A deal

- Mission Vao -

It seemed like I'd been waiting there forever. I couldn't even hear blaster shots or screams anymore. I could go in, I thought suddenly, see if they're okay. Problem was, I'd promised to stay put. 'Sides, I liked Jen, and didn't wanna get her in any jip.

Though it ain't like Gadon would kill her or anything. Not if I talked to him.

I was waiting outside the base, tucked in the shadows behind a crumbling sewer wall. The back entrance to the Vulkar base was totally unguarded, and our only snag had been a terminal-locked durasteel door that a novice could slice. So, after rocking my skills, the rest of the gang'd sent me away to hide like a little kid while they went and got the job done. I could feel myself pouting.

I still thought I'd be safer with them.

A Vulkar had run past me earlier, back into the sewers. I'd stayed hidden, but even if I'd been smack bang in the centre of the corridor I didn't think he'd've seen me. He'd looked like he'd peed in his pants or something. Funny thing was, he'd headed straight towards Mr Rancor.

The rancor made me think of Big Z's lifedebt. That was big. It had me excited, too, because I had a funny feeling Carth and Jen weren't gonna be sticking round on Taris forever. Carth's gotta tell us what's going on now- we're part of it! Honestly, I never thought I'd find a way off this place. Since Griff'd gone, I'd felt chained to Taris with the rest of the Lower City. I'd dream that maybe one day, when I lifted enough creds, I could buy a ticket off-world for me and Big Z.

Dreams to make me smile, but I never really knew how good my chances were.

But now... They were off-worlders, and they were doing something important. I couldn't help but wonder if they had something to do with the Republic escape pods, too. Jen said Carth was a pilot...

I figured since we were all on the same team now, I should be with them. I'd been out here long enough. Sure, Zaalbar would howl at me for a bit, but he'd get over it – he always did. And earlier, when they'd all disappeared into the Vulkar base, my gaze had landed on a terminal inside just before the door had closed.

I could slice into that, an' access the vid-feeds. I'll be able to find them and spot a clear path to catch up.

I grinned to myself, and took a silent step forwards. A couple of halogens shone bright on the durasteel entrance, lighting up the door against the shadows of the sewers. It was unlocked, now – all I had to do was depress the controls.

I pulled out my bio-scanner and ran a quick check. It was usually reliable through a door's thickness of durasteel, and the malfunction I'd thought from earlier was actually just a clear reading of that freakish rancor. I shivered. I'd never seen anything like that thing. Not unless I counted those horror vids Griff used to like, the ones he'd trick me into watching just to snigger at me when I screamed. I'd always thought the monsters from those dumb holo-vids were just special effects of some producer high on gree-spice or something. Now, I wondered if they'd gotten their inspiration from real-life creatures.

The scanner was beeping back at me in reassurance: No sentient life detected. Its accuracy range was well beyond the door before it started to plummet, so I bit my lip, darted forward, and slammed my hand on the door control before I lost my nerve.

The entrance to the Vulkar base was empty.

I ran forward to the terminal, hurriedly inserting a tech spike from my belt. The OS was IntelSec, an earlier variant of the IntelliSecurity system the Beks used, and I'd sliced that enough times I could do it blind-folded. Okay, so usually I bullied one of Gadon's utility droids into helping, but even so – it was child's play to hack into the back end, disable the holo-interface, and go straight to command input. Inserting my datapad, I ran a couple of quick batches that soon gave me master control.

First things first – schematics. With a couple of taps, I found and launched a holo-map of the base. It was smaller than I expected, with a couple of vertical shafts that rose deep into the Lower City. The bulk of the base was closer to the Undercity, though, which explained why the Beks could never place this base on their sonic mapping devices.

The Lower City was a mess of corridors, tunnels, and collapsed sinkholes. Any schematic that was near to accurate soon become less so – certain parts of Taris were just plain dangerous to exist in, and that wasn't even counting in the gangs or the Exchange. I'd had a bit to do with the sonic mapping - me and Big Z were wizard at modifying comm gadgets to include sonic transmitters that sent data back to a mapping program. But even with all that info, we'd never been able to place the nearby Vulkar residence. Oh, the Beks knew about some of their other heavily guarded strongholds further away, but this one… it'd bugged me for months, ever since one of the Beks had come across the guarded front entrance in the centre of Lower Taris.

