In Disguises No One Knows

by Terion

Eilis O'Bren is a smuggler blackmailed into working for the Republic. When Sith attack the Endar Spire, the ship she was assigned to, and she ends up on Taris with Commander Carth Onasi, she starts finding out that something's wrong in the galaxy. Her.

2. Taris, Unknown Location

Chapter 2: Taris, Unknown Location

Eilis awoke to three distinct feelings: her head pounding, warm sunlight on her face and sheets underneath and over her. She also remembered having a weird dream about Jedi…

"Good, you're awake."

Blue eyes darted across the room and she managed a smile when she saw Carth sitting at a table cleaning a pair of Republic-issue blaster pistols. He noticed the smile and said, "Guess that means you remember me?"

"You betcha, Commander," replied Eilis vigorously. Then she clutched at her head and moaned, "Oh, what'd I do, get run over by a herd of bantha's trying to dance?"

That brought a small chuckle from Carth and he answered her as he put the power pack back into one of his blasters.

"While that'd be an amusing sight, no, you didn't. You hit your head dropping out of the ventilation shaft then I think you hit it again when we were thrown into the escape pod by that grenade going off. I did manage to get you strapped in enough that you wouldn't injure yourself further but by that time you were unconscious." He then looked at her and added, "You've been out for nearly two weeks. For a while I thought you weren't going to wake up, what with a bump on the back of your head the size of a Gizka. But I managed to wrangle the local doctor up here and he said you'd be all right and all I had to do was wait."

"All right does not include a killer headache," grumbled Eilis. She then smiled and said, "And I guess I owe you my life. I'd've never gotten off the Spire if you hadn't picked me up. Thanks."

Carth shrugged and replied, "I'd have done the same for anyone else. I've never left anyone behind before and I'm not going to start now."

"Mmm. Still, thanks. Oh and you didn't happen to notice a little droid, did you?"

"You mean the one that's been bumping into your right arm for the whole of our conversation?" asked Carth, his lips halfway twitching into a smile.

She blinked and looked down in shock to see not only AT bumping happily into her right arm and beeping gleefully, but that she was also stripped down to her jumpsuit. Turning back towards Carth, she asked, "Did you…?"

"Yeah," he replied, seeming to focus even more on his blasters. Was it just the dimness of the room or was that a blush spreading across his cheeks? "I was going to bandage your arm up but I figured out real quick that it didn't need it."

Eilis nodded and folded her arms underneath her breasts, gooseflesh racing up her left arm as it came into contact with the cool surface of her false one. She looked at him for a long moment then asked, "You got a problem with it?"

"No. I've seen plenty of soldiers with false limbs. Though I'd have to say yours is the oddest."

"Thanks. And I'm not a soldier." She unfolded her arms and began to check over her right one, especially where the Sith commander's blaster shot had hit. There was a black spot on the armor plating she installed on the arm to keep it from melting down like her last one had when she was working but beyond that it was fine. Everything still worked, including the flamethrower she had installed in her forearm.

"What are you then?" he asked in short, clipped tones. "And it'd be nice to know your name."

"The name's Eilis O'Bren," she snapped, her temper flaring at his cool tones. "And I was a smuggler before I got caught with a load of…eh, shall we say, less than reparable goods? After that I had two choices: jail or help the Republic. Since my dad didn't raise me to be patriotic for nothing, I chose to help. I also don't like being caged, so kinda had little choice in the matter."

"Right," said Carth. He looked down at his blaster for a moment then continued, "We've crashed on Taris, just so you know. And I don't think we'll be getting a rescue anytime soon."

Eilis frowned and reached out to shove AT down into her lap as he bumped her shoulder again then asked, "And why's that?"

Carth gave her that same kind of look a teacher gives a student who asks a stupid question and replied, "Taris is under Sith control. We'd be shot down before we even got into space."

"Okay, so no rescue. Guess we'll have to find our own ship then, eh?"

"You want to steal a ship?" asked Carth.

Eilis smiled and replied, "Well we've gotta get off this planet somehow."

"Maybe we should try the legal way. Though we'll have to wait until this blockade is over."

"And what makes you think it'll be over, hmm? Personally I don't think the Sith are just gonna up and leave. Not until they know they got every person who got out of the Spire's escape pods and maybe not even then!"

