Had to re upload because the chapter got extremely corrupted for some reason, in other news: progress is slow on the rest of the story but I have finally written past Taris and onto Dantooine. I'm hoping to have the entirety of Dantooine done in like 4 or 5 long chapters instead of over 20 short ones.

Excitement, cheers, glee… and grime; the main characteristics of the yearly swoop tournament on Taris, spectators cheered as the racers themselves were paraded in front. Carth marvelled as he walked through the bay to the main part of the arena, from what he could tell there were a lot of gangs getting into the race, but all hype was around the rivalry between the Vulkars and the Beks, Carth was slightly worried that it might all end in a shootout and his weapons had been confiscated upon arrival to the racing floor.

Carth's fears were quickly put to rest as he saw the towering security droids and turrets that had been placed out in order to keep any violence at bay, having witnessed first-hand the damage these could do, Carth shuddered slightly as he continued on towards the racers bay. As soon as he entered there was a major announcement of all the racers that would be participating in the race, there wasn't much fanfare surrounding the announcement of Carth. A nearby Ithorian began to speak to Carth and what little he was able to understand told him that the Ithorian was the Bek mechanic.

"He's just letting you know that the engine is tooled and ready to go." A nearby voice rang out; startling the Republic Soldier, Carth scanned the room and spotted a spectator nearby a speeder.

"Thanks, I suppose, who are you?" Carth asked reasonably as he passively observed the room, there were two balconies on either side of the length and heavy blast doors on both ends of the room, in the centre were a desk marked with the words 'Race Master'. Behind the desk, Carth could make out what appeared to be a cage with two guards stood beside it.

"I'm your interpreter, no need to exchange names." The man said, the Ithorian said something in its language that seemed to only consist of throaty and wet noises that sounded like bubbles popping. "He says you've still got a while until the race starts, if you want you can go to the Race Master and have a trial run of the course. I'd recommend doing so; the course can be pretty dangerous."

Carth nodded at the man as he walked to the Race Master to set up a time trial, as he drew closer, he was able to make out the inhabitant of the cage.

It was Bastila.

Carth gasped but kept his emotions hidden as he looked at the captive Jedi, she seemed to be dazed and didn't recognize Carth, although he suspected that even if she did, she knew better than to endanger any rescue attempt. Carth looked away from the cage as the nearby guard noticed and waved him away.

As Carth turned his face darkened significantly, knowing he was now the only person with the slightest hope of letting Bastila walk free. Before stopping for too long, Carth approached the race master and put in for a time trial, he half listened as the race master described the track layout and some of the hazards he would be facing. Carth had navigated battles with hundreds if not thousands of fighters buzzing around, he was sure that a swoop track would not get the better of him. After the briefing, Carth made his way to the swoop bike to start his time trial.

Tali and Mission were on the spectator floor watching the screens intently as Carth made his trial run, the time was half decent, but it would not make a good one in the real race. The spectator floor was really starting to fill up as more and more people were drawn in to the race, Carth started another trial – his last before the race, to test the engine and make sure he knew what he was getting into.

Mission and Tali watched apprehensively, they knew what they would have to do if Carth lost the race.

Carth meanwhile was nervous, he'd pulled off impressive manoeuvres during battles, but he had never really piloted a swoop bike and beads of sweat started to form on his forehead as he sat in the seat ready to begin his first heat. The engine was making the bike vibrate, increasing Carth's anxiety with each passing moment.

The lights went green, and Carth set off beginning his first heat.

The crowd cheered as Carth pulled back in to the Swoop garage, the Ithorian mechanic threw his arms up in the air in a triumphant motion, the interpreter stood beside him with a wide grin splitting his face.

"For a rookie that is a damn fine time!" The interpreter cheered as Carth stepped off the bike to quickly catch his breath before the next heat. The Ithorian walked over to the bike and flipped open the engine compartment, no doubt to check the stability of the engine. "You're on top of the leader board for now, your time might get beaten though, so don't celebrate too early."

"I scraped a couple of walls, I'm still not used to the sheer power of the engine." Carth replied, less than pleased with his performance in the heat, knowing he could have done much better.

A fanfare rang out on the opposite end of the garage as another swoop bike pulled in, suddenly the cheers were no longer aimed at Carth as another racer had trumped his time considerably. The interpreter lost his grin as he studied the leader board, the Vulkar rider, Redros, had secured a huge lead over Carth, but the full power of the engine still had not been reached. The Ithorian closed the engine compartment, its hands blackened with oil and grease, it uttered something that was entirely lost on Carth, barely able to understand any of it.

"He says that he's trying to squeeze more juice out of the engine but it's starting to vibrate under all the pressure. You can't hit or scrape any more walls, or the engine might explode." The interpreter translated the Ithorian after a few seconds, his grin had entirely vanished as Carth climbed back into the bike to begin the second heat. His concentration building at the same pace as his anxiety.

This time as Carth pulled in his time was nigh unbeatable, a scorching 23 seconds, and from the reactions of other racers, it seemed like the race was over. After all the heats from the other racers were completed, the race master announced Carth the winner of the Taris swoop race and presented a trophy, however, Carth was eager to be presented his "prize" so that he could return with Bastila to the hideout and begin to formulate a plan to get off Taris.

