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"I hope your talent for understatement is offset by your skill with a blaster. If not, then I fear our time together will be short indeed."

"Yeah, and I'm also good at running and drinking, your majesty."

~ Jedi Consular Kreia and Atton Rand

The acrid smell of melting composites mixed with ozone as tiny embers glowed within the blaster strike points. Both canine and feline had peeked out from around the edge of the cargo container, getting a good look at their assailants. They stood in a row, 8 in total, wielding an assortment of weapons ranging from blaster pistols, rifles, a flechette cannon, at least 3 vibroblades and a heavy blaster cannon. With only Syrra's inactive lightsaber to defend the both of them, Kajex considered themselves _slightly_outgunned.

"But at least they don't have a launcher," Kajex said fairly.

Syrra scowled, hissing anxiously. "Lovely. So we don't need to add 'blown the fuck up by a rocket' to the list of ways we're about to be killed, I guess?"

He looked back out. "Well, none of them have any detonators, so he's bluffing about explosives. You're Force sensitive- is it just those 8 out there?"

Syrra briefly closed her eyes, trying to calm herself while reaching out mentally and checking once again- she'd counted 8 the first time, but it was better to be sure. She let out a shaky breath, the number still the same. "Just them- nobody else within 200 meters past them that I can feel."

Kajex glanced at her. "If you're that skilled with the Force, we might still have the advantage." He paused- their leader did not seem to have started counting. "If you can do one of those Jedi tricks to pull a weapon from them that I can use, we'll have a fighting chance."

Syrra swallowed. "I've never done that before," she responded, trembling from the fear of their situation. This seemed like too much, too quickly- she tried to think, tried to consider Jedi options. "Is there no way to negotiate with them, tell them to back off? Or even just get out of here?"

"Wish I could say yes, but they've opened fire already and they're threatening us. It's not an ideal situation, and one we're likely going to have to fight in- the only other exit out of here is the side-door leading to the neighboring hangar," he said quietly, pointing to a small hatch near the back of the docking bay. Out in the open, Syrra doubted they'd make it without one of them getting killed first.

Glimpses of Markus flashed in Syrra's mind, and she shuddered. "I don't think I'm ready to kill," she said dazedly, feeling hot under the collar and unable to breathe easily as panic overtook her.

Kajex looked to her grimly. "We don't have much a choice. We're likely to die either way. I'm just asking you to give it your best- to be ready to take a life if it comes to it." He paused, then put a paw on her shoulder, giving her a reassuring smile. "You're a Trianii Ranger and a Jedi- I wouldn't be suggesting this if I didn't trust you to be that strong, to be able to handle what we're facing. Do yourself a favor and prove me right."

Syrra looked up at him, at his smile. He wasn't just saying it because he had no choice but to trust her, she realized- he was saying it because he truly believed she was their best chance to survive this mess. It was his words, his smile and his touch that seemed to pull her back into her own body, settling her nerves and erasing her doubt. She took a deep breath, steadying herself, ready to face her death swinging. She stood, looking him in the eyes, nodding. "On 3... we walk out with our hands up. Just be ready for your package, I won't deliver it a second time."

Kajex nodded. "We can do this. _You_can do this."

"Right. 1... 2... 3."

They both stepped out from behind the containers, paws raised in the air. The attackers tensed, stepping back a bit, and it was at this point both of them were able to get a look at them- an unorganized assortment of human and alien brigands in barely matching uniforms of black and orange, each with a nasty look on their face, at least two of them leering at Syrra revoltingly- one of them even looked Kajex over with an expression that the wolf regarded with disgust. Far more important, Syrra realized, was that all of them had their weapons at the ready.

She had to choose one, her eyes dancing on each of them, trying to analyze everything as quickly as she could- yet her fear seemed to ebb away as she focused, and it came to her with such clarity it almost seemed simple to do. The heavy cannon was out, it was slung to a rabid-looking Wookiee's frame by a thick cord. 2 of the 3 rifles pointed at them were in the hands of sure-gripped Rodian thugs, the last one held in the hands of their leader. The vibro-blades would serve no advantage if they both couldn't approach, and she wasn't sure Kajex could wield one skillfully enough. The pair of pistols a Duros held would not be enough. The flechette gun wouldn't be effective at their current range.

