"How people treat you is their karma. How you react is yours."

"I, Caz Solus, pledge myself and all my skills to the Republic and the Jedi Order."

Palpatine looked at Caz from across his mahogany desk, silvery eyebrows arched high as a few Jedi Council members stood behind the Matukai. Solus was visibly shaking with what was clearly happiness. If Palpatine were to peer into the man's mind, he was sure it would resound with festival music. With his right hand over his chest, Caz finished swearing his alliances to the Republic.

The Chancellor, future Emperor of the Republic, was a little disappointed with the current events. When he had heard that Caz was accompanying Anakin and Master Gallia to go against Grievous, he had hoped the pesky Matukai would've died at the hands of Grievous.

But the general had failed. Palpatine wasn't all that surprised-the droid general hardly held up to what he was told to do. He only kept him alive because Dooku thought Grievous would be his scapegoat. And in order to keep Dooku from turning against him, he had to keep the former Jedi Master believing that he had a future in his design for the universe.

He didn't.

And Caz Solus hardly had a future past today. If things all went as he planned-which he expected them to-he'd be attending the man's funeral by sundown. If, for some reason, his back-up plan didn't work, the war would kill the man off quickly enough.

Palpatine would ensure it. He didn't need Anakin to form any more bonds than he already did.

"Agreed to this alliance, the Matukai Council has," Yoda said from one of the four seats in front of Palpatine. He snapped Palpatine out of his musings, but the Chancellor gave the small Jedi a polite nod of acknowledgement. "For Caz here, arrangements, we have made. Quarters in the Jedi Temple, his new abode shall be, yes."

Caz turned to face Yoda so fast that his neck popped, a smile splitting his face. "Really? Thank you, Master. I'm honored."
"As long as you don't cause any problems, you'll be staying there," Windu said, and Caz turned to Windu, his expression unchanged. "And on a more practical note, your robes won't do for battle. I believe we've already seen what happens to you when in close quarters with any sort of weapon. You may need to find yourself some armor so you can survive until we make you a better outfit."

Caz looked down at himself, and then back at Windu. "Fair enough. Anywhere in particular that I should head?"

"There are a few shops around Coruscant that I can recommend," Anakin offered, and Palpatine pushed away the urge to scowl. Anakin seemed to have a connection to Caz Solus already-Anakin clearly saw himself in the Matukai's infantile admiration for the Jedi. "I'll send the locations once we're dismissed."

Palpatine couldn't understand how Anakin tolerated that sentient piece of meat and bones. Even a similarity they shared wouldn't be enough to do what Anakin was doing for the guy. Palpatine knew Anakin was going to form an attachment to the man if he wasn't killed immediately. It would hurt Anakin more if Solus' death was delayed, but Palpatine could really care less. With everything he was going to do to Anakin, Solus was a useless one in the millions.

"Thank you," Caz said to Anakin, before glancing back to Windu. "So...do I get to command clones, or…?"

"Learn how to handle yourself first," Windu said harshly, and Caz's smile faded slightly. Palpatine cocked his head, admittedly curious to see what was about to occur. A dislike of Caz Solus seemed to be the first thing Palpatine and Windu had ever agreed on. "After reading the mission report, we've decided not to bar you from any missions we know Grievous will appear on-however, you'll almost always be accompanied by a more experienced individual during the war."

"That's fine by me," Caz said easily, and Windu seemed annoyed at that. "What if I run into Dooku?"

"If we knew when the Count would appear," Obi-Wan murmured, "we would not send you on missions against him, no. Even Anakin and I have difficulty holding him off for long." Kenobi turned to Anakin, who clearly wanted to deny the statement, but couldn't. "Despite the skills you've displayed, you've also shown inexperience when fighting individuals who wield blades. By that logic, Dooku would kill you in mere moments."
"Happy thought," Caz said, scratching the back of his neck. He didn't seem all that annoyed at Obi-Wan pointing out his weaknesses. "What lightsaber form does Dooku use?" Windu raised his eyebrow at the Matukai. "I mean, I know different Jedi use different forms-my Master told me that."

"My former apprentice, uses Makashi, he does," Yoda said, shaking his head. "A master of the form, he is."

"Oh," Caz frowned. "Do any of you use Makashi?"

"No," Anakin said, looking around the room. "But that's a conversation for another time, Caz."

"Until further notice, you'll be working alongside Kenobi," Windu said, and the man in question nodded. "Since Skywalker is already occupied with his Padawan, and he doesn't need another...another responsibility."

Caz nodded. "No, that's understandable." Palpatine was disgusted. The man didn't even attempt to stand up for himself. Caz was silent and placated, but Anakin seemed frustrated with Windu's statement. The air seemed to get colder as Anakin glared daggers at Windu, and Windu glared daggers at Caz. "Getting a little chilly in here," Caz said, looking between Anakin and Windu. "Well, Windu, that sounds all well and good to me! Obi-Wan, you're all good with me working with you?"

"Yes, I am," Obi-Wan said, eyeing Windu cautiously. The other Jedi also looked at Mace. They really couldn't fathom why he was being so aggressive towards Caz. Caz looked away from Windu, smiling and crossing his arms. "I wish you well on your journey to find some armor."

"And I wish you well in whatever you intend to do today," Caz said cordially, giving Obi-Wan a little bow before turning to the Chancellor. "Thanks for sparing some time for this." Palpatine smiled and dipped his head. "Have a good day!"

"I will," Palpatine said. When you're dead. "You're dismissed."

Palpatine watched as the Matukai walked out of the office, giving a glance to Pestage, who was sitting in the anteroom between the elevator and the office. Caz gave him a wave, and Pestage didn't interact at all.

Leaning back in his seat, Palpatine steepled his fingers and awaited the next topic of the meeting to arise: the rumors arising on Mandalore's upcoming alliance with the Separatists.

Caz hadn't been to the Coruscant Underworld for over five years now, and the city seemed to morph with every passing day. Speeders past and around him, people drinking, laughing, holding each other or arguing. Last time Caz had been here, he and Vash had been overwhelmed by the life bursting on the planet. Neither of them had ever been anywhere with more than a few hundred people at once. It had left them stunned.

And now, Caz was still awestruck. Everyone all around him, living their own individual lives, with their own massive problems and ups and downs, gave him an overwhelming sense of perspective. How small he was compared to everyone else, how inconsequential he was.

"There's a lotta shit out there, yeh?" The Gamorrean cabbie said in his persistently monotone voice, snorting as Caz nodded. "Try not to think about it too much. Hurts me 'ead."

"You and me both," Caz said, leaning on his hand and looking out the window. "So, what's up with you? What brought you to Coruscant?" The cabbie cocked his head, and Caz elaborated. "Well, I was under the impression that Gamorreans didn't like planets with so much technology."

"Oh, we don't," the Gamorrean said, shaking his head. "But me brother's real ill, and this planet's the only place we get some medical care, yanno?" It was Caz's turn to look confused. "Most places round the galaxy'll only take humans like you...not aliens."

Caz frowned. "Your brother's ill? With what?"

"Nasty cold, it is," the cabbie said. "His name's She'nairo, and I'm Khe'nairo." The Gamorrean held out a meaty hand, and Caz shook it. "I'm raisin' credits for a cure, but it's real pricey."

"How much do you need?" Caz asked, looking in his backpack.

"Couple hundred more," Khe'nairo said with the shake of his head. "S'lotta drivin' for me, plus the gas and the-the food. It's hard work, but if I can help out She-She, I'll do it."

Caz smiled, pulling a small pouch out of his backpack and placed it in Khe'nairo's lap. The Gamorrean looked up at him in shock. "Fo'me?"

"For you," Caz said, getting comfortable in his seat as Khe'nairo stared at the pouch in shock. It wasn't even his cash—it was a small sum that the Republi had given him for his armor. "When I was a kid, I was sick as well...they weren't expecting me to get any better. If I can give you that hope for your brother...I'd do it a hundred times more."

Khe'nairo had to pull over into one of the spaceports to compose himself. The big, beefy Gamorrean was crying his eyes out, and as soon as Caz got out of the cab, leaping over the closed door, the porcine man whomped him into a massive hug. "Thank you, stranger."

Caz hugged him back, his arms barely making it halfway around the man's torso. "Don't even think about it. As Khe'nairo finally let go, Caz smiled up at the guy.

"I owe ya," Khe'nairo said with a toothy grin, opening the passenger door to the cab. "Remember you've always got me to help ya out. Come on in."

Caz shook his head. "No, you don't owe me anything, man. It'll be reward enough if your brother can live a long, healthy life." Caz heard a sudden clicking noise. "Khe'nairo, get away from the cab!"

"What?" Khe'nairo asked, confused, and the cab exploded behind him, blasting the Gamorrean and Caz forwards.

Shrapnel went flying everywhere, embedding itself in the walls and crates all around the Underworld porthole. The Matukai skidded across the cement, managing to roll off his shoulders and push back to his feet.

"Khe'nairo!" Caz called out, ears ringing as he peered through the smoke and flames. He wasted no time booking it into the flames and wreckage, looking for the Gamorrean. He rummaged through molten hot wreckage, his gloves burning away but his skin widely impervious due to his Matukai training.

