Kotor Revan Reborn

by Reven Onasi

Betrayed by his apprentice, captured by the Jedi, mind broken and reformed into that of a soldier. Revan fights for answers to his past. Once he finds them, will he fight for life and the light, or bring the galaxy to it knees? Story follows the major events of the game. Contains Mature content. All characters involved in mature content are 18 or older. Thanks for reading!

9. Chapter 9 The Race

Authors note; For anyone interested, I went back and reedited my first three chapters to patch up my early writing mistakes. I'm a horrible editor, but I did my best and I hope they read better now.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, it helps me improve for later chapters. Thanks for reading everyone.

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Chapter 9

The Race

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Things moved quickly the following morning. Waking early, Mission and I showered, dressed, and headed to the mess hall for a quick meal before heading to the hanger. The room was an ants nest of activity, dozens of people darting around the room collecting and loading equipment into a massive transport big enough to haul the swoop and what seemed like half the contents of the hanger with it. The behemoth was at least twenty meters long five meters wide and four meters tall. It was shaped like a simple metallic grey box with a 10 person cab at the front. The swoop was fastened down in the transport along with a number of tool boxes, crates of spare parts and diagnostic equipment. Standing at the foot of the transport were two people I hadn't seen before, dressed in light combat suits. A tall, handsome Twi'lek male and a shorter human female. They were waving small hand scanners over everything headed into the transport.

"The thing is a beast isn't it?" the head engineer said, coming to stand beside us.

"I'm impressed." I said.

"The exchange doesn't mess around. Only the best for their racers." she replied.

"It's not yours?"

"No, the exchange provides transport for all the teams, makes it harder for us to cheat." she said, with a grin.

"Makes sense." I said, nodding. The short woman headed off to oversee the rest of the packing, leaving Mission and I alone in the chaos to wait.

Zaalbar joined us a few minutes later, he leaned in to take a deep sniff of the air around us. Then he scooped us both up into a massive hug like we weighed nothing. "Good for you," he said to Mission, setting us down, "I'm happy for you both." Mission's smile was radiant, despite the blush that colored her cheeks. I couldn't do anything other than smile at the big Wookiee's obvious happiness.

"Do we smell different Z?" Mission asked, looking curious.

"Very much, it's difficult to describe," Zaalbar said, and paused looking for words, "Your scents have intertwined in a way, the bond is new but strong." he finished, smiling and exposing his wicked looking canines.

We chatted together while we waited for Carth. We didn't have to wait long, he ambled up looking disheveled and sleep deprived.

"Long night?" Mission asked.

"I was on the sim, until about six hours ago," he turned to look over at the swoop, "and I never sleep well before a mission."

"Are you up for this?" she asked, looking concerned.

"Yes," he gave her a confident smile, "I have been doing this a long time, and this time I won't be dodging turbolasers, no problem."

I squeezed her hand, matching Carth's smile, "We got this, don't worry." She nodded, squeezing back.

An hour later we were all loaded up and headed across the City to the swoop track. The colossal structure could be seen from kilometers away. The stadium was thirty stories tall, with room for over half a million spectators. An inclosed track stretched away from it in either direction. Ninety kilometers long, it was covered by mirrored, reinforced transparisteel. Two hundred meters wide down the twenty kilometer straightaway, it wove between the Super Towers, narrowing at a few points to less than ten meters across. It was by far the most magnificent track in the sector. Only the tracks on Nar Shaddaa and Coruscant could really claim to outdo it.

We joined a line of identical heavy transports heading into a massive hanger under the track. Dozens of identical bays dotted the hanger in a checkerboard pattern, half a dozen workbenches and a long yellow rectangle to mark the landing space for the transports. We settled above one about fifty meters into the hanger and came to a whisper soft landing.

Our driver turned back in his seat to look at us. "Alright ladies, this is your stop if you need something, flag down a floor attendant. Until the event is over, no one in, or out. You're here for the duration. Good luck," he paused to look at Carth, "don't die." He nodded once and hopped down out of the transport and disappeared into the quickly forming crowd.

"Solid advice." I said.

"Yes, very helpful. His words of wisdom will stay with me always." Carth deadpanned.

Mission laughed and hopped down after the driver. "I thought it was insightful Carth." she called up to us.

"Real 'meaning of life' stuff." I added, managing to keep a straight face.

"Both of you are hilarious, you know that?" he said, but a smile twitched at the corners of his mouth.

"Come on let's do this." I said with a grin, and jumped down after Mission. My side complained at the impact, but it was only a minor annoyance, I was almost completely healed. It still surprised me, I couldn't remember ever healing that quickly before.

"How's your side? It looks like you're feeling good." Mission asked, seeing me press my hand to my side as I straightened.

"It's good, I'm pretty much healed, surprisingly."

Zaalbar jumped down next to us landing like a cat, without a whisper of sound. "I am very pleased to hear it, we were very concerned for you Rorick."

"Thanks Z." I said, giving him a genuine smile. I was starting to like the walking carpet. He was a bit stoic, but solid and dependable.

We got to work unloading the equipment and setting up the work area. The short engineer, who's name I learned was Sam, bustled about directing us as we unloaded the gear. Once the bay was set up to her satisfaction we unloaded the swoop. When she started it up, it's quad repulsor engines roared like chemical thrusters. The shear power of the vehicle vibrated the ground around it. She gently guided the angular U shaped craft down out of the transport and settled it in the middle of the bay.

She shut it down and hopped out nimbly. "That thing scares the crap out of me every time I move it." she said, and visibly shuddered. She turned and dug in a crate coming out with a flight suit. "Change into this," she said tossing it to Carth, "It's a.."

"Reactive G suit," Carth interrupted, "Used them for years." he said and climbed back up into the cabin of the transport to change.

"Right he's a pilot, I forgot." she said absently and started checking over the swoop.

The suit would measure the force Carth was under from acceleration and reactively constrict around his body, forcing blood from his limbs back into his core. Without it he would likely pass out from the perceived G-forces.

When he came back out clad in the matte black one piece suit, Sam pointed over at the trunk she dug the suit out of. "You'll find a neural interface band in there, put it on as well. It will allow you to have a direct mental link with the swoops throttle. At maximum thrust you will be pulling about ten G's, so brace yourself if you have to use full power, you won't be able to move under that acceleration."

"That's barely within the suit's tolerance, I might pass out." Carth said, looking thoughtful, but not overly worried.

While Sam and Carth discussed the abilities of his equipment I laid a hand on Mission shoulder. "I'm going to go scout out the Vulkars bay, I want to find Bastila and see what we will be up against if things go south."

She pulled out a data pad and executed a few programs instead of answering. A few moments later dozens of camera feeds popped up on the pad. She scanned them for a minute before tapping one, it expanded to fill the screen and she nodded. "That's them."

"Did you just slice into the stadium's net?" I asked, impressed.

She grinned and looked around, she set her sights deeper into the hanger past the rapidly filling swoop bays. "I sure did, they're this way." she said and headed off, weaving between technicians and pilots.

We passed a dozen bays before she came to a halt and peaked around the corner of a parked heavy transport. "Yep that's them, I can't believe the bastard had the balls to come himself." She turned back to me before continuing, "I don't see Bastila though."

Peeking around to look for myself I saw them only a few meters away, Two large pale skinned humans flanked a small coffee colored man, standing next to a collapsible work table scattered with tools and parts. Near their swoop two small Rodian women, talked with their heads together like they were discussing a secret only they knew. One wore an acceleration suit, the other in mechanics overalls, tools sprouting from a myriad of pockets. I couldn't see Bastila with them, but we were side on to their transport- she might have been locked up inside.

"The short dark skinned man?" I asked, pulling back to look at Mission.

"That's Brejik, she must be here if he came himself. He wouldn't trust anyone else with her, she's too valuable." she answered.

"Let's circle around and get a look in the transport, she might be secured in there." I said, starting back the way we came. Keeping at least three bays between us and the Vulkars we worked our way back around until we were at an angle to see into the transport. But when we finally got close enough to have a clear view, the cavernous storage compartment was empty.

"Any ideas?" I nearly growled, seriously considering going over there and beating Brejik until he brought Bastila to me.

"You can feel emotions?" She paused and waited for me to nod confirmation before continuing. "Can you distinguish one person from another?"

I nodded again.

"What's the range on that?" she finished.

I sighed, irritated with myself, it hadn't even occurred to me to search for her that way. "I'm not sure, but I can find out." I said, and closed my eyes. I let my senses stretch out towards the Vulkars first. I got a general sense of them, when I focused on them they came into clearer focus. The two Rodians were excited and there was love between them, sisters I decided. The three humans seemed almost dark in my mind by comparison. Brejik was by far the worst, greed, ambition and anger swirled within him pushing everything else aside.

Taking another deep breath I let my focus relax trying to push out in all directions. Hundreds of beings assaulted my mind, thousands of emotions and stray thoughts crashed into my consciousness like a physical blow. Overwhelmed by the sudden shock of it all, I drew back in on myself and snapped my eyes open. I could feel the prickle of sweat on my brow, my breathing was heavy and uneven.

