A Match for the Mandalore

This battle was chaos from the start. Canderous took out the first blaster quickly, but the others had been using the mass of humanity swarming around me as a shield. I felt him dash sidewise to get a better shot as I flung myself into the fray. The ecstasy was in high gear and my other senses were kicking in and merging with it. I felt myself this time allowing the flow of it to go back and forth between us. I saw it through Canderous’s eyes when he took out the second and third blasters; a two quick power blasts right to their heads. He dispatched four swordsmen who started toward him; I felt his satisfaction and exaltation as he joined the melee.



This new development didn’t interfere with my own situation. It was like watching two holos at once, in different languages, but being able to keep up and translate. We were so in tune I could tell he was experiencing the same thing. He was adjusting quickly to my own abilities, and even though he couldn’t use the Force, I could, through him; the result was almost as if he was. We were basically keeping things at a holding pattern while we both got used to it.



At the start, I had kept the enemy between me and the blasters, making it difficult to get a shot at me without damaging their allies. Once that threat was past, I was kept busy, my blades whirling and spinning, blocking and thrusting. I saw a sword slip under my own, smacked it aside with the other, and throwing the wielder’s arm wide. A quick thrust, and I was turning to the next. I felt Canderous fight his way to me, and turned so we would be back to back. We were a tight circle of deadly steel; no one wanted to get too close, but I could feel their confidence in their numbers. Canderous’s and my movements became like a dance; I followed his lead, and we turned as one, watching each other’s back. His ecstasy flew even higher, and I started to feel my head swim. I fought it off, but a couple of good blows got through while I was adjusting. I tried speaking to Canderous.



Watch for my signal; I want to try something.



You sure it’s a good time to do that?



Trust me.



I felt his mental shrug, and conveyed as best I could what I wanted him to do. We were down to nine now, and they were ranging around us, grinning. He threw his sword at one, and they went down. I called



NOW!



We had been turning, but instead of turning back to back with him, I spun toward him. He was waiting, crouched, and I thrust a boot into his hands and felt him heave as I was thrown up and over the heads of our enemies. It took less than an instant. I felt his laugh of pure joy in my head as I flew. I stuck one fighter as I tumbled, landed lightly, and I took out two more before they knew I was behind them. The other five were ranged around Canderous, who had not retrieved his sword. I felt him duck under the blades and charge. I got one, he got two more with a sweeping tackle that knocked them both off their feet. He made sure they stayed down, and I threw myself in front of the two that were going for him as he bent.



One fighter I had thought was out managed a hard blow to my head from beside me and I staggered, almost falling into Canderous. I felt my sight start going grey around the edges. He grabbed a sword, plucking it right out of his opponent’s grip, so fast I had no idea how. He roared, and my vision cleared as a wave of his energy slammed into me. We turned as one and met the remaining two fighters together, sweeping their blades aside and thrusting with perfect synchronization. We both swept in a circle, saw the groaning bodies littered around, and stood straight, sheathing our swords.



We were engulfed by our group, who were whooping and cheering. Handshakes, hugs, and slaps on the back went all around. Atton kissed me soundly, just to get a rise out of Canderous, and I saw Ladria flinch a little. I slapped Atton’s face hard enough to let him know I didn’t appreciate his game. He actually looked contrite, then ashamed when he saw Ladria standing there. She had regained her composure and looked as enthusiastic as everyone else, but I noticed she kept her face averted from Atton. Canderous glowered, but I threw myself into his arms and distracted him with a very involved kiss of my own.



Of course, that was when everything went to hell. I had forgotten: You can pull one over on a Hutt, but you’ll always pay for it, and they never enjoy losing money. I was ripped from Canderous by two huge wide-mouthed thugs that hadn’t bathed in recent history; possibly ever. I went limp, but their grip was merciless and just tightened further, wrenching me upright and frog-marching me to the Hutt. Canderous roared and tried to follow, but another four grabbed him. I wasn’t sure they could hold him back long, but these guys were insanely strong, and stupid to boot. They were so Force dead I could barely register that they breathed. Actually, I wished they wouldn’t; I wanted to heave when one blasted a foul exhale my way. I suspected they were some sort of awful genetic experiment gone wrong.



