Kadira stepped cautiously out of the Vanguard, her helmet firmly in place. She continuously scanned the information her HUD provided, wondering what exactly they were doing on a planet like Dantooine. It was small and quiet, with nothing that explained why the Empire wanted Zul so badly or why he had asked to be dropped here.
Kadira found the planet's stillness even more suspicious than the noise and roar of Nar Shadaa, which was known for its criminal activity. She kept expecting someone to ambush them any moment and kept her hand resting casually on her scout pistol for safety's sake. Kadira smiled wryly inside her helmet, realizing she was becoming as paranoid as Ran. Apparently it was a side effect of having the Empire on your back.
She turned to face Zul, studying him quietly as she tried to discover what all this was about. The zabrak had given nothing away on the flight to Dantooine, easily dodging Kadira's questions.
"I'm still not going to explain," Zul said with a grin, looking straight into Kadira's expressionless visor.
Kadira sighed and craned her neck backwards to look up at the sky. "What is it with men and secrets?" she mused, but her voice was light. Looking back to the Zabrak, she tilted her head slightly. "Keep your head down, Zul," she said, her voice suddenly serious. "Something tells me the Empire is going to be after you with a vengeance now that you've slipped through their fingers. If you ever need anything, you know how to reach Cityboy, and he has no problems dragging me off on his adventures."
Zul smiled, looking between the two. "I'll keep the offer in mind. But something tells me you two are going to have your hands full now. Watch your own backs for a while, the galaxy will survive without your rescues for a few months. It might be best to let things die down for a while."
Kadira glanced at Ran, who smiled grimly. His thoughts were obviously on Alaida Dain and Coorta Mashiri. "I think you may be right, my friend," he said soberly.
Zul nodded and shook hands with the two before disappearing into the thick grass of Dantooine, lost from sight almost instantly. Kadira kept her gaze fixed on the lifescan readout in her HUD until he disappeared even from that.
"…You're not going to tell me what's here, are you?" Kadira asked finally, earning a chuckle from Ran.
"You're starting to figure this out, Kadira," he observed dryly.
Kadira sighed, not really expecting any other answer. "Fine, keep your secrets. Laniff said he'll meet us at the fueling station, so we'd better get going if we don't want a lecture on how long we took."
"That move's illegal," Kadira pointed out, leaning back in her chair and running her hands through her hair.
"Like you're one to complain about legal versus illegal," Ran retorted, continuing to make his move on the dejarik board.
Kadira tilted her head in acknowledgement of the point, studying the holographic board with a furrowed brow. She had a feeling this was not a game she was going to win. Everywhere she looked, Ran seemed to have a countermove set up.
"Sithspit," she muttered, leaning forward to study the board with narrowed eyes. Why did she have to insist on this game? She should have known by now that Ran excelled at strategy.
"I told you it should have been a blaster contest," Laniff commented from the other side of the room. He was leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed and his feet propped up on one of the small tables. He had left the Revenge in the hands of a trusted mechanic, not wanting to risk flying the ship to Mandalore until it had been thoroughly checked for traps. He didn't relish the idea of giving Coorta the last laugh by blowing him up when he tried to activate the shields or some other function.
Ran smiled slightly and leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest smugly. His eyes traveled over Kadira's face, stopping on the burn scar he had noticed so often in the past. She had been going without her helmet while on the Vanguard, seemingly comfortable enough with Ran to let him see her without the t-visor helmet. She had even shed some of the heavier pieces of her armor, allowing her to scrutinize the scratches left in the metal by her close encounter with the zakkeg.
"I got it in the Corellian SpecOps," Kadira said, absently touching the scar and causing Ran's eyes to snap to hers in surprise. Kadira smiled slightly. "You've been staring at it off and on for the past few days," she said wryly.
"Am I allowed to ask how it happened?" Ran asked, lifting one brow inquisitively.
Laniff opened one eye to look at the two curiously. He had been wondering how long it would take Ran to ask about the scar.
Kadira shrugged and leaned back, stretching her shoulders out but keeping her gaze fixed firmly on the dejarik board, still trying to find a safe move. "Like I said, it was back when I was in the SpecOps. I worked with a partner then. We were in the middle of a raid when things went wrong. The whole thing ended up being a setup, and we barely made it out of there alive. Twelve other teams weren't so lucky. If we were smart we would have walked away as soon as we got out, but we were both too stubborn for our own good. We went back in and the whole place was crawling with enemies. We knew there were more teams who had made it to the other side of the place, but it took us what felt like forever to make it there," she said, looking up at Ran. "I still have nightmares about that place. There was almost no cover, with plenty of people trying to stop us from reaching the others. Together we pulled out three teams. My partner and I were about to exit after sweeping the building when some di'kut tossed a plasma grenade in. Neither of us saw it until it was too late. She managed to jump back in time to earn only minor burns, but I was too slow," Kadira gestured to the scar dismissively. "And so I'm left with this and a creepy voice."
"Hey, the creepy voice comes in handy when you wanna scare people," Laniff raised both hands as Kadira lifted one eyebrow at him. "What? I'm just saying. It can be useful when you want to terrify someone."
