Chapter 2

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

Jango Fett was furious with himself. How he'd gotten himself in this mess, he wasn't quite sure. All he knew was that he was going to get out and blast those who thought enslaving a Mandalorian warrior was a good idea, but first he had to survive the fighting pits long enough to take the chance at revenge. The arena walls were high and flickered a red-pink hue of the barrier. He would never be able to get past them without his jetpack. His captors had allowed him a single spear and his armor, though none of his other weapons. The only reason they'd allowed him to keep on his armor was for the effect it would have on their paying customers, the chance at seeing a warrior of Mandalore in the flesh, fighting in battle was a special treat. They made sure that their prisoners only had a sliver of a chance at survival.

Mandalorians were a culture of warriors, they were a people of many species all bound by a common culture, creed and code even though there were an ever-increasing number of different sects of Mandalorians throughout the galaxy.

Little did the slavers know, they had captured the leader, the Mand'alor, of the True Mandalorians and was about to serve him up on a platter for their resident rancor.

The rancor screeched, the sound pierced Jango's ears and he cursed under his breath. Rancors were ugly and only ever thought about killing and eating, and tonight he was on the menu. Jango spun his spear in his hands, he was a man that preferred blasters to melee battle. He would rather keep his enemies at a distance.

The creature lunged for him, swiping its large claws at him. Jango jumped back and dove his spear in a downward arch cutting into the beast's flesh, it let out a cry of pain before swiping its other hand and slamming the Mand'alor against the energy barrier. Jango groaned as the crowd cheered, drinks flew like a river and the shouts of drunken patrons annoyed Jango. He was never one for allowing such a loss of control.

The Mandalorian pushed himself up as the rancor reached for him again, he lunged his spear at its hand again and imbedded it deep into its wrist, he took the creature's moment of pain as an opportunity to race up to the rancor and ripped the spear from its wrist and threw it into its chest. The rancor screamed and howled before ripping the spear out of its chest and crunched the weapon in two.

Jango growled to himself and searched for anything in the arena that would help him survive the next few minutes, but these pit fighters didn't play fair. When you were thrown in the fighting pits, you weren't meant to survive them. In fact, not a single slave had ever made it past their first fight.

Jango grabbed the two broken spear pieces, they were the only thing that might give him a chance at survival but even that was looking slim, the rancor swiped at him and grabbed him in its claws and brought him to its mouth. Jango clenched his teeth before shoving the broken spear into its nostrils, it dropped him immediately. He hit the ground and rolled as the rancor stumbled around trying to rip the spears from its nose. Jango pushed himself to his feet and ran underneath the creature to buy himself some time. He wasn't sure how he was going to get out, but he was a Mandalorian and he wasn't going to die without giving a fight.

The rancor bled heavily from the several wounds across its body, Jango scanned the area and saw a cable that looked to have been severed off and burned hanging near the doors of the arena. A plan formed in his mind and he went with it. He grabbed it and began running circles around the rancor, tangling its legs in a web, then shoved the cut end into the arena door controls. The connecting circuits shot the door's system. Lightning spouted and sent waves of electricity shooting through the cable, electrocuting the rancor trapped in its grasp.

The rancor sputtered and groaned before it toppled over itself as it shook violently as the energy burned through its body until the life in its eyes faded into death.

The crowd went wild, he was sure that might have been the only time a prisoner had survived. He glared up at the announcer's booth. He was sure that's where his former employer, Lancis Frivir would be and he hoped that he was furious. He would rue the day he ever crossed him.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Did I not tell you the might of a Mandalore warrior?!" The announcer exclaimed, the crowd cheered their excitement before the mic screeched, sounding like it was being ripped off the announcer's head when another voice came over.

"You may think you're smart, Fett, but you will die tonight!" Frivir shouted over the speakers.

"I am smart," Jango shot back. "That's why I am the best." He usually wasn't one for snarky comebacks, but he couldn't help himself. When he got out of there, he was going to show that slimy little womp rat exactly why he was the best and why you don't cross a Mandalorian.

Before he had the chance though, electricity erupted from the collar around Jango's neck; he couldn't stop himself from crying out in pain. The electricity dropped him to his knees in seconds, he tried ripping the contraption from his throat, but it was impossible. Even for him. The electricity pulsed through his veins and burned at his fingertips. It caught his breath in his throat and choked him with it. His muscles spasmed with each volt.

The crowd was more than enjoying the show. They didn't care if he died, in fact they seemed to enjoy it more when the prisoner did. Jango was losing consciousness and he knew he was powerless to stop it, the muscle spasms prevented him from doing anything that might have saved him, his stomach churned and he felt like vomiting, he hoped he wouldn't, he still had on his helmet and that would be most unpleasant. He was not the praying sort, but at that moment he prayed for a miracle.

