Chapter 2: The Escape from Taris

"That's better." 'Captain' said as he locked the door behind him. They were in an apartment in the Upper City. Shaleena had been amazed at the beauty of the sky, but before anyone got suspicious of her Outcast clothes, 'Captain' had pulled her into his apartment with Bastila and her group in tow. "Shaleena, I know that this is your first time on the surface but you need to be more careful, that Sith soldier nearly arrested you."

Shaleena cringed, "I'm sorry."

'Captain's' face softened, "It's alright Shal, you're new to this so don't worry about it." He frowned, "But we're gonna have to do something about your clothes." He walked over to a footlocker and rummaged through it. "These might be a bit big but they'll have to do for now." He handed Shaleena a common spacer's outfit: Black shin-covering boots, tight black pants, a loose white long sleeved shirt, a light brown vest, and tight black half-finger gloves; an almost exact match to his own outfit except for the wrist comlink on his left wrist, the personal shield emitter on his right wrist, and the gray overcoat and hat. "Go change in the 'fresher." He indicated the room and Shaleena left to change. "Now Let's get down to business." He sat down at the table and motioned for the others to do the same.

"Why isn't Shaleena with the rest of the Outcasts?" Mission asked as she sat.

"She asked to stay with me and I couldn't say no to such a request." 'Captain' shrugged, "Anyway we have to focus on our objective here."

Bastila could sense that there was more to the story but 'Captain' was right; they needed to focus. "So how do we get the launch codes? Any idea where they are?"

"Like I said before the codes are in the Sith base." 'Captain' said with a shrug.

"And just how are we supposed to get them?" Mission asked. "Not even I could slice that door."

/And I doubt if I could smash it down/ Zalbaar said.

"Bases aren't designed to let anybody just walk in." 'Captain' agreed, "Fortunately, I've got that part covered. My T3 unit can slice the door. But getting inside's the easy part. The hard part is finding the codes." 'Captain' sighed. "I would've broken into the base earlier but I doubt I could take on all the Sith in the base and get those damn codes without help." The refresher door opened and all eyes turned to Shaleena. "It would appear that those clothes suit you my dear."

Shaleena blushed slightly, "Do you really think so?"

"You look much better than you did in those rags." Trask said shyly. Carth and Zalbaar nodded in agreement while Mission whistled in appreciation. The clothes appeared to have been just the right size, the light brown vest complemented her dark hair and eyes perfectly and the outfit seemed to make her look like a perfect female spacer.

"Now all you need is a blaster and presto! One female spacer." 'Captain grinned at Shaleena's blush as she sat down.

"Alright can we please get back to business?" Bastila asked in exasperation.

"Don't get your panties in a twist, Princess." 'Captain' shifted his ice blue eyes to her storm grey ones.

"Why you-"

"Stow it Bastila." Carth cut in. "Remember arguing won't help anything."

Bastila took a deep breath, "You're right Carth. I need to remember the Jedi Code."

A loud snort from 'Captain' brought everyone's attention back to him, "That foolish code won't help us get those launch codes. Now here's what I have in mind: We sneak into the base and find those codes and get out fast."

"That's your plan?" Bastila asked incredulously.

"Surprise and stealth are the best options for something like this." 'Captain' explained, "Once the Sith figure out that their base is under attack, they call for all their patrols to come and wipe out the intruders. It's happened before. Davik Kang tried to do it but his forces were wiped out."

Canderous nodded, "I heard about that. It wasn't too long before Davik tried to recruit me after that failed attempt."

"So all we have to do is find the codes and run?" Shaleena asked.

"Yes but you are not coming with us." 'Captain informed her. He held up a hand to stop any argument. "Think about it, right now you have no combat experience and you've never even held, much less shot a blaster before. And in the heat of battle, we can't afford to worry about you. I'd feel much better if I knew that you were safe, Shal." 'Captain' flashed Shaleena a grin that nearly drove Bastila insane with lust. But somehow she managed to keep her emotions in check and her expression neutral.