The leader, a bald, blue-skinned and red-eyed Chiss of significant stature, growled at them. "Smart choice, cat bitch. You get to live a little longer this way." He glanced at the one of the green, short-snouted Rodians to his left. "Prukiz, check them for weapons- check the little bitch thoroughly, make sure she's not hiding anything like a naughty kitten. Either of your move, we'll drop you- long as _you're_still warm when I get to you, I'll be satisfied." He leered at Syrra, who only glared back defiantly before glancing at the Rodian, who relaxed his grip on the blaster rifle.

There!

She'd done it far too well. The rifle did indeed wrench itself through the air towards Kajex- so did the Rodian holding it. The weapon sailed right into Kajex's raised paws, while the Rodian sailed well above him, screeching as he flew into the cargo containers with a resounding crash. The thugs gaped just long enough for both of them to make their next move.

Kajex opened fire while the thugs were still occupied, trying to figure out what happened, such that they failed to react until their other riflemen was laying spread-eagle with a burning hole in his chest. The Wookiee reacted the fastest, charging up his weapon with a wild roar and aiming at the wolf, prioritizing him as the most dangerous target. Ignored for the moment, Syrra drew her lightsaber faster than she'd ever done before in a reverse-grip, swinging the blade around as her finger triggered the blade-lock switch, releasing the weapon with a challenging snarl. The blade-lock in place, her energy blade spun gracefully in the air without deactivating, cleaving into the massive being's upper torso and removing one of his arms as it let out a strangled howl, then fell.

It had been as easy as if she'd performed it back on Yavin 4, despite the danger- but the danger lingered, and she rolled back, ducking behind the containers just as Kajex did, laying out suppressing fire and scattering the thugs. Kajex looked at her, wild-eyed but smiling. "I can't believe you actually just did that."

Syrra grinned even though her heart was pounding. "Enjoy your gift." She peeked back out, yelping and shifting next to Kajex as the corner of her cargo container was peppered with energy bolts and flechettes. "That's one for me."

"I managed one, nicked another- we need to keep them from leaving or we-- hey!" The wolf snarled as the Rodian Syrra had tossed had staggered to his feet and tumbled in front of them, disoriented. Within a moment Kajex had tackled him to the concrete and incapacitated the thug with a sharp blow to the head. Blaster fire still smacking at their cover or sailing to either side, he reached for the disabled Rodian's tool bag, letting out a barking laugh as he extracted a scratched up, perfectly functional datapad. "Perfect! Keep them off me while I work, I'm going to make sure they don't get a chance to run." He tore his destroyed pad away from the terminal and inserted the thug's, fingers dancing along the pad as he filtered through code rapidly.

How he expected Syrra to cover him without a weapon was beyond her, but a lull in the blaster fire caught her attention as she peered around the containers, eyes widening as she saw the Chiss leader of the thugs pick up her still-active lightsaber with dawning comprehension on his features. He turned to his comrades, holding the weapon high and drawing their attention away from the two. "Set your heaters to stun, boys, that little cunt is a Jedi- take her alive!"

Syrra grimaced, turning to Kajex. "Whatever you're doing, you might want to get it done quickly- I don't think they plan to take _you_alive with me."

Kajex didn't look up at her, focusing. "They're not taking you anywhere. Got it!" He leapt up from his work and peered around their cover- the hangar's hatch-lights had gone red, the entrance having locked it.

Syrra growled, glaring at the wolf. "You locked them in here?! With us!?" she snarled incredulously. Once again she leaned out, watching as the 5 remaining attackers started to press forward, one of them firing a stun shot at her and forcing her to duck back down.

Kajex nodded. "Safest option for now- odds are they've got buddies somewhere else in the starport, we have our plates full with just this scum without them adding extras." He leaned around his corner and fired, dropping one of the remaining men armed with a blaster. Syrra peeked once more, spotting the leader- he had stowed away his rifle and was advancing on them slowly with her lightsaber in front of him in a stance that suggested he was no stranger to swordplay.

