Chapter 5: Another Close Call

  The beach on which they met the others was a beautiful location, and Lana felt a twinge of sadness that she wouldn't be able to appreciate it, at least not any time soon. Such was the life of Sith Intelligence, but she'd come to terms with that long ago. Theron and Kayora were already waiting for them, and D4 confirmed that he and Jakarro would be coming in to land momentarily.

  Lana had tightened her robes a small amount, in an effort to cover up the very noticeably mark on her neck. It was only partially successful, since the collar on her robes only went so high. Vera had her helmet on so she couldn't be sure, but she was fairly certain the Chiss was smirking as they made their way to the others. Whether from professional courtesy or that they just didn't notice, neither Theron nor Kayora made any mention of the patch of red, though it was more likely the former reason than the latter.

  A roar of engines preceded visual confirmation of Jakarro's freighter, and in short order they had touched down and joined the group. Bringing up the information they had on a datapad, Theron and Lana began to run through the plan, though much like Manaan, there wasn't much detail they could impart. To put it simply, Kayora, Vera, and Jakarro would need to make it to the large stronghold that they'd identified upon arrival as where Davok and Arkous were located. There was a large amount of equipment located on the roof of said stronghold, which was also the most likely place their two foes would be camped out. Theron and Lana would be providing tactical support as well as they could, though most of them were in agreement that such support would be minimal. After all, they hadn't known about any cult presence on Rakata Prime prior to their lab raid, and Lana hadn't been able to find much of anything that could help them on the way here.

  Once everyone was satisfied, they split off into the two groups: one assault, one support. Lana watched the others go and smiled as Vera threw a lazy wave her way. Spinning on her heel, she kicked up some sand as she jogged to catch up with Theron, who was already heading back to his ship.

  "A scarf would cover it better," Theron commented as she caught up to him. "Though it might stand out in this climate."

  "Ha, you're hilarious," Lana retorted. At least she could be thankful that he hadn't said anything earlier, because she was certain Vera would have teased her mercilessly. "I was going to suggest we set up on Vera's ship because it's a much better setup than yours, but now you're not invited."

  Theron shrugged as they neared his shuttle. "I'm not too torn up about that." Rolling her eyes, Lana watched him enter his shuttle before she made her way over to the Distant Slayer. As she got to the top of the stairs, she found Mako lounging on the corner couch.

  "Heya Sith lady," Mako called, her feet kicked up on the armrest of the couch, messing with some mechanical device in her hands.

  "I do have a name, Mako," Lana replied, somewhat amused at the casual moniker that had just been ascribed to her.

  "Yeah, but it's kinda cool having a Sith who's not a total psychopath hanging out with us, so ‘Sith lady’ sounds more badass." Mako tweaked something and a few sparks shot out of whatever she was working on, though she didn't so much as flinch. "Not to say anything's wrong with the name Lana. It's a good name, feels like a solid name you can yell out in anguish." Mako raised a fist in the air and put on a face of mock rage. "Lanaaaaaaa!"

  Laughing, Lana took the seat in front of the computer setup, images of what happened there recently popping into her mind unbidden. She licked her lips, pressing her thighs together as she let the memories wash over her, before brushing them aside and bringing up the files she had acquired regarding Rakata Prime.

  "You were just thinking about what happened in that chair earlier, weren't you?" Mako was looking at Lana with narrowed eyes. "And before you go into any details on it, I definitely don't want to hear them. Vera's like my sister, it was bad enough hearing what happened while it happened, I certainly don't want a recap." Mako wrinkled her nose and stuck out her tongue, before giving an exaggerated shiver.

  Casting her a surprised look, Lana scoffed. "Don't worry, I was not going to say anything."

  "Good." Mako went back to her tinkering, and Lana refocused on her research. A couple minutes later Mako spoke up again. "Do you like her?"

  "Hm?"

  "Do you like Vera. Do you like her as a person, and not just a tool to get the job done?"

  Lana stopped what she was doing, and took a moment to really think the question over. It honestly wasn't that uncommon of a question, especially given that she was embedded in a culture that was often about using others to get ahead. She knew she found Vera attractive, and interesting, and while she was taking advantage of her skills, she wouldn't say she was using her. Besides, the relationship between them had no bearing on the mission Vera had been hired for. As she told Theron, Lana had hired the Mandalorian solely based on her qualifications, not her looks or personality.

  "I do. While I don't know what will become of us once we've completed this operation, I do know that my attraction to her is not conditional to that."

  Mako continued to study Lana for several long seconds, before letting out a short exhale and going back to her tech. "Good."

—

As expected, Lana and Theron weren't able to be much help as the strike team moved through the trees and fought their way to the fortress. On occasion they were able to call out enemy movement to give the team a heads up, but more often than not they'd already made contact, at least visually. Lana leaned forward, rubbing her fingers on her temples. She didn't like being of such little use, but knew that it was necessary to have her and Theron hang back, both as overwatch as well as backup in case the situation called for it.

  Vera and company had just entered the stronghold, meeting heavy resistance, but unsurprisingly cutting through it without too much trouble. Even Jakarro was proving to be a strong asset, his bowcaster packing a heavy punch. The communications console lit up as a call from Vera came through. Upon answering, a shimmery blue image of Vera appeared in front of Lana, appearing to stand on the projector that it was being emitted from.

