Fools Of The Old Republic

by Pat McCloud

What happens when four star wars fans get sucked into the game they're playing? Gets more serious later on, though still silly. Rated for awful language. R&R

10. Chapter 10

Knight of the Old Republic Chapter 10– It's Big, It's Wet, It Stinks. Welcome To Nal Hutta!

"Grab on to something guys! We're going in for a crash landing!"

This is what Atton called over the comm. The crew did as he said, but knew it would make very little difference. The ship crashed, skidding along the ground for a few seconds before stopping.

One hour later...

The Hutts had seen the ship crash. Many slithered towards it, wanting to see what it held. Each group brought many soldiers and mercenaries, preparing to fight for what was within it. But all it held were many unconscious humans and a couple damaged droids. Many of the Hutts left, uninterested. The rest bartered with each other, then went back to their homes, each with part of the Ebon Hawk's crew.

Another hour later...

Beth woke groggily, very sore. She started to sit up, but froze at the sound of chains rustling together. "Aw shit, I've been captured haven't I?" she muttered.

She heard something move towards her. She tried to jump up, but stumbled over the chains and fell. However, it was only Mical.

"Beth! Are you all right? You've been unconscious for an hour."

"Have I?" She rubbed her head. Mical had a gash across his forehead that had scabbed over. "What the Hell happened?"

"We crashed. Not enough fuel to reach the planet's surface safely."

"Where are the others?"

"Well, so far I've only seen you."

Beth inspected her chains. She had them around her wrists, her ankles, and even one around her throat. Mical was the same way. "So you don't know where the others are? Shitty. What are we gonna do?"

"I don't know. Wait I guess."

She couldn't just sit there though, so she turned to Mical. "Make sure nothing happens to me," she told him. He frowned at her, confused. "I'm gonna try and find out if there's any animals in this place, see if we can find out what's going on." Mical nodded, understanding. Beth leaned back against the wall and let her power flow through her. She reached out, increasing her range slowly, trying to feel for animals.

She paused. What was that? She tried to concentrate, let the creature take shape in her mind. It was big, no real shape, with a long, fat tail. She saw a flash of almond shaped, slitted eyes and jumped back, her range shortening so quickly she got a head rush. She put her hands over her face, feeling like her head was spinning. Mical grabbed her shoulder.

"Beth?"

"Ya?"

"You all right?"

"Ya..." She blinked, taking her hands away from her face. "I shouldn't have come back so fast."

"What?"

"I'll explain another time. Let's just say I reached out slowly and zoomed back in a matter of milliseconds." Then she remember why she'd come back with such speed. "Shit buddy, there's a Hutt out there."

"Excuse me? A Hutt? Where?"

"I don't know. I can't tell exacts. All I know is that there's a Hutt out there, and he's probably the one who captured us."

"Can you speak to him like you can with animals?"

"I don't know. Maybe. I know that when I feel for animals, I never feel humans. But does a Hutt count as an animal? No idea." Then she thought of something. "Did my eyes go black?"

"Not completely. Not like with...you know, Charlie and Roger. There was still a slight impression of your eyes."

"Maybe it only goes pitch when I lose control. Hey wait, Charlie and Roger! I wonder if they're in here. I'll be able to feel them, if not the others."

"Are you gonna try it now?"

"Ya, just remember, make sure I don't do something funny."

"Beth?" He was frowning.

"Ya?"

"Did you always have teeth like that?"

"Like what?" She touched them and froze. They were pointed at the ends. "Shit, am I growing fangs? That's creepy." She shook her head. "I'll figure it out later. I'll be back in a bit." Once again she let her power flow. She reached out. Her range stretched slightly faster this time. It wasn't long before she moved over the Hutt. Then she felt something else, somewhere under the Hutt. She stopped for a closer look. The creature began to form a sharp in her mind. Big, much bigger then the Hutt. Long arms, short legs, huge claws.

She flew back to her body even faster then before. This time she thought she was gonna be sick.

"Well? Anything?" Mical asked.

Beth stared at the ground, waiting for it to steady. Damn she was dizzy. No way. She thought. Way too cliche.

"Beth?"

"He has a Rancor," she said numbly.

"Oh you gotta be kidding me! A Rancor?"

"Yep. This could get shitty."

"What, you think we're gonna have to fight it or something?"

"I sincerely hope not." But a small part of her, well, actually a huge part of her, wanted to fight the Rancor. Just to see if she could win.

Suddenly the door opened. The two looked over. A Rodian threw a man inside and then left without a word.

They watched the man push himself off the ground. He wore ragged, brown clothes that were torn in several places, and had about a week's growth of beard. He looked up at them.

"So you're the new slaves huh?" he grunted roughly. "Well, you chose the worst Hutt to be enslaved by."

"Ya, because it was all our choice," Beth shot back. "Who are you?"

"I'm Ryan. I've been enslaved to Gadzooks The Hutt for years."

"Gadzooks The Hutt? What kind of dumb name is that?"

"We all know it's stupid, but don't say it to him. You may not live much longer if you do." He looked them over. "Ya, figures. He got the usual crap of the crop. Well, except for you." He nodded to Mical. "They probably let Gadzooks take you out of pity."

"You calling me crap?" Beth snapped.

"Compared to all the others they found at that ship? Ya. A bunch of grown, tough men and women, and Gad here got the teenage chick and a single tough guy."

Beth's annoyance passed immediately. "Others?"

"Well ya. I figured you'd know that, you were on the ship weren't you?"

"Where are they?"

"Not here. They'll be spread all over the planet by now, enslaved to fat worms."

"We gotta get out of here," Beth said, looking at Mical. "Find them." He nodded.

Ryan snorted. "Ya, well, good luck with that. Gad is weak as Hutts go, but that just makes him nastier. He's killed three slaves this week alone. Just dumps 'em in the pit!" He made a gesture of punching a button, and laughed gruffly.

"What pit?" Mical asked.

"Rancor pit." Ryan grinned. "Gad's got a secret pit under his platform. Well, not secret no more. We've known about it for years. Rancor's a big motherfucker. That thing lives much longer and we're gonna need a bigger pit! Gad calls him Lunch."

"Lunch? Ok, who names these guys? Gadzooks the Hutt, Lunch the Rancor. How do you take them seriously?"

"You do when you get dumped into it's jaws. But it's a bit late then." He laughed.

Beth looked at him warily. "I think the enslavement's getting to your head Ryan. You're nuts."

"They say when you get enslaved you're supposed to become emotionally dead. Then they can't hurt you."

"And what? You became brain dead?"

"Nah. Just tried to go with the flow."

"I think the flow of your brain waves is a bit disrupted."

"Ok, lay off the insults there girl."

"Will do." Beth saluted him. Then she started inspecting her chains again. These were rusted and chafed her skin, unlike the ones she'd been in on Tatooine. She especially hated the one around her throat. "Hey Idiot, do you know if there's anymore animals in this place beside Lunch?"

He thought for a moment. "No. I don't know. There could be." He sat down next to her. "So, seeing as we're not working right now, and won't be for a few hours, how 'bout you and me–"

"Piss off, she's mine," Mical snapped, putting her arm around her.

Ryan eyed him, but decided in the end not to start anything. He was pretty built after all his slave work, but Mical was also strong from his soldier training, and then the harsh training from Beth.

Beth smirked, and continued her inspection of the chains. Mical watched her. "I hope you're not trying to find a way to slip out of those," he muttered.

"Nah, but I can't just sit here and do nothing but get hit on by idiots with fried brains." Ryan glared at her. "Anyway, this isn't our only problem. We gotta get out of here, then search the whole bloody planet for our friends, then get fuel for our ship, repair any damages it inevitably took in the crash, and get out of here alive and with our hair smelling great."

"Why hair?"

"Why not hair?"

He shrugged. "Even without the hair–"

"There is no 'without the hair', Mical, not with me."

"Beth, shut up. Even without the hair thing, we'll be lucky to even survive this place. And searching the planet for everyone else? I don't know how we'll manage that and live. And then getting fuel and getting out?" He shook his head. "I don't know how we'll do all that."

"Look, me, Bao and HK can handle the repairs the ship will need. Don't worry about that. Of course, that's the last thing on our To-Do list. Let's handle one thing at a time. First, getting out of here alive."

He nodded, then stared at her hands. "Beth, do you have claws?"

She looked at her left hand. Then she lifted it up to see it better. Yes, each finger ended in a sharp claw. She raised her eyebrows. "What the Hell is going on? Why am I changing?"

"It must have something to do with your power." Mical took her hand in his own and looked at it more closely.

"What? You telling me I'm changing into the things I'm talking to?"

"I have no idea. But it looks as though you may not be able to hide your power for much longer."

