After ensuring all occupants were uninjured, Lana surveyed the damage. It was a credit to Koth's skill he'd managed to land at all considering the hit the engine had taken before T7 had managed to shut down the anti-aircraft defenses.

Koth strode up to her. With a gleam in his eye, he said, "That's two more shuttles you owe me."

"What? you didn't even own this one," Lana argued. "It really shouldn't count."

"It was mine when it crashed. It counts," he retorted, not even bothering to hide his smirk.

"If you're expecting compensation other than what you and Lana initially agreed, you may wish to make your tally after we're safe," Nox advised from her perch near the downed shuttle. Her eyes were shut as she reached out with the Force to ensure no one was closing in. "Darth Imperious is not known for his restraint. It is highly likely more ships could be caught in his path."

The Dark Lord merely smirked at his friend's comment. They had teamed up on Corellia, both engaged in open warfare against their former masters and had left a swath of destruction across the planet.

"Same could be said for Aneira," Brooke grunted as she pulled what supplies she could from the ship and handing them off to the Jedi Councelor.

"I hope my gratitude will be enough in lieu of extra compensation," the cathar offered with a smile as he took a med-pack from Brooke. "I'm afraid Jedi aren't known for their wealth."

"Oh… I-I'm not being serious," Koth stammered, thrown by the Jedi's words. "That's just a running joke between me and Lana."

"You have my gratitude all the same, Master Vortena," he replied with a smile.

"Just Koth is fine, Master Jedi."

"Then call me Ace," he returned with a small bow. "I've never been a fan of titles, especially between friends."

"Before you try it with me, just go with Brooke," the Battlemaster offered. "And both you and Lana have my thanks as well for the rescue. It couldn't have been easy to manage."

"Yes, well, the rescue isn't quite over yet," Lana replied. "It wouldn't look to good on my resume if I got you this far only to be captured again."

"Not to mention the others we still need to find," Brooke sighed. "If we can even find them."

"They're out here," Cipher said decisively. "The swamp was where we agreed to meet up, easier to lose a tail here than in the city."

"In that case, all we need to do is follow the trail of destruction the major left," Brooke joked.

"Dax is with her, he would have kept their trail covered," Cipher replied. "If you don't need me for anything else, I can signal them," she offered, looking to Lana. "It will require me to find higher ground to enure it reaches them."

"Go ahead, but stay close," her former boss ordered. Cipher simply nodded before slipping away.

"Interruption: My scanners have picked up a large metallic object nearby," HK announced. "Analysis suggests a technological construct, but scans indicate no energy readings."

"Worth investigating," Brooke shrugged.

"Most certainly has a better chance of flying than our last ship," Darth Nox intoned as she stood.

"Then it's decided," Lana agreed. "The rest of you scout a head with HK, Koth and I will cover our tracks."

"I'll scavenge you bury" Koth offered.

"Just like Arron Prime," Lana smirked as she went to work.

By the time they'd found the ship on HK's sensors, Koth and Lana had joined the group.

"Well, it's certainly big," Brooke offered, not sure what to say.

"I was hoping you'd find us something we could use to escape, not an antique," Koth groused.

"Observations: Visible design elements do not match any from Zakuulan culture. Antique or modern."

"Not from Zakuul," Koth said to himself, "could it be…?" He broke away from the group to explore inside while Lana shook her head at him.

"He doesn't overthink things," Lana commented with a wry grin.

"Warning: My scans are picking up multiple indigenous lifeforms inside the vessel. Recommendation: It may be wise to…"

A yelp from inside the ship followed by blaster fire cut off what HK was about to say. The group rushed in, finding him not far from the entrance surrounded by wingmaws. They were easily dispatched, Koth giving Lana a sheepish smile and conceding, "Ok, not my smartest move."

"A pattern I've noticed," Lana replied with a smile.

"You mean like busting into the Spire just to free 4 prisoners," he asked with a smirk, putting a hand gently on the small of her back.

"Precisely," Lana agreed, humor suddenly gone. She intentionally put distance between them, ignoring the hurt look he quickly buried and Nox's observant gaze. "What exactly makes this ship so important."

