Disclaimer: Not mine. Not mine. Not mine. Got it?

Alright, prepare yourself for some prissy Jedi! Bastila's great, but she is a bit... much, shall we say? Not her fault, though. She did grow up a Jedi. And also prepare to meet Canderous. Ash is slightly antagionistic, as usual, but what do you expect? Also, we get to see Bastila faint!


"You've raced before?" The Ithorian mechanic asked.

"Few times." She replied, removing her belt and hanging it from a hook for the purpose. Swoop racing was dangerous, and she didn't want her blades to get in the way.

"Then you know how to ride. Go to the announcer if you want to ride a heat. Don't worry about the prototype overheating and exploding… it probably won't happen. But you have a limited number of runs. Five, at the most, I'd think."

Ash smirked confidently. "I'll talk to the announcer, then." She sauntered up to the announcer's desk, not looking at the caged Bastila. "I'd like to race a heat. What's the time to beat?"

"You're up next, then. Best time is thirty-nine point twenty-six seconds." She was whisked to the track.

Ash mounted her bike and watched the lights go from red to green. She rocketed away from the starting line. She wove gracefully around obstacles, keeping an eye on her time. She didn't need to beat the time too badly.

Her time was thirty-five seconds even. And that had barely been a practice run. She walked jauntily back to the pit, smirking.

"That's incredible!" The mechanic said. "I've never seen racing like that! You didn't even look like you were trying!" Ash chuckled.

"That was a warm-up run." And that accelerator really works, she added silently, turning to look at the times. She scowled as her time was beaten. The rider walked over.

"You should practice your dancing, girl." He sneered.

Her eyes flared hard silver. "Watch it, before you bite off more than you can chew." She blocked his slap. She spun, twisting his arm behind him painfully. Then she kicked, sending him sprawling on the ground. "Better be able to back up your big talk." She walked to the announcer. "Next heat." He nodded.


In the apartment, Carth and Mission had devoted their attention to the race in progress. Carth winced when he saw Ash's face.

"She looks scary." Mission muttered.

"That racer ticked her off." Carth said. "And he's lucky to be walking away. I know that face. That's the face you don't mess with."


Bastila, in her cage, felt a spike in the Force. She grabbed that spike, using it to replenish her strength, as she began to remove the restraints on her mind.

She wondered at the source of the spike for the briefest moment.


Ash felt the motor whine, and her eyes widened. She crossed the finish line, shut off the engine, and drew her legs up onto the seat. She pushed off the seat and flipped back, the world slowing. She landed in a half-kneeling position, hands braced on the ground. Her head tilted up, watching as the swoop bike careened forward, exploding thirty meters from her.

She rose to her feet. Everyone was absolutely silent as she walked back to the pit. She looked at her time. Eighteen point sixty-three seconds. She smirked, and the crowd cheered wildly.


In a booth, a mercenary leaned forward. He remembered seeing the scrap before. She just might be the right kind of crazy…


"…presenting the prize is Brejik of the Black Vulkars." The announcer said, with a flourish. Brejik stepped forward, scowling blackly.

"People, hear me!" He shouted. Ash's eyes narrowed and she wished she had remembered to put her belt back on. She wanted her vibroblades. "The winning rider cheated!"

Ash braced her legs apart, propping her hands on her hips. "Really? Sounds awful convenient, since the bike I rode exploded." Her voice was cold. She heard murmurs of assent.

"The bike was modified using an illegal accelerator."

Ash raised her chin. "I'm a bad person to cheat." She warned.

"Due to this clear breach of the rules, I am withdrawing the Vulkar's share of the prize." Ash growled.

"You can't do that!" The announcer said. "That's against the rules—and our traditions!"

"I don't care about your traditions! I am the leader of the next generation! Nobody can stop me if I wish to sell this woman on the slave market!"

"I might have something to say about that, Brejik." A cool voice with a cultured Coruscanti accent said. The cage flew open, Bastila knocking out the man who guarded it.

"Kill the woman!" Brejik shrieked. "Kill the rider!" Ash ducked beneath a blade, freeing her vibroknives from her wrist sheaths.

"Not likely." One knife flew from her hand, impacting Brejik in the throat. She twisted to ram her knife into another throat. She stabbed an incoming wrist. She caught the vibroblade that dropped and ran the man through, whirling.

Three Vulkars converged on her. She turned warily, eyes intent. Her hand moved forward, sending her second vibroknife flying. She leaped to the gap, twisting to slice a Vulkar wide open with the blade. He fell back as she faced the last.

