat.

"I'm not putting you on trial," Kan said, backing off. "I'm just trying to help you out; that's what a teammate is for."

His last remark seemed to have a positive effect on her, for her face softened considerably. She was still tense, but she didn't look so angry. "Thank you," she said quietly.

They sat for a few moments in silence before Kan ventured, "Want to talk about it?"

A grim smile crossed her face. "Ah, so instead of a courthouse this is a confessional?"

"Why, is there something about Klamin that you need to confess?" the Padawan asked, a little taken aback.

She waved her fingers, carelessly brushing aside his remark. "Oh, no, I have nothing to hide about him; don't be so ridiculous. But now that you mention that hideous monstrosity, maybe there are some things about him the rest of you aren't yet aware of." She smoothed down her jumpsuit. "Do I really need to tell you, though? I would have thought you would have guessed by now. You were on the bridge when I was lecturing him."

Wow; I had no idea she observed that, he marveled, with a touch of disquiet. Sometimes his Master seemed altogether omniscient. "I have my suspicions," he answered with a shrug.

She cocked her head at him. "So you know?"

"That he's interested in you?" Kan asked. "Well, duh; it's really quite obvious. Even the Wicked Club knows. Even the clones know…well, most of them, anyway," Kan said, thinking of poor, blindly infatuated Wolf. "The Wicked Club teases Klamin about it all the time. It makes him surly. Violent even. Like that one black eye Aedan said he got by brushing his teeth? Well, Klamin was actually the donor of that purple beauty. Aedan had remarked that you were only attracted to muscular human males, and Klamin lost it and punched him. Aedan was so embarrassed a 'good' gave him a black eye that he made up a story instead of telling you the truth."

"I already knew he had been lying," Adriaan said. "And trust me, I made sure Klamin was disciplined. I didn't interrogate Aedan because I decided not to get into his business; I just took care of the incident quietly. It's called a 'mother's intuition' – we know about things like this. But I wish Klamin would stop picking on smaller people and take it out on the person actually responsible for breaking his 'poor, sensitive heart'"

"How did you break his heart?" Kan asked, sitting up straighter.

"You mean he didn't tell you?" Adriaan asked with a sardonic smirk. "I would've thought he'd have whined for weeks about it."

"Whined about what?"

"That I spurned his advances to me?"

Kan was taken aback; he hadn't heard or even dreamed of such an occurrence until now. "He did what?"

"Oh, what he was proposing was nothing quite so scandalous as you are assuming; he just wanted us to be, ahem, well…let's just say he wanted us to be more than just Master and Apprentice."

"Oh…stang," Kan said, rubbing his eyes. "When did he, you know, announce his feelings for you?"

"When we were on Nubia," Adriaan said, somewhat sheepishly.

"Really?" he blinked, his brain struggling to accept what she was telling him as fact. The story was so insane, so bizarre, that she couldn't have possibly made it up. "I honestly had no idea. What did you say?"

"What do you mean 'what did you say'?" She asked, clearly indignant. "I may be a maverick, Enik, but I'm not stupid enough to break the 'no romantic relationships' rule. It's quite possibly the only rule in the Jedi Code that makes any sense."

"Plus it's weird for a Master and Apprentice to have a romantic relationship," Kan added.

Adriaan shifted in her seat. "What makes you think that?"

"You mean you don't agree?" he asked, surprised.

She pretended to concentrate on piloting their craft. "Of course," she said finally. "I mean, I could never like Klamin in that way – in fact, I can't say that I like him at all. But I don't think you should automatically label a relationship between mentor and student as perverted. I don't know how much you know about relationships, Kan, but there are all sorts of couples out there: interracial couples, couples where both are the same race, couples from the same generation, couples where one person is substantially older or smarter than the other…it takes all types, Kan."

"I think it's weird."

Adriaan sighed. "What's weird about it?"

"Well, I mean, it's good for a student and teacher to have a close relationship, but when it gets that close, the mentor sort of…loses esteem, I guess." Kan struggled to formulate his thoughts into words. "I mean, I just think about what if it was like that between me and you…I just have a hard time even imagining that."

