Disclaimer: I have no claim to the Star Wars world, only a joy in everything that George Lucus and Bioware have created. I have only used my imagination with this story. The first part of this is taken directly from the start of the game and throughout my story are direct quotes from conversations in the game, the only Character I lay any claim to is my PC Skye Organa.
KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away ……
Four thousand years before the rise of the Galactic Empire, the Republic verges on collapse. DARTH MALAK, last surviving apprentice of the Dark Lord Revan, has unleashed an invincible Sith Amada upon an unsuspecting Galaxy.
Crushing all resistance, Malak's war of conquest has left the Jedi Order scattered and vulnerable as countless Knights fall in battle and many more swear allegiance to the new Sith Master.
In the sky's above the Outer Rim world of Taris, a Jedi Battle Fleet engages the forces of Darth Malak in a desperate effort to halt the Sith's Galactic Domination.
*~*~* Endar Spire *~*~*
* The agile Jedi paused in the battle to raise her hand, paralysing her enemy opponent momentarily in stasis as she prepared to attack with her bright yellow lightsaber. Behind her is a view out the bridge of the Dark Lord of the Sith's Command Battle Ship. Before she could strike her enemy down, the bridge of the ship was bombarded with laser fire, her opponent knocked to the floor unconscious by a hit to the back of the head by some debris. The Jedi grabbed the Dark Lord by the shoulders and dragged her to the docking bay, to the Jedi's awaiting ship…*
Tossing and turning, I awake to something that rivalled my nightmare, the sound of bombardment and enemy fire all around me. A man bursts into the barrack's room and shouts "We've been ambushed by a Sith Battle Fleet! The Endar Spire is under attack! Hurry up – we don't have much time!"
"The Endar Spire?" I ask as sleep still clouds my judgement.
"Did you fall out of your bunk and hit your head? The Endar Spire is the ship we're stationed on – this ship! You probably don't even know who I am, do you? I'm Trask Ulgo, ensign with the Republic Fleet. I'm your bunkmate, we work opposite shifts that's why you probably haven't seen me. Now Hurry Up – we have to make sure Bastila makes it off the ship alive! Bastila's our Commanding Officer of the Endar Spire. Well not an Officer really, but she's in charge of this mission now HURRY UP!"
"I'm in my underwear for crying out loud, at least have the decency to turn around while I get dressed!"
He turns around and I hurriedly dress, grabbing my uniform, slamming my boots on and grabbing my pack. "Ok let's go" I say as I belt on my blaster, put my vibroblade in its sheath and head towards the door.
"We're on lock down but I have the unlocking codes for the doors" Trask tells me.
"Well don't just stand there, unlock the damn door so we can get out there and get to where the action is".
As soon as the door's unlocked we rush out to see some of our fellow Republic Soldiers get cut down by the enemy Sith. Immediately we go into action – the Sith despatched quickly and we continue on.
As we head along the corridor Trask turns to me and says "I've heard about your reputation: elite combat training, tops in your class. It's no wonder you were hand picked for this mission. Word has it the Officer's haven't seen a recruit with your kind of potential for twenty years."
I've always had an impulsive, mischievous streak and a habit of running head first into trouble, having not much regard for my own personal safety but willing to lay my life on the line for my fellow comrade's - so I don't deny it, just nod my head and indicate we should keep going. We round another corner and run into more of the enemy. The adrenaline surges through my body and I find myself cutting down the enemy where they stand or pushing them back, checking the bodies of any of our soldiers as we go to see if any are still alive to receive medical treatment, if not grabbing the med packs and ammo for later use.
Our headset communicator's crackle to life as a voice comes over "This is Carth Onasi – the Sith are threatening to overrun our position! We can't hold out long against their firepower! All hands to the Bridge!"
With a sly gleam in his eye, Trask informs me that Carth is one of the Republic's best pilots and that he's seen more combat than all of the crew on the Endar Spire put together. "If he says things are bad you better believe it! We have to get to the bridge to help defend Bastila!"
From how he describes Carth, I get the impression that he's a man with a reputation for the ladies and file away for future reference that if I met him, to be on guard against the pilot's charm. On our way we come across one of the other Jedi who came with Bastila, fighting a Dark Jedi. Trask grabbing hold of my arm to sway me from joining the battle saying we should let the Jedi handle him. She cuts him down and then loses her own life as another explosion rocks the Endar Spire.
"Darn it, we could have used her help" Trask comments.
We battle our way to the bridge to see no sign of Bastila, both of us thinking that she must already have gone to the escape pods so we head in that direction. We go through a door to be confronted by another dark Jedi, Trask telling me to go round another way while he took care of matter's here. In a split second I realise that I won't see him alive again and touched his arm in thanks to his sacrifice as I turn and run the other direction. 'Tears can wait' I say to myself, 'I have to survive first'.
A voice in my ear says, "This is Carth Onasi. I'm tracking your position through the Endar Spire's life support systems. Bastila's escape pod is away – you're the last surviving crew member of the Endar Spire. I can't wait for you much longer; you have to get to the escape pods!"
A little further on and a few enemy later Carth tells me that there is a squad of Sith Troopers in the next room and to be careful. Resourcefully I find and enable a combat droid for action and let him take out the enemy within the next room, poking my head round the corner and finishing them off as I enter. I scout round the room, taking supplies where I find them and racing to the next door. As I enter the next room cautiously I find I'm face to face with who I correctly assume is Carth.
"Trask didn't make it, he got caught up with another Dark Jedi", I say as we enter the escape pod. Carth has a fierce look on his face, which also tells me he's hiding painful memories of all the comrade's we'd just lost.
"You made it just in time, there's only one active escape pod left. We can hide out on the planet below." We strap in and activate the pod to send it rocketing down to the planet below.
*~*~* Taris *~*~*
*The Jedi raises her gleaming yellow blade, ready to strike as she moves towards a masked figure with a red sabre blade*
I awake with a start, moaning as I come to and rubbing my sore head, echoes of another nightmare fogging my brain. As my blurry eyes start to focus I see a figure standing over me. Sitting up, I make a grab for my trusty blaster only to find it's not there. Hearing a low chuckle I rub my eyes and look again to see my companion laughing …
"Once a soldier, always a soldier – you're blaster's right here, I just didn't want to be on the receiving end of it when you woke up. Lucky I took the precautions. Good to see you up instead of thrashing around in your sleep, must have been some nightmare you were having. I didn't think you'd ever wake up. That was some blow to the head you took back there".
With the feeling of de ja vu over his last words, but not knowing why, I size up my companion and finally put a name to the face, "You're Carth – the one on the communicator."
"You don't sound so sure there, that bump must have done more damage than I thought. Yes I'm Carth, one of the Republic Soldiers on the Endar Spire, I was in the escape pod with you … *remember *? You do remember who you are I hope!" He adds with a laugh.
"Don't rub it in flyboy, I might know more than you realise" I defensively bite back, remembering what Trask had said about Carth being a top-notch pilot and mentally raising my shields against his charm.
A flash of sadness overcoming me briefly as I remember Trask, before I cover it up again quickly with a grin. He gives me a suspicious look for a moment but catches a gleam in my eye, figuring out that I was just teasing him and that I'd known he was a pilot (aka: flyboy) from his reputation.