"My advice would be to run." She said calmly. The Vulkar dropped his weapon and ran. Ash smirked, retrieving her knives, cleaning them off. She dropped the vibroblade. She walked to Brejik's corpse, looting it. Then she faced Bastila, who had downed two other Vulkars.

"You… you're one of the Republic soldiers!"

Ash rolled her eyes. "Don't advertise that. We don't need to have Sith breathing down our necks. I believe this is yours?" She tossed the Jedi a long cylinder that she had retrieved from Brejik's corpse.

"Who do you think you are?" Bastila demanded.

"I think I'm the one that rescued you. My name is Ash, by the way."

"You didn't rescue me! I got free on my own, thank you very much!"

Ash's patience was fraying. "Don't get too puffed up." She walked back to where her stuff was, putting her belt on. She tossed Bastila the clothing. "Might wanna put this on. People will ask questions if I've got a joy girl tailing me." Bastila flushed, the tips of her ears turning red. She stalked away, finding a place to put the clothes on. A few moments later, she emerged.

"I'm ready."

Ash nodded curtly. She looked at Bastila. The clothes weren't too loose, and the lightsaber that hung from her hip was hidden by the cloak. Ash's pupils dilated and she stood stock-still.


I watched as the Jedi girl fought one of my Dark Jedi protectors. She was making headway. Her pale blue eyes glittered with fear and determination. Her porcelain skin was flushed, but not a single dark brown hair was out of place.

Her golden saber found opportunity and she thrust it into her enemy. He fell and she stood, panting, as three Jedi ran forward to back her up.

"You cannot win, Revan!" She said. What a perfect drone of the Jedi Council. My two lightsabers leaped to my hands. I flourished them, two arcs of light casting me into colored shadows. I took my attack position, beckoning, taunting.

Suddenly, I an explosion sounded. I felt pain spreading across my back and fell, unable to stand. Fury surged through my veins. That traitor! That cowardly traitor! I felt my mask being removed. I stared up at the Jedi girl for a moment, defiant of death and life, before I slipped into unconsciousness.


Ash came back into focus, a bit of pant to her breath.

"Are you alright?" Bastila asked.

"Fine." Ash growled. "Just fine. Let's go. Carth's waiting for us."

"Carth Onasi?" Bastila asked eagerly. "That's good news. Maybe now we can find a way off this planet!"

"We're already working on a plan!" Ash snapped, walking away.

They traveled to the Upper City. Ash was grateful that it was dark. She slipped from shadow to shadow, blending in with an ease Bastila found disturbing, though she didn't say it aloud. Ash opened up the apartment door, striding in.

"I'm ba-ack!" She said, her arms thrown out theatrically. Mission hugged her, Carth offered her a grin, Zaalbar a nod.

"Bastila." Carth said. "Things are getting better!" Ash felt a spark of jealousy. She squashed it. "Now we can figure a way off this planet."

"You mean you haven't thought of a way off this planet?" Ash bristled. "Then it is good I am back in charge of this mission. Perhaps we can now find a way off this planet."

"I said we were working on it! We've only been operating for four or five days! We're not Jedi like you, as much use as your kind are!"

"My kind?" Bastila snapped. "What do you mean by that?" Ash curled her lip.

"I mean the Jedi who sat back and watched as the Mandalorians burned the galaxy, on some premonition of disaster that they didn't care to share with us soldiers!"

Bastila flinched. "The Council said it was not the time. And surely you can see that if Revan had not gone to war, we would not be at war with the Sith!"

"No, we'd all be speaking Mandalorian! Nothing against the Mandies, but how is that an improvement? It's a military government either way!"

"Girls!" Carth shouted. "Enough! Bastila, she has a valid point. We've only been operating a few days!" Bastila huffed.

"And I have been in captivity for eight!" Ash raised her chin, eyes narrowing.

"That must have been so difficult." Her voice dripped acid. "What's Brejik do to our poor little Jedi? Feed her? Give her a bed? Keep her clean? You wanna know what? If you wanna complain about that, I might just kill you! We spent two days crawling through the sewers, in order to be able to rescue you! We fought off rakghouls, Gamorreans, droids, gangs! We blew up a frackin' rancor! I put my neck at risk dueling so we could have creds! Don't tell me how tough you've had it. Because I really don't want to hear it." Carth stood by Ash, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"She's right. While there is a damaging psychological aspect of captivity," his tone was almost patronizing, "we have been working to find you. Bastila, we have only been operating for a few days. To have gotten this far is nothing short of a miracle! We will find a way off-planet, it will just take time."

"That is no way to speak to you commanding officer." Bastila said coolly.