Carth looked at her for a long moment and Eilis felt as though his brown eyes were boring a hole straight into her soul, laying everything bare for him to see. That thought made her lock eyes with him and glare back. Suspicion flared in his eyes and he grunted before breaking their stare.

"Well," he coughed, "you've got a point. We should start looking immediately then."

"For a ship?"

"That and one of the Jedi who managed to make it to the escape pods."

She wrinkled her nose. "Can't Jedi look after themselves?"

Carth gave her a sober stare and said, "She's barely in her twenties. And she's important to the war effort."

"Heh. I was running spice on the Corellian Run on my own when I was sixteen," said Eilis. "Surely this Jedi can take care of herself."

"Jedi are…different…than most people."

"Speaking from experience?"

Carth glared at her and her smirk then sighed, running a hand over his face. She distinctly heard him grumble something under his breath but couldn't make out what it was.

"Look," he said after a moment, "we're both stuck here. Just help me find Bastila and get her off planet and I'll…I'll see that you don't get thrown in jail incase they try to say you abandoned ship."

Eilis smiled and said, "Nice try, flyboy, but you and I both know that there's nothing you can do about my problems with the grand ole' Republic." She stretched both arms above her head then, real fingers interlocked with mechanical one's. "But since I'm so nice, I'll help you. Free of charge."

"What's the trick?" asked Carth suspiciously.

"No tricks, flyboy. I've gotten paid for a haul before then given the whole load of cred's to a woman just trying to feed her daughter. Unlike most of my smuggler brethren, I like helping somebody beside myself. Sometimes."

Those dark eyes bored into hers for a moment then he mumbled, "I'll believe it when I see it."

Her temper flared at that but she stomped it down, settling for just glaring at him. AT beeped softly from underneath her hand and she let go of him, smiling when he bobbed up and bumped into her stomach. He generally only did that when he was trying to comfort her, otherwise he just bumped into her shoulders.

"Oh, don't worry, AT," she said softly to the little droid. "I'll make him see. Even if I have to kick his ass and shove his face in it to do so."

"What was that?" asked Carth, looking up curiously. He quickly ducked his head again when he saw Eilis crouched with her backside to him and digging under her bed.

"Nothin', flyboy," she replied and she found the worn leather pants she'd been wearing in a pile under the bed and stood to pull them on. As she tugged on her belt, she grinned over her shoulder at him and asked, "What, never seen a girl in a jumpsuit before?"

"Just trying to give you some privacy," said Carth, hoping that the heat he felt in his face wasn't showing on his cheeks.

"Mmm."

Eilis dragged her scuffed boots out from under the bed then picked up what remained of the long sleeve shirt she'd been wearing. The right sleeve had a rather large hole in it where her forearm would be and when she found the glove she'd been wearing on that hand, she found a similar hole in it. Cursing vehemently, she stalked over to the trash bin and tossed both in.

Gathering up her other glove and sitting down on the bed to put on her boots, she looked at Carth and asked, "You don't happen to have another shirt, do you?"

"There's one over there on the workbench. I figured you'd need one when I saw the state yours was in."

"Thanks," said Eilis for the second time since she'd awoken. A few minutes later she finished tightening the straps that held her gauntlet-like glove on and flexed her fist. It would look weird walking around with only one glove (especially the one that was supposed to be on her left hand) but that was better than the stares she'd get it she walked around with her robotic arm showing. And drawing attention wasn't the best way to work as a smuggler – or to waltz about a Sith controlled planet.

Checking her pouches, she found the four grenades still there as well as the sole medpac. Both made her think of Trask and she frowned, silently wishing she'd been able to do more for the man that had likely saved her life.

Shaking her head, she silently scolded herself.

Stop beating yourself up over his death! The man died so you could get off the Spire and beating yourself up doesn't do him any justice!

"So…we goin'?"

"If you're ready," she heard Carth say from behind her. "Most of the other pod's crashed into the Lower and Undercities, so our best bet of finding Bastila is checking there."

Eilis nodded and started to strap her vibrosword onto her belt then stopped. She looked over her shoulder at Carth and asked, "Won't we get noticed carrying weapons?"

"The Tarisan nobles are well-known for starting duels with each other. Because of that, most everyone carries at least a small weapon."

"Great. We crash-landed in the land of the bloodthirsty."

