Unfortunately, it didn't look as though the delays were over yet. It turned out that the ship had only enough fuel to get to Orondia. Needless to say, Eval wasn't happy about this turn of events. Rain sat on the boarding platform, watching as he restlessly shifted his weight from foot to foot, waiting for the owner of the fuelling station to finish what he was doing so Eval could pay him and be on his way.

"We can't seem to catch a break, can we?" Rain sighed.

Cad, who stood at the bottom of the platform leaning against the rail, gave her a sidelong glance.

"You hardly have a right to be complaining, little lady. Seems to me you've had it far easier than the rest of us."

Rain cocked an eyebrow at him, "Oh?"

"You've ridden our coattails all the way from Coruscant. And for what?"

Rain sighed, "The more, the merrier."

Bane turned his head so he could give her a lingering stare.

Hardeen, sitting at the top of the ramp, chuckled, "See, Bane? You can't argue with that."

Eval strode over then, a look of irritation on his face.

"We're being swindled," he said crossly, "Who sells a ship with only enough fuel to get to this lousy rock?"

"The way I see it, you keep paying off everybody but me," Cad glared.

"Yeah," Hardeen agreed readily, getting up from his seat at the top of the ramp, "Why is that?"

As Rain settled back into her cross-legged position in the corner of the cockpit a moment later, she was struck by a sudden sense of foreboding. Trouble was on their heels, and that trouble was growing steadily closer.

"Something's out there," she said, uncrossing her legs and getting to her feet.

"What?"

There was a bang and the ship rocked.

"Now what?" Eval snapped.

A T-6 shuttle pulled out in front of them for a split second, revealing their attackers.

"Jedi!" Bane hissed.

The ship swayed again as the shuttle rammed them from above. Rain's stomach dropped.

The Jedi are here. They've found us. They've found ME. And there's no way we can outrun them. I have to face them again. This is really it.

She watched as the Jedi ship pulled up beside them before dropping out of sight again. Everyone was leaning forward in their seats, tensely waiting for it reappear. Suddenly a figure landed in front of their viewport before scurrying out of their line of sight. Rain had only seen him for a split second, but it was enough to recognize him.

Skywalker. Why of all people did it have to be him?

"I'll take care of him," Hardeen volunteered.

"No," Cad said, getting up and allowing Hardeen to take over the pilot's seat, "It's my turn to kill a Jedi."

I can't lose my nerve, Rain thought, It's now or never. I knew this was coming. I'm ready for it. I know I am.

Rain unhooked her lightsabers from her belt and stepped forward.

"I'm coming with you," she volunteered.

"No, you're not."

Rain stared at the bounty hunter, a look of incredulity on her face.

"You don't seriously expect me to just sit here and do nothing!" she protested.

"You'll just get in my way. Now sit down and shut up."

Rain's temper flared. Before Bane could take another step, she moved to block his path.

"No," she said, "You're not going out there unless you take me with you."

To Rain's surprise, Cad suddenly smiled.

"Don't tell me you're worried about me, pet."

"Yes," Rain blurted, watching as surprise flooded Bane's features, "Yes, I am."

Anything's better than telling him the real reason I need to do this.

"How sweet," Bane said, recovering quickly from his surprise and pushing past Rain, "But I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you. I'm doing this alone."

Without another word, he walked off the bridge. Rain stayed where she was, unmoving.

Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven.

Her grip tightened on her sabers.

Six. Five. Four.

The ship pitched again and she took a moment to steady herself.

Three. Two. One.

She turned, heading in the exact same direction as Bane had just seconds before.

"Where are you going?" Hardeen called after her, stopping her in her tracks.

"To help," she answered simply.

"Bane just told you to stay here," Hardeen said, keeping his gaze forward.

"You think I would stay here just because he told me to?" Rain asked.

Moralo twisted in his seat to face her.

"Perhaps you should—"

But Rain was already gone. Opening the portside ramp, she leapt out, landing on the wing of the ship. She saw scorched metal where a lightsaber had cut into the wing. She looked up quickly at the sound of blaster fire, instinctively reaching for her lightsabers. A single bound brought her onto the roof of the ship within feet of where Skywalker stood. Bane was directly to her left, sprawled across the surface of the yacht, his blaster trained on Anakin.

Didn't need my help, huh?

Bane's initial reaction of surprise vanished quickly, replaced by a heated glare. No doubt he would have said something if Skywalker hadn't beaten him to the punch.

"Rain?" Anakin queried, his eyes wide with shock.

Panic seized Rain and she attacked before the Jedi could utter another word. Anakin blocked, forcing her back with a strong shove.

"What are you doing?" Skywalker demanded.

Bane heard it. Bane heard my name. This idiot's going to give me away completely if he doesn't stop talking NOW!