"I guess that's good," Adriaan remarked drily. "Because I can tell you right now I'm not your type. You are meant for a very special, lucky woman."

"I'm a Jedi; there is no girl waiting for me," Kan said with a frown.

Adriaan smiled sardonically. "And how do you know that?" she asked.

He opened his mouth to answer, but then he saw her point and kept his trap shut. He turned away from her and contented himself watching the navigation screen.

"You know, I actually feel sorry for Klamin," Adriaan said after a while.

Keeping his back to her, he asked, "Why do you say that?"

"Because I know how unrequited love feels."

He turned back to her, his curiosity aroused. "You mean you once broke the no attachment rule?"

She shrugged. "Everyone does at some point in their lives. As for me, it was after I hit puberty, even though I had been unconsciously fond of him for years. I didn't know how to deal with an overdose of hormones."

She's being awfully chatty and open today. He couldn't believe his good luck. It would be foolish to pass up a perfect opportunity like this. I wonder…she seemed to be very attached to her Master in Darc's recollections. Could it have been Jacen Palgwebb? "And?"

She smiled sadly. "My heart was broken. There is no such thing as a clandestine relationship that lasts forever. If the secret is never uncovered the relationship falls out anyway because a partnership founded on a lie is shaky at best. It prevents you from having any open friendships with anyone, and you always end up suspecting your partner of cheating on you. Neither of us cheated on each other, and we loved each other very much, and then…it happened." She lapsed into silence with a shudder.

What happened? Darc said Jacen had died…had been killed? That would certainly be a tragic event to any Padawan. Or could she possibly be referring to the incident when Darc left the Jedi Temple? Had she fallen in love with Darc?"What happened?"

The question roused her from her ruminations. "The details are irrelevant," she said, regaining some of her former reticence. "Unfortunately, the Jedi lifestyle is too rigorous to offer any room for deep-rooted attachment. In the end, we had to choose between fate and feelings, and the former won out the day. It took me years to even begin to heal from the mental shock of losing someone I held so close to my heart. I haven't gotten over it, which is why I don't trust anyone, not even you. I know there are things you don't tell me." She looked at him in the eye when she said this, and her eyes were such a keen, vivid blue that Kan had to look away. "You don't have to worry about me trying to find out," she assured him. "One thing that hurt me most as a Padawan was that I wasn't given any privacy at all; everyone had their nose in my business. It annoyed the shab out of me, and I don't want to give my own students the same hell. I'm sure your secret isn't all that bad, really. You're just not the type I was. You're too innocent."

Oh, if only you knew…Kan shifted uncomfortably under her sharp scrutiny. He felt about as transparent as a pane of transparisteel. "Who was he?" he hazarded, eager to get back to the previous topic. It could be Palgwebb, but it almost seems unfair to suspect Adriaan of that. Darc seems an altogether more likely option. Still, she was obviously devoted to her Master, and she doesn't seem to care for Darc much…not anymore, that is. Things could have been much different back then.

She drew back from his probing gaze with a short laugh. "Now, I let you have your secrets, and in exchange you allow me to decide what information about my past I choose to disclose. Only fair, don't you think?"

Kan nodded dismally, cursing his bad luck. So much for taking advantage of the moment."I guess so."

"As for my lover, his name and position and affiliation is as irrelevant as the incident that estranged us. All you need to know is that he was the best piece of osik ever to walk the face of the galaxy before the dark side decided to handle our destinies."

Kan paused, trying to read her facial expression. She looked surprisingly calm and open about such a deeply personal and agonizing subject. "Did he die?" he asked quietly.

Her gaze turned from innocent ocean blue to the defensive gray of steel. Her hand moved unconsciously, fingering something that was concealed in her utility belt."Do you really want to know that?" she replied slowly.

