AN: I know I'm late with this update, but let me assure you that I have reasons for it. Not that it matters much. The important things is that I'm back and the muse with me

AN2: Please leave a review! Constructive criticisms are most welcome!

AN3: The chapter was beta read by Fairywm. She made a quick and excellent work, so I can only say thank you.


Chapter VI

The Lost

If someone had told Harry a few days ago that he'd be glad to see a planet such as Raxus Prime, he wouldn't have believed them. He had asked his friends about it and looked it up on the holonet, but no mere holos or words could do this planet justice. From space, the surface was a ball of mud and rusty brown with specks of toxic green and metal young wizard was sure that it was one of the most unappealing planets in the entire Galaxy.

Why would he be glad to be here then? The answer was simple: the trip here was very unpleasant. Shaak was full of stress and worry, and, to a lesser extent, so was Aayla. The tense atmosphere created by them got to Harry and Maris as well. The half a day's journey felt much longer than it truly was.

"Two Lancel-class frigates are on the other side of the moon," Maris reported from her seat in front of the radar screen.

Aayla took a glance at her own much smaller monitor. "Let's hope that the cloaking device holds up against their sensors. I have no desire to tangle with them, let alone something bigger."

The bonus from their ship being used previously by slavers, was that the former owner tried his hardest to avoid authorities. Not surprising given that getting caught as a slaver in the Republic meant instant prison time, most often for life. The less spoken about what happened to those caught by locals, like the Wookies, the better.

However, cloaking devices weren't perfect, not by a long shot. They had to fly with no shield, and with their engines barely reaching half of their maximum capacity. Heat and energy readings, Aayla explained to Harry. The device itself could only make the Traveler invisible to the sensor, but not to the naked eye. It was only a sensor jammer, and an older model at that. There were some devices that made ships invisible to sensors and the naked eye, but those were ridiculously costly, far out of the price range of the average slaver. Of course, the chance of someone seeing anything at such distance, that wasn't a capital ship, while in space was close to null. After they entered the planet's atmosphere that will drastically change.

"What do you think they have?" Harry asked, moving to glance at Aayla's screen, making sure not to disturb her.

It was Shaak who answered instead of Aayla, who was focused on getting them to the surface of the planet. The Togruta woman looked over at Harry from the copilot's seat. "Besides those two? I would be surprised by anything bigger than a Carrack-class light frigate. There is nothing of great importance in this system." she turned back to her screen, ending the conversation for now.

Harry stayed quiet, so his girlfriend could concentrate. The entire group held their breaths, hoping to land undetected.

Luckily, the cloaking device held out. The Imperials made no move indicating they were aware of their presence. After getting through the clouds and smoke, the wizard grimaced at the sight of garbage all over the surface. Mainly metal, but there were other things as well. There was a surprising amount of good landing spots though. Aayla landed without any problem on a deck made of steel at the heel of one of the miles high heaps of scrap.

After they got out of the Traveler, Harry reaffirmed his earlier thoughts: Raxus Prime was truly a big ball of garbage. The Jedi immediately started to move towards a tunnel a little to their right in the middle of a mountain of metal. He couldn't help but smile at their confidence, even with his new found connection to the Force, he would never be this reckless.

"Shouldn't we do something about the ship?" he asked, looking back at the ship, which was in the plain sight from at least one direction.

"There is no need. With all this metal, stresscrete, and electronics there is no way anyone could find it with sensors. Plus, there is very little chance that anyone would come here," the Jedi Master explained, not even stopping to look.

Harry had to concede to Shaak. Sensors would be hardpressed to find anything in these conditions, even a star-destroyer. "There are people living here? Why?" he asked dumbfounded as he trailed after them. He couldn't figure out any reason why anyone would decide to live in what was effectively the greatest scrapyard in the Galaxy.

"Most don't have the luxury to decide to stay or leave. They're the descendants of the miners who came to this planet a long time ago," his blue-skinned girlfriend replied as they picked their way over the garbage strewn path, towards the man-made hole.

"It was an industrial powerhouse 'til three centuries ago," Maris explained, following the two older women carefully.

There was no better example than Raxus on what happens when people got too greedy. So, the Jedi and most in the Deep-Core at least knew what happened here in the past. Most decided to ignore it as it was far away, but the Jedi, while they couldn't do anything about it, at least didn't forget.

"But," the young padawan continued, "after the Overick Griplink was declared a class two trade route, the Gimblim and the Tion Route fell out of practise, and the trade here suffered for it. Adding to that, its resources thinned considerably from the mining companies, and other heavy industry companies that swarmed the planet, then it all became a downward spiral. After nearly two centuries, the mining operations and factories became too expensive to be worth it, so they pulled out."

They reached the dark, man-made hole. It was a nearly seven meters wide with the tunnel going on for who knows how long under the surface.

"Leaving nearly three million people living on this wasteland," Shaak said with a grimace, both from the scent of the tunnel, and the idea of leaving all those people behind. "Thanks to the toxic water, soil and even air the population became half as many in less than three centuries. Most try to live by scavenging what they can find."

"Why didn't somebody do something about it?" Harry asked, looking around at the garbage planet. It would be a monumental task sure, but someone should have at least tried to help the situation.

"You do not know how many billion of credits were spent from the budget," the older woman replied with a frown. It was widely spoken that Raxus was also a prime location for companies if a bit of money, millions or even billions at times, had to disappear. Entire generations lived from the taxpayers' money, while Raxus wasn't in any better shape than before they came.

"It was the same until the Confederate conquered the system," the Twi'lek took up the explanation as they walked on using the light from the tunnel entrance. Shaak led them with Aayla at her side, while Maris and Harry closely followed. "They established several factories and paid the workers well... at least the workers thought it was a well paying job. In reality they didn't get even a tenth of what someone would in the Core."

The tunnel was made of stresscrete, a higher quality of the concrete than Harry was familiar with. Light was scarce inside, it had was once been provided by the small fluorescent lamps, ten meters apart, but most were out of order a long time before they were even born. That was when he realized that this was once some kind of building, probably a factory, but it had been buried in scraps, garbage, starship wrecks and other kinds of industrial waste.

"But at least they had something. It is not surprising that Dooku could win them over so easily. He did more for them in mere years than the Republic did in decades," Shaak finished the tale as she and Aayla lit up their glow sticks, and hand-held fluorescent lamps. The light from two devices' was enough for them to see about twenty meters ahead, a far better improvement from the near complete darkness.

