AN: Thank you so much to everyone who bothered to review and to those who added this story to alerts/favs. You make my day when I see that ffnet e-mail. This will probably be the last quick update because the rest of the chapters I have done need some more TLC. But not to worry, I promise there's more to come. As always con-crit is appreciated as it helps me do this better, and general comments are lovely too.

Note: Morii is the Angelina PC head, if you're curious.

"Bastila's a slave? Well that's just fracking great! What the hell are we going to do now!?" Morii threw her arms up and stomped around the room cursing up a storm.

True to her word Lyn had gotten Carth and Morii a meeting with Gadon Thek, the leader of the Hidden Bek gang. It turned out that the Sith hadn't gotten a hold of Bastila, instead a group of Black Vulkars had come upon her pod shortly after the crash and taken her prisoner. The leader of the Black Vulkars was putting up Bastila as their share of the winning pot for the Taris swoop season opener. He was currently holding her in an undisclosed location until the race.

Morii kicked the wall hard in her frustration. What kind of Jedi gets kidnapped by a second rate gang anyways! Stupid Super Jedi! Morii was tempted to let her rot. She took a deep sigh and pressed the heels of her hands against her forehead. This whole rescue operation just went from bad to worse. After she began to feel a bit calmer Morii walked back over to Gadon's desk and flopped into her chair. "Okay, so where can I get a swoop bike?" she asked dejectedly.

"Well I might be able to help you with that, but I want you to do something in return." Gadon gave Morii a shrewd smile. "I saw you in that off season race on Talus two months ago. You're crazy, but you're good."

Morii dropped her head into her hands while Carth gave her a shocked look and asked, "You swoop race?" Morii continued to surprise him.

Morii grunted a response. Lifting her head she asked, "What do you want, Thek?"

"I need you to get something back for me. We were working on a prototype accelerator engine for the swoop race. Right before we could finish it a Vulkar spy that had infiltrated out ranks stole it. With that accelerator and the money Davik's been funneling Brejik for bike upgrades they'll mop the floor with us, but if we can get that accelerator back the Beks will stand a fighting chance of winning. If you get that engine back for me I'll let you ride under the Beks and… I'll let you ride the bike with the prototype." Gadon leaned back in his seat, crossed his arms and stared at her with his ocular implants.

"You'll let me ride the modified bike? Okay what's the catch?" Morii scowled at the gangster.

Gadon sighed and gave Morii a wry grin. "Well the problem is the accelerator isn't stable and it could blow during the race. None of my riders will risk it. But dammit I need that engine!" Gandon slammed a fist on his desk in emphasis. "The money Davik's been giving the Vulkars has provided them with professional circuit level bikes. No other bikes in the Lower Cities will stand a chance. So you get the engine back and you can ride in the race. You have to have gang sponsorship to enter regardless. If the Beks win you get your friend back. If one of the other gangs win… well don't count on them being as generous."

Morii gave Gadon a disbelieving look, "So you want me to break into the Vulkar's base, steal the engine back, and ride said engine in the race knowing it could explode?" She ended with a screech.

Carth shook his head, "Forget it, Thek. Come on, Morii, let's go, we'll figure out something else." Carth rose out of his seat. He was crushed at the news but he couldn't let Morii kill herself either.

Morii didn't get up. She stared at Gadon for a minute and said softly, "I don't have any choice do I?"

The look Gadon shot back was sympathetic. "I'm afraid not. Despite my best efforts we haven't been able to locate where Bejik's holding the Republic woman but we know it isn't at their base. If the Vulkars win they'll sell her to Davik's slavers, or worse the Sith. My racers want to win, but none of them are willing to risk exploding to do it."

Carth watched Morii's face fall and clutched her shoulder, "No, Beautiful, it's too dangerous. We'll figure something out."

She looked up at him with defeat in her eyes, "Like what, Carth? The race is in a week. If the Vulkar's sell her to Davik we'll never get her back." Morii shook her head, "There are no other options."

Carth sighed, he realized was probably right but he didn't like it. "So how do we go about getting into the Vulkar's base? I seriously doubt they'll just let us walk in."

"No," Gadon shook his head, "getting into the base won't be easy. There is a way though. I happen to know for a fact that there's a back entrance through the sewer system in the Under City. Of course first you have to get past the Sith into the Under City."

