Disclaimer: I do not own KOTOR or the Star Wars universe... though it would be cool, i simply don't... unless they want to share it with me then i am happy to accept!

Thank for continuing to read my story and I hope to hear what you think of this Chapter. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.


Debt

Samirah was showering after her shift. She hadn't even seen her bunk mate as he left for his night shift on deck. She was exhausted after yet another uneventful shift. She shut off the water flow and began to dry off her long brunette hair as it fell in waves, almost curls, down her back. She dressed in her night attire, a basic brown half shirt that fit nicely and brown shorts that also fit her snuggly. She threw her stuff in the corner of the room before plumping down on the bed.

Aboard the Endar Spire, not much had happened. She met a couple of other recruits who were friendly and just as bored as she was. Their duty was the same: to help escort Bastila Shan, a Jedi, to her destination. No one was too thrilled about the job since Bastila seemed to have this haughty air about her—at least, that's what she was told. Her flight captain, Devron Uhdea, was as pleasant as ever. He was patient with her and seemed to have this light atmosphere around him. He was one of the things she looked forward to when she had to attend to her duties.

He was laid back and always had some light joke to toss around, never failing to lighten the stressful mood everyone seemed to be in. He was a friend she never thought she'd ever have… even if he was a superior officer.

Samirah pulled the thin sheets over her as she slid into bed.

She flicked the light switch by her bed as she tried to let the exhaustion overwhelm her and it wasn't that hard to do. She had fallen asleep in no time, dreaming about her adventures as a Scout before this little escapade.

Samirah hadn't been asleep for very long when the ship lurched and shook violently. She briefly opened her eyes, frowning. What was the pilot doing? Going through an asteroid field? Or did our pilot just happen to buy his license from a Drunken Mynock School of Instruction?

She closed her eyes when it shook again and she was tossed from her bed, smacking her head against the hard floor. She cursed quietly to herself as she sat up and rubbed the tender spot. When the alarms started to sound, she stood cautiously and began to walk toward the locker she kept all of her things. She stumbled when the ship lurched once more and she fell against her locker, cursing loudly.

Who was flying this ship anyway?

She was pulling her uniform on when the doors to her room slid open. She whirled around to see her bunkmate run in. He seemed a bit relieved to see her even though she was having a hard time remembering his name. He wore his military uniform and had short blonde hair along with a blaster in his hand.

"Good. You're already up." She smiled as she pulled on her other boot. The ship shook again from impact and she hobbled, but caught herself against the locker.

"Kind of hard to sleep through this, isn't it?" His mouth tugged in the corners before he looked seriously at her. Guess this wasn't a drill.

"We've been ambushed by a Sith Battle Fleet. The Endar Spire is under attack so we need to hurry, time is limited for us.

" Umm… I'm sorry, but your name was…?"

"My name is Trask Ulgo, an ensign with the Republic Fleet. We don't see much of each other so I don't blame you for not remembering. Though, if I'm correct, you're name is Samirah Alda? Right?" She looked up and smiled meekly at him.

"Guilty as—"another blast caused the ship to jerk around knocking Samirah off her feet and across the floor, sliding into a wall. Trask had braced himself against the end of her bed. He then quickly helped her up as she winced from the sudden impact. "—charged…"

"Are you alright?" She nodded as she rubbed her head again. "I've heard about you from everyone onboard. You've explored the farthest reaches of the galaxy and you've visited planets I've never even heard of. If we had more time I would praise you a little more but we have to find Bastila"

"Bastila's the Jedi that we're escorting, right?"Samirah had strapped on her blaster and vibroblade and tightened anything else that seemed out of place as they moved out of the room. He gave her a strange look before continuing.

"Not just a Jedi but the commander—well , not really a commander but she's in charge of this mission and we have to protect her. We need to make sure she's safe." As they headed to the door, he attempted to open it and only cursed. "Damn!"

"What's wrong?" He turned to the console and began to punch a few buttons before a serious of numbers.

"Because of the attack, the rooms in lockdown but luckily I have the override codes to get us out of here." He pressed one final button before the doors opened. The hallway was a wreck and a maintenance droid was attempting to fix a door. She could tell it was all in vain. Their communicators flashed on as a voice came through, talking to them. In the distance was the sound of someone typing away at a console.