"I see, but I still don't understand something. What could Ahsoka be searching for here?" Harry asked the Jedi Master, who clearly knew the young woman the best out of all them. "What could possibly be here?" He waved his hand around the murky tunnel, indicating the entire junk planet.

"I do not know, but Master Yoda always said that there are secrets on this planet," Master Ti replied softly, her mind focusing ahead of them.

"Secrets? What kind of secrets?"

"I do not know exactly, but Master Yoda would not mention them if they were not important," she admitted, her gaze remaining to the darkness in front of her lantern.

"Maybe there's a surviving Jedi on the planet, and she decided to recruit them to help us?" Maris hesitantly guessed, hopefulness clear in her voice.

Aayla's gaze flickered back to Maris, and then to Harry, and the sorcerer knew that the Twi'lek doubted the possibility of that happening, but didn't want to dash the Zabrak girl's hopes."Let's hope so," she said instead, looking back at the tunnel ahead. "There's little use of us guessing her reasons. We can ask her when we find her," she stated softly, holding up her hand for quiet, effectively closing the conversation.

So, they went on in silence, making turns seemingly at random intervals to someone without a connection to the Force. In all reality, even those with a lesser connection, like Harry, could barely keep the route in mind. He knew that his companions followed the Force's suggestions, but he himself couldn't connect as well with it. Normal methods were next to useless. The walls seemed nearly identical with only horizontal colored lines and digits being of any help, along with some unique garbage and junk on the floor. The occasional windows and doors didn't help either. Some of the doors didn't even open, and those that did either lead to an empty office or a pile of garbage. They were about to make another turn, when Shaak and Aayla stopped. Before Maris and Harry could ask what happened, Shaak spoke up.

"Wait! I feel someone ahead of us," she whispered to them, making a stay back gesture with her hands.

"I don't think it is a Jedi, Master," Maris stated in a low tone, her brow knitting in concentration.

"No, I'm pretty sure it's not her. In fact it feels like a group," Aayla reported, after a moment of focusing on what was ahead of them.

Aayla and Shaak's glow sticks and lamps were immediately switched off. After a minute of quietly stalking forward, helped by Harry's silencing charm, they heard the heated voices of the group ahead. Luckily, there was an entrance from their tunnel to the room. Looking inside, they took in the circular room first. It was large, easily ten meters deep, and about twice across with five tunnels going out of it on the ground floor, four of which were on the same level as Harry and the others. In one corner there were about fifty Imperial soldiers, in another there was a ragtag band of twenty or so mercenary, mostly made up by Rodians and Trandoshans.

"I don't care about your orders, Clark!" the largest Trandoshan growled out in the face of the Imperial officer. A hard faced, older man, whose hair was graying at the sides. The hulking reptilian towered over the human, but to his credit the officer looked more angry than fearful.

"And I don't care about you raiding this planet, trash. Not if you don't give me a reason to," the human spat back, clearly not liking the merc. "You're lucky that you know this place well enough that I will overlook your other... activities. Got that?"

"Yeah," the leader of the band rumbled out, backing up a bit. "Now, will you allow us to do our job or not?"

"Don't believe even for a second that I enjoy working with you, Durk. It's only because you and your men know these tunnels. You help us catching that Jedi girl, and that traitor, and we'll move along as if this never even happened. Sound good?" The man was clearly on the verge of losing his cool.

Durk silently nodded his head as he crossed his muscular arms over his chest.

"We have two platoons, so two squad will go into each tunnel with a group of your men guiding them. We will keep in radio contact. Check-ins every ten minutes. If anyone sees something noteworthy, check-in. If you see the..." the captain continued, only to be interrupted by the merc.

"We know how to do this, Captain. We don't need a babysitter," Durk snarled, he seemed as inpatient as the officer himself.

"You would also do everything to accomplish this if you had to report to Lord Vader," the man hissed out, watching the fearful faces that appeared around him. He let out a savage grin. "Oh, didn't I mention it? Lord Vader will arrive for the prisoner in the immediate future. I don't want to report to him a failure, and I can assure you that you don't want that either. So, shut the fuck up and move out!"

Harry looked on disinterested as the group split into four and went into the tunnels, leaving one unattended. Obviously they had come from that one. His mind was on what the officer said: the Emperor's right-hand man will personally arrive, and in short order. From what he gathered from his companions, they believe that they wouldn't be able to take him down, even in a four against one scenario. While he wasn't that sure that the man could really take them on solely by himself, he wasn't keen on finding out the hard way. Vader was dangerous that much was plain for anyone with a functioning brain.

That being said, his arrival was worrisome, to say the least. Obviously his target was Ahsoka. The clone Rex, more than likely, wasn't important enough to be personally killed by the second most powerful man in the Empire. Unless, he knows something very important, but that was doubtful. And recruiting him was simply out of question, even if he was an elite special force officer, a commander few could measure up to. There were men like him by the dozen, and easily accessible to Vader.

So, there was a pretty high chance that it was the former Jedi girl that the Sith Lord was coming for. Ahsoka had been his padawan, so he would come after her. But for what? Killing her for leaving him behind? Or recruiting her for his cause? Maybe neither of those two, but something else Harry couldn't see at the moment?

"Let's move on." Aayla tapped his shoulder, pointing onwards.

Harry nodded as they moved along the tunnel opposite to them, staying at the same level.

Back with Captain Clark

Captain Clark had been in the military his whole adult life. Military wasn't even the right word for it. Nominally it was a peacekeepers force, but it became smaller and smaller as years went by 'til it wasn't even able to defend the Deep-Core when the Clone War broke out. It was kind of a joke for a large part of the population, and certainly didn't call the respect it once had. The reason was simple: everyone assumed that those who enlisted only wanted easy money and an early retirement. In most cases they were right, and Joonh Clark wasn't an exception to the rule. His grandfather and father had both enlisted, and had served forty years doing little more than parades, they then retired with a nice pension.

Joonh, of course, wanted the same. He wasn't upset about failing his entrance exams as he would've joined the military after finishing his education anyway. What he didn't know was that his time in service would be much different compared to his father's and grandfather's. His old man never left the Core, because he knew the right people, and a few acquaintances of Joonh's grandpa were still around. Sadly, the fact that his superiors had his back made Tomys Clark rather unpleasant to his subordinates. He left before anything happened, but his son was in for a nasty surprise.