"Well we've got some Sith officer uniforms…," Morii offered. It was a long shot by far but as of right now it was all she had been able to come up with. Carth had voted they wait and see if a better opportunity presented itself.

"Nope, won't work," Morii's face fell at Gadon's words. "Uniforms or no you need security papers to get into the Under City. Now I happen to have some," Gadon gave an evil grin. "A patrol of mine picked them off of a squad that didn't make their destination." Carth smirked approvingly back at Gadon's words. "Tell you what, you two give me your uniforms and I'll give you the papers. Security papers are all you need to get past the elevator patrols and those uniforms might come in handy for me and mine."

Morii blew up in irritation, "Okay, you've got a deal. Somehow though I'm betting there's more."

"Yes there is," Gadon replied. "The back entrance to the Vulkar base is guarded by a rancor."

"A RANCOR!?" Morii and Carth yelled in unison.

Gadon nodded, "Big nasty bugger too. The Vulkars keep it minimally fed, but hungry enough to eat anything that comes in its path. But," he held up a hand when Morii opened her mouth, "I can help you there too. After we're done go talk to my man Rew, he's been working on a little something. The third obstacle is the real problem. The entrance into the sewer system where the Vulkar back door is just had an Aratech Advanced high security force field placed across it. We still haven't managed to find a way around that bastard. That little problem is another gift courtesy of Davik Kang," Gadon spat.

Morii's head fell forward and thumped the top of Gadon's desk. Carth leaned forward to hear what she was saying and realized Morii was muttering, "frack, frack, frack, frack…" while thumping her head in tempo. Carth frowned and grabbed her shoulders, yanking her back up before she hurt herself.

Morii frowned back at Carth but stopped beating her head against the table. Carth turned to Gadon and asked, "There's no way around this shield?"

"I haven't found one," Gadon sighed. "I asked all my slicers and every one of them say they can't do it. Believe me if I had away around it I'd tell you… I want that engine! I need the gang support winning the season opener would get me… I'm sorry." Gadon held his hands out in a pleading gesture.

Morii sighed while rubbing between her eyes with her thumb and index finger, "It's not slicing in the traditional sense… you need a security expert to get past one of those. My security skills are mediocre at best." Morii looked over at Carth and gave another sigh. He had that "I'm not giving up" and "it'll all work out look" on his face. The man was delusional.

Morii rose from her seat and Carth a second behind her. Holding out her hand she said, "Well thanks for seeing us, Gadon, and thanks for what you did. I guess we're further along than we were." Gadon clasped Morii's wrist and then Carth's in acknowledgement.

They turned to go when Gadon spoke, "Oh wait, I have something else for you, Morii. Courtesy of Lyn… she's good people. Don't ah… share this with anyone you don't trust, it's awfully tempting. If Lyn hadn't vouched for you… well I might have taken the offer." He handed Morii a data pad. "Good luck you two." With that they walked out the door.

They found Mission and Zaalbar in the Bek's private cantina. Feeling depressed Morii grabbed a drink from the bar before heading over to the two. Zaalbar was eating of course and Mission was talking to an anonymous Bek. Morii took a seat at the table and Carth the one next to her as the Bek got up to leave. Tossing the data pad on the table she put her chin in her hands and brooded into her drink. How the hell were they going to get past that shield?

"Beautiful, are you sure you can't get around that shield?" Carth asked.

"Yes I'm sure!" Morii snapped. Carth jerked back in offense. "Sorry," she apologized. "It's just that I'm frustrated. I could sit there for a week working on the thing and not make a dent. I wouldn't even know where to find someone who could crack it here. We're screwed."

"Hey what's wrong?" Mission asked them as she snatched some food off of Zaalbar's plate.

Zaalbar made a roar of protest. "/Hey that's mine!/" He yelled at the girl.

Mission gave a long lick down the side of the piece of bread and held it back out to Zaalbar, "Here you go, Big Z," she said impishly.

"/That's disgusting! You have awful table manners, cub./" Morii was pretty sure this was the first time she had ever seen a Wookiee pout. "/Awful…/" Zaalbar muttered.

Mission grinned and took a bite of the bread, "So what's your guys' problem?"

Morii continued to brood so Carth answered her, "Aratech Advanced security shield."

Mission swallowed her bread, "Oh I can slice those! So where's it at?"

Morii jumped in her seat. Narrowing her eyes at Mission she asked slowly, "You can slice an Aratech Advanced high security shield?"

