KotOR belongs to its respective owners.

hello all. no, as much as you may have wished it i did not die.

hmm, yes, very slow updates from me. i broke my record with this one. considering the hiatus i've been on from writing i advise that you go back to the beginning of this story and reread the first 3 chapters for the sake of your memory and understanding.

i'll probably write a oneshot about carth in the taris duelling ring one day :P. as for how aedyn got the uniforms on his sith date...let me know if you want me to write it and i'll think about it – could be fun.

When Carth stepped into the abandoned apartment room four standard hours and six standard minutes later, sweating and carrying on him a secured, rather heavy case of credit chips, his weary eyes set upon Aedyn. The man was already half dressed in an uncomfortable-looking set of silver armour. Sith armour, Carth recognised it to be, letting out a relieved sigh. "I'm back," he said aloud, "just as we planned." He turned to lock the apartment security door.

Aedyn looked up, frowning. "I see you didn't make it out of the ring unscathed."

Carth answered with a scowl. He lightly prodded the purple-green bruise on his cheek with a hand and scoffed, "I'd like to see you do better, Varn. Try beating an undefeated 10 matches in a row. "

Aedyn ignored him. "The credits?"

"I have them, of course," Carth said, rolling his eyes. He shifted to reveal the bulky case strapped to his back underneath his jacket, and took out a small golden credit chip.

At the immediate sight of the chip, Aedyn lit up with a bright grin and rushed over, roughly clapped Carth on the back. "Good job! I was worried you wouldn't be able to last long!"

"What? Because of my age?"

"Precisely, o'captain."

Carth suddenly became aware of the wrinkles lining his forehead. He scowled with a shake of his head. What was wrong with this man, he wondered? Would a Sith spy really make themselves this obvious? Reverse psychology? Or perhaps Aedyn wasn't a Sith, but in fact, something else entirely. Carth just couldn't quite place the suspicion he felt. "Anyway," he said slowly.

There was a hurried rustling of clothing and clinking of metal against metal. "So... Did you have to...do anything with that man in order to get these uniforms?" Carth asked carefully.

"I don't really want to discuss it, Onasi," said Aedyn, whose mirth quickly faded.

"I suspected as much," Carth muttered and looked away. He shifted around stiffly whilst irately tapping his chestplate, his fingertips softly thudding against the dull silver plate. "These plates of metal aren't even sturdy enough to be called 'armour'," he criticised, abruptly changing the topic of conversation.

Aedyn smirked before masking his face with the Sith trooper helm and visor, leaving strands of long dark hair poking out. "Let's just be glad we now have these uniforms," said Aedyn. "And let's leave it at that. We haven't a moment to lose, right, Captain?"

Carth grunted in agreement. "Of course. We need to get moving before dark, or we'll lose the lead on Bastila. That swoop race is scheduled to be held in three days." He glanced out the window, ensuring that the sky hadn't darkened behind his back. He guessed that he and Aedyn had three to four more hours left of precious daylight before the Sith left their posts and locked down the area for nightfall. "We make for the elevator to the Lower City. Find ourselves a gang who'll take us. Win a swoop race. Walk out alive with Bastila."

Aedyn nodded, "Sounds fair enough."

"Have we got all we need?" Carth asked. He did a quick but thorough scan of his body, trailing down from the Sith shoulder plateshe wore, to his customised armguards and utility belt and holsters, to the tips of his boots. Both his and Aedyn's packs were slung across one shoulder with all the possessions the two men had salvaged from the Endar Spire. The case of credits and some emergency medkits were hidden under the bed left to the apartment room exit.

Carth eyed Aedyn's experienced hands as they flew to his vibroblade hilts, the sides of his belt, and patted the medpac stuffed in the back pocket. Aedyn Varn looked so...

Professional? No, that wasn't it. His movements were skilled and on par to routine, like those of a programmed droid's...methodical, worn movements.

A strong, clear voice jarred him from his thoughts. "Are you ready, Onasi? Time waits for no one." Aedyn cleared his throat and made an exaggerated gesture in the direction of the apartment door. "After you," he said.

The two men slowly stepped out and tread as quietly as they could in their stiff, silver plated disguises. Their movements and their footsteps clanked and clattered on the floor, making faint echoes down the hallway that had since long been silent.

The streets of Taris were not as packed as of the morning crowd Carth had witnessed before, but they were no less busy. There flowed an endless trail of people weaving in and out of side streets and building accompanied with an ambient buzz of chatter. Wherever Aedyn and Carth walked, they would meet some unwarranted glances in their direction and shied eyes whenever one of the two laid eyes on the poor soul. And it was then that Carth would remember the repulsive armour he donned, and his mind would cloud with guilt and loathing. Carth slowed and would have stopped in his tracks had Aedyn not hissed from behind him urgently.