Our sonic tech had thrown contradictions when we'd tried to map it from a distance - there just didn't seem to be enough sheer space to house a stronghold of Vulkar scum. And that's why I'd wondered about the sewers – if their base went deep down into the depths, it'd make sense. Tarisians shied away from the Undercity, for good reason. Looked like the Vulkars had capitalized on that real estate.

I was changing the output to the holo-cam network when a bright red error flashed across the top of the screen. A second later, a piercing siren cut through the air. I squeaked at the ominous words blinking at me.

Alarm activated by unauthorised access.

Bantha poodoo! Was that me? My fingers flew over the keyboard as I desperately hacked into the security functions.

The back of my neck felt suddenly hot. The stupid warning wasn't disappearing from the console. Unauthorised access? Far out, I'm not the one charging in with guns blazing! Wasn't that just the luck, though- the others could barge in, somehow without tripping a single alarm- I do the teensiest bit of slicing and suddenly every dumb siren in the place starts ringing-

The wailing noise cut out with a strangled whine. I blinked, tapped one more key, and the flashing red message vanished from the screen.

My breath caught in my throat. Please, let any nearby peeps think that was just a false alarm. I turned to the door, listening for any sounds. Maybe there was a faint yell in the distance, but definitely nothing close by. Huffing in relief, I bent back over the screen and hooked into the vid-feeds again.

There were no sents anywhere near me, but I spotted a couple of patrol droids in nearby rooms. With a wrinkle of my nose, I shut down the access doors and locked them in. If they had security specs they might be able to slice through the doors, but it'd give me some time at least.

I had no idea where the others had gone. I'd heard blaster shots when they'd first left me, which had petered away into silence after a few minutes. Scrolling through the feeds, I spotted a maintenance room that housed a backup generator and server system by the looks. Piles of broken blasters and swoop bike parts littered the floor. On the far end, there was a workbench with a slumped Vulkar corpse laying over it. Jackpot! They went this way!

From there, it wasn't too hard to follow their trail. I was briefly side-tracked by unlocking the armoury, idly wishing I had time to explore it, and then continued to track the gang through the cams. I switched the feed to a large training room, and the cam threw up a scene of havoc to my surprised eyes.

Turrets were firing at three figures stuck between the guns and a mob of sents. One of them looked distinctly tall and hairy. Poodoo! They're trapped! How the Vulkars had caught them in front of the guns I didn't know, but it looked nasty.

I gotta do something. They'll die otherwise! Turrets... I quickly switched to the gun access control.

Turrets deactivated.

I watched the screen tensely.

Half a minute later, and they ran around the corner. A blinding flash of light exploded right in the middle of the mob running after them. Grenades. Good one, Jen!

I searched the terminal intently for any survivors, and saw only one Vulkar struggling to get back on his feet. Jen's head reappeared through the doorway. She quickly scanned the room, shot the sole remaining survivor, and then vanished.

She scares me like that. I know it's better to be safe, but sometimes Jen can act so bloodthirsty. I guessed battle rage must get to her; she was really nice otherwise.

I decided it was time to catch up with them, so quickly tied up loose ends by hemming in a couple more patrol droids, and unlocking the doors directly in Jen's path.

With a deep breath, I checked my path once more on the vid-feed, and then darted deeper into the base. I grasped a light, but accurate, Senturi blaster, and stayed tight behind each corner before stepping out to clear it. When I ran into the maintenance room, I took a moment to quickly rifle through the corpses' pockets, slipping the loaded chits into my belt. There was no point turning down easy credits, after all.

I made it to the training room, stepping over Vulkar bodies as I passed. I wonder just how close the others were to dying. I shivered. It had looked pretty grim, from the terminal.

The thought of that incident made me realize they might still be in trouble. They might need my help. I raced down to the lower level of the Vulkar Base. Broken droids and smoke greeted me.