She sighed. "Of course. Why must everything come back to haunt me?"

"Shush," Ryan said. "Someone's coming for us. They'll take you before Gad first, just so he can look you over." He winked.

"If you're implying that I, or Mical, will be entertainment for that fat son of a Hutt, you got another thing coming."

"Truthfully, you won't have much choice. If he wants you to dance for him, you will, or you will die."

"Fine. I'd rather die." Mical looked at her quickly. "What? I'm not growing horns or something am I?"

"No..." He pulled her back. "You'd actually rather die?"

"Oh ya. There's more chance of me winning a fight against Lunch then of me dancing for some fat slug."

"You actually want to fight that thing don't you?"

"What, Gad or Lunch?"

"It doesn't matter. You want to fight both."

"So what? That's not a crime!"

"Beth, you're gonna get us killed one day!"

"Well, then you dance for Gad!"

"Fuck that."

"Well, now you know how I feel."

"Ya, but I'm a man. A man in a dancing outfit isn't attractive to anyone."

"You'd be surprised."

"What?"

"Exactly."

But before Mical could ask about this statement, the door opened. It was the same Rodian as before. He pushed Ryan out of the way and walked towards the two Jedi. He took out a key and unlocked the chains. As soon as he'd done so Beth and Mical attacked him. Or tried. Beth got her foot tangled in one of the chains and tripped. She slammed into Mical and the two toppled on the ground.

The Rodian yelled at them angrily as they struggled to untangle themselves. The two finally managed to get on their feet again, but the Rodian threatened them with a gun. He yelled at them in his language, and even though they couldn't tell what he was saying, they knew he wanted them to follow him. They glanced at each other. It was either they followed the Rodian, or they got shot. It wasn't much of a choice. They let the Rodian lead them out of the room.

He led them down very dark hallways, then up a long staircase. Beth made a joke about a Hutt trying to slither up a staircase, which made the two of them laugh and the Rodian threaten them with the gun, and Beth gave him the finger, and then she got shot in the arm and she stopped laughing. Mical healed her though, when the Rodian wasn't looking. Then she snorted with laughter again.

"What is it this time?" Mical asked.

"I just pictured a Hutt pushed onto it's back and trying to get up." The two laughed. This time the Rodian just ignored them.

Finally they walked into the room which held Gadzooks The Hutt. He sat upon a platform in the center of the room. The Rodian directed them in front of the Hutt. The fat slug turned to them.

It started speaking in Huttese. Of course, they didn't understand Hutt, but luckily a protocol droid stepped up.

"He says you look like a fine female. He demands you–"

"Listen Gad you fat fuck, you better be talking about Mical, because there is no Goddamn way I'm dancing for you."

Gad roared angrily, and slammed his fist down on a button. The ground dropped out from under them and they fell. Not for long though. They slammed down on the ground a few seconds later. The two picked themselves up slowly.

"Well that wasn't so bad," Beth said, brushing herself off.

"It's about to get worse," Mical said, pointing.

Beth turned. "Oh shit. That is a big Rancor." Lunch came stomping out of the shadows, sniffing for the Jedi who had dropped in. He looked much bigger then the Rancor from Return Of The Jedi. The beast looked at them dimly, then roared and stomped towards them.

"Fuck fuck fuck!" Beth and Mical ran backwards. Beth tripped over a stone and fell. Mical started towards her, then stopped, looking at the Rancor. Beth leaped up.

"I have an idea!" she called to Mical.

"Is it a good one?"

"No. But I'm going to try it anyway!"

She ran straight at the Rancor. She prepared to leap, but then she tripped over another stone and slammed down on her chin. She heard Mical laugh at her.

"My turn!" He ran at the Rancor, knowing what Beth was going to try. He leaped at it's face, then realized in midair that Gad had taken his lightsaber. He slammed into Lunch's face, and grabbed hold. He looked into it's angry, monstrous eye and grinned sheepishly.

"Uh, hi?" Lunch roared, blowing him away and onto the ground again.

"How'd it go?" Beth asked.

"We need a weapon," he said as he stood up again.

"And I got one!" She raised her arms. All the rocks in the cave rose into the air. "Take this, Brunch!"

"It's Lunch," Mical corrected.

"Mical, who's side are you on?"

She threw the rocks at the Rancor. They slammed into him but his hide was so strong that it did nothing to him.

"Oh shit."

"Beth, I could have told you that would do nothing."

"Well, that was my plan, what's yours?"

Lunch stomped towards them again. They backed up. "Hey, uh, Beth? You got any miracles up your sleeve? Like with the Terentatek?"

"Well, let's see." Beth stopped walking. Mical watched her eyes darken again, becoming almost pitch black.

Hey! Lunch! You hungry son of a shit! You wanna piss off!

The Rancor paused. Female? Are you speaking to me?

Lunch's voice was a deep bass, but very clear. And loud. Ya, I am. What's the deal here, trying to kill us? We did shit-all to you!

Hey, I eat whatever comes down here! I have to, or I'll die of starvation!

Then kill Gad! Beth was having trouble holding the connection. She put her hands over her face. Damn his voice gave her a headache. What's to stop big ass you from killing small ass Gad?

The door. He pointed to the far wall. Mical, puzzled, looked over. There was a metal door imbedded in the stone.

Beth struggled to keep speaking,. It seemed the bigger the animal, the harder it was to speak with them. Do you know how to open it?

I could break it with my claw, but why would I do that when I could just eat you instead? He roared, and Beth shouted, breaking the connection.

"Damn," she panted. Mical looked at her. "It won't work. I can barely speak with him, there's no way I'll be able to order him around."

"You can't convince him?"

"Nope. He's too hungry for such things. He's half-starved down here." The Rancor approached them again. They backed up, but they were nearing the end of the cave. Beth glanced over his head. "I have an idea."

"Is it as reckless as the last one?"

"More so. And I won't even be attacking him." She Force jumped towards Lunch. He swiped a paw at her and smashed her into the wall.

"Shit!" Mical ran over. She lifted herself up carefully with her fake arm. Her left arm was broken and bloody. "Are you all right?"

She pushed herself into a siting position. "Can you heal it?" she asked, voice strained. He put out his hands, and a bluish hue surrounded them. Her arm snapped back into place. "First a wookiee, then a wampa, now a rancor. It just keeps getting bigger."

"Bad luck," he said, grinning. The rancor was turning towards them. "Listen, I'll try to distract him. You do what you need to do."

They stood. "That's stupid Mical, he'll kill you."

"And he nearly killed you right there, but that didn't stop you."

"It was my life, not yours."

"Then I'll do what you do."

"And that is?"

"Run into battle without thinking." And with that he ran at the rancor. Roaring, it slammed a fist down at him. He dodged to one side. Beth didn't bother watching any more. She Force jumped again, landing on the rancor's head. He was too distracted by Mical to notice. She looked up the hole they'd fallen through. She raised a hand, and made a swiping motion with it. The door slid open. She Force jumped again, straight up.

She landed in front of Gadzooks. "Hey mother fucker." She heard a howl from below her, and hoped to God Mical hadn't been killed yet. "I wanted to ask you about that pet rancor you got."

Gad was not very happy to see her. He yelled at her. The protocol droid stepped forward. "He demands you go kill yourself," the droid said bluntly. Beth noticed the hilts in it's hands.

She lunged at it, smashing it down. She ripped the lightsaber hilts out of the droid's hands, then lunged back. She grinned at Gad. "See ya later!" She jumped back into the hole.

She landed on the ground and heard a yell. She looked around. The rancor was near the other side of the cave, bending it's head down to sniff at something. Or eat something.

She ignited the two lightsabers and Force jumped once again. She landed on Lunch's back. He reared back, bellowing. He clawed at his back. She climbed up his spine to his head.

"You better not have hurt my boyfriend you shit. I mean it." She swung down in front of his face, holding onto his brow. "Peek-a-boo," she said. It howled, and she was blown away from his face and slammed on the ground.

She grunted. "Shit, this is hard ground." She looked at Mical, who dragged himself over. His leg had been broken and was sticking off at an odd angle.

"Hey," he said through gritted teeth. "I tried Force stun on him. Guess it doesn't work." They looked up at Luch, who was still trying to figure out what had fallen on his back. "Did you do what you wanted to do?"

"Ya." She rolled his lightsaber over to him. "Heal yourself, then help me kill this bastard." She stood, igniting her single lightsaber. Mical immediately healed himself, then got up.

"It still hurts. I swear my rib has never been the same since Tatooine."

"Quit whining. We got Lunch to deal with."

"You sure you can't get him to back off? What did you do to the Terentatek?"