"You're hardly acting like a commanding officer." Carth retorted. "Your Battle Meditation might win a few battles, but it doesn't make you a leader. Ash and I have seen far more combat than you. You would do well to listen to our advice."

"I…" Bastila swallowed. "I apologize. What advice do you have?"

"For one, we can't get hung up on who's in charge. If we want to get off Taris, we need to work together."

Ash sighed. "He's right. We'll discuss plans a little later, after we've all had some sleep. I've got an errand or two to run, however. And I will be just fine alone." Carth nodded. Ash grabbed her purse and attached it to her belt. She walked out of the room, traveling to Dia's apartment and telling her the bounty had been removed before leaving the complex. A Twi'lek dashed up to her.

"Are you the racer who won the swoop race?" A Twi'lek messenger asked. Ash tilted her head.

"Who wants to know?" She asked gruffly.

"Canderous Ordo wishes to meet you in the cantina." Ash nodded, tossing him a credit chip.

"Thanks for the message."


She entered the cantina, going straight to lean on the bar and order a drink. She ignored Canderous Ordo, who was trying to stare a hole in her back.

"I know you know I'm here." His voice carried across the room, patrons starting at the harsh Mandalorian. Ash ordered a refill on her drink before sauntering over. She sat across from him.

"Somebody told me you wanted to have a chat." Ash said coolly, taking a gulp of her drink. "Who are you, again? I believe we met in the Undercity, but I'm afraid I don't remember your name."

"Canderous Ordo. And I have a proposition for you. I remember you from the Undercity. You don't see many people who can fight with a blade like that. And then I saw you in the race. You were crazy—very impressive."

She smirked, swallowing more of her drink. "Glad you think so."

"And your display in the fight that followed—also very impressive."

"As much as I like to have my ego stroked, would you mind just telling me what your proposition is?" Ash asked, rather impatiently.

"If you can get the Sith launch codes, I can provide the means to get a ship." Ash raised her brows.

"Oh, really? How are you planning on finagling that one?" He chuckled.

"Not so fast. You bring me the launch codes, then I tell you."

"Fair. How do I get into the base?"

"Go to Janice Nall. She's got a droid ready for pickup. Special order, by Davik. She'll sell it to you if you tell her I sent you. The launch codes will be with the Sith governor."

"Alright." She looked at him sharply. "But if we're in this together, you're paying for half that droid." She pulled her dagger from her boot, cutting her palm. She offered the dagger hilt-first. Canderous took it, slicing his own palm.

"Partners, then. When we get the ship, half of it is mine." They shook hands, blood spattering on the table. Canderous handed her some credit chips. She counted them.

"Expensive droid." Canderous shrugged.

"It's a custom build. You expect less?" she shook her head.

"Not really." She pocketed the credit chips. She counted her own. "I guess it's to the duel ring."

"I'll be waiting in Javyar's Cantina. Come when you've got the codes." She grinned.

"I'll have them tomorrow evening, at the latest. So I'll meet you day after tomorrow, bright and early." She stood, walking away. She went to the room, where the Hutt waited.

"How soon can I duel the next two?" She asked.

"I knew you'd be back, Stranger. You can duel them both in an hour, if you wish." Ash nodded.

"That'll do. See you in an hour, Ajuur." She left the cantina, going back to the apartment. She was pleased to see Bastila and Mission asleep. At least she didn't have to deal with them. Carth, however, was awake.

"Mind telling me some more about yourself?" She ignored him. He noticed her bloody hand. "What did you do to your hand?" Ash turned her hand over to look at it.

"Blood oath. We're breaking into the Sith base tomorrow."

"You're kidding." She got a medpac and cleaned her hand. "You're not kidding."

"Nope. I was thinking Mission and Zaalbar should come with me. You or Bastila might be recognized by a Sith. If they commed the big ships up there, we could have a problem."

"Impeccable logic. Since this is your mission, I'll agree with your choices. Who's on the receiving end of the oath?" Ash grinned.

"Canderous Ordo."

"That Mandalorian from the Undercity?"

"The very one."

"Watch out. Mercs like that don't have a lick of conscience. They'll betray you in a heartbeat."

"I know what I'm doing."

"I'll take your word for it." He said dryly. "So, would you mind telling me some more about yourself?"

She smiled at him. "I was born on Deralia. Never knew my parents. Alway lived with some old healer woman. She died when I was twelve. Lived on the streets for the next four years. I was avoiding the officers who would take me to a home, stealing food and credits for myself. I didn't do too bad. I was a little skinny, but I did okay. And that's when I picked up a lot of languages, just sitting in the shadows. I stole datapads too. And spacers were always willing to tell me a story and teach me a thing or two about the languages they knew. And I just remembered what I learned. Got a real talent for languages."