  "Lana." Vera looked to be just standing still, and a quick check of the map showed that she and the others were most likely in the main elevator, which would explain the casual stance. "We're headed up to the roof. By all indications that's where Arkous and Davok are hanging out." An image popped into Lana's mind of the two traitors just casually chilling on a couch together, drinking beers and watching a sporting broadcast. If only that were the case, she thought. It would make all of this much easier.

  "Have Mako bring the Distant Slayer over to the stronghold. Make sure to stay at a respectable distance, which I'm certain Mako will, because even though I'm pretty sure we've taken out most of the defenses, there's no reason to take chances."

  "Understood," Lana replied. "Is there any reason why you want us to come to you, rather than staying here?"

  The image of Vera tilted its head to the side, and Lana could imagine the smirk that was present beneath the blue and white helmet. "Honestly, I just don't really want to walk all the way back when we finish up here."

  Suppressing an eye-roll, Lana pursed her lips in an amused smile. "You could've said that you wanted us there in case you needed back up."

  "Yeah, but then I would've been lying." Vera threw a sloppy salute, and the image disappeared. Sighing good naturedly, Lana turned to Mako, who was still lounging on the couch in a position that could not possibly be comfortable.

  "I take it you heard all of that?"

  "Yep." Mako twisted her small frame and rolled off the couch, pushing herself up onto her feet. "I'll get us moving."

—

Having joined Mako in the cockpit, Lana was able to see the battle raging on the roof of the stronghold as they approached. As expected, Darok and Arkous were present, and they were not surrendering peacefully, which was also as expected. Vera, Kayora, and Jakarro appeared to be holding their own just fine, but sooner or later they'd need to find a way to get the advantage. A flurry of blows from Kayora were deflected by Arkous, and an explosive round from Darok sent both Vera and Jakarro diving away from the impact area. Lana's fingers itched, brushing over the cold metal of her own lightsaber hilt as she fought the urge to demand Mako bring them in closer so she could join the fray.

  She knew that the group on the roof would be able to handle it, and it wasn’t long before her faith was rewarded. After darting out of his field of vision, Vera was able to land a fatal shot on Darok, a supercharged sniper bolt tearing through his upper torso. With one foe down, and the death causing distress to the other, the other target fell quickly, cut down by Kayora's pale green blade.

  "Uh oh." Lana heard Mako mutter, and looked over to see if she could discern what had caused the girl concern. Nothing was evident from a cursory glance, until Lana's attention was caught by the radar readout, which showed that something very large was about to drop out of hyperspace. Before she could even postulate who might be arriving, a gigantic battlecruiser snapped into focus, casting a dark shadow across the fortress and the surrounding area.

  "Damn, that thing is huge!" Lana had to agree with Mako's assessment; the cruiser was definitely one of the largest varieties that was used by the Sith Empire, but the Force told her that this ship had not come on behalf of the Sith Empire. It was most likely related to the cult that Darok and Arkous had been a part of, which was extremely disconcerting to Lana. They'd already been worried about how deep the corruption ran, but if they had managed to get their hands on such a vessel, the corruption ran deep indeed.

  Returning her focus to the team on the roof, she saw they were conversing with a giant hologram of a hooded figure. From this distance, she couldn't make out any features, but soon the figure disappeared. Several flashes of light tugged at Lana's peripherals, and to her horror she saw that the cruiser had opened fire on the structure, banks of turbolasers belching vibrant green laser blasts at their target. Quickly the sky was filled with streaks of green, and Lana leaned forward anxiously as they began to impact the roof, sending sharks of stone and metal soaring through the air.

  "Take us closer!" she ordered, keeping her eye on the small figure of Vera, who appeared to be running in their direction. Mercifully, Mako obeyed without question, doing her best to keep them away from any of the errant shots that edged their way. Vaguely aware that Kayora and Jakarro were both also making a quick exit, Lana focused on the armor clad Chiss, who had stowed her rifle on her back and was leaping to and fro as she serpentined toward the roof's edge, ducking out of the way of debris and explosions.

  "I can't get much closer than this, but Vera's got a jetpack," Mako stated with confidence as she spun the ship around, the scene of chaos quickly disappearing from view. "I'm opening the boarding door."

  "I'm going down there." Lana was already out of the cockpit before she finished her sentence. Swiftly she made her way across the catwalk and vaulted the railing at the edge of the lounge, boots clanging loudly against the floor of the cargo bay as she landed. The boarding door at the back of the ship was already open, and through it Lana could see little but shrapnel and smoke. Dashing forward, she slipped through the doorway just as a flash of blue emerged from a particularly thick cloud of smoke.

  Vera soared toward the Distant Slayer, course correcting slightly as her jetpack rockets propelled her forward. Stretching her feet out, she hit the ramp and ran forward, her momentum carrying her even as the jetpack sputtered out. Lana caught Vera by the arms and helped steady her as they felt Mako begin to move the ship away from the danger zone.

  "Aw, did you miss me?" Lana could hear the teasing in Vera's inquiry, and she shook her head at the unabashed flirting.

  "Maybe I just missed your fingers," Lana replied as she pushed the Mandalorian through the boarding door, toggling it to close behind them.

  Vera ran a gloved finger down Lana's cheek before she stepped away and headed up the stairs. "That's just because you don't know what my mouth can do."