"I dominated his mind and forced him to do what I said. But it's more difficult if the animal is bigger. Roger would be easy. Lunch is hard even to talk to."

"All right. Then we fight." He smirked. "You wanted to do this didn't you?"

"Ya. But I was hoping for a smaller rancor, a bigger room, and more in the way of weapons. I have yet to find another lightsaber. Hey, there's one under this rock." She kicked it over and grabbed the saber. "Yellow too! All right, now I'm ready. On the count of three. One two, three, GO!"

They jumped forward. Lunch swung a single paw, catching both of them and smashing them into the same wall as before.

"Fuck," Beth growled. She rolled over, leaning against the wall. "You all right Mic?"

"Ya..." He sat up. "I think my shoulder's dislocated."

He raised his other hand and healed them again. His shoulder cracked back into place. Beth laughed.

"That's so cool! Let's try that again!"

"Let's not," Mical said, shifting away. "I've got blood all over my robes. It's looks like they were originally red and I got something beige on them."

"Same here," Beth agreed, looking at the blood spatter from her arm. They stood again. "Ok, now let's–" The rancor slammed his palm into them, crushing them against the wall. There were a number of cracks, and then he pulled the hand away. The two fell forward, holding crushed ribs.

Neither spoke, Mical merely lifted a hand and healed them. "Should we even bother standing?" Mical muttered. They did however, and Lunch swiped his paw at them, smashing them across the room.

They crashed into another wall. This time they were motionless for a bit. Then Mical struggled to push himself up, just enough to heal them. Both his arms were broken, and he merely toppled, crying out in pain. Beth groaned loudly. How could a rancor called Lunch be so dangerous? She used her fake arm to push herself into a sitting position, and rolled Mical over.

"Use the power you shit," she grunted. He raised a bloody hand and struggled to heal them again. It didn't work so well this time. It healed the broken bones, just barely, but not the cuts and gashes.

Beth stood roughly. Blood was leaking out of her mouth, not from internal bleeding, but from an improperly healed broken jaw. She raised her hands slowly, towards the rancor. Come on man, let us go.

Never! You are nearly dead, soon I will feast on Jedi flesh!

There was only one thing she could think of to say. Jedi flesh makes you gay.

Lunch blinked. What?

She took the advantage. That's right, it makes you gayer then...then a gay man. Eat us if you want, but you'll be gay forever. Is it really worth it?

The rancor paused, then roared suddenly and charged forward. She tensed, but he ran past her and slammed a foot into the door. It broke open immediately, and he stepped back. All right. Get out of here. I'm not turning queer for a meal.

She and Mical ran through awkwardly on incompletely healed bones. They went for Gadzooks's room, wanting to settle the score.

They practically fell into the room. Gad stared at them, busted up and bloody but alive. Beth stepped forward.

"One: Where can we get new clothes. Two: Where can we change into those new clothes. And three: after that we kill you!"

Gad said something but they had no idea what he was saying and Beth had broken his droid. So they merely explored the room at their leisure. By the time they had finished, both had found some gammorrean armor, obviously meant for the extremely small ones, and put them on. Then they once again faced Gadzooks.

"All right Gadzooks The Hutt, time for you to die!" Beth grabbed a random spear off the ground and threw it through the Hutt's face. She made a show of dusting of her hands and turned back to Mical. "Well that's done. Now what?"

"I'm in so much pain right now," Mical said simply.

"You know you really do whine a lot."

"Whine a lot?! I have the right to whine when I'm with you! Shit, I nearly died about five times fighting that bloody rancor, and all you can say is 'You whine a lot'?"

Beth was laughing. "Oh come on! It wasn't that bad! We're alive aren't we?"

"Only because you somehow made Lunch open the door!"

"Huh. Lunch." The two walked out of the room. "Really is a funny name eh?"

"Hey, do we save Ryan or what?"

"Oh, you mean Idiot? Ya, why not." They headed back for the prison.

"Hey what happened to that Rodian any–" A large group of soldiers suddenly stepped in front of them. "Oh shit."

"You killed our leader!" one of them yelled.

"Damn straight!" Beth said proudly. Mical looked at her uneasily.

For a few moments the soldiers merely stared at them. Then suddenly they all fell to one knee. "All bow before the new leaders!"

"Whoa," Mical breathed. "Unexpected."

Elsewhere on Nal Hutta...

Justin woke up, sore as Hell. "Aw, I feel like I've been hit by a truck." He sat up, then noticed he had chains around his wrists. "What the fuck? Where am I?" He looked around. Next to him was Mira, and beyond her was Kreia.

"Hey! You two! Wake up!" He shook Mira's shoulder. "Hey! Come on! Up and at 'em!" Mira opened her eyes slowly.

"Where are we?" Mira asked.

"No damn clue." He picked up a small stone and threw it at Kreia. It hit her in the head and she jumped, waking. "I told you to wake up!"

Kreia looked at him, irritated. "Do that again and you will not like what happens next ."

"Ya? Well you can go to the simmering fires of Hell Kreia." Justin turned back to Mira. "So, back to more interesting people, are we on Nal Hutta?"

"We were when we crashed," Kreia said wryly. "I would assume we still are."

"Hey McBitch, wanna shut up?"

"Both of you, shush," Mira said. "We gotta work together if we gonna get out alive. We need a plan."

"How about we just go with the flow?"

"Hell, why not?"

A door opened in front of them. The three stood. Two gammorreans walked in and unlocked their chains. Then they gestured for them to follow and walked back out the door. The three looked at each other, then decided to follow the two pig-like creatures.

They were led down a long hallway which was lit up at the end. Justin made a joke about a light at the end of a dark tunnel, which was lost on everyone present. He didn't bother explaining it.

A few minutes later they entered the brightly lit room. It was filled with just about every alien species imaginable. One of the gammorreans pointed to the center of the room, where a huge Hutt sat on a moving platform.

Justin, Mira and Kreia stepped forward. The Hutt looked at them. "I am Grand Puba The Hutt," he rumbled.

Justin stared. Puba was speaking Huttese, but he understood it. He smirked and said "Ooba goochie, wookiee nipple pinchie."

Grand Puba stared at him. "How do you know Huttese?" he asked.

"Because I am P-H-At the Hutt. We'll hook you up old school."

Puba gaped at him. "He is our god!" he announced. All the aliens in the room bowed down, falling to their knees.

It was Justin's turn to be surprised. "A god? Sweet!" he said excitedly.

On the other side of the planet...

Brennen woke, feeling like crap. He groaned, and looked around. He saw Brianna, who was already awake, talking to Atton, who was looking pretty roughed up. There was also someone he didn't know in the corner of the room, wearing ragged brownish clothes with a scruff of beard and long, dark hair he kept tied back.

"Brezu! You're awake!" Brianna said cheerfully.

"Obviously." He shifted. "Do you know where we are?"

"You're on Nal Hutta, and you've been enslaved by Fantabulous The Hutt," the mystery man answered.

"And who the Hell are you?"

"I'm Random Billie. I've been a slave for a few years now. Not for much longer though." He turned to the wall and pushed aside a pile of rags, revealing a hole. The man, Billie, picked up a random piece of stone continued scraping away at the hole. "We'll be out by the end of the day as long as no one sees this hole."

Brennen listened. "Someone's coming," he said. Billie paused, then pushed the rags back in front of the hole.

Three men walked in. "You three, let's go," one said, pointing at him, Brianna and Atton. Each had a gun, so they figured they'd better do as the minions said.

The three were led through a twisting corridor. Brennen made a joke about Fantabulous jumping out at them suddenly, and the minions threatened him with their guns. He went silent after that.

They walked around another twist and suddenly Fantabulous lunged out at them, scaring the shit out of all six of them.

"Wo ho ho ho ho ho," the Hutt laughed with his typical Hutt laugh. "I got you good!"

Of course, only Brennen understood this, so he said "Ya ya, real hilarious fat ass. So what do you want with us?"

"You will be my slaves," he answered. "I just want to look you over."

"Look this over!" Brennen shot back, flipping him off. One of the minions smashed him in the jaw. "Ow..."

"They will be fine!" Fantabulous decided. "Put them back in their cell, I will call for them later. And especially her," he added, winking his fat Hutt eye at Brianna. Brennen bristled. Was it just him, or was everyone out to get his girl?

The minions dumped the three back in the cell. Right after they left, Billie started scraping at the wall again.

Atton looked at Brennen. "So what did Hutt boy want?"

"Look us over. Just before we start slave labor."

"There! We're through!" The three looked over. Billie smelled the air, grinning. "Ah, the smell of freedom!"

"Smells like a Hutt's backside," Brennen said, wrinkling his nose.

