Chapter 3: Bounty Hunters

"We're approaching the landing zone. Get your weapons ready."

"Yes, commander."

"Remember, these are Jedi we're after. They have more tricks up their sleeves then even we do. Make sure to keep your distance and watch every movement they make."

"We still keeping to normal tactics?"

"Yes, we stick to our tried and true plan, but this time we need to make sure absolutely nothing goes wrong with it."

"You need me to come commander?"

"We'll need you too, Jedi are notoriously dangerous so we need every body we can. Besides, no point having a pilot if we all die?"

*****

Kandria was…confused. One of the main reasons for this confusion she harboured was because…she was still alive. Not only that, but the Sith who had been mere moments from striking her down was now calmly walking from a mere metre behind her, both of the lightsabers he now wielded deactivated and hanging harmlessly on the belt beneath his cloak.

Perhaps she was just suffering from a concussion and this was all a fever dream. She reached over and pinched her cheek with her armoured hand, wincing at the pain it brought. Okay, it was real. But…why?

For the life of her she just couldn't figure out why he had spared her. She could feel his hate for the Jedi with every move he made during both of their battles, even now it was like a constant simmering from behind her. She had fought a few Sith before, but none exuded the sheer volume of emotions he emitted, meaning that either he was the only one who didn't bother to hide his emotions, or his feelings regarding the Jedi were just that strong.

When he had been standing over her however, preparing to finish her off as she laid immobile, with what little awareness she had left could sense conflict within him. The resolution of this conflict had obviously ended in her survival, but she was stumped as to how.

The leading theory was that the Sith had somehow decided to be rational and look at the situation critically. That would explain why he was ushering her in the direction which the ship had travelled in, as even a lowly Padawan was a valuable bargaining tool to either the Empire or the Republic.

Ultimately however, despite her preferable status of being not dead, she was still in quite a pickle. Not only had she lost the last battle, but now every muscle in her body ached from the pain of that last exchange and her descent to the forest floor. Miraculously, it appeared that her last-minute reactions were enough to prevent her from breaking any bones. She would definitely be feeling it for a couple of weeks however – if she ever lasted that long.

Even now it was a struggle to not limp, but she couldn't let the Sith think that the trouble of getting her to move was greater than the benefits of a potential bargaining chip. Her eyes flicked to the side as she sensed a presence to her left in the forest but she made no change to her movements, still striding forth. A second presence appeared to the right, but this time she didn't even glance in its direction.

In her mind however, she was racing to try and piece together what she was sensing. The presences were moving parallel towards the pair, matching their speed and direction. What really sealed the deal for her was the addition of not one, not two, but three new presences behind her and the Sith.

This was almost definitive proof that the two of them were being shadowed by someone. Her head shifted to the side so as to catch the Sith's attention who was most likely watching her every movement.

"We're being followed." She spoke in a low tone, enough that she was sure the Sith could hear her, but also low enough that the ones following them couldn't hear through normal means due to the distance between them.

"I know." The Sith said simply.

"Do you know who is following us?" She asked, holding onto the vain hope that this was some weird Empire thing.

"If I knew them, they wouldn't be following us." He stated as though she was an idiot, "I count eight."

Kandria blinked at that. Reaching out with the force, she pushed her senses past the ones she had sensed and discovered that there was indeed eight, surrounding them from the back and sides and leaving their frontal direction suspiciously open.

"We're being herded." She relayed this new information.

"Well done, Jedi. Turns out you aren't completely brain dead." The Sith responded blandly, causing Kandria to let out an involuntary huff.

"And you almost got beaten by a 'brain dead' Jedi." She said curtly.

"Last I checked, you were the one that literally got thrown in the dirt." He pointed out with a hint of smugness before he directed the conversation back to the topic at hand, "How do you want to handle this?"

"You could give me my lightsa-" She began before getting cut off.

"Not happening." He spoke.

"Well, the best I could do is try to talk it out with whoever is following us. Especially since I don't think you would be willing to do that." She sighed in disappointment at his refusal, even if it was absolutely ludicrous for him to ever accept such a proposition.

"…Let's just wait and see. There's a clearing up ahead, they'll make their move then." He said concluded after a few seconds of silence.

"And how do you know that?" She questioned, genuinely curious as to his reasoning behind it.

"It is the most tactically sound option. It leaves your opponent in an open location where you have a clear line of sight while you still have your own cover." He explained, "If they're smart, they'll already have people in front of us at the edge of the clearing to close the metaphorical box they are pushing us into."

Kandria blinked in surprise as he spoke, feeling brief surprise at his knowledge of tactics before reminding herself that she was talking to a Sith, the people most known for their strength and cleverness. And, to further confirm the validity of his claim she could already sense a pair of three past the clearing ahead of them, none of them moving.

"Once we are in the clearing, their intentions will make themselves known." He continued, "After that I can improvise."

"You don't have a plan?" She said in shock as she turned her head to look at him.

The Sith only shrugged nonchalantly, "From my experience, I'm much better at…going with the flow. I trust in my skills and experience to carry me to victory."

Kandria could only blink, bewildered that someone as strong as him could be so…uncaring to plan ahead. And while some may say that his lack of a plan was similar to her own adaptive fighting style it was rather the exact opposite. Her victory was dependent solely on trying to plan ahead of her opponent and predict their movements.

She tilted her head in thought as they entered the clearing. In a way, she couldn't deny the effectiveness of the Sith's 'loose' tactics. Looking back, it was now clear that his lack of a plan or set combat form was exactly what caused her to lose as he switched things up too rapidly.

"Stop." The Sith suddenly spoke up from behind her, breaking Kandria out of her thoughts as she followed the order.

He was the one with the lightsabers after all.

"How many do you count?" She asked as she reached out with the force to find eleven people now surrounding them completely.

"Eleven, evenly spread around us." The Sith confirmed, "Do you have a visual?"

"No, the shade is making it difficult." She responded, head shifting to the side on instinct as one of the presences began moving into a position that closed the 'box' tighter.

"They know we're onto them." The Sith replied in a matter-of-factly way, as if he was proud of himself.

"So why did we stop?" She asked, abandoning all pretences and turning to face him fully in disbelief at his admittance of giving up a tactical advantage they had been maintaining, "We could have surprised them."

"Fear tactics." He stated, "There is nothing more terrifying in an ambush then knowing that the enemy is aware they are in an ambush."

Kandria tsked, disapproving of the deceptive tactic in her own mind as she looked to the side where a figure was beginning to emerge from the forest. Both she and the Sith turned to face them fully, the tension and expectation in the air now being thick enough she felt like she could cut through it.

Walking out of the forest, was a Mandalorian, fully armoured and equipped with a blaster rifle in hand. Kandria's heart dropped as she noticed this. Her eyes flicked to the sides and positions of the presences around both she and the Sith. If they were surrounded by Mandalorians…

It was at this revelation that the Sith spoke, and for once, the two mortal enemies finally seemed to agree on the one important thing that absolutely had to be said.

"Ah. Shit."