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An explosion was the answer to Thirteen's prayer, as paradoxical as it seemed. She chanced a look up from her hiding place to see dozens of armored Mandalorians descending from the sky in a haze of sparks and blaster fire. Her jaw fell slightly as she watched the warriors drop into the street, carving a path of destruction within the swaths of bounty hunters that harkened back to her days in the Empire.
Part of her also twinged with sadness at the display. They had obviously come to protect the Mandalorian. Thirteen never shared that sense of camaraderie with any of her fellow cipher agents- that is, the ones that she met in passing. She was constantly isolated, and anyone she did get close to was usually somebody she had to kill.
It was a lonely life.
A Mandalorian with a heavy blaster landed next to the speeder, which she now noticed was directly next to the arched structure that separated the city from the rest of the planet.
"Get out of here!" He shouted over blaster fire. "We'll hold them off." The bounty hunter beside her hesitated, uncoiling his arm from its protective stance over her and drawing his pistol.
"You'll have to relocate the covert." The heavy infantry paused for a moment, gun still firing as he looked over at the Mandalorian. Despite a helmet covering his face, he displayed some sort of emotion. Thirteen couldn't put her finger on what, but it loomed over him like a stormcloud.
"This is the Way." The Mandalorian nodded after a pause.
"This is the Way." He gathered the child into his arms and clapped Thirteen on the shoulder, signaling that it was time to go. She jumped out of the speeder, following closely behind the Mandalorian as he bolted through gunfire in the direction of the Razor Crest. He'd divulged the name of the ship in the hours she'd pestered him in between Arvala-7 and Nevarro. Thirteen kept an eye behind them, blaster raised as they stormed up the ramp and into the hull of the ship.
She was just about to allow herself the luxury of relaxing when her ears caught the sound of someone's feet landing lightly on the metal grates. Thirteen turned before the Mandalorian could react, leveling her blaster at the guild agent who was apparently in charge of the bounty hunter's liaison with the client.
"Hold it, Mando." He said, eyes darting between Thirteen and the Mandalorian, the latter which turned to face him. "I didn't want it to come to this. But then you broke the code. Two bounties broken out...hell of a track record to start all at once."
"Hey! I broke myself out," Thirteen shot back indignantly, not missing the look the Mandalorian threw her as he turned to one of the exposed panels on the wall. She nodded slightly and dove out of the way as a hook shot out of his vambrace, puncturing the panel and flooding the ship with smoke.