"If we find a working console, I can tell you," he muttered as they made their way through the ship. A few corridors down they found a central room that looked like a lounge or galley. Finding a condole with emergency power, he tapped away, looking for information.

"Hot damn," he exclaimed excitedly, "I was right! Do you know what this ship is?"

"Very large," Brooke guessed.

"This is the Gravestone! The only ship to go up against the Eternal Fleet and win!"

"If that's true, why is the fleet still around," Darth Nox asked.

"The fleet pre-dates Valkorian," Koth explained. "No one knows exactly where they came from and each story is crazier than the last, but all stories have a common theme: One ship took it on, and after it was subdued, it disappeared. Don't you see? It's destiny!"

"It's certainly no coincidence, but destiny? No, I think there's something else going on here," Lana replied enigmatically, looking off into space.

"Something wrong," Brooke asked. She knew Lana had a strong connection to the Force and knew better than to question her intuition.

"Not wrong, per se. Something is... off, but I can't be sure what," Lana clarified although clearly uneasy. "We best no let our guard down. This ship needs to be airborne sooner rather than later and we'll need supplies if we're to make that happen."

"Warning," HK's interrupted, "hostile forces approaching. Addendum: They are not local wildlife." They all rushed to the entrance of the ship to see a Zakuulan patrol of a dozen knights, weapons drawn.

"Alert High Justice Vaylin, we've found them," the knight captain ordered as they got close.

"Communications are still jammed," one of his men replied.

"Keep trying," he snapped before turning to the group. "Stand down criminals, there will be no escaping from your crimes."

"'Fraid we can't do that," Koth replied as he unholstered his blaster pistol, "but thanks for asking first."

"You had your chance! Knights, attack!"

"Captain," a voice gasped out before anyone could answer. All eyes turned to see him stabbed from behind by another knight.

"What is the meaning of this," the knight captain thundered.

The large knight shoved the dying man off his weapon before removing his helmet revealing a Chiss male.

"You really need to improve your infiltration counter measures, some of the worst I've seen," Dax answered, sounding bored.

"In the name of Emperor Arcann, I demand you surrender," the knight captain ordered, voice starting to betray his nerves. "There are fifty more of us all with signaling distance."

"Too bad for you we're jamming your signals then, isn't it," Dax replied eyebrow raised.

"And really, it was closer to 25," a woman in a knight's uniform said, stepping next to Dax. Lana immediately recognized it as Maj. Horner. "Is it a guy thing to exaggerate this badly? Claiming how much you can lift, how well you can shoot," she asked ticking the points off each finger before bringing her hand up and pinching her fingers together, "insistent that this is 12 inches…?"

"Where do you think we got these uniforms," Dax asked the dumbfounded captain. "The ones we stole when we escaped the Spire didn't last long in this swamp."

"The might of Zakuul will rain down on you," the captain spat indignantly. "With the beacon the other patrol placed…"

"Zero for three," Dax sighed the major held up what Lana assumed to be the beacon the knight was referring too. "We were able to jam it long enough to disable it before it was able to transmit anything."

"They get points for trying though," Maj. Horner continued. "Their group leader even cost me the desert from MRE's we lifted off your boys. Dax was convinced he'd make it 100 meters before the bog wings would get him, but I didn't think he'd even make it 50. He proved me wrong, though," she huffed. "Guess with the right motivation even your people really can get something done. Not that it did him any good in the end."

"What…" he stammered.

"If it makes you feel any better, the last thing he and his men did in this life was to help local wildlife by serving as a food source," she offered mockingly.

"The swamp's wildlife doesn't go after dead prey," one of the knights stammered.

"I never said we killed them first," she pointed out.

"Bitch," the captain roared before lunging to attack the major. He never got the chance, the sniper shot taking him out before he even got close.

Confusion seemed to reign for the Zakuulan troops between the two infiltrators and the sniper shots coming from somewhere in the distance. With the group from the shuttle joining in, it wasn't long before they quickly put down the knights.

"Any injuries," Master Kor called out once the last knight had fallen. He had been a respected diplomat, but before that he made a name for himself as a gifted healer.

"I think I reopened something," Major Horner panted, muffled by the helmet she wore. She was breathing heavy and had dropped to one knee while she clutched her right side.

"The major has several injuries that should be looked at if there are none that need your immediate attention," Dax clarified.