"There's too much, too many people. The emotions are like a flood, I can't focus past it." I said, taking slow deep breaths to calm my racing heart.

"How about your connection? Can you use that, follow it to her somehow?" she asked, going at the problem from another angle.

Still unsettled by the ocean of emotions and voices, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes once more. Looking inward this time, I focused on Bastila's bundle of emotions, huddled close to the bright star of power at the core of my mind. Her mind was dim next to that star, muddled and confused. Her thoughts were slow and disorganised. Drugged and barely conscious all I could tell clearly was that she wasn't in any immediate pain. She might have felt closer than the last time I checked but I couldn't be sure.

I opened my eyes and looked down at Mission shaking my head. "I could tell what direction she was in when I first noticed her back in the sewers, but something's changed. I think it might be that they have her so deeply drugged, but I can't tell for sure. She might be closer than she was yesterday, but that's all I've got."

I said, running a hand through my hair in frustration.

"Alright, I'll take a look." Mission said, pulling out her data pad. She skimmed through the camera feeds then searched through some kind of system directory. Finding something that peaked her interest she tapped rapidly on the screen, executing a number of programs at once. "There is an innocuous room titled 'Storage' but it's being protected by some of the best encryption I have ever seen." She paused to bring up a map of the stadium complex. "Here," she said pointing to a room near the top of the structure, "This is it, I think this might be some kind of vault, probably for storing the millions of credits in hard currency and other valuables in the betting pool for the races. If Bastila is here that's where I'd put her."

"You can't break the encryption?" I asked, examining the map.

"It looks like they are using a semi-sentient encryption program, the only way to bypass it would be with a specially programmed AI designed for decryption. I don't have the processing power." she explained, admiration and annoyance warring in her emotions.

"Alright let's go tell the others what we found and make a plan." I said, turning away from the group of Vulkers, trying not let my frustration boil over. Back at our bay we explained the situation to Carth and Zaalbar while Sam ran final safety checks on the swoop.

"We need to find out if she's in there." Carth said, when we finished.

"I agree." Z said, voice like rolling thunder even in the bustling hanger.

"Good," I nodded considering our options, "When is your first heat?"

"About half an hour." Carth replied.

I nodded again thinking, Carth didn't have time to leave so it would have to be Mission and I. Making a decision I looked up at Zaalbar. "Okay, Z stay here, protect Sam and Carth, I wouldn't put it past the Vulkars to take a shot at us. Having Carth killed would be their best move, if they could do it without using any of their own people. Be vigilant, we can't afford mistakes."

The Wookiee nodded his understanding, "I will keep them safe."

"Should we take a weapon?" Mission asked.

"No, I don't think so, I don't want to get caught with one, and I'm confident I'll sense an attack coming, that gives us the edge." I said grinning, the excitement of the hunt growing. "Come on, let's move."

---

Zaalbar watched Little Sister and Life-Bond-Rorick disappear into the crowd with a sense of satisfaction. He was pleased that they had mated. Little Sister had been very lonely since her blood sibling left, the dejection and sadness in her scent was replaced by joy and affection whenever she was near his Life-Bond. In return his Life-Bond's scent had become more calm and stable, no longer spiking with fear and anxiety. Instead he now smelled of affection for Little Sister and calm purpose. They had begun healing something in each other. Family was very important to Zaalbar and for all his people, seeing the two of them form such a bond brought him almost as much satisfaction as it did them.

The Wookiee leaned his back against the transport vessel and settled in to keep watch. His senses were far better then the humans with him, thousands of years on Kashyyyk had adapted his species to survive against some of the most dangerous predators in the galaxy. He could handle anything these little beings might be planning.

A short time later he caught a whiff of malevolence on the air. He twitched an ear in that direction but made no other motion, careful not to look at the threat. He waited concentration focused, but still aware of his surroundings. He heard heavy footsteps off to his left, just out of his field of vision, and coming closer. Uneven breathing and a faltering step. The smell came again, dark and heavy, but manic, prey trying to work itself up to being a predator.

He waited patiently, looking for all the world like he was lost in thought, staring into space. When the prey was only a few feet away he heard the scrape of a blade coming free of a sheath. Zaalbar still waited unmoving, he was standing between his young humans and the would-be hunter, the prey would attack him first and then try to go after them. He readied himself and waited.

The moment he heard the two quick steps of a lunge, Zaalbar exploded into motion. He grabbed his attackers outstretched blade hand, pulled him forward off balance and snatched him by the throat, turned lifting a large human male clear of the ground and slamming him into the transport. Zaalbar roared in triumph and anger, while the pitiful humans legs kicked frantically. The human tried a wild blow with his free arm that slammed into Zaalbar's cheek with all the effect of getting hit with a pillow. The Wookiee roared again while the man's face paled, before he could render his prey unconscious, Carth was beside him.

"Woah there Zaalbar, what's going on?" he asked, making placating motions with his hands.

"This one intended us harm." Z answered and nodded to the blade that had fallen from his attackers hand.

Carth leaned down and picked up the small blade and flipped it between his fingers, with surprising dexterity, before leveling a cold gaze at the human in Zaalbar's grasp.

He was big, but young and so terrified he looked on the verge of passing out. "You made a big mistake son," Carth said, pointing to Zaalbar, "Wookies have the tendency to dismember people who upset them."

Zaalbar, having played this game with Mission many times before shook the air with a deep growl and squeezed the human's wrist until he thought it might break. The young human's bladder emptied itself down his leg making Zaalbar growl again in disgust.

"So why don't you tell us who put you up to this and I'll see if I can convince big Z here to let you live" Carth's voice was cold and emotionless, ignoring how the boy embarrassed himself. Zaalbar thought Carth might actually kill the boy if he didn't get answers, his scent was completely free of sympathy.

Apparently the young human believed he would, "I don't know, I got a message with your images and a five thousand credit reward for each of you," the words flew out in a jumble, desperate to appease them. "That's all I know I swear, the com code was anonymous."

Carth looked at the boy for a long moment narrowing his eyes, "Are you alone? Is anyone working with you on this?" he asked, twirling the knife again.

The boy's eyes darted from Zaalbar to the knife in Carth's, then gave a weak shake of his head, as much as he could with Z's hand around his throat.

Zaalbar caught a sour smell flood from him and growled in annoyance. "He is lying." He said, tightening his grip on the boy's throat.

"I know," Carth said coldly, and spun the blade through his fingers again before continuing, "That is your only freebie kid, lie to me again and I'll take a finger."

The boy went sheet white and shook his head, "She'll kill me." he whispered horrified.

Zaalbar snarled in his face and squeezed, completely cutting off his air supply.

"Son, let me lay this out for you," Carth said, with complete dispassion, "You can tell us who your partner is and we'll let you go. You'll have a chance to run, if you're lucky my team might even kill her." he paused to let that sink in. "Or you can stay silent and we'll kill you right now. Your choice."

Zaalbar let off the pressure so he could breathe, and they waited for the boy to catch his breath. After a few gasps he met Carth's eyes and swallowed reflexively. "Her name is Xira, red skinned Twi'lek, 160 centimeters, grey eyes," He looked completely defeated as he spoke. "She's much better than me, and she's after the tall guy with black hair."

Carth looked at him for a long moment before he spoke, "You don't know the man's name?" he finally asked.

"We weren't given names, only images."

"Alright kid, you're free to go," he said waving a hand, "word to the wise though, find a different line of work."

Zaalbar dropped his captive and stepped back. The boy was running almost before his feet hit the ground, he ducked behind the transport across from them and disappeared in moments.

"He will warn his partner." Zaalbar rumbled.

"I don't think he will, if he warns her, she will know he gave her up. He's so scared of her I doubt he'll risk it," Carth said, handing Zaalbar the short blade before continuing, "But even if he does we still have an advantage."

"What is that?" Zaalbar asked skeptically.

"They don't know who we are. If they did, they never would have sent someone like him. Rorick and Mission can handle the type of assassin that would work with him," he paused to look down at his chrono, "My first heat is about to start, fill them in over coms will you?" he finished and turned without waiting for a response.

Feeling worry stir in his stomach, Zaalbar pulled his comlink from the pouch on his belt and activated it.

---

Mission and I were about to step on the turbolift that would take us higher in the complex when her comlink beeped. She stepped away from the bank of turbo lifts into a deserted seating alcove and answered it.

Zaalbar's voice came in clearly over the small speaker, Mission held it between us so we could both listen. "We were attacked." He said, voice low and irritated.

"Are you all alright?" Mission asked, worried.

"We are fine, I stopped him before he could harm anyone," he replied quickly, "That's not the problem, he wasn't working alone." He gave us a rundown of events finishing with a description of the second assassin.

"Thanks for the warning Z, we'll keep you updated if anything happens." I said when he finished.

Mission told him to be careful and put the comlink away before turning to me. "What now?" she asked, concerned.

"Find the main security room on the administration level." I said, scanning the emotions around us for any obvious ill intent.

"We're still going ahead with this?" she didn't sound very confident.

"We still have to know where Bastila is," I laid a hand on her shoulder, "If we don't know where she is, we can't make a plan to get her if the Vulkars try anything. Our only other option is to take Brejik and interrogate him."

