Chapter 38: Confrontation

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It was difficult to get a status report and dole out orders when you were being put back together by a medic, but Seth had done it before.

"How are the Republic soldiers?" he asked. Seri had just moved over to him and was cleaning his wounds.

"They're fine, for the most part. The Private is stable, in the outpost's infirmary," Jensen replied.

"I helped PFC Mills work on him," Seri said.

"Excellent. The rest?"

"Mills and Baxton have been brought up to speed and are currently helping with work around the outpost. Inventory, mostly," Jensen replied.

"All right. We're shifting priorities. We now have no reason to leave this outpost, because there's no one left alive out there but that bastard, and we've destroyed his jammer. He knows that. So that means he's going to come to us, since he almost certainly can't draw us out. So our priority is now locking this place down and making it as safe as possible. I'm hoping that someone has already called for help?" he asked.

"I did," Jensen said, nodding. "I've gotten in touch with the nearest Republic forces. It's a cruiser and they're going to come help. Unfortunately, they're about a day out."

"What the fu...why isn't Onderon coming to help?" Nova asked.

"They...basically told me to go screw myself," Jensen replied.

Seth sighed. "Great. Okay, so we have to hold out for a day. Every window, every door that isn't absolutely necessary, shut it, lock it. Put up whatever security defenses you can think of. Kato, are the ship's sensors any use now?"

"No. I've been trying them and I did notice when you took down the jammer. It helped, but there's just too much life and weather interference on this planet for the ship's sensors," she replied.

"Great." He winced as Seri sealed one of his wounds with a bandage, then got started on the next one. "You're using kolto?" he asked.

"Yes, Seth. I'm kind of burning through our reserves," she murmured.

"I know. I'm sorry. We'll have to get more from the Republic ship."

"If we last that long," Jensen muttered.

"We'll last. He isn't invincible. He's tough, and crafty, but we can kill him. He's going to come, and it might be soon, but I'm not sure. He might try to wait us out, or we might have damaged him more than I thought. Either way, we're going to need to be on high alert. We're going to sleep in shifts tonight, someone always awake to watch the outpost and the ship, separately. We have to remember that Maya is down for the count for now. Yex, I don't suppose we've made any kind of significant progress with the outpost's scanners?"

"Unfortunately not, I am still doing the best I can with Kato's capable assistance," he replied.

"That's fine. Get back to it." He nodded to the door. "And update the others on the situation."

"On it," Jensen said. The three of them turned and left.

Seth sighed and looked at Maya. "Is she okay? You should check on her."

"The scan isn't finished yet," Seri murmured. "I'll check on her, but I want to finish with you first. You're actively bleeding."

"I'm sorry we keep doing this to you. That I keep doing this to you," he said.

"It's okay. It isn't your fault, it's like Maya said: it's just the way the situation fell."

"Yeah..." He glanced at Nova. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine. Seri fixed me up good," Nova replied.

"Yeah, I also gave her some painkillers," Seri said.

Nova laughed. "They do help, quite a bit...I need a nap. Is that going to be a problem?"

"No," Seth replied. "Sleep for now. You need to rest and recover for as long as you can, you're one of our best fighters, so I'm going to need you as capable as possible for when the bastard shows back up again."

She nodded. "We'll get him this time."

"We will," Seth agreed.

She rolled over and pulled a blanket up over her, her movements slow and careful.

"I don't think you can keep going on like this," Seri said after a moment. She sealed another one of his latest wounds.

"I know," he replied softly. "I...we don't have any choice, right now."

"I suppose. How many more stops do we have after this?" she asked. "How much longer is this to go on for?"

"As far as I know, Maya said there's only one more place left on the list, but that might change. I guess we'll find out," Seth said.

"This is getting more than just dangerous. You all keep pushing yourself so hard, you and Nova especially. You especially. This isn't reasonable or safe."

"Life isn't, often."

She sighed softly. "I know."

He laid there in silence as she finished up her work. Once she was done, she gave him some painkillers and he watched as she moved over to Maya.