"Yeah just did one last month for a big score in an Upper Cities Mansion. Got some nice stuff too, see this bracelet? Pretty screamin' huh?" Mission held out her wrist in front of Morii's nose.

Morii ignored the wrist and grabbed Mission in tight hug. "Ack!" Mission said, "Air…"

"Mission, I love you!" Morii exclaimed as she let the girl go.

Mission giggled at the sentiment, "So what's going on? Where's this shield?"

Morii filled her in on their plan while Carth watched in disapproval. There was no way in hell he was taking a kid into the Under City. Apparently Gadon hadn't been aware of this particular skill of Mission's. The girl hadn't mentioned it to the gang leader and complained that all the Bek's were way to overprotective of her and didn't like her larcenist tendencies.

"You guys are gonna break into the Vulkar base," Mission whispered in reverence after Morii finished telling the Twi'lek what they were planning. She then slammed her palm on the table, "I so want in!"

"This is going to be dangerous," Morii warned. Carth was relieved that his partner hadn't completely lost her senses.

"Pshaw!" Mission dismissed, "I can take care of myself."

"Well…" Morii paused, "Alright, Mission, but you listen to Carth and I, what we say goes."

Zaalbar gave a sigh, "/I suppose we're going to the Under City/" he said in resignation.

Hearing the acquiescence in Zaalbar's tone if not understanding the words Carth sputtered, "You're not serious? You… you… we… can't take a kid into the Under City! That's… insane! You're all insane!"

"Hey, I am not a kid! I'll be fifteen in two months!" Mission shot back.

"Mission, you are a kid; a smart, tough kid, but a kid nonetheless." Carth's voice screamed parent, Morii noted to herself…interesting. "The Under City is no place for a kid, even a kid who's got a Wookiee to look out for her!" Carth's face was getting flushed.

"/Uh oh…/" Zaalbar muttered.

Mission shot out of her chair, her lekku twitching in agitation, "I don't have to take that from you! I got news for you, geezer… Big Z's my friend, not my babysitter! I take care of him just as much as he takes care of me! Jeez I offer to help and you sit here and give me a lecture. Keep anymore of those thoughts in your withered old head where they belong! I don't need you babying me!"

Morii choked on the drink that she had just taken at the reference to Carth as withered.

"Fine!" Carth yelled. "And I sure as hell don't need this!" His chair fell over backwards as he jumped up and stormed out of the cantina while the other patrons watched in silence.

Morii debated following for a moment but shrugged and decided to let Carth cool down first. She needed Mission to get past that shield, Carth could get over it or not get one missing Jedi. Besides Morii had a pretty good inkling that Mission was a lot tougher than she appeared and Morii had every intention of making sure nothing happened to her. You didn't last long living on the streets if you didn't have a brain. She liked the kid… and made a mental note never to call Mission that.

Instead Morii picked up the data pad Gadon had given her while Mission muttered, "Decrepit old jerk…" and turned it on wanting to see how much the bounty was. The way the system currently worked was the contractor put up the bounty for the client. The bounty target could avoid being hunted and/or killed by matching the bounty money. The bounty contractor then passed the money onto the original client and the contract was considered settled. The catch was that the bounty had to pay which ever price was higher. Morii needed to see what she was up against. Yep she had a bounty for the lost spice. It wasn't a surprise. The bounty was dead or alive… Morii wasn't too surprised at that. Twenty thousand credits for dead… hmm it was high but not impossible, she could probably come up with the money to pay that off.

Scrolling down further Morii spotted the alive bounty and spit out her drink. "One million!" she shrieked. The cantina once again fell quite. Morii darted her eyes around the room and pressed the data pad to her chest as if afraid the other people in the room would be able to see it. After a pause she darted out of the room as well.

"Wow that was weird," Mission commented as she snagged another piece of bread from Zaalbar's plate.

"/Mission!/" He whined.

Morii had found an empty storeroom in the base to have a nervous breakdown in. She had her back against a wall and was gulping breath in and out. The woman was dangerously close to hyperventilating but she was freaked out. One million… how will I ever pay off one million!? I'm dead… I'm so dead… I'm still breathing but really I'm already dead… Morii slid down the wall onto her butt and buried her face between her knees. She was too scared to even swear.