"Oh shut up." Billie climbed through the hole and fell through the other side. They heard a squelching sound, and then Billie looked through the hole at them. "Come on! Let's get out of here!"

Brennen pushed himself through the hole and fell immediately into a swamp. "Aw gross! It's in my mouth!"

"Shush! They'll hear you!" Billie whispered.

"Who?" Brennen looked around. He didn't see anything around that could possibly hide an eavesdropper. There wasn't even a window in the stone wall. He helped Brianna crawl through the hole so she wouldn't fall facefirst into the sick much around there feet. Then he pulled Atton through and dumped him unceremoniously on the ground.

"So what now?" Brennen asked Billie.

"Simple. We run for it!" He ran off. The other three followed him, though it was very hard to run through swampland. They fell often, and it wasn't long till the four of them all smelled like a Hutt had sat on them for a very long time. But at least they had escaped their prison.

Somewhere on the planet...

Johnny was already awake and bashing the door. He wasn't sure why. Probably just bored. In the room with him was Visas, Bao-Dur and Iziz. The three others watched him wearily. At least none of them were chained up.

Suddenly a trandoshan slammed the door open. It hissed at them angrily, and even though Johnny didn't know the language he could tell the trandoshan was tired of him banging on the door. He slammed the door shut again.

Johnny turned to the others, who were laughing. Iziz pointed at him and made mocking chatter. Johnny threatened to strangle, but Bao-Dur told him to calm down and sit in the corner.

Johnny sat but was bored. If they're gonna kill us, why can't they just get over with it? He thought.

Meanwhile...

"So you called Gad a fat fuck."

"Yep."

"Refused to dance for him."

"Yep."

"Told his rancor that eating you two would make him gay."

"Yep."

"Then killed Gad."

"Yep."

"And both of you are still alive."

"Yep."

"And now rule this place."

"You got it."

"How did you manage all that?"

"I have no fucking clue."

It was true that Beth and Mical now were the technical rulers of Gad's old palace. They'd immediately ordered that Ryan be freed, and now the three were wandering around, trying to figure out what to do.

They went back to the main room where Gadzooks had used to be. His soldiers, well, Beth and Mical's now, had cleared away his corpse. Beth climbed up onto his platform, then suddenly jumped off.

"Get that platform out of here," she ordered a couple soldiers. They saluted her and sat to breaking it into smaller pieces and carrying it away. "Damn that thing stinks. Do Hutts not wash?"

"No, I don't think so," Ryan answered. "Maybe it's against their customs."

"Maybe. Anyway, we gotta find the others. You!" She pointed at one of the soldiers, a human. He hurried forward. "Do you know who else took humans from the ship that crashed here?"

"No," he answered. "There were many Hutts present when the slaves were taken away. Uh no offense, of course, to you," he added hurriedly. "There may be a way to find out though."

"How?" Mical asked.

The man picked up a laptop and carried it to them. "Here. Sit down and I'll show you." The four grabbed chairs and the man opened the laptop. Beth and Mical leaned in for a closer look.

"What's that, eBay?" Beth asked.

"No, it's called eHutt," the soldier answered.

"eHutt?"

"Yes. Many Hutts are willing to sell their slaves...at a price of course. The only problem with this approach is that Gadzooks the Hutt was very poor. You won't be able to buy any more then one or two slaves this way."

"I could call every Hutt on Nal Hutta and give them death threats and blackmail them until they give me my friends."

"Yes, but this is the Nal Hutta address book." The man grabbed a giant book and slammed it down in front of them. It reached their knees. "And there's still the Hutts that are unlisted."

"Ok," Beth said slowly. She thought for a moment, then grabbed the laptop. "Of course I had to take over the one kingdom that was poor. Give me that computer. I have an idea."

"What's the idea?" Mical asked as the soldier walked off to continue his duties.

"I'll see if I can find a Hutt selling one of our friends. Then I'll call him up in the address book. I threaten to cut off his fat tail and tell him I saw him with another Hutt that wasn't his wife. Then I ask politely for his slaves."

"Aren't Hutts asexual?"

"Are they? Shit. Ok, then I threaten to cut off his fat tail and say I saw him, I don't know, eating. Fuck, I'm terrible at blackmail."

"Just make a death threat then. You're great at those."

"I don't know if I should be pleased or insulted." She turned back to the laptop. "Ok, searching for...You know, I just realized "Slaves" will bring up about a million results. Ryan, get that book ready."

"You're not really gonna try that are you?" Ryan asked as he sat down in front of the book. "I mean, I'm insane, but even I wouldn't type in "Slave" and called up every number."

"Ryan, were you in the mandalorian wars?"

"Yes, why?"

"Were you in a platoon under a female Jedi called Master Beth?"

"I...Yes, actually I was."

"Well, it may frighten you to know that I am that Jedi. And as your commanding officer, I order you to prepare that book for serious reading."

"Yes sir," he grumbled, and opened the book.

Elsewhere...

Grand Puba had declared Justin a god, and he was being treated thusly. He had his own Hutt platform, his own slave girl(or he would if Mira hadn't forced him to get rid of it)and he ruled over the palace. Unlike Beth and Mical, however, this was a rich Hutt kingdom, so he could have afforded to buy all the slaves he wanted. But he didn't think of that.

"Hey Puba, you know that ship that crashed?"

"Yes," he answered.

"And the humans inside it, who were taken by Hutts all around the planet?"

"Yes."

"Do you know which Hutts they were?"

Puba thought for a moment. "I remember Gadzooks the Hutt being there. He's poor, always get the ooba of the doochie."

"You mean crap of the crop?"

"Whatever. Ooba of the doochie. Anyway, I also remember that it was Giggles the Hutt who took a couple droids. Can't really remember who else. A lot of different faces, too little memory."

"Can I call Gadzooks? See if I can come to some agreement over the slaves he took?"

"I suppose." He roared to one of the men running about his palace to get him a phone. The soldier brought it fearfully. Justin grabbed it.

"Thanks Puba." He picked up the phone. "What's the number?"

It was a very long phone number, about thirty numbers. But finally he got it in, and waited for Gad to pick up the phone.

In Gad's palace...

"All right, sorry about the whole tail thing." Beth hung up the phone. "Ok, that makes one thousand two hundred and thirty four Hutts who didn't take any slaves. Ooh, Ryan, look up the name Tickles The Hutt." Ryan flicked open the book. The phone rang suddenly. Mical picked it up while Beth looked at the computer screen.

"Mm-hmm. Slaves huh? You want to talk to Gad? One second." Mical looked at Beth. "Some Hutt wants to speak to Gad, says his name is P-H-At The Hutt, and he'll hook me up old school."

"Give me that." Beth took the phone of out his hand without even glancing up. "This is Gad," she said in a deep voice. "I know I'm not speaking Huttese, please forgive me, I'm an idiot." She listened. "Slaves? What about them? Nah, they ain't for sale. Ooh, that much huh? Look, I'll call you back later. Give me your number and I'll talk to you later, ok?" She pulled a piece of paper towards her and wrote down a long string of numbers. "Ok, I'll consider your offer. I have to go now, lots to do." She hung up.

"What was that about?" Ryan asked as he flipped through the pages, looking for Tickles.

"Some Hutt who wanted to buy all the slaves Gad has. He specified for the ones from our crashed ship surprisingly. You find that number yet?"

"Yep. Tickles The Hutt." He read out the number, and Beth dialed it.

"Hello, Tickles? Ya, this Gadzooks The Hutt. Ya, I just wanted to tell you that I saw what you did last week, and I am sickened. I'm gonna tell everyone unless you give me all the slaves you took from the ship that crashed here." She paused. "Oh, you weren't even there? My apologies. Ya, sorry about that whole tell-everyone thing." She hung up. "One thousand two hundred and thirty five Hutts that don't have the slaves we're looking for. Ok, how about this one: Breakfast The Hutt."

Ryan sighed. "This wasn't what I thought I'd be doing with my freedom," he muttered.

Back in Grand Puba's palace...

Justin hung up. "He said he'd consider it. Sounded familiar though."

Puba snorted. "He'll take it. He's too poor not to take it. He just doesn't want to seem desperate."

"You sure you don't remember any other Hutts who took slaves from the ship?"

Puba thought about it. "Well, you might want to call Giggles about the droids first. Of course, he's a real asshole. It'll take a lot of cash to get those droids back."

"I'll call him. Just give me the number."

Gad's palace...

"All right, this one says he has a Jawa as a slave. It could be Iziz. Name is Utensils The Hutt. Ryan?"

"Aw, why do I have to do this? Mical isn't doing anything!"

"No, but Mical wasn't in my squadron. You were. Now get to work soldier!"