She didn't see the frown Carth cast at her back as she finished strapping the scabbard of her vibrosword to her belt. When she turned to look at him, his face was a blank.

"Let's go, flyboy."

" 'Flyboy?' " repeated Carth as he followed her out of the apartment…only to end up behind a Sith patrol harassing two Duros.

Eilis' eyes narrowed and her lips twisted in a snarl as she watched, her mind drifting back to when she'd been bullied as a child. Her hand fell to the hilt of her vibrosword and she started to draw it just as the Sith officer turned after shooting one of the Duros.

"What's this? Humans with aliens? Wait…they're Republic spies! Shoot them! Shoot them!"

The two war droid's with the officer opened fire but Eilis was already running forward, her vibrosword sliding smoothly from its scabbard. Blaster fire from Carth took off one of the droid's heads as she ran towards it but it wasn't her target. She ran straight between the two droid's and locked swords with the officer, who was looking at her in fear.

"Picking on the defenseless isn't nice," she growled before kicking the Sith solidly in the stomach. The officer collapsed and Eilis drove her blade into his heart with a vicious hiss. She then heard the droid that Carth hadn't shot to pieces die with a wail and turned to see AT bobbing in the air with his flamethrower out. Mentally, she made a note to buy (or steal) him a new one soon.

She then turned towards the remaining Duros and spoke in his own tongue, surprising both him and Carth.

"I'm sorry about your friend."

The Duros blinked at her again then shook his head.

"Ixgil should never have talked back to them. It was brave of you to step in, human."

"I don't like bullies," said Eilis, her eyes flashing angrily. Then the anger faded and she added, "And I'm glad to have helped."

"Won't they search for this patrol?" asked Carth.

The Duros shook his head and replied, "I will move the bodies. Make it look it they were caught in the gang war. With luck, we won't be bothered for a while."

Eilis translated his words to the pilot then said, "Just be careful."

"I will, human. And thank you again."

The Duros began to drag the Sith officer's body off, quickly joined by another Duros that picked up the remains of the war droid's. Eilis and Carth quickly found the elevator out of the apartment building and he questioned her on the way down.

"You know Duros?"

"And Mandalorian, Twi'leki, Selkath, Shyriiwook, Rodian, Trandoshan, Aqualish, Ithorian, Droid, and a few more. Why?"

Carth eyed her with open suspicion as the elevator doors opened and said, "You're more than just a smuggler."

"Yup. I'm a tech," said Eilis with a grin.

"That's not what I meant."

"Hey, look, Commander Suspicion, we're stuck together. So, let's cut the paranoia and work together. If you want my life story, wait till we get back to the apartment."

With that, she stormed out of the elevator and onto the streets of Upper Taris, leaving Carth to stare after her. His eyes wandered down to the view her leather pants afforded of her backside then he mentally slapped himself.

Moments later, he was jogging to catch up with her and stopped her by jumping in front of her. She glared up at him from underneath her hair, her blue eyes like shards of ice.

"Move it, flyboy."

"Look…I'm sorry, alright? I just… I have a problem trusting people."

"Yeah, well, get over it," snapped Eilis, somehow managing to glare down at him despite the fact that her head only came up to his shoulder. "'Cause you're stuck with me."

"Geeze, can't you just take an apology?"

The dark-haired woman looked at him coldly for a moment then sighed and ran a hand back through her hair.

"Look, Carth, I get the not-trusting-people thing. I don't trust half the slime bag's I've worked for in my life. But can you just try and give me a chance?" She smiled brightly and added, "I promise not to snap at you again."

"Right."

She huffed at that and placed her hands on her hips above her belt, frowning at him now.

"Now see here you…"

"Okay, okay," said Carth, quickly backing out of what seemed to be turning into another argument. "I'll try and give you a chance."

Eilis' bright smile returned and AT beeped happily from behind her. She patted Carth's upper arm and said, "S'all I want, flyboy. Now, c'mon. We've got a city to explore."

------

Carth sighed heavily as he watched Eilis play Pazaak with a heavily muscled man that looked like he could easily break her in half. He'd even mentioned that to her and she'd laughed – laughed – before sauntering over to challenge the man to a game.