Namely his father's friends were long gone, and his subordinates, who had hated him, were now Joonh's superiors. And they decided to take out their frustration of Tomys Clark on Joonh. The truth was that a small part of the Judicial Forces were deployed quite frequently in the Outer-Rim to minimize the violence there. The populace knew of only a few skirmishes, because frankly they had little success. The chance of victory against larger crime syndicates, like the Hutt Cartels or the Black Sun, was nil. Not close to zero, but clearly zero. They had the task forces of the Judicial Forces outnumbered, outgunned, the government bought and had a better information network. So, they mostly hunted small fries, smugglers, slavers. A big fight meant pirates.

Most assigned to those task forces left quickly. They wanted nothing to do with actual combat. Joonh didn't do the same. His prospects outside of the military, working in a factory being the most likely, were not bright by any means. Adding the fact that there was a very low chance of actually being killed thanks to leaving the big players well alone meant he wasn't in a hurry to leave.

When he was reassigned to Raxus Prime, he couldn't decide if he pissed some of the higher ups off even more, or got them on his side at last. After they kicked the Seps out of the system, everything was pretty calm, some occasional raiders and whatnot, but nothing major. He was the third in the chain-of-command, and both his CO and XO were old acquaintances of his. He got pay raises, after all they were still in 'combat-zone' officially. And there were several female locals who were willing to help him relieve stress for a few credits, or simply just to be on the good side of one the most influential men on the planet. So life was good for him, or as good as it could be living on a large pile of rubbish. That was until the Jedi girl came.

Looking around he could see the difference in how his men acted at the start of their hunt for the Jedi girl in the maze of a junkyard. Most were relaxed, joking around or telling stories they heard about the Jedi. Fresh recruits the lot of them. They thought that the Jedi used simple tricks or something. Clark couldn't fault them for it, before the War he had been of the same mind. What he had seen there made him very nervous. And not only him, but the few veterans here and there were also quiet; checking their rifles or just standing around somberly.

There was a reason an entire new division was created to hunt the Jedi down. Of course the Inquisition was a secret service, and Clark was quite suspicious of just how quickly they popped up, since it was right after the Jedi were declared traitors. A bit too convenient to say the least. Not that he cared too much about this kind of thing. What it boiled down to was that there were special units trained for this kind of situation, which couldn't be said of his men.

It wouldn't be bad if he had more than five platoons to search an area twice the size of the capital for two people. Yes, two. Clark heard about the clone she was seen with. Commander Rex, the 501th's former CO was a living legend among the soldiers. He was one of the best of a bunch, who were bred and trained since birth to be the best soldiers the Galaxy has ever seen and succeeded.

The only consolation was that she was only a padawan, so perhaps he won't lose half of his men only for the girl to get away. Not that it was an option for him. Lord Vader was coming personally to take the prisoner. The second most important person in the Empire. Clark heard rumors of how Vader reacted to failure, and despite the obvious exaggerations, he knew his career was on the line.

It was satisfying seeing his men faces after he made it clear who they will answering to in this case. Durk, a fearless bastard of a mercenary, who had seen more actual fighting than all his men put together, visibly shrank back. He could hear three or four curses coming from all around the room. The veterans appeared calmer, which was good, but he could see their mood tensing further.

It mattered not. They moved out, trying to find the girl. Their scanners and sensors were worth less than nothing, surrounded so much metal and whatnot. Not that Clark cared much, as long as the girl stayed on planet. With luck Vader will arrive, undoubtedly with a whole fleet, and he could give the search into their professional, and much more numerous, hands. He wanted to live, thank you very much, and fighting with a Jedi was firmly on his not-to-do list.

"Sir, the beta squad isn't responding to our call," the com officer reported. Well, there goes that plan. They split up nearly half an hour ago and Clark's mood hadn't improved in the slightest during that time.

"The others?" he grunted.

"They reported in as you commanded, sir."

"Could there be some interference from the surroundings?" One could hope after all. Sadly, the com officer shook his head.

"This close to surface? Close to none."

"Sergeant! You and your squad stay here, and set up a check-point! My squad will go and see what happened with Anderson's squad. Signal the Gamma group to send one of their squads as well," Clark ordered with a sigh. He only wanted to live his remaining life in comfort and relative peace. Not to go into tunnels miles deep to retrieve a Jedi and an elite clone trooper. He was never young enough for this shit.

In another tunnel a few hundred meters away

"I think I feel someone ahead of us," Maris said with furrowed brows.

They had walked for a half an hour without a hint of Ahsoka's whereabouts. The surroundings were the same, tunnel after tunnel with the sun only showing in through crumbled ceiling sometimes.

"I am nearly certain that it is Ahsoka," Shaak voiced in a hopeful tone as she focused ahead of them. "I can feel a group as well, most likely a squad from before, along with a separate pair, one of them Force-sensitive."

"I'd find it very surprising to be anyone but your wayward padawan," Harry remarked. Even he could feel that person. The fact that the planet was a wasteland made it much easier to sense someone with the Force.

"And we need to find her before Vader arrives," Aayla said as they nearly ran into the deeper parts of the complex. They only stopped when they reached something that clearly wasn't part of the structure of building. The tunnels leading here were made of stresscrete. The wall before them was some kind of steel, though Harry could see a rather deep layer of rust on it.

"Durasteel?" the blue-skinned Jedi murmured to herself as she gently tapped the wall. Glancing at the rust on her fingertips, she remarked, "I think it's a starship, a freighter perhaps. Or was at least," she corrected herself. This ship will never again fly, after all.

"Did it crashed into the planet?" the wizard asked as he looked at the small part they could see of the hull.

"No, it was more of a crash landing than anything else," his girlfriend replied, but Shaak shushed her.

"I think the group we sensed earlier is inside!" the Jedi Master hissed.

After a moment of concentration, the Twi'lek nodded in agreement. The four of them slowly, and more importantly quietly, walked to the left. After about thirty to thirty-five meters, it became clear that the ship was larger than the original estimation Aayla made as there was no end of the hull in sight. However, they didn't follow it any further as there was a triangular hole cut in the side of the ship.

"Lightsaber marks," Shaak murmured, pointing at the edges of the hole. It was a clean cut and fresh. The user knew how to use the weapon, there were only three cuts, and they didn't overlap each other much.

"It's bigger than I thought it would be," Aayla whispered as they stepped into a hangar bay. It stretched out at least two hundred meters long, and as much across. There were troop stansports and starfighters, apart and whole, all over the surface of it, along with crates of supplies, toolboxes and cabels. Though a rather large area around the hole they just stepped through was clear of any debris. "I don't recognise the model, but it should be at least a cruiser class with a hangar this large." Making it much larger than anticipated.