Then, as if his prayers were answered, all the lights in the building shut off. The building was so dark one could hardly see the nose at the end of his face. The crowd voiced their annoyances assuming it was the result of faulty electrical wiring, Frivir growled angrily shouting orders to get the wiring fixed and to do it immediately. He had a Mandalorian to kill after all.

The moment the lights went out, the charges to Jango's slave collar ceased. He gasped for air with a hand on his throat. A being dropped to the ground from the rafters above just a few feet in front of him, immediately his helmet activated its night vision. To his surprise, a small human female stood over him with a hand extended to him. She was young, likely in her late teens-early twenties with long dark hair that cascaded down her back and a thin braid behind her ear.

"Get up, Mandalorian." She ordered. "Now!" She didn't bother waiting for him to take her hand and grabbed his upper arm. Jango could hardly fight her and stumbled to his feet. She threw his arm over her shoulders and wrapped her other arm around his back. The girl was little more than scrawny, and he wasn't sure how she was holding up so much of his weight, he was likely twice her size. Jango quickly decided that following her was a better choice than staying there and getting another dose of shock therapy. She dragged him to the arena wall that once had a barrier around it that now, no longer did. The girl helped him over, his muscles still spasmed and his stomach felt like he'd been hit by a speeder.

"Who are you?" He demanded, his voice was rough, and his helmet gave his voice a droid-like rasp.

The girl hopped the wall after him and held her hand out to him once again, he waved her off after forcing himself to regain his composure. The two ran down a hallway away from the arena just before the lights came back on. There was a howl of anger and suddenly the crowd was screaming and panicking, all trying to get out of the building, sure that they were going to be blown up by the escaped Mandalorian prisoner. Mandalorians were not known for their forgiving nature, if they were to die, they would not pass quietly.

The girl stopped and glanced back towards the chaos behind them before turning to give him a cocky smile, she had the kind of eyes that could pierce your soul. They were crystal blue, lined with black liner and thick lashes. She had the kind of eyes that saw through your soul and knew all your darkest secrets.

"I am your knight in shining armor, My Dear." She taunted with a curtsey before looking around the corner. She waved a hand beckoning him to follow. Jango let out a light growl before following her, they trotted down the hall until they came to the slave quarters. The walls were bare, cracks lined the surfaces. The place was old, dark and smelled like garbage. It was the exact thing you expected when going to a stinkpot shithole of a planet.

"What are you doing?" He demanded again, not at all amused by her sarcasm. He put a hand on the slave collar around his throat and pulled… which did absolutely nothing. The thing wasn't coming off for anything.

"Do you know where they are keeping a prisoner named Jatori?" She asked, distractedly standing on her tiptoes peering through the bars of the door, searching for her target.

"What? No." He growled annoyed. The girl groaned. The sounds of men barking orders came from the arena entrance, both their heads shot towards the ruckus. "Shab." Jango cursed. "They took my weapons; I don't have anything to fight with."

"You're a Mandalorian, aren't you?" She asked, raising an eyebrow as she turned to face the incoming guards. "You are a weapon."

Jango frowned. "We'll ambush them." he whispered, the girl nodded her agreement and pressed her back against the wall. He did the same and they both waited like predators about to catch their prey.

A group of five Nikto guards trotted through the hallway. Just as they were about to pass the prison cells, Jango and Kira sprang into action. Jango rammed his elbow into one of the Nikto's faces as Kira jumped another grabbing hold of his blaster and ripped it from his hands before blasting him in the chest.

Jango quickly snapped the neck of the one he had a hold of and let his body drop, confiscating the blaster. A guard grabbed Kira and slammed her against the wall with his hands around her throat causing her to drop her blaster. She groaned and gripped his hands, trying to rip them from her neck. Jango took on the next one, he had managed to kick the blaster from his hands and shouldered him. To which, Jango headbutted his opponent, everyone within ten feet of him heard the guard's skull split. The last guard jumped Jango trying to help his comrade.

Kira threw her legs up and wrapped them around the Nikto's waist and twisted her hips to throw him off balance. The action caused him to lose his grip on her neck as she took him to the ground and pinned him beneath her. She held her hand out towards Jango's opponent and called his vibroblade on his belt to her, once the hilt hit her hand, she dove it into the Nikto's chest.

Jango was too busy fighting with his opponents to see that act of the Force and was none the wiser to his new ally being a Jedi. He slammed the Nikto against the wall when a blast came from behind him and buried itself in the guard's chest. He slumped forward before Jango released his grip on him and he dropped to the floor, then another blast finished off the remaining guard.