"This is Carth Onasi—the Sith are threatening to overrun our position! We can't hold out long against their firepower! All hands to the bridge!" As soon as the voice came it was gone and she tried to place where she had heard that voice.

"Who was—"But Trask was a step ahead.

"That was Carth. He's one of the Republic's best pilots and has seen more combat than us all put together. If he says things are bad… well we should just take his word for it."

She bit her bottom lip when she realized he was the one she had accused of flying us through an asteroid field and getting his license from a Mynock School of Instruction... Oops. I'll just mentally apologize now.

"No argument there." She finally said

When they attempted to open the next door, Trask cursed before he knelt down and began splicing the door open. She couldn't help the remark that rolled off her tongue as she smiled down at him. "So, I suppose you don't have the codes for this door then?" His mouth twitched into a smirk.

"Hey now, you can't expect me to do all the work here. I don't see you pulling any door codes or keys out." She laughed softly, a sound that he found refreshing.

"Fair enough, Trask." When the door opened they dashed out into the fray where republic soldiers had already begun to fight Sith that had boarded. Without any hesitation, Samirah pulled out her vibroblade and jumped in as Trask shot from behind. They didn't miss a beat as they joined the fight. When they killed the Sith, Trask knelt next to the bodies before shaking his head.

"They didn't make it… and I have a feeling that won't be our last battle with the Sith." She nodded.

"If they've made it onboard, countless others have too." He nodded in agreement. "Come on, we have a Jedi to find, don't we?" She kept her hand wrapped tightly around the blade, prepared to attack anyone she came across.

"You're right." He jumped up and ran down the hallway followed by Samirah. They encountered several other Sith and Republic soldier battles and neither one of them hesitated to jump in again and most of the time, they were too late to even attempt to save their allies. Trask was impressed how skilled she was even though she wasn't a soldier, but a scout. A very impressive and well trained scout.

Samirah didn't waste time attacking the Sith. Her goal was to prevent her allies from dying and she felt more and more helpless as each ally fell. The ones she had saved had already been mortally wounded by an explosion or attack and their time was limited. In the end, she had failed again. Trask would urge her to keep moving, as would the soldiers. Their priority was Bastila. Samirah prayed this woman was worth these lives.

As they pressed on, she recognized the sound of lightsabers clashing behind a door. She quickly opened the door and was met by the intense battle between a Jedi and a Dark Jedi. She started to rush in to help when Trask caught her arm and pulled her back.

"This battle's too much for us. We'd only get in the way, Samirah. Stay back here… we're going to have to wait this one out." Samirah gripped the hilt of her blade so tightly it hurt. She did so to prevent her hands from shaking.

She didn't want to wait, she wanted to help. She wanted to be able to save someone and by standing on the sidelines, she could do nothing more than wait. Trask seemed to notice how on edge she was as he placed a hand on her shoulder for encouragement. She jumped slightly before a hint of a smile appeared on her face.

He was right. This fight was too much for them.

The battle carried on and the woman seemed to be winning, Samirah could tell that. When she was finally able to make the final blow, the Dark Jedi lay crumpled on the floor. The Jedi retracted her lightsaber and released a deep breath. Samirah had started to move closer to the Jedi when an explosion erupted behind the woman. She screamed as she was thrusted forward from the blast and Samirah threw her arms in front of her face instinctively.

When she removed her arms, she saw the Jedi lying motionless beside the Dark Jedi. Samirah ran forward before falling beside the Jedi and checking for her vitals, anything that could prove she was alive. Trask hurried beside her but it was evident that the Jedi hadn't survived.

"Damn! We could have used her help… damn it!"

"No, there has to be something we can do! Trask, we just can't—"He grabbed her arm and pulled her away quickly, yanking her roughly as he pulled out his blaster and shot at two Sith that rounded the corner. Trask moved her behind him as he shot and killed one.

"There's nothing more we can do, Samirah. She was doing her duty to protect Bastila, now we need to do ours." Samirah nodded mechanically before she gripped her vibroblade and dashed out from behind Trask. Without a second to lose, she brought it down roughly on the Sith soldier who blocked their path. He hadn't expected her to dart at him so he was fairly easy to bring down.

When he fell, she turned to Trask with a small smile.

"I understand. And you can call me… Sami if you'd like." He nodded with a smile before they ran out again.

