Author's Note: Sorry it took so bloody long people – been going through the busiest time at school. Well, its work experience now and I hope to post a few chapters (no promises). Thanks for your reviews. Hope you enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 4

The effects of the neural disruptor were similar those of deep meditation, or the place between sleep and wakefulness. All I had to do was wake up.

It was harder than I thought it should be. Often, I thought I was free of the collar, but as I tried to move, I was pulled down again. It felt like drowning.

It was impossible to keep track of the time. It could have been hours, or merely seconds between my attempts to free myself of the collar. Eventually, I managed to get a clear hold within myself, aware of sounds and feelings.

"People, hear me! There is something you must know! The winning rider cheated!"

A briefly quested out with the Force, and discovered where the catch on the collar was. In a huge effort, I lifted my hand to my neck and caught hold of the catch before the darkness came back.

"You're a damn liar, Brejik!"

Summoning my will once more, I twisted the metal fastening, and the collar snapped open. It clattered to the floor, and vision returned with a glaring brightness. I was in a cage, and one of the Vulkar guards was standing in front of it, blocking my view of the argument taking place.

Brejik was shouting something about withdrawing his share of the prize because of an unfair advantage. I shuddered, realising that he wanted me for himself, and decided to speak up. "I might have something to say about that."

"What? You were restrained by a neural disruptor! You couldn't possibly have summoned the willpower to free yourself!" It was almost pleasing to see fear on his ugly face.

"You should never underestimate the power of a Jedi's mind. A mistake you won't live to regret."

I pushed the cage door open, and it swung up, hitting the guard on the back of the head. Stunned, he fell forwards and smashed his face into the desk in front of him. Then he toppled sideways, unconscious. I picked up his a weapon – a crude and poorly balanced but serviceable double-vibroblade.

"What? Vulkars, to me! Kill the swoop rider! Kill the prisoner!" Brejik bellowed the command at his subordinates, seeing no other way out of the situation than a fight. Mayhem ensued. Everyone who wasn't a Vulkar began screaming and running. Soon, they had all disappeared, abandoning me and the swoop racer to our battle.

The thugs were barely a match for me and my Force powers, but I sorely missed the familiarity of my lightsaber. An ugly alien of a species I didn't even recognise tried to stab me, but his clumsy hit was easily avoided.

I stepped left, parried his blade and brought the end of the vibrosword sharply into his exposed ribs under his arm. He cried out as the blade lodged itself amongst his vitals. I wrenched the sword free, twisting it at the same time. The Vulkar fell forwards, clutching his wound.

I barely had time turn around before another attack came swinging towards my head from behind. I ducked, using the force to sense the location on my new combatant. As I rose, I brought the unbloodied blade of my sword into his spleen. He folded over, and flopped to the floor, groaning.

To my left, the swoop rider was facing two gangsters, one of them a female green Twi'lek, the other a male Zabrak. The Zabrak seemed to be favouring heavy offensive attacks, whereas the Twi'lek held back, only attacking when she saw a weakness in the rider's defence. The rider was being forced to give more and more ground, and would soon be cornered.

I wrapped the force around the Twi'lek and pulled her towards my blade. Her spine splintered with the impact with a sickening yet almost satisfying crunch. The swoop rider used the extra space, stepped out and drove his blade through the base of the Zabrak's skull.

Brejik was left standing alone against me and the rider. He dropped his sword and held his hands up. "I assure you, this was just a misunderstanding." He looked around frantically, probably planning his escape. "I meant no harm. All just a mistake." His voice rose to a high whine, tinged with panic.

The swoop rider wasn't buying it. He lifted a blaster and pointed it at the gang leader's head. "Whatever you say." He pulled the trigger and Brejik was left as a crumpled heap on the floor, with a smoking hole in his forehead.

"Well, maybe those bloody Vulkars will think twice before trying to keep a Jedi prisoner. And as for you, if you think you can claim me as your prize…" I turned to face the rider for the first time. It took all my mental effort not to run away.

"Wait, I don't believe it, you're…" I stopped myself before I could say 'Revan'. "You're one of the crew from the Endar Spire. Yes, I'm sure of it."