After wandering around the Uppercity and helping an old man deal with his debt to the local crime boss as well as an Ithorian who was being harassed by two children, they'd found out that they'd need Sith uniforms to sneak past the guard at the elevator that lead down into the Lowercity. Eilis had then suggested heading back to the cantina they'd discovered earlier, where they might have some luck finding a drunk Sith they could swipe a uniform from. So far that plan hadn't worked as they weren't allowed in in their uniforms.

AT made a worried sound from where he hovered beside Carth and the pilot gave the small droid a smile.

"Worried too?"

"Beep bop," replied the droid. Carth didn't understand droid's at all but he guessed that AT was agreeing with him.

Casting another glance towards Eilis, he then turned around on his stool at the bar and ordered a drink. When it arrived, he turned back around and continued to watch the Pazaak game while sipping (and grimacing every once in a while) Tarisan ale.

It wasn't until the fifth game that the big man started to get annoyed at his losing streak.

"You little wench! You're cheating!"

"Am I now?" said Eilis, arching an eyebrow as she leaned back in her chair. She then chuckled and crossed her arms behind her head, smirking at the man across from her. "Prove it."

The man let out a growl and started to stand, his face almost entirely red with rage. Carth's hand slipped down towards his blaster and he grabbed loosely onto it, ready to draw it if things got nasty. Beside him, AT buzzed angrily and dived about in the air, obviously wanting to go to his mistress but couldn't as she'd ordered him to stay with Carth.

Eilis stood as well and Carth nearly drew his blaster then and there when he saw how truly small she was compared to the man. He would have only come up to the guy's chest and he wasn't short by a long shot.

Holding up her hands in a peaceful gesture, she smiled coyly and purred, "C'mon, now. No need to get annoyed because you're losing to a woman. All's fair in love and Pazaak, y'know."

The man looked down at her in surprise, obviously having expected her to be afraid of him. But Carth had figured out since Eilis had dropped down out of a ventilation shaft in front of him after bypassing several Sith soldiers (and obviously making a visit to them judging from the fact that they'd come after her) that it took more than a guy like that to shatter her nerves.

The man's face darkened with anger even further and he lunged towards Eilis with his big, beefy hands. Carth snarled and jerked his blaster from his holster at the same moment the dark-haired woman grinned ferally and ducked under his hands with liquid grace. She then grabbed his left wrist with her right hand and squeezed tightly.

The crack of broken bones reverberated through the cantina and the man's bellows of pain as he stumbled back clutching his broken wrist brought the owner charging into the room.

"You again!" shouted the balding owner, his sunken eyes flashing. "I told you the last time if you started another fight, it would be your last in here! If I see you in here again, you'll find a blaster bolt between your eyes, understand!"

The man nodded numbly and glared at Eilis before lumbering out…leaving his Pazaak deck and what he'd bet on the table. Eilis frowned at this and gathered up only her deck and her winnings then was surprised by the owner handing her the man's deck and credits.

"I've been trying to keep him out of here for years," said the man, lines around his eyes crinkling as he smiled. "Thank you for giving me an excuse. I suppose you can take his deck and cred's in payment."

"I couldn't!"

"Yeah, you can," said the owner in a gruff voice. He forced open her left hand and shoved both the deck and the five hundred credits the man had bet into her palm, closing her fingers over them. Then he smiled and said, "Tell you what, I'll give you a meal and a drink on the house as well."

"Oh, no, you shouldn't…"

The owner waved a hand and said, "Uh-uh. I've already decided, missy, and you're gonna abide by it."

Eilis sighed and shook her head then stuffed the deck and credits into one of the pouches on her belt. Then she looked at the owner and commented, "You are a very persistent man."

"Indeed I am, missy. Now, you gonna take my deal or am I going to have to throw you over my knee?"

She nearly giggled at that but held it back. Instead she just smiled and said, "Okay. But only if you give my friend the same deal."

"You got it. Just give me a call at the bar when you know what you want."

Eilis nodded then turned and walked over to Carth, who was giving her an exasperated look. She frowned and stopped directly in front of him, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at him with all her weight on one leg. This gave anyone behind her the perfect view of her backside and Carth bristled as several men stared at her with lust in their eyes.

He then realized what he was doing and got the sinking feeling that he was…

"Hey, flyboy, you listenin' to me?"

"Sorry, what?"

Eilis growled and snapped, "We got free food! What'd'ya want?"

"Uh, nothing," replied Carth, fiddling with the handle on his blaster.

"I know you're hungry."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

Yes, you are."