Carth had come looking for Morii to inform her they weren't using Mission to break past the shield. The girl's outburst had just proved she was too young and immature to help them. She had completely lost it and started yelling at Carth for no good reason. Using Mission wasn't a viable option, he just had to convince Morii and they'd figure out something else. Morii was smart, resourceful, she'd think of something. Maybe explosives… Morii liked explosives… He found her in an empty storage room. Carth stopped in shock as he saw Morii huddled on the floor hugging her knees and rocking back and forth slightly. He ran over and knelt in front of her, "What's wrong?"

Morii picked her head up at the sound of Carth's voice. She was stark white and her eyes huge, her pupils had almost completely taken over the blue of eyes. "One million…" she whispered.

Carth put a hand on hers, concerned. She was scared to death! "One million what?"

"One million credits…" she handed Carth the data pad without looking at him.

Carth took it and scrolled through it. When he got to part about the reward for bringing Morii back alive his eyes bugged. Holy fracking shavit! "Oh, Beautiful…"

"I'm dead. I'm soooo dead. I'm dead…"

"No, hey! We'll figure something out! Maybe if you sign up for another tour with the fleet…"

Morii shook her head, "I could sign up for the rest of my natural life and it wouldn't cover it. Oh, Carth, what the hell am I going to do? I'll have to hide for the rest of my life. I'll never come up with that kind of money!"

"Well maybe you could work something out with the Exchange…"

Morii gave a bark of laughter at Carth's suggestion. "This is personal, that's why it's so high. Ketos is pissed and probably just wants to kill me himself… or worse…"

"Well you can't just give up!" Carth protested.

Morii buried her head back into her legs. Carth had never seen her so… hopeless. After a few more minutes of trembling Morii let out a shaky sigh as an inner calm took over and really looked at Carth for the first time. There was nothing she could do. She couldn't even run, not with the quarantine. There was no point in worrying about it now. She'd just have to… well she didn't know what to do besides stay the hell away from bounty hunters. Well as of right now there was only one thing she could do. "C'mon," she said in a tired voice, "Let's go get to rescuing your Jedi." She picked herself up and walked to the door.

As Carth watched her go he remembered his original reason for seeking her out. He kept silent. She didn't need anything else on her plate right now; he just hoped that bringing Mission along didn't end up badly.

Morii found Rew the Bek, an Ithorian who had come up with some sort of smelly pheromone concoction that would make a rancor come running from twenty feet. Morii wasn't sure how exactly this was a good thing but took it anyways. Then she went into the cantina to gather Mission and Z to suggest that they all catch a few hours of sleep before heading down the Under City. They all agreed while Mission and Carth made it a point to ignore each other. Morii was too tired to care at this point. She had her own problems dammit. Screw oversensitive teens, screw paranoid pilots, and screw all Jedi. The only one who hadn't given her grief was the Wookiee.

Morii figured six hours should be enough time to get a decent rest and still get to the Under City elevator before the Sith morning shift change. She couldn't sleep though. She laid on Lyn's couch in the dark trying desperately to come up with some way out of this bounty. She could run for the Hutts… but she didn't have a ship. Besides, working for the Hutts was even riskier than the Exchange. She could look at joining a crew… but as soon as they found out she had that ridiculous of a bounty on her they'd probably just turn her in. Maybe she could try some more swoop racing, she was fairly good… no too high profile, especially if she started winning. Maybe she should just cut her losses and head for the Unknown Regions. Sure it was scary and… unknown, but what choice did she have?

Morii could feel someone watching her and looked over at Carth lying on the floor. He was wide awake and watching her. "Hey," she whispered.

"Hey yourself," he replied quietly in deference to the sleeping Wookiee and Twi'lek in the room. He felt for her. Despite the fact that she had been running illegal goods and gotten busted, Carth felt bad for her. He realized that in the short time they had known each other Carth had actually come to care what happened to Morii. It wasn't the type of concern that he had for other soldiers in a team, it was more… personal. It was out of the blue, he shouldn't like Morii. She was smart mouthed, shady, and a bit too quick to kill but for some reason Carth actually liked her. "I've been thinking…" he began.

"Head hurt?" Despite the joke her voice was soft rather than sarcastic.