Beneath a chunk of the cab's engine was Khe'nairo, still clutching the credit pouch in his hands. "S...stranger?"

Caz looked at him and the massive piece of shrapnel protruding from Khe'nairo's chest. "Oh, shit, shit." He got down in front of Khe'nairo, panicked and unsure of what to do. He then called out to the people on the port. "Hey, this man needs help! Hey!"

"He's hardly a man!" One of them called back, and Caz's eyes widened in horror as he turned back to Khe'nairo.

"Okay," Caz said shakily. "Khe'nairo, you're gonna get out of this, alright? I'll get you to a hospital." He turned to his comlink, trying to call the Republic. "Yes, yes? This is Caz Solus? Can you hear me?"

Radio static was all that replied, and Caz let out a whimper as he turned back to the Gamorrean. The alien was smiling. "Your name is...Caz?"

"That's my name," Caz said, tearing some fabric off of his robes and using it to try and stop the blood from the shrapnel. "Please, help!" He screamed out to the people in the port. "He needs medical attention!" Caz turned back to Khe'nairo, horrified. "Why is no one helping?"

The Gamorrean didn't answer.

Caz began to sweat, thrown into a panic. "Don't die on me, please."

Two figures suddenly bolted over to Caz and the Gamorrean, one of them using a strange device to vacuum up all the fire and smoke.

"What's going on?" The one with the strange device said, taking off his goggles and revealing a young Asian man with slick-back brown hair.

"Their speeder blew up, you plebian," the white-haired woman said, kneeling down next to Caz and the Gamorrean. "We can help, but we'll need yours in return."
"Yes, yes! Whatever you need," Caz said quickly.

"Alright, step away," the woman said, and Caz scrambled backwards, letting the kid with the goggles take his place. "Now, Gamorrean, this is going to hurt a lot, but you're going to live. Are you alright with that?"

Khe'nairo nodded, and the woman turned to the kid. "Nyx, on three, I need you to freeze his wound." Nyx dipped his head in acknowledgment. "One...two...three." On three, the woman tore the shrapnel out of Khe'nairo's torso, and Caz let out a yell of protest, but it was drowned out by Khe'nairo's scream of pain. "Now!"

Nyx pressed a button on his device, and ice spewed out of it. Khe'nairo continued to wail in pain as Caz watched from the sidelines helplessly. After about two minutes of this, Khe'nairo relaxed into unconsciousness. Nyx turned to Caz, giving him a thumbs-up. "He's better now."

Caz crept forwards, looking at the ice covering Khe'nairo's torso. After a moment of staring, Caz looked up at the woman. "Thank you so much. What do you need me to do for you?"

"Well, let's see," the woman said, her expression shifting into that of a young boy with black hair and icy blue eyes. Caz watched in shock as the young boy brushed his hair out of his eyes. "To put it simply, I need your help rescuing a syndicate member."

"We," Nyx corrected, and the young boy rolled his eyes. "He means we."

"Oh, so it's...it's a big thing, then," Caz said, pressing his lips together. "How long do you think that'll take?"

"Depends on you," the boy said. "Bring that Gamorrean. We're gonna head to a friend's place."

"This is moving a bit too fast for me," Caz said honestly, managing to lift the Gamorrean up with the help of the Force running through his body. "Can we get some introductions?"

"No," the boy said curtly, and Caz let out a weary sigh. "Follow me."

Caz lumbered along with Khe'nairo slumped over his arms, legs dragging on the steel. The Matukai spared a glance at Nyx, who was bouncing along with a smile on his face. "Is he always like this?"

"Haven't seen him any other way," Nyx said easily. "Oh, by the way, you probably just signed up to die."

Caz was silent for a moment, continuing to drag the Gamorrean through the streets of Coruscant. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that." Nyx shrugged nonchalantly as they continued to follow the strange shapeshifter.

The strange boy led Nyx and Caz to a dingy old bar on the backside of Coruscant's alleyways, and by then Caz had discerned that he had bruised a rib and twisted his ankle. He hadn't been paying all that much attention to himself as compared to Khe'nairo. His ankle began to throb, asking for medical attention, but Caz ignored it as they entered the bar.Soft jazz music emanated from a band at the back of the circular room, and a few beings sat at the tables and booths embedded in the walls. At the center of the room was an island counter surrounded by a ring of barstools, where people were getting drinks poured by a snake-like creature.

"Naja," the boy called out to the bartender, who stared at him with coruscating eyes. "Is the back room free?"

Naja nodded her head before continuing to pour an orange Twi'lek a glowing drink, tail wrapped around the bottle of liquid. "Who're the guests?" Naja slurred the 's' in a proper snake fashion, and Caz watched as a strange lump dropped into the Twi'leks drink. Naja's tongue flicked out as her tail pointed to Caz and Khe'nairo.

"They're helping me with the problem," the boy said vaguely.

"Of course," Naja hissed out. "Good luck, boys."

Nyx gave her a jaunty wave as the boy guided them towards the backroom. He lifted his hand to the palm scanner, and his hand shifted into a shriveled and pale one with long nails and bony fingers. "Look away," the boy snapped, and Caz glanced away, accidentally getting a face full of Gamorrean.

The door hissed open, revealing a small room with a holotable, two beds, a bathroom, and what looked like a painting of the Supreme Chancellor. Caz raised an eyebrow at it. "I didn't know you guys were patriots."

"No, we stole that," the boy said as he sat down on one of the beds. "Put the Gamorrean down." Caz carefully set Khe'nairo down on the ground beside the holotable, checking on his wound. The ice hadn't even started to melt, and the porcine's breathing had evened out significantly, color coming back to his greenish face. "So, the plan."

Caz looked up from his unconscious cabbie. "Yeah, uh, the plan. Something about a syndicate?" Caz looked back at the painting of the Supreme Chancellor, whose icy blue gaze seemed to be silently judging him.

"Yes," the boy said. "I'll explain later. Please, help yourself." The boy pulled a box out from underneath the bed and slid it over to Caz. The Matukai stopped it with his foot, ankle screaming at him for it. He sat down in front of the box and opened it, revealing food, drinks, and medical supplies. "You can't die right now."

"Right," Caz said hesitantly, taking out a bacta injection and jabbing it into his neck. He felt the cooling bacta healing his ankle and rib, and he moved to inject Khe'nairo with a needle as well.

"You might have tetanus now," Nyx said cheerfully as he fiddled with his goggles. Caz's face went pale, and Nyx laughed. "Kidding! I sterilized those. I think."

"So much for not dying yet," the boy said, and Caz let out a groan. "Now, you don't need to worry, if you have any sort of social tact whatsoever, you'll probably live!"

"Live through what?" Caz asked, opening up a bottle of water and began to drink it very carefully, lest he contract another disease. "It would be nice if you told me what was going on."

"It would be," the boy said. "I'm not nice." The boy stood up and pressed a couple buttons on the holotable. "You don't happen to be working with the Pykes, would you?"

"I think if we had introduced ourselves, you wouldn't need to ask this question," Caz said as he got to his feet, watching the boy pull up a map of what looked like the Coruscant Underworld. The only reason Caz even recognized it was because Anakin had sent him the same map with locations of armor shops and the like.

"Okay, well, introduce yourself," the boy said neutrally.

"I'm Caz Solus, Matukai Adept and liege of the Republic," Caz said formally, and within seconds, the boy had a blaster to his head. "Woah, woah, woah! Hey! What are you doing?"

"You're part of the Republic?" Nyx asked, cleaning his goggle lenses of any ash. "Wouldn't have known it by looking at you." Caz gave him a dry look, and Nyx snickered.

"Give me one good reason not to shoot you right now," the boy said, his youthful face contorted into one of paranoia and extreme dislike.

"Uh…" Caz looked around the room, unsure of what to say. "Well, I don't have any good re-" Caz heard the boy's finger clench the trigger, and moved his head to the side as the blaster bolt zoomed past him.

"Got a better one now?" The boy asked, and Caz followed the trail of the blaster so a singing hole in the wall.

"I'll help you with whatever you're doing, and I won't tell the Republic?" Caz said slowly. "I'm assuming that's what you want, especially since…" he pointed at the painting on the wall, and the boy lowered his blaster. "I just came down here for some armor. And you brought me into this! You can't be mad if I'm not who you expect."

The boy holstered his blaster. "If I see one patrol coming after us, I'm going to shoot you."

"Great," Caz said as a couple dots popped up on the Underworld map. "Great. So, let me in on what you need my help with?"

Nyx got up from his seat in the corner of the room, walking over to the holotable. The map began to flicker in and out, and Nyx whacked it with the wrench to make it stop. "Well, like you said, introductions first." He held out a grease-covered hand. "Nyx Okami, Black Sun mechanic."

"Felian Halcorr, Black Sun assassin," the boy held out his hand. Caz shook both of them with both of his hands, before turning back to the map. "One of the Black Sun's council members was recently kidnapped by the Pyke Syndicate in an attempt to leverage us into paying a hefty ransom." Felian spun the map around and zoomed in on one of the quadrants. "The Black Sun has dispatched most of their assassins to rescue their council member, but the casualties have been staggering. Forty assassins have died trying to infiltrate their base in this quadrant." One of the sections of the quadrant began to glow red.