The sound of a rocket whistled through the hangar and both feline and canine spun as a shadow passed over them- the masked flechette gunner had a jump pack and had landed cleanly, taking aim at Kajex and firing.

"NO!" the Trianii screamed as she watched in horror- the wolf had taken the hit clean to the lower torso, the force of the shot slamming him back against the container. Her eyes filled with tears of rage and grief as they turned back to the attacker, the feline ready to charge him. She stopped short once she was the thug had his weapon aimed directly at her.

"Raise 'em kid, or I'll blow them off!"

A cough. "The fuck you will, asshole." A shot rang out, a bolt of red light smashing into the gunman's face, sending him flying and sliding several feet away. Kajex was stirring, trying to get back to his feet, wheezing badly. "Behind you," he managed to choke out as he traded fire with the pistol-wielding Duros.

She ducked reflexively as one of the bladesmen slashed where her head had been a moment ago, side-rolling to face her attacker and charging in, ducking another head-level slice and ramming her shoulder into him, causing him to drop his blade as they both rolled to the concrete. He came up with a holdout pistol from his boot and Syrra's Ranger training kicked in, the feline grabbing his wrist with her left paw and wrenching it away from her while bringing her right fist into his temple, knocking him out and sending him sprawling.

A second attacker rushed her, jumping over his fallen comrade with vibrosword in hand and slashing erratically at the feline- Syrra nearly scoffed, easily seeing how untrained he was. He overlunged as she sidestepped, grabbed his weapon hand, elbowed him in the jaw and turned the blade point on him, running him through- the thug immediately coughed up blood and gurgled as she drew the bloody blade away.

No sooner than she had turned to check on Kajex than a heavy boot slammed into her midsection, knocking the wind out of her as the Chiss thug strode towards her, her lightsaber in hand, glaring at the groaning Trianii. "Maybe taking slicing your limbs off first will make this easier!" Before she could scramble away he stomped on her ankle hard, sending an excruciating shock through her leg, causing her to cry out- she tensed, watching him aim a sideways slash at her thigh.

The light blade froze in place as a crackling, metallic sound rang out. A long, silverish blade had stopped the lightsaber from following through. Syrra looked up as a still-winded, still-standing Kajex held the vibrosword at an angle above her leg, having blocked the attack cleanly. Momentarily confused, the Chiss failed to notice Syrra moving as she aimed a hard kick at the back of his knee, staggering the leader and forcing him back as her partner rushed in.

Only minutes earlier Syrra has assumed that Kajex had been untrained with vibroweapons, but it only took moments for her to see he was more than capable of holding a blade, advancing on the Chiss slowly with careful blocks and counter-attacks, the wolf moving as if waiting for an opportune moment to strike without risk of retaliation. The leader let out a battle cry and slashed repeatedly at the wolf, failing to score a hit as the mercenary seemed to build a wall of vibrating steel around him, shielding him from the lightsaber strikes- a shift in his footwork and he parried, leaving the leader wide open to a palm strike in the gut.

Movement behind her brought her attention away from their duel, rolling just in time to avoid the last sword-handler's overhead slash. Her eyes spied the bloody vibrosword she had used earlier and she held her paw out, focusing on the handle as she staggered to her feet- it flew into her outstretched paw just as a searing pain ran down the left side of her back, causing her to cry out in anguish and stumble forward as the glancing blow left a nasty gash. It was on unsteady feet that she turned to her attacker, who seemed to have forgotten his leader's order to capture and was looking to kill as he thrust at chest level.

She parried the attack almost casually despite her fresh injury, fending off the thrust with a simple twist of her blade and unbalancing the thug for a crucial moment as she brought it up with a high upward slash across his torso and chest, leaving a fatal wound the thug did not get up from.

The last sword-handler dead, she returned her attention to the leader and Kajex, looking alarmed as she saw the wolf staggering back, a look of pain evident on his visage- his recent injury had slowed his momentum, a patch of dark red blood staining his shirt near the abdomen. The chiss leader scored a hit as he kicked at Kajex's injury, causing the captain to yelp and drop, writhing as agony lanced through him.