Sheesh, what happened now? I walked through the clouds of smoke, scouting around for any movement. Nothing here. Where are they? I crept onward, further into Vulkar offices. Dead gang members met my eye. I heard voices, followed by a howl that was distinctly familiar. Big Z!

I dashed into the next office, and saw all three of them, standing over a pile of corpses. Carth was clutching his side, and blood was splattered gruesomely over Jen's armour. I grinned stupidly, and ducked back behind the entrance, keeping an eye out for any unwanted arrivals.

"Crazy reckless woman," I heard Carth mutter back in the room.

"(You continue to surprise me, Jen Sahara)."

"Do you think this is it, guys?" Jen asked in a muffled voice. It sounded like she was bending over.

"That's a swoop accelerator," Carth confirmed, in a confident voice that said he knew what he was talking about. "Here's hoping it's the right one. Grab it, and let's get out of here."

Wow, they actually found it!

I could hear Jen grunt, before Zaalbar interrupted her. "(Let me carry it. It will not be a burden to me, Jen Sahara)."

In my spare hand, I pulled out my datapad and flicked to the base schematics. We weren't far from the shaft to the Lower City, here, just down a hallway and through the only exit. The base was eerily quiet, and it made sense to extract quick, before Vulkar reinforcements arrived. I put the 'pad back and retrieved my 'scanner: still no nearby life-forms.

"It was pretty lucky how the turrets turned off like that, don't you think?" Jen was saying in a considering tone.

"Luck follows you around like fleas on a bantha," Carth muttered. "How you manage to survive daily is beyond me."

Far out, he's as grumpy as Big Z on a diet.

Jen laughed in response. "Lighten up, Onasi," she said mildly.

"Lighten up? You just stormed a whole room of Vulkars in a crazy rage!" He sighed. "Look, I know you're good, Jen. You have the skills of an elite commando, and your speed in battle is more than impressive. But luck, and luck only, has stopped you from dying multiple times since I've met you! It's driving me crazy."

"(Carth Onasi is right)," Zaalbar agreed. I blinked in surprise. Sheesh, she must have done something nuts for Big Z to speak up. "(You should have waited for us. I cannot protect you if you run off)."

"I've survived this long without anyone protecting me!" Jen flared. I know what she means. Though I never thought I'd see the day when Zaalbar tried to coddle her! Usually, he reserved that just for me.

"(You have said that we are on a quest together. That means we should help each other. If you run off, you endanger the whole mission)." Zaalbar paused for a minute. "(I am sorry, Jen Sahara. I should not lecture you so. But you are headstrong, and I worry you will get into danger where I cannot be of assistance)."

"I don't know what the Wookiee just said, but I'm with him," Carth cut in.

Jen laughed suddenly. I was surprised at the quick change from anger to humour. "Okay, okay, guys. You're right, and I'm wrong."

I heard their footsteps and bit back a grin. Boy, was I going to surprise them! I laid myself flat against the cool alloy wall, holding my breath.

Carth stepped out first; I was totally unprepared for his military instincts to kick in – his arm swung out, blaster aimed precisely at my head.

"Eep," I squeaked, staring cross-eyed at the laser barrel that was altogether too close to my head.

"Mission!" Carth cried, aghast. "Stang, do you have any idea how close I was to shooting you?"

Embarrassment chased away the fright lurking in my belly when I realized how potentially stupid sneaking up on allies in enemy territory was. I could feel my cheeks burn.

"Mission?" Jen exclaimed, stepping out next to Carth. Her eyes closed in exasperation.

"(Mission!)" Zaalbar roared, pushing past Jen to confront me. "(You should not be here!)"

Jen sighed, "Stars, if Gadon finds out you were in the Vulkar ba-"

"He won't!" I insisted. "'Cause none of us are stupid enough to tell him, right?"

"(Mission)," Zaalbar howled mournfully. "(You promised me)."

"I know, I know, okay? It's just- I was scared out there. And I knew I could hack into the Vulkars' system and use the vids to find a clear path to you guys." I put my hands on my hips in what I hoped was a confident pose, and stared all three of them in the eye, one by one. "Look, I know what I'm doing, okay? And my 'scanner says it's all clear to the Lower City lift. Which is that way."