The rest of the group was now surrounded by about thirty people, all with weapons, poised to shoot or slice anyone who moved. I had sent a healing blast at Canderous and myself; I wanted us both in completely top shape for whatever happened. The toad guys retained their grip on me while the Hutt looked me over slowly. His gaze was cold, calculating, slimy, and lewd all at once. Canderous snarled in my head about taking the slimy bag of guts’ eyes as a trophy.



Calm down, I answered. Whatever I say or do, DO NOT overreact. Watch for an opening. Be ready.



What are you going to do?



I don’t know. I’ll figure it out as I go.



Don’t do anything stupid, he warned.



Who, me?



The Hutt finished ogling me and said in his awful burbley voice, “Jennet Jax, did you think me such a fool as to not recognize you through a little face paint and hair dye?”



“Um, yeah,” I said brightly. “That’s about right.”



That earned me a slap across the face, hard. Canderous growled deep and had two of his toad guys shook off before the Hutt snapped, “Take one more step, and I’ll have them rip her in two.” The toads yanked in demonstration and I couldn’t help it; I screamed. They had wrenched my arms and legs out of their sockets. I closed my eyes, panting, and went limp. The toadies loosened their grip a little. Not enough to get me free, as if I could have with four dislocated limbs anyway. Just enough that when I sent healing through me, the joints weren’t far out of place. Blessed relief. I stayed in the same pose of pain, however. They never noticed a thing.



Canderous had bellowed when the toadies had ripped at my limbs, but stayed put. I had no idea what to do now, I really didn’t. The Hutt just looked at me with his dead greedy eyes and then over at Canderous.



“I know you,” he said to Canderous. “You worked for Davik Kang on Taris about five years ago. Rumor is that you killed him and stole his ship. Davik double crossed the Hutts on that planet just before his demise, and you helped him. I and my kin want you dead. How considerate of you to make it easy for me.” He made a gesture, and my world shattered. Quick as lighting, one of the sword wielders stepped forward and slit Canderous’s throat.



NO!!!!!!!!!!



I didn’t know if the scream was in my head, or his, or out loud, but it didn’t matter. Canderous staggered back, clutching his throat and making horrid sucking choking sounds. I had no conscious thought left; only action. I threw a blast of healing his way and felt it slam into him. The awful sounds stopped, but he still fell to his knees. Blood was everywhere. The roar that escaped my throat was as bestial as any Canderous had ever uttered. I wrenched my arms away from the toadies and felt my shoulders go again. I slammed my body against the nearest one, feeling the shoulder joint snap back in place, and snatched his blaster out of its holster. I was shooting almost as soon as I touched it; the toady went down after four shots. The other one was slow to figure out what had happened, and I took him out right behind his friend. The Hutt was trying to escape by powering up his lounger; stupid of him not to have had it ready to go. I blasted the control panel of the lounger and knew he’d stay put. I swung other my arm in a circle, ignoring the pain, and felt that side snap back. Dropping the blaster, I drew my swords.



Ladria, Atton, Bao Dur, Mira, Visas, and Disciple were already in action, slicing and dicing their way through the crowd. If I had had any thought left that was coherent it would have been in admiration. As it was, I was busy. I scanned everyone fighting, and suddenly I was confronted by about five angry fighters bent on killing me. I danced around their lunges and slashes. I was irritated, I didn’t have time for this. I was still in the rage that had took me when the Hutt tried to kill Canderous. I never did figure out what happened, but pretty soon all five were dead, then another three, then two more. They kept coming; I kept killing. I spotted something useful, dropped one sword, and snagged it off a body. Turning, ignoring the rest of the battle and possible danger to myself, I loped back to the Hutt and stood in front of him.



Hutts are powerful, but their movement is limited and slow. If they get you close enough to squeeze, you can get dead pretty quick, but if you stay out of reach, an infant can evade them. He didn’t try; he just looked at me with those dead eyes and saw the blood in mine. I wasn’t thinking of anything, except that this waste of flesh had tried to kill my world.



That’s a nice thought.



Canderous’s voice was back, and relief flooded me, but I was still pissed. My foot snapped up and crushed into the Hutt’s face. The ugly sack of guts bellowed in pain and I tossed the primed frag grenade I’d grabbed down his throat. Another kick snapped his mouth shut and caused him to involuntarily swallow.



