The dream was really strange. The ship was loud and an alarm was blaring. The sounds of battle were all around or at least that's what Ronis thought. He couldn't tell for his focus was on a girl. She looked young, almost like a child. She wore a pink dress or something along those lines. She had her hair in a pony tail, and wielded a double bladed yellow lightsaber. She looked as if she was scared.
Ronis tried to move his head to see what she was scared of, but he couldn't make it move. He wanted so badly to know, however he would have to wait, for that was when he woke up.
Ronis shook himself as he awakened in a room. It was strange, and tiny. He lay in a bed, but that was about all the room had. It also had a lab station and a workbench. He frowned, for the last thing he remembered was being in an escape pod, headed to the planet below.
He became frightened when he realized, "Could I be a prisoner of the Sith?"
Ronis was about to panic when he heard a familiar voice. "Good to see you up, instead of thrashing around in your sleep. You must have been having one hell of a nightmare. I was wondering if you were ever going to wake up. I'm Carth, one of the Republic soldiers from the Endar Spire. I was with you on the escape pod, do you remember?" Carth asked.
"Right, I'm Ronis Kharr." Ronis introduced himself. "By the way, how did we get here?" He asked the dream leaving his awareness now.
"Well, you've been slipping in and out of consciousness for a couple of days now, so I imagine you're pretty confused about things. Try not to worry. We're safe... at least for the moment." We're in an abandoned apartment on the planet of Taris. You were pretty banged up pretty bad when our escape pod crashed, but luckily I wasn't seriously hurt. I was able to drag you away from the crash site in all the confusion and I stumbled upon this abandoned apartment. By the time the Sith arrived on the scene, we were long gone."
"I guess I owe you my life. Thanks." Ronis said not sure what to make of his new ally. Something was off about him, Ronis tried to figure it out as Carth continued.
"You don't have to thank me. I've never abandoned anyone on a mission, and I'm not about to start now. Besides, I'm going to need your help. Taris is under Sith control. Their fleet is orbiting the planet, they've declared martial law and they've imposed a planet-wide quarantine. But I've been in worse spots." Ronis still couldn't figure him out. "I saw on your service record that you understand a remarkable number of alien languages. That's pretty rare in a raw recruit, but it should come in handy while we're stranded on a foreign world. There's no way the Republic will be able to get anyone through the Sith blockade to help us. If we're going to find Bastilla and get off this planet, we can't rely on anybody but ourselves."
"Bastilla? She's the one from the Endar Spire, right?" Ronis asked.
"That smack to your head did more damage than I thought. Bastilla's a Jedi. She was with the strike force team that killed Darth Revan, Malak's Sith master. Bastilla is the key to this whole Republic war effort. The Sith must have found out she was on the Endar Spire and set an ambush for us in this system. I believe Bastilla was on one of the escape pods that crashed down here on Taris. For the sake of the Republic war effort, we have to try and find her."
"How can one person, even a Jedi, be so important?"
"Bastilla is no ordinary Jedi. She has a rare gift the Jedi call Battle Meditation. Bastilla's power can influence entire armies. Through the Force Bastilla can inspire her allies with confidence and make her enemies lose their will to fight. Often, that's all it takes to tip the balance in a battle. Of course, there are limits to what she can do. But from what I understand of her ability, it requires great concentration and focus to maintain her Battle Meditation. The attack on the Endar Spire happened so fast she never had a chance to use her Battle Meditation. Like us, she barely got out alive."
"So what do you suggest we do next?" Ronis asked the more experienced veteran.
"Bastilla's going to need our help. Many of Darth Malak's followers can use the dark side of the Force, and the Sith have already killed more than their share of Jedi in this war. Nobody will be looking for a couple of common soldiers like us. And if we're careful we can move about the planet without attracting notice; a luxury Bastilla won't have." Carth took a long pause before continuing, "The whole planet is under quarantine. No ships can land or take-off. So if Bastilla's going to escape Taris, she's going to need our help. And we'll probably need hers."
Ronis spent a moment taking this all in before replying. "Any idea where we should start looking for Bastilla?"
"While you were out I did some scouting around. There are reports of a couple escape pods crashing down into the Undercity. That's probably a good place to start. But the Undercity is a dangerous place. We don't want to go in there unprepared. It won't do Bastilla any good if we go and get ourselves killed.
Ronis didn't hesitate, if he brought back this old female Jedi he could make some serious credits and he wouldn't need to smuggle anything for the rest of his life. "The sooner we start looking for Bastilla the sooner we find her. Let's go."
"Good idea. We can use this abandoned apartment as a base, and we can probably get some equipment and supplies here in the Upper City. Just remember to keep a low profile. I've heard some grim stories about the Dark Jedi Interrogation techniques. They say the Force can do terrible things to a mind. It can wipe away your memories and destroy your very identity. But I figure if we don't do anything stupid we should be okay, I mean, after all, they're… they're looking for Bastilla, not a couple of grunts like us. Alright, soldier, let's move out."
"Wait a second." Ronis turned. "I am not a soldier. So don't think for a second you can order me around. The only time I do something is when I want to do it. So don't be getting up in my face."
Both men walked out into the apartment complex, both unsure of the other's motives. Little did they know this was the start of an adventure that would span several lifetimes and forever change both men.