"I know, I'm just not used to this. The Vulkars are one thing, but assassins and the Exchange…" She trailed off and took a deep breath before continuing. "I'm a bit out of my league here."

"Hey," I said cupping her face in my hands. "I have faith in you. You're smart, strong and brave." I punctuated the words with a kiss, trying to make her feel my confidence in her. After a moment I pulled back, very pleased with the dreamy look in her eyes. "Most importantly you aren't alone, I have your back."

She smiled and shook herself, "Okay, you're right, we've come this far." she said letting out a deep breath and pulling out her datapad. She scanned it for a moment then nodded and put it away. "I know where to go." she said and headed for the lifts.

"So what's the plan when we get up there?" she asked when the lift doors closed.

"Can you distract anyone in the room while I sneak in to check the cameras?" I asked, mulling it over.

"I could, but I have a better idea," she said, tapping her lower lip contemplatively, "How much cash do you have on you?"

"Five or six hundred credits," I said skeptically, "You think a bribe will work?"

"The exchange runs this place, most of them would sell their mother for fifty credits." she answered with a smirk.

She stopped the lift on the level below administration and led us to a stairwell at the other end of a long hall. The door was code locked and marked 'Staff Only'. Mission pulled out her pad and began tapping quickly.

"This lets out right next to the security room," she said intently, "I'll loop the camera footage in the stairwell for half an hour, that should let us get in and out without too much trouble."

A moment later the door chirped and a light above it flipped from red to green. We slipped inside and headed up. After she sliced the door on the next level, she walked the few meters to the security room. I stayed by the stairs, keeping the door cracked in case we needed to make a run for it. She knocked on the door and painted on a seductive smile.

Moments later the door hissed open, a middle aged man with greying hair and a handsome face stepped out. I could sense suspicion, curiosity and lust in equal measures from the man. Amused by the thought of what would happen to him if he acted on that lust I let my senses flow out searching the surrounding area for threats while Mission made a deal with the man.

Despite the size of the complex there weren't many people within my range. Pockets of emotion clustered in a few places but from what I could sense of it, the floor seemed to be mostly empty. I couldn't tell if that was unusual or not so I just waited, alert for a change in the emotions I could feel. A new cluster of emotions entered my perception on the floor below us and headed for the stairwell. Hot anticipation and bloodlust roiled inside her.

And there is our assassin, I wonder what she'll do? I thought, focusing on her. I caught some random flashes of thoughts and a cloudy impression of the Twi'lek woman trying to slice the door. After a few moments frustration built up in those emotions and a clear thought came to me. How did she get this door open so fast?

I smiled at the assassin's frustration and glanced at Mission to see her hand over a stack of credits to the security guard. He gave her ass one last appreciative look before shaking himself visibly and disappearing back into the security booth.

Mission grinned in satisfaction as she walked back over to me.

"Success?" I asked.
"She's in there alright, drugged and restrained." she paused and nodded towards the end of the hall. "Can you sense her from here?"

I let my senses expand as far as I could in the direction she indicated, but I still couldn't feel Bastila, the only person that stood out aside from the assassin below us was a cold and angry presence about fifty meters away. But the presence belonged to a male that somehow felt familiar.

"No she must be too far away or too drugged for me to sense her. But we have another problem." I said, refocusing on the assassin, who seemed to have given up on the door. She was standing near it fuming and hoping we would come back the same way.

"What's that?" Mission asked, concern rising in her emotions before quickly being pushed down.

"Our second assassin is waiting right below us." I replied, with a grin.

Mission raised a brow in suspicion, "Why are you smiling?"

"Because she can't slice the door and she's pissed," I shrugged, "it's amusing."

With an exasperated smile she slid past me into the stairwell, "So how are we going to deal with her?" she asked, waiting for me on the landing.

"Grab her, pull her in here where the cameras aren't an issue, and find out what she knows." I said simply heading down.

"After that?" she asked, following.

"If I feel she's still a threat, break her neck and toss her over the railing," I said, motioning to the two meter gap between the stairs, "If not we let her go."

"Sounds simple enough," Mission said nodding, "What do you need me to do?"

"Just hold my hand and pretend we aren't being hunted." I said, holding out my hand to her. She took it and we headed down.

I focused in on the assassin before we opened the stairwell door, paying close attention to her emotions and her position. She was standing impatiently a couple meters away hiding behind a conveniently placed vending machine as we exited. We turned away from her and headed down the corridor. She immediately sprung from her hiding place and charged us moving with nearly complete silence and surprising speed. Surprised by the sudden charge, I shoved Mission to the side and spun to face the assassin.

She matched the description Zaalbar gave us, red skinned with black tattoos tracing intricate patterns across her brow and over her Lekku. Fine boned like Mission, but taller and more slender. She held a lethal, twenty centimeter dagger in a two handed grip before her, obviously preparing to slam it into my back.

The assassin's eyes widened in shock at my near instant response. She tried to stop, sensing the danger I posed, but she was moving too quickly. Thinking quickly, she whipped the blade directly toward my neck. I dodged it easily, but before I could prepare myself she followed up her blade by slamming her shoulder into my stomach and taking us both to the ground. I managed to grab her wrist as we rolled, twisting it hard up behind her back. Again she surprised me though, flowing with the movement she pushed off the ground and flipped over my back trying for a rear naked choke. I rammed my elbow back at an angle and was rewarded with a solid hit to her jaw and a moan of pain. Keeping hold of her arm I leaned forward and spun around pulling her off balance and caught the arm and her head between my legs in a triangle choke. She struggled desperately for a moment before Mission appeared at my side and pressed the tip of the assassins own dagger into her ribs. If anyone came down the hall we would be hard pressed to explain the situation.

"That's enough." Mission said, voice low and deadly.

The assassin went still instantly glancing out of the corner of her eye to watch Mission, she waited coiled like a spring for the slightest chance to pounce.

"Who sent you?" I asked from my position on the ground.

"The contract was anonymous," she replied, shifting her eyes up to mine, "How did you know I was behind you?"

"Is there anyone else working with you?" I asked, ignoring her question.

"A large human, he's young with light hair." she answered immediately.

"No honor among criminals." Mission muttered in disgust.

"None at all." the assassin agreed. "So what now?"

"If we let you go will you pose any further danger to us?" I asked, focusing intently on the aura of emotion around the woman.

"No." she said without the slightest hesitation or hint of dishonesty.

Mission snorted, unconvinced.

"Look, the only reason I'm still alive, is because I know when to bow out. I tried my best, but I failed, if you two let me go I'll simply move on to the next job." the assassin explained, the whole while remaining remarkably calm and composed. She had obviously been in similar situations before, but deep within her I could sense fear and confusion. She was afraid to die and what's more she was afraid of me. She didn't understand how I noticed her sneaking up on us. That fact frightened her, she wouldn't be trying her luck again. I let go of her arm and uncrossed my legs, nodding to Mission when she gave me a questioning look.

The assassin slowly stood, careful not to make any sudden movements. I hopped to my feet, took the blade from Mission and tossed it back to the assassin. She caught it and stared at me as though I had grown a second head, a look Mission shared.

"What are you doing?" Mission hissed at me.

"She won't be bothering us again," I paused to focus the full weight of my stare on the assassin, "Will you." it wasn't a question.

"No, I won't." she said and slipped the blade under her shirt. She gave us both one last confused look, turned and jogged away, disappearing down a side corridor.

"That didn't go exactly to plan." I said thoughtfully, as I watched her disappear.

"You believe her?" Mission asked, starting down the hall toward the lifts.

"I do, she was unnerved by how easily we subdued her. She won't be in a hurry to try that again." I replied.

"I hope you're right."

"Hey," I said, nudging Mission with my elbow and waiting for her to look at me, "Remember when you said you were out of your league?" I asked, holding her gaze.

"Yeahhh?" she said, looking unsure.

"You handled that really well," I said giving her a reassuring smile, "have more faith in yourself."

"Thanks," she said and puffed up a bit with a smile of her own, "I did do pretty good didn't I? Without me she would have kicked your ass."

"Hey now," I said, giving her a playful nudge, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves."

"I'm not," she replied with an impish grin, "I totally saved you, denying it won't change the facts." Despite our circumstances and seriousness of our mission, we bickered like school children all the way back to the hanger.

We arrived back just in time to watch Carth finish his heat on a small screen Sam had set up on a workbench. He passed to the outside of the pack on the last turn and accelerated hard passing three other swoops and sliding into 3rd as he passed the finish line.

Zaalbar let out a pleased, warbling sound while the rest of us cheered. Across the hanger were the sounds of boos and cheering, as favorite racers passed the finish.

"So that was the first heat?" I asked Sam watching as a pad in the middle of our bay lifted straight up into there. When it neared the ceiling of the hangar bay doors opened directly above it, revealing Carth's swoop, waiting to be lowered down on the platform. All across the vast space dozens of other platforms rose to bring swoops back down.

"Yes he has another in an hour, those two scores will be tallied together to decide his starting position in the race." Sam replied, smiling broadly.

"You look very happy about third place." Mission remarked with a raised brow.