"We have to keep moving forward," said Aedyn.

Carth did as suggested, and forced his eyes to set on his path ahead. Not fifty metres away he spotted a small entourage of Sith guards. They marched in tight formation towards the elevator leading to the lower cities of Taris, shielding a bald man with sullen yellow eyes. Carth recognised the long, dark robes the man wore, and the glint of metal bouncing against his hip. A Dark Jedi. A chill ran down his spine.

Keeping his eye on the new threat, Carth shifted and stopped, pulling Aedyn with him off the crowded streets and onto the sidelines. He was surprised to hear Aedyn growl from behind him.

"He's the one that killed Trask."

Carth's gaze immediately flickered back to the Dark Jedi, who was now approaching the Sith guards at the elevator. Damn. He cursed. "Kriff. The Sith must have caught wind. They're onto Bastila." They, he, should have been quicker. He couldn't afford to fail his mission. Not like last time...

Aedyn spoke out. "We still have three days to the swoop race, correct?"

Carth relented with a nod of relief. "We'll stick to the original plan. I doubt the Sith would pass up the opportunity to take out the Lower City gangs in one sweep."

"They must be here three days before the race for a reason though," Aedyn hissed.

"There's no helping it now," said Carth, ushering Aedyn with him as he advanced. He could only pray that they could spirit Bastila away before arrival of the Sith. There was a nagging thought though, nipping at the back of his mind and yearning for attention. An unnerving tension was caught in the air, and Carth was caught with it. His breath shook with every step he took. Just why were the Sith here three days early?

They soon arrived at the elevator, not a few minutes after the Dark Jedi. The two Sith guards stepped forth before Aedyn or Carth could proceed any further. "State your business," one declared.

He hadn't expected for the guards to question their entrance to the elevator. Blast it, he should've thought of a back-up story! "Well, we..." Carth trailed off.

Aedyn abruptly cleared his throat, a mere gurgling sound from behind his helmet. "We happened to split from the main escort group. Would be great if you could let us through so we can rejoin."

"What?" the second guard chortled. "You got separated? Oh boy, you guys are done for!"

"Right, so it would be really appreciative if you could..."

"Ha! Sure, sure, hop right in! I'll be meeting you on the other side."

"Hey," the first guard said to the second. "Is it really okay to let them through?"

"It's not like there's anything they could do to make it worse down there in the Lower City. All that place is and is filled with is trash."

There was a low, reluctant grumble and a short scuffle before the elevator doors slid open. "You should watch yourself," said the first guard. "There's a pretty big swoop gang war going on you know. Those sluggers will shoot anyone they set their eyes on if you're not careful."

Aedyn dragged Carth along by the arm and strolled into the elevator. "Oh, we will be." He turned to give a wave to the two Sith guards before the doors slid shut and they descended. The way down was short-lived, but the gap between the Lower and Upper cities of Taris extended far longer than that of the elevator shaft.

Needless to say, there was a distinct difference in atmosphere Carth felt between the two cities. Stepping out of the elevator, he took off his helm and was met with chilling air that bit at his cheeks and lips. Indeed, the warm sun's rays had never touched this place. With the likeness of a barren field, the underground was deathly silent and cold, its passages stretching far and wide. The place was a maze. Which way were they to go?

"Left or right?" Carth wondered aloud.

"Let's get changed out of these disguises first," said Aedyn. "I think i'm going to melt if I wear this rubbish excuse of armour any longer. 'Thermos layer' and 'durability' my ass."

Carth nodded in agreement and began to strip himself of the horrible silver-plated Sith armour, letting his tense body relax after ridding himself of the heavy burden - literally. Suddenly everything felt so much more lighter. He donned his orange jacket and carefully packed his and Aedyn's Sith armour in his spare satchel. He let out a deep breath. "Now we won't draw as much attention to ourselves."

Aedyn lowered his eyes and craned his neck with a groan. "So we're looking for the Hidden Beks, yes?"

"Yes."

"And we don't know the way to their base, yes?"

"I suppose so."

"And either way we're lost here, yes?"

"Do you ever stop?"

"I'll stop when we figure out what our next step is. We need to be on the move and pick up the pace. And who knows if we'll have a run in with the Dark Jedi on his way back to the surface? Better to be across the main road quickly."

Carth narrowed his eyes. "I hate to say it, but we'll have to explore the area. Maybe we can find someone to ask. Although i'd rather not, considering the Lower City's unpleasant reputation of it's inhabitants."

"Point made," said Aedyn. "Let's go left first."

"Why left?" Carth said, raising a brow. "You suddenly have a sense of direction?"

Aedyn paused, a hand wandering towards his chin in thought. "I actually...don't know why. I've got this feeling it's where we need to go."

"A feeling?" said Carth skeptically."Is everything you do on impulse?"

