Those eyes of hers were just wide as hell when she crouched to the ground and motioned him down behind her. He gestured Mird to him-silently-and crept closer to her while he cycled through the various scanners and sensor array his buy'ce offered.

N'Dara placed a hand on the ground when he was abreast. "Something's not right."

Nothing was fekking right. Jango had been playing a longer game than any of them could have possibly imagined. And he couldn't swear he'd have attempted to mitigate it if Jaster's protege had clued him in to the plan in the beginning. Getting rid of the mystic mob as retaliation for the outrage of Galidraan? Shab yes. Cloning millions of Mando'ad, only to abandon them to their fates and join the fight on the side of the Seps? That he had a harder time swallowing. And he wished like sweet fek that their Mand'Alor still drew breath to explain the rest of the plan to him.

To say nothing of the fact that his boys... his lads, innocent of the ways of the world... had been left behind to rot here? No. That wasn't right. It was far from it.

He watched, though, as she stared into his faceplate. Defocused while on his alert. Whatever she sensed had her jerking in shock then looking straight down as though trying to assess the horror beneath the hillock.

"Down?" he hummed under his breath, engaged his own depth soundings in the palm of his gauntlet. Was intrigued as the readings came back: the place she'd chosen to attend to the necessities of aruetiii? It just happened to be right over some sort of hollowed out subterranean cove.

"How's your bladder now?" he asked in an undertone with a half-laugh.

"I cannot believe you're laughing."

"See to your business while I pull up what I can."

She brandished that accordion-mini map and raised her brows at him.

"I'd suggest a different set of bushes..."

She was shaking her head when she left him to creep just out of sight for some privacy. Finished up and came back chewing her lip.

"Someone is terrified. Some sentient being is in a really bad way, Walon. I don't think human. I think... I feel so much anger. Betrayal. It's bad."

Fek. A very small break. Somewhere through here he was due a small, tiny, fekking miniscule damned break.

"Not one of ours, though?"

She shook her head sorrowfully. "It almost feels animalistic, so a lifeform with sentience but certainly more savage than I'd expect-"

"Bearing in mind that some of our guys got a little rough around the edges."

"I know the difference. I don't expect you to understand. But... but I just know they're not one of us. There's confusion. And-I hate this so much-fear, but it's protective. And it's angry, the fear. It hates. Deeply. Underneath it is another echo, but I can't tell you what exactly. Almost innocence. Not the same pain, but suffering all the same."

"I've already called in more than a few favors from Enacca here lately."

She nodded her understanding.

"So let's see what we can make of it," he sighed. "See if I can get some more data out of this whole shabla dinii. Then we'll see if it's something we need to take a closer peek at. All right?"

She looked relieved.

Informed him in no uncertain terms just moments later that it wasn't some lower-sapien being held. His heat signature backed up her assessment. Big shable fekker. That's what he was picking up. And a huge mass of life. Life it was, though, and he wasn't going to be able to turn his back on it. Not with those big ole' blues of hers worrying up at him. So he did what any sane man would do when faced with the option of continuing on his stated mission or getting roped into some kind of local terf dispute.

He found the entrance to the underground bunker and went in with intent to give it hot.

.

"There will be no mercy for any who stand against me," Vau warned. "Stay where you are and you get to live long enough to hope your whore-chiefs kill you quickly. Cross me and I won't."

"Let us live?" the bold one challenged. There was no good in giving up. They were dead men if this were revealed to their overlords. Better to fight to the death.

It was a mindset Vau could have respected.

"Won't let us live?"

"Won't kill you quick," Vau corrected.

The table was littered with signs that they'd been doing a little product sampling in addition to repacking and bagging the spice. He'd never known of any stim operations coming out of Kashyyyk but then... drug enforcement wasn't his problem and never had been. He didn't even take bounties to settle disputes between magnates. Not worth it. "How much are you cutting it?" he asked benignly, lifting the transparent permi-clear tubes for examination. The colors shifted, rippled. It was good simulation. Just lacked some of the lustre of the real thing.

What the man's response was to that didn't bear repeating in polite company.

And it offended his partner enough that she sniffed.

"Well, now, that's unfortunate." The heavy beskar of Vau's left gauntlet came around and smashed into the savage's frontal lobe. In the same motion he gripped the back of the pelt running in a modified mohawk from cranium to shoulder crest. Wrenched and dropped him. Regarded the remaining contingent from the menacing blankness of his helm. "So who would be ranking now?"

"Him," N'Dara indicated. No betraying flinch or grimace had come over the captor's expression, but he trusted her. Shot him in the face.

"I want the seal code and I want it now," the armored man demanded.

Finally a weak link. "There-there's not one. Not here. Not that none of us has. We're not to mess with the shaggies, see? We're just to do the blending, pack it up, and bag it nice so they can load it when they come back?"

"When would 'they' be due?"

Now he shook his head. Several of them did. The woman reached to stay his hand.