"He's right girl." Canderous said gruffly, "This kind of operation is too dangerous for someone with no combat experience or special skills." His face softened slightly, "And I've seen far too many people foolishly throw their lives away for a chance to prove themselves to let you make the same mistake."

"Why you old softie." Carth grinned, "I didn't know you cared."

"Bah! I'm just trying to make the girl listen." Canderous snarled.

'Captain' stood up. "However someone is gonna have to stay here to watch over Shaleena."

"I will stay." Trask said.

'Captain' nodded, "Fine, stay here until we return." He headed for the door. "Let's go, and kid?"

"What?" Trask bristled at the term 'kid'.

"Keep her safe." 'Captain' said as he activated the comlink on his wrist, "T3 meet me at the entrance to the Sith base." A series of beeps and whistles answered him. "No HK will not be needed, just tell him to guard the ship." He shut off the comlink as he and the group, minus Trask and Shaleena, headed for the base.

"Damn it that was too close!" Carth yelled as he and Mission dived into an empty room, just as a pair of blaster bolts gouged holes into the spot where his head had been two seconds ago.

Their raid was going well, if you considered the fact that they had been forced to separate into small groups after less than ten minutes into the raid due to Zalbaar accidentally tripping an alarm by setting off an ion grenade to take out a squad of combat droids. The alarm brought more and more troops droids so in the end, they had to separate; Carth and Mission, Zalbaar went with Canderous and T3, leaving Bastila and 'Captain' as the remaining team.

"Mission can't you deactivate those droids?" He asked as he returned fire.

"I'm working on it!" She yelled as her fingers flew over the computer panel. "Just about done… there!" She crowed triumphantly. The war droids stopped firing and walked away.

"Thanks Mission." Carth breathed a sigh of relief, "What did you do?"

"I made it so that they would attack the Sith and not us." Mission grinned, "The others should be fine."

"I just hope that Bastila hasn't lost it and killed 'Captian' for annoying her." Carth said.

"Hey Princess!" 'Captain' called as he holstered his blasters, "They're not attacking any more. I'm betting Mission managed to slice them."

Bastila glared at her ally. "I told you not to call me-"

"Yeah, yeah. You know you love it." 'Captain' smirked. "Let's meet the others and find those codes." He activated his comlink. "Hey guys lock on to my signal and meet us here. Oh by the way Mission nice job."

"Thanks Captain!" Mission's voice came though the comlink just before Canderous interrupted.

"We found out where the codes are."

"Really?"

"Your droid hacked their system and apparently the codes are with the guy running this joint on the highest level. You and Bastila are right near the only elevator that goes to that level."

"Got it." 'Captain' said "Meet us at the entrance. We'll get there as soon as we have the codes."

"Are you sure about this?" Bastila asked, "The one in charge is Force Sensitive you know."

'Captain' nodded, "Yep and seeing that you are a Jedi, Princess…" Bastila scowled at him, "I figure that we can handle whatever this guy throws at us." He grinned and headed for the elevator.

"He's absolutely impossible." Bastila muttered under her breath as she followed him into the turbolift.

"Who dares disturb my meditation?" The Sith Governor demanded as Bastila and her companion entered the room. "I will have you… wait I sense the Force is very strong in you." His eyes widened as he looked at Bastila's companion. "How is it that you have eluded my notice?"

'Captain' sneered, "I'm very good at hiding myself and add that to the fact that you're so weak just like the rest of your kind, it's easy to conceal my presence."

"How dare you!" The Governor snarled, "I'll kill you and my master will reward me with my lightsa-" A blaster bolt struck his head and he fell to the floor dead as 'Captain' holstered his blaster.

"When you're gonna kill, kill don't talk." 'Captain' said coldly as he holstered the blaster pistol he had used to dispatch the Governor and started to rummage through a footlocker. "Got the codes. Let's get out of here."

"If it was this easy why did you have me come with you?" Bastila asked puzzled.

"I actually expected him to be more skilled than he was." Her companion shrugged. "I thought that Malak would have left someone with some skill here to watch over things. Especially with the rumors."

"What rumors?"

"Oh nothing much except that there was supposedly a couple of Jedi Holocrons on Taris." 'Captain' shrugged. "Well the rumors were true… to some extent."