"Now," Nyx continued on tapping a few keys on the holotable and pulling up the blueprints of three separate buildings. He pointed at a spire-like tower with several ships surrounding it. "This is what they've been trying to infiltrate. Most of our intel states that the council member is in there, but Felian suspects that it's a flytrap."

"What's that mean?" Caz asked, leaning on the holotable and propping himself up by the elbow. "Not in a literal sense, but I'm assuming it means something else in whatever...business you're in?"

"A flytrap is a Separatist war maneuver, not slang," Felian said, and Caz raised an eyebrow. "It's when they over-guard a certain location in order to draw the enemy forces there, just to massacre them. Meanwhile, their prize is in another location." Felia swiped away the blueprint of the Pykes headquarters, leaving two smaller buildings. "Based on transmissions and transactions that we've kept an eye on, I've narrowed it down to these two locations."

"Their slave processing building and their supply house," Nyx continued on, the two of them finishing each other off like they had been friends for years. Caz didn't doubt it. "Your job, Caz, is to infiltrate the processing building while we launch a frontal attack on the supply house."

"In which part of this do you think I will die?" Caz asked, looking between the two blueprints with a worried interest.

"You could die at any point," Felian said without hesitation. "There's two ways you can go in that have a higher chance of working, though-just in case you want to live through this." Caz mouthed 'I do' to Nyx as the shapeshifter continued on. "The first one would be to surrender to the Pykes, get taken into the processing factory, and then break them out from there. The issue with that is they might fit you with an explosive chip before you find the Black Sun council member."

Caz let out a mildly hysterical laugh, before quieting himself. "And the other option?"

Nyx selected the slave processor's blueprint, zooming in on a small red area that seemed to be an external vent. "Felian and I managed to open this up on our last scouting mission-we didn't go in, though, because we don't want to die."

"Oh, of course," Caz said somewhat sarcastically, doing a quick check on Khe'nairo before looking back at the blueprint. "And what's the kicker for that plan?"

"Well, if you manage to sneak in through the ventilation system, and somehow manage to locate the council member, you'll have to be one hell of a fighter to get out of there without dying. Now, since you're from the Republic, I can only hope you have some training."

"I've got training," Caz said uneasily. "How many opponents are we talking, though?"

"Two hundred, maybe more," Nyx said, and Caz's jaw dropped. "I told you that you might die."

"It would be more, but the supply house is close enough so some of the Pykes will leave the processor to protect their weapons and the like," Felian muttered.

"Is there...is there any way I can save the guy without...I don't know...fighting off an entire army?" Caz asked.

"Not one we know of," Nyx said, puffing out his lower lip and shrugging carelessly. "But if you manage to locate the council member" -he slid a comlink over to Caz- "call us, and we'll head over."

"This whole plan just seems very dependent on me," Caz said with a frown.

"It's not," Felian muttered. "There's a higher chance of the council member being at the supply house than at the slave processor. We're sending you in there because we're expecting you to set off some alarms and throw the Pykes into chaos."

"I'm the bait," Caz said as he placed the comlink on his bracers.

"He gets it," Nyx said with a playful smile.

"Now, if you somehow don't die," Felian said, switching over to the blueprint of the supply house. "And you somehow manage to rescue the council member… the Black Sun will compensate you well-armor, weapons, credits-whatever you need, they'll give it to you. Not to mention a favor if you ever were to need one." Felian paused. "Especially with the assassin you've got on your tail."

"The what?" Caz said, shocked.

"Well, your cab didn't just explode for no reason," Nyx said with a frown. "I think someone's trying to kill you, Mr. Matukai. Death is all around you today!"

There was a loud grunt, and Caz turned to Khe'nairo with a hopeful expression. The Gamorrean got to his feet and looked at the blueprint. "Where am I?"

"Nowhere of importance," Felian waved him off, and Khe'nairo frowned. "Now, Mr. Gamorrean, please stay here. Solus, please follow me out."

Caz looked at the assassin and mechanic warily, watching as they exited the room. He then turned to Khe'nairo, and handed him a small device. "These two saved your life, just so you know." Khe'nairo nodded as he looked down at the device, his eyes widening.

"Why give me this, then?" The Gamorrean said, turning the device over in his hand.

"Because I don't want to die just yet, Khe'nairo," Caz said, patting the Gamorrean on the shoulder. "You still have your credits, right?" The alien nodded, patting his pocket with his meaty fingers. "Go pay for your brother's cure and then come find me there," he pointed over at the blueprint for the slave processor. "Good luck."

"Hurry up!" Nyx called from outside, and Caz gave Khe'nairo a quick handshake, his hand getting engulfed in the Gamorrean's massive one.

"I will find you, Caz Solus!" Khe'nairo called out as the Matukai left the room. "Good luck on your slavery!"

"He really could've worded that better," Caz said to himself, running his hands through his hair as the door shut behind him.

After actually speaking with their unfortunate victim of circumstance, Felian Halcorr felt a little bad for sending Caz Solus into a situation he had no chance of surviving.

He also felt bad for not telling Nyx about why he had really helped out the ally of the Republic, whatever he was. It was fortunate that the fifteen-year-old hadn't seen the Anzati assassin running away from the crime scene, or else he would've been a lot more suspicious about why Felian was opting to help a stranger on the street.

Caz clearly was unaware that in the Underworld, being helpful was a luxury no one could afford. And his naivete would get him killed. Nyx didn't really understand this-despite his situation in life, he hadn't lived for long enough to know who could survive, and who couldn't. Nyx joked about death, but he had never faced it. Felian had made sure of it.

If a stranger had to die so that Nyx Okami could live, Felian would gladly oblige.

After living in this galaxy for over four hundred years, Felian had the wisdom to know that he would outlive Nyx, and his companion after that. There had been seven, so far, all of them misguided children who needed someone to look after them, someone to care for them.

Felian did the best he could. He could spare no sympathy for those who grew up in a kinder world, those who were too weak to handle the tragedies of the galaxy. He just wanted to protect his kids from dealing with any more of it.

He hoped Nyx would die happily; swimming in credits, maybe with a wife and kids and a prosperous life. He hoped Nyx could be free of the Black Sun's hold, the debts he had and the troubles he faced. He hoped Nyx could move far away from the war, far away from any chaos and hardship, and simply live and die.

Perhaps it was childish to believe such a thing was possible, but after almost half a millennia of experiencing life, Felian knew that hope was the spark of conviction for those strong enough to go for their goals. Things do not fall in your lap, not unless you were born with a solid gold spoon. You earn what you work for, and then some.

"This is where ya get off," Nyx said to Caz, forcing Felian to turn around and look at Solus. The kid wasn't much older than Nyx-maybe sixteen, seventeen? His face was free of frown lines, and he seemed content despite the tragedy that had befallen his Gamorrean friend. At least he wasn't letting grief get in the way of his focus.

Nyx had stopped the speeder on a rooftop a few blocks away from the slave processing station. Caz looked out across the spire-like builds, the Pykes patrolling the darkened, dank streets, and Felian saw what looked like sadness sparking in Caz's eyes. He didn't care to ask about it.

Caz got out of the speeder, giving them a wave before Nyx hit the gas. Felian didn't have the heart to tell Nyx that might've been the last time he saw the man.

For a creature who has lived so long, Felian never had the heart to change his ways. He couldn't stand putting someone he cared about in grief, but Nyx would get over it. He had to-Felian had made it expressly clear that whoever they chose would be a distraction.

Distractions always get killed. Nyx would learn that soon.

"I like him," Nyx said, and Felian turned to him with a frown. "He seems really nice, Felian."

"I'm sure he's nice," Felian said, letting his form shift into a Pyke with coruscating purple eyes. "But you know what his job is; you know he'll probably die doing it. Please brace yourself for never seeing him again."

"Is he not a Jedi?" Nyx asked as he made a beeline for the nearby supply house. Felian turned to him, eyebrows raised over a golden Pyke headdress. "I thought Jedi wore robes like he did."
"He's not a Jedi," Felian answered, and Nyx's face fell. Felian thought back to the man's outfit-dark green robes with a thick brown braided belt with several leather strips running down one side of it. "He wears robes similar to theirs, but that man does not act like a Jedi."

"Is that an insult?" Nyx asked as he pulled some cuffs out of one of their speeder compartments, slapping them around one of his hands.

"No," Felian replied honestly. "He is...emotional. Less emotionally controlled than the Jedi I've met. But, he is not a Sith, either." Nyx gave Felian a sympathetic look, and Felian smiled. "You need not worry about the Sith, Nyx. They care not for individuals like us." Felian looked up at the sky, able to see the floor of Coruscant's upper level from here. "I'm sure their plans are on a grander scale than we will ever know."

"I hope so," Nyx said as Felian pulled out a blaster and pointed it at his head. The teenager didn't flinch, simply sticking his hand in the other manacle and lowering his head. "You sent Caz in there to die, didn't you?"

Felian went still, watching as a couple Pykes took a masked individual away from the supply house. "You knew that."

"You don't think he'll live at all," Nyx said, looking back up at the Shi'ido shapeshifter with warm brown eyes.

"Now is not the time, Nyx," Felian said softly.