"I know exactly what I'm doing," Rain hissed, forcing down the inhibitions she had first felt at the sight of her old general, "Now shut up and fight me!"

She launched herself at Skywalker and their blades crashed together, red and blue melding in a bright flash. The ship rocked violently beneath them and they stumbled apart, struggling to keep their balance. Cad took advantage of the opening and resumed fire on Anakin, who deflected it at Rain. Rain knocked it away with a vicious swipe of her lightsaber before charging at Skywalker again. He matched her strike for strike, gradually forcing her to take the defensive.

The Order's chosen one, Rain thought angrily, You were always their favorite, weren't you?

With a fearsome shout, Anakin grabbed ahold of Rain's left wrist, yanking her off balance and hurling her over the side of the ship. Rain shrieked as she collided with the wing of the ship. One of her lightsabers flew from her grip and she twisted around quickly, reaching through the force to catch it. She returned her weapons to her belt before getting to her feet. Her vision swam for a second before clearing.

She gave herself a shake, muttering under her breath, "Ow."

She sprang back onto the roof, only to find it was clear. The yacht jerked left and levelled out suddenly, nearly pitching Rain off again. She cursed angrily.

Hardeen, what are you doing?!

The sound of blaster fire caught her ear again and she sprinted for the nose of the ship, spotting Anakin slowly closing in on Bane. Rain pounced on him, slamming her knee into his face and trying to wrench his lightsaber out of his grip. The ship lurched yet again and Rain's balance gave, causing her to land in a heap. She grabbed at Skywalker's legs in an attempt to trip him. He came down hard on one knee, twisting Rain's arm painfully underneath him. She screeched in pain, bringing her legs up and kicking him in the side. He rolled away before leaping back to his feet. Rain heard the yacht's cannons fire and saw a burst of flame in the distance, throwing up a cloud of dust in its wake.

Cover isn't going to do us a whole lot of good, Hardeen! What are you thinking?

As they ripped through the dust cloud, Rain spotted a stone arch in the distance. Hardeen was steering the ship straight for it.

Oh dear.

The yacht ducked quickly and nosed up just as fast, forcing the Jedi shuttle to slam directly into it. The yacht swung sideways, hurling Rain and others off its surface. Rain blacked out when she hit the ground. She had no idea how long she was out cold, but when she opened her eyes, she was enveloped in a dust cloud.

I don't believe it. This is the SECOND time we've crashed on this cursed trip!

She stood up and brushed herself off, glancing around at her surroundings.

I can't see ten feet in this! Where is everyone?

A distant noise caught her ear and she froze, listening intently. After a moment, she recognized it as the sound of a scuffle. She took off at a run, skidding to a halt at the edge of a low ledge. Hardeen stood a few paces in front of her, while on Rain's right Cad was dragging a struggling Anakin by a long cable.

"You had your chance to kill him," Bane snapped at Hardeen, "Now it's my turn."

But Skywalker wasn't finished. Pulling a somersault, he slammed into Bane. By the time Cad grabbed his blaster, Anakin was free of the cable and had his lightsaber at the ready. Bane fired off a few shots but Anakin was far too close. With one swing, he knocked the blaster out of the bounty hunter's grip. Rain flew into action before Skywalker could get any further. She whipped out her sabers and flung herself at him, reaching around from behind him to stop his blade in its tracks. Anakin aimed a scowl over his shoulder and Rain snapped out her leg, kicking him in the back of the knee and forcing him down. Bane's boot connected with Anakin's face and he toppled backward onto Rain. He was up again in flash though, knocking Bane to the ground with a hard kick. Rain had barely managed to scramble to her feet before he rounded on her, sending her reeling with a backhand to the face. Through blurry eyes, Rain saw Hardeen tackle Skywalker before the two of them rolled away in a tangle of limbs, punching and kicking. Rain's head was still spinning, her cheek stinging with pain. She turned her back on the struggle, closing her eyes and listening to the muffled shouts and thuds. She raised a hand to her sore face and felt something warm and sticky running down the side of her face. Her eyes snapped open and she looked down at her hand to find that her fingertips were covered in blood. A lump rose in Rain's throat and anger flooded through her. Straightening, she turned to see Rako getting to his feet, the Jedi lying unmoving on the turf. Bane picked up his blaster and aimed it at the still figure. Before he could pull the trigger, a figure leapt into view, a lightsaber in each hand and a fierce cry on her lips. She slashed at him and the Duros stumbled back. Rain instantly recognized Anakin's Togruta apprentice and her grip tightened on her dual blades.

Great. Exactly what we needed. Ahsoka Tano, Skywalker's copycat.

The Togruta stepped over her master protectively, a dangerous look on her face. Though when her gaze fell on Rain, her expression changed completely.

I don't need that look from you.

