The crew of the Dauntless hadn't taken the news well.

Since they were the closest thing Kat had to a family, she let them voice their concerns before telling them she didn't care. Mostly their arguments went as followed: "We can't be this poor," "It's suicidal" and listing all the deeds either Soros or one of his students had done, of which there were many.

Kat listened, knowing they were partly right, before shutting them all up. It was hardest with Evan who clearly had offered up the job as an unfortunate attempt at humor, meant to put her in a lighter mood.

In the end, they were left hovering with the Dauntless over Hetton while Kat took her fighter down to the surface. She had agreed to take a few days to prepare herself, but that was all. Zoey Swann had said the matter was urgent and she understood that. To make her crew feel better, Kat assured them that if the task got to be too dangerous, she'd settle for confirming Soros' position and running like hell.

The lie didn't make her feel any better, but their begrudging silence certainly did.

At least they know me well enough to not argue for too long.

In truth, Kat had no intention of abandoning the second half of her job. None the least because Soros interested her. A man like that was bound to be levels above the scum she was usually stuck with and despite the obvious danger, Kat couldn't deny that she enjoyed both the challenge and the prospect of meeting him.

The image of the warrior she was looking for helped too if Kat dared to consider it. A picture had been added to the materials Zoey had given her, several years old now, but it was something at least. Ever since they'd set off from Gaiya, Kat had found herself drawn to the image again and again.

The man in the photo was awe-inspiring to say the least. He was younger than she'd expected, having trained all those legendary warriors. Tall and strong and proud, yes, but she was absolutely mesmerized by the look in his eyes. There was such passion in them, and unbreakable severity too. It kept her in its hold, and every time she had to tear her eyes away with force.

Soros was a living legend, one that she was more than anxious to see. In her years, so many great names turned out to be nothing but overblown publicity stunts, but all signs pointed to the fact that Soros was the real deal.

As evident from the resistance she met on Hetton.

Of course, Kat hadn't expected to just waltz onto his home world and have his secret hiding place pointed out to her, but the reality was almost the opposite. The very mention of his name shut mouths so fast it was like Soros' name caused brain aneurysms.

Every person Kat talked to, even when she pretended to be an interested Union worker hanging out at a bar, went deaf when she asked the most innocent questions. A few ran from her like they had forgotten their stove on at home.

After a few fruitless days, Kat gave up on trying to ask and started listening. Luckily for her, there were actually a few Union people on Hetton, looking for opportunities in the newest realm opened to the Union after the Corgans joined the fray, so she didn't stick out as painfully as she had originally feared.

It didn't take much time for her to figure out that she needed to patrol Dolon Hall as closely as she dared. The way the locals made it sound, Soros would never leave it for too long, or stray too far.

When Kat picked up a distress signal from a Corgan hunting pack with a Palian receiver built into her fighter during a routine patrol, she thanked the gods for Palians again. They really could intercept anything. She listened with her mouth open as a report came in, saying that Soros had defeated twelve men without getting a scratch on him and was getting away.

She couldn't believe her luck. Could it be that simple? Kat had expected months of tedious combing of every square feet of Hetton, but it seemed a man like Soros couldn't stay hidden no matter what.

It was all going great until it went completely to hell.

Unwilling to lose a lead like that, she flew higher and searched for the lone speeder that was supposedly heading away from Dolon Hall.

Got you, she thought when a heat signature matched on her scanner, but that joy quickly turned to ash in her mouth when a group of dots started to approach her.

Kat was about to ask what the hell were they thinking when the first shot almost took her down. She fired up the engines and ran, seeing a whole escort of Corgan fighters on her tail. They didn't look like they wanted to talk.

"Fuck," she murmured, trying to keep her eyes on both Soros and her unwanted followers by letting loose a volley of cover fire.

She couldn't let the warlord go, but at the same time she hadn't expected her life to be in danger like that. Kat quickly considered opening a channel to them, but she had nothing to excuse herself with. Saying she was a bounty hunter would have gotten her shot at even more persistently in all likelihood and saying she was not meant she had no business being so close to their precious academy.

Even if she turned around and fought for real, she could at best hope to take a few of them down before the overwhelming force turned her little fighter into a pile of nuts and bolts.

Any way Kat looked at it, she was fucked.

I can never just have it easy, can I? she thought. So much for trying to sneak up on Soros subtly. I bet it looks like a fucking fireworks show from the ground right now.

As if to confirm her fears, the speeder seemed to have stopped somewhere down in the dark forest. Kat had no time to figure out what to do about that or what the legendary warrior would say about being hunted. Her pursuers fired a barrage at her ship and this time her luck was nowhere to be found.

The shot that hit her was perfect. Kat knew what it had hit at once as well as the fact she had seconds to save her life. The engine would be gone within moments. She hit the eject button, praying to any god who could hear her. In the next second, she felt a blast of heat and then cool air rushing through her hair as the explosion blasted her away from the fighter.

Kat crashed against the ground so hard that it knocked every bit of air out of her lungs. She gasped, trying to free herself from the constricting seat. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, trying to pull in as much oxygen as she could. The straps binding her to the ejected seat were stuck, so she had to cut herself loose.

Only darkness loomed around her, but Kat wasn't a fool. Her target would have seen her, and her pursuers would want to make sure she was dead. At that moment, she wasn't thrilled at the prospect of meeting either of them.

Crawling as far as she could, still breathing heavily, Kat turned her cloak on. With shaking hands, she pulled the hood over her head just before she collapsed.

The last thing Kat heard before she slipped into unconsciousness was a speeder bike.