Nyx pursed his lips. He wouldn't speak out against Felian, not as they were executing their plain, but he would definitely bring it up later. Felian hadn't expected Nyx to be that perceptive, to realize that the shapeshifter was far too cynical and careless to pay mind to those he used as tools, but Nyx had always been clever.

"Get out," Felian snapped, and Nyx's manacled hands went behind his head as he was shoved out of the speeder. Nyx tumbled onto the ground, scrambling back up to his feet. Felian pushed him forwards with the butt of his blaster towards the supply house guards. "I found this trespasser trying to break in...I will be taking him to the brig until we can collect a bounty or transfer him to the processor."

The guards spent a total of two seconds looking at Felian's Pyke form, before nodding and letting him in.

As soon as they passed through the doors, they hung a right towards the brig, Nyx sliding right out of his manacles and passing them over to Felian. Felian took them and clipped them to his belt. Nyx and his brilliant eidetic memory had memorized the path over to the brig. He hadn't said a word to Felian, but the Shi'ido continued to follow him in silence.

He hoped he hadn't broken Nyx's trust too severely with this action. He would learn in time that Caz's death would help him get further in life, and that was really all that mattered-your own survival.

A couple Pykes gave them glances as they passed by, but made no comment. They seemed to be satiated by the fact that Felian looked like a Pyke. This was the reason Felian kept his shapeshifting ability out of most of his missions. By the end of this, when the Black Sun member escaped with a Pyke, all they'd think was that one of their own had betrayed them. It'd throw them into chaos.

And even if they suspected a shapeshifter, they'd never trace it back to Nyx Okami and his many allies, who all happened to be the same person.

Nyx suddenly stopped in his tracks, pointing at a circular doorway. "Brig's that way."

Felian grimaced at Nyx's tone, but he couldn't blame the boy. He was too young to understand what he was doing, why he was doing it.

He'd understand when he was older.

Nyx opened the control panel, and within three minutes, he was in. The door opened, and Felian guided Nyx into one of the empty cells, shutting the door and pretending to lock it. It would fool the cameras.

"Wait for my signal," Felian whispered, passing Nyx a scanner. "This'll scan for Falleen pheromones, but if you activate it before I signal you-"

"-the Pykes will catch me," Nyx said firmly. "I know. Go."

Felian gave Nyx a quick analytical look, before leaving the brig. A couple of the prisoners gave him perplexed looks, but otherwise said nothing. Felian had no intentions of freeing them willingly, but if it came to it, he'd unlock the whole cell brig to create chaos for the Pykes.

Felian had memorized the route from the brig to the communications room, and from there to their armory. The gist of the plan was to sound the alarms, stating that the slave processor was under attack. The Pykes would launch their forces there. Felian would then bomb their armory, guiding whatever Pykes remained there, while Nyx escaped with the council member.

Felian had been lying to Nyx even more than the boy had surmised.

There was no chance of Caz surviving this at all. After actually speaking with their unfortunate victim of circumstance, Felian Halcorr felt a little bad for sending Caz Solus into a situation he had no chance of surviving.

He also felt bad for not telling Nyx about why he had really helped out the ally of the Republic, whatever he was. It was fortunate that the fifteen-year-old hadn't seen the Anzati assassin running away from the crime scene, or else he would've been a lot more suspicious about why Felian was opting to help a stranger on the street.

Caz clearly was unaware that in the Underworld, being helpful was a luxury no one could afford. And his naivete would get him killed. Nyx didn't really understand this-despite his situation in life, he hadn't lived for long enough to know who could survive, and who couldn't. Nyx joked about death, but he had never faced it. Felian had made sure of it.

If a stranger had to die so that Nyx Okami could live, Felian would gladly oblige.

After living in this galaxy for over four hundred years, Felian had the wisdom to know that he would outlive Nyx, and his companion after that. There had been seven, so far, all of them misguided children who needed someone to look after them, someone to care for them.

Felian did the best he could. He could spare no sympathy for those who grew up in a kinder world, those who were too weak to handle the tragedies of the galaxy. He just wanted to protect his kids from dealing with any more of it.

He hoped Nyx would die happily; swimming in credits, maybe with a wife and kids and a prosperous life. He hoped Nyx could be free of the Black Sun's hold, the debts he had and the troubles he faced. He hoped Nyx could move far away from the war, far away from any chaos and hardship, and simply live and die.

Perhaps it was childish to believe such a thing was possible, but after almost half a millennia of experiencing life, Felian knew that hope was the spark of conviction for those strong enough to go for their goals. Things do not fall in your lap, not unless you were born with a solid gold spoon. You earn what you work for, and then some.

"This is where ya get off," Nyx said to Caz, forcing Felian to turn around and look at Solus. The kid wasn't much older than Nyx-maybe sixteen, seventeen? His face was free of frown lines, and he seemed content despite the tragedy that had befallen his Gamorrean friend. At least he wasn't letting grief get in the way of his focus.

Nyx had stopped the speeder on a rooftop a few blocks away from the slave processing station. Caz looked out across the spire-like builds, the Pykes patrolling the darkened, dank streets, and Felian saw what looked like sadness sparking in Caz's eyes. He didn't care to ask about it.

Caz got out of the speeder, giving them a wave before Nyx hit the gas. Felian didn't have the heart to tell Nyx that might've been the last time he saw the man.

For a creature who has lived so long, Felian never had the heart to change his ways. He couldn't stand putting someone he cared about in grief, but Nyx would get over it. He had to-Felian had made it expressly clear that whoever they chose would be a distraction.

Distractions always get killed. Nyx would learn that soon.

"I like him," Nyx said, and Felian turned to him with a frown. "He seems really nice, Felian."

"I'm sure he's nice," Felian said, letting his form shift into a Pyke with coruscating purple eyes. "But you know what his job is; you know he'll probably die doing it. Please brace yourself for never seeing him again."

"Is he not a Jedi?" Nyx asked as he made a beeline for the nearby supply house. Felian turned to him, eyebrows raised over a golden Pyke headdress. "I thought Jedi wore robes like he did."
"He's not a Jedi," Felian answered, and Nyx's face fell. Felian thought back to the man's outfit-dark green robes with a thick brown braided belt with several leather strips running down one side of it. "He wears robes similar to theirs, but that man does not act like a Jedi."

"Is that an insult?" Nyx asked as he pulled some cuffs out of one of their speeder compartments, slapping them around one of his hands.

"No," Felian replied honestly. "He is...emotional. Less emotionally controlled than the Jedi I've met. But, he is not a Sith, either." Nyx gave Felian a sympathetic look, and Felian smiled. "You need not worry about the Sith, Nyx. They care not for individuals like us." Felian looked up at the sky, able to see the floor of Coruscant's upper level from here. "I'm sure their plans are on a grander scale than we will ever know."

"I hope so," Nyx said as Felian pulled out a blaster and pointed it at his head. The teenager didn't flinch, simply sticking his hand in the other manacle and lowering his head. "You sent Caz in there to die, didn't you?"

Felian went still, watching as a couple Pykes took a masked individual away from the supply house. "You knew that."

"You don't think he'll live at all," Nyx said, looking back up at the Shi'ido shapeshifter with warm brown eyes.

"Now is not the time, Nyx," Felian said softly.

Nyx pursed his lips. He wouldn't speak out against Felian, not as they were executing their plain, but he would definitely bring it up later. Felian hadn't expected Nyx to be that perceptive, to realize that the shapeshifter was far too cynical and careless to pay mind to those he used as tools, but Nyx had always been clever.

"Get out," Felian snapped, and Nyx's manacled hands went behind his head as he was shoved out of the speeder. Nyx tumbled onto the ground, scrambling back up to his feet. Felian pushed him forwards with the butt of his blaster towards the supply house guards. "I found this trespasser trying to break in...I will be taking him to the brig until we can collect a bounty or transfer him to the processor."

The guards spent a total of two seconds looking at Felian's Pyke form, before nodding and letting him in.

As soon as they passed through the doors, they hung a right towards the brig, Nyx sliding right out of his manacles and passing them over to Felian. Felian took them and clipped them to his belt. Nyx and his brilliant eidetic memory had memorized the path over to the brig. He hadn't said a word to Felian, but the Shi'ido continued to follow him in silence.

He hoped he hadn't broken Nyx's trust too severely with this action. He would learn in time that Caz's death would help him get further in life, and that was really all that mattered-your own survival.

A couple Pykes gave them glances as they passed by, but made no comment. They seemed to be satiated by the fact that Felian looked like a Pyke. This was the reason Felian kept his shapeshifting ability out of most of his missions. By the end of this, when the Black Sun member escaped with a Pyke, all they'd think was that one of their own had betrayed them. It'd throw them into chaos.

And even if they suspected a shapeshifter, they'd never trace it back to Nyx Okami and his many allies, who all happened to be the same person.

Nyx suddenly stopped in his tracks, pointing at a circular doorway. "Brig's that way."

Felian grimaced at Nyx's tone, but he couldn't blame the boy. He was too young to understand what he was doing, why he was doing it.

He'd understand when he was older.

Nyx opened the control panel, and within three minutes, he was in. The door opened, and Felian guided Nyx into one of the empty cells, shutting the door and pretending to lock it. It would fool the cameras.

"Wait for my signal," Felian whispered, passing Nyx a scanner. "This'll scan for Falleen pheromones, but if you activate it before I signal you-"

"-the Pykes will catch me," Nyx said firmly. "I know. Go."