"Her scan is finished," Seri said, studying a screen built into the examination bed. "She's fine, Seth. Just exhausted. She just needs rest. I'll monitor her, but she's a Jedi, her body protects itself more than most people through the Force, from what I understand. Now, go to sleep. Let the kolto work and heal you up."

"Okay...thank you, Seri."

"You're welcome, Seth."

She dimmed the lights and left the three of them in the infirmary. After a moment, Seth slowly got up, wincing as he did. He hobbled across the infirmary to Nova's bed, then laid a hand on her arm and gently rubbed it. "Can I join you?"

"Of course," she said, and scooted over.

There was just barely enough room for the two of them, but it was better than sleeping across the room. He settled against her back, holding her closely and carefully against him, and fell asleep almost immediately.

* * *

Despite how fast he dozed off, Seth only slept for about an hour.

When he woke up, he checked the time, then laid around for maybe another five minutes before realizing that he wasn't getting back to sleep. Which was fine, he guessed. There was work to be done and the painkillers were still in effect. Though he had to remember not to move around too much. Carefully, he rose to his feet, glad that he managed not to disturb Nova, who was clearly just out. Then he checked on Maya again, and she was even more out. She looked peaceful, though. He left them both sleeping and slipped out of the infirmary.

Seth took a moment to swing by his and Nova's quarters. He grabbed a fresh uniform and boxers and socks, then took a long, hot shower, washing away all the sweat and blood and dirt and grime that had gathered there since last he'd showered. It was slow, painful work, as a lot of him ached, and he seemed to be becoming a patchwork of bruises by now. Once he was finished, he dried off, (again, slow, painful work), and dressed, (deja vu, damned near everything was painful when you were this battered and bruised), and headed out.

He hunted through the ship for someone on guard and found only Seri sitting in the main room. She looked annoyed.

"You should be sleeping," she said.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't. I'm going to go check on the others. Has anything happened?" he asked.

"No, not as far as I know...don't do too much, okay?"

"I won't," he promised, and headed out of the ship.

Twilight was coming by then, he saw as he stepped off the loading ramp. The sky was shading towards golden red and the rain had slackened to barely a drizzle. As he approached the outpost, he saw Jensen and one of the locals, Baxton, he realized, coming from around the side of the building. They met up near the front entrance.

"You supposed to be up?" Jensen asked.

"No, but I can't sleep. How's everything going?" Seth replied. They headed into the outpost itself.

"Good. We're pretty secure. I mean, relatively speaking," Jensen said. "Some of the windows are broken and we're covering them up as best we can, but all the doors save for this one here are locked down firmly. Of course, we have no idea what kind of tech he has, he could be able to just hack or cut anything. So we're all armed and ready."

"Yeah," Seth muttered. "This isn't a happy prospect."

"No, but what is lately?" Baxton muttered.

"How are you holding up?"

"As good as can be expected, I guess. I'm relatively new, so I wasn't exactly very familiar with everyone, but still...it never seems to get any easier to see fellow soldiers die..."

"It doesn't," Seth confirmed.

"I just want to get out of this one alive," he muttered.

"Hopefully we will. I guess I'm going to give you a hand with the fortifications."

"Perfect," Jensen replied.

Seth followed them and settled in to his work.

* * *

An hour went by, and then two hours went by.

Seth checked the perimeter defenses and did what he could. Jensen and Baxton were right: they were about as good as they were going to get. Then he helped with inventory, hunting for anything that might be useful against the Mandalorian. Realistically though, they had as much as they were going to get. It was going to come down to luck and skill, but mostly luck. He caught a meal and went to check on Nova and Maya again. Both were still out, still in good condition, and then he wrapped up a few loose ends as the sun set.

Mainly he set a guard schedule, so that a minimum of two people would be awake, one in the outpost, one on the ship, at all times. Mostly though, he watched the jungle around them, and waited. Time passed, the sun disappeared, draining from the sky, replaced by gloomy darkness, and the rain picked up.

After awhile, Nova came out and greeted him. Her own ability to sleep had run out. They sat in the ingress of the outpost for awhile, talking, but mostly just keeping each other company, and they helped whenever they could.