Taking the bait I cheekily reply with "Of course I remember who I am, I'm Skye Organa, soldier and … breaker of men's hearts everywhere!" With that he gives in to mirth, then howls with laughter as I pull a face at him. I take that as my queue and go into the bathroom to freshen up, pleased that I scored a hit by making him laugh.
"I haven't laughed like that for … Oh … a long time now", Carth says as I re-enter the room, then asks almost as an after thought, how I feel, as he hands me a steaming hot mug of local tea and a ration pack. "You'd been slipping in and out of consciousness for a couple of days now but we should be safe here … for the moment at least."
To fill me in with some info about what I'd missed out on while I was 'sleeping it off' Carth tells me that he was able to drag me out of the escape pod and get us into the abandoned apartment before the Sith were even on the scene of the crash.
"I guess I owe you my life. Thanks" I tell him.
"You don't have to thank me, I've never abandoned anyone on a mission and I'm not about to start now. Besides, I'm going to need your help."
He goes on to tell me he'd done abit of scouting around finding out that Taris is under Sith control and quarantine and that we're going to have to be careful about our movements as to not attract too much attention. I ask Carth abit about himself, and he tells me that he is thirty-eight, a star pilot and career soldier for the Republic. His home world was one of the first worlds the Sith bombed into submission and how the Republic couldn't do anything to stop them. He's still very angry about it, saying that he'd failed them somehow. I get the impression that he's not very trusting and he doesn't like to talk about his past much. I've always been able to get people to talk about themselves and to open up to me, so I take it as a challenge, knowing that I will win out in the end.
"Up to helping me find Bastila now?" he asks, changing the subject. "I've been doing some scouting around and have heard of some escape pods being found in the lower city".
We move into the corridor outside and run into a sith patrol giving some Duros a hard time. Seeing us witness their actions they turn their attention our way realising that we are Republic Soldiers, their squad leader yelling out "Republic Scum! Get them!"
The fight is over in short order and the Duros they were harassing thanks us for our intervention saying that he will hide the bodies elsewhere to make it look like they'd been killed somewhere else. Thanking him for that we move on around the apartment complex, checking out who is where and what is going on. We find out that the complex is mostly of alien content and that they are not regarded as fellow citizens but as second class. This news grates on my nerves, as from an early age I'd always had a talent for picking up new languages and made a point to learn any new one's that came my way, thus being able to break down communication barriers and make new friends easily no matter what race they were.
We find a woman called Dia who is frightened to leave her apartment because of a thug named Holdan. She tells us that she cut him in self defence when he tried to force his attentions on her and even though he backed off it had happened in front of his mates, which embarrassed him so that he had a bounty put on her head. I promised her that I will sort things out for her if I happen to come across him. Carth just looking at me and shrugged his shoulders.
We move outside the complex and I have my first look at Upper Taris. I take a deep breath and then sigh. The sky is a very pretty aqua/blue colour with pink/orange clouds. The buildings reaching up to the heights. The only thing spoiling it was all the Sith patrolling around. I catch a glimpse of Carth's face and decide to bite the bullet and ask him if this is a good time for more questions.
"I'm all ear's beautiful"
I look at him, stunned for a moment, then come back with "Keep addressing me like that and you might lose an ear or two".
Carth gives a little laugh and says "A little bit touchy, are we? Is there something else you'd prefer me to call you?"
Not sure if he is just teasing me or flirting, I go with the later, I bat my eyes at him and say "How about Gorgeous? I like that better".
"I might consider it. What are you going to call me in exchange?" He adds with a gleam in his eye.
"How about 'handsome thug?" I reply, getting abit of my own back.
"I like the first part of that. I'm abit more partial to 'the most handsome pilot in the galaxy', what do you think?"
My eyes widen as I ask myself if I believe this guy! So I look him up and down and say aloud "Don't hold your breath" all the while thinking the opposite. I have to remind myself that I should be wary about charming men like him but am having too much fun flirting with him to take notice of my inner thoughts.
"Well then, I guess 'Gorgeous' will have to do then, won't it?" With a more serious look on his face he goes on with "Kidding aside, I bet you're not going to give up on those questions of yours. Are they really necessary?", a pained look of sufferance on his face.
"Don't be such a child! It's just a few questions".
Getting the reaction I'd hoped to he replies with "Oh no, how can I resist a challenge to my manly pride, huh? Ha ha! Fine, you've made your point. Interrogate at will."
Rubbing my hands together I say "Excellent! Soon all your secrets will be mine!"
"All my secrets are purely of the mundane variety, unfortunately. Nothing worth extracting, though you're welcome to try." He adds with a sly grin. Then he turns the tables on me with "Let me ask you something though" and proceeds to ask me what I thought of the battle overhead and why the Jedi added me at the last minute to the mission. I answer a few of his questions but they confuse me a little, I don't know why I was added, in fact I can't remember much apart from my soldier training either, as if my past had vanished into a fog with only my instinctive memories remaining.
I defensively ask him if he's always this suspicious and he tells me that it's not about me personally, it's just that he doesn't trust anyone anymore, that he has his reasons and that no, he's not going to discuss them with me, hoping that I would drop the subject.
I give him a look and say "You haven't heard the last from me about this".
"Alright, alright! You must be the most darn persistent woman I've ever met, we'll talk about it, but later".
With that he heads off across the courtyard to the next lot of buildings. I follow a few paces behind him, thinking that he might be right about 'most handsome pilot in the galaxy' but there would be no way, not even under torture, would I admit that to him. Also, straining my memory for other details of my own past. Try as I might I can't remember anything much, not even about my family … must be that hit to my head I think to myself as I quicken my pace to catch up with Carth.
We head into Kebla Yurt's store as the Janitor – Kadir – suggested we check it out for any equipment we may need. She is very informative and tells us about the swoop gangs in the lower city, also about Davik – the local crime lord. How she has to pay a protection fee from him, although she gets most of her equipment through him, just not asking where it comes from. We look over her inventory and promise to be back once we're a little more financial.
Leaving her store we had over to the cantina … Always a good place to find out the local gossip and maybe find out where we could get some more credits. I take the lead, moving away from Carth and wandering around the cantina looking for a 'likely target'. I spy a fellow who looks like a sith officer off duty. Looking back at Carth and giving him a wink, I head over and introduce myself. He says his name is Yun Genda and that he's off duty, not happy about his current posting on this 'backwater planet' but that they make the most of things. I pretend to sympathise with him and flirt a little outrageously – even for me – but the results are that we get an invite to the party that he and his mates are throwing after they finish there shift at the Sith Base. I notice that Carth is trying to chat up a female sith officer but is having no luck … so much for his 'pilot's charm' I think to myself, doesn't work on everyone now does it flyboy? I catch his eye and indicate with a toss of my head that I'm heading into the next room. He acknowledges me with a signal that he would follow shortly.