Felian gave Nyx a quick analytical look, before leaving the brig. A couple of the prisoners gave him perplexed looks, but otherwise said nothing. Felian had no intentions of freeing them willingly, but if it came to it, he'd unlock the whole cell brig to create chaos for the Pykes.

Felian had memorized the route from the brig to the communications room, and from there to their armory. The gist of the plan was to sound the alarms, stating that the slave processor was under attack. The Pykes would launch their forces there. Felian would then bomb their armory, guiding whatever Pykes remained there, while Nyx escaped with the council member.

Felian had been lying to Nyx even more than the boy had surmised.

There was no chance of Caz surviving this at all.

Caz was getting a little tired of spending all his time in ventilation shafts.

As a Matukai, he'd been trained to fight in open spaces, or at least an area large enough to permit acrobatics. If someone were to pop out around the corner with a weapon, Caz would be very much dead. And until he learned how to rocket around vents like a military-grade missile, Caz would resort to the much uncomfortable army crawl.

He had to keep looking at the map of the compound, making his way through the maze of ventilation and slowly making his way towards the brig. It was a three steps forward, two steps back situation, but he could see the marker that represented him slowly getting closer and closer to the green triangle that represented where he needed to go.

The vents reeked of spice as well. It was fortunate that Caz had actually focused during a couple of the Matukai training lessons, especially the ones that involved purging toxins from his body. Spice...wasn't poisonous, but Caz wasn't keen on getting high in the middle of a dangerous mission.

His mother always said you should only smoke when the job is done. She never smoked, which is why Caz had always been confused about it.

He was holding out hope that the Pykes were too baked on spice to actually notice Caz meandering into the brig and rescuing the Black Sun member.

After ten more minutes of wandering, Caz managed to navigate his way directly over the brig. He carefully lifted the ventilation grate and peered down into the area. It was a sparsely guarded room filled with individuals of all races and ages, curled up in balls and trying to sleep.

Caz felt his blood run cold as he looked at them. They were all so frail, barely bandaged, bloody and broken. His brows furrowed as he looked at them. He needed to free them, not just the Black Sun council member, whom he couldn't seem to find in the mass of bodies.

His jaw set in determination, and he counted the guards in the room. Four of them, armed with blasters and vibroblades, each of them holding a strange remote in their hands. Caz looked at the remotes, and then saw one of the slaves jump to their feet. It was a young Togruta girl, same age as Ahsoka, and she made a run for one of the exits.

An older Twi'lek seemed to call out her name in horror, accidentally catching the attention of the guards. One of them pressed the button on the remote, and Caz watched the Togruta girl was blown to pieces from a violent explosion. The mother called out the girl's name again, and Caz's breath began to quicken as he looked at the girl's remains. His stomach began to churn and he felt bile rising in his throat.

He closed the grate and skittered backwards, breath hitching in his throat. Explosive chips. The girl must've been too young to have known about them...

Felian had told him about them, but...Caz turned and vomited on the steel ground of the vent, his breath heaving and his eyes wide.

"Oh, my God," Caz said to himself, repeating it over and over again as he began to tremble. Had there been any way to help her? Any way to keep her from that fate?

Caz slapped his mouth shut as he almost sobbed. He hadn't known the girl, and whether she reminded him of Ahsoka or not, she was still a young girl who was heartlessly, violently killed by the Pykes. What possible reason could they have had for that?

Steeling his nerves and swallowing hard, Caz pulled up the map again and looked for the processor's power generator. The room popped up red, not too far from where he was sitting right now. If he could shut down the power generator, the transmitters would be rendered useless, right? Then...then he could get the slaves out of here, Nyx and Felian could help remove the chips?

"That...that could work," Caz murmured to himself. His knowledge on slave transmitter chips was limited, but he hoped it was enough.

It had to be enough.

With that, Caz made his way through the vents and towards the power room, gritting his teeth and trying to think of anything but that young Togruta. Grief and guilt roiled in his stomach, but he forced himself to ignore them. If the slaves could be freed, maybe that would alleviate the grief he was feeling.

Caz picked up the pace, crawling a little faster until he managed to get overhead the power room. His heart was racing-he could smell his vomit, could smell the blood of the Togruta. It wasn't anywhere near him-maybe he wasn't purging the spice as well as he thought he was.

He felt woozy, his head starting to spin as he opened the grate over the generator room. There were no guards, no techs manning the room, which was a little strange. Caz slipped out of the vents and landed in the middle of the room, glancing around at the generators. He then walked over to the controls system, nearly tripping over his own feet.

That made him stop cold.

Caz couldn't remember a time that he had been so clumsy. Woozy, maybe. In pain, definitely. Emotionally strained, probably. But he'd never fallen over due to his own gracelessness. And he should've been purging the spice well-enough to avoid its side-effects.

Someone was doing this.

"Who...who's there?" Caz asked, opening the roll that held his wan-shen parts and attempting to screw them together. His hands moved like they were covered in butter and swimming through molasses. He managed to put the weapon parts back into their storage before the assailant revealed themselves.

A woman stepped out of the shadows behind one of the generators. She was taller than him by quite a bit, all white hair except for a section near the top which was pitch black. She wore black lipstick and a matching jumpsuit with steel armor on her shoulders, elbows, thighs and knees. The thing that caught Caz's eye, though, were her steel gauntlets, which were sharpened into claws and reflecting in the light of the power generator.

"I'm surprised you caught on," the woman said in a voice that made his head spin. "I was under the impression you didn't have the skill to notice."

"Who are you?" Caz asked, allowing himself to stagger a little closer to the control panel. "Felian?"

"Your shapeshifting friend?" The woman asked, slowly approaching him and raising her hands, her fingers curling into claws. "No, I'm afraid not. I've been hired by the Black Sun to kill you, Caz Solus. Now, if you would just stand still, this can be less painful then it already is."

Caz nodded, staggering backwards and crashing into the control panel. "No...stop…" His hands scrambled to help him get back on his feet, but he was rendered immobile as the woman got closer and closer. "Stop...I have to...save…"

The woman stopped, cocking her head. "Who might you be saving, other than yourself?"

"The...the slaves," Caz managed to say, still leaning against the control panel, green eyes meeting the coal black ones of the assassin. "Please...let me...save them."

"I don't think so," the woman said, raising her hand and standing directly over him. "I get paid more if you're dead. I don't care about some slaves."

Caz's eyes widened in horror as he looked sluggishly between the gauntlet in the woman. "They...they killed a child...please...you have to...let me…"

"No," the woman said simply, slashing down on Caz.

Suddenly, everything went black, and wires sparked as the assassin clawed through the control panel. She looked around, her eyes quickly adjusting to the darkness as she searched for her target. Maybe taking out the Pyke guards hadn't been such a good idea.

How did her target evade her? She had been informed on the strength of his weak mental shields, on the fact that her target was a Force-sensitive human. Even with the Force on his side, he shouldn't be able to resist her.

She looked around the room again, willing the man to come to her, but the man seemed to have gotten out of range. Frowning, the woman looked around the room, the control panel still sparking. So, her target had managed to turn off the power and get away. Her employer hadn't mentioned that.

She heard a series of footsteps coming her way, and turned to the doorway in time to see the glowing eyes of the Pykes, holding blasters and aiming at her.

"Surrender, assailant," the Pykes hissed, and the woman's eyebrows raised.

"Oh, good, a meal," she grinned, and several of the Pykes began to walk towards her as if hypnotized. As one of them got a foot away from her, she grabbed them by the face, two proboscis sprouting from her jawline and jumping up the noise of the Pyke. She let out a contented sigh as she began to feed off of the man's brain matter.

From the vents above, Caz watched in horror as the woman, one by one sucked the life out of the Pykes. Not a single blaster bolt was fired, and she walked out of the room unscathed.

He should've been more careful. Felian had mentioned an assassin, but Caz never thought it would've been an Anzati. Of any species that could've been hunting him down, it had to be an Anzati. He watched as the woman left, before realizing that he had told her his plans.

She's heading for the slave quarters.

Caz began to backtrack, unable to turn around in such a small space. He no longer cared about the noise he made-the Pykes were looking for an intruder, anyways. He just had to get to the slaves and help them overpower the guards. He turned on his communicator and began to dial up Felian. It beeped and echoed in the vents as Caz continued to shuffle around the vents, but eventually dialed out. Caz pursed his lips, and then attempted to call Nyx.

The man answered, the comlink beeping green. "Caz, you're alive?"

"Yeah," Caz replied quickly. "I need your help. Is the council member there with you?"

"No, he's not here," Nyx said worriedly. "Felian said there was a prisoner transfer three minutes before our arrival-did you rat us out?"

"Did I rat you out?" Caz asked, the concept incredulous. "I was just attacked by an assassin who said they were being hired by the Black Sun! What is Felian playing at?"

"Felian...what?" Nyx asked, genuinely surprised. "No...he wouldn't hire an assassin, he was just...he just...I don't know how to explain it." Caz was silent, and Nyx began to explain. "He caused a false alarm in the supply house to divert all the Black Sun forces over to you in an attempt to make the rescue mission easier. The problem is...the council member is with you now. He's somewhere in the complex."