Among the wrecks was the Imperial squad they had sensed earlier. Eight soldiers, standing in roughly one group, clearly trying to decide on their next course of action. The Jedi and Harry tried to just sneak past the squad, but the wizard managed to kick one of the metal pieces of garbage littering the floor, making it skid across the room and bang into the wall. The sudden noise was loud and clear in the mostly empty hangar. The squad of soldier reacted quickly aiming their weapons right at the group as one of the soldiers tried to relay a signal.

"Stop right there!" the sergeant leading them bellowed, he was fairly quick to regain his wits. "Drop your weapons and surrender!"

"We do not need to fight!" Shaak tried to speak some sense into them. If it was someone with real experience of the Jedi, he or she might have listened to her.

Sergeant Anderson, however, was inexperienced and young, barely twenty-two years old. Not only did he have doubts, to say the least, about the Jedi's so called powers, but the chance of taking in four additional Jedi boosting his career was too much. And if the higher-ups found out that he let them go, he'd be accused (and convict) with high treason and sentenced to death. It was not so surprising that instead of listening to her they opened fire as they took cover.

In other circumstances eight trained soldiers in good position against four, with the nearest cover being three meters away, with only close-quarter weapons would see the four dead without a single soldier dying. However, against their current opponents that was not to be.

The Jedi, and wizard, quickly ran behind a starfighter on either side of them. Their lightsabers deflecting the blaster fire, along with Harry's hastily erected shield. With quick leaps, Shaak was on a duo of soldiers hiding behind one of the stash of crates. With a quick thrust she killed one, and with a half turn she slashed the other nearly in half.

Aayla and Maris took out three more on the other side with one of them always covering the other's blind spots.

Harry, who stayed closer to the hole they came from, cast a Bombarda at the starfighter that was a cover for another two enemy. He only wanted to get them out in the open, but the energy cells didn't agree with the spell. The small explosion threw the two soldiers back. One of them just lay there, his chest unmoving. The other was badly burnt, screaming horribly in pain, in no shape to be any threat to them. The dark-haired human knocked him out with a stunning spell as he made his way towards the man in question. He was dimly aware of Aayla and Shaak finishing off the remainder of the squad. His hand started to glow as he started to heal the survivor.

After a minute, Shaak stepped next to him, laying her hand on his shoulder, giving it a gentle, yet firm squeeze. Sadly, they had no time for him to completely heal the man, not by a long shot, but at least the soldier won't die. Though some would say he already done more than enough for his enemy.

They made their way deeper into the ship by one of the doors to the right. Harry was unsure exactly where they were heading, but the girls, especially Aayla seemed sure of themselves only stopping for a moment or two at crossroads.

"Do you know where we're going?" the wizard asked after the third such pause.

"If this is built like most other starships, we're heading towards the living quarters," the blue-skinned woman replied as the one with the most knowledge about spacecrafts. "Also, I believe there is someone there."

"You believe?" Harry knew he didn't have any right to speak up about her headstrong attitude, but time was not on their side.

"All of us can feel it," Master Ti stated, trying to calm him down, though there was a bit reproach in her voice.

Harry held up his hands in surrender, before focusing on his surroundings using the Force. He had worked on it for quite a while, but there were times when he simply reverted back. It wasn't like he just switched it off, that was not how it worked, but his senses dampened to nearly the point of a regular human.

"And there are fresh footprints in the dust," she added, pointing to said footprints.

"I see," he softly said, after a moment.

After a few minutes of walking through the creaking corridors, they found themselves in front of a large door. More like gate, compared to other entrances in this part of the ship.

"Someone's on the other side," Harry whispered his companions. After a moment, he realized how needless it was: if he could tell then they obviously felt it too.

"Two people actually," Shaak corrected him just as softly.

All of them ignited their lightsabers, not taking any chances. There was a high chance that Ahsoka and Captain Rex were on the other side, but not one hundred percent. As the door opened, Aayla's blue lightsaber flashed out only to be intercepted by a green one.

"Pull back!" Master Ti shouted immediately.

On the other side stood the target of their search. A beautiful, orange hued Togruta girl, who was a couple years older than Maris. Ahsoka was a young woman, with a lithe form, yet possessing all the right amount of swells on it. Her red top was skin tight, enchanting her moderate bosom into an eye candy for men. The dark jeans she wore made her strong legs appear even longer. She wore fingerless gloves reaching her elbow on her fairly muscular arm. Her outfit was completed by a pair of red leather boots. In other words, just as the other female Jedi Harry had the pleasure of meeting, she was drop dead gorgeous.

Next to her stood the former field commander of the 501th legion in a simple black trousers and shirt, and dark brown vest with an utility belt on his hip. He stood about the same height as Harry, maybe a little more muscular. His hair was a very light shade of blond, more than likely bleached considering his naturally darker skin and black eyebrows. He eyed the group, mostly Harry with an uneasy gaze, though he at least lowered his two DC-17 hand blasters.

"Ahsoka!" Shaak breathed out as she threw her arms out to embrace the young girl, completely catching her off guard. "Dear, are you alright? What happened with you?"

"Master Ti, why are you here?" the girl asked back confused as she shook herself out of the hug.

Shaak and Aayla glanced at each other, clearly as surprised at her confusion as she was at their apparent concern.

"We heard that the Empire was searching for you, so we came here to help," Aayla replied carefully. Maybe the younger girl was just surprised at the emotional greeting from Master Shaak.

"Hmph," the girl snorted back, clearly finding it hard to believe. "Even if they are, why would you care?"

"You are one of us. We care about you..." the Jedi Master started, but Ahsoka interrupted her.

"Oh, and when was that? Before or after you accused me of being a traitor without any real proof, or when you left me alone to defend myself?" she asked coldly, her anger at her unjust trial still burning brightly.

"It was far from unanimous vote, I can assure you that," Shaak replied quietly. That was not a moment of the Order which she was proud of. "It was at a time when our Order was under much scrutiny, and some of the Council members felt the need to put the Order's reputation before our personal feelings. There would have been an uproar if we had conducted the trial ourselves. I admit it was a mistake, but at the time it sounded like the lesser evil."

"Despite that, only Master Koon apologized for your so called mistake," Ahsoka said unimpressed while raising an eyebrow at her.

"I was in the other end of the galaxy, if you remember," the older woman reminded her gently. She was on Kamino at the time, repelling an attack on it from the Separatists. "But you should know by now that when a Council member speaks, he or she speaks for the entire Council."