As I enter I over hear a couple of people talking about not getting tickets to the duelling arena, that they would have to watch on the view screen again. I head over to watch the match that they are announcing and start thinking that it might be a good way to make some credits. Deadeye Duncan and Gerlon Two-fingers face each other in the duelling ring. Gerlon defeat's Duncan very quickly and I learn that the competitors are protected by a stun field so that the are not killed and speaking with the duelling fans I discover that death duels have been outlawed. I get the feeling that someone is watching me, so I turn around to see Carth leaning against the wall. I head over to him and suggest that we make a few credits in the ring – being a soldier I'd have a great chance of taking them on and coming out on top. He agrees that it would be a good way to make a profit and we head over to Ajuur to sort out a match. I am to face Duncan first and wink at Carth as I go past him on my way to the ring, saying that this will be a 'piece of cake'.
I win three duels then head over to Carth, "that should do us for now I think, we'll come back later, that party ought to be starting soon".
We head out of the cantina and back down towards the Upper City North entrance. As we go we see a merchant being harassed by some bullies. They turn on us but are no match, I'm still fired up from the duelling ring and Carth looks like he wanted some action also. The merchant expresses his relief that we intervened for him but says that he needs 100 credits to pay Davik off. Feeling generous, I give them to him and hear Carth grumbling about giving credit's away that we might need ourselves. I flash him a smile and say how much it lightens my heart to see someone made happy, and by the way they are only credit's … He just gives me a quizzical look but says no more for now.
We make tracks to the party, which we can hear way before we reach it. Before we go in, Carth catches my arm and asks if I really want to do this.
"What? Flirt with the enemy to get information from them when they're drunk? Sure I do, they're more likely to let something slip. Why? Jealous?" He looks strangely at me, then shakes his head at me, "besides which, you should try that pilot's charm out again and see if you have any luck this time flyboy" I can't help but say.
He gives me a look that tells me that he enjoys our verbal sparring before indicating I should go ahead of him into the party. Yun greets me at the door saying he was wondering if I was going to turn up. He looks at Carth, dismisses him as no competition and starts chatting me up, so I turn on the charm, glancing around the room and see Carth chatting up Sarna again although he does catch my eye and wink. She looks well under the influence of the Tarisian Ale and is more attentive to Carth the second time round.
I let Yun get me a drink, but only sip away slowly on it, even though I know I can handle the liquor, I'm not inclined to indulge in it too much. We sit on one of the lounges near a corner and I have trouble trying not to back away from Yun as he gets more 'attentive' the more he drinks, putting his arm around me and getting a little too friendly. Carth notices and catches my eye, in unspoken words asking if I need help. I shake my head and lean forward to slip out of Yun's embrace, a look of distaste on my face. Most of the partygoers start to pass out, including Yun and I sigh with relief and detach myself from where he'd passed out leaning on me.
I quietly walk around the room, noticing one of the Sith uniforms shoved into a backpack and grab it up, winking at Carth and telling him that we never know if it will come in handy. I stifle a *yawn* and glance at Carth who agrees we should head back to the apartment. On the way back he says how Sarna made a pass at him, so I comment that he enjoyed it. He turns to me saying that it looked like I was having a great time letting Yun maul me and I mention in turn that 'looks can be deceiving' adding
"He's not my type"
He jumps on that asking what my type is.
"For me to know and for you to try and find out flyboy" I answer as we enter the apartment. "I'm going to hit the shower then the sack" I tell Carth and head to the bathroom. I get changed into some clothes I'd picked up in our travels so I had something more comfortable to sleep in.
I emerge from there and Carth passes by me for his turn, an appreciative look on his face as he takes in my appearance. I'm not sure what to make of him but decide not to worry about it as I gladly slip into bed for a well deserved sleep. I don't hear Carth come out and get into his bed as I was out to it as soon as my head hit the pillow. I wasn't awake to notice him looking across at me, nor did I hear him whisper goodnight.
It is early morning, just before dawn and again my sleep is full of disturbing visions of a Jedi fighting a Dark figure. I wake with a start once again, glancing over towards Carth to see him sound asleep. The nightmare has disturbed me too much to fall back to sleep so I quietly get up and slip over to the window, sitting down in the chair placed in front of it and hugging my knees to my chest. Once more I try and recall those details of my life that seem to have slipped from my grasp, but all I can find is an empty space, like part of my life has been erased. Even in my service record it doesn't go into much detail. Orphaned at early age. Grew up within orphanage on a planet on the Outer Rim. Skills: elite combat, pilot, general soldiering, languages …. My life in a nutshell, although I feel deep inside that I do have a family somewhere out there. Vaguely I remember a young girl and boy arguing … I don't know their names but I hear the boy taunting the girl with "I might follow you now but I'll be the most powerful one the galaxy has ever known one day, and you'll bow down before me" and the little girl saying "I never asked you to follow me! You're mean, I'll never follow you, I'll follow my own path to my own destiny. Keep going the way you are and you'll have no friends at all". I'm so lost in my thoughts that I don't hear Carth come up behind me.
"Can't sleep Skye?" he asks me, placing his hands on my shoulders and showing more empathy than I thought he was capable of. I jump with fright at the sound of his voice but somehow sense that he means to comfort me.
"You should talk, what are you doing awake at this hour?" I reply turning to look at him. Seeing the look on his face I add "I guess we all have our demon's to face"
Trying to shake my unsettling mood I say "seeing as we are both awake, how about we go see what else we can come up with, I heard them saying at that party that the cantina in the lower levels never closes so what say we start there?"
He looks like he wants to ask me some questions but I avoid them, thinking to myself two can play at this game. I go into the bathroom and get dressed, coming out to find that he's fixed us a hot brew while he was waiting for his turn. I thank him and sip at it, feeling the warm liquid melt the icy lump my thoughts had provoked in the pit of my stomach. I can't help but check him out as he heads to the bathroom, wondering what he is thinking ... probably the mission I say to myself. Why am I thinking about him anyway, I'm only stuck in an apartment alone with him for short while and I'm deluding myself. I'm shocked at my thoughts especially when I start wishing that it had of been him with his arm around me the previous night instead of Yun. I blush as he returns to the room and look everywhere but at him, berating myself over a silly 'hero' infatuation.
Mentally shaking myself, I grab my weapons and my pack and am ready to head out the door. We head out and decide to check out the medical facility as we go so we can get some more medpacs. While we are there I ask Zelka Forn if he knows anything about the Republic escape pods which crashed in the under city. He doesn't want to talk about it and looks to be hiding something but after a little persuasion, he opens up and tells us that he has some Republic Soldiers in the back room. That they were secretly brought in to him and that he was caring for them. Even if it looked like none of them would survive. Carth thanks him and says that he is glad that they are in good, compassionate hands. We then head off for the lower city to see what else we can find out. Half way there I look at Carth and ask him if I can discuss something with him.
"You do? Fair enough, what do you want to discuss?".
"I want to talk to you about these issues you seem to have with me." I reply.
Carth sighs and says that he knew I wouldn't understand where he was coming from. "Let me try to explain. You're probably one of the most skilled women I've ever met. You've saved my butt more than once and I'm lucky you're here to help me. No question. But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop watching you or being wary."
"Why are you so hostile? What did I do to deserve this?" I ask him, genuinely puzzled.
"You, uh … haven't done anything *yet*. But there's no guarantee that you won't do anything in the future. I've been betrayed before by people and I …. Well, it won't happen again."
Feeling like I'm being accused for something I haven't done I ask "So you want some guarantee I won't betray you?!" with a 'who do you think you are' look on my face.