Ryan exhaled loudly and began flipping through the pages for Utensils The Hutt. "Here. Utensils." he told her the long ass number. She dialed it.

"Hello Utensils. This is Gad. I'm gonna pull out your eyes and use them for golf balls if you don't give me the slaves you got from the crashed ship the other day. No, I'm not joking. Ten thousand credits each! And how many do you have? One male, one female, a Zabrak and a Jawa? And ten thousand for each? Holy Hutt shit, what's that, like thirty thousand credits right there!" She paused to listen. "No, I'm pretty sure it's only thirty. Fine, I'll give you forty thousand. Cheap ass."

"Mistress, we don't have that much," one of the soldiers whispered.

"Really? Hmm. What? No, I'm not talking to you, Utensils. Look, you bring the slaves and we'll give you the cash, got it? I'm not going over there, you want the cash you come here!" She hung up and turned to the soldier. "How much does Gad have?"

"Twenty-five thousand, no more."

"Then looks like we'll to sell ourselves." She began dialing another number.

"You calling P-H?" Mical asked.

"Yep. Hope he'll pay fifteen thousand for us or we're boned."

Grand Puba's palace...

The phone rang. Justin answered it. "P-H-At The Hutt's sperm bank. You whack it we sack it. Oh, hey Gad. Ya, I'll still buy the slaves. Fifteen thousand! Holy Hutt piss! How about ten? No? One sec." He looked at Puba. "We got fifteen thousand credits we can spare?" Puba nodded. "All right, fine. Fifteen thousand. We'll over there soon." He hung up. "We can get the slaves back, but we gotta go over there."

"We have some swoops you can take. He'll take you to them." He pointed at some random guard. "Will you be coming back after?"

"Probably. Thanks Puba." He turned to Mira and Kreia, who had been sitting quietly in the corner. "Come on you two." The three followed the guard out of the room.

He took them to another room. There was a giant door at the other end, and Justin could see some light at the edges. It probably led outside. There was a bunch of swoops in the room.

"Feel free to take any of these, P-H-At The Hutt," the guard said. "Here is the fifteen thousand credits for the slaves. Gadzooks's palace is to the north." He left.

"Sweet," Justin said, climbing onto a swoop. Mira pocketed the credits.

"What's it like to be considered a god?" Mira asked as she got on another swoop. The giant door creaked open.

"Pretty good. All right guys, let's go!" The three rode off on the swoops, heading north.

Gad's palace...

"Shit, what do you mean Utensils is already here?" Beth exclaimed.

"His palace is not very far away," the soldier said meekly.

"Fuck! Where am I gonna get another fifteen grand!" She turned to Mical and Ryan. "Any ideas?"

"Ooh, let's give them pie!" Ryan answered eagerly.

"Pie? Why pie?"

"Everyone likes pie!"

"Ya, well, I've yet to meet a Hutt that would give up four slaves for pie." She sighed, and put her hands over her face. "My eyes hurt."

Mical frowned. "That's obscure–Holy Hell!" he said as she pulled her hands away.

"What?"

Mical grabbed a mirror off a table and held it in front of her face. She raised her eyebrows in surprise. Her eyes were no longer blue, but yellow with slit pupils. "Oh shit. I'm changing again."

He put down the mirror. "I wonder what'll happen if you keep going on like this. At least it's not extreme changes, so far it's only been your teeth, your hands and your eyes, but what if it becomes more radical?"

"Radical man!" Ryan cheered. They ignored him.

"Well, we'll worry about that later. Right now we gotta figure out a way to get our friends back."

A few seconds later...

"Twenty thousand," Beth said. She, Mical and Ryan stood outside in front of a legion of men. Bad, rough looking men.

"No," their leader, a Selkath, said. "Forty thousand if you want the slaves."

Johnny, Visas, Bao-Dur and Iziz were chained up and guarded a few feet away. All had stared in surprise at the sight of Beth and Mical dressed in gammorrean armor. Of course, no one knew yet that Gad was dead. Utensils's men thought that they were messengers or something.

"The man and Zabrak look strong, but there's also a female and a jawa," Mical said. "How do we know they're good workers?"

"They are!" the Selkath yelled. "Forty thousand was the agreed price! Give us forty thousand, or we'll turn around and leave!"

"Ooh, I don't know if Utensils is gonna like that," Beth said. "He expects money, and if you go back and say you refused a fair price I don't think he'll be very happy."

"To Hell with you!" the Selkath snapped. He whipped out a sword. His army followed suit. "Utensils said this would happen. Gad is a pathetic excuse for a Hutt! We'll just take your palace by force, and keep the slaves!"

Beth, Mical and Ryan stepped back, then ran back into the palace. "Shut that door!" she shouted to the guard. He slammed it shut immediately and locked it. The Selkath banged on the door.

"Who is it?" Ryan called, grinning.

"Your death!" he howled, and suddenly they heard the sound of blaster fire barraging the door.

"I don't remember ordering that," Ryan said.

Beth grabbed him and pulled him away from the door. "All right, this is war, and I know war. You! Guard!"

"Yes?" he asked timidly.

"Put mines in front of that door! Two, no three rows! If they get through, we'll have a nice surprise for them." She laughed. "You!" She pointed at another man who had come to investigate the noises. "Get everyone in this palace armed! Swords, blasters, anything you can find."

"Yes sir!" He ran off.

"They have us outnumbered," Mical said worriedly as they walked to the Rancor's cave. "There's now way we'll win."

"Oh really? Ryan, how many times did we go into battle outnumbered?"

"More often then not," he answered, grinning insanely.

"And how often did we win?"

"Ninety nine percent of the time."

"Exactly." She stood outside the rancor's cave now, where there used to be a door. "Don't doubt me Mical. I've won harder battles then this." She walked through the doorway. "Hey Lunch! You hungry?"

"Beth! Are you insane?" Mical hissed as the rancor turned to face them.

"Yes, Mical, and that is why I win. You might have heard me, or one of the others, say it, but I only let the borderline insane into my squadrons and platoons. Why do you think Ryan was in it?" She gestured at him. Ryan was staring at Lunch and laughing at it's immense size.

The rancor had been sleeping. He looked at Beth blearily. What is it now, short female?

"Oh, I was wondering if you'd like to kill an army and have a meal at the same time."

He perked up. A meal? How? What? When?

"Listen, there's an army trying to break down our door. They're going to get in, and even with the land mines there's gonna be a ton of guys getting in here. We're massively outnumbered, and if I learned anything from war, it's that you take advantage of every opportunity."

Get to the point short female.

Beth thought about how weird it had to be Mical and Ryan, who only heard one part of this conversation. "We're gonna bust down this wall here–" She pointed to the stone wall surrounding the door "–and when the enemy comes running through here, and they will inevitably, you can eat as many as you want. Unless these four are with them."

She closed her eyes, threw her hands towards Lunch and used her power again. She entered the rancor's mind, just like she did with the Terentatek, except she didn't dominate his mind. She pictured Johnny, Visas, Bao-Dur and Iziz. She had no idea how she was doing it, but he understood.

You don't want these four dead? Fine. But I'm only doing this because I'm getting a big meal out of it.

"Thanks Lunch." She walked out of the door and grabbed a man who was running by. "Get some explosives and break this wall down. Don't injure the rancor inside."

The man blanched. "But–But sir–!"

"And stop calling me sir! My name is Master Beth, and you will call me that. Now blow down this wall. The rancor won't hurt you. Come on you two." The three ran back to the main room. Ryan was grinning. Mical was worried.

"Beth, you sure this is a good idea?"

"Not at all, Mic."

"What if we blow down the wall and he goes on a huge rampage of the base?"

There was an explosion coming from the rancor's cave. "Then we'll be screwed. Look Mical, we don't have a lot of choices here. In war, sometimes you have to make snap decisions. We're being attacked now, not tomorrow. Which means no time for thinking."

"This better work."

"It will. And if it doesn't, we'll die." She shrugged, as though death wasn't much of a punishment.

Ryan suddenly leaped from behind a chair. "Beth Beth, look!" He was dressed in gammorrean armor that was much too big for him. He was struggling to lift a gammorrean cleaver too, but was too weak and gave up. Beth shook her head.

"Ryan, here." She threw him a sword. "Use this. You'll actually be able to lift it."

He fumbled and nearly dropped the sword. Mical made a face. "You sure Ryan can fight?" he asked Beth quietly.

"Ya, he's just clumsy. Don't worry too much."

"He'll be the one worrying if he accidently sticks that sword in my arm," he said, watching Ryan swing the sword clumsily.

Suddenly someone shouted "They're through!" followed by explosions and yells. The three ran to the door, looking down the hallway. They couldn't see anything yet. Beth pulled them back in.

