Chapter Three: Meet The Party

After walking down several shady side-streets, the Vulkar pulled Carth and Trask into an abandoned warehouse. He typed a code onto the keypad, opening the high security door. They entered a small, dimly lit room with a cage on the other end. The figure of a young woman was barely discernible. They approached the cage, and the Vulkar typed in a second pass code, unlocking the door. The previously captive Bastila looked up in surprise.

"Carth? What's all this about?" she said. "I… I don't understand. This doesn't make any sense! I wasn't supposed to be taken out until the swoop race in two days! And Trask, whatever are you doing here?"

"We're here to rescue you, Bastila!" said Trask brightly.

Bastila rolled her eyes, placing her hands on hips.

"Rescue me? Is that what you were trying to accomplish by opening this cage? I would hardly call this a rescue. More like a chance encounter. Not to mention that had you not broken my intense concentration, I could have easily summoned the will to release myself."

"Intense concentration?" Carth chuckled. "So that's what you Jedi call napping. You learn something every day."

Bastila snapped her head and glared at Carth.

"May I remind you, Carth Onasi, that I am a fleet commander? And that my Battle Meditation saved you and your friend's lives on the Endar Spire?"

"On second thought, can we just leave her here?" Carth said to Trask.

"But you said Bastila was the key to the Republic victory! You said…"

"Yeah I know what I said," Carth replied, rubbing his forehead. "Just forget it, it was a joke."

Bastila sighed.

"I'm sorry if I seemed… harsh. It's just that you startled me. And I'd still like to know what Trask is doing here."

"I don't know. I just survived the crash, and then Carth and I came to rescue you. It was very easy," said Trask.

"But your instructions specifically said that…" Bastila began, trailing off as she realized Carth was standing there.

Carth raised an eyebrow.

"What instructions?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Carth," said Bastila lightly. "Anyway, we really should be moving on. I don't want to be stuck here for another two days."

"One moment," said Trask. "I need to thank Waht-Gisset here."

"Who is that?" Bastila asked Carth as they watched Trask hug the alien tightly.

"A friend Trask picked up. I don't know how he does it."

The three left the warehouse and walked back through the dirty streets of the Lower City. Suddenly, a female scream pierced the air. Trask's ears perked up.

"A damsel in distress!" he cried, "I need to go and help. Come on!"

Bastila and Carth tried to protest, but Trask had begun to race through the streets to the source of the racket.

"Might as well follow him," said Carth, shrugging.

The racket was caused by a young blue Twi'lek, standing outside the Lower City cantina. Next to her, a large Wookiee was coughing violently, clutching his throat. Several thugs surrounding the area were laughing.

"Someone help me with Big Z!" the Twi'lek girl cried in a thin, whiny voice, "Please! Anyone! I LOOOVE HIM! HE'S MY FAMILY!"

"It looks like that Wookiee had a bad sandwich!" said Trask. "What's going on here?"

"I don't know!" said the Twi'lek. "Just please help! He's the only person I love in this whole wide galaxy!"

"She really loves that Wookiee," Carth noted dryly to Bastila.

Acting quickly, Trask positioned himself behind the sputtering Wookiee. Placing his arms around him, Trask pulled his fist into the Wookiee's stomach. To everyone's astonishment, an enormous, spit-covered hairball expelled from the Wookiee's mouth and onto the sidewalk. A few of the onlookers cheered. The Twi'lek was relieved.

"Wow, I can't thank you enough! Big Z would have been a goner if not for you! We're good friends, ya know? Like, really really good friends! I couldn't handle it if something were to happen to him." She shook her head, laughing. "I keep telling him to stop lickin' himself, but he never listens."

"That's disgusting!" exclaimed Bastila.

The Wookiee moaned mournfully, an assortment of growls and whimpers that apparently formed a language.

"Watch, he probably understands Wookieese," Carth whispered to Bastila as they regarded the scene before them.

"I find that highly unlikely, Carth," said Bastila with a faint snort. "I know for a fact that he has the IQ of a Gamorrean."
"It's no problem, Zaalbar," Trask said to the Wookiee, giving him a tender hug. "And to answer your question, I'm honored to accept your life debt."

Bastila was speechless. Seeing her gaping mouth and glazed eyes, Carth couldn't help a hearty laugh.