"The swoop didn't explode and he didn't crash," she paused to look up at the platform lowering Carth down to us, "I'm ecstatic." she finished and gave Mission a full on bear hug. Mission for her part looked rather less than enthused, but bore the hug with good grace, while I smiled hugely at her predicament. She stuck her tongue out at me over Sam's shoulder and I covered my mouth to stifle a laugh.

The pad settled a moment later letting Carth exit the swoop with excited energy, he actually let out a whoop of excitement. "By all that's good!" he exclaimed, patting the swoop lovingly, "This is the most responsive craft I have ever flown."

"Really?" Sam asked, looking just as excited.

"Definitely, it's top speed is lower than I'm used to, but the acceleration is incredible, even my old strike fighter couldn't compete with this! And the cornering, it can handle at least eight and a half lateral G's without drifting. Oh man, that was incredible!" he said excitedly, beaming at Sam, who practically glowed with pride.

"How was the competition?" I asked, noticing a crash being replayed on the small screen Sam set up.

"Judging by what I saw, I think my only real competition is the Vulker team and the White Strikes, from Coruscant." He answered, still smiling.

"Were those the two that finished before you?" Mission asked.

"The White Strikes came in first, the Vulkars were a couple places behind me. The swoop that came in second was extremely lucky, he was right in front of the swoop that crashed, it bought him a considerable lead, that he completely lost by the end." Carth explained coming over to look at the screen and examine the crash that was still replaying.

"How confident are you?" I asked just loud enough for Carth to hear.

"I took it slow and careful because the obstacles were different than in the simulator, and I still came in third. I don't want to count a win before I earn it, but I feel confident." he replied, keeping his tone low.

As we spoke the second heat was organising, the second set of racers were lifted up from the hanger onto the track, while numerous maintenance droids cleared the track of the wreckage from the first crash. Watching the crash on the monitor was brutal. The swoop had lost control in a turn and hit a durasteel pylon sticking up out of the track, nearly perfectly nose on. The pilot died instantly, all that was left of him was a scorched red stain on the pylon and one of his legs, which had been launched over two hundred meters from the crash.

"Carth." I said watching the droids literally scrap bits of the pilot off the track.

"Yeah?"

"Don't crash."

"Yeah." he said, watching grimly.

The five of us only half paid attention to the second heat, while Mission and I filled everyone in on what we found.

"It's going to be nearly impossible to take her by force." Carth said, when we finished.

Mission nodded in agreement, "I was poking around the security system, and they have some serious firepower up there. Twenty assault class combat droids on that floor alone."

"What about slicing the system and taking control of the droids?" Zaalbar asked.

"Can't do it Z, the combat systems are protected by the same semi-sentient encryption software that's protecting the vault." She answered, looking defeated.

I laid a hand on her shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze while I thought over the problem. But no matter how I looked at it, I couldn't see a way to get Bastila out of there with more fire power and personnel. We just weren't well equipped enough, two hold out blasters wasn't an armory.

"You guys are overthinking this," Sam piped up for the first time. Everyone turned to look at her in question and she gave us a nervous smile. "I know Gadon was worried about Brejik trying to go back on his pledge to award your Jedi to the winner. But there is no way the Exchange would let him get away with that. He let his pride get the better of him by putting her up as his entry fee, and now he's stuck. If he backs out now, they will just take her and ban him from the races forever. It's happened before." she said, sounding more confident as she explained.

"Are you sure?" Mission asked, "Brejik is a sneaky bastard."

"Honey, this is the Exchange we're talking about, no one screws the Exchange. Trust me whoever wins today, is taking home that Jedi." she said, with an emphatic nod.

"Why haven't the Sith just come and taken her," I wondered aloud, "Gadon said that Brejik 'announced' that she was part of his entry fee. So why haven't the Sith just come down here and taken her?"

"Brejik told the Exchange, and a member of the Exchange told us," Sam said, "The Exchange probably hasn't told the Sith because they don't like them any better than the Republic. The Sith tax all illegal trade, instead of trying to stop it like the Republic does. As far as I understand it, they lose more money on planets controlled by the Sith than they do on Republic worlds."

"So the universal hatred of taxes, is what's saving your Jedi." Mission said, giggling at the ridiculousness of it all.

"That's one way to put it." Sam replied, with a smile.

"Never thought I would be grateful for greedy crime bosses." Carth said, with a snort of amusement.

Our attention was drawn to the monitor as the second crash of the day unfolded in spectacular fashion. Two swoops collided in one of the narrower turns doing nearly four hundred kilometers an hour. The resulting explosion made another lose control veering into the wall of the enclosed track. It ground its way down the wall before hitting a piece of durasteel sticking out a forty five degree angle. It was shredded instantly flying into thousands of pieces that peppered other swoops as they flashed past trying to avoid the wreckage. What looked like the decapitated head of one of the pilots was sucked into the air intake on a passing ocean blue swoop. It's port side chemical engine expelled a red mist followed by a fireball and bits of shredded metal. It slewed to one side and shook violently. Acting fast and going with the motion, the pilot spun the vehicle 180 degrees and blasted the remaining engine. The quick thinking saved her. The cameras zoomed in on the cockpit showing a young Nautolan female fighting with the controls as the swoop's rear end slammed into a duracrete barrier. She had slowed just enough that the impact wasn't fatal, though her once beautiful and vaguely aquatic swoop was completely wrecked.

"Impressive reflexes wouldn't you say?" a high pitched male voice called from just outside our bay.

Zaalbar growled menacingly and took an involuntary step forward. Mission spun in surprise, reaching automatically reaching for thigh holsters that weren't there. Brejik smirked at their reactions and took an unconcerned step forward to lean against one of our workbenches.

"Imagine how badly she would have died if she were a human pilot." he said grinning at Carth.

"What do you want?" I asked, keeping my tone neutral, before anyone else could say anything.

"I just wanted to commend your pilot here, his performance was quite impressive," his pleasant facade faltered a bit as he continued, "It's too bad he used stolen tech to achieve it." A sudden flash of hate so hot and intense it felt like a bonfire, burst alive inside him. This man was barely keeping it together; he was so furious. Yet despite that the emotion barely showed in his manner, he was extremely good at concealing his anger.

"You lying…" Mission started, but I cut her off.

"If our tech was stolen, why haven't you said anything?" I asked, giving the small man a pleasant smile, "Just because you're losing doesn't give you license to spout unfounded accusations."

The bonfire exploded, his veneer of civility dropped and a snarl of rage replaced it. "One way or another you will lose." Brejik said, voice deadly.

I stepped up right up to him, forcing him to crain his head back to meet my eyes. "If anything happens to my pilot whether you are responsible or not, I will kill you." I said, keeping my voice low enough so only he could hear. "I walked into your house, took what I wanted and slaughtered anyone that got in my way. What do you think I'll do to you? The man who has put me through so much trouble?" I let the question hang in the air and stared him down. I had met men like him before, sad cowards that pushed others around to make themselves feel powerful. I was unimpressed.

"You have no idea who you're dealing with." Brejik hissed threateningly, then promptly undercut the threat by taking a step back. The obvious sign of weakness made his anger burn hotter.

"You mean the assassin's?" I asked with a smirk, "They went home." The admission brought him up short and I continued before he had time to consider it. "I know that you're in a precarious position with the Exchange, otherwise they would have intervened when we took our accelerator back, but they didn't. You aren't in their good graces, you're on your own. Don't come in here and think you can bully me or mine. I have literally killed better than you for less." As I spoke I let some of my anger show, putting the full weight of my years commanding men into my voice. Brejik in turn took another unconscious step back, visibly thrown off his stride by someone who wasn't afraid of him.

When I finished I took a step back as well and gave him a pleasant smile, squashing my own anger. "Thanks for stopping by, good luck with the race." I said, and turned away dismissing him.

Unease and uncertainty was washed away by a tide of rage at punctured pride, I could practically feel heat radiating off him. I half expected him to try and plunge a blade into my back, but he showed remarkable restraint despite his rage.

"If you think I'm beaten you have underestimated me." Brejik said, in an unnaturally calm tone, then he simply left without another word.

"Was antagonizing him really the best move?" Carth asked, as I came to stand next to Mission and watch the rest of the heat.

I shrugged, "Probably not, but I couldn't help myself," I said, feeling slightly foolish at allowing my emotions to manipulate my actions, "I nearly died because of that man, and I admit, I'm holding a grudge."

"I enjoyed watching you take him down a peg," Mission said grinning up at me and taking my hand, "Though he's going to be gunning for us now."

"Yes I know," I sighed, "I shouldn't let my emotions get the best of me."

"Everyone does," Zaalbar said, long held sorrow in his emotions, "Unfortunately it's part of being alive."

Sensing Zaalbar's pain, Mission laid her hand on his forearm and gave it a comforting squeeze then turned back to us. "Like Z said, everyone lets emotion get the best of them, we will deal with whatever Brejik tries." she said, trying to perk up the suddenly somber mood.

The rest of the heat finished without any further incidents. While the racers were being lowered down into the hanger, maintenance droids cleared the track and a medical team retrieved the Nautolan pilot. She waved to the cameras as her stretcher was loaded into trauma speeder, causing scattered applause to break out around the hanger.