Dark images influenced his thoughts, and he had to turn away from her to compose himself. The hair on the back of his neck prickled at the horror of the truth. No, she didn't…

"I can read your mind," she said from behind him. Goosebumps raced down his arm. Did she actually kill the man she loved? No, she couldn't have; it must have been Darc, and Darc is very much alive. There was no one else, no one…except for Jacen Palgwebb. "You will find that there are going to be choices you must make in your life where neither alternative seems to bring about any good, that there will be no decision which will not be accompanied by a bitter regret. I have faced these choices; I have learned that to be an adult is to step up to the plate, to not shy away from duty, no matter how dirty the job is. I have killed people who used to be my dearest and closest friends, Kan, and the decisions I made concerning them haunt me to this day. I could have hired someone to do my dirty work, but I would have still been held responsible, and I would have dragged a third party into my own cesspit, which makes it an even graver crime."

"I don't understand," Kan choked.

She sighed. "Kan, once cannot serve two masters; in the end, I was forced to make a choice: to serve the Galactic Republic – an imperfect master at best – or to join an affiliation I didn't really believe in but followed just because I wished to stay with my friends. But as I said, a servant cannot serve two, and unfortunately my friends and I aspired to serve governments and nations instead of sticking together. I guess we really didn't care about each other enough to sacrifice everything to stay together."

"But did making that choice really require you to do something as extreme as killing friends?" Kan asked. "The ends don't justify the means, you know."

"That is true, yet so hard to live by," she conceded, and Kan had to agree. "Besides, if it makes you feel any better, I did it in self-defense. I had initially planned to arrest them, but no one likes the idea of being caged up. I can understand why death seems a better option than capture."

Kan blew out a breath, running his fingers through his hair.

"You're mad at me, I suppose," Adriaan remarked casually. "Can't say I blame you."

"I'm not mad," Kan said with an effort. "I can't say I have any cause to be angry with you; this is your business, something I had nothing to do with. I'm just shocked, that's all. You haven't told us much about your past."

"Do you understand why now?"

He understood, all right. He had something else to tell her as well. "This might come across as slightly random, but you know about Wolf, right?"

She groaned. "I wish he would cut it out; it was great when he was my little brother, but now he believes he's in love with me. I feel horrible because I can't help but think I led him along, making him think I liked him in that particular way. And worst part is that Ember knows, and Mr. Mom thinks I have a crush on Captain Wolf. When Rez comes back and starts bragging about his girlfriend I know there's going to be fireworks."

"Have you talked to the clone about it?" Kan asked.

Adriaan's fingers traced a path down her braid. "I haven't got the guts or the time for it yet. I want to do it in private so there will be minimum humiliation involved. It'll be nasty enough as it is."

Kan felt genuinely sorry for both of them, but he knew it was for the best. "Know what you want to say?" he asked.

She frowned and shook her head. "I know what I will most likely say, but I'm trying to dumb it down so it won't be so…harsh. I can be unbelievably blunt sometimes, as you well know. I was a bit blue color with Klamin and as you can see he completely despises me now. I would really like for Wolf to remain my friend." She sighed and flicked her blond hair over her shoulder. "I don't know what's with me and boys, but all my friends who are boys always end up being attracted to me. First Darc, then my…my lover, then some other boys, then Klamin, and now Wolf. Thank the Force you and the Wicked Club have your heads screwed on right. You guys know an ugly chick when you see one, at least."

"Ugly?" Kan was amazed at his Master's cluelessness. "Adriaan, have you ever looked in a mirror?"

"I tend to avoid my reflection. I make myself barf."

"You're crazy. Are you serious that clueless about your own body?"

She scowled defensively. "What do you mean?"

"I mean…um…you have big blue eyes, gorgeous blond hair, uh…a gorgeous smile, hum…long legs, and, uh…you're kinda…gifted, if you get my lingo." He slapped a palm to his forehead at her puzzled expression. "Do I seriously need to draw a picture for you?"

Her face was bright red. "It's nice to know that's what you pay attention to when you look at me," she said, and then it was Kan's turn to be scandalized. The awkward silence might have stretched out a lot longer, but fortunately an alarm bell announced they were approaching the designated coordinates.

"Intercept in five," Kan said, flicking on the tracking display. A pulse of red indicated the ship they were going to tag.