"...I know," the Togruta girl shoulders slumped in defeat. "I just felt so... alone, I guess. And betrayed."

"I do not doubt it, my dear," Shaak replied. She may not fully understood her feelings, but she knew how hard it must have been for the ex-padawan. Ahsoka had been with the Order since she was a child. A new family, no matter how some Jedi wanted to deny such notions. "But, please, allow us to make amends."

"I'm not a Jedi anymore, and I doubt I can be one in the future," Ahsoka replied with a small, sad smile.

Aayla shook her head in response, and softly replied, "But, you are still our friend."

"I... Thank you," the former Jedi said, and now it was she who stepped forward to embrace her role-model.

The rest of the group was content to watch the two Togruta females make up, but Harry had to break the moment."I hate to be the one to say this, but we need to move. The Imperials could be here any moment."

"No, I can't go not now," Ahsoka replied, turning towards him, breaking off her hug with Shaak. "Not when I've found what I came here for."

"Ahsoka..." Shaak tried to reason with her, but the former padawan interrupted her.

"There's a Sith artifact that Palpatine wants, and we can destroy it! I... please, Master, help me," the younger Togruta pleaded with the older woman.

"The Captain and I will delay them, while you four do your thing," the wizard offered after a moment. Ahsoka gave him a thankful smile, while Aayla seemed resigned at hearing his plan. Shaak stared at the younger Togruta girl before she nodded her head to the two men.

"CT-7567 or Rex at your service, sir," the clone introduced himself as they walked out of the room, and readied themselves at another door further down the hallway. Luckily the suite the door led into still had some useful items. Namely two big tables, a wardrobe and other furniture good for cover. Getting them into the corridor was good workout for the two man.

"Harry Potter, and please call me Harry, Rex."

"All Jedi are our superior, sir, even if most of us don't recognize them as anymore," the clone commander replied.

Harry simply shrugged upon hearing that. "Well, I'm no Jedi, so you can stop this sir nonsense."

"But... you have a lightsaber!" Rex exclaimed, pointing at the aforementioned object.

"I have Force-based abilities, but I'm not part of the Jedi Order. I'm simply a friend who wants to help them," the other man replied firmly, wanting to make sure the clone understood that.

"I see," the commander said as he looked at Harry curiously, clearly trying to make some sense to what he heard.

Harry didn't blame him. The situation was not what someone would call average, by any means, but to Rex's credit, the clone commander put it behind him quickly.

Any other conservation was cut short by the arrival of two squads of their pursuers. The first of them dropped instantly with two holes in their chest, courtesy of Rex, who slid behind one of the tables on the left, while Harry decided to stay on the right side of the corridor. The rest of the Imperial soldiers, and mercs, tried to take what little cover they could find, but before they could reorganize themselves, another got hit on his shoulder by the clone, and one of the Trandoshan mercs fell with a Piercing Curse in the stomach by Harry. Rex quickly finished off the two wounded men on the floor.

Then it became a stalemate. The Imperials had the larger firepower, while Harry and Rex had the better cover. The wizard could make up their lack of firepower with spells, but was worried that the entire structure would simply give out. Sound based attacks could work, if he could make sure he and Rex were protected somehow. The problem was that they needed to do something as time was against them.

After a couple of minutes of trading blaster fire, the dark-haired man had had enough. True, two of the enemy were dead and three others wounded, thanks to Rex, and Harry, himself, got the last merc. But, if they wasted more time, more of the Imperials will be here with reinforcements.

"Rex, shut your eyes for a moment!" Harry shouted over the blaster fire, not really fearing that the enemy could heard him.

Rex seemed to have trouble with it, and he was far closer to him. "What?!" he asked, confused at the order.

"Just do it!" Harry, out of the corner of his eye, caught the clone muttering something under his breath, but the grumbling man complied with his request nonetheless. That was all the time he needed. "Lumos maxima!"

The sudden flash of bright light worked like it was intended, if the cries from the other end of the corridor were any indication. Harry ignited his lightsaber and left his cover to dash at the enemy. The problem was that not all of them were blinded by his spell, but his training with Aayla paid off as the few shots headed his way were quickly deflected.

The first soldier he passed was clutching his eyes, clearly out of the combat. With a quick stunning spell, Harry made sure he stayed that way. The next, however, tried to shoot him only to have his arm cut clean off. The next moment the wounded man dropped to the ground dead as with the same movement the wizard twirled his lightsaber into a reserve grip, and stabbed the soldier in the chest. With a simple move, he returned it to it's normal grip and slashed at another soldier's chest. Two others were shot by Rex, who after understanding Harry's intent, ran towards them, using the chaos the human had caused to his advantage.

The remainder of the two squads, seven half blind men, made their retreat. Harry put up a shield for their cover fire, but didn't try to engage them in any other way. Rex shoved his two blasters inside their holsters.

"I hope the girls finish their work shortly, because we cannot stay here much longer," the dark-haired wizard remarked dryly. "They'll come back soon, and I doubt we could take them out the same way again."

"We won't know until we try," the clone commander said as he looked at the other man with something akin to nostalgy.

"What?"

"Nothing. You just remind me of my former commander," Rex replied with a small smirk. "He was brave and headstrong like you. And..." He looked at the bodies around them. ".. you are just as reckless as him."

"I had a plan!" Harry protested loudly.

Rex only nodded sagely at that. "Yes, he always said that as well."

"Hey!"

Down another tunnel

Aayla watched as her boyfriend and the clone captain departed. She knew she shouldn't be worried about them. Rex was a seasoned soldier, and Harry was nothing less than her equal. Yet, she felt uneasy with the thought of him fighting without her there.

Shaak shot her a look that promised a conservation after they left the planet, but for now she turned back to the two younger women to introduce them to each other. "Ahsoka, I would like to introduce you to Padawan Maris Brood."

"I didn't know you took a new padawan, Master," Ahsoka replied, while she bowed to the Zabrak girl.

"My master was... killed at the Temple... during the... at Order 66th," Maris replied shakily. Those days were still fresh in her mind.

Ahsoka just tightly hugged the girl to her. "It will get better, I promise," she cooed softly to Maris, who clung to her.

"It's... I'm fine."

"Trust me, if you have to tell me that you're fine then you're really not," the orange-skinned ex-padawan said in the no nonsense voice she had developed for her master when he was particularly difficult. "I know, I'm not fine. Not after knowing that my former master has fallen to the Dark Side, and led an assault upon the Temple."