"Well, why not left?"

"There's nothing wrong with left, but there is something wrong with impul-" the cyan blaster bolt, that suddenly sped past Carth's cheek, interrupted his sentence. Another bolt flew past, but this one Carth was ready for. He dashed to the nearby wall to take cover while Aedyn unsheathed his twin blades and rushed forwards in a frenzy. "Aedyn, wait!" Carth called out to no avail.

He cursed and inched out from the wall to sneek a peek at their opponents - two nikto donning blood red and orange light armour, their scaly features snarling in his and Aedyn's direction. Miraculously, the blaster bolts the two nikto fired travelled past harmlessly as Aedyn weaved his way through. He was approaching them like a violent hound, covering the full fifty or so metres in seconds. Startled, the two niktos fumbled for their longswords. Carth aimed and hit one squarely in the chest, his powerful bolt searing through the nikto's armour and killing almost instantly. The other nikto brought out his blade just in time to meet Aedyn's swing. Aedyn's blade glanced off and he swung out with his other whilst the nikto's blade was knocked off-centre, making a clean slice through the latter's exposed waist. The nikto fell to his knees and Aedyn gave a quick stab for good measure. Carth could almost feel the murderous intent coming from Aedyn and his heart stopped. He searched Aedyn's eyes briefly for a sign of remorse, even pity, and found none.

Breathing heavily, Aedyn turned back to face a dumbfounded Carth. He shouted, "Look out!"

Carth spun wildly, quickly springing backwards on his toes to evade the crushing blow of his opponent. Another nikto with the same armour? This was bad. He was at a disadvantage with his close range to his sword-wielding opponent. Carth narrowly dodged his opponent's next strike and rapidly fired with his single blaster in desperation. His shots hit home, as the nikto crumpled to his knees with three blaster holes searing through his head and his sword clattering to the ground beside him.

"Who were those thugs?" he muttered.

The sound of heavy footsteps and a deep, resonating voice reached Aedyn and Carth's ears. "Thugs, you say? Well," the voice spoke, "that guess isn't very far off from the truth. Those high-and-almighty idiots were from the Black Vulkars." Carth turned to see a built, rugged man wielding a heavily blaster rifle and donning a simple black shirt under a red vest. Age showed in the grey streaks creeping through the newcomer's dark hair, but Carth could not be fooled what with the man's steely grey eyes and stern features.

"Who are you?" asked Aedyn, his grip tightening on his vibroblades.

The stranger grunted. "Canderous. I'm somebody you don't want to get on the bad side of." He gestured at the three corpses. "I came to collect some debt these three owed to Davik and the Exchange, but I see you took care of them already. It's a pity. I was looking forward to cracking some heads."

"So you're just hired muscle," said Aedyn. It was a statement, not a question.

"Maybe. But i'm not one for small talk." Canderous frowned, an expression that complemented the tattoo on his left shoulder. "Id be more careful when messing with Davik's business if I were you. You wouldn't want to have me chasing you down the next time we meet."

"We'll keep that in mind."

Canderous nodded with a grim smirk. "You have fire in your eyes. That's good," he said to Aedyn, before turning around the corner and disappearing out of sight. Busy man, Carth guessed, his eyes tracing Canderous' steps.

When he turned back, Carth couldn't help but flinch when he met eyes with Aedyn. The glance was only brief however, as Aedyn turned his back to him and continued to walk. "Fire," Carth whispered. The bringer of death.

"Well," Aedyn spoke. "That was a rather brief confrontation. Let's go, before we run into that Canderous again." He pointed an index finger forwards. "We should press on for the Hidden Beks."

"Right," Carth muttered, as he followed behind silently. It took an hour and a half before the two finally navigated the maze of the Lower City and arrived at the Hidden Bek's base.

"No." The edge of the deep voice was sharp, the single word alone bringing about a tense pause.

Aedyn breathed, "You won't let us race for you?"

"No."

"Not even if-"

"No."

"Why not? I've had my fair share of riding swoop bikes, and you still need a rider to enter the race."

"Aedyn," Carth stopped him. He turned to Gadon and looked directly into his, almost as if gently glowing, cybernetic eyes. "Would you tell us why you won't let Aedyn race for you?"

Gadon Thek lowered his shaven head with a sigh. "I would gladly let your headstrong friend ride to rescue your Republic officer, but unfortunately we haven't a swoop bike suitable for the race. Our prototype accelerator was snatched by the Vulkars."

"Why haven't you attempted to retrieve it?"

Another sigh was heard. "We're in the middle of a gang war. I can't risk losing my men just for a piece of equipment we don't need."

Aedyn shifted and placed a firm hand on the desk. "If we retrieve the accelerator, will you let us race for you?"