They finally came to the door that led to the bridge of the Endar Spire. They glanced at one another before nodding. Trask opened the door as they were greeted by several Sith soldiers who all turned in their direction.

Without sparing another moment, Samirah threw a grenade out into the middle of the group as Trask began picking off the Sith on the corners. The grenade exploded knocking several over and either killed them or knocked them unconscious. Samirah didn't even stop to check, she moved on to the ones who were still standing and were taking aim. She ducked and dodged them as they shot before she leapt up and over a computer, swinging her blade across a soldier. As he fell, she spun on the ones to her side, knocking one over with a swift kick and killing the other as she sliced him with her blade.

She pulled her blaster from its holster and killed the soldier she had knocked over before aiming her gun on the sole remaining Sith with Trask in his sights. She shot. He fell over as Trask spun around to see the Sith in the corner. He looked at her and smiled with relief.

"Thanks I owe you one." She holstered her gun with a smile.

"As far as I can tell, I repaid my debt. You helped me up to this point. You didn't have to come back and get me out of there. You could have just as easily left me and escaped on your own, but you didn't. I count that as saving my life." He nodded at her with a smile.

She was something else. He had never even thought about it. All he knew, was that she was supposed to be asleep and he wanted to get as many people as he could off the ship. Being asleep, she would have woken up confused… or not at all. He was beginning to like this girl and found it a shame that they hadn't really met before now. She would have been fun to hang around.

"I appreciate it… Sami." She smiled wholeheartedly before they checked the Sith bodies and began to move on. "Come on, Bastila isn't here so I can only assume she's already escaped in the escape pods. That's where we need to go too and fast. They want Bastila alive so if they realize she's escaped already… well then there's nothing stopping them from blasting the Endar Spire into galactic dust!"

"For some reason, the idea of being galactic dust isn't really all the appealing... let's go!" Samirah hurried around the bridge to the other side.

They opened up the door into another hallway and as Samirah began to step forward, Trask threw his arm out to stop her. She glanced at him curiously as she followed his focused gaze. He stared at one of the unopened doors. She wasn't exactly familiar with the ship so she wasn't sure if that was the direction they needed to go. When she started to move again he pushed her back, his arm remaining firm.

"Sami…" He stepped past her as he approached the door. She didn't like his sudden seriousness.

"Trask, what's—"

"—Something's behind this door…" He opened the door and on the other side stood a Dark Jedi swinging a duel Lightsaber. Samirah gasped knowing full well that they didn't have the means to battle him. Even together, she was willing to bet they couldn't take him on.

"Damn!" She glanced at Trask as he readied his weapon. She readied hers as well, going through every possible scenario in her mind, trying to find a way to win. "Another Dark Jedi… Sami—"

"I know, we don't stand much of a chance but we'll find a way, I'm sure of it." When he laughed softly she felt uneasy. "Trask?"

"Sorry, Sami. Looks like this is where we part ways." She didn't catch his meaning… or she didn't want to. "I'll try to hold him off while you get to the escape pods. With both of us fighting him, we won't stand a chance so I'll buy as much time as possible. Now GO!" He shouted as he dropped his bag next to her and darted past her and into the small room where the Dark Jedi smirked.

Trask quickly closed the door behind him before she could stop him and with one last fleeting look in her direction, he smiled.

"Good luck, Samirah." The doors closed and she rushed to the door, trying to open it. It was locked.

"NO! Trask! TRASK! Open the door, we can beat him together! Trask, don't do this!" She screamed as she heard explosions erupt around her and inside the room. He didn't answer and she knew that the decision had already been made. She pounded one last time as hot tears formed.

"Why are you giving me a debt… that I can never repay…" She whispered.

With that she pushed herself from the door, grabbed his satchel and ran down the hallway, tears stinging her eyes. She wasn't sure if she was going the right way but she had to get off the ship. She wasn't going to let Trask die in vain. She would escape and find a way to repay the debt and right now… that meant escaping.

As she stepped through one of the many doors a voice spoke up and she immediately held her weapon up, ready to fight.

"This is Carth Onasi on your personal communicator. I'm tracking you through the Endar Spire's life-support system. Bastila's escape pod is away—you're the last surviving crew member of the Endar Spire!"

When she heard him say last surviving member she felt a pain in her chest. Trask had already fallen. He was a good soldier and friend she had wished she could keep… and he died saving her. Carth kept talking, unaware of her pain.