"Take over controls," Adriaan said, popping off her restraints and standing up. "I'm suiting up."

"You mean I just get to sit here and pilot this ship while you go in there and take all the heroics?" Kan protested. He had been desperately hoping for some action. "Boring."

"Kan, I have no idea how dangerous these two warriors are, but I know for a fact an average Mando can easily take a Jedi Padawan at your skill level. And these are two Death Watch Mando'ade we're talking about. You'll get killed."

"How do you know that? Can you read the future or something?" Kan asked sardonically.

"Kan –"

"No, don't even start that. You're playing it safe; that's not the Master who apprenticed me last year. The Adriaan I knew always took risks."

"With her own life, not others' lives, and especially not the life of her own student."

"Why can't you just give me a chance?" Kan complained.

"Because someone needs to pilot the ship," Adriaan explained patiently, sliding her space helmet over her head, concealing her face. In a voice flawed by the tinny sound of the comm system installed in her pressure suit, she continued, "Maybe if you run the ship into an asteroid or something and completely trash it, you can join me – if you're able to get out in time, that is."

"That's very comforting."

She shrugged on her jetpack. The pressure suit was standard GAR-issued, so it maintained the generic clone trooper armor template, so she looked just like a miniature clone soldier. The suit was a little big in certain areas, but the design fit her like a glove. She's got more warrior than Jedi in her, that's for sure. "On that note, maybe you should suit up as well, just in case. You may not have to crash on purpose; Mandos are notoriously good shots."

Kan slid on his pressure suit, which was rather awkward business while he was still strapped in his seat, but he managed. His helmet on, he gave his Master a thumbs-up and said into the comm, "G2G."

"Thanks chee-shawnee," Adriaan replied, saluting with a flair.

"'Chee-shawnee'?" Kan inquired.

She groaned. "Oh, you're so upper-level Coruscant."

He frowned. "And what does that mean?"

"You haven't spent a whole lot of time in the bowels of the Republic's capital. A shame; you don't know what you're 's the one place on Triple Zero where you can find culture." Adriaan had her hand on the hatch. "Ah, they're coming out of hyperspace. Interdict on starboard in five, four, three, two…"

A vessel suddenly dropped out of hyperspace, hogging the cockpit screen. Kan gunned the controls hard left and corkscrewed to line up the deckhead hatch against the starboard side of the freighter. "Aligned in five, four –" He checked the ship's speed, aware that he started the countdown too late as the hatch had just aligned. "– Zero go go go!"

The hatch opened and his Master was blasted into oblivion. "Interdiction success," Adriaan's disembodied voice said in his ear. "Detach and depart; await at safe distance as there could be fireworks."

"Detach in five, four, three –" Suddenly the screech of metal shattered the space and Kan was spinning out of control with the vessel.

"Evasive action piece of osik destroyed interdiction line repeat vessel broke off Kan acknowledge sitrep –"

He couldn't answer; all the cockpit alarms were blaring, and his comm speaker was malfunctioning because he had hit his head too hard against the console. He looked at the status of his ship and knew it wasn't worth sticking around for; the sudden detachment had ruptured the pressurizer and all the air was escaping into space. It was a risky move for the enemy vessel to disengage by force, which told Kan that the Mandos were either very confident in the abilities of their ship, or were just plain stupid.

"Kan what is your position repeat what is your status acknowledge –"

"Aborting vessel," Kan said, even though he knew his Master couldn't hear him. Unbuckling the restraints, he stood and made his way across the cockpit to the hatch, which was blown right open. It took all his strength to hold on to the console so he wouldn't be sucked into the vacuum of space. He fished out a rappel line out of his emergency kit and secured it to the hatch. Then he fastened his jetpack securely to his back, took a deep breath, and let go.

