Hello again, friends! :D

This idea actually woke me up this morning, and after slowly writing it out, here it is!

Warnings: femmeslash hints

Have a great day!

A blaster bolt flew over my shoulder, piercing through the Vulkar's energy shield. I saw the opportunity and launched myself forward, using my vibroblade to sever the Vulkar's head.

He fell to the ground in two pieces, and I turned to face my two friends.

Mission was trying to avoid looking at the Vulkar we'd just killed, looking a little sick.

Carth was looking impressed at my quick attack, and he shot me a warm smile. "Great job," he said, glancing at Mission as she turned around. "So, what's the plan?"

"This is the Vulkar base, right, Mish?" I asked, hoping to distract the young Twi'lek while a plan formed in my mind.

"Yeah," she answered. "This'll take you right into the main floor of their base, I think. I ain't ever been inside, so I can't help you much from here."

"Okay," I murmured, thinking through my new plan. After all, rushing into the cesspool of the city, then cutting through the sewers hadn't exactly been my favorite thing to do.

Carth was looking at me expectantly when I glanced over and met his gaze, seeming to understand that I'd decided on my plan.

"Mission, the Vulkars recognize you right away, don't they?"

She groaned, turning to face me and Carth again. "Yeah, it's sorta a 'shoot on sight' deal that we've got goin'," she responded with a roll of her eyes.

I nodded, smiling a little. "What can you tell me about the Vulkars?"

Mission filled me in on their leader, Brejik, what little she knew of him. Then she told me about the Vulkar's desperate desire to beat the Hidden Beks at the big swoop race, hence the reason they'd stolen the accelerator. Lastly, she told me everything I needed to know about how to deal with the Vulkars, and which ones had high status in the gang.

My plan was perfect now. I grinned and thanked Mission, looking around for Carth so I could fill both of them in on my plan. He walked back into the small elevator hall a moment later, wiping his hands on his pants.

Seeing that Mission and I were both staring at him, he grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. I was just moving the bodies over to the rancor. That way it'll look like it ate them."

I was thrilled at his sneaky thinking. "Awesome. Okay, now listen up. Here's my plan: I'm going to sneak in through this door and pretend to be a new racing recruit. Since they'll recognize Mission, you two need to head back to the Bek base; I'll meet up with you there as soon as I can."

Carth frowned. "Are you sure you can handle yourself?"

I shrugged. "I'll give it my best shot."

Carth didn't look like he wanted to leave, but Mission seemed to think I would be fine. She grabbed his arm and started towing him back the way we'd come.

"Good luck, Kerra!" she called over her shoulder, leading Carth away.

I laughed and shook my head, turning to face the elevator door. "Hmm," I sighed, opening the door and stepping into the elevator. I hoped I could do this.

"Hey!"

I froze and turned around. I'd made it all the way out of the elevator and toward a door that looked like it led to the next floor of the base, only to find that it was the main entrance to the base.

"What the hell do you think you're doing in here? I don't recognize you!"

I opened my mouth and started talking, hoping that whatever I said would work. "This is the Vulkar base, right? Look, I used to be a Bek, but I decided that Brejik's got the right idea. I'll do anything to kick their asses at the race!"

The Vulkar guard shook his head at me, grabbing my arm and hauling me toward the door. "Ha! Like I believe that!"

Damn it, damn it, damn it, I swore inwardly.

The base door hissed open, and the guard dragged me outside. He was about to throw me to the ground when I yelped, "Wait!"

I pointed to the guard standing at the entrance. "He let me in! Just ask him!"

The guard holding me turned to look at the other Vulkar, glancing between him and me for a moment. "Hey, did you let her in?" he asked, nodding at me.

"He just let me in!" I supplied before the guard even looked at me.

"You shut up!" the guard holding me barked, shaking me roughly.

"I... I just let her in," the other guard answered, sounding a little mechanic.

Both the guard holding me and I frowned, staring at the guard that had just answered. That was weird, I thought. It was almost like I controlled his mind and told him what to say.

My captor cleared his throat, letting go of me. "Right, well. Sorry about that." He motioned that I follow and we headed back into the base.

"So, what's your specialty?" the guard asked as the base door closed behind us.

I shrugged, still confused about the guard at the door. "I don't know. I'm sort of a jack of all trades."

The Vulkar nodded thoughtfully. "Well, I think we could use a Bek mechanic. You know that accelerator we stole from you? None of our guys can figure out how to install it. Think you could take a look?"

The moment the word 'accelerator' popped out of his mouth, I was all ears. I nodded, realizing that this wasn't the brightest Vulkar. "Sure, I'll take a look at it and see what I can do."

The Vulkar grinned at me and led me through the base to the garage. He told a passing garage hand to fetch the accelerator, and led me over to a swoop bike. He showed me where the tools were and told me that I had a few hours until it was time for the base to shut down for the night and go to sleep. I nodded like I cared and thanked him, taking the accelerator from the garage hand when he returned.

I set to work as soon as I could, amazed with what I somehow knew about engines and circuitry. I took it slowly at first, figuring out what went where. As the rest of the Vulkars started trickling out of the garage, presumably headed for the mess hall, I began sabotaging the swoop bike I was working on.

What must have been hours later, a protocol droid marched up to me and told me to report to my quarters. I ignored it until it threatened to report to Brejik, then grabbed the accelerator and headed toward the main level. I found a hiding place and stashed the accelerator, planning to come and get it in the middle of the night.

I followed some of the Vulkars to the barracks and found an open bunk, climbing in and curling up. I pretended to sleep, waiting until everything had been still for at least an hour. Once it was quiet, I silently got up and exited the barracks. I backtracked to where I'd hidden the accelerator, grabbing it and heading in the direction I thought the exit was.

It didn't take me long to realize that I was lost. I was pretty sure that I was just going in circles, clutching the accelerator. Finally, I came to a door that I hadn't seen before. It looked like it had a state-of-the-art security system built into it, but it didn't seem to be active.

Hoping it was an escape, I walked up to it and opened the door, slipping inside before any patrolling droid noticed me.

The room I was in was actually relatively small. The only noise and light was from a force cage on the opposite side of the room from me. I moved toward it quietly without even giving my feet permission to move. It seemed like I was drawn to the person in the force cage, and I didn't know why.

I stopped a few inches short of the shimmering energy field, staring at the sleeping woman inside. My heart nearly stopped altogether, and it was hard for me to breathe all of a sudden. She looked beautiful, almost like an angel.

A slight frown was on her face as she slept, and I wanted nothing more than to get rid of whatever was distressing her. I'd never really believed in love at first sight, but standing there staring at her, I felt like I'd known her all my life. I wanted to free her and hold her to me and comfort her. I wanted to kiss her, love her.

Before I let my romantic side get too out of hand, I backed away slowly, my eyes locked on the woman. I spent as long as I dared in the room, ducking out and hurrying to find the base exit.

When I finally found the exit door and was outside, hurrying through the Lower City, I realized that the woman had been Bastila. A feeling of determination settled over me as I jogged to the Bek base. I was going to save Bastila, no matter what it took. There was no way in hell I was going to lose that swoop race.