Rain was about to cut in before Ahsoka could open her mouth and screw things up further, but luckily she was saved from having to do so by Eval. All heads turned at the sound of the Phindian's voice, watching him approach from the direction of the yacht.

Oh, there it is. Still in one piece. That's good.

"The ship is still operational," Eval announced, "I got it working. Now let's get out of here."

Without waiting for any acknowledgement, he turned and walked away. Rain tucked her lightsabers into her belt before reaching up one last time to touch the wound on her face. Her eyes fell on Skywalker.

He must have caught me with his lightsaber when he hit me. Looks like I'll have to wait for another time to pay him back.

"You're lucky we're in a hurry, little lady," Bane said, tipping his hat to Ahsoka, "We'll have to dance another time."

He strode away, Hardeen falling in behind him. Rain stayed where she was, her eyes locked with Tano's. The Togruta's face was screwed up in anger, but neither of them said anything.

"Callyn?"

Rain glanced back at Hardeen, the worry evident in his face. Then she turned back to face Ahsoka once more.

"Till next time," she said.

There was no malice in her tone, just a promise.

"You'd better hope there is no next time," Ahsoka hissed.

Rain offered no answer, just walked away.

"Are you alright?" Hardeen asked as she caught up.

He gestured to her face.

"Does it look bad?" Rain asked.

"No. Not too bad. But you should probably clean it up."

Rain sighed, "Whatever. It's fine."

They boarded their ship for what Rain hoped would be the last time and made their way back to the bridge. Hardeen took over the controls, Eval took the remaining seat, and Rain and Cad stood across from each other. The ship took off without any trouble and they were on their way.

For a while, quiet reigned.

But it was broken too soon.

"Rain."

The color drained from Rain's face as she looked up at Cad. His gaze was fixed on the viewport. Rain saw Hardeen tense.

Eval frowned, "Who?"

Bane ignored the question, turning his head to meet Rain's frightened gaze.

"I remember that name now. Though if I recall correctly, the girl who answered to that name was a Jedi."

Bane reached for his blaster suddenly, training it on Rain.

Her eyes widened, "What are you—"

"Bane!" Hardeen shouted, having twisted his head around to catch a glimpse of the two passengers.

Bane pulled the trigger and Rain had only a fraction of a second to react. She thrust her hands forward, feeling the force flow through her. The blaster bolt stopped within inches of her, so near that she could feel its heat. Eval was on his feet, his yellow eyes stretched wide in shock. Hardeen still had his head turned in their direction, but he was forced to return his attention to piloting the ship when they started to veer off course. Rain's shocked expression turned to one of pure rage.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she hissed, sending the blaster bolt careening off into the back of the yacht with a wave of her hand.

"So it is you," Bane said coolly, ignoring the question, "Just wanted to be sure."

"You just wanted to be sure?!" Rain echoed furiously, "So you tried to shoot me?! What if you had been wrong? I'd be dead right now!"

"What is going on here?" Eval demanded, finally finding his voice again.

Rain turned on him, "What do you mean what's going on here? Bane just tried to shoot me!"

"Bane—" Hardeen tried to interject again.

"Is this some form of payback?" Rain demanded, aiming an accusing glare at Bane, "I screwed up your hostage situation at the Senate building so you look for some stupid excuse to kill me when I'm your ally? Well, you know what? We were both doing our jobs that day, so we're even!"

As Rain stood there, her chest heaving from her outburst, she saw Bane's shoulders start to shake. He erupted into laughter, leaving her watching in utter disbelief.

Eval interrupted, "So you two have met before?"

Bane managed to compose himself enough to answer, "The little lady here used to be on the opposite side of this war."

Moralo narrowed his eyes at Rain, "Is that so?"

"What does it matter now?" Hardeen asked, "Her past is her own."

Bane turned his sights on his fellow bounty hunter, any joviality gone from his face, "You hardly need to be so defensive, Hardeen. She can speak for herself."

"I'm just saying—"

"You know, you don't seem to be acting very surprised about this," Bane cut him off, "Why do I get the impression you already knew?"

"We had a long time to talk back on Nal Hutta," Hardeen said, sounding smug.

"I told him my name," Rain said quickly, "But he didn't know I was a Jedi."

Cad rounded back on her, his eyes burning slits.

Rain narrowed her eyes contemptibly in return, "What?"

"Enough of this bickering," Eval snapped, "Whatever's in the past can stay there. It's no longer any concern of ours."

He sat down with an air of finality, effectively ending the conversation. Rain slumped against the wall, feeling drained. The moment she had been dreading was over and dealt with.

Bane, however, was staring unwaveringly in her direction. She met his gaze, issuing a silent challenge. The bounty hunter said nothing, but Rain could see the corner of his mouth turn up. It made her skin crawl.

Let's just hope I can make it to Serenno before anything else happens.