“Who the hell are you people!” Carth Onasi gaped at the sky, where fragments of the Sith armada still fell like rain. The group stood on an upper level walkway, a gathering among many who were interested in the morbid display. “How could the entire Sith fleet just detonate like that…”
“Regardless of the why, we are grateful,” Bastila’s tone failed to match her words, filled with arrogance and righteous privilege. “Now, we need only secure transport off this world.” She glanced at the sky. “I sensed the death of a powerful darkness, I believe Dark Malek has fallen!”
“My husband should have taken care of everything in orbit,” May smiled at the overly assertive woman. The Jedi had tried many times to place herself in command of the rescue of the others. “Once he returns, we can summon our ship to pick us up.”
“Excellent!” Bastila glanced at the brainwashed Revan, who stood beside Carth and gawked at the rain of debris. “We must go to Dantooine, the council there must be informed of the changes here.”
“We’ll figure it out,” May rolled her eyes. The plan did have them visiting Dantooine, but not right away. First, Revan needed to get her memories back so they could recrute the real her, not the puppet created by the Jedi. “Look there,” She pointed to the sky, where a familiar black streak swooped down from above. “Dan is here already.”
The group focused on the rapid approach of the blur that May called her husband. Dan reached them in a blink, without even a gust of wind to disturb the onlookers. The shark toothed mask withdrew to reveal a fresh faced youth.
“Greetings, everyone!” Dan looked each new arrival in the eyes, before he settled his gaze onto Revan. “If everyone’s ready, it’s about time we got off this rock…” Dan squinted into the distance and smiled. “Mission and Zaalbar are on their way with T3, so once they arrive I’ll hand over the Rakghoul serum and we can leave!”
“Rakghoul serum?” Bastila tilted her head and drew Dan’s gaze from the brainwashed Revan. “Something to do with the plague in the lower levels?”
“A cure,” May nodded. “Three of our agents will remain behind and work with the locals to produce enough for everyone.”
“You have a cure for the Rakghoul plague?” the Jedi tightened her hands into fists, eyes bright. “You could save millions on Taris alone, more if we can get it to the Jedi for galaxy wide distribution!”
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“I’ll bring a vial along when we leave,” Dan withdrew a thin, glass tube from Venom’s surface. “We’ll give it to the Jedi when we visit Dantooine.”
“I still want to know how you destroyed that Sith fleet,” Carth stepped forward, brow furrowed. “Only the Republic should have the hardware to finish that battle so quickly, and your suits are like no biotechnology I’ve ever seen.”
“We are Venom, not some piece of clothing!” Venom formed a small face on Dan’s shoulder and snarled at Carth. “Our power is greater than your limited brain can understand…”
“Play nice, Venom,” Dan snorted. Venom normally ignored comments about him, but something about Carth must rub him the wrong way. “To answer your question, I destroyed the fleet on my own…”
Dan turned from the dubious soldier and walked toward a turbo lift. The door opened as he approached and Mission’s group stepped into the light of the moon. He withdrew a large handful of vials and handed them off to the Twi’lek and her companions.
“We’ll be back in a month, probably less, with your brother in hand,” Dan waved the group off as they reentered the lift, serum in hand. “You can stay here as long as you like, just use the com-link we gave you when the plague is under control if you want to join us off world.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” Mission smiled, eyes focused on the cure she carried. “If you’re not back in a month, I’ll head to Tatooine and find Griff myself!”
Dan laughed as the turbolift closed. Even though Mission wasn’t force sensitive, her talents with people made her a valuable asset. Her knowledge of the underworld would also serve Krypton well, since enterprises like the exchange still needed to be dealt with back home. He turned back to the others and met May’s eyes with a question.
“Gladius is on her way,” May smiled and walked to his side. “She’ll send a scout to pick us up in less than a minute!”
“Perfect,” Dan pecked her on the forehead before he returned his gaze to the three confused humans. “Our ship is rather large, so I don’t think Taris would appreciate it if she entered the atmosphere herself.”
A thrum of Kryptonian engines followed his words as a scout vessel dropped from the sky, landing bay already open. May opened her arms and waved the group forward, toward the waiting ship.
“Let’s go, before the locals try to stop us from leaving,” May led the way onto the scout. Taris had strict policies regarding landings and departures, policies they planned to completely ignore. “They can’t stop us, but it’s better to avoid them altogether!”
The ramp slipped closed as the last member of the group stepped aboard. The scout rose, thrusters at full as it carried them toward the Gladius and away from the incoming security vessels. A short trip brought them within sight of Gladius, a view that brought a curse from Carth’s lips.
“That ship is bigger than anything under the Republic’s control…” Carth shook his head, as if he could dispel some kind of illusion. “She must be ten kilometres long!”
“Eighteen and counting, actually,” May laughed as the scout glided into one of the many docking bays on the Gladius’ hull. “She’s still a baby, but one day she’ll be the biggest creature I have!”
“Creature… wait,” Bastila tore her eyes from the viewport and squinted at May. “You have a bigger vessel than this under your command?”
“Not really a vessel…” May tapped her chin, thoughtful. The space worm was more like a small world, or mobile fortress. “More like a massive pet!”
“Come on,” Dan waved to gather the group's attention. His eyes flicked to Revan, before he motioned in the direction of the ramp. “We’ll get everyone to their quarters, you can rest before we get to Dantooine.”