Offee rushed me by the hand across the street only to be interrupted by R5's beeping.

 

She turned just in time to see her.

 

Asajj Ventress.

 

I could feel the temperature of the street drop visibly, as the dark side energy crackled around her.

 

"Jay. Stay back." Was all Offee said.

 

She raised one hand, forming a grip, causing the dark side to warp in her shadow, dark tendrils rising from within, striking out at Ventress like whips, one directly cleaving through lightsaber and fingers alike, another climbing up her hand.

 

"Hyrggh!" Ventress cried, grabbing at her hand, while the tendrils brought her to her knees.

 

"I have grown since we last met. I am so glad you did not." Offee said coldly and beckoned with her finger.

 

The tendril tensed, rippling with power before it tore Ventress's arm right off.

 

"You will not take away what I love. Not again. I will not allow it. No more." Offee's voice boomed, her murderous gaze scanning over the Mandalorians.

 

The tendrils began to climb the buildings, shaking the attackers, who like well-trained soldiers focused their attacks on me.

 

Destroy the weak link, and force your enemy to protect it. Then strike them out.

 

A basic tactic, but expertly used by the assassins.

 

Too bad I had my forcefield. They were shit out of lu-

 

Bzzt!

 

Something flickered before me.

 

The forcefield around me went down.

 

Fuck!

 

Pwshh!

 

A bolt whizzed past me, glancing at my shoulder.

 

The flesh burned off, and my blood boiled, vaporizing instantly.

 

"Aaargh!" I cried.

 

Offee snapped to me.

 

"Jay!" She called out.

 

"I'm fine. Deal with the-"

 

Ventress jumped, pulling herself to the roof with the force holding one lightsaber in her mouth while she bandaged the stump of her left hand.

 

"Go!" I said, as I scrambled for cover, holding my arm together, and ducked behind a pay phone.

 

From my back pocket, I pulled out a syringe of healing blood I had prepared for just such times and stabbed it through my chest.

 

The wounds began to stitch together and I focused on tracing back the signal that shorted my forcefield generator.

 

It was close by.

 

I turned.

 

R5-D4.

 

He turned to flee.

 

"You traitorous cunt of a droid!" I growled, jacking into my nanobot choker.

 

"Die!" The mini swarm flew across the street, falling upon the fleeing astromech droid, tearing through it as they produced more nanobots.

 

This would leave me vulnerable to the force for the time being but I wasn't thinking of that in the heat of the moment.

 

Besides, more materials would mean more nanobots.

 

I used my shiny coat buttons to see outside and witnessed Offee carve up three Mandos, Ventress leaping away from the tendrils, sending waves of force lightning at them to no avail.

 

Then, a bolt shot through my sleeve, melting the button, burning a hole into my wrist, that was soon patched through with the temporary regeneration the healing blood had granted me.

 

Alright. That's it. I'm one day from leaving this world. No need to bother hiding my true capabilities.

 

Besides, it was a cardinal rule of gaming.

 

It still counts as stealth if there are no witnesses.

 

I took control of the nanobots again and issued one command.

 

"Consume."

 

The nanobots took the instructions to heart and emerged from the remains of R5, boring into the nearest building, eating it up from the inside, and turning the concrete to dust as they processed through it.

 

Cracks began to spread through the building, and it began to tilt, startling the Mandos.

 

I on the other hand felt a calm wash over me as I gave up hiding.

 

Time to show them what I'm made of.

 

I opened up a portal on the ground below me, falling through to the roof above.

 

The Mandos turned to me, uttering a 'hn?' before I shot the portal gun around me, opening four portals inside their bodies and slicing them into two.

 

Their perfectly cleaved remains slid off the slick make of the portals, simultaneously protecting me from the blaster bolts of the opposite side.

 

Calmly I walked past them opening up more portals to shield myself from incoming fire, as I took note of the shooter's positions.

 

Moments later they found themselves on the wrong end of a portal, cleaved in two as well.

 

That dealt with the Mandos, I thought just as the building opposite to me crashed into the street, rubble piling and cement dust rising high into the air, a storm of nanites buzzing out from within.

 

"Come," I said, opening a portal to the street and walking out, the nanobots returning to my body, forming into a choker around my neck.

 

A wet slouching noise could be heard behind me, and another arm flew past me.