I pointed a finger smugly, and their heads all swiveled to face down the corridor. Jen turned back to shot me a stare that, I hoped, held some respect amidst the amusement.

"Okay, let's get out of here then," Jen murmured, taking the lead and drawing a vibrosword she must have picked up from a Vulkar corpse.

Carth made to follow her, but first glanced at me, and his expression still bordered on horrified. "Don't- don't ever do that again," he said quietly. "Between you and Jen, it's surprising I haven't turned grey."

Jen snickered. "I'm sure I can see some white hairs, old man," she teased as Carth stepped next to her.

Carth threw her a half-hearted glare. "I need a vacation," he muttered to himself.

I glanced up at my old buddy Big Z to see him staring solemnly at me. It had taken me years to decipher the expressions of my Wookiee friend, but I knew that one. Disappointment. I sighed.

"Come on, admit it, Onasi. You'd be bored if Mission and I weren't around," Jen said in a light voice, ahead of us.

"I'm sorry, Big Z," I said quietly. "It's the truth, though. I was scared. And I don't do well being left behind."

"Bored?" Carth replied in a mock-outraged voice. "Bored? Listen, sister, I get more welcome attention from a blaster rifle!"

Zaalbar sighed, and then nodded at me. He almost seemed understanding, then, and my heart lifted a little.

We'd neared the only exit of the hallway; an opening that, according to my schematics, should lead into a spacious room that housed the lifts out of here. Jen halted just before the entrance, her weapon raised and her off-hand sending a shushing motion to Carth. "I named you well, Blaster Boy," she whispered, "Though I seriously think you need to get out more."

With a wicked grin, she leapt into the open doorway, Carth hot on her heels with his guns raised. We heard no audible sound of battle, indicating that this part of the base was still, thankfully, unoccupied.

"I get out plenty!" I heard Carth protest feebly.

"(Those two bicker like a mated pair)," Zaalbar grumbled as we turned into the room. He gave me a quick look. "(Although, do not tell Jen Sahara I said that)."

I giggled. "No way, Big Z. Boy, do you get funny ideas sometimes."

xXx

The trip back was uneventful. The Vulkar lift had groaned and squeaked while we ascended, and we'd all been set to fight battle when the doors opened. Zaalbar even put the swoop part down in readiness. But either the alarm had sent the Vulkars running, or they'd had some other warning. My guess was that the Vulkars had all retreated into one of their other, more fortified, strongholds.

We'd come out near Gadon's base of operations, and as we crossed into familiar ground I felt the tenseness leave my shoulders. Carth had even put his blaster away, although he did keep his hand glued to his hip.

We were an odd bunch – a Twi'lek teenager, two Humans, and a Wookiee carrying a machine part – but no passerby gave us a second glance. It was the Lower City after all. We got all sorts down here.

"So, you guys gonna spill before we see Gadon, or what?" I demanded, as we crossed behind Javyar's Cantina. In my head, this marked my own territory. I always felt a bit uneasy at the Vulkar end of the Lower City, but Central was home.

"We're all a team now, right?" Jen posed that to Carth, more as a demand than anything else.

He stared at her for a moment, before nodding agreement.

"Gadon's offered to sponsor us in the swoop race, in return for the accelerator," Jen said. I felt my eyes widen with wonder. Whoa!

"Swoop racing? Awesome!" I cried. "Whoa, Jen, you're a swooper?""

"Um, I-"

"I always wanted to enter, but Zaerdra will never let me!" I gushed. "Too young, she says, but hah! I can beat nearly all the Beks on the practice track!"

Jen stopped walking, and turned to face me. "I-"

"I love swoop racing!" I burst out- even talking about it made me grin. My favourite daydream was, one day, being a famous swoop racer for the Beks. I should be out there this year. Other gangs had put forward riders younger than me. "Y'know, there never used to be an age limit until I took an interest in swooping. Zaerdra convinced Gadon to put one in place for the Beks last year just to stop me entering any of the races."

"(She worries, Mission)," Zaalbar rumbled. "(People die from swoop racing)."

