Screaming.

The Exile could hear the agonized sound of soldiers both Mandalorian and Marauder alike as ordinance rounds tore them apart. She raced through the smoke, lightsaber aloft, carving a path through to Mandalore's former headquarters. She had not expected to encounter a Sith Battalion; she had assumed that with the deaths of Nihilus, Sion and Kreia that their ranks would have been thrown into disarray.

She was wrong.

Her weapon was a beacon, drawing the dark soldiers to her position. Somehow they recognized her, swarming her by the dozens. Her limbs had protested at first during the beginning of the battle. But as she pushed forward the continual movement had allowed her to regain most of her range of motion. She deflected the strikes of four Marauders with her double-blade and whirling to the left, she threw her hand forward. The ensuing Force strike blasted another four away from her. Turning back, she spun, swinging her weapon left, then quickly right impaling the midsections of two of her attackers.

Bao was close behind firing at those she had pushed away and felling two of them. She could hear the sounds of Atton, Mical and Mira's blades as they fought and knew just where they stood based on the variation of noise. Mandalore was fighting more savagely than she had ever seen him; HK was joyously at his side firing madly at the throngs of troops that encircled them both.

She launched her body upwards, spinning into a power attack and bringing the left side of her blade down right next to her opponent's neck, cleaving him straight down the sternum. As he fell, she rounded on two more and spun her clean silver blade until the edges blurred, forcing them backwards. Pushing forward and jabbing left to right she severed the arm of one and the torso of another. She heard a roar directly behind her and turned just in time to see a Marauder with his weapon soaring towards her head. Before she could react, Bao's mechanical fist collided with the Sith's head, shattering his skull and spattering them both with blood.

"Thanks," she gasped. And they ran, pressing forward to their objective.

Most of the afternoon passed in this manner as they slowly advanced to headquarters, facing nearly unbelievable odds. The camp had been overrun with Sith soldiers but the tenacity of the Mandalorians had been nothing short of inspiring. They had suffered very few losses, and the excitement of their victory was infectious. Spirits were high among the warriors as they cleared the camp and the Exile knew that the celebrations that night would be rowdy and unlikely to end before dawn.

Her crew was only too happy to join in with both the cleanup and the inevitable party that followed. She had to laugh in spite of herself at the new camaraderie between Atton, Mira and Mical. At that moment, Atton was laughing uproariously at the expression on Mical's face – he had just been on the receiving end of a playful swat across the bottom from Mira. Bao had disappeared to help with the new damage to the telemetry system and all that remained was to debrief with Canderous. She passed numerous bonfires along the way, smiling at the songs and jokes she overheard as she went.

Headquarters was deathly silent; Mandalore was bent over his terminal running diagnostics on the systems that Bao was repairing on the other end. The Exile cleared her throat.

"Yeah, whadda you want?" came the sneering reply.

"It's me Canderous," she replied.

He stopped what he was doing and turned to face her, "Oh," he said, "Glad to see you, look I wanted to say thanks for everything you did today. I don't know if we'd have as much to celebrate about if you hadn't come along for the ride."

She smiled wryly at him, "I said I wouldn't abandon you and I meant it. I am just glad that you have had so few losses."

"We lost Braelor," he said quietly, "He died like a hero though, I found him still clutching the Comm Terminal."

"I'm sorry Canderous," she said, crossing the floor, "I don't know who's behind this but I promise you I'll find out. Marauders never act without someone behind them to pull the strings."

"Yeah, we're questioning one that lost an arm right now," he replied, "I'm not expecting much so anything you can add would be a big help…thanks kid…thanks for not cutting out when the heat was on."

She smiled at him, "Always," she said turning towards the exit, "Do you need anything else?"

"Not for tonight," he said, "But you may want to take care of that face of yours and get some rest."

"I will," she replied, "Good night Canderous."

Exiting back into the encampment she suddenly felt very tired. It seemed that since her days at the Enclave her entire life had been a series of battles one after the other. She gazed up at the full moon that hung in the sky, bathing the surface in cool, silvery light and she thought of everything she had lost. Suddenly the noise and merry lights of the bonfires held no appeal to her.

She crossed as inconspicuously as was possible through the camp and headed down the pathway towards the Ebon Hawk. The route was abandoned by both man and beast - the former due to the celebrations and the latter due to the heavy fighting. She doubted she would have to face another cannok or maalraas for a couple of days.

As she walked she thought of her last meeting with Kavar. "I'm sorry we didn't have more time," she whispered to the stars.

Reaching the clearing that held the Hawk she slowed her pace and stopped by the waterfall. It was a roaring, silver ribbon that glowed in the moonlight and she found the rushing sound of the water immensely soothing. She knelt by the edge, swirling her hands in the warm pool and raising them to her face. She felt some of the dried blood as it fell away. There was an element of purification in her movements and she found herself standing once again, dropping her belt and outer robes to the ground nearby. Clad in only a thin chemise and underwear she stepped into the pool, sighing blissfully at the water as it enveloped her. She pulled her hair loose and submerged letting it fan out in all directions around her like Wander-kelp. Turning her head towards the sky she re-emerged and opened her eyes.

Something was there, lurking in the darkness.

Launching upwards in the direction of her gear she twisted and landed, grabbing up her silver double-blade and igniting it.

Bao.

Seeing the familiar angles of his face in the glow of her weapon she immediately extinguished it and dropped it back onto of her robes, "Bao!" she hissed, "You scared the hell out of me!"