"I don't know you'll betray me. But there are no are no guarantees … not for you, not for me. You don't have to take it personally."
Sparks then start to fly and to this I fire up with "Don't tell me not to take it personally, you hairless Wookie!"
"Hairless Wookie? Alright sister, just… just… just calm down before your head explodes."
This just aggravates me further "Don't tell me to calm down you ignorant Bantha!"
Carth looks like he's enjoying stirring me up and comes back with "Is that your idea of an insult? Come on sister, take your best shot."
"Drooling Bomarr cast-off!"
With a mock wounded look and patting his chest Carth comes back with "Oh ouch, I think you hurt my man-feelings with that one."
I can see he's about to break into laughter but I don't want him to get away with it so I yell at him "Don't patronize me!!"
He say's "Wouldn't think of it" as he breaks into laughter, pointing at me and adding "you should see the look on your face". My jaw drops as I look at him but can't keep a straight face any longer so burst out laughing also, almost doubling over with the effort, tears streaming down my face.
After a long moment he asks me if I 'feel any better now?' Wiping my eyes I tell him 'maybe a little.'
"Good, then maybe we can talk reasonably about this. All I've been trying to say is that this isn't personal. If you were smart, you wouldn't trust anyone either … not me, not Bastila and especially not yourself."
"Ahhh … so you don't trust yourself, is that it?" wondering which way to go with the double meaning implied.
"I don't need to be analysed thanks. Can we just get back to business?"
"Ok so that settles it then." I reply, sensing that I've found out about all I'm going to at this stage and wondering why I'm so desperate to find out what is bugging him so I'm surprised that he answers me with
"Why is whether or not I trust you or anyone so damned important to you? Why … why do you even care? We don't have time for this, so can we please just … drop it. For now. Can we pick it up later if you really must, I … want to get underway".
In an uncomfortable silence we make our way to the elevator to the lower levels. Just before we get there I look for somewhere out of site to get changed, knowing that I won't get past the guard unless I had papers or a uniform on. Finding a dark corner I tell Carth to turn around and stand guard as I change into the sith uniform we 'borrowed'. He turns his back to me and I struggle to pull the uniform on over my clothing. I burst out laughing again as I am half in, half out of the uniform, looking ridiculous and having troubles. Carth can't help himself, he has to turn around. At the site he sees, he cracks up again and shakes his head at me, but comes over to help me into the rest of the uniform. Through the laughter I catch an intense look in his eyes as he looks into mine. My heart does a little 'flip-flop' and I break eye contact to pull the helmet on, thinking to myself what is going on here? Aloud, when I feel I can trust my voice, I ask him how I look - to be told that if he didn't know it was me he'd be worried.
Now in a more companionable silence we make our way over to the guard standing at the elevator. He informs us to be careful down below because of the swoop gangs and dishes out some other advice about the undercity also. Our ruse successful, we enter the elevator and Carth helps me out of the uniform. I'm just stuffing it back into my backpack when we reach the bottom level and step out. We haven't gone far when we witness a gang fight between the Black Vulkar's and the Hidden Beks – the two main swoop gangs. The Black Vulkar's killing the Hidden Beks and spying us decide to attack us too. Being trained in close combat, Carth and I quickly dispatch them, search for anything that could be useful to us and move on, very much on alert.
Reaching Javyar's Cantina, we decide to head in and see what other trouble we can find. Inside we see a bounty hunter being approached by three Black Vulkar's … for a small man he is lethal and he quickly puts them out of action permanently. As he walks past us I feel a cold shiver run down my spine.
I turn to Carth saying 'That guy gives me the creeps, I'd hate to run into him any time soon'.
Carth agrees with me whole heartedly. We go further in to see a young Twi'Lek being harassed. She handles herself very confidently and we soon see why as she has a Wookie as a best friend. We go and talk to her, finding out her name is Mission Vao and that her Wookie companion's name is Zaalbar. Mission takes it upon herself to be our 'welcoming committee' when she finds out that we are new comers. She is very informative and tells us all about Calo Nord, - the bounty hunter we'd just seen, all about Davik and also the gossip about the Hidden Beks and Black Vulkar's. She and Big Z (as she calls him) move off, saying that they will find something good for Big Z to eat at the Beks base. As I watch them go I comment to Carth that she's a nice kid, and feeling some connection towards her that I couldn't explain, even to myself.
Heading into the cantina further we end up talking to Zax. He tells us about bounties that are outstanding and we decide to look into some of the more 'legal' ones to make some more credits. We head out of the cantina and into the lower apartment block, intending to search for some on the bounty list. Who should we run into as we enter the building but Calo Nord taking out a couple more Vulkar's. As he stalks out past us he has a cold and calculating look on his face. I shiver again and Carth pats me on the shoulder. Surprisingly I get comfort out of his gesture.
"Come on, we'll see what else we have around the corner."
We run into quite a few Vulkar's and despatch them just as quick, using medpacs as needed. We find Selven in one of the apartments, and she knows why we are there straight away. Carth stays back and fires on her with his blasters but I'm more reckless and close the gap with my trusty vibroblades swinging. She soon falls and we continue on our travels. I glance at Carth, thinking that we work good as a team.
We stop in the corridor and I feel that now is as good a time as any. "I want to ask you something Carth."
"Oh? You want to argue some more, is that it?"
"No, I don't want to argue with you", I *sigh* as I look at him.
He relents and says "And I don't really want to argue with you either Skye. You seem … sincere enough, I guess. I just don't trust easily, and for good reasons …. Which are my own."
I take this as a challenge "I can make you talk, Carth. Trust me!"
He laughs and says "Well I might be willing to take you up on that challenge. But uh, you're just not going to let up are you? Fine … you want to know why I don't trust anyone? Here goes" …… he goes on to tell me how five years ago he had served with the fleet that Revan and Malak had commanded in the Mandalorian Wars and was proud to have served with them. That when they turned to the dark side, how hurt, angry and mis-trustful he was, especially when they took Officers with them and then attacked the Republic Fleet when it was at it's weakest.
"You say that with such hatred" I tell him as a shiver goes up my spine, so he apologises to me saying that I don't deserve that, and that he would rather not talk about it anymore. I can see how much this has upset him so I let it drop and we head down to the Hidden Bek base.
We ask Gadon, Leader of the Hidden Beks, about the Republic escape pods and are told that the Black Vulkar's have Bastila prisoner and have put her up for the prize in the Swoop Race. They tell us that we would have to get the prototype back for their swoop bike, which the Vulkar's stole from them, so we can enter the race to 'win' her back and that Mission would be the best one to lead us into the Black Vulkar base. That he would 'sponsor' us in the race so that we could enter. Carth and I only have to discuss things a moment before telling them that we will do it. They give us some supplies, sith authorisation papers (in exchange for the sith uniform) and a good meal before we head off, following the directions we'd been given to go down to the undercity and to find where Mission 'probably' was.