Certain now that the blade she was using would not fail against her own lightsaber she sprinted to Kajex's side, hissing menacingly and flattening her ears aggressively at the leader as she stood ready to defend her friend from him. With an unimpressed sneer he lunged and began his assault, advancing with wide, heavy blows. Syrra only barely blocked the first attack and was forced to stagger away from the second, backpedaling as his stronger, more aggressive style nearly overwhelmed her. She grimaced as she realized she would not match him in terms of strength.

This is mind, she utilized her superior natural agility, dodging and counterattacking quickly- sidestepping an overhead chop and slicing his shoulder; leaping over a slash to her legs and bringing her boot to his temple, disorienting him. His aggressiveness redoubled and he charged with a roar- she leapt again, twisting in the air as she flipped, blade held out as she brought it across his face. He fell to his knees, a deep gash having severely injured his left red eye, blood pouring from the wound.

Heart still racing from the activity of staying alive, she glanced at Kajex, who was barely moving. It was with him in mind that she strode forward, intent on making the Chiss suffer. Seeing her approach he tried to defend himself, stabbing at her with her lightsaber- she deflected it easily, grabbed his arm and brought the vibrosword down, shredding violently through flesh, sinew and bone as she took back her Jedi weapon. He did not cry out as she expected him to, but she anticipated his next move as he drew his blaster rifle one-handed- she turned it to slag with a single sweep, cutting through the trigger and most of the leader's other hand with the energy blade.

Thoroughly disarmed, the thug sat back on his knees, looking up at her- he seemed unable to feel pain as he glared at her with his one remaining eye. "Yeah... cutting a man's hands off, you must think you're something special. But how's the odds that you actually have the nerve to kill me, even after what I did to your boyfriend over there?" He sneered at the wolf, still laying on the floor.

Syrra's glare was white hot, nothing short of lethal as she held the vibrosword and lightsaber to each other in a scissor position at his head. She had not ignored the fact that he had hurt Kajex. It would be so easy to end him- they could still identify his corpse if she left the head intact.

Kajex coughed out. "Syrra, put it away... you got him." He struggled to pick himself off the floor, face etched with pain and concern for her as he held a wet, red paw against his stomach as he struggled to breath. "We busted their balls, you proved me right- but killing the scum won't prove you're Jedi material. Put it away!" She turned her head to him, a pleading look in his eyes as he rested on his knees. The memory of his words only hours before echoed- "if you need me to help you reign your temper in, I'll help you there too."

She turned her attention back to the leader, the desire to end him completely ebbing away. With a frustrated snarl she deactivated her lightsaber. The Chiss cackled.

"Figures."

Syrra glared at him, then brought her knee up to his chin, shattering the leader's jaw and knocking him out cold. "Have fun jacking off with your new stumps, asshole." She regarded him with contempt before running to the wolf's side, a pang of alarm as she noticed his paw was completely red with his own blood. "By the Force, you look bad Kajex," she whimpered, helping him up.

"It probably looks worse than it actually is," he groaned, before looking at his paw. "Of course... it could also _be_worse than it looks." His legs shook slightly as he leaned against Syrra. "That's all of them- I nailed the Duros."

Syrra grunted, helping him to move. "You took a direct hit from a flechette cannon, how...?" But she stopped short as she looked as his wound a little closer, noticing a sturdy undermesh beneath his shirt.

"Anti-flechette undermesh," he wheezed. "It's saved my life before, I always have a layer on. We can't leave just yet, I need that guy's datapad- we need to finish the investigation here."

Syrra grimaced but relented, helping him walk to the terminal. She grabbed the datapad and held it up for him, allowing him to manipulate the screen with his bloody paw. The series of code strings were alien to her, but she said nothing as she allowed him to work, keeping a close eye on his face for any sudden changes- he seemed coherent and alert, but she would not allow a lapse in her attention if the was a risk of his condition worsening. It was difficult for her to ignore the smears of blood he left on the pad.

Thus it surprised her when he started grinning, though she noticed he winced when he did. "Got it. Call-sign is the same one on this datapad." He gestured to the Rodian, still out cold. "Our green friend here is the one who has been slicing this terminal, focusing on..." he paused, checking the datapad, "... the cargo manifests and departure times."