"Got your lightsaber ready Mical?" Beth asked.

"Yep." He held the hilt in his hand.

"Ryan, got your insanity ready?"

"As always!" He laughed.

"Then come on." She led them out. Then they felt the ground shaking, and a roar. Beth swore and started running. She rounded a corner and saw Lunch at the entrance to the palace, smashing aside the enemy soldiers. However, he kept to the deal and did not attack their allies.

Beth Force jumped onto the rancor's back. "Hello, enemy soldiers!" she called. The fighting paused for a moment, and Utensils's men looked up at her. "I am Master Beth, and you will give us the slaves, or we will rampage through your army and destroy you. And in Lunch's case, eat you!"

"Fuck you!" one of the soldiers yelled. He lifted a bowcaster and fired. It slammed into her shoulder and she fell off the rancor. The fighting broke out again.

Mical and Ryan ran up to her. She ripped out the bolt. "Damn it! What are they doing with bowcasters?"

"It's just to piss you off Beth," Mical said.

She jumped up, then leaped onto Lunch's back again. "Hey! Where's the owner of this bolt!" she shouted. One of the men laughed and waved his bowcaster in the air. She dived into the crowd of soldiers, igniting her lightsaber. She stabbed the man, then spun, slashing off the head of another. Mical jumped next to her.

"You're insane!" he shouted over the noises of battle. The two quickly cleared the area of enemies. The soldiers hadn't been expecting two Jedi.

"Just like old times!" she called, laughing. "Jumping into battle without considering the consequences!"

With two Jedi and a rancor, not even the legion of troops could defeat Gad's men. It wasn't long before the Selkath, their leader, was calling a retreat. Beth shouted for her soldiers to let them go. Lunch stomped after them though, killing and eating many before finally letting the few remaining troops go.

Gad's men cheered. Mical smirked. "Nicely done Beth. You actually managed to bring victory to these guys."

"Ya, but where're the slaves? This whole battle was just so we could get them back."

"They're right here!" Ryan called. Beth and Mical walked over. Their four friends were still in chains on the ground. "Lunch put 'em here."

"You call that rancor Lunch?" Johnny asked. "Twisted sense of humor."

"Ah, he ain't so bad," she said as the rancor stomped back into the palace. "Once you get to know him."

"Whatever," Johnny said. "Just get us out of these chains."

Beth leaned down and used her lightsaber to carefully slice off the chains. Iziz was the one who noticed her clawed hand. He chattered excitedly, drawing everyone's eyes.

"Shut up you stupid jawa!" Beth snapped. She pulled her hand away quickly, putting it in her pocket.

Luckily, no one could understand the jawa, so everyone just ignored him. "Now come on, we gotta get out of here before P-H gets here."

"Who's P-H?" Bao asked.

"Some Hutt I sold us to so I could buy you guys. No time to explain now, we gotta get out of here. You!" She pointed to one of the men. "When P-H gets here, tell him we're dead or something. We had to be killed, I don't know. Just make an excuse for us. Don't tell him where we went though, got it?"

"Are you leaving us?" the soldier asked.

"Afraid so. Vote for a new leader or something. We can't stay here anymore. Now come on you guys." She started to lead them out, but then Johnny spoke up.

"Who says you're the leader?" he demanded.

"Lorenti, there's no time for this right now."

"Then make time! Why should you lead?"

"Why should you lead?! We saved your damn ass from Utensils The Hutt, you can at least be grateful!"

"All you did was go recklessly into battle! Anyone could've done the same!"

"Don't you speak to my officer like that!" Ryan snapped, coming to Beth's defense.

"Who the Hell are you?" Johnny asked nastily.

"This is Ryan, an old friend," Beth said, defending him just as he had. "You wouldn't like him Lorenti, he was a much better pilot then you."

Ryan laughed. "Oh, you're that Lorenti? Ya, I remember you. I was with you in your first space battle. I went to sleep just watching you."

Johnny bristled angrily. Mical, Visas, Bao and Iziz watched them uneasily. "I should strangle the life out of you, you little punk!" Johnny snarled. He stepped forward threateningly, reaching for his lightsaber. Beth glanced at it.

"Hey, how come you got to keep your lightsaber and we didn't?" she asked suddenly.

"What?" He looked at it. "I don't know. It was just, you know, in my pocket."

"Can we just go?" Mical said.

"Ya come on." Beth led them out. Johnny didn't bother arguing. He didn't want them to bring up his poor piloting skills again.

They weren't sure which way the Ebon Hawk was, so they just walked off in some direction. Beth was starting hate walking.

On the other side of the planet...

Brennen, Brianna, Atton and Random Billie were still running across Nal Hutta. Not for much longer though. Brianna finally slowed down and said "Guys, no farther. I'm tired."

Brennen, Atton and Billie looked at each other as they also slowed to a stop. They'd been running for an hour straight, and it was especially difficult to run through swampland, so they decided to stop here for a breather. They sat in a small circle, so wet from falling in the gross slop that they didn't even care about sitting in it anymore.

Atton and Brianna fell asleep quickly. But Brennen couldn't sleep. His mind was still spinning from the day's events. He looked over at Billie, who was still awake.

"How long have you been a slave?" Brennen asked quietly so he wouldn't wake the others.

"Three or four years." he answered. "I went to Nar Shadaa with my brother Ryan, and some guys knocked us out and took us here. We were slaves together for about a month, and then we got sold to different Hutts. I haven't seen him since."

"Shitty." Brennen leaned back. "I'm trying to save the galaxy from the Sith, bit it's pretty hard when we keep getting side-tracked. And now I don't know where my friends are, or my ship. And even of I did know, it doesn't matter because our ship has no fuel."

"No fuel eh?" Billie lied down on the ground, arms behind his head. "You know you could probably get some fuel from Vogga The Hutt, also known as Goggles The Hutt. He's on Nar Shadaa though."

"Yet another barrier," Brennen sighed. He closed his eyes. Maybe he'd go to sleep and wake up in the morning and everything would be all better.

The next morning...

"Holy shit! Brezu, is that you?"

Brennen sat up tiredly. "Ya, it's me," he mumbled, unsure who he was speaking you.

"Hey, it's Beth! Shit, what happened to you?" Atton said suddenly.

Brennen looked up quickly. Standing in front of the four of them was Beth, Mical, Johnny, Iziz, Visas, Bao-Dur and some bearded guy he didn't recognize. But Billie did.

"Ryan!" He leaped up. The man looked over at him. Brennen couldn't help but noticed what looked like the light of insanity in his eyes.

"Billie!" The two hugged each other. The rest of them stared, then Brennen remembered his conversation with Billie about his brother.

"Ryan, what the fuck's going on?" Beth asked, always the blunt one.

"Dude, this guy's my brother!" Ryan said excitedly.

"You have a brother?"

"Beth, how'd you find us?" Brennen asked.

"We walked all damn bloody night, and then all damn bloody morning, and then I stepped on Brianna. She freaked out, I freaked out, then I noticed you there and things got weird." She nodded at Ryan and Billie.

"Do you know where the ship is?" Mical asked.

"Nope. Not a fucking clue."

"Then I guess we'll just keep walking this way," Beth said, nodding in the direction they'd been going.

"That'll take us forever! And even if we do, what's the point? Ship's trashed, and we got no fuel..."

"Hey, uh, Brezu? Shut up. Quit whining."

"Ya, unless you got a better idea, shut up," Johnny said.

"Oh ya, this coming from Mr. Crappy Pilot."

"Beth, shut up."

"Come on, let's just go." Beth led them away.

Back at Gad's palace...

"What do you mean they're gone?!" Justin yelled.

"They escaped," the guard who had greeted him said. "We were fighting a battle, and they escaped in the midst of the chaos."

Justin punched the wall angrily. "Fuck! She's always just one step ahead of me! Fuck!"

"Do you at least know which way they went?" Mira asked. The guard shook his head.

"There may be another way to follow them," Kreia said as they walked back to their swoops.

"And that is?" Justin asked.

"She and her friend are force users. Perhaps we can feel them..."

Justin frowned, then shook his head, about to object to such a stupid plan. Then suddenly he remembered Hoth, where she'd turned directly to the wampa's cave and said that Beth was still alive.

"All right Kreia. Use your almighty gift and find Beth, and Brennen too if you can." What? He wasn't about to give her an easy time.

She did not reply, but merely stood there. Then she got on her swoop. "Follow me," she said briskly, and then sped off. Justin and Mira leaped onto their swoops and hurried after her.

Back across the planet...

"Ahhh, fucking swamp land!" Beth's foot had just sunk right up to her knee. Ryan and Mical helped her pull herself back out. "I can't wait till we get off this planet."