He went into free fall and was abruptly suspended in the nothingness of space. Gunning his jetpack, he stopped his corkscrew and righted himself more or less, looking around for the enemy vessel. He spotted its portside about five hundred meters away. Too far for his rappel line to snag it. He would have to jetpack it without the reassurance of being stabilized by being anchored to a ship. A scary stunt, but entirely doable. Over the comm, he heard the ping of blasterfire and the clunk of an armored leg connecting to someone's helmeted head. He could only hope the head belonged to an enemy. "Kan your status respond do you copy sitrep please respond –"

I have to get over there or she's not going to be able to focus on the assignment because she doesn't know if I'm okay or not. His gloved fingers clumsily freed the rappel line from his belt. He started to tilt upside down, but he gunned his jetpack and shot ten meters forward. Four hundred and ninety meters to go. Four hundred and sixty meters to go…Okay, this isn't so bad. I can do this…

Ping ping pew pew sssshhhhhhrrrrrooooommmm. The whine of a lightsaber now. "Commander Enik your shabla status please acknowledge umph –" The sound of air abruptly being jerked out of her windpipe, followed by several rapid retaliations: a thwack clack clunk as her feet and fists connected, drove off the enemy, "– Back off you piece of osik…" Four hundred meters. Three hundred and fifty. Two-ninety…two-ten… "Commander Enik what is your fierfeked status!" sshhhhhrrrooooommmm bang bang chink pew pew. One-fifty, one-forty, one-thirty. "KAN! Shab it come on this is no time to be taciturn…" Sixty, forty, twenty…

"Oh, shab. You can't be dead."

Ten, five, one. Kan reached out and grabbed the edge of the hatch and pulled himself in, yanking open the emergency door and swinging it shut behind him.

Ripping off his helmet, he allowed his chest to swell to gather in as much power as he could as he bellowed, "IN!" He sprinted through the blast-charred corridor, following the trail of blast marks scoring the durasteel. As his mask came off, unsealing the pressure suit, his lungs heaved in the sharp taste of smoke and that distinct odor of a lightsaber blade. Pulling in is senses till it formed a central core of pure focused energy, he stopped and closed his eyes, reaching out and seeing through the Force.

In the blue, hazy perception of the Force's eyes, he saw two greyish figures, low in Force energy but armed to the teeth with firepower, and flitting among them was one gigantic presence that glowed like an electric ball of energy. And then he heard the clash of saber upon metal, a faint stench of seared flesh, a dull chink as a lightsaber met lightsaber-resistant material…Of course, they're Mandos; hey must have that armor that is supposed to be impervious to Jedi weapons, Kan realized. And if the Mandalorians were shielded with that kind of alloy, it made sense that they would have lightsaber-proof weapons supplementing their kit as well. Just fantastic.

The sound of a young, sweet, sophisticated voice reminiscent of a typical female Jedi shouting a not so ladylike Corellian curse sent Kan full sprint in the direction of the battle. The door to the bridge had been fried shut, but the blast-proof doors hardly posed a problem to a young, adrenaline-pumped Jedi like Kan. Gathering in the Force energy around him, he focused it into a visible, glowing, rotating globe in his hands and with a mighty heave, sent it bulldozing right through the durasteel.

The blaster-proof alloy crumbled from the sheer power of the blow. He staggered a little as the Force suddenly and swiftly exited his body, but caught himself and came charging in, lightsaber aloft, as the Force flooded his system again.

He caught a glimpse of two black-armored figures. One a mottled shade of sables, the other a matte black with silver trim and a ghostly blue hand smacked across the dark T-mask. In the arms of the one with the camo armor, there was a rocket launcher. The Apprentice saw the smoke billow out from the mouth of the gun, and was just beginning to wonder what had happened to the missile when he heard the spine-chilling whine of an approaching rocket.

"Fierfek!" Kan yelled, too petrified to react any further. He saw the missile approaching in all the clarity of slow motion, but his reaction time was still as dawdling as ever.

General ell Talaan, however, was different; though she was just as good of an instructor as her own Master had been, nothing could replace the harrowing experiences which had taught her the hard way to act on instinct: move, or die.

Adriaan, who never panicked unless her Padawan's life was in danger, looked at Kan and uttered one word.

"MOVE."