"No, I'm…wait, wait." Carth stopped himself and glared at her. "Why are we having such an immature conversation?"

"You started it," snipped Eilis, sticking her tongue out at him before sitting down on the stool beside him. Carth could almost hear every man who'd been watching her groan miserably.

"I! What! Oh, no, sister, don't you blame this one on me!"

"And here you go again! Starting another argument."

"What…no, y'know what? Nevermind. I'm not going to argue with you."

Eilis shrugged and said nonchalantly, "Suit yourself." Then she stood slightly and called the owner over, quickly rattling off some food that Carth didn't recognize. He saw a teenager off to the side stand up so he could get a view of her backside before she sat back down and he held himself back from going and pummeling the kid.

Then again, he couldn't blame the kid or any other guy in the place. Eilis was an attractive woman and had the lean body of someone who kept themselves in good shape as well as all the curves in the right places. Of course, then she could be as annoying as anything sometimes. Then other times she was as kind as anyone could possibly be.

All in all, the woman sitting beside him confused Carth.

And, to his utmost dismay, he was attracted to her.

Well, he thought as Eilis ate her food and seemingly ignored his presence, it can't get any worse.

------

I was wrong, he thought later as they returned to the apartment that had become their temporary home. It can get worse.

"Look, I don't want to talk about it."

"Oh, c'mon, Carth!" exclaimed Eilis, angrily twisting the hydrospanner she'd bought to do repairs on AT. The little droid shrieked and she quickly fixed whatever she'd done. "Sorry, AT."

"Beep brip."

She sighed and turned to frown at him where he sat at the table looking over a datapad. He'd been taking notes on everything they'd done since their crash and now he was reading over it.

"C'mon, Carth, I just want to know a little about you. I mean, you know a lot about me!"

His dark eyes continued to scan the datapad as he replied, "Only that you're an ex smuggler with a droid arm."

"Well, that's a hell of a lot more than I know about you!"

"Okay, okay!" He dropped the datapad onto the table and ran his hands back through his hair, leaning back in his chair as he did so. Then he looked grimly at her and said, "Begin your interrogation then."

Eilis glared at him and he sighed, saying, "Okay, I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that."

"No, I didn't," she said softly.

They sat in silence for a few minutes then she prodded, "So, yah gonna tell me?"

Carth growled and snapped, "You are the most persistent woman I've ever met!"

"Was that a compliment?"

He glared at her then found he couldn't hold it when she was looking at him with a slight smile on her face. Sighing, he rubbed his face with one hand and grumbled, "Oh, just tell her a little already," to himself.

"Fine. I've been a star-pilot for the Republic for years – and fought in more than my share of wars. Before all this with the Sith, I fought in the Mandalorian Wars. Though even they weren't as senseless as these Sith animals."

He scowled as he continued, "My homeworld was one of the first planets to fall to Malak's fleet. The Sith bombed it into submission and there wasn't a damn thing our forces could do about it!"

There was a long pause then Eilis said so softly that he almost didn't hear her, "You talk like it was your fault."

"It's not!" shouted Carth. His voice then dropped several octaves as he said, "It shouldn't be. I…I did everything I could… I followed my orders and did my duty! That shouldn't mean I failed them!"

"Failed them? You mean…the people of your homeworld?"

"Yes. No! No, that's not what I meant. I mean…"

Carth sighed and rubbed his hand over his face again, scratching idly at the stubble on his chin.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm not making much sense. And I know you probably mean well with your questions. I'm just not accustomed to talking about my past. At all, actually. I'm more used to taking action…y'know, keeping my mind on the business at hand. So why don't we just do that? If you have any more questions, you can interrogate me later."

He let the legs of his chair fall to the floor and rose, heading towards the 'fresher with sharp, angry strides.

"Carth?"

He froze and didn't turn to look at her but Eilis could tell he was listening.

"I…I'm sorry I brought up bad memories."

"Not your fault," he said shortly before disappearing into the 'fresher. Eilis stared after him for a few moments then looked down at AT, who made a mournful sound. She patted the droid on the 'head' and closed up the compartment she'd been working on.

"He's so confusing, AT," she said softly to the droid. "One minute he'll be joking with me and the next he's snapping. I don't understand it. But I'm not doing much to keep it from happening so often by failing to control my temper, am I?"