With an hour wait before Carth's final heat, we broke out the rations the mess packed for us and ate lunch in the bay, none of us willing to let the swoop out of our sight. While we waited I searched the area around us with my perception looking for anything that might point to another attack. I was sure that after our meeting Brejik would try something, I just wasn't sure what.

The time passed slowly, conversation was stunted, all of us caught up in our own thoughts. I tried reaching out to Bastila again, but I still couldn't make any headroom past the drugs. After a while Mission caim over and sat in my lap, snaking an arm around my waist and laying her head against my chest. I was taken a bit off guard, I had never had an actual relationship before and I wasn't used to such open affection. After an awkward moment where I just sat there looking stupid without moving, Mission grabbed my hand and guided it around her with a sigh.

"You're not very good at this are you?" she asked, without looking up.

"Afraid not." I said, relaxing back into the folding chair we sat on.

"That's okay, I'll teach you." she said softly, the warm affection and contentment emanating from her, seemed to wrap around us and go a long way to soothe my nerves.

By the time the second heat was about to start I was so relaxed in the uncomfortable folding chair I could have gone to sleep. We reluctantly got up and stretched while Carth climbed into the swoop and went over the safety checks with Sam. I gave him a thumbs up, that he returned and we watched the lift carry him up to the track.

His second heat went off without a hitch. He was much more confident the second time around and really pushed his machine, easily taking the lead before the second turn. The Vulkar pilot managed to stay lengths behind him in second for the entire lap.

Once the lift settled back down he climbed out and stretched, rolling his shoulders, and grinning like a madman.

"There really is nothing like that." he said, setting his hand on the swoop before continuing. "I didn't even push full thrust and I still didn't have any trouble keeping the lead."

"I am proud of her," Sam said, smiling wider than Carth, "She surpassed my expectations."

"It helps to have a good pilot." I said, giving Carth a playful punch on the arm.

Carth took a mock bow, "Thank you, I'll accept your adulation at this time." he said, getting a laugh out of Mission and myself. Zaalbar and Sam looked dubious.

"So a pilot's ego scales with ability?" Sam deadpanned, which got a laugh from all of us and a grin from Carth.

"Of course, they don't give you your wings without it." he replied, goodnaturedly.

Sam shook her head in bemusement and started running diagnostics on the swoop. The rest of us turned to watch as the fourth and final heat got underway. Incredibly it also ended with no further crashes, and the lead swoop from Manaan posted a time a full second faster than Carth's last heat.

"Looks like you might have some competition." Mission said, examining the screen.

"It does look that way doesn't it." Carth replied, frowning.

"Do you think you can push for a better time?" I asked, concerned. At those speeds a second meant nearly two hundred meters on the straightaway.

"I'll have too." he said simply.

The pilots had an hour to rest before the main event started, we spent the time much the same we had during lunch. Mission and I took a chair and scanned our data pads, trying to distract ourselves from the anxiety that came with a team member going into danger. Zaalbar sat on the floor, leaned against the transport and seemed to take a nap, though the emotion coming off him told the true story. He was just as worried as any of us and trying to hide it. Sam and Carth triple checked everything on the swoop then settled in to wait.

---

Ten minutes before the race was set to start Carth climbed into the swoop, strapped himself into the crash webbing and pulled on the neural interface band. He thumbed over his instruments with practiced precision, bringing the swoops systems to life. The powerful craft came to life with a roar, vibrating the ground around it. He checked the system readouts and fired back quick affirmative answers to Sam as she ran through the safety checklist.

This was it, the life of one of the Jedi hung in the balance on this race, If he didn't win, she would surely be either sold into slavery or handed over to the Sith. The preposterous thought nearly made him smile. After all they had been through since crash landing on Taris, it was all coming down to a swoop race. Maybe he was dreaming and any moment he would wake up back on the Spire late for a shift, with his duty officer dumping a bucket of water over him. One could only hope.

When Sam finished with the checklist he gave his team a thumbs up and secured the transparisteel hatch over the cockpit. He noticed Mission waving nervously from Rorick's side and gave her a confident grin. He nodded to Rorick, who nodded back looking somber with his arm around Mission. He was still surprised when he saw them together like that. It hadn't even been a week since they met. Then again he decided to marry his own wife the same day they met, who was he to judge.

Before he could be drawn into memories of her, the lift rose taking him up to the track. Because of his placement in the preliminary heats he was awarded the second starting position. He concentrated, using the neural interface, he applied .02 percent thrust to move sedately onto the inner taxi lane and up to his position. Glancing up he saw hundreds of thousands of spectators in the stadium above. Over a dozen one hundred meter wide displays floated on repulser lifts in front of them so they could watch the race once the swoops were out of sight. Seeing the cheering fans ignited a buzz of excitement in him. He had never been one for swoop racing before, but their enthusiasm was contagious.

He slid carefully into his place behind the dark, metallic blue wedge shaped swoop from Manaan. Despite it's simple shape the craft was beautiful, inlaid with a pattern of flowing gold tracery. He had to admit, compared that, his utilitarian U shaped craft of metallic red was quite bland and boring. Though it didn't matter what it looked like, only function truly mattered. He aimed to find out if it's engineering could match it's artistry.

A few minutes later when all the swoops had taken their places, an announcer's voice boomed through the stadium. "Welcome Race Fans!" The crowd roared in the response making the announcer pause.

When the crowd calmed he continued, "Davik Kang and the Tarisian racing commission welcome you to this, the annual swoop racing season opener!" The announcer was forced to wait once more as the crowd roared its approval.

"This will be a three lap race, with the first place finisher winning a grand prize of 100,000 credits!" This time when the crowd exploded the announcer simply shouted over them, "Pilots, prepare your craft!"

Carth took a deep breath and let it out slowly, drawing his attention to a laser point on the course ahead. A loud countdown started on a forty meter wide screen above them. '10, 9,8,7' He deactivated his repulser brakes and waited, keeping his breathing slow and deep. '3, 2, 1.'

A light next to the countdown on the screen flashed green and Carth launched forward at 85% thrust. He flashed past the swoop from Manaan in and instant pulling eight and a half Gs of acceleration. In less than three seconds he reached the maximum allowed speed of 800 kilometers per hour. He flew down the track, feeling as though he was traveling three times as fast, the perception of speed so close to the ground was indescribable. In mere moments the racers had passed out of the stadium and started down the twenty kilometer straightaway.

Glancing down to his rear view monitor he saw that the racer from Manaan was a little over a hundred meters behind following directly in his wake. He smiled, "Let's see what you've got."

After another two kilometers, the first obstacles appeared on the track, Pillars of durasteel and lumps of duracrete meters wide were placed at random down the course. Carth fell into something of a trance, he completely relied on instinct. Actions lightning fast and precise, he seemed to find the perfect route through the deadly obstacles without lowering his speed. He told Rorick and Mission that he had nervous system augmentation to improve his reaction time, he didn't. He had never needed them, through hundreds of engagements in the Mandalorian wars he had never been brought down. Behind the controls of a ship, he always seemed to know when danger was coming and just how to slip out of it.

Once he passed through the debris field he came to the first turn and glanced down at his rear view. The swoop from Manaan was more than double the distance behind since the last time he checked. A distant part of his mind registered satisfaction, but he was too deep into the race to smile.

He passed the first three turns flawlessly, pulling steadily away from the competition. On the fourth turn however he felt a sudden twisting in his gut. He knew the feeling well, the feeling of an enemy pilot drawing a bead on him. Acting instantly, he dropped his speed by half and swerved to the outer edge of the turn to try and find the source of his feeling. There half a kilometer ahead, in the middle of the track were three durasteel pylons that hadn't been there during either of his heats. Now there was only a small gap, barely big enough for the swoops, on either side of them. He cursed under his breath and aimed for the gap, when the racer from Manaan flashed past at close to 700 kilometers per hour. He didn't have a chance.

Without even enough time to register the new obstruction, he slammed head on, straight into the pillars. The shock wave from the resulting explosion buffeted Carth even as he decelerated to a near standstill. Shrapnel from the swoop 'pinged' off his cockpit canopy, while the black streak of the Vulkar swoop smoothly slipped past the explosion and through the tight gap at nearly full speed.

"You evil bastards." Carth cursed, and knowing the other racers were coming up fast he aimed for the gap and accelerated at full speed. He slammed back into his seat as the acceleration suit clamped down on his limbs to keep him from passing out under the nearly instantaneous 10 Gs of thrust. Less than a second after he passed through, another unlucky pilot hit the pylons bursting into a massive blue fire ball three times the size of the first, his liquid hydrogen fuel vaporizing instantly.

Carth glared ahead to the small black dot of the Vulkar swoop in the distance. After that there was no way he was losing to those people, over his rotting corpse would they win this. Taking a deep breath to calm his fury, he refocused on the race. He let himself fall back into the familiar rhythm of the controls under his hands and the track ahead. Over the course of the next few turns he gained on the Vulkar pilot, but didn't pass him. He followed the other pilot staying a couple hundred meters back and watching her closely. If there were any other surprises the Vulkar's path would give him time to react.