Getting to the elevator to the undercity we are stopped by the Sith Guard who checks over our papers before letting us go through with some advice to watch out for the mutant Rakghouls – to shoot first and ask questions later. As soon as we get out of the elevator we are badgered by some of the outcast beggars. Feeling sorry for them and being generous I give them twenty credits instead of the five they were asking for. Carth shakes his head saying that I'm soft and he's going to give up on trying to get me to stop giving away our credits. A young lady from the Outcast's Village is very helpful to us and when we go to move off, has a look of disappointment on her face – she doesn't get to talk to 'upworlder's' much.
We come across an old man, Rukil, who thinks I can lead him to the 'Promised Land'. I have no idea what he is talking about and he suddenly says that I'd have to earn his trust by finding his apprentice before he tells me anymore. Mentally rolling my eyes skyward I think to myself that I've never met so many untrusting people before. I shake my head and we move off down the village. Finding the village leader, we are informed that a lot of upworlder's have been through the village of late, he also tells us roughly where to find Mission as he had seen her and Zaalbar go through the village earlier.
We go further on and as we approach the gate there is a woman yelling out frantically for Hendah to hurry up, that he has to make it. The guard at the gate says that he won't lower the gate because the Rakghouls are too close. As we get nearer we catch a glimpse of the Rakghoul that is chasing Hendah. It is a hideous looking beast and it is clear that without our help, Hendah won't make it. I tell the guard to lower the gate. At first he refuses but when I say we'll stop the Rakghoul he relents. We go out and face the beast, both of us joining Hendah to face the beast and kill it with only minimal trouble. We go back through the gate and the man and woman embrace, thanking us for saving his life and they move off. The guard turns to us and says that they can all learn from what we have done to help out another in need.
With that we again go through the gate and head off looking for the sewer entrance and to where we could hopefully, find Mission. As it turns out, we don't need to go far as she comes running up to us, distraught and not making much sense. We manage to calm her down enough for her to tell us that Big Z had been captured by Gamorrean slavers, that they had laid a trap for him. Big Z had told her to run and she had. She says how the Hidden Beks wouldn't even help her and that someone had to. I look at Carth, catching his eye and put my arm around Mission, saying that we would help her to 'get Big Z back'. Also we tell her how we need to get into the Black Vulkar Base.
"You help me get Big Z back and I'll get you into the base, I promise!" A smile breaking through her tears as she realises that we will do all we can to get him back.
Heading off in the sewers where Mission tells us the Gamorrean's have set up a base, we run into a Sith Patrol. They look at our papers, find them in order and think we are there as a rescue party. I make a parting shot about following orders and the leader gets his back up, saying he always follows orders. They move off, and we make our way around the grounds.
We come across Canderous Ordo, who is on an assignment for Davik checking out the Republic escape pods. He tells us that it is a dangerous place down here and that the swoop gangs had beaten Davik to the pods, that if we were down there for that reason to forget it. Another fight follows with a group of Rakghouls showing up, and I'm glad that Canderous is on our side in this, that he is a hell of a fighter and I'd rather remain on his good side. For a macho mercenary, he doesn't seem a bad sort of bloke and although doesn't like talking, does tell us some information about Davik's activities.
We part ways and finally make it to the sewer, along the way finding some of the Rakghoul serum. Putting it in my pack I tell Carth that we'll give it to Zelka when we get back up to the surface. I notice that there is a large dosage there and wonder if it would be enough to give to the outcast village healer as well.
The sewers are a maze and we frequently run into both Gamorrean's and Rakghouls, fighting our way through them until we find an old locking mechanism on one of the doors. Mission says she knows how to unlock the code and when it is opened, we see a happy reunion. Mission runs over to Zaalbar and hugs him, saying that she would never give up on trying to find him. Zaalbar looks over at us and asks Mission who we are. She informs him that we are her new friends and that without our help she would never have gotten to him. Carth more or less puts me forward, muttering something about stubborn women, so Big Z turns to me, thanking me and saying that seeing as I'd saved his life that he feels he should repay me by offering a life-debt. Mission questions him about it, saying that it is a big discission to make but he feels he now owes me his life, therefore he declares, with witnesses, a life-debt.
I am dumbfounded and not sure what to say, indicating that Mission and Carth were both instrumental also but he still insists. "I guess, if you insist …. I'm honoured."
Next we decide that we'd better go back to the village, while we were in the general vicinity and deliver the journals we had found as we were searching for Big Z. We tell Zaalbar where our apartment is on the upper levels and he agrees to meet us there, saying he has something to do as we part ways. We find the healer and as she is not game to go into the compound of isolated infected villages, I say that I will go in. We witness just how the infected one's turn into Rakghouls and have to quickly finish them off before they can attack us. We distribute some of the serum to the remaining villages and then go to see Rukil and give him the journals. He in turn goes to see Gendar, the village leader, and they decide to make the difficult journey to the Promised Land.
Out of the corner of my eye, I catch Carth looking at me. Sensing that he wants to talk to me but doesn't know if he should I ask if he wants to.
"I thought I said I didn't want to talk about it anymore."
Knowing that he needs to and that he won't unless I goad him into it I reply with "Yes, but I'm bored, so spit it out."
This works well and he comes back with "Listen sister …just because we're working together doesn't mean you have to badger me with questions!"
With my hands on my hips and looking him squarely in the eye I say "Your damn right it does!"
"Blast it if you aren't the most frustrating woman to talk to! Isn't there someone else you can harass for a while?"
With more mischief shining in my eyes I question him "What exactly *is* it about me that frustrates you?"
Mission stands there looking bewildered from Carth to myself, wondering what is going on between us before shrugging her shoulders and moving off to speak with one of the villagers.
"Oh no Skye, I'm not falling for that one. I wasn't born yesterday, you know." Carth comes back with.
"And you say I'm frustrating to deal with!" I tell him.
Smiling but pretending wounded pride he replies "What? Me? What did I do?"
I roll my eyes skyward and say, "You don't know? Typical Male!"
I see a smile come onto his face before becoming more serious "I *sigh* … Okay, I give up. You win." And he goes on to tell me how Saul, Admiral Saul Karath, tried to recruit him over to the Sith saying that the Republic was the losing side. How he'd been Carth's mentor and a well respected officer. That when he'd gone over to the enemy he'd taken all their codes with him. He went on to tell me that he remembered waking up as the first of the Sith Bombers snuck past the defences and began destroying their docked ships and how he'd known straight away why, blaming himself for not trying to stop Saul from turning his back on the Republic. How he had made it his duty to hunt Saul down to try and make amends for what had happened, what he had failed to prevent.
I place my hand on his arm in a sympathetic gesture, wanting to comfort him from the pain in his eyes, and … not quite sure how he would take it, say how awful he must feel about it. I feel that he is closing himself off again especially when he tells me there is more to the story but he doesn't want to talk about it anymore. Mission comes back up to us then and we decide to set off for the Vulkar Base as time is marching on.
Mission takes the lead and we find ourselves going back through the sewers, finally arriving at a force field screen. As she knows the unlocking codes (smugly informing us that she 'lifted' them from a Vulkar) she goes to the computer console and disables it. We head into the upper sewers and come across a few more to dispatch as we go.