"Oh come on Beth," Brennen said. "Don't you love splashing around in a planet that smells like a rotting Hutt?"

"It smells like a few hundred rotting Hutts! And now we do too!" She was irritated by the whole experience. Especially since the gammorrean armor was much heavier then it looked, especially when they'd been walking for hours.

Ryan wasn't much help, because he didn't seem to notice the smell at all. Nor did he notice the fact that he was soaked with swamp water. And he looked ridiculous in the armor that was too big for him.

It was about an hour later that they decided to stop for a rest. Beth, Mical and Ryan were tired from first the battle in Gad's palace, and then the non-stop traveling. And so they sat down in small groups and chilled out, either talking or sleeping. Beth was talking to Iziz, discussing some problem she was having with her fake arm. Brennen was there too, so he could translate for her. Ryan edged over to Mical.

"So, is she actually yours?" he whispered.

"Yes," he snapped. Truthfully, he didn't like Ryan. He didn't see why Beth had to keep him around. The guy was nuts, he was irritating, and he seemed intent on getting Beth for himself. Mical was only a step away from snapping his neck.

"All right, well then how about her?" Ryan nodded to Brianna.

"She's Brezu's girlfriend. Now listen you chicken shit." Mical grabbed him by the front of his armor. "You'd better back off, or things won't go so well for you."

"Geez, calm down. I was just asking." He smirked. "What, you worried she might get someone worthwhile?"

He drew back his fist to bash his lights out, but Beth had walked over at just that moment..

"Mical! What are you doing?" She pushed him back, away from Ryan.

"He was threatening me, Beth," Ryan whimpered, sounding like a lost dog. "He was gonna hit me."

"Ryan, go see Billie," Beth said, turning to Mical. Ryan grinned at him smugly before running off. "And what was that about?" she said quietly, so no one else could hear.

"Why do you have to keep him around?" Mical said nastily, also keeping his voice low.

"Mical, I see you shooting mean looks at him all the time. You can't just–"

"Ya?" Mical interrupted angrily. "Well, if you like him so much, why don't you just go out with him instead?" Mical turned to leave, but Beth grabbed his arm.

"Mical, quit that! You know I don't like Ryan like that! What is it exactly that you don't like about him?"

He spun on her so rapidly she thought for a second he was gonna hit her. "He's a sneaky little bastard, acting like he's so strong and so impressive–"

"Ah, I see." Beth grinned slightly. "He likes me doesn't he? Well Mical, I wouldn't worry too much. He's always been like that, and I've always ignored him. Did you honestly think I'd dump you for some maniac? He was in my platoons and my squadrons, but I'd never want him in my life. All right?"

"I still don't like him," Mical persisted stubbornly.

"Well, you're just gonna have to get over that. Ryan always thought he was quite the ladies man."

"Hey! Piss off you little runt!" The two looked over at Brennen, who was threatening Ryan with his lightsaber. Ryan was scurrying away, laughing like an idiot. "Come near Brianna again and I'll gut you like a fish!"

"Can you gut someone with a lightsaber?" Beth wondered.

"You can try," Mical answered. Ryan ran over to them.

"What did you do, soldier?" Beth asked sternly.

"I tried to cop a feel," he answered, smirking. Mical stiffened, and glared at him. Evidently he didn't find the humor in this statement. Beth did though, and laughed slightly.

"I always told you that would shorten your lifespan substantially." Then she bristled, and listened.

"What is it?" Mical asked.

"Shush," she said quietly. She strained to hear, but couldn't over all the noises of the others. She raised her voice. "Guys, we may not be alone for long." She squinted at the horizon behind them. "I think someone's coming."

Johnny looked in the direction she was. "I don't see anything. Are you sure? You never really did have good eyesight."

That was certainly true. But she was sure she saw something. A few somethings. "They're swoops I think," she said. "Three. Maybe we should hide."

"Hide? Hide where?" Brennen asked. "In the amazingly tall grass that at it's tallest might hide your gizka? We'll just have to face them. Besides, you said there's only three." He looked behind them. "Although I still don't see anything. Did you get telescope eyes while you were enslaved or what?"

Brennen glanced at her, looked away, then did a double take. Did her eyes look different? But she turned to speak to Mical and he couldn't see them anymore. Probably just his imagination anyway.

"Well, maybe we should get going," Brennen suggested uneasily. "Come on, let's go." He turned to keep walking the way they'd been going. The others followed, but everyone was a bit uneasy that Beth could see something none of them could. It made things very ominous. Many of them kept glancing over their shoulders for the unknown men that were supposedly following them.

Brennen suddenly became aware of a dull hum. He frowned, then turned his head. Suddenly he stopped and spun. "Guys, we got company." He whipped out his lightsaber and ignited it.

The others followed his lead, preparing their weapons and themselves. Just as Beth had said, three swoops were speeding towards them. It was only a few seconds before they were upon them. Brennen slammed down his lightsaber on the front of one, and it flipped over and over, crashing into the ground a few yards away.

"Mira!" Justin leaped off one of the other swoops and ran over to the crashed one. "Shit Brezu, what's your problem?!"

Mira was fine, only a bit dazed. And wet. She noted this with anger.

"Damn it!' she snapped, looking at her soaked robe. "Thanks a lot Brezu!"

"Whoops," he said humorously.

"Whoops? That's all you have to say for yourself? I should–"

"Mira, shut up," Beth said wearily.

"Don't tell me what to do, you and your freakish animal thing–"

"Animal thing?" Justin frowned. "What are you talking about?" He glanced at Beth. She said nothing.

"You should have seen it! It was only yesterday I think, I came out to the main hold and she ordered her animals to attack me! Mical was there, just ask him!"

"Mira, that's bullshit," Mical said. "Beth didn't do that, you just pissed off the animals. That's not a special power."

Justin shook his head. "Whatever. We don't have time for arguments. Let's just find the ship."

"Do you know where it is?" Beth asked. Justin thought there was something weird about her eyes, but she wasn't looking at him, so he couldn't be sure.

"Uh, no. I guess we should have asked Grand Puba."

"Wait a minute, I knew I recognized that voice—Are you P-H-At The Hutt?" Mical asked.

"What? Oh that. Ya, I am. They think I'm a god over at Puba's. Pretty wicked. But we could ask for directions over there." He pointed. They looked. Another Hutt palace was about a mile away.

They ran over to it. When they stood in front of the giant door, Beth stepped forward. "Let me and Mical handle this. We're the rulers of Gad's palace."

"No, me. I'm technically a god." Justin pushed her aside. She glared at him. And then he saw it. "Beth, what happened to your eyes?" She went to turn her face away, but Justin grabbed her chin and looked into her eyes. Yes, they were a yellow color, with slitted pupils. It seemed so obvious now, he wasn't sure how he'd missed it before.

Mical pulled her back out of his grip. He and Justin looked defiantly at each other. Justin wasn't sure what to do. He'd wanted to let Beth live her own life, but she was still his sister. He wanted to know what the Hell was going on here, and obviously Mical knew, so he figured rightfully, as her brother, he should know too.

"Beth, what's going on?" he asked. "Why are your eyes like that?"

"Maybe–Maybe I'll tell you another time," Beth answered. She kept her eyes downcast.

"Look, all three of us will handle this ok?" Justin decided. He banged a fist on the door.

A few moments later the door opened. About twenty soldiers stood there, angry and bristling. A sullustan stepped forward, holding a wicked looking blaster rifle. "What do you want?" he snarled, eyeing their group with an evil eye.

Beth held up a hand in a friendly greeting. "Hello, kind sullustan! I am F-B-P-L The Hutt, and this–" She gestured to Mical "–is my friend, uh, Mical The Hutt. We come from Gad's palace on a mission of peace and to, uh, ask for directions."

"And I am P-H-At The Hutt. We'll hook you up old school!" Justin put in. "I am considered a god in Grand Puba The Hutt's palace. I travel with F-B-P-L and Mical on a similar mission of peace, and also to ask for directions."

"And them?" The sullustan pointed to the rest of the group standing behind them.

"They are...soldiers!" Beth said. "Just to keep us safe."

"Not for long! Get 'em!" The group of soldier's started firing at them. Beth, Mical and Justin were startled and didn't pull out their lightsabers before getting shot two or three times. They backed up quickly, swallowing shouts of pain.

However, they didn't retreat for long. They got the rest of their group together and charged the soldiers. They were dead in moments. Justin gestured for everyone to follow him, and they stormed the palace, forced to fight all the way to the Hutt's room.

Finally they smashed through the door to a huge room. There was nothing inside except the biggest Hutt any of them had ever seen. He was about the size of five or six Hutts. He looked over at them as Bao and Iziz broke the console next to the door, locking it.

