"You know, recruitment must be bad if the Sith have resorted to grabbing people off the street."

Desiraye threw barbs at her captor. They were all she could throw, after all, locked in a cage.

"Is that the best you can do?" The woman laughed, "Sarcastic words? You talk brave, girl, but I feel your fear. I taste it. If you would only agree to join us, I would release you from your bonds, end your suffering."

"I would rather die than join you. I'm a Jedi."

Her arms and legs sported large burns across most of their surface. The clothing had been burned away in some areas. That was after only a week, and it wasn't likely that the Sith woman would release her new toy anytime soon.

"Yes, you keep saying that. But what have the Jedi given you, really? They abandoned you, killed your Master because they were afraid of you."

Desiraye flinched.

"How do you know about that?"

"I know everything about you, Desiraye Toral. Who your family is, what happened to you as a child, even your true name. I know things you haven't even told your so-called friends."

Desiraye didn't have the chance to answer before searing pain surged through her body again. She nearly passed out, but held onto the Force to stay conscious. She wouldn't give this woman the satisfaction of knowing she'd inflicted that much pain.

"I can see that this is not the way to convert you." The woman sighed. "Perhaps what you need is incentive, not punishment."

She turned off the electrical charge.

"Very well, let's rethink this." And she did pause to think for a moment. "Your Mandalorian lover. The Council would never permit you to stay with him. Join us and you can have him."

"That's not how it... we're not..."

"Oh, my mistake." The woman rolled her eyes doubtfully. "Whatever he may be to you, the Council forbids such attachment. We hold no such restrictions. You would be free to do as you wish."

Desiraye said nothing.

"Very well, I will leave you to consider my offer. One of my men will be in to clean you up."

With that the woman turned to go.

"Wait."

And she turned back with a prideful smile.

"He's... not here. Not on Korriban."

"We will have someone locate him, deliver him to you."

With that the woman was gone. Desiraye closed her eyes and slumped to the floor of her cage, exhausted and barely able to stand. Her hold on the Force was fading fast, and as she let it go she sank into sweet, dark oblivion.

….

Yuthura stalked out of the room. She finally had what she wanted, what she needed. But it hadn't been easy. It'd taken a weak to break the girl. Never had it taken her so long before. But then, most of her recruits came to her on their own.

But no matter. The deed was done.

Moving into her personal quarters, she rang for her servant. The man came almost instantly, standing before her with his head bowed.

"The girl is ready. Clean her up. And there's someone I need you to find."

….

He was surprised by the girl. He'd seen her in the cantina, watched her deal with those thugs like they were nothing. She'd intrigued him. But now, inside a Force cage after a week of torture...

Well, she looked like hell.

Yuthura thought the girl had given in, but he knew better. He could still see the defiance in her eyes, the fire. She'd lied to Yuthura, and somehow the woman had believed her.

Thoughts ran a mile a minute in his head as he released her from her cage. She swayed a bit when she tried to stand, but jerked away when he reached out to steady her.

"Easy," He soothed, "I'm here to help."

She'd looked at him with clouded eyes. He could see the conflict within her - part of her wanted to tear his face off for touching her. He was just a filthy Sith, after all. But another part, a larger part, was grateful for the assistance. She needed help and she knew it.

"Who..." She licked her cracked lips and tried again. "Who are you?"

"I'm the guy that's gonna get you out of here."

She stared at him for a moment, uncomprehending.

"But you... you work for her..."

Her words were slurred, but he could make them out well enough.

"Not exactly. I'm only here until I can find my ticket out. And you may just be it. So how about it - I help you, you help me."

"How am I supposed to help you? I have no way off this planet."

"Your friends are already on their way here to find you. I was supposed to contact them and get the Mandalorian, but they found you first. So you'll have a ship. A ship that I can hitch a ride on."

He helped her stand up and move to a bed.

"We'll talk about it more later, when you're more focused. Get your rest for now, cause you'll need to be sharp later."

….

Akanni and Canderous slipped into the Dreshdae cantina unnoticed. Well, Akanni did, anyway. It was unlikely that Canderous could 'slip' into any location without people noticing. They sat at the bar, and as they ordered drinks Akanni chatted up the bartender.

'Anything interesting going on lately?"

The man shook his head.

"How do you mean?"

"Oh, you know... bar fights, unusual people showing up, that sort of thing."

"There are people in and out of here all the time," The barkeep said, "Mostly regulars, some new faces. But there was this one girl a few days ago. Came in and sat in the back."

"Something unusual about that?"

"Well, usually the new ones sit here at the bar, get the latest information. You know, like you two are doing now."

"And this girl didn't?" Akanni questioned. The man nodded.

"Right. Sat in the back like she was hiding. Bit of trouble, she had. Carried a lightsaber too. But I... I didn't see anything."

Akanni smiled in spite of herself. She knew the effects of Force persuasion when she saw them.

"And what happened to this girl?"

"No idea. Never saw her again though."

The man said nothing further as he went to serve another patron.

"That's her, alright."

"You sure it ain't a Sith mind-screwing the guy?"

"Positive. The Sith wouldn't care if he saw anything."

"So what's the next move? Not like we can go banging down doors until we find her." He sounded disappointed in that fact.

"Well, we have to find a way into the academy."

"Or you could just let her come to you."

Akanni and Canderous looked up at the voice behind them. A brown-haired man stood there, as casual as he would've been if talking about the weather or moisture vaporators.

"What do you know?" Akanni questioned him warily. He took a seat beside her and ordered a drink.

"I know that Yuthura Ban has a new toy, and she thinks she just broke it," He said, chuckling lightly. Suddenly he sobered and looked into Akanni's eyes. "And 'broken' is not what you want to hear in regard to a Jedi in the hands of the Sith."

"And how do you know all this?"

"I got my connections. I'm Yuthura's right-hand guy, you could say. At least until I can get off this rock. I know where she's keeping your girl. She sent me to find you, actually."

"Find us? Why?"

The man bit off a laugh.

"Sorry, let me be a little more clear. Not you, sweetheart." He looked to Canderous. "You."

"And why would this Yuthura send you to find me?"

"Because as I said, she thinks she's broken your little Jedi girlfriend. And she used you to do it. It's a lie, of course, but Yuthura doesn't know that. Your girl is actually a pretty decent liar."

"So Yuthura thinks that Raye is ready to join the Sith, and Canderous is supposed to be with her?" Akanni questioned. She looked to her companion. "This could be exactly what we need. If she's already in, she can look around and find the map."

She kept her voice low so as not to be overheard by the man beside her.

"You know, I couldn't really care less why you're here or what you're looking for," He said. He sounded bored. "All I care about is getting off this planet. You help me do that, and you can do whatever you want."

"So you're just in it for a ride. You should know we're heading to Dantooine after this."

"Doesn't matter. I can find another ship there."

"Then why don't you find a ship here?"

The man finished his drink and watched Canderous through hooded eyes.

"Cause the kind of people who come to Korriban aren't the type to take on passengers. I gotta take what I can get, which is why I've been stuck here for so long waiting for someone like you guys to show up. Whatever got you guys separated is working perfectly for me."

He stood then and turned toward the door.

"Return to your ship. I'll be in touch.

"Wait," Akanni called as he walked away, "What's your name?"

The man seemed to consider what to say before answering. Akanni could feel the conflict inside him, but sensed no deception involving their plans. Finally he spoke again.

"Atton. Atton Rand."