Despite his precaution, the Vulkar pilot followed a very similar path to the one he would have taken. They passed the starting line within a hundred meters of each other, but the moment they passed into the debris field, Carth started to gain ground. By the time they exited the debris he had passed the Vulkar and going into the first turn he continued to gain distance. Their top allowed speed was the same, but Carth could accelerate faster and with more precision than the Vulkar.

Carth was so deep into his trance like concentration that he didn't slow for the pylon trap. He instinctively knew what side would be clear of debris before he got there. He slipped to the outside of the turn and flashed through the gap at full speed, passing within centimeters of the pylons.

It was over, he knew it was the moment he passed by the still flaming wreckage of over a dozen swoops scattered around the pylons. So many lives lost, all for a single man's pride and ambition. Carth wouldn't allow him to benefit from that kind of underhanded tactic.

---

I watched Carth disappear on the small monitor Mission and I shared to watch the race. He was heading into the fourth turn when he just vanished from the screen. Just behind him the artistic blue swoop from Manaan vanished as well, then the black Vulkar swoop right behind them both.

"What the?" Mission said and switched the feed on the screen to a few hundred meters beyond the turn. The new perspective looked back down the track to the other side of turn four. The black Vulkar swoop appeared around the turn and flashed past in moments followed closely by Carth, and just behind him a massive blue light flashed around the bend. The Swoop from Manaan never came into view.

"I don't…" Mission started, but was interrupted by the race announcer.

"We seem to be having some technical difficulties with the turn four camera, we'll have it resolved shortly." The voice over the loudspeaker informed us, business as usual no cause for concern.

At the same time I felt a succession of extreme emotion from the Vulkar bay. Explosive satisfaction, followed closely by incomprehension and rage.

"Brejik." I said, voice cold and dead.

"How?" Mission asked, looking shocked as swoop after swoop entered the dead zone, but never left.

"I don't know how he did it but he's behind it." My anger was a white hot simmer in my core, he looped the camera for that turn and he must have sabotaged the track somehow. I didn't say anything more, I stood up and set Mission down, then turned and walked away.

"Rorick? What are you doing?" Mission called, following closely at my heels.

I didn't respond, I was propelled forward inexorably drawn to the vile emotion I could feel coming from the Vulkar bay. As we approached I heard a high pitched female voice shouting in Rodese, "You said everyone knew about the last minute alteration to the course!" I rounded a heavy transport to see Brejik's huge human body guards physically restraining the young Rodian engineer I had seen earlier. She was trying desperately to free herself, shock, sorrow and rage pulsing in her emotions like a sun.

"Be quiet!" Brejik hissed, furiously. "I told you and your sister what you…" he trailed off when he spotted me making my way through the crowd toward them. He gave me a self satisfied sneer as I approached. "Look who it is, have you come to congratulate us on…" His words trailed off once more when he got a good look at my face.

Whatever he saw there made his self satisfied smirk melt away. "There's no point to this, I won't be intimidated." he said, even as he made himself a liar and took a step back. His men took one look at me and let go of the irate engineer. They moved to intercept me, but I didn't slow. When I got within range the one on the right made to grab me, without breaking stride I took a long step forward with my left foot, then brought my right foot up with everything I had straight into the man's groin. He made a sound like a punctured tire. His face went sheet white and he fell forward clutching his manhood, mouth agape in a soundless scream. His partner acted with impressive alacrity, stepping around his fallen comrade and launching his huge fist in a perfect right cross that looked aimed to take my head off my shoulders. I ducked under this fist, came up and grabbed the man behind his head. Interlocking my fingers I yanked his head down and forward at the same time bringing up my knee to smash into his face. The telltale crunch of bone signified the man's nose being crushed into pulp and was shortly followed by a scream of agony. He fell back clutching his face with both hands and writhing on the ground in pain.

Turning toward Brejik I continued forward as though nothing had happened, I was so far past anger that it ceased to matter, he had done enough damage, it was time for him to die. He must have seen the murder in my eyes, he staggered back into a workbench, sending tools clattering to the floor. "What are you doing?" he looked around rapidly and grabbed a good sized wrench, holding it before him for protection. "Don't come any closer!" he shouted and threw the wrench at my head. My hand snapped up as if of its own accord and snatched the wrench out of mid air long before it could land. "Don't do this!" he shouted, desperately looking for a new weapon.

Just as I was raising the wrench to smash the pathetic little man's skull, I felt a hand on my arm. I was so focused on Brejik, I had nearly forgotten her behind me. Concern, Confusion and fear blazed from her, flowing through her fingertips and into my body.

I stopped dead, arm frozen in mid air, concern for Mission and my hatred for Brejik battling in my mind.

"Rory?" Mission's voice came to me, sounding small and uncertain, almost lost. That one word, a pet name shortened from my own, brought me out of my rage enough that I could begin to think again. Brejik was curled into a ball on the floor before me, cowering in fear. I wanted nothing more in the world than to choke the life out of him. But when Mission stepped around me and interposed herself between us, I couldn't take my eyes from hers. The bright violet orbs gazed at me with concern and something much deeper.

"Hey, you in there?" she asked, placing a hand on my cheek.

"He deserves to die." I hissed out, feeling my rage slowly melt away under her touch.

"No doubt, but do you really want to beat a man to death in cold blood?" she asked, placing her free hand on my other cheek and looking deep into my eyes. "Is that the type of person you want to be?"

I let the wrench drop to the floor and released a deep breath, trying to calm myself. "Not particularly, but how about an exception, just this once?" I said, only half joking.

Despite the situation Mission smiled happily up at me. "I knew you were still in there." she said and hugged me tightly, "What was that? It's like you disappeared." she said, her voice muffled against my chest.

"I'm not sure." I said, wrapping my arms around her and returning the embrace.

"Now is not the time to discuss it." Zaabar's deep bass rumble, sounded from beside us. I hadn't even noticed the huge wookiee until that moment, he was incredibly quiet when he wanted to be.

I glanced up to see him point past a growing crowd around us. Looking where he pointed I saw a group of five assault droids carrying repeating blasters and moving straight towards us.

"Oh this is just perfect." Mission groaned, spotting them as well.

The droids shoved their way through the crowd to stand before us. Having recovered himself Brejik quickly moved forward and spoke before anyone else. "It's about time you showed up, this madman assaulted my men and was about to kill me!" he said, motioning furiously at me.

The blank faced droid simply looked at Brejik for a long moment, staring him down. Only when Brejik looked away with a familiar flash of hatred and resentment did the droid refocus on me. "You will come with us, resistance will be met with deadly force." it's emotionless metallic voice stated.

"Where?" I asked calmly, knowing we had no choice but to go whether it answered or not. We couldn't hope to win a fight against them, we were unarmed and unarmored, they would cut us to shreds.

"The management wishes to speak with you." it said, in the same dead metallic voice.

"Well, you heard it, get moving." Brejik sneered, in satisfaction.

"You are to come as well." It said, turning to look Brejik dead in the eye.

His suddenly horrified expression made Mission snort with amusement. "Well you heard him, let's go." she said, trying not to laugh at his discomfort.

We started off with the droids only to have Brejik make a break for it. Before any of us could react Zaalbar took a bounding leap and snatched him up off the ground by the back of his neck. "I don't think so." Zaalbar growled, and tossed the man over his shoulder, like an unruly child.

"Let me go you alien freak!" Brejik shrieked, "I will not be handled…" he was cut off when one of the droids stepped up to him and put the barrel of it's blaster against the back of his head. That cut any further complaints short.

We followed the droids to the very top of the massive complex and were led to a set of expensive double doors carved of a rich brown wood with engraved patterns spiraling through them. The lead droid ushered us in and closed the door behind us, staying outside to guard the room. Inside was a large well appointed office, of someone obviously wealthy and with a very high opinion of their station in life.

A human woman in her middle years sat behind a large desk carved of the same wood as the double doors. With long dark red hair approaching black, large brown eyes, an angular regal face, and skin darker than Brejik's, she was quite striking.

Standing behind her, looking out a bay window that ran the length of the office, was a trim, muscular man. He stood with his back to us, a bit above average height with close cropped jet black hair going grey at the temples. He was the source of the familiar presence I sensed earlier, though I couldn't place from where.

"Hello," the woman said, giving us a genuine smile, "You can drop Brejik now," she continued, looking at Zaalbar with amusement. As requested Z dropped the man in an unceremonious heap at his feet. Brejik sprang to his feet, practically spitting with outrage until he laid eyes on the man standing at the window. The sight of the man brought Him up short, and true fear emanated off him in waves. Whoever he was he scared the shit out of Brejik.

"My name is Alana Pierce," she said, glaring at Brejik for a moment before looking the rest of us over with a business-like manner, "I'm the event coordinator, for this stadium, and I would like to apologize to the three of you,"

A grunt from the man behind her drew the room's attention to him, "That man is the most skilled human pilot I have ever seen, he flies like a Jedi." As he finished speaking, a holographic light show flashed to life beyond the window, coinciding with a loud buzzer.