"And what are you doing in the palace of Glutinous Maximus?" he asked breathlessly. Suddenly from behind him HK and T3 stepped out into the open.

"Statement: Masters! It is very good to see you, especially after enduring this fat lump's stories of supposed 'grandeur'." T3 beeped and agreement. The two hurried over to them.

"I thought Giggles The Hutt had the droids," Justin said.

"He sold them to me this morning," Glutinous panted. Was he breathless from talking? "Is that why you're here? To steal my droids?"

"First off, they're mine. Second, we want to know the way to the ship that crashed here." Beth was looking over the two droids for damages.

"Why should I tell you where the ship is?"

"Because we'll give you a diet plan you fat fuck!" Brennen said, laughing. "Maybe then you can breathe in without losing your breath!"

"Fine. I'll you where it is...If you can kill the monsters in my pit first!" He smashed a fist the size of their torso into a button on his platform. The floor dropped out from under the exiles. The four slammed onto the ground a few seconds later. It was completely dark.

"What was with that?" Brennen said, standing. The four ignited their lightsabers, trying to create a sort of torch. Suddenly however, a bunch of lights in the roof of the pit lit up, practically blinding them.

"Oh shit," Johnny gulped. The four looked across the cave at three zakkegs, two wampas, and one huge rancor that made Lunch look like a gizka in comparison.

"Oh shit indeed," Justin agreed. "What the Hell are lightsabers gonna do against all this?"

"One sec," Beth said. She stepped ahead of the others and threw her hands forward. "Let me try something." Shit, she couldn't do this. She couldn't stop Lunch. But maybe she could trick them somehow...

She threw her power out and over the six creatures while they were still adjusting themselves to the sudden light. She remembered putting pictures of her friends in Lunch's head; she was hoping she could do something like that again.

But suddenly their were voices roaring in her head, and she could barely hold on to the connection. Shut the fuck up! Holy fuck you're loud!

The animals quieted down, but only for a moment. Who are you to order us around? one of the wampas snarled.

Beth wasn't quite sure what to say to that. She thought suddenly of Charlie, and the wampas saw. What are you doing with one of our cubs? another wampa demanded. Stick to your own kind, putrid human!

Beth couldn't really deny that she was putrid after traveling in Hutt land for a day or so. I saved him actually. His mother is dead, he would have followed her path had I left him alone. The wampas roared at her, accusations and insults flying through her mind. She shouted for silence again, still through the mind speak thing. The animals shut up.

Justin, Brennen and Johnny watched Beth worriedly. It was completely silent in the cave, and nothing moved, not even the beasts. The three of them had no idea what was going on, but Justin had a good idea that this had something to do with Beth's secret.

Beth had no idea what she was doing anymore. Their were so many voices in her head that she couldn't think straight. Come on guys, shut up! Let me think for a second here!

Piss off short female! We don't have to listen to you! This was one of the Zakkegs.

She sighed. Why does everyone have to call me short? The creatures started getting riled up, preparing for an attack. Hey wait! Uh, you sure you wanna kill us?

Silence female! The rancor roared. Beth turned to the others, but did not break the connection.

"Shit Beth! What the Hell happened to your eyes?!" Brennen exclaimed.

"What?" Her voice sounded strange coming from her mouth instead of her mind.

"Your eyes are, like, pitch black! What the fuck is with you!?"

She had no idea what he was talking about. She still couldn't think very clearly. She held the connection but barely noticed it. It was also getting very hard to see.

"Holy shit," Brennen said suddenly.

"What?" she said. Or tried to say. Something was wrong with her jaw. Suddenly she felt a dim pain in her bones, but it was growing steadily. She fell to her knees. She heard the sounds of surprise from the animals.

She shook violently, then she felt a sudden ripping pain. She shouted, but then everything stopped. She stood slowly, and what she noticed immediately was that she was suddenly much taller.

Justin gulped. This creature in front of him was not Beth. It didn't even looked remotely like her, unless you counted the mechanical arm. The thing slightly resembled a dragon. It was about as tall as Johnny, maybe a bit taller. It's skin was not much like human skin, except that it was a greenish color with a touch of blue. It had clawed hands and feet, and a long tail edged with spikes. It's face held a long snout, which housed a set of long fangs. It had a nose horn, and two longer horns on it's forehead that slanted back, and a crest of black hair that went from the top of it's head to the back of it's neck. It's eyes were yellow with slit pupils, and Justin immediately thought back to when he looked Beth in the eyes outside

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" the thing asked. It's voice was deep and a bit scratchy.

"Beth?" Johnny said cautiously.

"Ya..." She looked from one to the other. "What? Do I have something on my face?"

"Only a long snout and some teeth," Brennen answered.

She raised a hand to her face, and froze. "Aw shit..." She looked down at herself. "I guess the changes became more radical."

"More radical?!" Justin exclaimed. "Holy Hutt nuts Beth, you're a fucking dragon!"

The rancor growled quietly. Beth turned to it, and Justin noticed a pair of folded wings that had tore through the back of her armor. Justin stared as the animals sat back, no longer aggressive. Then suddenly the rancor leaped up, roared and stomped towards them. Justin braced himself, knowing he was screwed, but the creature stepped over them and rammed into the wall. It cracked loudly. The exiles stepped back from the wall. The rancor smashed into it again, and it broke even more. The rancor howled, and threw itself at the wall one last time. This time, the beast broke through and the four exiles heard screams erupting from outside as the animals poured from the room.

Justin, Brennen and Johnny walked up to Beth. She was changing back quite rapidly, and by the time they reached her she was human again, although she still had clawed fingers, pointed teeth and yellow eyes.

"Ok Beth," Justin said. "What the Hell is going on here?"

She sighed. She couldn't hide her secret anymore. She told them everything she knew about her power, right down to the individual times she'd used her power and how it was sometimes harder to use then others. She didn't tell them about the time she lost control of it though. It was almost a relief to tell them. It was very tiring, trying to keep the secret away from them.

"So, recently you started changing?" Justin asked when she'd finished.

"Ya, but it was only slight changes. I don't know how I changed into an animal. I think it might have had something to do with the amount of power I was using. Of course, I could be wrong. The sand-people didn't know much about it either."

They walked through the hole in the wall. Justin had one more thing to ask though.

"Why didn't you tell us this before?"

"I don't know. Part of it was the jokes that I figured would come out of it. But, I guess in a way, I was hoping it would be something that could remain buried. Something that could be forgotten. It was just something that changed me from who I used to be, and I sorta hated it for that. I don't know, I'm just weird."

They went back to the Glutinous's room. The rest of their group were still waiting for them.

"What did you do to my creatures?" Glutinous rumbled.

"I convinced them to see it our way," Beth answered, grinning. "Now, tell us where the ship is."

"Fine!" he roared. "Go east of here! Eventually you'll come upon the ship! But it doesn't matter. It doesn't have any fuel anyway."

"Then I guess you'll be giving us a ship eh? How about you give us a ship that'll take us to Nar Shadaa, and we'll get fuel from there?"

"Why should I do that?"

Beth ignited her lightsaber and leaped forward. She held the weapon to the Hutt's throat. "I killed Gad and took over his kingdom. I'll do the same to you if you don't give us that ship."

He looked at her uneasily. "All right, I'll give you a ship!"

"Thank you," she said, stepping back.

One hour later...

Beth, Bao-Dur, Mical, Ryan, Iziz, HK-47 and T3-M4 were at the ship, making repairs. Inside it was Atton, Kreia, and Visas. Justin, Mira, Brennen, Brianna, Johnny and Random Billie had taken a ship to Nar Shadaa to convince Vogga, or Goggles, to give them some fuel for the ship. Her group were working on the repairs. Well, some of them. Many had decided to sit in the ship and be useless.

"Ow! Dammit!" Ryan dropped his hydrospanner and held his hand. Beth grinned. Well, even some of the people outside trying to help were being useless. She didn't mind so much though. Things could be much worse then they were. At least none of them were enslaved. Or dead.

They'd found Roger and Charlie in the ship. After the crash they'd hid themselves so the Hutts couldn't find them. Of course, after the Hutts had gone the animals had been left with nothing to do but wait and hope the others would come back.

"Hope they manage to get the fuel," Mical whispered. He examined some of the wiring in front of him. "If they don't, I'm not sure what we'll do."

"We'll go back to Gad's palace and rule it with an iron fist!" she joked. She waved her fist in the air, and Mical laughed. The thought of Beth even trying to rule with an iron fist was hilarious. "Don't worry too much about the fuel." She tapped the ship with a tool and it sparked. "We got this hunk of crap to worry about!" He smirked and nodded.

End Of Chapter 10