"Told you so," he said with a grin.

"A life debt? Big Z, that's huge!" said the Twi'lek, in awe. Turning to Trask, she said gratefully, "Wow. You save his life, you understand his language… and we don't even know your name! Who are you?"

"I'm Trask Ulgo."

"Well my name's Mission, and I go where Big Z goes. We're a package deal. We look out for each other, right Big Z?"

The Wookiee moaned in agreement.

"So you two are my new bunkmates! That's swell," said Trask rapturously.

"Well, that was… an unusual development. I suppose we're going to start adopting every street orphan we meet now," Bastila grumbled to Trask.

"Hey! I heard that!" Mission said.

"It's called a side conversation," said Bastila angrily. "You're not supposed to be able to hear!" Letting out a deep breath, Bastila continued more calmly. "Perhaps I shouldn't be so quick to judge. It's possible that this will help bring us one step closer to leaving Taris. Do you know anyone we could talk to about bypassing the Sith blockade, Mission?"

"Hmm, that should be tricky," Mission replied thoughtfully. "We'd have to get the launch codes, then find a pilot willing to take the risk, and I…"

"How about we look inside this cantina?" Trask interrupted loudly, his demonic blue eyes fixed on the doorway.

"What…? Trask, I find it hard to believe that there will be anyone in that cantina worth talking to," Bastila exclaimed, irritated.

"There's something behind here!" Trask insisted. Looking around at the skeptical faces of his new party, Trask shrugged and opened the door, sprinting inside.

"Why is he always running! It's so maddening!" Bastila asked exasperatedly.

"Beats me," said Carth as they followed him inside. The cantina was dim and smoky, and unsavory faces leered at them from the sides. An extraordinarily short man draped in a strange white headcloth was standing in one corner, while a few Vulkar thugs taunted him.

"Who's that creep?" asked Carth.

Mission rolled her eyes.

"Him? That's Calo Nord, Davik's bounty hunter. If you bug him, he'll stick a thermal detonator on you. That's pretty much all he does."

"Talk about overcompensating," Carth muttered.

As they walked past, they heard the detonator exploding.

Trask was sitting at the bar talking animatedly to a muscled soldier in an orange vest, who was clutching an enormous Mandalorian rifle and drinking a full tumbler of vodka.

"That's Canderous!" Mission said to the others. "He works in the Exchange for Davik Kang, and he ain't no good."

"Just our luck," Bastila sighed. "Trask's probably placed us all right into the filthy hands of the Exchange. We'll be packed off to the Sith within the hour."

After a few moments of conversation, Trask and Canderous stood up and faced the rest of the party.

"Canderous here says that he can get us Davik's flagship, the Ebon Hawk."

"How… well… what about the Sith launch codes? And how do we know we can trust him? He's a Mandalorian!" Bastila fumed, clearly annoyed.

"Calm down, sweetie," Canderous said with a raspy laugh. "When we Mandalorians give our word, we honor it. I'll take you to Davik's estate, and we'll find a way to hijack the Ebon Hawk. And your friend here already gave me the Sith launch codes. Looks like you're about to get yourself a ship."

Everyone stared at Trask questioningly.

"Well? Where'd you get those codes?" Carth asked wearily.

"I thought I told you already," Trask said, eyes wide and unblinking. "After I got the Sith uniform this morning, I wandered into a droid shop to look around. The shop owner seemed to think someone named Davik had sent me, and she was scared. So she gave me a droid called T3-M4. When I talked to T3, he informed me that he was programmed to break into the Sith base and find the launch codes. Thinking it might be useful eventually, I followed him. The Twi'lek secretary at the front desk was angry, and asked me what my business was with the Sith. When I told her that I was a Republic soldier, and it was my personal mission to make all Sith pay for their crimes, she hugged me and burst into tears. She had been dating the Sith Governor there, and he broke her heart, poor thing. To get revenge, she had stolen the launch codes from the drawer of his bedroom and was planning on selling them to the Exchange that day. But she was so moved by my mission that she gave them to me as a free gift, and told me to 'give the Sith hell' for her."

The party was speechless.

"Why am I not surprised?" said Bastila, throwing her hands into the air helplessly.

"Come on, let's go back and get T3 where I left him," said Trask. "Then we can head for Davik's estate."