"Beep bop breep boop."

"Oh, thanks. Nice to know you care."

"Beep bop."

"Why you little… Go and shut down! And leave any odd notions about me and Carth alone!"

AT made another mournful sound then moved over to one of the corner's of the apartment nearest the door, hovering near the floor. When Carth came out of the 'fresher, he frowned at the depressed looking droid then looked over at Eilis' bed. There was just a lump under the blanket and he could practically feel the ire rising from it.

Glancing once more at AT, he moved as silently over to his own bed as he could, murmuring the command to turn off the lights as he went. As he lay down, he heard Eilis shift around and almost said something to her. Then he shook his head and just rolled over to go to sleep.

------

"One."

"Who is that?" whispered Carth in Eilis' ear as they stood in the entrance of Javyar's cantina. They had stumbled across an alien being harassed about stolen Sith uniforms in the other apartment building near them in the Uppercity earlier and had rescued him. In turn he'd given them one uniform, which Carth had been forced to put on as it was far too big for Eilis. They'd then managed to get down into the Lowercity, only to end up caught in the swoop gang war going on.

Now they'd come into the cantina to take a break and instead had run into two Rodian's and a Twi'lek, that seemed to be Vulkars by their uniforms, harassing a short, stocky man wearing a rather fruity coat and goggles. At the sight, Eilis had come to a complete halt and Carth had ended up stumbling into her back.

"That's…"

"Two."

"…Calo Nord," hissed Eilis over her shoulder, absently grabbing AT out of the air and tucking him under her arm. He beeped in offense then settled down when he too seemed to recognize the man being harassed. "He's one of the top bounty hunters in the galaxy."

"Three."

In a movement that was almost too quick to follow, the bounty hunter pulled his blasters and shot the three Black Vulkars in quick succession. His blasters were reholstered by the time their bodies hit the floor and he placed a credit on the bar before heading for the entrance.

When he saw Eilis and Carth standing in his way, he frowned and said, "One."

Eilis held up her free hand and stepped out of the way. Carth quickly followed her example and Calo smiled smugly at them, nodding his head.

"Smart," he commented then disappeared out into the Lowercity.

"I'm not surprised to find people like that wandering around Taris," said Carth quietly as they went searching for a table to sit at.

Eilis frowned and said, "There's people like that all over the galaxy, Carth. You just have to know where to find them." She then scowled and released AT, who beeped happily at being able to move freely again, before storming over to where two Rodian's were harassing a young Twi'lek girl.

"Hey!" she hissed, tapping one on the shoulder quickly. He turned and Eilis let loose a punch with her right hand, all her anger at bullies behind it. Carth heard bones break and knew that the Rodian's face would never likely be the same again.

The other Rodian turned with a blaster in hand but the Twi'lek girl knocked it out of his hand then kicked him in the area where most males are vulnerable. He let out a pained squeak but still lunged at her, trying to grab her arm. Of course, because of this, he never saw Eilis' foot flying towards his face.

"Are you trying to get us arrested?" demanded Carth as the woman glared at the two unconscious Rodian's.

Eilis turned to glare at him then frowned and said, "Oh, Force, I'm sorry, Carth. I just…I don't like bullies and I can't stand to do nothing when someone is being bullied."

The Republic pilot sighed and ran a hand back through his hair, staring down at her for a moment. Then he shook his head and said, "I know how you feel. But we've got to keep a low profile."

"I'll try."

She then turned to the young Twi'lek (never noticing AT shocking a waking Rodian back into unconsciousness) and said, "Sorry, I broke in like that. I know you could probably have handled them but I just dislike bullies. A lot."

The frown the Twi'lek had on her face vanished in an instant and she exclaimed, "Glad I'm not the only one! I'm Mission Vao, by the way. And you didn't have to worry. I have Big Z to protect me."

" 'Big Z?' " repeated Carth, looking confused.

Mission nodded and pointed over to a booth where a large, furry Wookiee was eating what would have fed her, Eilis, and Carth for two days.

"You have a Wookiee for protection?" he gasped in shock. He looked at Mission with admiration in his eyes and said, "That's rather impressive."

"We take care of each other, Big Z and me. C'mon…um, what are your names?"

"I'm Eilis and this is Carth," explained Eilis. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mission."

