The small group made their way through the streets of Iziz with minimal incidents. Every so often they had to veer off course to avoid an Imperial patrol. The times they were unable to dodge the stormtroopers Laniff's armor came in handy as the stormtroopers simply nodded and waved them on. None seemed inclined to inquire about Kadira, and Zul was careful to stay in the shadows lest he be recognized.
When they at last reached the Vanguard, Laniff collapsed into a chair and removed his helmet with a sigh of relief.
"Praise the Force, I can see again," Laniff quipped, tossing the stormtrooper helmet aside. "Tell me, how in the galaxy has the Empire survived with soldiers who can't see a blasted thing? I'm surprised more of them haven't fallen off a cliff with the visibility that thing offers." He gestured vaguely to the discarded helmet, leaning his head back curiously as Ran entered the room. Seeing who it was, Laniff blew out a breath and closed his eyes dismissively.
"Glad you all made it back in one piece," Ran observed, smiling wryly as he glanced over each of them. Seeing Zul, he stepped forward and held out his hand. "You must be Zul."
"A safe assumption," Zul said, rising to his feet with a slight smile. "I'm assuming you're Ran Scorlo."
Ran nodded. "Kadira mentioned you need to get to Dxun."
"There's information stored there I can't afford to leave," Zul confirmed.
Kadira and Laniff exchanged a glance before looking to Ran.
"You should know that Dxun's jungles are worse than Onderon's. Lots of big, nasty beasties," Laniff said finally. Seeing Ran's lifted eyebrow, Laniff shrugged one shoulder. "We've done a few training missions there. And before you ask, no, they weren't really legal either."
"It technically still belongs to Mandalore," Kadira explained, tying her hair back once more. "We won it back in the Mandalorian wars. We tried to take Onderon, but that didn't work out so well."
"So that's the reason for all the dirty looks you two were getting in the streets," Ran observed with a slow smile. "I was wondering what they had against Mandalorians. Seems like a long time to hold a grudge."
Kadira grinned. "You obviously haven't seen how long we Mandos can hold a grudge. Either way, Dxun is going to require that we all be in the field. So no more hiding out in my ship."
Dxun was only a short flight away, barely giving Laniff time to change back into his red and orange armor before they landed. As they waited for Ran and Zul to finish planning out their route, Kadira and Laniff checked each other's equipment.
"Jetpack holding up?" Laniff asked, pounding on it once to be sure nothing sounded loose.
"Seems to be," Kadira answered. They turned as Ran and Zul entered the room. "We have a plan?"
Ran nodded. "I'm staying with Zul. He's going to need a slicer to help him get into the bunker his data is stored in. Kadira, you and Laniff will follow behind. I want both of you scanning for Coorta. I have a feeling she'll try to make her move here. There's plenty of cover, and from what I understand there's more than a few critters here who would like to make a meal out of us. Your job is to keep Coorta off our tail and to keep us from getting eaten."
"Please say you're at least bringing a blaster this time?" Kadira asked, settling her helmet in place.
Ran chuckled softly. "I'm bringing a blaster, don't worry. Your job is to make sure I don't have to use it."
Kadira's HUD flickered to life, flooding her senses with data. A flashing image in the corner of her screen made her grimace. "Looks like you were right, Ran. A ship just landed about seven kilometers away, my guess is it's Coorta. Shall we get moving? I really don't want her to find us all bunched up here."
The three made their way out of the ship, with Kadira closing the ramp behind them. She smiled grimly as she looked up at the Vanguard. Coorta would have a few surprises if she tried to break in again. Laniff nodded in Kadira's direction and the two split off, keeping each other within range of their HUDs. Laniff's status was constantly displayed in Kadira's HUD and vice versa, as well as his distance and relative location to her. Both Ran and Zul had tracing beacons on them, calibrated so both Kadira and Laniff would be able to keep track of them.
::Ok, we're going to move and move fast,:: Ran's voice came over the comm. ::Try to keep up, you two.::
::Try not to trip, Scorlo,:: Laniff retorted.
Kadira kept her rifle at her shoulder in a ready position, keeping her eyes fixed on the faint trail and the details her HUD sent her. After a few minutes of jogging she was beginning to remember how much she had hated the training missions on Dxun.
The sound of blaster fire came from her left and Kadira spun, rifle up.
::Keep going, just a rather determined cannock,:: Laniff informed them. Kadira lowered her rifle and settled back into a steady jog. The jungle on Dxun was even thicker than the one on Onderon, making progress incredibly slow.
::Kadira, you've got something on your tail. My HUD's sensors aren't picking up exactly what it is, but it looks large. I'm coming your way to help you fight off whatever it is. Ran, you and Zul keep moving,:: Laniff spoke. Kadira glanced up to her helmet's 360 view, seeing the life form Laniff was warning her about.
"Laniff. Don't come this way. Repeat, do not come this way!" she spoke urgently, glancing up at the sheer rock wall to her right. "The thing behind me is a zakkeg. Stay on Ran and Zul."