Jango turned to see his Jedi companion pointing a blaster at him, for a fraction of a second, he thought she might betray him until she flipped it to hold the barrel of the blaster in her hand and offered him the handle.

"I need to find Frivir," Jango said, taking the blaster as she reached down and picked up her own. "He's going to die for this." Kira raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips together.

"And I have to find Jatori." She said standing up straight. "And since I rescued you, you're going to help me."

Jango furrowed his brow, who did this girl think she was? Making demands to him? He wondered. "You could have left me to die." He said, holstering the blasters to his thighs.

"I could have," She agreed. "And yet, you're alive because of me. So, the least you can do is nut up and help a girl out. Help me find Jatori and I'll help you take out Frivir." She said with another cocky smile.

"And if I say no?" He asked, raising an eyebrow, though she'd never be able to see it with his face hidden beneath the helmet.

"You won't." She said self-assuredly.

Jango couldn't help but admire her a little. He felt a smile tug at the corner of his lips. "Alright," He said and pointed to his neck where the slave collar remained tightly bound. "Get this off and you have a deal."

That cocky smile returned as she crossed the few feet between them and held her hands out, fingers spread slightly and hovered them over the collar. Jango raised an eyebrow. He wasn't able to get the thing off, he doubted this tiny and arrogant girl would be able to—

The collar clicked.

Then the electrical circuit shorted and sparked slightly before it broke in half and fell from his neck. He felt his mouth drop as his hand rose and rubbed his neck, it was a freeing relief to have that thing off. "…How…?" He began.

The smirk never left Kira's lips as she held her hand out to him. "We have a deal, don't we?" She asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Alright, Kid." Jango said and clasped her tiny hand in his. "We have a deal."

Kira smiled and spun on her heel. "The name is Kira." She said over her shoulder.

"Are you some kind of bounty hunter?" He asked as they returned to the prison cell door, Kira flipped open her belt pouch and pulled out her doorjacker and slammed it in the port.

"Nope." She answered.

"Then why do you need this guy?" Jango asked.

Kira ignored him as she fiddled with the doorjacker until it let out a hiss before opening. "C'mon." She said and went inside, Jango fought the urge to groan and entered after her, staying at the door watching for incoming guards. Behind the door there were cells upon cells filled with disgruntled and unfortunate souls. Kira's cocky grin faded and formed a frown. Jango watched as she went to the first cell where a twi'lek male sat with his head against the wall and his eyes shut tight. "Hey." She whispered and tapped on the wall next to the door. The Twi'lek's eyes opened and raised an eyebrow.

"Who are you?" He asked getting to his feet.

"Doesn't matter." She said and with a wave of her hand over the controls, the door opened just seconds later. "Get out of here, there are dead guards outside the door. Take their weapons and run." She said throwing the blaster she was carrying into his hands and motioned her head towards the door.

"We'll be killed if we try to escape." The twi'lek argued, trying to push the blaster back into her hands.

"And you'll be killed if you don't." Kira argued back, gently pushing the blaster back to him. "At least out there you have a fighting chance."

The twi'lek looked unsure but then decided she was right. "Alright."

Kira gave him a small nod as he passed through the cell door. "May the Force be with you, Friend."

Jango stood at the door keeping watch while Kira went and released all the prisoners. He let out a breath of annoyance. They were wasting time and it wouldn't be long until more guards came. "Hey, Kid. Let's go." He said frustrated as several other prisoners escaped through the door.

Kira ignored him again and released the last prisoner, she shooed him forwards before following behind until she reached the door stopping at Jango's side. "Jatori isn't here. Are there any other cell blocks?" She asked brushing her hair behind her ear glancing out the doorway then back at him.

"There's three more cell blocks, at least, with roughly fifty cells each."

"Blast it." She cursed. "Are they all full?"

"We do not have the time to release all these prisoners." Jango argued. "Most of them are criminals anyway. Let them face their own deaths."

She glared at him. "Should I have left you to face your own death?"

He gave a shrug. "Might have saved you a lot of time if you're here to break out someone else."

"And it would save us both a lot of time if you'd quit arguing with me, some of them might be criminals but some might be innocents and those fighting rings are disgusting. No one else deserves to die like that."

"You're beginning to sound like a Jedi, Kid."

She smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Kira." She corrected.

Jango shook his head when blaster fire rang through the hallway where the escaped prisoners just ran through. "You're going to send them to their deaths."