“DOWN!!” I put everything into that shriek, voice and mind. I saw a flurry of bodies taking cover, and hoped my friends found safety. I dove for Canderous; he caught me and threw us behind an overturned table as the Hutt exploded.



Hutt blood is yellow, and gooey, not liquid exactly, I discovered. More like a strange gel. It doesn’t drip, it glops. There was a lot of it when I stood up, over everything. Our group was battered, but all were alive. Still high from rage and battle, I looked around. The last of the Hutt’s troops had been dispatched. Atton was on the floor, not moving, but I could see he was breathing. Ladria was going to him. I looked at the pile of decimated flesh across the room and felt sick. I found a corner and gave up trying to stomach it out.



Canderous was there, reaching for me. I held him off for a moment, and glared up at him. “Don’t ever do that again!” I shouted, and hit him across the face. Then I started to cry, and shake.



I could feel his laughter rumbling though his chest as he held me. “Can’t promise anything,” he said.



I looked up into the face that in such a short time I found I couldn’t imagine my life without. My eyes were blurred with tears. Still trembling, I wiped them away. There was something wrong; he was still blurry. I looked down, and saw a fresh puddle of blood at my feet, fuzzy and indistinct. It looked a very bright red. My knees started to give out, and I could hear Canderous saying, “Wildcat?” in a tone of concern, then a panicked “JENNET!” coming from far, far, away. Dimly, I thought something must be really wrong if he was using my name like that out loud. My vision was going gray and there was a roaring sound in my ears, and the last thing I heard was Canderous bellowing for help.



I came to in Canderous’s lap, weak and shaky but alive. He was warm, and I was so cold. I mumbled, “What happened?”



“You almost died, you foolish woman!” Canderous wasn’t yelling, exactly, but he sounded angry. I focused with difficulty on his face; it was pale and worried under the anger. Then I realized he wasn’t mad; he was scared. I smiled faintly.



“I must be okay,” I muttered. “You’re yelling at me.” I wanted to touch his face, but my arm wouldn’t move. I tried to use my healing, but I couldn’t feel it. The effort made me groan. Canderous glared at me. I felt him in my head, but was too tired to answer, or make sense of it. I did, however, feel a tiny trickle of warmth seeping into my body. Canderous couldn’t heal me, but he seemed to be trying to lend me the strength of his own life force.



Ladria’s concerned voice floated above me. “You’ll be okay soon. According to Canderous, you threw all your healing at him when he got his throat cut. You need some time before it builds up again, I think. Bao Dur got to you in time, and we’ve all given you some healing. But you lost a lot of blood; someone put a rather large hole in your side. I’d prefer to get you to a medbay, but I don’t want to move you yet. You need to sit still for a while before we can heal you again.”



“I can do that,” I whispered. Then I remembered something. “Atton okay?”



“I’m fine, gorgeous.” I heard him say somewhere to the left of me. “Just got hit on the head, nothing serious.”



“No damage done, then,” I joked feebly. He chuckled.



“What Jennet really needs is a kolto tank,” Visas said worriedly.



Mira spoke up. “They’re in short supply here. Nearest decent sized hospital is on the other side of the planet. This side is too poor to support one. There’s only a few clinics scattered around over here. I could scout and see if any of them have a tank, though.”



“Please don’t,” I murmured. I hate kolto tanks, and I really don’t like hospitals or clinics. Luckily, I almost never need them. Call it my very own phobia.



Ladria looked at Mira, then back at me, and at Canderous, who looked ready to go out and find the nearest clinic with a tank and dump me in, willing or no.



“Look,” I said as reasonably as I could. “By the time Mira locates one, and you get me there, you all could heal me, right?”



“Not by much. It’s going to take a lot more time than usual,” Ladria said. “If you really don’t want one, we won’t insist. We can’t move you for a bit in any case. But promise you’ll rest for now, okay?”



At my nod, she looked around at the rest of the worried faces and said, “Well, since we can’t leave yet, let’s make use of the time and search the room. Bao Dur, please seal the door.”