I suddenly felt very cold. I thought my heart had forgotten to beat. He looked at me curiously. The face was now a healthy shade of pink and his eyes a pleasant blue colour. The face no longer looked like a Sith Lord's, but it was unmistakeably the same person I had carried of the flagship. I hadn't seen Revan since I gave him over to the council, and for some reason I hadn't expected there to be any physical changes.

My musings were interrupted by him speaking. "I'm Kail. We have to get out of here quickly."

"Hold on. What are you doing here, riding in the race?" My heart suddenly did remember what it was supposed to be doing and did so very quickly.

"It was the only way we could save you." He replied, as he looked in his backpack for something.

I would have laughed if I wasn't trying not to wet myself. "Save me? Is that what you hoped to attempt, riding in that swoop race? In case you hadn't noticed I freed myself from that neural restraint collar, and if I hadn't stepped into that fight, those Vulkars would have left you for dead…"

I was going to say more, but he cut through. "Oh yeah? Then where would you have gone? I hardly think you could just go 'Hmm, I think Carth Onasi and Kail Artoz are staying in the South Upper city apartments!'"

I flinched as his sweaty face was suddenly found much too close to mine. "Carth Onasi is alive? Finally, some good news." Even better, because it meant I didn't have to stay with Revan on my own. It was unsettling how scared I was of him. "Tell me, do you have a plan to get off Taris yet?" Using all my years of training, I hid my fear under a thick layer of frosty superiority.

He pulled a red jacket and grey trousers out of his bag. "No, not yet. We were trying to find you. Remember?" He handed me the clothes. "Put these on. It's cold."

I didn't like the clothes, but they were better than what the Vulkars had me wearing. I took them from him, and pulled them over the hideous joy-girl outfit. "Please, take me to Carth. Between us, I think we could figure out a way to get off this rock."

"Okay. Just a minute." He made a round of the dead, pocketing credits and useful accessories. From Brejik, he took an expense customized belt, energy shield and gloves. In one of the pockets was my lightsaber, which he looked at oddly for a second before handing it to me. "Right, let's go."

He led the way carefully through the Lower city, avoiding Sith patrols as much as he could. We managed to reach the apartments he had spoken of before without being stopped.

Carth was waiting for us, still wearing that awful orange thing. I was certain it should have been washed by now. "Bastila, you're alive! Finally, things are looking up!"

Revan spoke. "Now we just need a way off Taris."

Keeping up the 'holier-than-thou' act, I asked quickly; "You haven't even figured that out yet? What have you been doing all this time?"

"Saving you. Remember?" He scowled at me before kicking his backpack across the floor and slumping onto one of the chairs.

"I was more than capable of saving myself from that mess. In fact, if I hadn't stepped into that fight you probably would have died. It is more accurate to say that I saved you." I was pissed off, needed a shower, something to eat and a lot of sleep.

"Oh shut up you stuck up bitch! Just because you are a Jedi it doesn't mean you can treat us like shit!" He waved his hand around, indicating himself and Carth. "Do you have any idea how much hard work we put into finding you?" He stood up, probably to kick something but yelped in pain and quickly sat down again.

It was then that I first noticed the patch of blood that was spreading down his leg, staining his combat suit. If it were anyone else, I probably would have helped them. However, after his outburst, I decided not to go any closer. "I'll get a medpack" Carth announced and began rummaging through a footlocker for the necessary equipment.

Grunting in pain, Revan, or Kail as he called himself, peeled off his combat suit and inspected the wound. It was a nasty diagonal gash all the way down his thigh. I was surprised he had been able to walk like that. Carth stabbed the kolto injection into Revan's left arm, and slowly, the wound began to close. Not nearly enough, but it helped.

I could easily have fixed his leg, but I decided to stay as far away from Revan as I could. As I moved, I caught a whiff of my own smell. It was bad. I announced that I was taking a shower and then going to bed.

"Me too. I'm knackered." Revan hobbled over to one of the two beds and flopped onto it, still only wearing his republic-issue boxer shorts. It was strange to think of the ex-Sith lord walking around in his underpants.

I had my shower and got into bed. Carth declared that he was going out for a drink and some supplies. Within minutes, I was almost asleep. And then the dreams began again.