"They weren't interested in the crew- though that was never likely in the first place."

Kajex nodded, still wincing. "It's still good that we narrowed it down. Now we know there's something, and not someone they want." He reached out, trying to get the Rodian's bag- Syrra held him steady and pulled it to him. "Get the leader's gear, too- there might be something there we can use, maybe another lead." She looked apprehensive and he nodded. "I'll be alright, I'm just winded. Check these shipments, there might be bacta supplies we can bring with." He gestured to the cargo as he disconnected from the terminal, stuffing the bloody datapad into the bag.

It wasn't long before they heard a loud thumping on the hangar hatch- but by that point Syrra had procured several containers of bacta, 2 of the rifles and both pistols, and one of the clean vibroswords. The weight was significant, but a combination of adrenaline and the Force augmenting her strength negated any discomfort as she returned to Kajex's side, helping him back up to his feet- he looked slightly worse as they made for the adjacent hangar.

By the time they had reached the Roulette, the starport was abuzz with excitement, with sirens echoing through the facility as medical units rushed to the scene. The din carried even to the other side of the starport, where Kajex's ship was docked. The wolf weakly punched in the code for the ramp, grunting to Syrra.

"Hatch code is... 34887."

"I'll remember that, just don't talk- you need to conserve your strength."

He shook his head. "We can't stay."

They moved up the ramp and into the ship, Syrra guiding him to the lounge. Kajex growled in pain, knowing full well he had to make a difficult choice soon. "No... the cockpit. We need to leave."

"You're in no condition to fly, Kajex!"

"Those sons of bitches weren't alone- they're going to come looking for us." He swayed, holding himself up against the wall. "I... I need your help, Syrra. Please." He needed to make her understand, it wasn't safe for them anymore- not safe for _her_anymore. He grasped her shoulder. "They were going to take you alive, first so they could rape you but then because you were a Jedi- I don't know why, but I'll be damned if I let them. Please..."

He stared into her bright blue eyes, her expression unreadable. She nodded. "Cockpit, right." He groaned as they moved again, dimly aware that he was leaving droplets of blood behind on the deck. Once they reached the cockpit he let go of her, staggering into his seat and yelping as he leaned back- it probably _was_worse than he had initially thought, now that he could feel one of at least 2 steel spikes lodged in his abs.

"Kajex--!"

"Co-pilot's seat, quickly..." he whined. The blood loss was making his movements sluggish, despite his concentration. "I need you to fly us out of here."

Syrra gaped. "But you--"

The wolf snarled, a brief surge of energy running through him. "We can't linger here, Syrra! I'll walk you through it, I need you to trust me and trust yourself!" He took in a deep, ragged breath, reaching for a wireless headset and pointing to an unused one next to her. "Put that on... above you, there are 4 red-marked switches- flip... the rightmost one first, wait 1 second... then flip the rest with a second between each... that'll power up each systems we need to get out..."

The Trianii hesitated for a moment, the idea of controlling his prized vessel nearly overwhelming to her, but nodded and complied with his instructions, watching as the console lit up with each switch she flipped, the last one punctuated with the sound of energy flowing through the vessel. "Got it, what now?"

"Normally... need to wait 2 minutes to fire up engines... no time now, need to bypass the warmup sequence. Hit that red button on your left, hold it down 3 seconds... you'll hear her fire up." He couldn't help smiling as she complied, the engines coming to life loudly. "Console in front of you, need to put in coordinates to get the ship moving... liftoff angle..." So many memories... the scene seemed to meld into a happier time for him, Syrra now replaced with a small wolf pup in the co-pilot's seat, his voice becoming deeper and replaced with a Coruscanti accent.

"Alright pup, that's good. Now the engines are running, you need to use the console- standard liftoff coordinates are pitch at 20, angle at 35 degrees."

"'Pup', what...? There's a field for vertical thrust level, Kajex, how much...?"

"What next, dad?"

"If you want to perform a fast lift-off--"

"KAJEX!!"