"Fek!" he hissed, fully audible. Even the Wooks secured to the wall behind the plasma-bars seemed to shrink back from his anger and frustration as he ripped his helm from his head and rounded on N'Dara. "Get top. I've got an idea."

"I'm not leaving you."

"No. But just in case this doesn't work, I want you and Mird up top. If it does work I'm going to need you right back in, full-torch mode."

"What are you going to do?"

He clicked his cheek at her and bounced a small det in his palm. "I'm going to EMP the dar'yaim and see if that doesn't kill the cuffs and collars and restraining bolts together. Helluva lot faster than digging under that gate."

"What about them?" she gestured.

"You want to take one topside and crack a few ribs off for a roast dinner?" he suggested brightly.

From the way she angled her head and then simply turned on her heel, slapping her thigh for the strill to follow, Vau doubted she appreciated his levity. Which was fine because systematic execution wasn't something he saw her wanting to be party to under the best- - correction worst- - of circumstances.

The first of the grove to move when the stun cuffs fell useless didn't seem to have a problem with his methodology. Vau was doubly grateful for the light-footed way they moved free when the lights flickered in the corridor, hinting at N'Dara's return.

"Wait until the lights come up, brother," he requested of the male who moved to hover over one of the captors now lying prone on the dirt floor. The creature must have remarkable night vision. In the pale flashes of light a blade gleamed in his hand.

His reply was a plaintive howl.

"We have errands elsewhere. If you need help-" Vau offered.

He declined the debt be payed with a dressed pelt to adorn his bedchamber or gallery floor. Moving smartly himself he nodded at the two other mature Wookies huddling around their whining and mewling youths. Much petting and thanks came his way as he slid through them to turn N'Dara right back around.

Nothing gained in having to translate that particular conversation...

.

"Can I drop you somewhere?" Vau asked forty-eight sweaty, fruitless hours later. He had a handful of encrypted data and not one clue as to where his man was being held or which unit had retained custody of him.

She stared over at him. Sucked in a deep breath.

"Ju-u-ust. Anywhere, I guess. I don't have an immediate plan. Pick a spaceport. I'll pick up some work and…"

She trailed off.

"Fair enough. I owe you a comm'link anyway. A municipal 'port would have some options there and Jaing should be able to talk me through transferring your stuff."

"I can do it," she told him. Smiled for the first time in hours. "I can do some tech stuff."

He nodded. "Before we jump I want to transmit what we pulled. Just in case something happens."

N'Dara couldn't disagree.

"I wish I could do more. I feel like I'm running out on them."

He pulled her close. "I know it, talyc drayc mureyca. But the truth is there and Enacca's right. We stand out and there's nothing that we can do here except walk the same paths back and forth. So we fall back, see what we can find out. That's a lot of intel to go through. So we dig in, dig deeper, and then we regroup."

"The only thing that's kept me going was getting to them, getting them out."

"And so we will."

"I appreciate… everything, Vau. I can't put into words how much."

"You do okay for a skinny girl with blue hair," he told her. "Maybe send me your measurements and I'll see if there's a beskar-goran who can come up with something appropriately low-tech for you."

She laughed wetly. "I wonder what else we took out, commandeering their comm satellite."

"I figure I'll need to disguise my voice when I have to talk to ground control. Might even have to have it permanently altered."

"Ooo. I did not think of that. And you have such a sexy voice. You should have done audio books and holo-vid voice-overs. If you can keep the sarcasm to a minimum."

"I'll keep it in mind for fallback careers."

"You should make a list." She turned, walked away from him already numbering her suggestions on her fingers. When she got to number four, underwear model made him flush so red that he pulled his bucket back over his head. Camp counsellor or nanny had him wondering if she'd hit her head.

"Absolutely not. This way," he beckoned.

"Why? You raised all those troopers on Kamino. How hard could regular kids be?"

"I could smack the clones around when they irritated me."

"Honestly, a lot of rich people wouldn't care so long as they got perfect little gentlemen back."

"I know. I learned it from my own father."

"Do you want me to kill him for you? I think I'm going to hang my shingle as an assassin-for-hire."

"Sweet Jesu, if you decide to go that route you let me take you on ops and show you the ropes. It's not something you just announce and then advertise."
She took out her busted wrist unit. "Kind of slim on contacts right now anyway."

He grinned wolfishly at her as he lowered the gangway of the shuttle he was using and ushered her onboard. "And now my nefarious plan comes to fruition. You've been lulled into a false sense of security, I'm going to lock you onboard and force you to play pazaak for my entertainment. You can't even call for help."

"I don't have any pazaak cards."

"Neither do I. Not yet anyway. Start a list for next time."

She made use of the refreshers, scrubbed until she was raw and pink. Dried on the soft towels that still had tags on them.

"When did you get this thing?" she asked, coming out with one wrapped turban-style around her hair.

"When I met you? The ink wasn't even dry."

"It's super cute. I don't think I've ever seen an actual cruiser this size. She'll really go into hyperdrive? Safely?"