Then her leg snaked out, pulled into her chest as her hips rotated, carrying her body with her, and all Kan could do was stare with a frozen look of horror as she expertly and none-too-softly spin-hook-kicked her ally out of harms' way and then did something Kan thought only sith could do.

She stretched out her empty hands and zapped the enemy with electricity.

Zapped was too weak of a word. At first Kan was so dazed from the hook kick which was just short of a knockout hit that all he could see was one indistinguishable blinding purplish-blue glow envelop the area before his eyes. When a stray bolt from the unleashed maelstrom escaped and connected to the Apprentice, its tingling shock snapped him into revival, and he leaped to his feet and shouted in astonishment as he perceived millions of individual lightning strands dancing, writhing, enveloping every individual object in the room. Even the floor teemed with electricity, tiny sparking snakes whiplashing against the bent legs of the unleasher of the storm. The crackle and roar of the lightning, coupled with spontaneous explosions from volatile objects – such as the rocket launcher and projectile – drowned out any other sound, though Kan felt the agonized screams of the victims cut right through his soul, and saw his Master's face contorted in a wordless snarl.

"Nnnnnoooooo!" The high shriek of a female fairly split his eardrums, catalyzing him into action. He didn't know what was going on with his Master – and he certainly knew he was no match for her if it came to fighting her to get her to stop – but he was not going to stand by and let even criminals die so cruelly.

"You had no qualms about treating Darc this way."

That was different. He chose the hard way. He wouldn't cooperate.

"By that logic, Adriaan is just to punish the enemy this way; they were not going to come peacefully. They tried to kill you."

Ignoring the feeling of self-doubt gnawing in his gut, he bravely rushed forward and made a grab for the General's wrist. "Stop!" he yelled, yelping and ducking away as her foot came out of nowhere to club him away. He saw her mouth form words, but couldn't quite hear her. It sounded like she said something like, "Shab off."

No way I'm giving up, Kan said to himself, setting his will stubbornly against hers. With a renewed courage, he stalked over and tried to snatch her again. "Adriaan! You've got to stop before you kill them! The objective is to take them alive, remember?" His plea was broken off by a yelp as a strand of lightning raced off the shoulder he was shaking and zapped him right on the tongue, effectively drugging his voice for a few moments. He staggered back and reeled, the pain causing tears to spill over. He let out a sharp cry just before he dropped at her feet.

"Commander? Kan, what's your problem? Get up." The voice was calm, so disconnected the fury he had witnessed before. His tongue and brain throbbing, his ringing eardrums informed him that the hideous crackling had ceased. He raised his head and was rewarded with plain, unadulterated darkness.

"Shab, I fried the power conduit." There was a buzz and a flash of blue light as Adriaan activated her lightsaber for illumination. She bent over and held the glow up to Kan's face, studying him with a worried expression. Kan gazed back at her, terrified. No longer that innocuous teal-blue, her irises had become completely adulterated with that yellow fire that lurked in her eyes, and her hair stuck out from her face, giving her a feral look. "Sorry, I was concentrating so I couldn't hear you," she said. That voice…how could it be so calm? "Did I hit you too hard?'

"Uh, no, actually. I guess I should thank you for kicking me in the head; it saved my life." He stood up, and added his green lightsaber light to the blue one. He looked at her in bold disapproval. "Isn't that a rather extreme power for a Jedi Knight to employ?" he asked accusingly.

It irked him that his censure seemed to highly amuse her. With a shrug, she replied nonchalantly, "Oh, I don't know; if you want, you can go to the Council and discuss my delinquent behavior with them. Don't feel like you'd be calling an unnecessary meeting; they have discussions about me at 0930 every morning of the second day of the second week of the month." She glanced at her chrono and feigned a gasp of surprise. "Hey, if you hurry and take a star cruiser from the fleet, you can still make it to their next meeting scheduled two days from today."

"Hah hah. Very funny. Not," Kan said sternly. He pointed his lightsaber at the prostrate Mandos. "Did it ever occur to you that you might have…oh, I don't know…overdone it this time? You've just killed them!"