I lay in Canderous’s arms as everyone else frisked the bodies, taking anything of use. There wasn’t enough left of the Hutt to bother trying to find anything worthwhile, but Bao Dur searched his lounger and found a cache of credits stored in it. There was enough to cover what our payoff was supposed to have been, and then some. He made the suggestion that we give the bulk of it to the leader of the refugees. Everyone thought that was a good idea. Bao Dur, Ladria, Atton, and Mira volunteered to go down and present it to them later.



It was a good forty minutes before Ladria allowed me to take more healing. Someone had applied kolto packs to my side when I had been out, and Canderous had removed the used packs and applied another while the others were busy. I was feeling less fuzzy, but I was still very weak, and my healing wasn’t rebuilding yet. I was feeling nauseous with the smell of blood around me, especially the yellow gore so liberally spattered everywhere. I started to retch, and Canderous thoughtfully held my hair back, not allowing me to move any more than necessary. Finally, Ladria gave me a slow trickle of healing, increasing it a tiny bit as I grew a little stronger. She said she didn’t dare heal me the usual way yet; I’d lost so much blood that too much at once could cause me to go into shock.



There was a locker room of sorts off the fighting area, with showers. I asked Canderous to take me there; I had to get the blood off me. I was able to stand, sort of, with Canderous’s help and the warm spray rinsed me off, armor and all. Everyone else followed the example. Hutt blood sticks like mud, it seems. I wanted like crazy to strip down and take a long, hot shower and scrub every inch of my body with a something rough and soapy, do it again, then stand there until the water ran cold. When the worst of the gore was gone, Canderous picked me up and we got out of there. Bao Dur took the precaution of blowing the computer terminals and sealing the door as we left.



We were all wet, but as free of sticky Hutt blood as could be managed. From my perch in Canderous’s arms, I asked Ladria and asked if this was going to cause a problem with the Exchange now. She looked thoughtful at the question.



“I suppose we won’t know until I talk to Go-To, and then I suspect he’ll just tell me what he wants to. But if it does, we’ll deal with it then. If we fail our mission, I don’t suppose it will matter much anyway.”



“Good point. Well, I didn’t mean to cause trouble. I’m sorry,” my voice was small.



Ladria looked at me, and touched my arm warmly. “There’s nothing to apologize for. We all agreed to the plan, even thought it was a good idea. We should be thanking you for coming along and helping us when we leave.”



I felt better. “Do you think it’s safe to stay on Nar Shadaa until then?” I asked generally. Everyone seemed to agree that it was.



Canderous had been silent, and as we were turning toward the docks announced abruptly that he and I would be staying planet side until we left for the mission. He gave Ladria the name of the hotel we’d be at, and assured her we both had comlinks. I protested that I didn’t have anything with me but what I had on, not even a toothbrush or a change of clothes.



Who says you’ll need clothes? Canderous’s voice purred in my head, but I could tell that he just wanted to get a reaction. It was nice to know I could process his communication again.



Ladria at first tried to get us to come back to the ship, until I recovered my strength. Canderous replied that he’d like to get me into a real bed and promised I’d get plenty of rest. Capitulating, Ladria insisted on coming with us, to help heal me, and Atton volunteered to go too, to escort her back. Canderous scowled at that but I could tell he was more worried than he wanted to admit and was grateful for the offer. Truthfully, I was too tired to care; I just wanted to get clean and sleep.



“Perhaps I could be of assistance as well?” asked Visas in her calm, sweet voice. She had not said much during any of the aftermath, but had stayed as close to me as possible when she wasn’t needed elsewhere. I was touched by her concern, and smiled at her.



“You know,” Bao Dur said thoughtfully, “a real bed does sound nice. The droids can take care of the ship. How about we get rooms for everyone? We can help Jennet there as easily as on board.”



“Sounds great to me,” chimed in Mira. “We did just raid a Hutt after all, we can afford it.” She grinned in satisfaction. Disciple nodded too.



It was decided that Mira, Disciple, and Bao Dur would go to the Ebon Hawk and pack up clothes and any necessities needed for everyone, while Ladria, Atton, and Visas accompanied me and Canderous to the hotel and get us checked in. Without further ado, we all trooped off in our separate directions. I dozed off as we headed toward the hotel.