"Then you need to get over here, and fast," Caz said as he reached the grate over the slave quarters. "I've shut the power off to disable their transmitters. The whole place is in chaos-you and Felian should be able to get in here quickly."

"I promise Felian didn't hire this assassin," Nyx said, a tone of desperation in this voice. "Is it possible the assassin heard our plans and wanted to put us against each other?"

Caz paused, sliding the grate out of its place and pushing it across the ventilation shaft "I have to go, Nyx. Tell Felian that I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Nyx asked, genuinely confused.

"Sorry for not dying," Caz muttered.

He hung up on Nyx and dropped down into the slave quarters. The slaves had all woken up, and the guards hadn't moved from their positions facing the doors. One of the slaves looked at him in surprise, and Caz beckoned him over. The slave in question was a pale-skinned frail old man.

"Who are you?" The man croaked. "Why are you here?"

"My name is Caz Solus, and I'm here to get you all out of here," Caz said in a hushed voice, though it turned the heads of a few slaves. "The power outage should've messed with the radio waves between your chips and the transmitters." A Twi'lek female's eyes widened. "Tell the others, and once everyone's informed, you have to rush the guards. Take their weapons and please try not to kill them."

"After what they did to us?" The Twi'lek said in a clipped Coruscanti accent. "They should consider themselves lucky that their deaths will be so quick."

Caz flinched, but didn't say anything else. After what he'd seen those slavers do to that Togruta, he couldn't deny them their payback. If he were in their shoes, he would want to do the same to these cruel men. "Alright. If you happen to see an Anzati or a Falleen, please don't kill them." The old man looked down at his hands, and Caz knew exactly what he was thinking. "Don't worry if you can't fight. I won't be leaving you to escape on your own. I'll guide you guys out of the complex."
"Thank you," the man said.

Whispers erupted within the group of slaves, and Caz began to screw together his wan-shen. He hoped the Anzati assassin wasn't too close, and if she was, that she wouldn't kill these slaves. Either way, Caz would have to fight her.

"Where is Caz?" A booming voice came from the exit of the slave quarters, and everyone turned to see several Gamorreans standing in the doorway, lead by Khe'nairo. "Is Caz here?"

"Don't rush the Gamorreans!" Caz hollered out to the slaves. "But go now!"

In a sea of sentients, the slaves rushed the slavers, who rapidly pressed the buttons on their transmitters only to discover that it wouldn't work. They were trapped under a sea of bodies that rushed around the room, disabling the guards and taking their weapons.

"Khe'nairo!" Caz said, jogging up to the Gamorrean. "Glad you came."

"Tracker worked," Khe'nairo said, handing Caz the device the Matukai had given him earlier. "Brought She'nairo and family."
Caz looked at the Gamorreans, and smiled. "Good to have you here." He then turned to the slaves. "Let's get moving! Behind me!"

Caz led the way out of the quarters, flanked by the Gamorreans and followed by a wild mass of slaves crying out for their freedom. Blaster bolts began to ricochet throughout the building, Pyke bodies falling and getting trampled under the feet of liberated men, women and children.

"Raid the place!" One of the more confident slaves said, and Caz watched as the ocean spread throughout the base. The amount of slaves was almost obscene-a couple hundred in that one room. If there were more that Caz hadn't found, he was sure the slaves would find them and free them.

"Here," Caz said as he sent the Gamorreans a copy of the holomap. "Each of you follow a different group and make sure they get out of here. Khe'nairo, lead the main group out of here. I have other people I need to find."

"Stay alive, Caz Solus," Khe'nairo said, holding out his hand for the Matukai to shake. "Stay well."

"I will," Caz said as he shook Khe'nairo's hand. "I'll see you on the outside." He paused for a moment to think. "If you see Nyx and Felian...don't attack them. I think they're allies."

"Yes," the Gamorrean said simply. "If you die, thank you for saving me and She'nairo. We owe you our lives."

"The debt will be repaid if you save all these people," Caz said as he gestured to the slaves who simply wanted to escape. "Get them away from this quadrant, away from the Pykes. Thank you for all you have done for me and these slaves."

Caz let go of Khe'nairo's hand and watched as the Gamorrean lead the rest of the slaves down the center corridor. That left Caz standing in the middle of the hallway, staring at his map and waiting. He turned to look where he had come from, and saw several Pyke dead bodies and a couple slaves lying dead. Caz turned away after giving them a moment of silence and grievance. I'm sorry.

The Matukai analyzed the map he was looking at, searching for the brig. It was on the opposite side of the compound, and the most likely location of the Black Sun council member. With that information, he set off to get to it, wan-shen in hand.

As he ran through the hallways that were being cleared out by freed slaves, Caz finally felt like he was in his element. No freezing cold, no tight spaces, no droids wielding four lightsabers at once. He didn't feel flustered like he did with the Jedi. Here, down in the Underworld, there was no one to look up to, no one to impress.

He just had to get the council member and escape.

Caz looked down at the unconscious and dead Pykes that littered the hallways. A few of the slaves had taken his word and not killed them, or maybe they just didn't want any blood on their hands. Caz managed to move around them, leaping over their bodies or simply running around them.

The compound was massive, and Caz eventually got to an area that the slaves either hadn't gotten to yet, or didn't need to go. Caz felt a low rumbling coming up from behind him, and explosions began to rock the ground. Caz's eyes widened and he picked up the pace.

"Are they bombing the compound?" Caz asked himself as he hung a right, checking his map to make sure he was still going in the right direction. The ground shook again, and the low rumbling continued to follow him. "What is that sound?"

Caz turned around to see a speeder zooming towards him at top speed. Caz scrambled out of the way, pressing against the wall as the speeder slowed to a stop, showing a kid in goggles and a disgruntled-looking kid with raven-black hair.

"Felian," Caz said, looking over at the shapeshifter with an uncomfortable expression. "I've got to ask...did you tell the assassin-"

"No," Felian said. "I wouldn't sabotage my own mission in order to kill you. Get in the speeder."

Caz had nothing else to say, and got into the back seat of the speeder. "Listen, just so you know, we might be in some trouble."

"Why?" Nyx asked, keeping his eyes on the road-or more like, the corridors. He nearly hit a slave as he zoomed past them, but the woman managed to dodge out of the way. "It looks like we're almost to our objective right now."

"The assassin is an Anzati," Caz said, and Felian looked back at him with surprise. "Yeah, that was my expression when I realized as well. You know what that means, right?"

"No," Nyx said slowly, his brows furrowing. "What's an Anzati."

"Quick explanation," Felian said, and Nyx nodded in agreement. "Anzati are basically extremely strong, fast and agile creatures who have the ability to hypnotize you and then suck out your brain matter."

"Oh, they're the snot vampires," Nyx said, and Felian pinched the bridge of his noise. "I've heard about those in cantinas. They actually exist?"

"Yes," Felian said, pulling out his blaster and shooting a Pyke in the head as he passed it by. He began to fire at anything that they past that even looked remotely like a Pyke. "It means if the Anzati appears, Nyx, you and I will have to take the Falleen leader and book it unless we want to die."

"Well, wouldn't Caz also be mind-controlled?" Nyx asked, his question extremely logical. He stuck a hand outside the speeder and clapped a Pyke over the head, before swerving to avoid hitting a golden statue.

Felian looked at Caz. "No...Anzati mind control doesn't work on a couple species-particularly, ones that don't have brains, or ones that have extremely strong mental shields."

"You're saying Caz has no brain?" Nyx asked, and Caz let out a groan. "Because from what you've told me, humans don't have super strong mental shields most of the time."

"No…" Felian said, looking at Caz again. "Forgive me if I'm wrong, Caz, but...you're not human, are you? At least not fully."

"Yeah, no," Caz said as he checked his map. "I'm half-Epicanthix."

"That would make sense, then," Felian murmured. "I wondered why you survived the first encounter with an Anzati...the Epicanthix thing explains it." Felian turned to Nyx, who looked extremely confused. "Epicanthix have immensely strong mental shields. From what I've seen, the strongest in the galaxy. Even though you're only half-Epicanthix, Caz, it must still be enough to resist the mind control, yeah?"

"Yeah," Caz said, scratching the back of his head. "Though, I'll be honest, I generally keep my shields down. There's nothing for me to hide."
"Uh-huh, sure," Nyx teased. "You got a dirty little secret, don'tcha? Caz's got a secret," he sing-songed, and Felian shook his head in disbelief. "Well, what's the secret? You can tell us."

"I don't have any secrets," Caz said honestly. "Well...well I guess I cheated on a test once in primary school." Nyx groaned, as if that was the most boring secret he'd ever heard.

"Well, if you're up for sharing," Felian said as they neared the brig. "How'd you manage to get past all the Pykes and their reinforcements?"

"I didn't," Caz said earnestly. "I freed the slaves and they were far more excited to attack the Pykes than I am." Caz went silent for a moment, and then let out a little worried laugh. "You know, I came down here to find some armor. And look where I am now. Making an enemy of the Pykes."

"Welcome to the Underworld!" Nyx said, putting on his goggles as he hit the brakes on the speeder outside the corridor to the prison sect. He spread his arms like a game-show host. "And trust me when I say it...the only way forward is up!"