"What do you mean?" Bastila demanded.

"Oh there were a pair of Holocrons here, but one was destroyed by the rancor that lived in the sewers before I could get to it. Fortunately I managed to get to the other one before the Sith or anyone else could find them."

"Well as a member of the Jedi Order I must demand that you hand it over to me Captain." Bastila commanded.

'Captain' rolled his eyes, "Sorry, but right now ain't the time to argue over ownership. Let's get off this dejarek board of a planet first Princess."

"I TOLD YOU TO STOP CALLING ME PRINCESS!" Bastila shrieked in fury.

"Whatever." Her companion rolled his eyes again and activated his comlink. "Hey guys we're on our way and we've got the codes. Meet you at the entrance soon. Captain out."

"You summoned me Lord Malak?" Admiral Saul Kareth stood behind the Sith Lord on the Bridge of the Leviathan, Malak's Flagship.

"The search for Bastila is taking too long." Malak's mechanical voice sounded unusually colder, "We cannot risk her escaping Taris. Destroy the entire planet."

Kareth was shocked, "Th-the entire planet? But there are billions of people on Taris! We'd be slaughtering countless innocent civilians not to mention our own men still on the surface!"

Malak turned and glared at him. Saul Kareth was no coward, but the intensity of Malak's glare caused him to take a step back. "Your predecessor was foolish enough to question my orders twice. Surely you are to so foolish as to make the same mistake?"

"Of-of course not Lord Malak. But it will take some time to position our fleet."

"Then I suggest you begin immediately. You are dismissed Admiral." Malak snarled as he turned back to the viewport.

"Yes Lord Malak." The Admiral bowed and turned to carry out his orders. 'I thought that Telos would be the last planet bombed in this war. Now I have to watch yet another planet die.' He thought sadly, remembering how he had refused to destroy Telos, and how Malak had given the order himself and forced Kareth to watch his home die. He had felt devastated. He remembered the pain in his heart. Pain that he still felt after two-and-a-half-years.

"Well that was fun." 'Captain' said as he gave the codes to T3, "T3 take these codes to the Hawk and prep the ship for launch, and make sure everything is locked up before we get there. I don't want the Sith snooping around."

The droid whistled and beeped as it set off. Bastila could no longer hold it in. "You think that was EASY?"

'Captain' smirked, "That Sith Governor was a pushover and since we're all alive, I'd say yeah, that was easy."

"Alright we've done our part now you do yours." Carth said gruffly.

'Captain' put a hand on his heart in a theatrical gesture "Why Carth, I'm hurt. You actually think that I would betray you."

"I don't trust easily." Carth spat.

"Hey ease up will ya?" 'Captain' put up his hands in a surrendering gesture, "I don't go back on a promise. I said that I'd get ya off Taris to anywhere you wanted and I will."

"Quiet you two." Bastila commanded, "Let's just get our friends and get out of here."

'Captain' smirked an made an over exaggerated bow, "As you command, Your Highness."

/She is right./ Zalbaar said, /The sooner we leave, the sooner we can relax./

"Well then, let's grab Shaleena and Trask and get the hell out of here." Mission said as the party hurried towards the apartment complex.

Unknown to them however, they were being followed by someone. Someone who was talking into a comlink.

"Shaleena, Trask, grab your stuff and let's go." Carth said as he and the others entered the apartment.

"Is everyone alright?" Trask asked as he and Shaleena did as they were told.

"We got the codes now let's go before the Sith realize-" 'Captain' started to say as he checked the hallway when…

"FREEZE!"

"Oh Stang!" 'Captain' cursed as a large squad of Sith troops and droids ran towards them. "RUN!" He shouted as he pulled out a flash grenade and threw it. No one questioned the order. The whole group ran to the turbolift and shut the doors behind them.

"SITHSPIT! How the hell did they find us?" Canderous cursed.

"We must have picked up a tail after we left the base." 'Captain' said as he checked his blasters. He activated his comlink. "T3 is the ship ready yet?" A beep answered him. "Good. Tell HK to be on the lookout for any snooping Sith. Tell him that I'm on my way with our cargo."