Finally, Seth began to feel the effects of lethargy once again, which was lucky, because his allotted shift of being awake was about over.

"You look like crap, babe. You should sleep," Nova said, nudging him.

"Yeah, I guess so..."

"Also, go find Kato. She wanted to talk to you. I think she's staked out in one of the living quarters in the outpost for the moment," Nova said.

"What'd she want to talk about?" he asked.

"I don't know," Nova replied with a shrug, but she had a smile on her face that said otherwise.

"Okay. Goodnight, Nova."

"Goodnight, Seth."

He left her to guard the outpost, then headed for the dorms section. He wandered around until he found Kato's room and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"Seth."

"Come in."

He opened the door and stepped inside, closing it behind him. She was laying on the bed beneath the blankets, just a single lamp on the bedside table lit, a datapad in hand.

"Nova said you wanted to talk to me."

"Yes. I'm bad at subtlety, so I thought I'd ask you directly: are you interested in sex with me?" she asked, staring at him calmly.

"Oh. Uh, yes. Yes, definitely," he replied.

"Good. I'm interested in you." She set the datapad aside and pulled the blankets back. She was naked beneath them. "Let's use the time we have wisely."

"Good idea," Seth replied.

* * *

Seth opened his eyes.

Something was wrong.

He was stiff and sore, but he felt Kato pressed against him, and she was soft and warm and very pleasant. It was hard to tell, but he thought a few hours had passed since they had made love and gone to sleep. It still wasn't morning, he could tell that much just from the lack of sunlight. He laid in the bed and waited, listening closely.

Something had woken him up, something bad, but...

He sat up suddenly. No white noise, no hum of power. Shit, the power was dead. Could just be a glitch, but it might not be.

"Kato," he said as he pulled the blankets back.

"What?" she asked, coming awake immediately. "What's wrong?"

"Power's dead, I think something's happening."

"Damn," she muttered, and got up with him.

They both hastily pulled their uniforms and armor back on, grabbed their gear, then quickly left the room. Seth began making his way down the hallway, towards the infirmary. He was almost sure at least someone would be there. Who was supposed to be up? He was trying to think through a haze of grogginess but it was hard.

He reached the infirmary and knocked on the door.

"Who is it!?" Seri hissed.

"It's Seth and Kato," he replied.

The door opened and she let them in. She had a flashlight on. He looked around and saw that the only other person in the room was the wounded Private. "Have you seen anyone else?" he asked.

"Yes. Nova and Yex were just here. They told me to stay put, they were going to go fix the power," she replied. "What's going on?"

"I don't know. Stay here," Seth replied.

They all whirled around, weapons raised, as someone appeared in the doorway. Seth let out his breath slowly as he saw it was the local medic, PFC Mills.

"What's going on?" she asked, echoing Seri.

"Power's dead, don't know why, stay here," Seth replied.

She nodded and he and Kato headed back out of the infirmary, closing the door firmly behind them. They quickly made their way towards the main entrance.

"You think it's him?" Kato asked quietly.

"It's really hard to say, it could be him, could just be bad weather or something else. But the only reason we had power was because we had the ship hooked up to the outpost."

Seth felt his anxiety ramping back up as they headed back outside. It was raining again and very dark out. He was just barely able to see the vague shape of the ship up ahead, and didn't want to turn on his flashlight. Then again, maybe he should. He was almost positive that if the Mandalorian was around, he could see him, and didn't need light. In that case, he might as well just use the damned flashlight, given that he needed to see.

"Turning on my light," he said.

"Check," Kato replied. "I'll do the same."

He activated the flashlight mounted on the end of his blaster rifle barrel and swept it across the area. Just a lot of wet foliage out there, swaying in the wind, making it look like everything was moving, and...

"Oh no," Seth whispered.

"What?" Kato asked.

His light came to rest on an unmoving form between the outpost and the ship. It was wearing a Republic uniform. Seth jogged over and Kato joined him. He crouched, hoping against hope that whoever it was wasn't dead. It was either Jensen or Baxton and-

Seth activated his radio. It was Corporal Baxton.

He was dead.

"He's here! Everyone, he's here!"