"I can't wait for you much longer; you have to get to the escape pods!" The link ended and she hurried down the hall, praying she was going the right way.

When she came across Sith soldiers, she didn't even falter in her steps. Her anger flared and she leapt at them, not caring if a blaster nicked her shoulder or her leg but only cared if she could kill them. Trask didn't deserve to die. It should have been her that had been killed. If he hadn't come back for her… he would have survived and she would be the one dead. At least, that's what she told herself.

When the Sith were dead, she had only suffered a few wounds, none serious enough to halt her progress to the escape pods. When she had cleared a room of Sith, she came to a terminal by the door just as Carth appeared on the screen. She had just been about to open the door when his voice stopped her.

"Be careful! There's a whole squad of Sith Troopers on the other side of that door. You need to find a way to thin their numbers." Why would she want to do that? She wanted to just release all of her anger out on them. Carth continued. "You could reprogram the damaged assault droid to help you, if you have enough repair parts. Or you could use computer spikes to slice into the terminal and use the Endar Spire's security systems against the Sith." She frowned.

"Where in the galaxy am I going to find—hold on." She pulled Trask's satchel around and opened the flap to find computer spikes inside. She laughed sadly as she pulled them out. "… I guess that's another debt I owe you then, huh." Carth raised an eyebrow at her as she began to use them on the computer terminal.

She began typing away until a satisfied smile crept up on her face. She pressed the final key before switching the terminal over to the video camera. One of the electrical pipes began to sizzle before electricity jumped out from the small console on top. It snaked out so quickly and grasped each Sith trooper that they didn't know what happened. They yelled and panicked for the briefest of moments until they fell and lay motionless.

Carth watched as Samirah's face fell like she didn't feel proud of herself. If it wasn't for the fact that there was a time constraint, he would have complemented her but now they needed to go. When he started to open his mouth she snapped out of it, switched off the terminal and hurried through the room.

When she opened the door Carth glanced at her, relieved.

"You've made it just in time! There's only one active escape pod left. Come on, we can hide out on the planet below!" A little wearily she glanced at him, her weapon still in hand.

"How do I know I can trust you…?" He sighed.

"I'm a soldier with the Republic, like you. We're the last two crew members left on the Endar Spire. Bastila's escape pod's already gone, so there's no reason for us to stick around here and get shot by the Sith. Now, come on—There'll be time for questions later!" She nodded and as if for emphasis, an explosion caused the ship to lurch again ramming her into the wall. She cursed as she pulled away, noting how serious the wound on her arm had become.

Carth was punching away at the computer so he hadn't noticed her wounds. She hurried over to the escape pod and climbed in, strapping herself in. When Carth had finished he climbed in, strapped himself in and finished the detaching sequence. When the hatch closed, he pressed the Detach button and they dropped. She braced herself as they fell, Carth focusing on making sure they were still alive when they landed.

"Come on… we need to be clear of the ship or—"Carth's speech was interrupted by a large explosion.

As they fell, the Ship exploded and folded in on itself. They hadn't realized how close they were to not making it at all. Carth cursed to himself as the wave from the explosion hit the escape pod, shaking it in every which direction. Samirah braced herself as much as she could while Carth did the same, trying hard to keep focused on the computer in front of them. As they entered the atmosphere, it got worse. The ship continued to shake and jerk about.

Carth glanced over at Samirah to find her squeezing her eyes shut and gripping the straps so hard, her knuckles had turned white. He turned his attention back to the computer trying to keep everything as positive as possible. When they were close to impact, he braced himself for the hit.

They slammed into the ground so hard; he wondered how his neck remained intact. Samirah's head had slammed so hard into the side of the ship that she fell unconscious with all of her hair falling forward, covering her face. After a few minutes, Carth had finally gotten oriented again as he unstrapped himself from the seat.

"Ok, we need to get out of here quickly before—"When he turned to continue speaking to her, he cursed again. She was motionless in her seat. He reached over and struggled to unbuckle her from her seat. When he finally did, he checked her pulse just to be sure she was alright before he opened the hatch. He thanked the stars that it was night as he checked for any signs of life moving in the darkness. He pulled out everything that they could use before pulling her out and carrying her on his back.