Suddenly, Brejik stepped onto the race floor and glared at Carth. "Stop now!" He announced as three guards flanked him, weapons at the ready. "We have just learned that the prize is no mere Republic Officer, but a Jedi, and a valuable one at that so the Vulkars withdraw her as our prize."

The race master turned to face Brejik "Brejik, you know the rules: once a prize has been put forward it cannot be withdrawn."

Brejik turned his head and in an instant had whipped out his blaster and blown a smoking hole through the race master's head, his guards quickly began shooting up the floor and Carth dived into cover behind the swoop bike as the Ithorian mechanic and translator were peppered with laser bolts and fell to the floor dead.

As the Vulkars closed in Carth heard the screech of metal being pulled apart and spotted Bastila forcing the cage open and pushing the guard to the floor, she looted a vibro-double-blade from him and stood at the ready.

Brejik turned around with speed and stared in fear at the Jedi in front of him "What?! You were restrained! This isn't possible!" Brejik backed off and gestured to his guards

Bastila almost smirked "Did you really think you had me restrained Brejik? You're more of a fool than I thought."

"Men, attack but do not kill her, she is too valuable!" Brejik screamed as Bastila charged the first of Brejik's soldiers. Carth stayed behind the swoop bike, weapon less.

On the spectator floor there was a lot of confusion as the images on the screens had abruptly cut out leaving nothing but static, Mission and Tali shared a quick glance before moving towards the entrance to the race floor without even uttering a word. They both knew that something was going on and Carth was in there unarmed.

A Black Vulkar was stationed at the door and refused the two of them entry, Tali and Mission were having none of it and simply subdued the sentry and started forcing open the door which was locked tight but not soundproof, Mission could hear the sounds of blasters on the other side.

"Yep, definitely trouble." Mission laughed as she worked the door lock.

"Let's just get in there and help, alright." Tali snapped as she came up beside the young Twi'lek.

Brejik backed up further as Bastila cut down the second to last of Brejik's guards, Carth had moved up and scavenged a blaster from one of the fallen foes. Bastila turned as she heard Carth coming up behind her, she was ready to attack but stopped as she recognised him, "Carth…? What are you doing here?"

"Rescuing you!" He said as he ducked down behind a nearby swoop bike, bringing Bastila down with him. Bastila turned to protest but quickly stopped as several blaster bolts whizzed over their heads "Let's just deal with these thugs then I can explain."

"Rescuing me?" Bastila mocked, "You call this a rescue?"

"Modest as ever I see." Carth remarked as he took a pot shot over the swoop, hitting the last guard in the arm but not subduing him.

Just then the doors to the spectator hall opened and Mission and Tali stepped in firing at Brejik and his goons.

Brejik jumped to cover and pulled out his commlink, "I need backup!" He took a peek over his makeshift barricade only to see the last of his henchman be riddled with hits and fall to the ground.

Tali, Mission, Carth and Bastila began moving up towards the now outnumbered Brejik when suddenly the door on Brejik's side of the race floor blew open and six more bodyguards charged through the smoke firing their blasters at the four of them. Carth and Bastila fell back to the swoop bike they were using as cover while Mission and Tali took cover behind the former race master's desk, taking shots whenever they could. Brejik joined his guards and they began to move up through the floor.

Mission and Tali activated their energy shields and stood up, trading a few blows against their shields as they returned fire, bringing down two of the attackers and moving closer towards Carth and Bastila. Carth saw the two of them approach and stood up to take a few shots, knocking down one more of the guards. Brejik and his guards went on the defensive and took cover not too far from Carth and Bastila's position.

Seeing their opportunity, Mission and Tali aggressively pushed towards the enemy and downed one more of Brejik's reinforcements. Suddenly, as if from nowhere, Tali was jumped by one of Brejik's men and he brought the butt of his rifle hard into Tali's faceplate, knocking her to the ground and cracking the glass on her helmet. A distinct whoosh of air was heard as her suit depressurized, Tali lay motionless, taken off guard by the attack and in shock at the breach of her suit, she slowly opened her eyes and saw the crack on her faceplate.

"Tali!" Carth shouted, spotting the event and rushing back towards her, killing the man who attacked her in a fit of rage. He dived to her side and began dragging her body to cover amidst a hail of gunfire.

Mission continued firing as Bastila jumped up from cover and used the force to stun one of the attackers before driving her blade into his stomach and diving at the last of the attackers as Mission downed the other. With Brejik alone he stepped out of cover to take another shot, but Bastila force pushed him to the ground and drove her blade through his chest before he could say another word.

With the threats down, Mission and Bastila joined Carth as he looked over Tali. "Bastila, you need to help her." Carth pleaded as Tali breathed heavily and her heart rate increased.

"It would help if I knew what was wrong." Bastila said as she knelt down besides the Quarian.

"Tali has a weak immune system, exposure to the air could kill her! Can't you use the force to protect her from infection?" Mission questioned as she stood beside the three of them.

"I'll try." Bastila focused herself on the being in front of her, she was confused at exactly what she was looking at but nonetheless attempted to isolate Tali's immune system through the force and slowly helped to lower her heart rate and her breathing, she focused on the weakest parts of Tali's immune system and strengthened their ability to fight infection. Bastila's confusion over Tali's identity quickly parted as she understood what she was doing.

The last thing Tali felt before blacking out was a sense of calm and ease as Bastila reached out to her with the force.