"Sure. That is, if you can retrieve it by tomorrow evening for us to make repairs and to give you a day of swoop racing practise. The Vulkar base is heavily guarded though, and you'll have to enter through the Undercity that is infested with rakghouls. I can give you the name of our best navigator though..."

The yellow-skinned twi-lek with purple lekku standing behind Gadon sputtered. She was clearly aghast. "You can't mean Vao? Mission Vao? She's just an annoying kid!"

"Mission knows her way through every crook and cranny of the Under City," continued Gadon. "If you two can find her roaming around down there, she'll be sure to help you out and speed up your retrieval." He raised a hand to stop the twi-lek beside him from interrupting. "Calm down, Zaedra. There is no one else suitable for the job than Mission herself."

Zaedra crossed her arms and glared at Carth and Aedyn suspiciously. "You're too trusting Gadon. Brejik and the Vulkars would do anything to see you dead. Letting Vao run around freely and doing business with these two strangers could be a potential threat to us. It's my job to make sure you're safe."

"We can't attack anyone from outside on sight just like the Vulkars. You forget that I know how to look after myself, Zaedra." Gadon turned back to Carth, who was eyeing the murderous-looking Zaedra awkwardly. "Like I was saying, if you find Mission Vao down at the Under City, she'll be able to guide you through the sewers into the Black Vulkar's base. From there on it's up to you to retrieve the accelerator and deliver it safely back to the Hidden Beks. It's getting quite late here, so I'll let you stay the night here and we can talk more tomorrow morning. I expect you not to make trouble while you're here."

"Gadon!" exclaimed Zaedra. "You're going too far! What if they're spies for the Vulkars or the Sith!"

Gadon stood up from his desk, towering over the twi-lek beside him. "They're not spies for the vulkars or the Sith, Zaedra. If either of them wanted to make a move on our base they'd be storming the entrance with an armed force! We will only let them stay one night, until they prove themselves by bringing back the accelerator."

"As you wish," Zaedra said begrudgingly, before exiting the room, most likely too frustrated to face Carth and Aedyn's faces.

Gadon closed his eyes. "Sorry about Zaedra," he said, addressing Carth. "Ever since the accident in which I lost my sight and the start of the gang war, she's been extra zealous in security matters."

"Understandable," said Carth. He understood all too well.

A smile crept onto Gadon's face and he clapped his hands. "Well! With that settled, I'll show you two to the showers and the rooms you'll be staying in." Before Carth or Aedyn could move an inch, he raised a hand. "Sorry to say this but I still value the security of my base to a certain degree. I want the both of you to disarm yourselves and then each go through a quick scan by one of my men. You'll also be under constant camera surveillance during the stay here."

Aedyn shrugged. "Fine by us. Thank you for letting us rest the night here."

Gadon outstretched his arms. "You're welcome. Now I suggest you move along your merry way."

Carth and Aedyn both gave another quick word of thanks before removing their equipment and placing them in a metal tray, soon being directed into the next room. It was then that Carth realised just how much his muscles ached and the number of bruises he sported from wearing the clunky Sith armour. Sleep would be good, he decided wistfully. It wasn't long before he could collapse on the hard mattress of the bed he was issued and closed his eyes.

Fire. Everywhere it burned. There was no end the vicious flames. He was too late to save them. Why did Saul betray him like this? It was gone. All of it. He was too weak, too powerless, to protect them. He couldn't stand this heat that melted through his skin and right to the very bones. It seared painfully through him, until his lungs gave out an endless scream that cut through the hissing and spitting orange flames.

"Morgana, where are you?" he cried. "Dustil! Somebody...anybody!" He was trapped by the flames, and everybody had gone. His screaming was futile. "Morgana," he croaked.

When the medics finally arrived at the scene after what felt like days, he could only ridicule them for their ill logic. They may as well have stayed put in their ships. There was no one to save anyway.

He had to be dragged away from the ablaze rubble, roughly gripped by two other men. Why couldn't they just leave him there? To join his family? Oh how he wished he could. But fate would have him live, so that the day he had lost everything would haunt him forever.

Carth's eyes flickered open lazily to the small but persistent beeping alarm emitting from his chrono. The room was dark. Cold. Hardly an environment he would gladly wake up to. Reaching over to his right for the chrono, Carth grimaced as his shoulder began to throb with pain. With gritted teeth he counted each wave, 1...2...3..., until the throbbing gradually dissipated.

Carth squinted in the darkness at the bright green digits displayed on the chrono's screen. He fell back with a hollow sigh. He breathed,"That makes it four years now, huh?" And closed his eyes. "Happy anniversary."

trying to empathise with carth here.

he really annoyed me in the game with his whole trust issues, but later on you realise that everyone has their own story. even annoying video game characters. also tried to fit in more content in this chapter to really (hopefully) get the plot chugging along.