 

"Looks like someone has been sufficiently disarmed!" I turned, smiling and Offee groaned pleasantly at the pun in response, her tendrils climbing up Ventress's legs now, slowly crushing them, like a meat grinder.

 

"Offee love. Leave her alive. We need to know where they came from, who sent them." I said, casually strolling past the rubble.

 

I was truly curious. I mean, I had paid off most corporations and promised them further civil contracts. The rogue Jedi had been placated with token gestures. Hell, even mercenaries had it better under my rule.

 

So who the hell sent them?

 

Well, who aside from Mandalore and the IGBC, given the obvious.

 

No way just two of those powers would risk this. Not on the eve of a peace treaty.

 

Not unless they had a collaborator on the republic's side to ensure that all three parties would be plunged right back into war simultaneously.

 

Offee let Ventress go, sending her tumbling onto the street like a rag doll.

 

"Mind healing her? We'll need her to be lucid enough to answer questions." I said, kneeling beside Ventress's prone form.

 

"Do I have to?" Offee pouted sweetly, even her dark side empowered pitch black sclera looked adorable.

 

I kissed her, caressing her face.

 

"Don't you wanna know who sent her?

 

Take revenge. Send a message?" I asked.

 

Offee sighed, as the tendrils retreated into her shadow, and her eyes slowly returned to the deep beautiful blue they were.

 

She let out a long-held breath and squatted down, tired.

 

It was a draining move that one. Especially holding onto herself for this long without falling to the allure of the dark side. It was admirable.

 

I patted her back, as she gulped down deep breaths of air and fell into a meditative trance, regaining her composure.

 

She looked at me, displeased at having to save Ventress.

 

"Yeah. I don't like it either. But we didn't bring the memory extractor and I doubt we have enough time to search through them even if we did. I can practically hear the police sirens." I said.

 

"Fine. But I don't like this." She said, shaking her head.

 

She shifted her weight onto her knees, placing her hands on Ventress's chest, and began to heal her back to consciousness.

 

Just then, her eyes shot open, revealing her trap.

 

A burst of force shot out, crushing Offee's forcefield generator.

 

"What is that supposed to do?" Offee scoffed, her fingers digging into Ventress's exposed flesh causing her to scream.

 

Yet through some inordinate force of will, Ventress held it back, her eyes burning with purpose.

 

"What are you up to now?" I asked, kneeling beside her, giving her head a firm slap, when I spotted a red glow behind us, from the corner of my eyes.

 

Is that-

 

Before I could finish that thought, it was over.

 

And I stood paralyzed over Ventress, Offee fell to the floor beside me, a red lightsaber straight through her chest.

 

Immediately, I pulled it out, falling to my knees.

 

Offee just smiled having accepted her fate.

 

But I wasn't worried.

 

Where there's healing blood, there's a way!

 

I reached into her back pocket and pulled Offee's emergency dose, injecting it straight into her heart.

 

She would live. Ventress on the other hand...

 

"It was ...." Ventress laughed at her apparent victory, almost blind, and answered in a final fit of spite at the world, through choked coughs, blood seeping out her mouth, "....Nute Gunray. He sends his regards."

 

"Thank you for that!" I said, before kicking her head in.

 

I sat down beside Offee.

 

"Offee, you stupid idiot!" I said, caressing her face, "Could've force stopped it! I almost lost you!"

 

Her wounds began to heal, and the light began to return to her eyes, while I sent my nanobots into her chest, scraping off the burnt tissue, to help with a complete recovery.

 

"Feeling better?" I asked.

 

"Yes." Offee smiled, and for a moment everything was fine again.

 

The ambulance arrived on the scene, and the police began to cordon off the area.

 

A medic walked up to us, checking for injuries.

 

For a moment, my mind wandered to the culprits, to the peace summit.

 

To what I would do to Gunray.

 

Then, I felt something shaking beside me.

 

I looked down.

 

Offee's whole body was spasming, shaking like there was no tomorrow, as hives appeared on her face, pores bleeding red.

 

What?

 

What?

 

What's...happening?

 

I sat in a daze.

 

"Offe-"

 

The medic pushed me aside, and put an oxygen mask on Offee.

 

"She's going into anaphylactic shock. We need immediate evac....."

 

Anaphylactic shock?

 

An allergy?

 

After all, we had been through, it was a fucking allergy?

 

To what?

 

And a small voice in me answered.

 

The only answer that made sense.

 

The healing blood!