He moved as fast as he could until he found himself at the doors to an apartment complex. He entered cautiously, hoping that he and the girl on his back looked like two people who had a little too much to drink. Luckily, luck was on his side as he realized the apartments had no humans whatsoever. If you could call that lucky. Though, the alien residents seemed to keep to themselves, not caring who passed them by. They seemed happier if they were ignored all together, so Carth tried to avoid any eye contact. That suited him just as well.

He found a vacant apartment and found it easy to splice the door before entering and locking it again. He found the bed and gingerly placed her on it and removed her weapons, laying her vibroblade against the bed. He finally noticed all the blaster wounds that darted her body and wondered how he could have missed them earlier. He also saw the small trickle of blood from where her head had slammed into the side of the pod. He frowned as he pulled out a med pack and began to administer treatment to her wounds. He cleaned and wrapped her wounds trying his best to be gentle. He had expected a serene and calm look on her face—isn't that usually what you look like when you're unconscious?—but instead she only winced and thrashed about like she wasn't only in physical pain, but mental pain too.

Carth felt her forehead and when she didn't have a fever he had to settle with the idea that she was just having a horrible nightmare. A few times she would jerk away from him and jolt up from bed with her eyes open but she wouldn't really be seeing anything before she would fall unconscious again. He'd try to catch her before her head could hit the headboard or anything else in the way.

When he had her bandaged, he would venture out as far as he dared to inspect the place and even went as far as to get a glimpse at the crash site. As he thought, the Sith had already overrun the pod and had searched it thoroughly.

He sat at the table as she would occasionally thrash about, sometimes mumbling incoherently and that caused him a great deal of concern. On the third day, he was worried that the impact was too much for her and that she just wouldn't wake up. He paced several times, wanting to go outside but afraid to leave her alone for too long. He would venture out but he wouldn't be gone for too long before quickly returning only to find that she was still unconscious.

What if she woke up while he was gone? How confused would she be if she woke up alone, on an unknown planet and in a place she had no recollection of being in? He only gathered a little information and supplies from nearby before he'd come back in a hurry, hoping to find some signs of life from her. Each time… nothing.

Samirah moved her head as her mind tried to clear itself. She had had the weirdest dream and she wasn't sure what it meant. It looked like a Jedi fighting… someone… she wasn't exactly sure. It was still kind of fuzzy. It took her a few more moments to realize that she was lying down on a bed and then she jumped straight to one conclusion—the Sith.

Had she been caught? How long had she been here? Damn it, what had she missed?

She opened her eyes slightly as she became more focused. She didn't want to wait around for them and she certainly wanted them to pay for murdering Trask. She figured she had a window span of about 10 seconds of surprise and she was going to use it.

She opened her eyes, swinging her legs around so that she could stand and felt relieved that the Sith were foolish enough to leave her vibroblade beside her. She quickly grabbed her sword and turned to kill any Sith in the room… well, the only Sith in the room. Maybe it wasn't the Sith then… maybe it was some scoundrel who happened to find her. She hoped it wasn't one with a grudge... that incident on Nar Shaddaa wasn't her fault, honest. As he spun around at the clattering of the sword, his face registered somewhere in the depths of her mind but she wasn't quite sure… where.

"Whoa… calm down there for a moment, would you?"

Carth held his hands up defensively, clearly seeing the dazed and confused look she was giving him. She faltered slightly before the blade clattered to the floor and she fell back against the bed. He could tell she was completely drained. She looked up at him, completely tired and hesitant. She seemed a little worried and… ready to bolt for the door when the time came. After a few moments, she spoke softly and he almost couldn't hear her.

"The… pilot…?" He nodded slowly as she relaxed a little more.

Not completely, but enough that relief had washed over him. He didn't realize how tense he had become. He grabbed some water and offered it to her, which she accepted graciously. When he was sure she had settled down, he sat in a chair across from her and leaned forward, his elbows on his knees.

"Thank the stars… it's good to finally see you up… instead of thrashing about in your sleep…" He rubbed his face as he tried to calm down all the worry that had unknowingly built up. "You must have been having one hell of a nightmare. You had me worried for a while there, I was... wondering if you were ever going to wake up…" He said that last bit softly as he rubbed his eyes. How did he get so tired?

She looked at her bottle as she fiddled with the cap, unsure how to respond. She didn't mean to worry him and felt guilty. She didn't want to meet his eyes so she focused on the cap that she flipped between her fingers.