Mission and Carth have a heated discussion along the way where Carth is referring to her as a kid and she is defending herself quite capably. I try and calm them down but it doesn't really work and I figure they need to get it out of their systems. As we get closer to the base we come across a rancor right at the elevator door to the base. The beast seems distracted at the door down the other end and I spy a pile of corpses in the middle of the room. With 'be careful' ringing in my ears from both Mission and Carth, I creep silently over to the pile, laying some explosives and some synthesised odour we'd come across. We'd found a datapad from one of the Beks saying that he'd intended to follow this plan of action only it hadn't worked – all we'd found of him was a severed arm with the datapad still clutched in it's hand, I prayed it would work for me. It did. I silently made my way back to Mission and Carth and turned to watch the beast 'take the bait'. It lumbered over to the pile and ate my booby trap, the explosives doing their job and killing the beast almost instantly.
The coast clear, we head to the elevator and into the Vulkar Base. Mission then decides it is time to apologise to Carth and they have another discussion, this time ending with Carth teasing her about being a kid and Mission calling Carth and old geezer. I tell them that it was about time they made up and we'd better get a move on. The three of us head up a hallway, destroying some of the guard robots as we go and getting to a security terminal. Mission slices into it and shuts down the security turrets on the inner elevator and also causes a power conductor to one of the barracks rooms to overload, effectively getting rid of a few more of the enemy. She also uploads the schismatics of the base so that we know where we are going.
We come across a girl being guarded in on of the rooms and quickly overcome her guards. She says her name is Ada and she can't really help us much. Carth tells her she might know more than she thinks and once asked about Bastila she says 'oh that republic officer'. They have her somewhere off base, though she doesn't know where. We ask her if she can make it out of the base and she tells us that now the guards are gone she will make good her escape. We next come across one of the older Vulkar members who is disgruntled with the new leader- Brejik. He gives us some useful information and feeling generous I tell him that we will let him live and to get out of here. Carth looks at me with a surprised look on his face and mentions something about unexpected actions. I just shrug my shoulders and indicate we should move on.
Getting to the garage we make our way to where we were told the prototype was. The Black Vulkar members inside try to convert us but have no luck at all and another fight follows. We reclaim the prototype and make our way as quick as we can back to the Hidden Beks. Once back there we are told that the race is tomorrow and that we could stay at the base overnight. We are shown to a barracks room and Mission brings out a deck of pazaak cards. She and Carth play a few games while I am content to watch for a while, laughing when Carth accuses Mission of cheating and Mission calling him a bad loser. I'm getting tired so decide to leave them to it while I get some sleep so I'm ready for the next day's race. I am soon asleep and this time I have more pleasant dreams.
Waking refreshed for the first time in ages, I make a hot brew for all of us, handing one to Mission, then having to wake up Carth - which is a first. I gaze at his face, noticing that he is not showing as many signs of stress as he sleeps, then gently touch his arm and call his name. Seeing him smile I tell him to wake up. He opens his eyes and I hand him a steaming hot brew, jokingly telling him that if he hadn't woken up when he did I would have had to have thrown some cold water over him. He mutters something about needing the cold water, which causes Mission to laugh knowingly. For a street urchin she is very observant when it comes to everything and everyone around her. I decide then and there that when we leave Taris, we will take her and Big Z with us.
A short while later a mechanic comes to get me for the race, Carth saying that they will watch the race then go back to the apartment to wait for Bastila and me. I nod in agreement and follow the mechanic out to the track. Another mechanic then goes over the controls and specs of the swoop bike with me and I'm all set to race. He warns me that the prototype might not last that long so to handle the bike gently. I go to the race co-ordinator to set up my first heat and notice Bastila restrained in a cage nearby. I want to tell her that everything will be ok but dare not blow my cover. The mechanic had told me to start off with a slow heat then go all out in the second so that is what I intend to do.
The rush of adrenaline goes though my system as I wait for the green light, then I'm away. It is very exhilarating and it is all I can do to keep the first heat a slow one. The bike is so responsive and handles very well. With a huge grin on my face I report back to the mechanic, saying that it handles like a dream. The next person to race is from the Black Vulkar's and he beats my time by a fraction. I'm still very pumped up from my first heat that I want to get straight back out there, so I go and organise my second heat. This time I don't hold back and fly down the track, hitting all the speed boosters I can. Feeling the wind whipping past my face and the rush of adrenaline surging through my veins. I finish the race with almost what feels like disappointment that it is over so soon, and go back to the race co-ordinator. He declares me the victor.
Brejik then accuses me of cheating but he is told that according to the rules everything checks out. He is a sore loser and calls his men to fight. Bastila then uses this as an excuse to break out of her cage, which shocks Brejik as he had her in a neural disruptor. Bastila tells him never to underestimate the power of a Jedi's mind as she grabs a weapon and takes him on. Fighting side by side we quickly dispatch the rest of the Black Vulkar's attacking us, then she turns her attention to me, coldly telling me that she is no prize for me to collect. Before I can say anything in defence, she realises I am one of the soldiers from the Endar Spire and asks if we are the only two survivors. I tell her that Carth Onasi is alive, well and waiting for us back at our hideout and she lightens up abit more, saying that he is one of the most trusted and admired soldiers the Republic has.
Some of the coldness lifts as she tells me that maybe she has misjudged me, that Carth wouldn't have sent me if he hadn't of been confident in my abilities. That even with her Jedi training she tends to be a bit rash at times, which I silently think is an understatement. We turn to go back to the hideout and she brushes past me. With that contact I suddenly have a vision flash before my eyes.
A vision of Bastila and three other Jedi fighting some Sith. The focus shifts to a black masked figure, holding a red lightsaber and moving forward to attack. I hear Bastila saying "You cannot win, Revan", then the bridge of the ship rocks as it is hit by laser bombardment and they all drop to the ground. Bastila rises and makes her way over to the black robed figure, looking down onto masked face.
My vision clears and I am 'back' in the street, heading towards the apartment, a very disturbed feeling settling over me. As soon as we are inside the apartment, Carth says that things are finally looking up. Bastila stalks in and makes a comment that now she is back in charge of the mission so we had better follow orders, that things might run a bit more smoothly getting off the planet, as her 'rescue' wasn't the best. Carth berates her, saying that he knows she is new at leadership but a good leader doesn't put down her troops when things don't go to plan and not to let her ego get in the way.
This gets her back up and she tells him "That hardly strikes me as an appropriate way of addressing your commander, Carth. I am a member of the Jedi Order and this is my mission. Don't forget that. My Battle Meditation has helped the Republic win many times in this war and it will serve us well here I am sure. "
Carth bites back with "Your talents might win us a few battles, but that doesn't make you a good leader" and goes on to say that we all need to work together here and not bicker over who is leader and who is not.
I pipe up trying to calm them down as tempers are flaring up and doing us all no good. It seems to work as Bastila relents and the mood becomes less strained. We decide that in the morning we will try the cantina's to find out some more information about how to get off Taris. Mission's pazaak cards come out again and we all enjoy a pleasant evening before retiring for the night.
The apartment is getting a little crowded with five of us, so we draw straws to see who gets the beds and who has to make do on the easy chairs or floor. Somehow, Bastila gets one of the beds and Mission the other, so I grab a couple of cushions off the chairs and put them together under the window. Carth sees what I have done and does the same under the other window but Zaalbar just settles for sitting in a chair and putting his feet up on the table.