"I scared you, General?" he asked smoothly in an amused tone, "You're pretty quick on the draw, I didn't know you were there until I saw the blade under my nose."

Her shoulders relaxed and she smiled at him, "Sorry about that."

His eyes ranged over her body, taking in the lack of clothing and the chilled skin and she found herself suddenly shy. He met her eyes, "You really took a beating for us, didn't you?" he asked softly.

Mical's balm had worked wonders, she had the majority of her movement back and most of the dark purple bruising had faded to a sickly green. But the marks were still there, running the length of her arms and legs. She crossed her arms, shivering in the moonlight, "It's not as bad as it looks," she replied softly.

He moved towards her, "You don't look bad to me; I just wish I'd been able to take some of those for you…"

They stood silently for a moment, gazing at each other under the gentle wash of moonlight and stars when he suddenly reached down, untying and removing his boots.
Standing once again he reached to his work coveralls, undoing the snaps and letting them fall.

"Wh…what are you doing?" she asked nervously.

He pulled off his shirt, revealing an immensely powerful chest and she felt her palms begin to sweat. Grabbing her hand he pulled her towards the pool, "Come on," he whispered, "I want to show you something."

He jumped in to his knees and she followed back into the warm water that immediately removed the chill of the night air. He waded directly into the falls and disappeared. She watched for a moment and took a deep breath, following behind.

The water pounded on her shoulders and she felt a strong hand grab her wrist and pull her forward up onto a warm stone floor. Behind the falls lay an immense cavern, tall enough to stand in that retreated into the hill for several feet. It was filled with ghostly silver crystals that seemed to match the pure light of the falls and the moon that lay beyond. They seemed to resonate with a serenity that filled the entire cavern.

"What is this place?" she asked breathlessly.

"I'm not sure," he replied, "I discovered it when we first landed on Dxun, the crystals here have some remarkable properties. Touch one."

She leaned forwards, gently running her hand along the closest crystal. It emitted a soft, low humming sound, beautiful and delicate so she moved to the next. As soon as her contact with the first crystal was removed it ceased to resonate but the new one began, slightly higher this time.

"This is amazing," she whispered.

"Try to take it," he replied, his voice carrying an undertone of amusement.

She tried to snap it off but it wouldn't come. She pulled and tugged eventually trying with all of her strength but it wouldn't budge.

He laughed lowly at her, "I guess that one wasn't meant for you, just try touching one you like."

She gazed around the cavern taking in the various shapes and sizes of the crystals and running her hands over them. She spotted a smaller crystal, almost perfectly sized for her lightsaber that continually drew her eye. She reached upwards to the corner it was tucked into and its resonance seemed to echo in her very core. It fell away from the wall and into her hand. She turned towards Bao, flushed with glee and smiling in the pale light, "I think this one may want to go with me," she said.

Her enthusiasm was intoxicating to him, "You may be right," he replied softly, opening a small compartment on his arm, "You can store it in here if you like."

She moved towards him and placed it inside, "You really have made some interesting changes with this limb, haven't you?" she said.

"It's not just for show," he said, smiling softly at her.

She met his dark brown eyes with her own, matching his tender expression, "Thank-you for showing me this Bao…thank-you for everything today…" she whispered, reaching up to run her fingertips along his tattoos, "I really do wish I could remember our time together before all of this…I'm sorry that you seem to know me so well and everything is so new to me…"

He slid his arms gently around her waist, tilting his head towards her, "Don't worry about it," he said, "The Mandalorian Wars were filled with death, destruction and misery. I feel like I've only truly gotten to know you since Telos. Certainly, this is a bit more intimate than any time I spent with my general back then."

She smiled at the mirth that reflected in his dark eyes, "I did wonder," she said, "You know, you really don't have to call me General anymore…"

"I never really have," he murmured, lowering his lips to hers. His kiss was gentle and achingly sweet at first but deepened passionately as she responded. She wrapped her arms around his neck, intoxicated by his vaguely spicy taste and the warm scent of his skin. Running her hands up along his neck she thrust her fingers in between the base of his horns, gently curling her fingers back and forth. He made a guttural noise in the back of his throat and lowered her gently to the warm stone floor of the cavern. In a moment he had disposed of the little clothing that she wore and his own. The pale light washed over his body and she stared hungrily at the sight of the raw power that it exuded. He took time to kiss every bruise, every scar that she had taken away from battle; his lips were like a brand on her cool skin. Her legs began to tremble violently with desire and he raised his head, meeting her eyes.

"Please…" she begged.

In a moment they were one. He was so careful with her; she could feel the massive amounts of power that he held in restraint, his body thick and warm against her. The crystals in the cave seemed to resonate with their passion, reflecting her soft sighs back in warm vibration. Eventually they reached a fevered pitch as he arched his back and cried out sharply.

They spent the entire night as one, hidden from the demands of the outside world, bodies entwined until the reached near complete exhaustion. With their remaining strength, they rose from where they lay, took a last longing look at the cavern and headed through the falls once more. Grabbing up their clothes they ran towards the Hawk. The Exile laughed wildly at the feel of the night air on her bare skin, she had never felt so free. Fortunately the ship was abandoned so they headed to the Starboard Dorm, collapsing into a warm bunk together with her robes thrown over the sheets for warmth. They fell into a comfortable sleep in one another's arms, free of discomfort, free of misery and free of worry. She had never felt so complete.