The turbolift doors opened and the group hastily made their way through the streets of the Upper City. "Follow me, my ship is docked at the spaceport!" 'Captain' called as he led the group towards the spaceport.

"HALT CIVILIANS! STOP IN THE NAME OF LORD MALAK!" A Sith trooper called out as another squad started to pursue the fleeing group.

"DAMN IT! COME ON!"

The group somehow managed to stay ahead of their pursuers until they reached the spaceport.

"Sithspit!" 'Captain' cursed as he saw the Sith troopers guarding the door.

"Zalbaar, Carth, Mission, come with me." Bastila said " Canderous, Trask, you and 'Captain' cover our backs."

Had she put a little emphasis on his alias? 'Captain' wondered as he turned and saw a Sith trooper aim an RPG launcher at Trask and Shaleena. "OH STANG!" He shouted as he called on the Force and pulled the two of them out of harm's way. A second later the RPG struck the ground where they had been standing. Now he was more than mad; he was seriously pissed off.

"What the hell?" Canderous looked at the man in amazement as 'Captain' strode forward, heedless of the blaster bolts flying in his direction. Shaleena, Canderous, and Trask both stared openmouthed as 'Captain' drew out his customized blaster pistols and proceeded to gun down every Sith soldier and war droid faster than anything they had ever seen. Once the last droid fell in a smoking pile, 'Captain' turned and ran back to the group as another battalion rounded the corner.

"MOVE IT!" Where had Canderous heard that voice before? It sounded so familiar. Canderous ran inside the hanger and laid down cover fire with his heavy repeater as Trask, Shaleena, and 'Captain' ran inside. Once they were inside, he shut the blast doors and destroyed the controls.

Just as he did so, 'Captain' let out an angry cry. "MY SHIP!" Carth and the others looked at it. The Ebon Hawk was a Dynamic-class freighter roughly resembling a "D" with inward curves at the ends of the outer prongs, with a center prong flush with them, and with a concave curve to the vertical line. Visualizing the open side as the bow, the Hawk's mass filled out the stern to the shape's midpoint and left only a small prong on the starboard side. The center of the ship had a gunner's turret on both ventral and dorsal sides. On the port and starboard sides were quad laser turret emplacements. The ship was painted primarily white with the three prongs were accented in red on the bow, as well as the dorsal and ventral sides. Towards the stern, on both the latter two sides, there were concave red stripes that curved parallel to the ship's stern from the center prong to the outer two, originating from the outward sides of two cylindrical engines, which met the center prong at its base and extended outward to port and starboard. This formed a symmetrical acute angle across the dorsal side on the longitudinal axis, with legs that met the rear curve. All along the outward-facing sides of these engines was another red stripe. Then they saw what had caused 'Captain' to shout; a large piece of debris, knocked loose by the firefight, had fallen on the ship and had left a large gouge in the ship's hull not too far from the engines.

"Will she fly?" Bastila asked worriedly.

"She's not pretty Princess, but she's tough." 'Captain' said just as the destroyed hanger access doors were blasted into the hanger, revealing two figures in dark cloaks.

"Captain prep your ship, this is my fight." Bastila said as she strode forward, only to be knocked unconscious by a tall rust colored droid before she had taken two steps.

"Statement: What a stupid female meatbag."

"Thanks HK. All of you get on the ship. I'll handle this." 'Captain' said as he strode forward, grabbing Bastila's double-sided lightsaber.

"Order: Get onboard the ship now!" The droid's red eyes seemed to flash dangerously as it carried the stirring Bastila onto the Ebon Hawk. The rest of the group followed.