It was her turn to be surprised. "What? With that armor and their culture's history? It'd be a disgrace to the Mandalorian race to have such weak progeny. Trust me, Kan, I know Force lightning's power better than you do."

"But I –"

"Usenye! Back off!" she snapped. "I say they're alive or they weren't our real targets." And sure enough the prone forms began to stir.

Kan, holding up his lightsaber to see more clearly, edged his way toward the Mandos, but whirled in fright as a bolt of lightning struck overhead. The lights suddenly flickered and flooded the room with brightness. The Apprentice glared at his Master, who immediately looked sheepishly contrite and muttered an apology for alarming him.

"I'm not scared," he said uncooperatively, striding toward the enemy again.

"Check!" Adriaan said sharply, and next moment she was standing over the warriors, lighsaber poised casually in front of them, as if daring them to make a false move. The Padawan approached warily, put off by the aggressive and alert stances of the warriors as their faceless masks swiveled, analyzing the two Jedi.

"Hands up and buy'ce off," the Knight said in the harsh Mandalorian language. The smaller figure started, shocked at hearing the native tongue from a foreigner's lips.

"Gar Mando'ad, shabla jetii?" A feminine voice issued from the blue hand helmet, but the camo one barked a sharp retort in a Concordian dialect to shut her up.

"Best do as I say, and quickly; my temper is notoriously short. Munit tome'tayl, skotah iisa, 'long memory, short fuse' – said to be the typical Mando mindset, or so my sources tell me. That answer your question?" Adriaan remarked, letting the saber edge ever so subtly toward blue hand's throat.

Neither warrior flinched, but they put their hands up. Adriaan sighed and gestured at Kan to remove the helmets. The Padawan advanced cautiously, feeling as if the faceless T-masks were glowering at him. The faces hidden in the masks turned out to be even more menacing. The gray one revealed a dark, square-jawed man with a labyrinth of scars decorating his face. The blue mask hid the face of a woman about ten years older than Adriaan, who had beautiful chalk-white hair but only one murderous hazel eye – the other had been gouged out in a brawl long ago and had been replaced with a cybernetic silver orb. The Jedi student shuddered as he looked upon the faces of the enemy. He had come to view the enemy as the mundane, faceless, mass-produced droids, not flesh-and-blood people who had been scarred from war and trouble. People just like him. The Mandos were no lovely sight to look upon, but he found he stared at them not with loathing; their human, imperfect faces were more uncanny than anything else.

Adriaan, who hadn't reacted at all to what they looked like beneath their dented, scored, yet tidy armor, wordlessly tossed Kan two pairs of stun cuffs. As she stood guard over the woman, her Padawan proceeded to secure the man's hands behind his back. That done, he and his Master switched spots.

The male looked up at the Jedi with an unusual curiosity. Kan was surprised to see that there was no fear in his eyes. "How do you know Mando'a?" he asked in basic, as if the Jedi was not worthy to converse with him in his native tongue.

The Jedi stood with her arms crossed. She looked at him dead in the eye and shrugged. "I'm a warrior, your people are – or used to be, I should say – also warriors. U kalle rah doe kankee kung – I'm your kind of scum," she said in Huttese.

The man took a long look at the saber and spat. "With that shiny stick? Never, you Jedi dog."

Adriaan nodded calmly, her expression mock-disappointed. "I knew you would be offended to be in any way associated with me. Ah, well, you can't help it if some people don't like you. You finished, Kan?" she asked abruptly.

He hadn't realized he'd been idling. Hastily, he fumbled with the cuffs. "Name?" he questioned the woman. She turned her head to cock at him with her cybernetic eye, in a way that reminded him of a bird.

"Rune," she said, then shrugged, as if to say, "So what?" She rubbed her mouth on her sleeve.

"Why the blue hand?" Kan asked, snapping the cuffs into place. There. He looked to his Master for approval, only to find her getting a dressing-down from the other Mando, Atoya.

"Aruetii besom, mhi n'cetar at gar! N'jurkad Mando'ad! Sooran, shab!" he shouted.