Even though I am very tired, sleep does not come to me. My mind keeps replaying that vision over and over, Bastila fighting with the Dark Jedi Revan, wondering what it all means and knowing deep inside that it does mean something. I give up trying to sleep and sit up, hugging my knees to my chest and stare out the window, not seeing any of the lights of the city outside. I sense someone watching me and turn to see Bastila behind me.
Softly, as to not wake the others, she asks, "Is… is something wrong? You seem as if something is troubling you."
I look at her for a moment before deciding that I need to find out what is going on. "Something happened when we first met. Like a vision"
She looks at me with a puzzled look on her face. "A vision? A vision of what?"
"Of you" I say, "Fighting a dark Jedi, Revan I guess".
Her face registers shock for a slight moment before she says "That is … strange. Such visions are often a sign of Force sensitivity."
When I look at her quizzically she adds "I … I'm not sure. It may be that you have some connection to the Force. It would not be unheard of. When we first met, your natural talent may have fed off my own Force abilities. It is possible that in the aftermath of the battle the Force allowed you to see one of my more intense memories."
I think on her words for a moment, "But this isn't the first time I've had a vision" I confide, still confused.
Another shocked look briefly passes across her face before she tells me that once we get off Taris, we will go to see the Jedi Council for guidance and until then we should keep our minds on the here and now. With that she walks quietly back to her bed. I look around the room to see Carth awake still, sitting up in the moonlight and how he had seen Bastila and I talking. He looked as though he wanted to ask about it but I shake my head as I lie back down staring back out the window.
I don't know how long I lay there, staring out into the void, but at some point I must have fallen asleep, for the next thing I know it is morning and Carth hands me a hot brew. I thank him and say that we'd better go give Zelka the Rakghoul serum first up which he agrees is a good idea. He still looks as though he wants to ask me about the previous night but two can play at keeping secrets and I avoid his unspoken question by going into the bathroom to freshen up.
As I come out I find I am unable to avoid Bastila's questions as she asks me what Carth and I had been doing up until the point where we all joined forces. Carth moves over to stand beside me as I try and turn it about by saying
"Before we rescued you, you mean?"
It works for a while as she stands up taller saying that she rescued herself as she recalled.
"Can't you just admit that you were rescued?" sighing as I ask her.
She then admits that she probably couldn't have gotten away without my help, adding, "Actually, your presence at the swoop track is what I'm curious about. It couldn't have been an easy task to find me there. Yet somehow you managed. You also avoided detection by the Sith, discovered I was a Vulkar prisoner, gained sponsorship to the race and became the Taris Swoop Champion. That's quite a resume."
Looking around the room at each of my companions in turn I say, "I had a lot of help. Carth, Mission and Zaalbar."
Bastila then goes on to say that my modesty is admirable, but that I was the catalyst for the events that had occurred. Also saying that I showed a lot of Jedi traits with my actions.
"I think you under-estimate us non-Jedi, Bastila."
"Perhaps." She says, then tells us that with my abilities, her Jedi training and the skills of our companions, we should find a way off this planet. With that we decide it is time to organise ourselves. Big Z and Mission were going to go tell Dia that the bounty had been lifted on her and also to scout about the apartment block and see what they could find out, while Bastila, Carth and myself would firstly go to the medical centre and then to the cantina. We leave the apartment and start towards the exit when a Twi'Lek rushes up to us, giving us a message that Canderous would like to meet with us at the cantina.
Half way down to the medical centre, Carth asks "Bastila, I was wondering something. How did those Vulkar's manage to capture a famous Jedi like you? Were you knocked out when your escape pod crashed?"
I'm very interested in finding this out also so I move closer to them to hear what she has to say.
"No, I was conscious. But my force powers were exhausted from using my Battle Meditation in the battle for the Endar Spire. Without my help you might never have made it off the ship alive."
"Fair enough" Carth replies, "But I've seen you Jedi in action. There's no way those 'thugs' would have stood a chance against your lightsaber."
Flushing with embarrassment Bastila admits "My lightsaber was … misplaced. I couldn't find it after the crash. I looked *everywhere* in that pod. The Vulkar's came and overwhelmed me even as I searched for my weapon."
Carth stares open mouthed at her for a moment then says "Wait a minute, let me get this straight. You *lost* your lightsaber? Ha-ha! I mean, isn't that a violation of a Jedi code or something?"
"Leave her alone, Carth" I pipe up, seeing that Bastila isn't taking this teasing too well.
"This is no laughing matter. During the crash my lightsaber must of … it must of fallen from my belt and rolled under the seat. The Vulkar's probably found it when they searched the wreckage." Bastila splutters, getting madder by the second.
"Hey, hey, hey, don't get mad, I'm sorry. It's just funny to think of a legendary Jedi losing her lightsaber. Take my advice: this is one detail you might want to keep out of the history texts." Carth tells her.
"I hardly consider myself a legend, Carth. Though I will consider your advice when I relate these events to the Jedi Council. There is no need for them to know *every* detail of what transpired." Bastila then turns and stalks off ahead of us.
Carth and I smile at each other and turn to follow her. Zelka is overwhelmed when we hand over the serum and tries to offer us a reward. I turn him down but he insists on doing something in return, so offers us a discount for every time we purchase something from his shop. As we leave we are abused by Gurney who says how disappointed he is that we gave the serum to Zelka instead of Zax who would have paid top credit for it. Disgusted by him we just walk on past him, and head to the cantina to where we are supposed to meet up with Canderous Ordo.
Initially he tries to flatter me by saying how impressed he was with my swoop racing. I get straight to the point and ask him what he wants. He proposes that we break into the Sith military base to get the codes needed to go though the blockade, he can't do this task as the Sith will turn their attentions onto Davik. In turn he will get us into Davik's Estate so we can appropriate the Ebon Hawk and all get off the planet Taris. We will need to purchase a droid from Janice's shop and use it to slice through the security systems to get onto the base, then find the codes. Once we have them we are to return to Javyar's Cantina where Canderous will be waiting for us.
Bastila doesn't sense any darkness about this plan of action so we agree and head out to get more credits for the droid. I look at Carth, indicating the direction of the duelling ring again and he smiles, knowing that he can't stop me. I secretly get the impression he enjoys seeing me fight. Bastila voices her disapproval but I ignore her and head over to set up my next duel with Marl. This duel is longer and more difficult but I eventually come out on top. Carth comes over to me as I re-enter the room and gets out the medpacs, dabbing at a cut I received to my face. Bastila watches with interest for a short time, before another look of disapproval comes across her face. I suddenly get a swirling, tingling feeling come over me and look up at Carth. He has a surprised look on his face as my wound disappears before his eyes.
"That should do it. Feel better now?" Bastila asks.
It is then we both realise what she had done – used the Force to heal me.
"Yes thankyou. That's a handy skill to have" I reply. "Only one duel to go now so I guess I'll go get it organised."
My next opponent is Twitch. Everyone thinks he is insane, but I think I have his measure. As I return to the ring, I notice he has his blasters at the ready. I decide I will go with my stronger weapon tactics by using my vibroblades. Adrenaline surging through my system I race over to him and power attack. He shudders under my blow and grabs for his sword but I had the advantage of surprise and quickly subdue him. I am declared the victor and head out to collect on my winnings. Carth again meeting me at the door and saying, with what sounds like pride that I got that one over with quickly. Bastila looks at me with something that might be interpreted as respect for my abilities and we decide to make tracks to the droid shop.