"I know I'm gonna regret this." 'Captain said as he approached the two Dark Jedi. Based on their clothing, he concluded that the masked one was the Master and the tattooed Zabrack was the Apprentice. He had been wrong; apparently Malak had left some Dark Jedi on Taris. Activating the two yellow blades of his borrowed weapon, he charged at the pair. The two each activated a single one bladed red colored lightsaber and met his charge. As he parried and dodged the onslaught of attacks, 'Captain' observed their styles and noticed that both were Djem So stylists. Well he knew how to beat that. He had after all not only mastered all six styles but had been the creator of the seventh alongside Master Kavar. As the two Sith continued to attack, 'Captain' was forced to admit that he had been wrong again; Malak had left some strong Sith in charge. But he needed to escape before the Sith turned the planet into dust. He sighed as he caught a barrage of Force Lightning with his bare hand and sent it flying back at its caster who was forced to use his lightsaber to deflect it. 'Captain' switched from Soresu to Juyo and in a matter of seconds, removed the head of the Zabrack. Before the masked Sith could make a move to avenge his Apprentice, one of the yellow blades impaled him through his heart. 'Captain' deactivated the double-sided lightsaber as he ran to his ship just as the planetary bombs started to drop.

Bastila stared out the cockpit viewport in shock. She had just seen without a doubt the greatest control of a lightsaber in her life. And the man wielding it was just a simple spacer. Or was he? Spacers didn't just instinctively know how to handle a weapon as exotic as a lightsaber, this man was growing more and more interesting. And how in the name of the Force had he caught the Sith's Lightning with his bare hand? She didn't have time to wonder as 'Captain' darted into the cockpit and leaped into the pilot's seat. "T3 Prep the main guns!" He called out as he took off and piloted the ship, weaving it through the turbolaser fire of the orbiting Sith ships. As the ship blasted into space, Bastila gasped at the sight of the Sith fleet. There had to be at least ten capital class ships and multiple Sith fighters were swarming towards them. "GET IN THE TURRETS NOW!" 'Captain' roared as he flew his ship through the Sith starfighters.

Carth and Canderous ran to the gun turrets. Canderous climbed into the upper turret while Carth leaped into the lower one. "DIE SITHSPAWN!" Carth yelled as the pair turned Sith starfighters into dust.

Bastila shook off her stupor and scrambled into the copilot's seat. "Plot a course for Dantooine, there's a Jedi Enclave there where we can seek shelter.

'Meeting with the Jedi Masters isn't exactly at the top of my list but I did promise to take them anywhere. And Dantooine is the closest place with what I'm looking for, so might as well go there. With any luck, Master Vrook will have changed by now.' 'Captain' thought as he hastily input the coordinates and resumed his masterful piloting. Suddenly he grinned and headed right at the closest Sith warship. Skimming the surface, he wove the ship through a maze of turrets and struts. He smirked; his gambit had paid off, the Sith fighers had less room to maneuver and were now easier targets for Carth and Canderous. Unfortunetly it also meant that the Ebon Hawk was an easier target. He activated the Hawk's intercom and ordered, "Keep them off me! Hyperdrive's nearly ready!" He shut off the intercom and angled the ship the pass directly in front of the bridge viewport. He grinned as he imagined the terrified expressions of the Sith as his ship flashed literally half a meter in front of their viewport. Just as the Ebon Hawk passed the stern of the warship, he pulled the activation lever for the hyperdrive and was slammed back into his chair as the stars turned into streamlines and the ship entered hyperspace. With a sigh of relief he leaned back in his chair. "That was close."

"I agree. And now 'Captain' tell me just who are you?" Bastila demanded.

"Right now I'm your ticket to Dantooine, Princess." 'Captain' said, "That's all you need to know."

"Oh really?" Bastila cocked an eyebrow. "You just displayed the best piloting I've ever seen, used the Force to save Trask and Shallena, and on top of that you displayed total control of a weapon that very few beings have ever mastered, even Jedi, so I ask again: Who in the name of the Force are you?"

"Oh that reminds me…" 'Captain' said casually as he handed her weapon back to her. "I believe this is yours."

"Answer the question!" Bastila all but snarled as 'Captain' stood up and exited the cockpit.

"I am who I am." 'Captain replied. "That's all I'm going to say now if you'll excuse me Princess, I need to check the engines and the hyperdrive." He headed for the engine room in the stern of the ship.

Bastila groaned, she hated riddles. Sighing, she sent a message to the Jedi Enclave before going to talk to the rest of her group about the identity of their mysterious rescuer.