"I noticed." Carth said dryly.

"Shortly after my sixteenth birthday, there were recruitment calls. That's when I joined up, since they weren't looking too carefully at the people they were recruiting. I just told them I was born undersized." Ash shook her head. "I wonder how I got them to buy that one. My first posting was a unit that wasn't supposed to see any fighting on Onderon. Well, we got unlucky. We went up to the Demon Moon and things went badly. I did some fighting in the Outer Rim against the Mandalorians. I was on the front lines when the first Republic planet was attacked and it became all-out war. I was twenty-two when I got promoted. I was on an advance squad." She swallowed. "And we got ambushed by the Mandalorians. Eventually, I was the only one left standing. I didn't want to be captured. But I was. Of course, I escaped after two weeks. And I never went back to the army. I called in a favor and had my files erased, as well as they could be. I wandered the Rim, sticking to Hutt space as much as I could."

"Why Hutt space?" Ash shrugged.

"I hate the little slugs, but they're mostly content to ignore you if you're content to ignore them. They don't ask too many questions if you come looking for a job. They don't keep records on you, either. Worked fine for me. And then I had the misfortune to crash in Republic space, and, well, I think you know the rest."

"The Republic offered to pay your bounties if you served on the Endar Spire."

"Yep. But now that we've got Bastila, my contract is over. They made it a little too exclusive." She smiled at Carth. "But I am still gonna help you get off this planet. We'll probably go to Dantooine to drop her off." Ash glared at the Jedi woman.

"Why don't you like her?" Ash shrugged uncomfortably.

"I just don't. Something about her rubs me the wrong way. And right before I woke up, after the crash, I had a dream, and she was in it."

"You haven't seen her until now, though." Ash shrugged.

"I don't know. But down on the swoop track, after the Vulkars were beaten, I had sort of a vision. It was that same dream, but there was more of it. It was… weird." Ash looked at her chrono and went to her pack. "Ah, well, I've got a duel to fight." She pulled out the mask and the black shirt and the hood. She pulled on the shirt, fastening the mask and hood.

Bastila woke up. Ash noticed.

"Hey, princess." She growled. Bastila shrieked and fainted. "What was that about?"

"Haven't a clue, beautiful."

Ash flushed under her mask. "Be back in an hour or two, Brass." She said, trotting out. Her vibroblades bounced on her hips as she trotted to the cantina. She went straight to the room where the Hutt resided, leaning against the wall, cool and composed.

The Hutt beckoned and she went to the arena. She listened patiently to the announcer. Marl was supposed to be a very good duelist. Ash paced for a moment, Marl doing the same. They were summing each other up.

Marl was old, but Ash could tell he was tough. He would also have years of experience. She raced forward, the same moment as him. She spun under his blade, kicking out. He dodged her kick. They locked blades, Ash trapping his between hers. His superior strength was telling, however. She spun, twisting his blade from his hands. She rammed the hilt of her blade into his temple and he collapsed, unconscious. She waited a moment, but he didn't rise. She smirked under her mask.

Twitch, ten minutes later, alleged psychotic, was barely better than dueling Duncan. She raced forward, dodging an arc of blaster fire, her blades knocking his blaster aside as she kicked up and around. He collapsed into a limp green heap. Ash shook her head.

She left the arena, going to Ajuur.

"Well, human, you are quite impressive. Only one duelist left, but he only fights death matches." Ash shook her head.

"Not interested." She accepted the credits, slightly over nine hundred.

"You sure? Bendak Starkiller would be a valuable duel."

Ash scowled under her mask. "Not interested." She walked away. Almost out of the cantina, she was stopped by a Mandalorian in yellow armor.

"You are an impressive duelist, spitfire." Ash's fists clenched.

"I'm not interested in a death match, Bendak." She snapped, walking around him.

"You sure? If you did, and if you killed me, do you know how many credits you could get?"

"Don't know, don't care. I don't fight death matches, for one. And I'm done killing Mandalorians unless I have to."

"You fought in the wars?" Ash shrugged, walking out of the cantina, returning to the apartment. Inside, she pulled the mask and hood off, followed by the shirt.

"Have fun?" Ash glowered at Carth. "We sure are touchy, aren't we?"

"Yes, I am. I'm going to sleep. Wake me up when there's caffa." She walked to the couch, curling up and instantly falling asleep. Carth draped a blanket over her, smiling a little.