"You too," chirped the Twi'lek, leading them towards the Wookiee's booth. She then waved at him and cried, "Hey, Big Z! Look! I found new friends!"

Eilis chuckled as the big Wookiee growled a greeting and smiled up at Carth, who blinked at her.

"What?"

"I like her," replied the woman before sliding into the booth beside an excited Mission.

Carth blinked again then shook his head in amusement before pulling up a chair and taking a seat.

------

"We've got to do what to get the accelerator!"

"Travel to the Undercity and break into the Vulkar base," replied Gadon Thek calmly to Carth's outburst.

"Wait…isn't that where the rakghoul's are?" asked Eilis, remembering the conversation they'd had a few days ago with the healer Zelka in the Uppercity. She had promised the man she'd find him a sample of the serum the inhabitants of the planet need but he'd told her to forget about it. But she would make good on her promise.

"Indeed it is," said the Twi'lek Zaedra that seemed very protective of Gadon.

Eilis frowned then asked, "And the entrance is where…?"

"Inside the sewers," replied Gadon, looking at her. "Though you'll need a guide to get through them without getting lost. And I can only think of one…"

"No, Gadon, you can't be suggesting…"

"She knows the sewers better than anyone, Zaedra."

The Twi'lek's lekku twitched in irritation and she exclaimed, "Mission's only fourteen!"

"Wait," said Carth, holding up a hand. "Mission?"

Gadon nodded slightly and said, "Yes, Mission Vao. Do you know her?"

"We met her in Javyar's yesterday," explained Eilis. "She was the one that suggested we seek you out."

"I see. Do we have an agreement then?"

Eilis looked at Carth, who held up his hands and said, "I'm letting you call this one, beautiful."

She frowned and arched an eyebrow.

" 'Beautiful?' "

AT made a comment that it was a nice nickname. Eilis shot a glare at him out of the corner of her eyes then looked back at the pilot.

Carth just smirked and tilted his head slightly as he said, "Flyboy?"

Eilis glared at him then turned back to Gadon, saying, "Alright, you've got a deal. Now where can we find Mission?"

"If she's not at Javyar's," replied Gadon, scratching his chin, "she's likely in the Undercity. And that Sith uniform trick you used earlier won't work on the guard on this elevator."

"How did you… No, nevermind," said Eilis, catching the small smile on Gadon's face. "Lemme guess, you want the uniform."

"In exchange for these papers that will allow you past the guard."

Eilis looked at Carth then slung the pack she had taken to carrying off her back and dug out the Sith uniform. As she laid it on Gadon's desk, she said, "I think we have another deal, Mister Thek."

------

"Eilis!"

"Mission!" exclaimed the dark-haired woman, looking up from cleaning rakghoul blood off her vibrosword. She then spotted the blue Twi'lek running towards her and jogged to meet her, leaving Carth to sift through the remains of two Sith they'd stumbled upon before being attacked by the creatures.

Mission collapsed into her arms once she was close enough and clung to her like she was a lifeline. Eilis patted the teenager's back reassuringly in response.

"They took Big Z! You've gotta help me!"

"Who took him?" asked Eilis as Carth walked up behind her.

"The Gammoreans! Those Lylek-dung-grubbers are going to make him a slave!"

" 'Lylek-dung-grubbers?' " mouthed Carth curiously to Eilis. She frowned and mouthed back, "Native insult."

Eilis then caught Mission's chin and made the young Twi'lek look up at her.

"We'll get him back, Mission," she swore. "I promise."

Mission sniffed and smiled at her, mumbling, "Thanks."

"Anything for a friend. Here. Clean up your face. I don't think Big Z would take to well to seeing you all soppy."

"I'm not soppy," grumbled Mission as she blew her nose.

Eilis smiled in a humoring way and said, "Of course not. You ready now?"

"Yeah. Ready to go and beat those pigs for taking Big Z!"

"And after that we can go and tell Zelka we found what he wanted," said Carth, holding up a small metal vial. Eilis stared at it then gasped.

"The serum?"

"That's all I can figure is in it." He tucked it into an inside pocket on his coat, which he wore over one of the light combat suits Eilis had bought with her Pazaak winnings. But for some reason, Eilis didn't look right in the light armor. Like she was supposed to be wearing something else…

Carth dismissed the thought with a slight shake of his head and looked up to find the two of them over at the nearby sewer entrance. Sighing, he jogged over to them, wincing as Eilis opened the door.

