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Sacreum Nova: Sorry about leaving you hanging, I'm doing my best to churn out the chapters but life is starting to get in the way. Please forgive me if I leave you hanging in the future, I will do my best not to. :)

Ciao!

Chapter 5

The Forrests of Shili

Arsenal dodged out of the path of the commando droid, swinging her blaster around and opening fire as soon as it was in her sights. The droid fell to the ground, a smoking hole where its head used to be.

Sladner snarled and raised his own blaster, aiming for the spot in between the plates on her back, he fired once but missed when Arsenal suddenly moved. He cursed and fired again before starting forward, determined to end her once and for all.

Arsenal grunted as a blasterbolt hit the back of her right shoulder plate and turned just in time to have the blaster torn from her hands by a second bolt. Turning to look she saw Sladner making his way towards her She cursed and threw the ruined weapon to the side drawing both of her vibroblades and dropping into an fighting stance.

"If it's a fight you want then it's a fight you'll get," she snarled and charged. Sladner threw aside his own blaster and drew a vibrosword from a sheath strapped to his back.

Sladner raised the blade and swung it down towards her head. Arsenal dodged and swung her left hand blade towards his gut. Sladner parried, diverted it to the side before sweeping his own blade towards her legs.

Arsenal jumped over the blade, before her feet touched the ground she was forced to duck as Sladner swung a fist at her head, only inches from her face. Before he could retract his arm Arsenal slashed her right hand blade across his wrist. Sladner roared in pain and recoiled, he looked at his arm and then at her, pure hate in his eyes.

"You'll pay for that," he growled.

"You deserve a lot more than a cut wrist, you murdered my father and brother, and now you're going to pay!" Arsenal yelled and charged again, twisting her body and delivering a solid kick to his abdomen. It was then that she realized her mistake.

Sladner was wearing armor over his gut. As her foot came into contact with his gut she felt the jarring sensation that flew up her leg. She tried to turn back to face him but was cut short as Sladner slammed the hilt of his sword into her head sending her sprawling and knocking her helmet off.

"You should know better than to mess with a Devaronian, Darlin', any last words?" he asked, the malicious intent evident in his voice. Arsenal tried to stand but fell back to the ground, the world swimming around her.

"Yeah, I just want you to know that I'm going to kill you slowly, make you suffer just as I have suffered over the past five years." Sladner just laughed.

"Prepare to join your father and brother in the afterlife." He raised his blade above his head and was about to bring it slamming down when a flash of fur followed by another jumped towards him. He yelled in pain as the Anubas bit and clawed at him. Arsenal, realizing that Nolan and Ves had engaged Sladner, got shakily to her feet and approached them.

"Shukur!" She shouted and the Anubas immediately broke off their attack and came to stand by her, still growling at Sladner as he turned to face her, blood dripping down his face from three large claw marks across his face.

Bloodbath and Des ran to stand behind her and had started raising their weapons when Arsenal help up a hand. "He's mine," she said and started forward.

Sladner swung his blade at her again and she parried, using the flats of her blades to catch it and divert it to the right. She reversed the grip on her right hand blade and slashed at Sladner, who quickly jumped back to avoid what could have been a deadly cut to his femoral artery.

He swung a backhand at her, catching her across her face and breaking her nose. Nolan and Ves started to whine and then growl as Arsenal wiped the blood from her face.

She was about to charge again when she heard the distinct sound of a gunship approaching fast. Then the ground around Sladner was filled with blaster fire as the gunship began its descent, and, like he did every time the odds were not in his favor, he turned and ran.

"NO!" Arsenal yelled, and started after him. "You cannot run forever you hut'uun!" She felt someone grab her and she fought, trying to get free to kill Sladner.

"Arsenal!" Bloodbath said. "We can catch him some other time, right now Rever needs help." Arsenal stopped struggling and turned to looked at Bloodbath. She slowly nodded and was about to turn towards the gunship when something flashed in the corner of her eye, then she and Bloodbath were violently thrown to the forrest floor by an overwhelming force that was soon followed by a howl of pain.

Arsenal turned an the sight that met her eyes made her blood run cold. Ves was lying on the ground with a knife sticking out of his side. He tried to stand, but fell back down again as his legs failed him, whimpering in pain as the ground turned red beneath him.