"I'm Carth, a Republic Soldier from the Endar Spire." She flinched at the name of the ship. The ship that carried Trask to whatever oblivion awaited him. "I was with you in the escape pod… do you remember?"

She waited a moment before finally looking up at him meekly. He was watching her with concern and she had to swallow a few times to get her voice to work. She was grateful that he was patient enough to wait.

"Carth… the one from the communicator on the ship. You waited for me... I remember." Her voice trembled slightly as she tried not to remember how Trask praised Carth. She hardly knew Trask and yet he risked his life to save hers… and then lost it, saving hers again.

Carth nodded to her response, noting the sad expression she wore. He continued, in a low voice.

"You've been slipping in and out of consciousness for days now so I can only imagine that you're pretty confused right now. Try not to worry too much, we're safe… for the moment. We're currently in an abandoned apartment on a planet called Taris. You were banged up pretty badly in the crash but luckily I wasn't. I was able to get you out of there and into this apartment." She bit her lip.

Again, she was helpless to do anything and the idea of having to be saved again picked at the back of her mind. Was this the life she was doomed too? To be saved and never to save?

"I…" When she started to speak, Carth's head snapped up to look at her. She still fiddled with the bottle but finally met his eyes and he was caught in her sincere but sad chocolate brown eyes. "I guess… I owe you my life… and my thanks. You didn't have to save me. By saving me, the chances of you being caught increased. You could have just as easily left me there and saved yourself... it would have been easier for you…" She again thought back to Trask, cursing herself for her uselessness.

"Hey… there's no need to thank me. I've never abandoned anyone on a mission and I'm sure as hell not about to start now. Even if it means, risking my life. Who am I to say that your life isn't worth saving? I didn't even think about the chance of us being caught, I just wanted to get you out of there." He smiled at her, trying to prove it to her.

Sure he had thought about it as he carried her, but not when he was un-strapping her. No, he wouldn't have left her there. The very idea didn't even sit right with him. Though, now that he thought about it… there was another reason he saved her, but it wasn't like it was the only reason he saved her.

"I'm also going to kind of need your help getting out of here." Her head snapped up at the sound of the word help and she suddenly felt wide awake. Sleeping could wait until later. He thought she could be of some use?

He rubbed his face again as he felt the weight of his next words. "Taris is under Sith control, their fleet is orbiting the plant, they've declared martial law and they've imposed a planet wide quarantine." He looked up at her again with a smirk. "But I've been in worse spots."

Samirah couldn't help the smile that twitched in the corners of her mouth. He was trying to lighten the atmosphere and the weight of the work that would ensue.

"I've read your service records and saw that you understand a remarkable number of alien languages. That's pretty rare in a raw recruit." She shot him a small smile and shrugged slightly.

"What can I say; you pick up on a few things." He smiled.

"Well, it should come in handy while we're stranded on the foreign planet. The Republic isn't going to be able to send anyone in through the blockade to help… so we're not really going to receive any help. If we're going to find Bastila, we're going to have to do so, on our own. I have an idea as to where she is. I scouted for a bit while you were out, but all I got was that a couple of escape pods crashed in a place called the Undercity." He rubbed his face again as exhaustion overwhelmed him.

"Bastila… why is she so important?" Samirah found herself asking. His head snapped up to look her in the eye to see if she was serious. Apparently she was.

Samirah only knew most of what Trask had told her. That she was a Jedi and the leader of the mission but other than that, she didn't know much. Being a Scout, she didn't stay current with news and was more focused on reaching her destinations on the rims of the galaxy, exploring as much as she could and helping whenever the opportunity would arise.

"Guess that smack did more damage than I thought…" He mumbled. "Bastila's a Jedi." He saw the frown from Samirah and he paused. "What?"

"I've already gathered that she was a Jedi… I'm not that far out of the loop." She spoke softly trying not to sound offending.

"Alright, so you remember that much. She was also with the strike force that killed Revan, Malak's Sith master. She's the key to the Republic's war effort and the Sith want her." He stood up from his chair to walk around, to give him something to do. His eyelids were feeling heavy so he needed to wake himself up.

"So that's why they attacked the Endar Spire?" He looked at her as she squeezed her bottle. "That's why the ship was… was destroyed and everyone inside—"

"—Not everyone died." He finished for her. "We lived, and I'm sure Bastila did too. I'm sure of it. I'm sure she was on one of the escape pods that crash landed here. If the Sith can get rid of her it'll cripple our war efforts. For the sake of the war effort, we have to find her."