Kira shot another glare at him. "It's better to die fighting then to be on some rancor's menu, don't you agree?" She asked and pushed past him. "You've got a blaster, use it, Mandalorian." She ordered and ran towards the blaster fire. Down the hall blaster smoke filled the hallway as the prisoners were gunned down, some managed to get past the group of guards but some had met their untimely deaths just seconds after gaining their freedom. Jango drew his blaster and fired at the guards, luckily it was only a group of four.

He rammed the butt of his blaster into the face of the guard closest to him as Kira launched herself at one. Jango grabbed the shoulder of his foe and threw him to the side as Kira threw hers towards him and the two slammed into each other. Jango fired at the next one killing him instantly as Kira grabbed the shoulders of her next target and rammed her knee into his gut several times before throwing him against the wall.

"Where the hell did you learn to fight?" He asked as the unconscious guard slumped down to the dirt covered ground.

"My father taught me." She answered as she straightened up and let out a breath.

Jango was about to comment on it when the guard Kira had knocked down regained himself slightly and raised his blaster to the young Jedi's back, Jango's body reacted before his mind did and he grabbed her by the arm, pulling her behind him and fired a round into the guard. His helmeted head turned to look at her, the look of surprise plastered all over her face before that smug smile returned.

"See, there's a good reason I sprung you out of Death's grasp."

A growl rumbled in Jango's throat before he pushed her forward. "Cell blocks are that way."

Kira smirked as they continued their search, Jango noticed that Kira was constantly looking at the comlink on her wrist as if she were waiting for a call. The two made their way through another hallway until they came to an empty bar room, it was run down, like the rest of the place but lit up with dull blue lights underneath the counters of the bar. Alcohol spilled all over the floors, tables flipped, and chairs knocked over.

"How did you get so unlucky to get imprisoned here?" She asked as she walked to the bar and checked behind it.

"I'm a bounty hunter," Jango answered. "I brought in his target and when I asked for payment, he betrayed me."

"Maybe you should be more careful with who you let employ you." Kira said, running her hand under the bar table looking for any hidden buttons.

Jango huffed before Kira waved him over to the backroom of the bar, inside was a wall of holo-screens with camera angles on several different hallways. "Look." She said.

Jango walked over, glass crunching under his boots. They looked over the screens when he spotted an armory and saw his jetpack on the wall like a piece of décor. He pointed at it. "We're going to this room."

Kira raised an eyebrow before her eyes followed his finger. "Alright." She said. "Weapons are a good idea."

"When Frivir betrayed me, he stole my jetpack and blasters. I'm going to get them and kill him with them." He growled.

Kira held her hands up. "Hey, don't need my permission to get revenge. He's a slimeball. He deserves it."

"Glad we agree on something." He commented and gave her a light push towards the door. Just as they were about to cross the door's threshold it slammed shut. Jango immediately went for his blaster.

The holoprojector in the corner of the room activated and a human figure appeared, it was Frivir. He was a rat of a human, in his fifties, at least six-foot-tall and skinnier than Kira thought he would be. "Whoever you are, Girl, you have caused a lot of trouble."

Kira shrugged. "It's a terrible habit of mine, I must say."

Frivir was not impressed. "You released my finest prisoner and then released an entire cell block of slaves. What makes you think I'm going to let you out of here alive?"

"Because I'm charming and have good looks?" She suggested with a shrug. Jango shook his head. She certainly had a strange sense of humor.

Frivir was not impressed by her jokes either. He stared at her flat-faced before letting out an annoyed sigh. "No, that will not win you any favors here."

Kira glared and raised an eyebrow, obviously done joking around now. "You will release Oolan Jatori to my custody and release this Mandalorian by order of the Republic."

"The Republic has no reach out here, Girl." He scowled. "This is the outer rim, you have nothing."

"Perhaps we can come to an agreement." Kira suggested. "You allow these fine men and myself to leave this planet and we won't kill you. You must realize that the two of us could bring down your entire operation here."

He stared at her for a moment before laughing. "He might be able to do that," He said, motioning towards Jango. "But you… oh, darling, you're just a little girl. I am not afraid of you."

Kira's nose scrunched at the insult before she reached into the inner pockets of her jacket and pulled out one of the black and silver metal hilts. She flicked the activation button and a bright yellow blade hummed its way to life, she pointed the weapon towards the holoprojection. The golden glow lit up the room and casted off Jango's armor and reflected against the walls. "You'll regret that."

Jango's head snapped towards her, shocked at the revelation. She's a Jedi, of course she's a shabla Jedi. He thought. A Jedi was the last thing he'd expected to find on a planet like this and even less that one would go out of her way to rescue him. He knew there was something off about her and now it all made sense.