"How do you feel?" the Jedi Master asked worriedly, laying a hand on the girl's shoulder, while Aayla did the same to the wide-eyed Maris.

Ahsoka just shook her head in response. "We can speak about that later. Now we have to focus on this device," she said as she lead them inside the room.

Neither Shaak or Aayla seemed pleased for that question to be pushed off, but they didn't comment, instead they followed the younger Togruta. When they got there, they noted that there was an old bronze sphere floating in the middle of the room

"After I left," the ex-padawan explained, "I tried to discover anything about the Sith. Dooku was fairly easy to get information on, though not as much as someone would expect while being the leader of one side of the war. But his master, Darth Sidious... that information was a much harder pursue. I found little to nothing, as you must have expected. Not at first anyway. Just his name and some of his dealings so old the trails were snow cold by the time I came upon them. But, I found out something. Sidious fanatically collected older, sometimes ancient, Sith artifacts. For what purpose I don't know. This should be one of those devices," she finished, gesturing towards the sphere.

"What does it do?" Aayla asked curiously, examining the strange orb. It was about five feet in diameter, made out of bronze, with two intercrossing lines of Sith hieroglyphs on it.

"Theoretically, it should show us the location of the talisman of Karness Muur, an ancient Sith Lord," Ahsoka explained. "The problem is that the sphere has to be opened through the Force. I tried for hours, and failed each time. Maybe Master Ti can do it..." she trailed off uncertainly.

"You could not make any progress with it?" Shaak asked with her eyes on the orb, analyzing it carefully.

"No."

"Then I very much doubt that I could open it by myself," the Jedi Master admitted. "I believe we will need all four of us to do so."

"How did you know where to find it?" Aayla asked Ahsoka as she stepped closer to the orb.

"Two weeks ago I captured an inquisitor. After some probing, he revealed to me the location of Muur's ship, this ship, and that it probably contained the information of the amulet's location," the young Togruta explained. "Shall we do as Master Ti suggested?" she asked, and got nods in return.

With that, the four of them started reaching out to the sphere with the Force, taking hold of it. The orb started to spin as they made contact with it. It had several lines running around it, and a little light then flashed as its surface making it slide open, revealing the inner diamond shaped core of pure crystal. As the 'orb' opened, a red hologram of a planet appeared before then, with several line of data around it.

"Which planet is it?" asked an excited Maris.

"Korriban, the homeworld of the Sith," Shaak replied, unease entering her voice. She never intended to visit that planet, certainly not with two padawans. "Are you certain that this is where that talisman is?" she asked Ahsoka.

"Yes."

"And you are sure that it is important enough to go to that place?" the older woman asked, as she looked over the holo of the planet.

"From what I gathered it gives the user the power to create and control entire armies," the younger woman replied. It sounded bad, since Palpatine already had an army of his own.

"Create and control?" Aayla questioned with a raised eyebrow at those specific words.

"Maybe it just means that whoever has it can control the minds of an army," Maris suggested. In all honesty that was much worse than gaining a simple army. If there was ever an opposition to the Empire, and Palpatine gained the ability to control over even just a little part of it, it would have disastrous effects on the cause against his rule.

"That would be even worse," the Twi'lek said after a moment. There was no time to dwell on the subject as the sounds from outside became much quieter. The four were out the door in an instant, the orb closing after they stepped away from it. On the other side they found a mostly unharmed Harry and Rex much to their relief.

Harry had a small cut, barely more than scrape. "Are you done?" he asked them. "The sooner we leave the better."

"Yes we can go," Shaak confirmed with a nod.

The group ran back, taking the same route they used to get there. Surprisingly no one waited for them and as far as they could feel no one was even in the vicinity.

"How did you get here?" Aayla asked Ahsoka as they ran through the hole in the hangar and down the tunnels.

"Public transport," the younger girl replied. "I had hoped that we'd be less noticeable that way."

Obviously that part of the plan failed, but at least they didn't need to worry about their ship or separating from them again.

Luckily they left the Traveler ready for launch. The energy it emitted, since the engines weren't completely shut down, was barely noticeable on a normal planet. Here nothing could spot it if they weren't looking specifically for it. After a nerve wrecking five minutes, they were ready to take off.

"So, what now?" Harry asked from behind the pilot's seat.

"Now we escape those V-wings on our neck, then go to Korriban," Aayla replied as she took a look at the radar screen. There was little chance of them being caught. While the V-wings were nowhere as fast as the Eta-2 Interceptors, they were still faster that the Traveler. However, the base from which they came was pretty far away. With a bit of luck, they'd leave the gravity well before they could catch up.

"Which is what exactly?" he asked back.

"The ancient homeworld of the Sith," Shaak replied dryly.

"Well, that's great!" Harry's voice had just a touch of sarcasm in it. "First a planet of garbage, and now the homeworld of the evil counterparts of you lot!"

"Are you afraid, Harry?" Aayla teased the man with a little smirk, though it was a bit strained.

"Haha. Only for you, luv," Harry riposted, his smile a lot less forced compared to hers.

"If you two are done flirting, some of you should go to the turrets as those V-wings are starting to gain on us," came Shaak's amused voice from the co-pilot's seat, even as the red-skinned Togruta was busy typing in their destination into the navi-computer.

"Alright, but we aren't finished, dear," Harry said as he leaned over to give a quick peck to Aayla's check. Before he could straighten himself, she caught his head and smashed his lips to hers.

"Good hunting," she said to her mate as she let go of him.

"Thanks," her boyfriend replied as he gently cupped her cheeks, and then he stole another quick kiss before leaving the cockpit.

Rex and Ahsoka looked at the Twi'lek shocked as they looked at the pilot and the door where the male disappeared. The commander was the first to collect himself, and he hurried after the other human, deciding it really wasn't his business.

"I... what?! What was that? You and him?" Ahsoka seemed frozen in her seat as she gawked at Aayla. She had felt the bond between the two the moment the two groups met, but did not dwell it on much. To be fair they had had much more pressing issues to worry about at the time. And it wasn't like she, herself, didn't have a bond like that with another. 'Well not exactly like that,' she corrected herself.

"Yes," Aayla answered, her cheeks darkening a little bit. She was a bit uncomfortable with the attention their relationship got from Shaak and Maris. It was a very new territory for her, after all. Thankfully, the two other Jedi sensed her embarrassment and didn't cross the line.