"She sounds… so important. One person can be so important…"

"Well, she's not exactly an ordinary Jedi. She has this rare ability they call Battle Meditation. That power… her power can influence entire armies. With that power and through the force she can inspire her allies with confidence and make her enemies lose the will to fight but at a cost. You see, from what I've heard, it takes a lot of concentration. These powers the Jedi can wield are… unfathomable. They even say the force can wipe away memories and reprogram new identities."

"I can only imagine." Samirah whispered. She hadn't realized that Bastila was the woman who held the war on her soldiers. No wonder everyone admired her. Samirah suddenly thought that Bastila would be this awesome symbol of hope for the Republic. "She sounds… so unreal." Carth nodded at her as he rubbed his eyes again, this time Samirah watched him.

"You're tired…" She said it with shock. "… You haven't slept at all… have you?" Carth looked at her and shook his head.

"With you out, I didn't trust myself to fall asleep. What would of happened had the Sith discovered our position? I've hardly slept a wink." He sat down again, trying to keep himself awake. Samirah shakily stood up from the bed and made sure she had the use of her legs before moving away.

"Hey, should you be moving?"Carth questioned, a little uneasy. She nodded while she took a few steps to make sure she was good to go before walking up to him.

Carth watched her curiously before she grabbed his arm and pulled him from the chair.

"What are you—"But with no strength left, he allowed her to pull him up and when she moved him to the bed, he became a little more cautious. "No. I'm not going to sleep. Not happening."

"Why not? You're obviously exhausted and I feel guilty enough as it is. Come on, I'll keep watch." He sat on the bed but looked at her, still refusing to go to sleep.

"Look, its… well, it's not that I don't trust you but… I mean I hardly know you." Carth wasn't going to trust anyone so easily. She held her hand out to him and he stared at it, unsure what she wanted from him.

"My name is Samirah Alda a Republic Soldier who, like you, was on board the Endar Spire. I want to help, Carth and right now, by letting you sleep while I watch out for us, that seems like the best idea to me." She smiled down at him and he frowned.

"Forgive me if I'm not so obliging but—"Her face fell and she looked pleadingly at him.

"Please… let me be of some use. I want… I want to be useful and I want to be able to do something to help you. So please, let me do this… even if it isn't much, I swear that everything will be fine." Her hand faltered for a bit but she still held it out for him. He took a deep breath. "If anything else, do it for Bastila. You won't be able to do much half dead." That seemed to be the deal closer. He grasped her hand and shook it

She immediately brightened up. He kept his boots on but opted to take his jacket off. As he lay down, he looked over at Samirah as she grabbed her vibroblade and placed it on her back and her blasters around her waist. She glanced over at him as his eyes got heavier and heavier. She pulled a blanket over him and he silently thanked her before he was out.

Samirah smiled to herself as his eyes closed and he fell right to sleep. She was going to go get information. She would be as helpful as she could without risking his life. She wouldn't be gone long, but just out to get as much information as she could. She slid on the bag that Trask had left her before she looked in a mirror. The bandage around her forehead would probably draw too much attention so she unraveled it carefully to see the small cut on the side.

It wasn't enough to draw a whole lot of attention and it didn't really look that bad. A few days and it would be all healed up.

Before she left, she glanced at the door and frowned. If Carth was able to slice into the apartment easily, then who knows who could do so too; she knelt down by the door and began to tinker around with electronics of it. She chewed her bottom lip as she worked, moving this wire there and that one here and then rearranging these components. When she was done, she had an encrypted code that only she knew and the security system had been improved.

Proud and satisfied with her work, she locked the door as she left, enabling the code. It was a method she had picked up in Kathol while trying to help out. A bunch of… underground revolutionaries had taught her different ways of slicing and rerouting things to fit her needs. Carth would be able to leave if he wanted too, but no one would get in without making enough racket for Carth to wake up and blast them. She smiled before turning around, ready to begin her hunt.

She would prove more useful to Carth than she had been to Trask and that was a goal she was going to make happen. She swore.


Please review and leave any comments, ideas, questions or even just bits of randomness. All is appreciated and it lets me know what people think and will encourage me to continue. Thank you guys for your time and I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

-SilverShards(SS)