The area became flooded with light as the ship's exterior lights snapped onto their maximum brightness. Seth cried out, squinting, trying desperately to see. And as his vision cleared, he realized that he was staring right at the Mandalorian. He could see his outline in the light and the rain. He was maybe ten feet away.

"I see him!" he screamed and opened fire.

A dart shot through the air and again knocked his blaster rifle straight from his grasp. He shouted in frustration and snagged his pistol, dodge-rolling to the side as Kato opened fire. He came up into a kneeling stance and opened fire, aiming as best he could under the circumstances. Blaster fire lit up the area, and so did the muted flashes of return fire as the Mandalorian shot those metal darts at them. He heard Kato shout in pain as one of them connected. Cursing, he focused, charged up a shot, and fired it off right at the bastard.

It was a direct hit.

The Mandalorian's stealth field suddenly shorted out, and this time, it didn't come back. In the harsh glare of the ship's lights, Seth finally got his first real look at the big son of a bitch. He was covered head to toe in scratched, heavily worn and used gray armor. Classic Mandalorian armor. So he was right. He'd been pretty sure, but he hadn't been certain that they were facing one. Now he knew. Unless someone had, for some reason, gotten their hands on some Mandalorian gear and was wearing it.

Did it matter? It was time for this guy to die.

He snapped off a curse and raised his wrist, then fired another pair of darts from the launcher mounted there. One barely missed Seth, the other crashed into the pistol and sent it flying. Seth shot to his feet. Time to end this. He'd since found another knife. He grabbed it and began charging for the Mandalorian.

"Come on, you big bastard!" he screamed.

He waited for Seth to come to him, and Seth almost imagined he could see a big, smug grin on the face behind that featureless gray visor. And the Mandalorian tried to do the same grab.

Seth dodged and stabbed him in the gut.

The knife was extremely sharp and strong, designed to penetrate armor, and as such, it drove through it. Not all the way to the hilt, but enough that the blade punched into the Mandalorian's stomach. There was a satisfying shout of pain, and then one big, solid, armored first connected with his right eye hard enough that he almost blacked out. His vision swam as he stumbled back several steps and then fell flat on his ass. Stars washed across his vision and the world tilted madly. Pain crackled through his cranium and he expected a second, more lethal blow to follow shortly thereafter. Only it didn't.

Two more streams of blaster fire joined the fray. Seth struck out with his foot blindly, going off pure instinct, and connected with the bastard's leg. He heard him stumble and growl in frustration. Seth rolled away as he heard a dart narrowly miss him, probably embedding itself in the ground where he had just been. He could barely see with how bright it was and how hard the Mandalorian had hit him. He got shakily to his feet, groping for the second blade he'd tucked away on his armor. The Mandalorian was dodging, firing more darts. How many did he have?! Nova and Jensen had thrown themselves into the fight.

They might actually have a chance of ending this here and now.

Seth saw several of the bolts connect, washing across the Mandalorian's armor, and drew his blade. He readied himself for another attack.

Then the Mandalorian threw something into the middle of the clearing.

Seth recognized it at the last second.

"Flash-bang!" he screamed while turning away, squeezing his eyes shut, and clapping his hands over his ears.

He still saw the flash and heard the bang.

Then an explosion of pain took him in the back as he felt a dart punch in through his armor. Fighting to stay focused, he whirled around, slashing wildly, but the Mandalorian wasn't coming for him. He had just tagged him in passing.

He was going for Nova.

Seth screamed and ran after him, barreling towards him while the monster in gray armor ran towards Nova. Jensen fired more shots at him, getting closer, trying to stop him. The Mandalorian fired two darts into his torso. Kato threw herself at him and the Mandalorian punched her in the gut, sending her stumbling several feet back, gasping in agony. Nova was firing, backing up, but he was on her in seconds, and he swept her up with a hand around her neck. He lifted her easily a foot off the ground and began strangling her.

Seth leaped onto the Mandalorian's back and brought the blade around, plunging it directly into the monster's neck.

That did it.

He dropped Nova and snapped his body forward while ducking down, expertly forcing Seth bodily up over

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