"So?" I challenged. "There's only about one death a year!" I fell silent. If only I could race! I had a natural skill for swooping, I knew that much. Gadon would happily sponsor me, if not for Zaerdra! It suddenly struck me as odd that Jen and Carth were entering the competition. And Gadon made them go to an awful lot of effort just to race. Doesn't seem like him.

"Why do you guys want to enter, anyways?" I asked.

"We want the prize," Jen said simply.

I wrinkled my nose. "Ew, a slave? You're gonna set that person free, aren't you?" Why would they want a Republic officer, anyway? I remembered Jen's slip about Carth being a pilot. Everything fell into place, and I couldn't believe how stupid I'd been. My mouth dropped.

"Whoa, you guys are with the Republic, aren't you?" I whispered in awe.

Carth was looking ahead stonily; I guess he'd reconciled himself to Jen spilling the beans, but wasn't taking any part himself.

"I guess," Jen said weakly.

"(You are making a habit of rescuing people, Jen Sahara. You have a lot of honour)."

"It's not something I want to do regularly, Zaalbar. After Bastila, I'm heading off this rock."

My head twitched up. Bastila? Is that the name of the Republic Officer? I was certain I'd heard it elsewhere. The Sith! "She's that Jedi the Sith are after!" the words burst out. Jen nodded at me. Wow! What a quest! I loved hearing stories about Jedi and Dark Jedi, although I'd never really been sure how much of their mystical power was true and how much was hearsay. Sometimes I wondered if all that mind-tricking and Force talk was just that: talk to make the Sith scarier and the Jedi more impressive.

Regardless, our future now seemed full of possibilities, and I almost didn't notice when we reached the Bek base.

Jen and Carth hurried to meet with Gadon, and I lurked behind to catch up on the news. Zaalbar had disappeared in the direction of the Beks' kitchen, which didn't surprise me considering the ominous rumblings I'd heard from his stomach earlier.

When I strolled over to Gadon, I saw Zaerdra wielding her blade and glaring furiously at Jen.

"Sheesh, where's the fire, Zaerdra?" I called. "You look ready to kill someone."

"I am not cheating you," Gadon was saying mildly to Jen, but his expression was tense. "At least grant me the bare courtesy of finishing before you yell at me. In my own base." Gadon inclined his head towards a group of armed Beks. Alarm jangled through me. What did Jen say?

Zaerdra turned towards me, her violet eyes boring into mine angrily. "(This Human has no respect. If she threatens Gadon again, I will kill her)." Her headtails were twitching with furious threats of bodily harm.

"No! She saved my life!" I burst out. Zaerdra's glare deepened.

Jen had a look of black rage on her face, but it seemed to settle down when she glanced my way. She took a few deep breaths, and started talking in a controlled voice. "Gadon, I was under the impression I'd be using the accelerator in the race in return for obtaining it. If I use one of your standard bikes I'll have no chance of winning. I thought that was the deal."

"The deal was that I'd sponsor you in the race," Gadon told her flatly.

"So you get what you want, but I don't get anything." Jen had crossed her arms, and her tone turned low and ominously quiet. Carth tensed, his eyes pinned on Zaerdra.

"(She is asking for trouble. I am quite happy to give it to her)," Zaerdra growled at me. I saw Jen's eyes flick briefly over the Twi'lek.

"I have no use for a Republic officer," Gadon responded. "I had thought to turn her over to you, in return for what you have done for us, after the Beks win the swoop race. That was before you started threatening me." His expression was hard, unyielding. I don't think I've ever seen Gadon this angry. Well, not since Brejik turned traitor, anyways.

"Jen." I decided it was time for everyone to chill out. "Don't get so tense – we're all friends here, right? Gadon's a good man, you can trust him. And Gadon, Jen may act a little grouchy, but she's really nice – she saved both my life and Big Z's!"

Everyone turned to stare at me in surprise. "What?" I said, a little defensively.

The corner of Jen's mouth twitched, right before she let out a peal of laughter. "You're right, Mission. I'm sorry Gadon, I guess I'm not used to trusting people."

Gadon nodded at her. "Apology accepted." He said no more.

"So," Jen prompted. "Is this our deal then? If a Bek wins, we get the prize?"