"Isn't that... you know... kind of forbidden?" the petite Togrutan asked, looking between Shaak and Aayla, confused at the lack of reaction by the Jedi Master. If someone looked past the little smile playing on her lips anyway,

"Well, Harry isn't a Jedi..." the Twi'lek trailed off at the look Ahsoka gave her. "Look, can we talk about this when we aren't in mortal danger?" she asked, indicating towards the approaching fighters.

"Alright. But, I want to hear everything!" the younger girl gave in, a bit miffed to be brushed aside that easily.

After they left the atmosphere, they allowed a sigh to escape them. From the looks of it, the starfighters won't be able to even fire at them. The same could be said for the frigates coming from the left. A few minutes later, the Traveler entered hyperspace without any trouble.

Aayla, with the quickness and precision befitting such an experienced pilot, made sure that everything was in order on the screens in front of her. Shaak, who had far lesser things to check, waited for her at the door. The Twi'lek woman sent a smile in thanks, before the two women went to find the others, who had left to tell the men that danger was over. Not surprisingly, the two women found them sitting around the dejarick table in the longue. Aayla wasted no time in sitting next to Harry, leaning into him.

The man broke his conservation with Rex for a moment to give a kiss to her temple, before going back to talk with the clone. His hand, however, snuck around and gently massaged her shoulder.

It wasn't the best, their positions were less than ideal for it, but Aayla was satisfied with it. She wasn't upset about not being involved in the talk between the two men. For one, it was about blasters, where Rex tried to teach Harry a bit of his pretty huge experience. On the other hand, she was also, even if it was left unsaid, the most worn out member of their group. Piloting didn't seem like that much of a hassle, but try to say that in one of the Outer-Rim canteens and you will have a brawl coming your way. Sometimes it could be easy true, though your focus must never waver. Especially if it was Raxus Prime you tried to land on. Or the ancient home of the Sith.

"Alright, can someone explain what's going on?" Ahsoka asked exasperated, waving at the cozy couple. She wasn't about to judge them, but as far as she knew the Order had clear rules on that kind of attachments.

"We're a couple, Ahsoka. It's that simple," Aayla responded calmly, if a bit dryly.

"We can speak about Harry and Aayla's relationship later, Ahsoka," Shaak interrupted them, seeing as the younger girl wanted to pursue that conservation far further than what the cuddling two would be comfortable with. "I would like to hear what you know about this talisman we are going after."

"Well, not much," Ahsoka admitted with a sheepish shrug. "I know that it's either made from gold or some other precious metal or amalgamation of those. It's said that it gives the user amazing power..."

"Power to raise and control an army," Master Ti recalled her words.

The younger Togruta nodded in confirmation. "Yes, that's what I was able to guess from the ancient Sith texts I found."

"Brainwashing?" Harry asked after a moment of silence. The conservation between the clone commander and himself was put to rest for now, since there were more important things to deal with.

"I honestly don't know, but however it works I am sure it's a powerful weapon in the wrong hands," she replied, very worried over this.

"From what I remember reading, Karness Muur was considered one of the greatest dark lords of the ancient times," Maris mused out loud. "But, I don't recall any amulet or talisman associated with him."

"We lost most knowledge of that time, Maris," the Jedi Master reminded her gently, though she was troubled as well. "It is very possible that our records of this Sith Lord are, or were, incomplete."

"And Korriban? What do we know the planet?" Aayla asked. Knowing more on the Sith Lord or his amulet was good, but she was more worried about the planet itself.

"It is a barren world," Shaak replied a bit sadly. "Ever since the Jedi and the Republic laid waste to the Sith in the last battle of the Old War. No Jedi has been on its surface in recent memory, and none would do so unless there was a dire need for it."

"Unless of course your information is wrong about that too," Rex said, crossing his arms, looking grim. "No disrespect of course, General, but it seems to me that we are going into the Unknown, with capital U." Something he tried to avoid at all cost.

"Because we are," the red-skinned Togruta admitted without shame. "And I can understand your... frustration, shall we call it that? I heard from Master Kenobi that you like to know every little detail about your missions."

"The more we know, the easier is to be victorious," the clone commander replied a bit sheepish. He was called a great many things by his comrades for his habit of reading report after report. "Do we at least know something about the wildlife?"

"The dangers won't come from the animals, Commander," Aayla corrected him.

"Then from where?" Rex asked puzzled. If there was no population, then the only thing they should be worried about was nature itself.

"The Dark Side, Rex," Ahsoka answered with a sense of foreboding. "The entire planet will be flooded with the Dark Side."

Rex shook his head. "I... you know that I don't understand this Jedi business. You say Dark Side, and I only see a couple of ruins."

"Maybe it will be for the best that you do not understand it," Shaak said, effectively closing the conservation.

After that the conservation became much lighter, primarily directed at each other whereabouts during the following weeks of Order 66th, and Ahsoka's own trials, after she left the Temple on Coruscant. The former padawan enthusiastically listened to the duo's, and later quartette, adventures. She was especially curious about Harry and Aayla's bond. From what the others had told him, the wizard already expected her to be... less rigid on the matter of the Jedi Code, and the young Togrutan woman indeed seemed free spirited.

"My first destination was Shili," Ahsoka started her tale. "I wanted to speak with Mom and Dad. They were very understanding of my situation. What really surprised me, was Chief Ashara and Lady Raana. They were also very supportive."

"Lady Raana is the shaman of the tribe Ahsoka is born to," Shaak explained to Harry. The shamans, of course, weren't powerfully Force-sensitive, although they did have some connection with it. They were the spiritual leaders of their people, and Ahsoka needed exactly that when she suddenly found herself alone in the galaxy. The members of Togrutan tribes were close to each other. Individualism wasn't encouraged, at least compared to most humanoid species, after finding out your natural talents, which could help the tribe. There was a high chance that Ahsoka's decision to leave the Jedi Order could have been perceived as her turning her back on her new tribe.

Luckily, it hadn't been like that. True, Togrutans were very group oriented, but it was a two-way street: you helped the tribe, and the tribe helped you. Making an enemy out of a Togrutan, if he or she wasn't exiled, often meant making an enemy out of a tribe. Sometimes, though rarely, even the whole planet.

"I spoke with them, all four of them, for hours upon hours and meditated even more," the orange-skinned girl continued on. "After nearly a month, I started to pull my weight and helped wherever and however I could, mostly as a mechanic. It helped, to finally have something to do, to be useful to others."

"Maybe you are no longer a Jedi in name, Ahsoka, but in spirit you remained on our way." Shaak said, smiling softly at her.