The announcer burst into excited exclamation over the loudspeakers, "And the winner of this year's annual swoop racing season opener is," The announcer paused for a moment building up the tension, "The Hidden Beks!" he finished, his voice ringing out across the stadium as the assembled crowd roared their approval.

"Privacy mode." Alana said, and the window darkened to a blank grey wall, while the sound of the crowd vanished.

Mission let out an audible whoop of joy threw her arms around me, heedless of where we were. I hugged her back, grinning like a fool, relief flooding me. Big Z visibly relaxed and gave us a toothy grin. Knowing that Carth had won was like a weight lifting off of us.

The man by the window wall, turned and met my gaze. Canderous, the mercenary from the sewers gave me a nod, one soldier to another and turned his gaze to Brejik, face darkening severely.

"Brejik." He said simply, voice as cold and dead as the tundra of Hoth.

"Canderous, I don't know why I was brought here, It was them that cheated…" Brejik started pointing to us, but the look on the mercenary's face made him trail off and take a step back, face pale.

"We don't know exactly how you broke our encryption, but we do know that the slicer used a computer core located in one of your hideouts." Canderous said taking a step forward, resting his hand on a Mandalorian heavy blaster holstered at his hip. "You did irreparable damage to the reputation of Davik and the Exchange with that stunt. Fifteen racers dead, tens of millions in insurance costs, even more in refunds and bribes, to keep the Republic gaming authority off our backs. You made it look like race was fixed, like we did it." As he spoke he moved slowly across the room until he was standing only a few feet from a now cowering Brejik.

"Canderous these people assaulted my headquarters and stole a valuable piece of technology, I couldn't let them get away with it." he said, almost begging.

"You stole it from them first, you incompotent child! What did you expect!" Canderous roared at him.

"I'm sorry Canderous, I never intended any harm to you or Davik," he said, pride long forgotten, he fell to his knees, begging for his life, "Please give me…" his words were cut off when Canderous drew his blaster and shot Brejik in one smooth motion. Brejik stared sightlessly, still on his knees, mouth agape, a smoking hole right between his eyes. After a moment he fell forward landing with a 'thud' on the carpet.

Alana cleared her throat to get our attention, "As I was saying, I would like to apologize on behalf of the exchange. The security of races held at this stadium are our responsibility and we failed." she said, all business, completely ignoring the corpse on her floor. "To that end we will be honoring the terms of the race, 100,000 credits and the Jedi Padawan, Brejik put up as collateral for his entry fee." She paused and pushed a button on her desk, "Bring her in." A moment later two droids entered through a side door in the office. Between them they carried a young brunette, she wore plain brown pants with extra pockets like a mechanic, a dirty, rumpled white top, and no shoes. Her head was slumped forward as though unconscious, on her face she wore a black mask that covered her mouth and nose. No doubt it was the device keeping her drugged. From what I could see of her face it seemed to be Bastila but I wasn't taking chances.

"Zaalbar." I said and motioned him to follow me. We walked over and Z easily took her from the droids, cradling her in his arms like a small child. I unhooked the mask from behind her head and handed it to one of the droids, who took it and marched back out in eerie silence. Examining the unconscious Jedi, I admitted she was indeed beautiful. Almond shaped eyes, long straight nose, set in a delicately featured face. Though her beauty was marred by bruises visible on her arms and a black eye. Seeing the strong, determined padawan from my dreams in such a state made anger roil in my stomach.

I looked up and met Canderous' neutral expression "You know she's a Jedi and you're going to let us take her?" I asked, suspicious.

"The Sith want her really bad, my boss is pissed at the Sith right now. They have been interfering with his business, and generally making life hard for everyone." He smiled, remembering something he found quite humorous. "Davik does not take being bullied on his own planet very well. Giving her to you is better than capitulating to the Sith. Also the Republic made this one a bit of a poster child for the war effort, giving her to the Sith would make us a target for the Jedi when the Republic takes back Taris. All around it's better to pass this problem on."

"What if we hadn't won?" Mission asked.

"We still would have given her to you." Canderous said.

"Why? She asked, completely confused.

"You made it clear when you infiltrated Brejik's stronghold that weren't going to stop coming for her, it was you or Brejik" Canderous answered, glancing to the corpse before meeting my gaze again and continuing, "and he has been a constant pain in the ass for months, letting his pride get in the way of everything he did. He was bad for business, abducting a famous Jedi was the last straw."

I nodded, excepting the explanation, honestly I was surprised Brejik lasted as long as he had. In my experience, people like him in positions of power, tended to die mysteriously in their sleep.

Mission wasn't finished though. "How did you know we were after her? The only person that knew was Gadon." she asked, looking dubious.

"We have people everywhere," Canderous answered, giving Mission a grin, "One of our agents in the Vulkars informed us before he even met with Gadon." he continued, motioning at me.

"That Vulkar kid, we interrogated," I said with a sigh. Canderous just grinned and shrugged. "Do you have her lightsaber?" I asked, changing the subject.

"According to Brejik, they couldn't find it." Canderous answered with a shake of his head.

I didn't feel any deception from him so I nodded my acceptance "We're free to go then?" I asked.

"You are, we thank you for your participation in the Season Opener, and we apologize again for the trouble." Alana interjected, reminding us of her existence. She never moved from behind that expensive desk, sitting in frustrated silence. It was obvious that Canderous was running the show here, she was just middle management and she wasn't thrilled about it.

Canderous held out a hand to me, and after a moment I took it. He personally hadn't done anything to me, in fact he'd been honest and fair throughout our interactions. He seemed like a principled man, and he killed Brejik, which endeared him to me quite a bit. When I clasped his palm I felt something: a small piece of paper press between our palms.

He spoke before I could consider it, "The help you gave me and my men in the sewers saved lives, and I won't forget it, thank you."

"Thank you for returning our Jedi." I said, and he nodded in return. Letting go of his hand I casually pocketed the piece of paper and looked at Alana with a grin. "So should we go back down to the hanger bay, or…?" I let the question trail off, waiting for a response.

"We have a transport waiting for you on the roof, your pilot will be escorted up to meet you shortly." She said, with a look of mild relief on her face.

"What about Sam?" Mission asked.

"Who?" Alana asked.

"Our engineer." I explained.
"Oh, she will be returned to your compound along with the rest of your equipment later today." She said, waving a hand as though it was obvious. Which, I supposed it was.

"Well then, I guess we'll be on our way." I said, motioning my little group to the door.

"Take care of yourselves." Canderous said, giving me a significant look.

"You as well." I replied, thinking furiously about what he palmed me. A message no doubt, but what could the man possibly want to tell us, that he couldn't say in front of Alana.

Mission led the way, opening the door for us, the droids waiting on the other side, filed in around us and led us up to the roof of the building. A luxury eight seater waited for us, we climbed in and Zaalbar laid Bastila across the bench seat at the back. We sat in anxious silence for almost twenty minutes before we finally saw the door onto the roof open and Carth step through, being led by the same four droids that guided us. He opened the door and glanced in with a look that said he expected to find a firing squad waiting for him. Seeing us he let out a deep breath and climbed inside, relief flooding his emotions.

"We got her." He said moving to sit across from Mission and I, close enough that he could get a good look at her. "When they ushered me off the track and led me up here I expected the worst."

"Yeah we were all paranoid there for a minute." Mission said, sounding like she still expected the speeder to explode at any moment.

I laid my hand on her knee and gave it a comforting squeeze, "We did it," I said, smiling, "For the next few hours at least, we can relax."

"The race went well?" Zaalbar asked, as the speeder lifted smoothly and accelerated across the cityscape.

"Yeah once I found out that there weren't any other surprises, I didn't have a problem keeping the lead for the last lap." Carth said, grinning with all the swagger he was capable of.

"What happened?" Mission asked.

Carth gave us a play by play of the race on the way back to the Hidden Beks' stronghold. Just as he was finishing the tale, we pulled to a smooth stop in the alley behind the base. The hatch hissed open of its own accord, and we piled out. Zaalbar and I maneuvered Bastila out, when she was clear Zaalbar took over and followed us to a side door. Mission punched in a code on a keypad next to the door and swung it open for us. The luxury speed lifted silently into the sky as the door closed behind us.

"Okay now that we're safe what hap…" Carth started, but was interrupted by a cheer going up in the Hanger. Dozens of Hidden Beks came to congratulate us. Zaalbar and I pushed our way through the growing crowd, Mission and Carth were not so fortunate. A few of Mission's friends pulled her away and peppered her with questions while the majority of the Beks surrounded Carth demanding to hear everything about the race.

I glanced back to see Carth glaring after us, I waved and smiled, "Have fun, we'll be in the medbay." I said, following Zaalbar out of the Hanger. Someone must have called ahead, because the Beks medic was already there.

"Gadon said you might be bringing a young woman in," she said, with the 'all business' air of the truly experienced and motioning Zaalbar towards the examination table, "Do you know what happened?" she asked once he gently laid Bastila down.

"Heavily drugged," I said, moving to stand at the foot of the examination table, "She was held by the Vulkars for almost a week."