Frivir stared at her then laughed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Alright, I'm impressed now. What a surprise to find a Jedi in my presence. That sure would bring a lot of credits to have one of your kind in my pits." He smirked, rubbing his chin. "Yes, you'll do just fine. Don't worry, though, we'll be there to collect you soon. In the meantime, why don't you take a little nap?"

"What are you…" Kira questioned when the vents near the doors hissed before a dark, green gas started filling in.

"Shab." Jango cursed and went to the door controls trying to get it to open and failing.

"You must have realized your situation, this gas is not harmful, instead it is sleep inducing." Frivir chuckled maliciously. "So, take a load off, my friends, it'll be over soon."

"Eat this." Kira growled and slammed her lightsaber blade through the holoprojector controls, the figure of Frivir disappeared in seconds. "Shit." She cursed.

"Don't breathe it in." Jango said.

"Easy for you to say! You're wearing a helmet!" She spat and ran to the door and slammed her lightsaber through the durasteel and tried to cut through. It sure looked a lot easier when Master Windu did it, she tried dragging it through, but it only melted the metals slowly.

"Get back." Jango ordered, Kira obeyed as Jango unloaded a full charge into the door controls. The smoke from the blaster fire filled the area making it impossible to see the door or the controls passed Jango's blasting. He fired the last charge into the controls and threw the blaster at it.

Kira gave him an irritated look. "Do you think you got it?" She asked as the smoke faded, and the controls were destroyed… but the door remained firmly in place. "Well done, Bucket Head."

"How about you quit running that mouth and start trying to find a way to get us out of here?" He snapped back as the sleeping gasses started filling the air around their ankles.

Kira looked at her lightsaber before pulling out her second weapon, she was always told over and over that her lightsabers were her life and to never let anyone else use it, especially one who was not a Jedi. There were times for listening to lessons and there were times to ignore them to survive. She looked from her lightsaber then to Jango and tossed him one. "Start cutting then."

It was heavier than Jango expected, he never thought in his life that he would ever hold such a weapon. He flicked on the blade and he dove it in towards the top of the door as Kira knelt beside him and shoved hers in at the bottom. The gasses started filling the room and were getting higher. There was no possible way they were going to cut the door in time, they worked at it for a few minutes when he looked down at Kira, in her knelt position, the gas was at her hips. She let out a healthy yawn and rubbed her eyes.

"Don't breathe it in, Kira." He said and deactivated the lightsaber she gave him and hauled her to her feet away from the gas. She stumbled and bumped into him as her eyes grew heavy. "Hey, don't fall asleep on me!" He said and shook her. She whined. Kira's hands grew limp and she dropped her lightsaber, it deactivated as it hit the ground with a loud clank.

"I can't help it." She mumbled and rubbed her eyes again as the gasses started filling up to their waists. Jango clipped the lightsaber she gave him to his belt before he pulled her arm over his shoulders to keep her from falling over. He hauled her up in his arms before bringing her to sit on a table in the corner of the room. He pulled her to sit up as her eyes barely parted to look at him, she let out a sigh. She pulled her arm from around his neck, stopping at the rim of his helmet, placing her hand on the cheek of it.

"What's your name?" She mumbled before letting her hand drop into her lap.

Jango watched her for a moment before he responded. "Jango Fett." He answered.

She gave a small nod. "Jango." She repeated, her eyelids growing heavy. "We will get out of here alive, Jango. Trust...in the Force…" Her body went limp with sleep.

"Shabla Jetii." He cursed at her. He took the lightsaber and went back to the door. He would get her out as soon as the door was open.

Then he yawned. His eyes grew big. His helmet should have filtered out any of the gasses, with several blinks he checked his helmet's scanners and discovered that when Frivir had removed the weaponry from his armor, he'd also deactivated some of the features of his helmet. Including filtration. The man was anything if not cautious. Jango could repair it easily but he had neither the tools nor the time to do it before the sleep gasses got to him. If Frivir wasn't already on Jango's hit list, he certainly was now.

The smoke was now at Jango's chest, he was sure it was filling faster and faster each passing moment. He was getting tired, very tired. His eyes were getting heavier than he'd ever remembered them ever being. He let out a groan and threw Kira's lightsaber in frustration trying desperately to fight off sleep. They were certainly not escaping tonight. He stumbled back to where Kira sat sleeping soundly on the table and rested his hands on it trying to force himself awake.

Jango felt his knees get weak and buckle out from underneath him. He fought hard to keep his eyes open but knew it wasn't a battle he was going to win. He huffed and sat with his back to the wall, he heard footsteps outside the door and knew the guards were just outside. He closed his eyes tightly in defeat until he faded into unconsciousness.