"Not bad," Felian said as he got out of the speeder. "Maybe you've got a career in...yelling at people."

"That's what I'm going to do to you when we get out of here," Nyx said, suddenly dead-serious as he looked to Felian. "You might not have hired the assassin, but you definitely tried to kill Caz. Can I ask why you did that?"

"Other than the fact that he knows a lot more about us than he needs to?" Felian asked, looking at the Matukai. "No reason at all."
"Well, that's just peachy," Nyx said, looking at Caz. "You really can't tell anyone about us, okay? Especially the Republic. We'll definitely be arrested for our crimes."

Caz narrowed his eyes at the two of them. "Well, you should know that whatever I know, the Anzati assassin also knows. Nyx thinks she was listening in to our conversation and tipped off the Pykes to your attack in order to have me killed."

"Sounds like we've got a new target," Felian said, and Caz shook his head. "Well, whether you like it or not, I don't think that Anzati promised secrecy, and I don't need the law coming after us for just doing what we need to get by."

"I really doubt the assassin has the credibility to get anyone in trouble," Caz said earnestly, and Felian shook his head, crossing his arms.

"Caz, why would someone want to kill you?" Felian asked, rubbing his chin.

"No idea," Caz said. "We can think about it when they're not trying to kill me anymore."

"Good point," Nyx said, before turning to Felian. "Wanna shift into anything?"

"Sure," Felian said, and he began to grow in mass until he towered over Caz and Nyx. Caz watched as Felian began to shift into what looked questionably similar to a rancor. Caz watched as Felian opened his mouth and let out a massive roar.

"I don't speak rancor," Nyx said honestly, "but I think that's our cue to save the council member. Step back." Caz and Nyx stepped away from the hallway, and Felian stomped their way in, smashing through anything in their way and tearing hydraulic doors right off their hinges. Caz could only watch in awe. "He's clearing the way. We have to find the council member."

"Oh, yeah," Caz said, blinking twice and snapping himself out of it. "Yeah, let's do that."
"You search the left side, and I'll search the right," Nyx suggested, and Caz nodded in agreement.

Together, they made their way in and out of the cells, freeing a lot of unsavory individuals who probably would've killed Caz and Nyx had they not been the ones who had freed them.

Then, at the end of the left side corridor, Caz entered the room and found a Falleen sitting on a raised platform, chained to it. Caz finally had the opportunity to use his wan-shen, using it to slice the man's manacles, the steel of his blade stronger than the steel of the chains by far.

"Who are you?" The Falleen asked, and Caz looked up at him.

"I'm Caz," he held out his hand. "I'm here to rescue you. And if it makes you feel any better about your chances, I came with Felian and Nyx." The Falleen's eyes widened at that. "Anyways, what's your name?"

"My name is Xomit Grunseit," the Falleen said firmly. "I'm the leader of the Black Sun Syndicate."
"That is not what they told me," Caz said, looking out the doorway to see Nyx and a rancor staring at him, looking rather guilty. "Well, you're free now."

"Thank you," Grunseit said. "You will be well-compensated if we make it out of here alive."

"When we make it out of here," Caz corrected, helping the Falleen to his feet, the syndicate leader rubbing his wrists. "I think you should not live in the Coruscant Underworld anymore." Xomit gave him an unreadable look. "Find a better place, you know? A place where the Pykes can't kidnap you on a whim."

"It won't happen again," Xomit said, a little aggressive.

"Yeah, I'm sure it won't," Caz said. "But your chances of thriving increase if you're not...you know, on Coruscant. Right under the Republic's nose." Nyx looked pointedly at Caz, and the Matukai gave him a worried shrug.

"You may have a point," Grunseit admitted. "We were planning to find a new planet of residence until I was...taken. We will continue once we escape this compound."

Suddenly, Nyx and Grunseit froze in place, unable to move. Caz looked over at Felian, who began to shift out of their rancor form. "Get out of here," Caz said. Felian managed to nod, grabbing Grunseit and Nyx and trying to run away from the prison sect of the compound. However, they were stopped in their tracks.

"Not so fast," a deep female voice said, and Caz stepped from outside the cell to see the Anzati standing in front of the half-rancor, half-humanoid Felian and his two immobile allies. Caz pointed his wan-shen at the Anzati, his gaze meeting hers. "So, it wasn't just a fluke. You can resist my hypnosis."

"Let them go," Caz said, inferring his friends. The Anzati looked over at them, before laughing confidently.

"I can kill you either way," the Anzati said with a sinister grin as she moved over to Felian, her sharp gauntlets outstretched. "Would you like me to kill them first? Or would you like them to watch you die?"

Caz watched as she put her claws up to Nyx's throat, and his throat suddenly went dry. He considered the options he'd been given, and then spoke up. "If you were hired by the Black Sun, you wouldn't kill them." The Anzati lowered her hand, realizing she'd made a slip-up. "So you were just trying to sow chaos."

"Naturally," she said, walking away from Caz's allies and towards him. "Now, my client is rather eager to have you killed, so if you could be so polite as to stay. still." Caz watched as she approached him, letting her slash at him before parrying with the blade of his wan-shen, creating a sizable dent in her gauntlets.

Caz took a few steps backwards. If I can get her out of range from Nyx and Felian...they'll be able to escape. Caz didn't dare look backwards, unless he ruin his hastily formatted plan. The Anzati took a few steps forwards, and the Matukai kept his eyes on her.

He had to keep her out of range of his friends, and he had to stay out of range from her proboscises. Even if his mental shields warded off her telepathic abilities, they wouldn't ward off her sucking his brains out.

"Who's your real client?" Caz asked as she began to step towards him. She didn't seem too intent on launching an attack, which made Caz wonder why that was. The chances of her being stronger and faster than him were very high-so why wasn't she taking the shot?

"I don't believe I need to tell you," the Anzati said with a sneer. "But, I can tell you that it's unfortunate that you escaped that speeder bomb unharmed." Caz's eyes narrowed. "It's also unfortunate that you managed to heal that Gamorrean. They're scum on this earth."

"You don't know anything about him," Caz said, continuing to slowly take a few steps back. She clearly was more wary of his blade now, so he launched an attack towards her, one that she ducked beneath and nearly shredded his robes. Her brows began to furrow in concentration, and Caz's eyes narrowed. "Why are you trying to kill me?"

"I get paid well for it," she said simply. "The Gamorrean would've been collateral damage, perhaps I would've gotten some extra credits from someone for eliminating that begging scum."

Caz attacked her again, spinning his wan-shen behind his back, unscrewing one of the portions and sending it flying towards her head. It missed by a mile, and Caz grimaced.

"I believe you missed," she said, her brows still knit tight. Caz watched as the wan-shen part spiraled through the air and hit Felian in the back of the head. That seemed to be enough to snap him out of the Anzati's hypnosis. He turned back to Caz, before nodding and taking off with Nyx and Xomit.

"I don't believe I did," Caz said, mimicking her high-and-mighty tone as his friends took off in their speeder. The Anzat's brows unfurrowed, and Caz realized she must've been focusing to keep them frozen. She must've really needed that leverage.

"You…" She snarled. "Who are you?"

"Who are you?" Caz repeated as he blocked another slash from her gauntlets with the blade of his wan-shen. He couldn't let her get to its hilt-she would slice it in half extremely fast. "You're the one who hasn't told me their name."

"My name is Sajé Tasha," Tasha said, clenching her fists. "And you will die by my hand."

She suddenly kicked it into high-gear, and Caz had to pick up the pace in order to fight her. His grip on his wan-shen was shifted due to it's missing part, but he didn't have much problem adjusting to it. She slowly pushed him further and further down the corridor of the prison, and then down out of the sect and further away from the exit. Caz met every one of her strikes with balanced precision, weaving and ducking away from her flying probiscises.

The duel continued down the hall, and eventually, she pulled out a blaster and began to fire at him. Caz dodged and weaved past the green bolts, catching one on the metal of his blade and hearing it dissolve with a sizzle, Caz then began to disassemble his wan-shen stuffing it all back into his backpack. He continued to dodge the blaster bolts, slowly getting closer and closer to the assassin before he kicked her in the head, sending her flying into the wall and her blaster skittering away into the shadows.

He held his hands out, the palms glowing with heat, and stared down at Tasha with an unreadable expression. "Please tell me you weren't being serious when you said those things about Khe'nairo."

Tasha's hand went to her head, her white hair stained red with her own blood. She looked angry. "Of course I meant it. His species is a plague to this galaxy-brutish and thoughtless, idiotic and brawny. No tact, no strategy. They serve no purpose in this galaxy, other than to blunder through it! And neither do you."

"No one is meant to serve a purpose," Caz said as Tasha got to her feet, raising her hands to attack him again. "Purpose is made." Tasha slashed at him again, and he grabbed her gauntlet with his steaming hand. The gauntlet began to glow from the sheer heat of his hands, growing hot under his touch. Tasha tried to pull away, but found that his grip was unnaturally strong.

She slashed at him with her other hand, but found no respite, as he grabbed the other gauntlet with his other hand. The gauntlets began to get unreasonably hot, and soon, she would be forced to give them up in order to keep her hands from getting severely burned.