The tall elegant doctor was only a few years older than myself, with prematurely greying hair. She bent over Bastil and attached a wireless monitor to her forehead then one over her heart and lifted her shirt to place one on her abdomen. She looked at the readouts displayed on screens above the table and nodded to herself. The doctor was getting an I.V. ready when a young female Bothan, barely out of adolescence, hustled in.

"I'm sorry Dr. Carrin, I just saw your message." the girl said, and moved to the other side of the table.

"And how is Torald?" Dr. Carrin asked without looking up. The fur hid any outward sign, but embarrassment blazed around the young girl.

"I'm sorry Dr." she said, sounding chastised.

"If you are going to be a medical professional you need to be available when people need you, not when it's convenient," Carrin said, gently but firmly, "Now pull the curtain we need to do an examination." she continued.

"Yes ma'am." she acknowledged, and pulled a retractable curtain all the way around the exam table, completely obscuring the scene.

I moved over to a chair by the entrance and sat down heavily. I checked the time on my wrist comp and sighed. "Only four in the afternoon and I'm already exhausted." I said, rubbing a hand over my face.

"It has been a busy few days." Zaalbar responded, lowering himself to the floor on the other side of the entrance, the chairs in the room were too small for him.

"Yes it has." I agreed and leaned back in the chair, and pulled the piece of paper from my pocket.

It was a simple folded note that read, Saw your performance in the Vulkar base. If you're interested in a way off Taris meet me tomorrow at the Swoop Den. Noon, don't be late. An address in the Lower City was listed below the message.

Well that's an interesting development. I thought and closed my eyes letting my mind go over the message again and again, wondering what Canderous could have planned. Only a few days since we landed on Taris and it felt like months, so much had happened, and now finally, we had succeeded. Maybe I could finally get some answers from the young Jedi, and get off this planet.

A few minutes later I felt Mission approach, she walked in and set a hand on my shoulder. "How is she?" She asked softly.

"Not sure," I said, opening my eyes to look at her, "They're still examining her."

The moment I finished speaking the curtain pulled back and Dr. Carrin stepped out revealing Bastila laying on the table under a thin blanket. The doctor pulled off thin plastic gloves and stepped over to us.

"Other than the bruises, and dehydration, she seems to be healthy," she said and dropped the gloves in a trash bin before continuing, "though we won't know for sure until she wakes up. We will move her to a private room and let the drugs work their way out of her system."

"Can we wait with her?" Mission asked, showing genuine concern, she deeply sympathized with Bastila, and felt protective of her. The emotions surprised me, it showed more compassion than I would have expected.

"Yes," the doctor replied, giving Mission a small knowing smile, "That shouldn't be a problem, it might be good for her to have company."

The young assistant got Bastila ready and we made our way as a group to the fifth level of the base where all the Beks who stayed in the complex were housed. The doctor led the way to the end of the hall and stopped at one of the last doors. She unlocked it and entered ahead of us.

A spacious suite greeted us, far larger and more luxurious than anything else I had seen in the stronghold. A desk with a workstation sat in the corner to the right of the door. Along the opposite wall were two sofas facing a Wall screen. The far end of the room had a small dining table that could seat four.

"This is nice." I said appreciatively.

"It was Brejik's quarters when he was Gadon's second in command." Mission said.

"Poetic." I said, amused.

While Dr. Carrin and her assistant moved Bastila into the separate bedroom of the suite, Mission, Zaalbar and I waited in the living area, to preserve the Jedi's modesty. A minute or so later I felt Gadon and Carth coming down that hall. Before they had a chance to reach the door I opened it and peeked out.

"Carth you're alive." I said with a grin.

"It's really unnerving when you do that." Carth said, pausing by the door.

"It always is son." Gadon said cryptically, and moved passed me into the apartment. He pulled a dining chair out, flipped it around, and sat facing us. "So, let's have it." he said, staring at me intently.

I took my place next to Mission again and waited for Carth to come in and take a seat before I spoke. "Brejik found a way to tamper with the track cameras, and set up some kind of trap. It killed at least fifteen of the contestants. When we saw what happened, I confronted him, but before I could do anything, security droids came and escorted us up to see Alana Pierce and an enforcer named Canderous." I explained.

Mission snorted, "You did plenty, took out his guards and nearly beat him to death." she had a strange combination of bemusement and pride in her voice.

"Beat him to death?" Carth asked, looking interested.

"I didn't lay a hand on him, Mission stopped me before I could." I said, playfully elbowing her.

"I didn't want you to scar Zaalbar, he's a gentle soul you know." she said innocently. Zaalbar snorted loudly, but said nothing.

"Canderous was there?" Gadon asked, refocusing the conversation.

"Yup, he was there, and he was really impressed with your skills Carth," Mission said, grinning over at the man, "He said you flew like a Jedi."

A flash of surprise and nervousness drew my attention to Carth. I cocked a brow questioningly, but he gave me a nearly imperceptible shake of his head and plastered on a fake smile for Mission. "I thought we already established how incredible I am?" to his credit, the words were completely free of anything other than smug satisfaction.

"He thanked us for our help when we met in the sewers, shot Brejik in the face and handed over Bastila." I said, shrugging, "I liked him."

"Brejik is dead?" Gaddon asked, a confused mass of conflicting emotions filling him.

"Yes," Mission said, sympathetic, "He somehow set a trap on the track, between the last heat and the start of the race. The Exchange tracked the slicer responsible back to one of his safe houses."

"The three of us and Brejik were escorted up to see Canderous, he confronted Brejik and killed him." I reiterated.

When Mission and I finished, Gadon let out a deep sigh and shook his head sadly. "I told him that his path only led to one end. I wish he would have made different choices, but I'm glad he can't hurt anyone else." the older man said, unnerving mechanical eyes meeting my gaze. "You have done us a great service sergeant," he paused and met Carth's eyes, "and you as well lieutenant, thank you."

"We helped each other sir, we couldn't have rescued Bastila with your help." I said, grateful to him despite how our unlikely partnership started.

"That may be, but somehow I think you would have found another way without our help," a small mysterious smile turned up the corners of his mouth as he continued, "you have earned my friendship today and that of my people, you are free to stay as long as you want, and if you need our help, you need only ask." He stood and shook Carth's hand then did the same for me, before turning for the door. "Now get some rest you've earned it." he called over his shoulder, leaving the four of us alone.

Carth turned to Mission and I once he was gone, "Nearly beat him to death huh?" he asked.

"Mission stopped me before I could, but yeah, it was really close." I said, feeling a little embarrassed with myself. "I normally have better control over myself, but lost it, I'm not sure why, I felt his emotions flash with glee when his pilot took the lead, and I just kind of snapped." I explained weakly.

"Everyone has limits to what they can tolerate," Zaalbar said, from his seat on the floor, "Just be glad that aimed your rage at one who deserved it."

"When did you get so wise?" Mission asked, looking at the Wookiee with mock suspicion.

"I have always been so Mission, you just were not wise enough to notice." He shot back with a toothy grin.

"We'll see what you say the next time you can't find food, don't come crying to me." she retorted, with narrowed eyes.

"Now now," Zaalbar said, eyes widening in alarm, "No need for threats, I was only teasing."

Carth and I tried to hide laughter while they began bickering like the old friends they were. They were interrupted after only a couple of minutes when Dr. Carrin and her assistant came out of the bedroom.

"She is sleeping peacefully," she said, looking back over her shoulder, "Let us know when she wakes, but I don't foresee any complications." We thanked them both and the Doctor ushered her young assistant out, leaving us completely alone in the suite.

"Are you taking the first shift?" Carth asked, looking at me.

"Yeah, I'll stay with her for a while if you all want to go get some rest." I replied, standing to stretch.

"I'll take you up on that." Carth said, doing likewise and heading out.

"I will rest as well," Zaalbar said, standing up with silent grace, "I will come check on you both in a few hours."

"You can go too if you want, I'll be fine." I said, pulling Mission to her feet.

"I'll stay, we can go relax when Zaalbar comes to relieve us." She said, smiling up at me. She stood on tiptoe, wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me into a kiss. I couldn't help my hands exploring her lithe body, need and arousal flaring to life between us. The kiss deepened, our tongues dancing together, her hands finding their way under my shirt to rub the rigid muscle of my stomach. I pulled back to keep us from ending up naked on the floor. Our breathing was fast, Mission was flushed, eyes bright with happiness and need.

"Yeah no going to bed alone unless I have to." She said, with a bright smile, trying to catch her breath.

"Agreed." I said with amusement. Reluctantly letting her go, I peeked into the bedroom to see Bastila asleep on a large bed. She was under a blanket, with an I.V. in her left arm. Her face was peaceful and relaxed despite the bruises. In one corner of the bedroom sat a comfortable armchair, I pulled it closer to the bed and we took a seat. Mission in my lap we sat and talked quietly for a while, just enjoying each other's company.

After an hour or so Bastila stirred, she shifted in the bed and her eyes cracked open. Mission and I both noticed at the same time, leaning forward a little in anticipation. Bastila looked around in muddled confusion before her eyes landed on me. She gave me a sleepy smile, and closed her eyes again.

But instead of going to sleep immediately she spoke distractedly in a soft musical voice with her eyes closed. "I knew you would come for me Revan, I told Brejik he should run."