"I told you, Hunter, I'm fine," she huffed in response. "Just reopened this thing on my side."

"Stubbornness will not stop an infection," he said in response before turning to the Jedi. "She has several that are at a high risk of infection due to our inability to keep the swamp water out of them, but what concerns me most is her eye."

Lana barely fought the urge to run to her, instead turning and ordering, "Someone get her a med-pack. HK, scout a head, I don't want anyone else finding this spot until we're safely gone from here."

"Enthusiasm: with pleasure!"

Dax had helped the soldier to a nearby rock for her to sit on and was lifting the chest plate over head as Master Kor knelt before her. His eyes were closed as he reached out with the Force to check her injuries. Lana's couldn't tear her gaze away from the gray undershirt she wore and the blood that was slowly staining her lower right abdomen. Cipher 9 returned as the Jedi looked over Maj. Horner's injuries.

"Where have you been," Lana demanded.

"Dax and the major had a secure comm. channel I'm hooked into, it's how they were able to find us," she answered. "I set up the signal jammer they referred to. I was also able to track this patrol and alerted them that they were closing in on you. After that, I believed my best use was to snipe them off from my position. How is she," she asked, her voice softening as she looked over at Kor and Horner. "I hope her eye is all right. We really did try our best, but I was limited in what I could do."

Lana's eyes snapped to her face seeing dried blood on her left cheek below a strip of cloth wrapped around her head at an angle to cover her injured eye.

"What happened," the Sith demanded before she could stop herself.

"Zakuulan discipline," was the major's only response as she stared into space.

"I'm afraid I need a few more details to properly treat you," Master Kor said gently as he removed her bandages.

"Knife wound," Dax answered when Aneira remained silent. He was acting unusually protective of her. "It was an emotional response on Tanek's part when his usual methods were not getting a reaction out of the major."

Lana turned her back on them, trying to control her stronger emotions. She distracted herself by working with Brooke to assign tasks. If this patrol had found them, more would quickly follow and she had no desire to become a Zakuulan POW.

By the time she finished, Maj. Horner was standing, face cleaned of blood and a new patch to protect her injured eye.

"Anything else," she asked Master Kor as she grabbed one of the fallen knight's shields and secured it to her back.

"Medically speaking, nothing you don't already know," he answered. Thinking it over, he took a risk and added, "As for your emotions, I'd advise you control your more volatile ones before you do something you regret. Jedi are not the only ones capable of inflicting pain and suffering to innocents, and your actions with the Zakuulan troops are troubling."

"Fuck your platitudes," she snarled, facing him. Lana had never felt such anger projected from her before, and even Brooke who was standing some distance away from turned to face her. "And fuck your useless code! You have no idea what I've endured these past 5 years and I'll be damned if I let some dress wearing force flinger lecture me. Now if there's nothing else, we need to get moving, since there is no way I'm ever going back to the Spire unless it's to gut Vaylin or that despot Arcann."

She pushed passed him, looking as if she were trying to calm herself down.

"Not all of us slept these last 5 years away," Dax said to Master Kor. Although his voice was calm, there was an underlying threat in the glare he gave the Jedi as he towered over him. "You will do well to remember that the next time you talk to her." He waited for Kor to nod in acquiescence before turning to Koth. "You," the bounty hunter said, pointing to him, "we heard talk over the comm. you're looking for supplies."

"Yes…"

"There's a couple promising drops we've found during out time here. The major will take you to them, should have everything you need."

The trooper raised her eyebrow in response, clearly not happy with the task, but nodded all the same.

"I'll join you," Kor volunteered, "to ensure the major does not reinjure herself should we run into trouble."

Dax walked over and spoke quietly with Horner while Koth and Kor made sure they had everything they needed. The bounty hunter stepped away as the Jedi approached, still waiting on Koth. Lana tried to make eye contact with Aneira, this being the first time they'd seen each other in person since Ziost. When their eyes finally met, the major did not smile, but her face relaxed slightly as she nodded at Lana before turning around and checking her blaster rifle.

"I thought you said she was the level headed one," Koth asked as he appeared at her side.

"A lot can happen in 5 years," Lana sighed as he joined his group and they headed out.