Gadon stared at her hard for a moment, his eyes narrowing, before he finally seemed to relent. "Yes."

"Okay," Jen said slowly. "Then why sponsor me at all?"

"For your sake, rather than mine," Gadon explained. "I don't trust Brejik to give his prize away quietly. The Beks are only there to win the race, and hence the loyalty of the undecided smaller gangs. If Brejik pulls something with your Republic officer – and I doubt he'll give up such a prize easily – then it's up to you whether you act on the scene. The Beks will not help. We do not wish to start a bloodbath."

Jen had crossed her arms and pursed her lips, obviously deep in thought. "Fair enough. If all four of us are there then we could be ready for any stunts."

A look of unease crossed Gadon's lined face. "Only riders and mechanics are allowed on the swoop track. I'm afraid you'll be on your own."

Jen's eyes widened in disbelief. "Oh, this will be fun," she muttered.

Gadon smiled; honestly, I couldn't really see why, but at least he didn't look like he wanted to kill her or boot her out the door anymore. "I hope it will all go as planned. But I'm not fool enough to expect it. Now, you are welcome to stay at the Bek base for the next few days if you wish. But a warning – threaten anyone again and not only is the deal off, but you will be considered an intruder."

Shutters fell over Jen's face. She said nothing, but instead threw Gadon a short, sharp nod of agreement.

"(I still do not trust her)," Zaerdra muttered.

Jen turned to leave, and I pointed her towards the Bek kitchen. As we reached the doorway, Jen paused, just long enough to throw an impish grin back at Zaerdra.

"(The feeling's mutual, sweetheart!)" Jen fired the words with a cheeky wave, before slipping ahead of me into the next room. I stayed only long enough to see Zaerdra blush dark indigo in outrage, and then ran outta there before she heard me laughing. Far out! Jen knows Ryl as well?

"You sound like a gizka, your accent is so bad," I giggled as I caught up to Jen. She threw me a jaunty wink.

Over a free meal in the kitchen, the four of us decided to take up Gadon's offer and camp out at the Base for the next few days. I was pretty excited to be watching my friend in the race, but I couldn't help a traitorous feeling of envy. I could be good.

I caught Jen alone later that day in the same kitchenette.

"So, Jen, you going to do some practice runs on the swoop track?" I asked, jumping up to sit on the plasteel table that carried a dozen dirty eating receptacles. It creaked under my weight.

Jen's face scrunched up in annoyance. "I asked around, but the track's been shut down in preparation for the race. Guess I'm going to have to wing it." She shot me a sidelong glance. "If only I knew how to swoop... or knew someone who did."

And, once more, Jen stunned me into wonder. "Jen!" I hissed, swinging my legs. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

A mischievous smile curved her lips. "What do you say, Mission? You up for a prank?"

I paused, thinking it over. "I dunno, Jen. It'll annoy the snot out of Gadon and Zaerdra – which I don't mind, but she's shot people for less, y'know?"

Jen snorted. "She doesn't scare me, Mission. Besides, I wasn't planning on telling them."

Holding back a grin of excitement was hard. "How would this work? 'Cause, don't you have to be there on the track, for that Jedi woman?"

"Yes – and I want to concentrate purely on rescuing her. It makes senses to have a more seasoned rider racing." She looked at me slyly. "I need a mechanic, you know. If you can sort that out, then we'll switch outfits on the day."

Exhilaration punched hard into my stomach as I started believing that we, really, could pull this off. "And Big Z, Carth? We gonna hide it from them?"

"No," she said. "Leave them to me. I'll make them understand I need your skills."

The nod to my abilities made me blush slightly in pleasure. Jen really, truly, thought I was a useful member of our group. Everyone else just treated me like a wayward kid. She must had read something in my expression, for hers softened with a small smile.

"They don't realize yet who turned the turrets off," she murmured. "You saved our butts in there, Mission."

"Oh. Yeah! I guess I did," I grinned at her, and then jumped off the table, grabbing her hand impulsively in a handshake. "Before you change your mind," I said, shaking her hand vigorously.

"Okay," she replied, laughing, and extracted her limb. "It's a deal."

xXx