She could now see a full thermal image of the beast in her HUD. It was large and heavy, with a strong tail and and multiple knobby growths on its body that acted as a defense. She knew from experience that it was red, with thick leathery skin that had been compared to durasteel plating. It just so happened to be the alpha species on Dxun.
"Shab, why do I always get the nasty crits?" she grumbled, snapping the anti-armor attachment onto her rifle. The beast crashed through the jungle's foliage, stopping and lowering its massive head to study her. She could see the spikes around the creature's head which she knew were hard and strong. "Go on, ugly guy," she murmured, circling slowly and trying to get in the creature's blindspot. "Get out of here. I don't have time-"
The sound of a massive explosion cut her short, causing her to swing her rifle around in the direction it had come from. The zakkeg's angry roar warned her that had been a mistake just before it plowed into her, knocking her off her feet and sending her rifle skidding away from her.
Kadira slammed into the rock wall, struggling to free herself as she was pounded against the sharp stone. She could hear the scraping of the stone against her armor even as she pounded her gauntlet clad fist into the zakkeg's nose repeatedly, trying to free herself. The beast was straining against her armor with its teeth, trying to crush the beskar plates and getting even more furious when then metal refused to give. The zakkeg shoved her against the rock even harder, latching its teeth around her upper arm and using its shoulder to keep her pinned. Kadira shouted in frustration and pain as the zakkeg's teeth found their way around one of the armor plates. She managed to twist her other arm over the side of the zakkeg's head, shouting different terms of abuse. She curled her hand into a fist, tripping a trigger with her glove. A small wrist blade shot out of her gauntlet and sliced the skin on the side of the zakkeg's face, doing only minimal damage but causing the creature to rear back in pain and surprise. Kadira took advantage of the distraction and rolled away. Stumbling to her feet, she just barely managed to throw herself to the side in time to avoid being struck by the beast's heavy tail. In the distance, Kadira could hear the sound of creatures crashing through the jungle in fear.
::Kadira? What in the karking galaxy is going on?::
"I'm a little bit busy, Ran!" Kadira snapped in reply.
The zakkeg lowered its head and roared, charging once more. Just before the animal reached her, Kadira slammed the firing button on her jetpack, sending her over the zakkeg's head with a spurt of flame. She came down on the other side of the massive creature, feeling its tail slam into her back and send her stumbling to her knees with a grunt. She glanced up and smiled slightly, seeing her rifle only a few feet to the side. Kadira dove for it, skidding on her stomach to reach it. She brought it to her shoulder as the beast charged again, bellowing angrily. Seeing she wouldn't have time to fire without blowing herself up in the process, Kadira tucked herself into a protective ball around her rifle. The Zakkeg bowled over her, sending Kadira rolling off to the side with a sharp pain in her ribs as the creature's massive feet pounded her armored body. The creature skidded to a halt at the rock face, still bellowing in rage.
Kadira rose gingerly to one knee, pulling the undamaged rifle snugly into her shoulder. When the zakkeg turned to rush her again, Kadira fired off the first anti-armor round, slamming another into the magazine and pulling the trigger a second time. The zakkeg crashed to ground, dead only inches from trampling her for the second time. Kadira lowered the rifle, wincing as she felt her mangled arm twinge in protest. With a low groan, she rose shakily to her feet, unsnapping the anti-armor attachment and clipping it back to her belt.
"Bic ni skana'din," she muttered, glancing at the dead zakkeg. She really was ticked off. "Ran? You probably want to start moving faster. Coorta just set off a massive explosion, and it sounds like most of the local wildlife is headed in our direction," Kadira said, swinging her rifle over her shoulder and beginning to run, ignoring her battered body's protests. She smiled grimly as she heard Laniff cursing in three languages at once.
::Does that chakaaryc ever give up?:: he asked incredulously, his voice labored with the effort of running through a hostile jungle.
"Doesn't look like it," Kadira responded, grimacing as she glanced up at her HUD's scanners. Coorta's explosion had sent a good number of creatures stampeding towards Kadira and the others. "Clever, ge'hutuun. But you're going to have to do better than that," she murmured, picking up her pace once more.
Coorta kept her hand to the side of her helmet, her head tilted as she listened in on the conversation of Ran's crew. She laughed softly as she heard Kadira's insult.
"Oh, I don't care if you respect me, Kadira Sal," she murmured. "And you're the criminal here, not me. But at least now you're playing my game. "
She smiled and slid a vibroblade into her boot before straightening and heading into the jungle. It was time to divide the group. Without his Mandalorian bodyguards Scorla wouldn't stand a chance. Coorta touched two fingers to the dark blue shriek hawk symbol on the shoulder of her armor, smiling slightly.
"Oya."
A/N: Some more action this time :) I'm going to try to put in some more battles, to keep it feeling more 'Mandalorian' :) Thoughts? I love reviews :)