"Family crest. Kebiigaan – blue hand," Rune said briefly, undulating her shoulders and wiping her mouth on her vambrace again. Kan sighed, hoping that the shrugging and wiping on the forearm wasn't a habit of hers. We should get moving…

The Force surged, warning him of danger. He turned, expecting Adriaan to meet his gaze, but she appeared unaware of what he had sensed. Where had the warning come from?

Rune coughed hoarsely. He looked twice and noticed she looked pale. "Water?" he asked.

She pursed her lips, shaking her head.

"Why is your mouth closed like that?" Kan asked.

She pointed her hazel eye at him in a way that was evocative of aiming a blaster at him, the iris fading from grey-green to ashy, clouded brown.

"Adriaan! Get that thing out of his mouth! Spit it out, you!"

"Wolf." Kan dropped to one knee and stared in appalled disapproval at the clone. "Since when did we resort to the base interrogation methods of the Separatists? We're the good guys; we don't abuse prisoners."

The cultist suddenly laughed, spraying pinkish-red foam all over Wolf's face. The clone didn't flinch. "Too late. They gave me a sithspit pill; one of the most deadliest poisons in the galaxy. Takes approximately thirty seconds upon swallowing to kill."

Then the dreadful truth hit Kan. It was happening, the whole nightmare on Kuat all over again. Alarmed, as Rune began to writhe in a way that was all too reminiscent of Iratus in the throes of death, Kan turned and screamed, "Master!"

She turned and saw the whole situation in an instant. "Sithspit!" she said, running for Rune, but a glimmer of movement in her peripherals made her skid to a stop. Atoya was mimicking Rune's unhygienic habit, wiping his dry, flaking lips on his battered vambrace. In an instant, the Jedi whirled and had him in a Force grip, prying the unbroken sithspit pill right out from between his teeth. "Kan, you have to stop her!" Adriaan yelled as Atoya struggled to retain possession of the pill. "Don't let her swallow that poison!"

Rune gulped; time slowed, the Force sharpened his sight, and he seemed to see the half-dissolved pill as it traveled down her esophagus.

The fazed Jedi was suddenly shoved out of the way by the clone as he tackled the cultist, shoving the prisoner's face into the ground. Wolf, keeping his captive's face pushed to the duracrete, rammed his hand down Iratus' throat.

"What are you doing?" Adriaan yelled, too shocked to take notice that the soldier had called her by her first name. "Wolf, stop it, you're killing him!"

"I'm saving him, you – ori'vod! He's taken a suicide pill! Yow!" Wolf yelped and hastily withdrew his fist from the man's mouth as the cultist bit down and broke through the flesh of his hand. The clone's fist automatically jerked up to his mouth as his arm became saturated with the mixture of blood and saliva, but then remembered where his hand had just been and swiftly put it back down. Instead of sucking the blood from his wound, he struck Iratus across the face, leaving a red stain across the man's cheeks. "Two can play at this game, schutta – you have two seconds to spit that out before I start abusing you."

The man started to cough, and Wolf hauled him up so that their faces were just centimeters from each other. "Spit. It. Out," he said, punching each word into the air, "or I'll force you to throw it up."

"Se suru. Se kad. Se darasuum kote," the girl said, her eye rolling in its socket, swiveling to Atoya as she addressed him in the native tongue.

"Ki norm'iim darasuum kote," Atoya answered through swollen, bleeding lips. Adriaan threw him to the floor in a fury, started toward Rune, hands upraised.

"You've seen this before! You know what to do!" she yelled at Kan.

Rune Kebiigaan doubled over, pressing her forehead against her knees.

Kan closed his eyes, feeling the Force throb through him like a great heartbeat. It pulsed through his veins, through his hands and feet, down to his fingertips, and he closed his eyes, allowing himself to become one with it, to slow into the rhythm of the Force.

"My Apprentice, you know what to do," Adriaan said to him.

He saw the sithspit pill slide down Rune's throat, a bloody miasma exploding from its core, enveloping the lining of her esophagus. He envisioned holding the sithspit in his hand, gripping it between two fingers, yanking it out…

His eyes snapped open.