"Ha ha," he responded, but smiled back. "No, smartass, I've been thinking about that bonus you wanted for finding Bastila. She's crucial to the Republic war effort and… you certainly have been instrumental in getting us this far. I meant what I said yesterday; I never would have made it this far without your help, Morii." Morii looked away in embarrassment but Carth continued. "When this is all over I'll put in a good word to see that you get it. There's no way I can get you a mil, but I can call in some favors… I have some pretty high up friends in the chain of command…"

"Carth," Morii gave him a sad smile, "I don't want you to put your neck on the line for me. I don't want you to get in any sort of trouble with your superiors. Its okay, I'm used to cleaning up my own messes. I'll figure something out." Morii wasn't sure it was something that would work, but she didn't want to see Carth get in trouble because he wanted to help. The guy was a damn do-gooder.

"No, you've more than earned it! I have a feeling things are only going to get worse too. I want to help, and I think I can get you a least half, maybe more. I have friends, Beautiful."

Morii sighed. She was too desperate to say no, but she didn't like the idea of charity. Worse she didn't like the idea of Carth owing someone because he stuck his neck out for her. "I can't say no… Just don't go getting yourself in any kind of trouble over it; I'm not worth that, Carth."

I think you are. Carth was surprised at the thought but didn't want to delve too deep into the meaning. "Well I figure having a smuggler owe me a favor could come in handy some day," his teeth flashed in the dark.

"Deal," Morii chuckled. "You ever need glitterstim or illegally modified blasters I'm your girl." She seriously doubted straight laced Carth Onasi would ever have a desire or need for either of those things. Hmm maybe the blasters… "Hey, Carth?"

Carth yawned, "Yeah, Beautiful."

"Thanks… oh and, flyboy?"

"Hmm?"

"Quit calling me that."

Carth chuckled, "You got it, Beautiful."

Morii was up at what she informed the others was the butt-crack of dawn. Mission was kind enough to point out that you couldn't see the dawn down here. Morii grunted and went to find some caffa before she bit someone's head off.

They broke out any armor they had along with loading down with weapons, grenades and medical supplies. Morii stuffed her small backpack left over from the Endar Spire. She didn't know what they were going to find down there and she wanted to be prepared. Even Mission and Zaalbar had never been to the Under City and Mission knew all the back ways in this part of Taris. Mission informed Morii that she never had a desire to go into the Under City. There was nothing good to steal, and she'd rather not end up a rakghoul.

Carth listened to the two women chatter in silence while he gathered supplies. He was nervous. It was the kind of nervous he always got before going into a dangerous situation. His mind whirled as he tried to plan for every possible contingency. Mostly he was concerned about Mission getting hurt but he was trying to come up with backup plans for any of them going down. Carth just hoped they weren't in the Under City too long.

"Mission do you know if there are any people down in the Under City?" Morii asked with a yawn as she slipped on the armor she had found in a Vulkar apartment. Carth listened while slipping on his own standard medium duty armor while silently lamenting the set he'd lost on the Spire.

"Yeah there are," Mission replied as she put on her own battered set. "It's where the government puts all the criminals, along with any political dissidents or anyone they just want to be forgotten. And they stay down there too. I've heard that there are people who've been living in the Under City for generations."

"You mean they just throw them down there? Forever?" Carth was so horrified he forgot he wasn't talking to Mission.

"And their kids…" Mission scowled at the thought, "and their grandkids. Once you go into the Under City you don't come out."

After they were suited up, everyone headed out of the apartment. Morii left a note for Lyn letting her know where they were going and not to expect to see them for a couple of days. Lyn probably wouldn't be happy about it, but the nice thing about Morii's friend is she was very understanding and non-judgmental.

They made their way down the Lower Cities walkways which were almost abandoned at this early hour. The only trouble they ran into was a group of three Vulkars but after the gang members spotted how heavily armed they were and Zaalbar let out a warning roar they took off to seek easier prospects.

The entire group was nervous as they approached the elevator guarded by two Sith guards and several automatic turrets. Morii mumbled a "Play it cool guys," as they approached. They were assumed by the guards to be contract mercenaries after Morii handed them the security papers and were waved through with out any trouble. The four of them stepped into the elevator and the doors slid closed behind them.

The ride seemed to take forever and Morii wondered how far down the Under City was. The lights in the lift flickered repeatedly and all of them gave a nervous look over their heads.

"Jeez I hope those don't go out," Mission muttered as the lights flashed for a third time. None of them fancied making the trip in pitch blackness.

Finally the elevator slowed and came to halt. They settled to the bottom and Morii sucked in a deep breath, "Well, here goes nothing," she said as the doors slid open.