"How many people have you robbed of their lives?" Caz asked, pushing her back towards the wall. Her proboscises launched from her jaw, but found themselves just out of reach from his nose. "How many families grieved for those you've killed? How many mothers cried for their children, how many children for their mothers?"

"I do what I need to do to serve my purpose," Tasha snapped, using Caz's words against him. "Whatever needs to be done." She suddenly pulled out of the gauntlets and grabbed Caz's face, pulling it to hers as the proboscises shot up his nose. Caz realized he'd overstepped his bounds and grabbed her hands, burning her skin instantly. Caz's eyes rolled back in his head, and his hands shot for her proboscis. singing them right off.

Tasha let out a horrified scream, also having gotten too over-confident in her skills. She staggered backwards, her arms and face burning in pain. She felt against her missing body parts, looking at Caz with unbridled rage. "How dare you?"

"They'll regrow, I hope," Caz said, his green eyes concerned as he pulled the other half of her proboscises out of his nostrils. "I'm sorry to have done that to you...I know it's very painful. But, please...take this chance and leave. I don't want to ki-"

Tasha lunged for him with her bare fists, and was suddenly flung backwards by an incoming speeder. Caz's eyes widened in horror as her body flew backwards, legs and arms bent at different angles and neck twisted way too far in one direction.

"No!" Caz yelled as she hit the ground across the hall, staring at Felian, who was driving the speeder. "Why would you do that? She could've lived!"

"She was trying to kill you," Felian said with a shrug. "So she got killed."

Caz looked back at Tasha, and then back at Felian, before running over to the dead Anzat. Felian let out a scoff as Caz knelt down next to Tasha. He placed her gauntlets on her chest, though they were singed and half-melted. "I'm sorry. I...I didn't mean for that to happen."

Tasha looked at him with dead eyes, and Caz pulled a jar out of his backpack, spreading ash over her forehead and giving her a moment of silence. "I forgive you for trying to kill me." He knew she couldn't hear him, but it felt right to tell her that she was forgiven. He doubted Khe'nairo would forgive her, but he was a different story.

Caz stood up, pocketed the jar, and then walked away from her and back to Felian, Nyx and Xomit. "We can go now."

"Took you long enough," Felian said, and Xomit placed a hand on the Shi'ido's shoulder. "Yes, Grunseit?"

"Respect the man's ritual for the dead, Halcorr," Xomit said in a strangely respectful voice as Caz got into the seat beside him. "He has done the Black Sun a great favor, we can oblige him his traditions."
Felian nodded along, though it was clear he didn't really care. "Buckle up, Caz. It's a long ride back to headquarters."

"Yeah...about that," Caz said, scratching the back of his head. "I have one favor I might need from you, Nyx."

"We will not forget this any time soon, Caz Solus," Xomit said as he took his seat at the head of the Black Sun's table. "You have done what our men could not, and we do owe you a great many favors."
Caz looked at Felian and Nyx, both of which were now wearing more proper Black Sun attire, including violet sashes with golden bands on them. They'd recently received their compensation in credits, and Nyx's hands were a little blue after he had frozen the explosive chips out of hundreds of slaves. Caz had offered to help, but the kid was very possessive of his cryo gun.

"Well, some credits would be nice," Caz said with a frown. "I really only came down the Underworld to get some armor."

"We can provide you with armor," one of the Falleen leaders said with a smile. "It will be more high-quality than anything you can buy down here."

"As long as it isn't...branded with your symbol or anything," Caz murmured. "Nothing too grandiose. Something durable...light. Something set for acrobatics...am I asking too much?"

"No," Xomit said curtly. "We'll have the armor delivered to you as soon as possible. Your residence?"

"Uh…" Caz looked around the room. "I'll come here again to pick it up."
"Fair enough," another one of the council members said. "If secrecy is what you desire, it is what we can provide. You've aided our syndicate greatly."

Caz looked at all of them. "I didn't expect you guys to be so...nice?" He flushed red. "Well, no, I mean-"

"We look kindly upon those who risk everything for us with no thought of compensation," Xomit said simply, looking pointedly at Felian and Nyx. "Though I hear these two may have tricked you into it."

"I was saving a life," Caz said, crossing his arms. "I'll always risk anything to do that."

"Don't let your naivete get ahead of you," Xomit said, and Caz nodded again. "Some people are not worth saving."

"It's not my job to decide," Caz replied, and Xomit seemed a little surprised at that.

"You make a point," Xomit continued, pulling up a hologram of a warily familiar planet. "This is Mustafar-the location of our soon-to-be headquarters." Caz's eyebrows raised at that. Haven't had the best time on Mustafar. "If you ever need aid, you will always be welcome there." Xomit looked down at Caz. "You have made a powerful ally by doing this. But if you reveal this location to anyone-"

"-death," Caz finished, drawing a thumb across his throat. "I gotcha. I won't be saying anything about it, Grunseit. My lips are sealed."

"Until next time," Nyx said, and Caz nodded. He gave the Black Sun Council a quick bow, before backtracking out of the room.

Palpatine made his way out of the Senate tower, looking up at Coruscant's artificial sunset with a contented smile. Yet another bill had been passed in his favor, and Tasha was about to report to him her success with the assassination of Caz Solus.

A speeder passed over his head, and Palpatine watched it as it landed over by one of the platforms. He could just see Anakin, Ahsoka and a few others waiting over there. He went to walk over there, smoothing out his crimson robes and allowing his contented smile to fade into a neutral expression.

As he approached the landing platform, he watched a figure in green robes get out of the speeder, before it drove away. Palpatine's eyes narrowed, and he reached out in the Force to feel Caz Solus' presence, bright and alive, a couple hundred feet away from him.

Palpatine raised an eyebrow and continued to walk over there. His face was kept neutral, but his mind was racing. How had Tasha failed? This was the simplest task he'd ever put her on, and she was one of his most proficient assassins. He had missed something.

"Hey!" Caz said to Anakin, giving him a friendly wave and handshake. "Good to see you again. It's been a long day."

Anakin looked Caz up and down. "You know, I thought that for the time you spent shopping down there, you'd have chosen at least one armor piece." He looked back up at Caz, whose face was beet red. "Were none of the shops any good?"

"I didn't...I didn't go to any of the shops," Caz muttered, looking at the ground. Caz raised an eyebrow in surprise. "I found a shop that custom makes armor on my way to one of the shops. The guy said he'd make me some if I helped out his sick brother."

"Huh," Anakin said with a shrug. "So, it's gonna be shipped in, right?"

"I've gotta pick it up manually," Caz said. "I didn't tell him I was part of the Republic, because I thought that would've made it awkward. It was pretty clear he wasn't the biggest fan of you guys." Caz looked over at Palpatine, giving him a wave. "Hello, Chancellor!"

"Hello, Mister Solus," Palpatine said politely, gritting his teeth. "I trust your adventures in the Underworld went well."

"It's funny you'd say that," Caz said, running his hands through his hair. "I...Anakin, how soon into joining the Republic are you supposed to fend off an assassin? Is it like...a rite of passage, or…?"

Anakin looked at Caz with surprise. "That's the fastest I've heard of. Was it an assassin, or was it just someone trying to get a little cash off you? I noticed your credit pouch isn't on your hip." Caz looked down at his belt, looking a little guilty.

"Oh, well...I didn't really get to ask them," Caz said as he patted his hip. "They got run over."

What? Palpatine thought to himself. Tasha was far too skilled to die in an accident of sorts. But the Force told him that Caz was being truthful. How had this man been able to function in the face of Tasha's powerful hypnosis. Palpatine dug a little further into the Force, as Anakin, Caz and Ahsoka continued to discuss Caz's adventure.

Palpatine was shocked to hit a massive mental wall in Caz's mind, one that hadn't existed last time they'd met. He poked against it with his presence slightly, and found that it wouldn't budge one inch.

He looked Caz over again, trying to figure out why this man had such strong mental shields. He paid more attention this time. Caz's eyes were almond-shaped, and his form was more willowy than a human's despite his shorter stature. He'd missed it the first time: Caz Solus was Epicanthix, or at least half of one.

Things just got quite a bit harder for him. Caz then dropped his mental shields, as if he'd forgotten he had them up. So he only lifts them when in the face of danger? How aware is he of his mental state? Did I overstep my grounds already?

"Chancellor," Caz said, and Palpatine met his gaze. There was no distrust in it, only admiration and gratitude. "Thank you very much for allowing me to join the Republic. It really means the world to me, and I wasn't sure I made it clear enough last time."

"I hope you serve us well," Palpatine said, and Caz held out his hand. Palpatine shook it, and he felt the slightest tremor in the Force. "I believe the Council will inform you tomorrow, since you predominantly respond to them, but you'll be going with Master Kenobi to Mandalore to investigate a rumor of them joining the Confederacy. I wish you luck on this endeavor."

"I wish you luck in whatever you're gonna do," Caz said with a smile, before frowning. "Wait...Mandalore?"

Palpatine dipped his head in acknowledgement. It would seem you do have luck on your side, Solus. But this war is not made for those with luck, so eventually yours will run out. Maybe your death will be another addition to Anakin's reasons to come to me.

It's unfortunate for you, really, Palpatine thought as he turned and walked away from the Matukai. By not dying at Tasha's hands, you've secured your position as a tool for the Republic's destruction.

Yes, this will work just as well.