"Thank you, Master Ti," Ahsoka replied with her own little smile.

"Please, call me Shaak, dear. We are not in the Temple anymore, and I am your aunt, after all," the older Togruta chided her gently.

"What?!" Maris shouted in shock, and the others weren't much better. they all stared at the two women, surprise registering on their faces.

Both Aayla and Rex seemed frozen, while Harry, who got over the news quickly, turned towards Shaak with an amused grin."You seem to have forgotten to tell us this little bit of information."

"Did I now?" she asked back, amusement clearly dancing in her obsidian eyes.

"Don't tease them, Aunt Shaak," Ahsoka said as she gently bumped the older Togrutan sitting next to her. "We are distantly related. Three times removed, I believe."

"Why weren't we told about that before?" Aayla asked, still shocked at it.

"Only a select few knew," Shaak replied with a shrug. "I did not want any rumors about favouritism, even if we are only very distantly related."

"Can we go back to my story?" asked a flustered Ahsoka. Getting agreeing nods of heads and murmurs she continued, "After a month, raiders attacked one of our colonies while I was there with Father and Chief Ashara. I had to use the Force to defend my people and..."

"And?" Maris asked curiously, leaning forward, her eager dark blue eyes boring into Ahsoka's lighter blue.

The Togrutan girl looked away with a light blush on her face. "I understood that my path was to leave Shili, and fight against the Dark Side. My parents, the tribe... they all understood it. They helped me prepare for my journey and built a pair of new lightsabers. I still occasionally visit them," Ahsoka shrugged as well. "I started with hunting down the client of those raiders. After some searching, and probing here and there, I learned that it was Darth Tyranus. I looked at it as a sign from the Force that if I want my people safe I need to fight the Sith."

"You went after them alone?" Maris admiration seemed to reach new heights with each word.

"A dangerous endeavor," Aayla said. Then with a smirk added, "And an admirable one."

"True enough. You are still as recklessness as ever," Shaak gave a long suffering sigh. "I hope nothing bad happened there."

"Well, nothing too bad," Ahsoka replied with a grin, to which the two older Jedi just raised their eyebrows at her. "Alright... Maybe the first month was nothing more than going this way, then that and so on. But, after I got the hang of it, I totally rocked!"

"Meaning?" the red-skinned woman asked, a little amusement entering her voice.

"I may or may not have destroyed an ancient Sith temple..." Ahsoka smiled at her innocently. Before her aunt could start fussing over, she started speaking again, "At Order 66th Rex lost his faith in the Empire, so he sought me out, and we've been together since."

"And your story?" Aayla looked pointedly at the clone commander.

"Ma'am, I'm a soldier of the Republic," Rex answered crisply, all but sitting at attention. "I was ordered to serve it, fight for it, and die for it if necessary. I was trained from birth for this purpose alone. Why would I bow down to the Empire when I should fight it?"

"That's pretty interesting way to see it," Shaak remarked, before exchanging a quick glance with Aayla.

"Most of the officers are taught, programmed like that, but some of us found a control chip inside of us. Most of us took it out at once," the commander said plainly. "When I heard that after Order 66th there was to be a team assembled to hunt down the kid, I went to find her." Here he gestured towards Ahsoka, who very maturely blew raspberry at him "In all honestly, I wouldn't risk my life for most Jedi."

There was a heavy silence after that. Everyone looked at the two older Jedi wondering their response for that. The two glanced at each other then shrugged.

"Well, at least you're honest with us," Aayla said.

"Thank you for that," Shaak replied.

"You... you aren't upset?" Rex looked at them stupefied.

"A little," the older Jedi woman acknowledged. "But, that you do not want to sacrifice yourself for some faceless men or women means only that you are not just a bio-droid like some like to think clones are. You are a person."

"And you aren't angry at my selfishness?" the puzzled man probed them more. "You Jedi are always on about that, after all."

"Are you a Jedi, Commander Rex?" Shaak asked back with a blank face and raised eyebrow.

"No, ma'am, I'm not." came the clone's confused reply.

"Then why should we hold you to the same standards that we hold our members?" the Twi'lek asked at once.

"I... don't have an answer for that," the confused man admitted, looking for the answer in the two older Jedi's face, but finding none. He would have to figure this out for himself.

"Will you help us against the Empire?" Master Ti asked, leaning forward hopefully. Having this well-trained soldier on their side would be a great boon.

Rex glanced at Ahsoka, who gave him a 'it's up to you' motion, before nodding that he would. If only to protect the ex-padawan.

"We, of course, don't want you to risk your life for nothing," Harry interjected, not wanting the man to think they were taking advantage of the situation. "We can pay you for your services."

"I'm not a mercenary," Rex reminded him coldly, the offer clearly insulting to him.

The dark-haired man held his hands up in surrender, confusion clear on his face. "I didn't say that you were, but you'll be working for us, so it's natural that you should get paid for it," he explained his reasons. Getting blank looks from everyone, including Rex, he couldn't help but groan. "Don't tell me that the clones weren't paid for fighting for the Republic!" he was flabbergasted at that thought.

"Paying nearly twenty billion soldiers was not an option at the time of the War. Moreover, as I said, most people think of the clones as bio-droids," Shaak replied, looking apologetically at Rex who just waved his hand.

"It doesn't matter after all this time, does it?" the soldier stated.

"Are there any other soldiers who will fight with us against the Empire that you know of?" Harry asked a question the Jedi hadn't even considered. He let the issue of pay go for now, since the others didn't seem to understand.

"Maybe, but I cannot guarantee anything. I have heard of several groups who deserted, but if they will fight beside you or not... That I can hardly guess."

"Alright! Now, that being said and done, you two can go and do... something!" Ahsoka said with a wide grin, pointing at the two men.

"Something?" Rex asked, surprised at the order.

"They want to gossip," Harry explained as he rolled his eyes at the women, and got up from his seat. "You lot could put any other group of women that I knew to shame."

"Yeah-yeah, we know, we're terrible," Aayla replied, shoving him towards the exit with a grin. "Don't worry, I'll make it up to you."

"Let's go, Rex," Harry sighed, tugging the soldier's sleeve, and heading for the door.

"Aye, aye, sir. Can we shoot somewhere? You said you needed to work on your accuracy, yes? No time like the present," Rex said blankly, but with a grin in the corner of his mouth.

Harry couldn't help a mental sigh as he heard giggling the moment the lounge's door closed. He was pretty sure that he was the topic on that discussion. "Rex, when do we arrive on Korriban?"