"Ves!" She cried and, twisting out of Bloodbath's grip, ran over and fell to her knees beside the Anuba. She scanned the forrest around them and saw Sladner scowling before he turned and ran deeper into the forrest. She knew what had happened, Sladner, in a final attempt to be rid of her, drew a throwing knife and launched it at her; but Ves saw the projectile and knocked Arsenal and Bloodbath out of its path, the blade plunging deep into his own body.

Bloodbath came and knelt down next to her. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"He's not dead yet," Arsenal stated. "Bring a stretcher," she ordered. Bloodbath immediately ran to the gunship and, returning with a stretcher, helped Arsenal lift the injured Anuba onto it.

They headed towards the gunship with Nolan following behind, the other Anuba whining softly at the plight of his sibling. They boarded the gunship, positioning Ves's stretcher next to Rever's.

Arsenal turned to face Des. "How's Rever doing?" She asked after a moment of silence. Des looked grim which meant that things must really be bad, because Des almost never showed his emotions publicly.

"Ramik did an emergency transfusion, but it's too soon to tell, the damage was massive; we don't know if he's going to make it," he said.

Arsenal nodded, coming to stand beside Rever, she hesitated a moment before taking his hand. "I know we got off to a rocky start, but I hope that, someday, we can be friends," she said. Then, releasing his hand, went to stand beside Ves. As she stood there she prayed that neither of them would die.

When they returned to the command center Rever and Ves were immediately rushed into surgery by Ramik and two other medics, leaving the rest of them waiting outside the med tent. The rest of Canon Squad had to attend a debriefing, so it was just Arsenal and Nolan waiting.

Two hours later Canon Squad returned, the General Arcus accompanying them. "How's it going?" Bloodbath asked. Arsenal shook her head. "They're still operating," she said, the weariness evident in her voice.

Arcus came to stand next to her and placed a supportive hand on her shoulder. "Everything will be alright, Rever and Ves are both very strong, they'll pull through," he said before going to sit on the bench next to her.

Arsenal nodded absently, thoughts running wild through her head. The hours passed and they still were not finished. Bloodbath had left returning a short time later with ration bars. He handed one to each of them, but Arsenal was too numb to eat. When it reached hour number six Arsenal lost it and walked off towards the machine tent, filling the air with the sound of tools being thrown and machinery being smashed.

The racket created by Arsenal's wrath startled Arcus from a light slumber. He jumped to his feet, drawing one of his his lightsabers. His eyes swung to Des as the commando spoke. "Nothing's wrong, Sir, Arsenal's just blowing off some steam." Arcus nodded and deactivated the lightsaber before replacing it on his belt and sitting back down. Des allowed Arsenal continued to destroy things for a few minutes before he went after her.

He found her standing among a mess of wires and electronic parts, completely motionless. She must have heard him coming up behind her because it wasn't long before she spoke.

"Why did this happen? I've already lost my father and brother to that monster, will I have to lose Ves too? She asked.

"I don't know," he answered. "All I can say is that I sympathise with you, Rever and I have known each other since our basic training. But I also know that it's even worse for Bloodbath because he and Rever are brothers by choice, he tries not to show it, but he is afraid that he'll lose Rever."

"I am sorry that Rever got hurt, I really am, but it's nothing compared to what I've lost. My mother was killed by a bounty of hers when they blew up her ship, and I lost my father, Nolan, when Sladner detonated a bomb in his face; his femoral artery was severed and he bled out.

"But the worst was when my brother Ves died, after Buir died I became angry and went after Sladner even when Ves told me we had to stay together; but I didn't listen, Sladner got a hold of me, breaking my arm, and Ves tried to come to my rescue. Sladner broke his neck," Arsenal paused a moment before continuing.

"I returned to Mandalore and buried them next to my mother, it was there that I made a vow to avenge them. I've come close several times, but he has always managed to elude me. Now he seeks to take the life of another that I hold dear," she finished.

Des, waiting patiently for Arsenal to finish speaking said nothing, instead he turned her around and pulled her into an embrace. At first she stiffened, but then the tension left her and she hugged him back.

"I promise that we will bring Sladner to justice, not just for your family but for Rever too," he said and released Arsenal. She stared at him for a moment before asking, "Why are you willing to do that? We've only known each other for two days," she said.

"Because it's what friends do," he said.

"Well then," she said. "I think it's time we reintroduce ourselves, my name is Solus." She held out a hand and Des took it. "Des," he said. And the two of them turned and walked back to the med tent.

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