He gasped, opening his eyes- he had dozed off. He shivered as she turned to Syrra, a look of fear on her face. "Y-thrust at 15... hold on... don't commit to the calculations just yet..." A hailing signal had appeared- he reached a shaking, bloody paw for the switch but Syrra reached the one on her side first.

A burst of static filtered through their headsets as a voice from the control tower came through. "Rushin' Roulette, you have not scheduled a time for your departure today--"

"Control, this is Captain Surnahm of the Rushin' Roulette... moving my departure ahead of schedule to match my new flight timetable, up a day to deliver my passenger back to Ekibo, over." He swayed slightly, but tried to keep his voice neutral.

"Negative on that, Captain Surnahm- we've had a situation in one of our hangar bays and are currently in the middle of a temporary lockdown until we can investigate. You'll need to remain where you are for questioning."

Syrra looked to Kajex, but he shook his head, grimacing. "We've got no answers for you, control, over and out." He hissed in pain as he cut the channel. "No time- confirm the calculations before they tractor us in...!"

She complied, punching in the last digits into the computer. The ship moved swiftly, leaping up from the ground with a burst of repulsor energy, pitching slightly and angling upwards as she lifted off, backing away from the control tower rapidly- Kajex breathed out in relief as they moved out of tractor beam range before it could lock on. "Use the throttle... set Z-thrust to 90, angle us up to 60 degrees..." He watched as Syrra followed his instructions. "Put your paws on the yoke, just in case... pull back to angle upwards, push forward to angle downwards and turn it to pitch... computer does..." he trailed off.

"Kajex...?" There was worry in her voice.

"Computer does most of the flying for you, you just need to set coordinates and make sure she stays on track. Refine your flight path rapidly when you need to, and use the yoke when you need precision, alright pup? And above all else, don't be afraid- trust in the Force."

"But I'm not--"

A chuckle. "You know what I mean, pup."

"Alright... am I doing good, dad?"

Another deep, warm laugh. "You're doing great, pup. I'm proud of you... so proud..."

"KAJEX WAKE UP!!"

He groaned. They were out of the atmosphere, the stars glittering in front of them. Syrra had leaned over to him and shook his shoulders, tears in her eyes. He reached up, touched her face gently with the red paw, affectionately stroking her cheek and leaving a smear. "So... proud..." he said softly, smiling.

"Stay with me, Kajex... please," she whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek as she took the bloody paw, squeezed it.

"... Doing my best... kitten..." He closed his eyes briefly, trying to focus, pressing his paw to his injured torso and using the pain to keep him alert, growling as the fresh searing sensation roused him. "Right, need to do... a blind jump." He pointed to the computer between them. "Navigation has pre-loaded destinations... can't use them. Open a custom hyperspace route, punch in..." Kajex paused, trying to clear his head. "Punch in 87, 02, 15... set it to a partial jump for 2 minutes... get us clear of Fibuli."

Syrra wiped her eyes, nodding as she put on a determined look, tapping the screen rapidly and sitting back to wait for navigation to complete. Kajex kept his blurring vision on the scanners, making sure there were no ships trying to tail them- the last thing they needed was someone scanning their hyperspace vector. A sharp ping rang out as the coordinates were locked. "Get the handle- pull it back all the way..."

The stars streaked around the ship as it lurched, rocketing them into hyperspace seconds later. Neither of them spoke as the seconds wore on, Kajex trying to keep his focus and stay awake; Syrra watching him closely, looking uneasy. The wolf's paw moved to his midsection, feeling under the mesh for spikes, wincing as he found both still lodged in his midsection.

The console went off, a rapid beeping drawing Syrra's attention. "Push the handle back in place?"

Kajex nodded. "Spot on... the navigation computer will reset and log the coordinates..."

They drifted easily out of hyperspace, Syrra letting out a sigh of relief as the stars righted themselves into tiny dots in the infinite void. Feeling out of danger, Kajex staggered to his feet weakly, looking back to his seat and noticing the small pool of blood left on the leather seat and floor. "I need a hand... gotta get to the 'fresher..."

"You need medical attention, Kajex," Syrra responded, looking concerned.

"I do... and that's where I'll get it."