"Is that how you earned the Bloodstripes?" Ran asked, nodding to the yellow piping sewn to Kadira's pant legs.
Kadira nodded, looking back to the dejarik board and making a small move. "My partner and I both earned them. Last I heard, she was training new recruits. They all idolize her."
"And you?" Laniff asked, suddenly curious. He'd never heard this part of the story. "How come you didn't get a training job?"
Kadira smiled slightly. "You have to be able to yell at recruits. It's a good day when I can talk at a normal speaking level. Yelling at some di'kut newbie isn't really an option."
Ran narrowed his eyes, studying her closely.
"What's the Mandalorian word for 'hero'?" he asked finally.
Laniff answered before Kadira got the chance, closing his eyes once more.
"We don't have one. Coward, idiot, lazy… we have words for those. Lots of words, actually. But to be courageous is expected of a Mando," he lifted one shoulder in a shrug. "Anything else is unacceptable. Only cowards and idiots get a special name."
Kadira frowned suddenly, sitting up straight and tilting her head to the side. "Do you hear that?"
Ran frowned, hearing the low beeping noise coming from nearby. "Is that one of your alerts?" he asked, but Kadira shook her head slowly. The sound was different, more muffled than any that would come from her ship's systems. Laniff also got to his feet, his eyebrows pulled into a worried frown. He pulled his helmet over his head, running a scan with his HUD. Ran glanced at Kadira, who was still shaking her head.
"It's not one of my alarms," she said slowly. "It almost sounds like-"
A sudden explosion cut her off, lighting up the rec room with a blinding flash. Laniff slammed into Ran, knocking him aside as Kadira was thrown backwards into the durasteel wall of the ship. Her last thought was gratitude for the beskar'gam pieces she still wore before her head snapped backwards, striking the wall hard and sending blackness crashing over her.
Kadira regained consciousness slowly, the shrill sound of multiple alarms doing nothing for the sharp pain in her head. Her vision swam, rendering her surroundings a gray blur that made her head ache all the more. She coughed hoarsely as her lungs informed her of the smoke and grit in the air, making breathing difficult. Reaching one hand shakily to her forehead she flinched as the pain in her head intensified. She brought her gloved hand before her eyes, finding the cloth sticky with blood from the gash that split her eyebrow. She dropped her hand back to the ground, trying to force her vision to stop spinning as she blinked to try to clear the blood from her eyes.
When she was finally able to see more than a few inches in front of her, Kadira took a slow breath, wincing at the acrid taste of smoke in her mouth. She could feel something heavy pinning her to the ground. Her best guess was that it was the dejarik board. It was the only thinking karking heavy enough to keep her from moving even so much as an inch. Sharp pain exploded through her body when she tried to wiggle free, forcing her to stop and try to push back the blackness at the edges of her vision. She caught sight of Laniff's armored form a few feet away. His helmet had taken the worst of the blast, leaving his faceplate cracked. The left side of his body was pinned solidly to the floor, his pistol just out of reach. He was trying to work his way out from under the debris, with minimal success.
A pair of black boots stopped just within Kadira's vision, blocking her view of Laniff as their owner knelt down to stare into Kadira's face. Kadira jerked back violently, reaching for the pistol that was normally holstered at her waist, forgetting to move slowly. A pained groan was torn from her lips as her body protested even that movement as she fought to reach her weapon.
Alaida Dain laughed softly, shaking her head as Kadira's hand met only air. "Now, is that any way to greet an old friend?" she asked, her voice dripping with smug satisfaction as she dangled Kadira's pistol from her fingertips.
"Demagolka," Kadira spat as she glanced around the room in search of Ran.
"Scorlo is gone," Alaida said, some of the satisfaction leaking out of her voice as she rose to her feet. She looked down at Kadira. "And I don't think I want to ask what 'demagolka' means. "
"It means you're a monster, roughly translated," Laniff's pained voice provided, the words gravelly through his vocoder. A sharp crack followed by a grunt of pain made Kadira wince in sympathy.
"Get these two onto my ship," Alaida ordered briskly, waving two stormtroopers forward. "Remove their armor and any weapons you find."
"Coward," Laniff muttered in Basic, apparently wanting Alaida to know exactly what he said. Another grunt followed the statement as one of the stormtroopers drove a booted foot into Laniff's side.
Kadira felt the weight lifted off her and her world spun as one of the stormtroopers hauled her to her feet. Kadira slammed her elbow backwards into the trooper's stomach and would have followed it up with a second attack, but blackness swarmed her vision at the sudden movement and she stopped, struggling just to breathe.
Ran, I hope you got out of here, she thought grimly, lifting her head to glance around the ruined rec room. Her gaze locked onto a figure in the corner, clad in gold armor. She felt herself stiffen as Coorta removed her helmet, meeting Kadira's dark look with a slow smile.
So much for not being taken alive.
A/N: Thoughts? I really really do love reviews, and I swear I don't bite. :)
Book 3 is in the works, so stay tuned ;)