"So far so good," his droll voice indicated she'd possibly insulted his masculinity. Honestly, though, there were ground speeders bigger. This whole thing would fit in the lounge of the last vessel on which she'd served. Seating for four forward, four racks, 'fresher was small enough she'd touched both walls without fully extending her arms, and the galley was just a short counter with miniature conveniences.

She loved it. Instantly.

"What are you going to call her?"

"Dar Mircin."

"What does that mean?"

She didn't expect him to answer. He never did. He always deflected.

"Say it first… Dar Mircin."

"Dahrrr Meer Sin."

"Less ahr rolling. Dahr. And hard E. Seen."

She rolled her eyes. Tried it again.

"It means I'm coming for the people who try to repress others. It's a warning. A threat and a promise and a purpose."

"And what's the translation?"

"No more prisons," he told her.

"I can't believe anyone ever tried to cage you. Your father must have feared the very fire in your blood to try to repress you. As much as the man who adopted you recognized it and honored it and taught you to hone it."

He swallowed. "That's part of my goal, talyc cyar'ika. I want that understood. What one sees as flawed, the right people will exalt."

"You were lucky, even if you only had him for a few years. You know that?"

"I do. I had some of the best friends a man could possibly beg to serve as mentors. I remember their names daily."

"You don't talk about his wife."

He shook his head. "I can't," he admitted.

"Go soak your head, yeah?" she said softly. "I'm going to try out every mattress in the crew quarters until I find the perfect one."

"They're all the same," he promised her.

"Pfft. Maybe if you're used to sleeping on a steel butt plate you think so. Some of us have more discerning derrieres."

He slapped hers as he scooted past her. Snorted as he bathed off the stress and disappointment. She heard his words and thought he was talking about himself. That was fine. He'd say them often enough that it sunk in. Until she never even needed to know he was talking about her scars, not his, to know that she was more beautiful for them.

The proximity alert woke them both. Her hair hadn't been brushed out and she'd tossed around enough that it freed itself from its bundle.

"We are never going to marry you off looking like that," he told her.

"Every hair on your head is sticking out a different direction," she replied. "And you need a shave."

He made a face. He'd shaven before he laid down. His hand came up anyway.

The pink tongue stuck out. "Made ya look, sweet cheeks."

She slid the band from her wrist and twisted her hair around and up. "I believe that was the softest mattress I've ever laid on."

"You're addled. That's the first upgrade I'm going to make. Where have you been sleeping!?"

"Well, let's see… jedi temple then various posts and billetings as a lowly padawan—so read that to mean a mat on the floor, Vau. I worked for Camas. Then the navy. Some cheap hotels when I was young and adventurous. Most recently? Wherever troopers were laying their heads. On a cot. With bug nets where appropriate." She continued to tick off her fingers. "Wookie hammocks, a fricking prison, then the all-Kashyyk landforms tour with you."

"I hear ya. Stick with me. I'll do you better than the jedi and the navy. Although you can't beat those hammocks, doll face."

"I even wrote it out nice and neat for you," she reminded him.

"Mm hm," he dismissed her. "Means nothing in my language."

"If you name your ship Dara Mirror Seer I'm telling people you named her for me," she grinned in superiority.

"That's not… that's not how you… that's nowhere close." His face fell and he widened his eyes. "I have other options anyway."

"Too late. You already know her by this name."

"I'm going to order Mird to crunch off all your bony bits."

"Come here," she told him, gesturing him downward. She took over trying to reorder his hair. He'd tossed and turned for the first time in his life. "You have the prettiest head of hair I've ever seen on a man."

"Thank you. I grew it myself."

"Sarcasm like that makes me take longer in the fresher," she told him, bolting away and locking the door.

He grimaced and banged on it. "I am going to launch us back into hyperspace and hope you piss all over your socks," he threatened.

The only response he got was a maniacal giggle.

She was only a second and he slipped in after her. Came out still drying his hands. He'd dampened his hair to comb it straight back. So sexy. She wished she knew the word in his language for hot damn.

"Where'd you land us?"

"Anaxes. Seemed a likely spot to figure out what's going on."

"Perfect," she hummed. "I love it."

"Been here?"

"Years ago. They have a base. So there's an underbelly."

"Serving the Grand Republic must be such a delight if the presence of a naval base means there's lowlife."

"Where there are soldiers and sailors there are prostitutes. And gambling. And drinking. And where there's someone to swindle, there's an element who will take advantage."

"Why does that help you?"

"I can pick up a job in a cantina. Don't look like that. I'm not going to be turning tricks."

He let out a long-suffering sigh. "Fine. Just make sure if you get that desperate that you comm me first."

The big blue eyes rolled. "You would be the most insufferable client. I can't imagine trying to make you happy for a living. It would be so distracting to try to seduce somebody while they were keeping up commentary like they're too cool to enjoy it."

He laughed. "Honey, everybody enjoys a good bang. Just mind the new sheets."