With some wheeling and dealing we manage to get Janice down to 1500 credits for the droid. Feeling pleased with ourselves we make tracks to the Sith Base. T3 makes short work of the security system, bypassing it so that we have access whenever we need it. I give him directions to go back to the apartment and wait for us there with Mission and Big Z, knowing that Mission will fall for the little guy. The receptionist challenges us but we offer her 50 credits to not sound the alarm. She is delighted to have more credits than the Sith pay her and quickly vacates the premises, not wanting to know why we are there.
I go to the computer console and upload the schematics to my datapad, working out that we need to get to the elevator and go up a level to the Sith Governor's office. Also unlocking the elevator, although we have to deal with a shielded sentry droid in the lobby. We take the quickest route possible, coming across the Duros that we had assisted on our first outing. We release him from the torture cell and he quickly makes his way out of the base. Going through another corridor and destroying another sentry droid as we go we reach the elevator lobby. Bastila uses her stun droid force powers while Carth and I throw a couple of grenades at it hoping to weaken its shield. We all rush it then and manage to overcome it.
The coast clear we head into the elevator and up to our destination. Walking into the room we are confronted with:
"Who dares break my mediation? You will pay for interrupting my … wait. I sense the Force is strong with you. Very strong. Who would have thought that a Force Adept could be found on this insignificant planet."
"You Sith must be brought to judgement of all the blood you have spilled" I tell him, noticing that he is a dark jedi.
"You are a fool – this is a new age! The Sith will be the ones passing judgement now! We are the new order of the Galaxy!" and with that he moves to strike.
Bastila uses her stasis power to try and freeze him, the first time he rebuff's it but the second she manages to hold him for a second. Just long enough for Carth and I to rush him at the same time, both of us bringing down our blades and moving back to a defensive position. He in turn freezes Bastila momentarily and I move to strike again. I have never come up against a dark Jedi so powerful before but I am not going to let him get the better of any of us. Seeing that he has left his side open I signal to Carth to keep his attention while I strike. I get in a damaging blow but it is not enough to break him. Bastila uses her force healing on us during the battle then moves in and delivers the killing blow.
All of us breathing heavily, I search him for the codes and thank her for healing us. My mind goes back to the first things he said to me when first confronted. Me? A Force Adept? I know Bastila said something about it before but I am still finding it hard to believe possible. Deciding now that we had better get out of the base ASAP we set off at a jog, only slowing down once we were out in public once again, our new destination being Javyar's cantina and Canderous. We also needed to collect on the other bounties.
Bounties collected on and agreement made, Canderous takes us into Davik's Estate, telling Davik that he has found someone interested in joining the Exchange and asking him if he had heard of some of our exploits already. Davik has heard some of what we had been up to, especially after the swoop race, and falls hook, line and sinker for our cover story. He takes us on a tour of his Estate, showing us the Ebon Hawk amongst other things and then takes us to our guest quarters. He tells us that the slave's quarters are around the corridor and to feel free to make use of the facilities and services on offer. That we will remain his guest for a couple of days until he has done a full background check on us.
Once he leaves the room, Canderous says now is the time to take come action. I call a quick time out though to ask him a little about himself. He proceeds to tell us that he is a Mandalorian and has been fighting for forty of 'our' years. He takes glory in battle for the sake of the battle. He is a bit gun hoe for me but he seems ok. Carth sees me 'checking Canderous out' and gives me a strange look. I just give him a smile and indicate that we should get going. Canderous notices the exchange between Carth and myself and decides that he could have abit of fun with this, filing it away for future reference.
We head to the slave quarters to see what information we can find out. Leading the other two into the room I try to question the first slave I see and flush with embarrassment as she tells me that I would be better off talking to one of the male slaves. Both Canderous and Carth have a chuckle over my embarrassment but I'm not going to let them get to me, making my way over to the male slave to be greeted with:
"Would you like a relaxing massage mistress? Whatever your desire we are here to serve"
I look straight at Carth, thinking to get some of my own back on him and also hoping to extract some useful information at the same time, reply with "I'd love a massage right now."
"As you wish mistress, You will find this most relaxing. If you would come with me into the massage room in the back …."
As we pass by Carth he takes the bait, piping up in a strained voice with "Come on, I mean … I love a massage as much as the next guy, but we're not exactly on vacation here. We need to get going."
Half an hour later I emerge feeling very relaxed and pleased with myself. I managed to flatter the male slave enough to tell me all the information I needed to know. I found out that Davik's pilot for the Ebon Hawk, Hudrow, is being held in a torture chamber after stealing some spice. That since the Sith had curtailed Davik's operations he wasn't allowed to get away with it this time and therefore was being punished. Knowing that he would have the codes we would need, I find out where the torture chamber is. The male slave tells me where it is plus the fact that there would be quite a few guards around the area.
I wink at Canderous, getting a grin in turn from him, and give Carth a cheeky smile before turning to the slave to express how pleased I was with his services. He puff's his chest out with pride and asks me to tell Davik just how pleased I was with his efforts. Turning back to the boys, I indicate we should move out. Once out of ear- shot from the slave quarters, I turn to both of them to tell them what I had learnt. Canderous looks back at me with respect at my deviousness while Carth just shakes his head at me as if he can't believe what I'd just done. I ask the boys if they had any 'luck' with the female slaves and find out that no, they hadn't. Chalk another one up for the girls, I think to myself with a grin, again taking the lead and heading towards where I'd been told the torture chamber was.
We finally find Hudrow trapped in a torture cage, having to take out the two guard droid's first we release him. He is so grateful that he gives us the security codes that will allow us to obtain the Ebon Hawk. He thanks us for freeing him again and takes off at a run to get out of Davik's Estate before he can be recaptured. Canderous now takes charge, telling us "we've got what we came for so let's get out of here".
We too break into a run, heading towards the Hanger Bay. I duck into the room near the doors to activate the codes on the security console and we dash into the hanger. Davik and Calo Nord are in there and soon a fight begins between us. The Sith are bombarding Taris, levelling it to the ground around us as we fight. We take out Davik first then turn our attention to Calo. He holds up a thermal detonator, saying that one way or another, we won't get out of there alive. At that moment a laser beam from the Sith hits the hanger close by Calo, he is crushed by falling debris as the ceiling comes crashing down around him.
We take that as our queue and race towards the Ebon Hawk, stopping briefly to relieve Davik of his now un-needed supplies. Carth takes the controls and we radio the others to meet us. Picking them up we make our way out to the stars, witnessing and feeling Taris' destruction as we leave. I feel a wave of pain hit me, shocking me momentarily. Bastila sees this and says that it is feeling, through the Force, the lives end of those on the planet below. She then tells Carth to set a hyperspace course to Dantooine, telling me to head towards the gun turrets just as Carth announces:
"Incoming Fighters!"
I fly up the ladder, quickly strapping in and warming up the lasers, firing as soon as I am able. I manage to knock out the fighters pursuing us and Carth warns us we are about to enter hyperspace. The night sky disappears in a flash of white streaks as we enter on our course to Dantooine.