The smuggler grimaced then breathed in through her mouth instead of her nose, which didn't help much. Mission looked at her worriedly and Eilis said, "Hey, don't worry. I've had employers that smelt worse than this."

"Beep bop."

"Yes, AT, that Hutt was one of them."

She then looked down into the depths and said, "Let's go."

------

"Hey, Carth?"

"Yeah?" said the pilot, turning away from the rather amusing sight of Mission being nearly engulfed by Big Z's fur. Eilis' droid AT-AT was beeping happily and darting in circles around them.

"Y'think we could finish that conversation?"

"We finished that conversation, Eilis," growled Carth.

"Yeah, but you said I could ask again later," pointed out the woman. "This is later."

Carth sighed and growled something under his breath that sounded like 'bloody persistent woman' then turned to look at her.

"Alright. Interrogate me."

"Teja gra!" hissed Eilis, throwing up her hands in exasperation. Then she snapped, "It's not an interrogation!"

"Right."

"Blast it, Carth! I just want to know more about you! Is that a crime? Or are you just so paranoid that you don't want anyone to know anything about you?"

"NO!" exclaimed Carth. "It's…it's not like that."

"Then what is it?"

He frowned for a few moments then looked up at her with annoyance in his eyes.

"Okay," he said harshly, "I'll tell you. But first I want you to tell me something."

"What?"

"What were you doing on the Endar Spire?"

"I told you, I was caught during a run and had two choices. I took the one to help the Republic!"

"I know that," said Carth. "But I remember that there was a last minute transfer from another unit to the Spire before we set out. Bastila ordered it herself. And that transfer was for a smuggler who'd been caught with some illegal goods and was now serving the Republic.

Eilis made a frustrated sound and snapped, "What does it matter if I was a last minute transfer!"

"Don't you find it odd that you just happened to survive the attack?"

"I was in the hangar bay fixing the damned force fields! I saw the Sith coming!"

"Exactly," said Carth. "What were the chances of you actually making it through the ship to the escape pods?"

"Slim to none! Now what's your fracking point?" Her blue eyes narrowed suddenly and she snarled, "You think I'm a Sith spy, don't you?"

Carth held up his hands and said, "Hey, I may be wrong. But I've learned not to take things at face value. And I hate being surprised."

"We're on the same side, Carth!"

"Look, it's not you, Eilis. I just don't trust anyone. Can we leave it at that?"

Eilis glared at him for a few moments then hissed, "Fine. But I'm going to prove I'm on your side, Onasi! Even if I have to kick that stubborn head of yours in!"

She then took a calming breath and turned towards Mission, who was happily chattering away with the big Wookiee.

"Mission, can I ask you a favor?"

Carth marveled at how quickly the anger had fled from her voice. Another odd trait about the woman who had become his partner of sorts.

"Anything, El!" exclaimed the blue Twi'lek. Big Z then grumbled something and she turned to stare at him. "Big Z, are you sure? That's major!"

"What?" asked Carth, taking note of the look of surprise on Eilis' face.

"He wants to swear a life-debt to me," breathed Eilis.

"I take it that's something important."

"It's a loyalty vow," explained Eilis, her eyes on the Wookiee the entire time. "The most solemn vow a Wookiee can make."

"You know of the life-debt?" said Big Z, sounding surprised.

"My mother was fascinated by other races," she replied, surprising him further by speaking in accurate if slightly shoddy Shyriiwook. "She learned a few of their languages and taught them as well as others to me."

"Then I swear a life-debt to you, Eilis O'Bren. Forever I will be at your side. May this vow be as strong as the great wroshyr trees of Kashyyyk."

Eilis bowed slightly and said, "I'm honored to accept your vow, Big Z. By the way, what's your actual name?"

"Zaalbar."

"And you know where Big Z goes, I go!" chirped Mission, her lekku twitching. Eilis smiled at the young Twi'lek and nodded.

"Welcome aboard then."

"What was this favor you were going to ask?" asked Zaalbar curiously.

Eilis frowned and replied, "We made a deal with Gadon Thek: we get a prototype swoop accelerator for him and he helps us get a friend of ours back from the Vulkars. But we have to get into their base to get the accelerator back."

"I know a way in there," said Mission. She frowned for a moment then pointed back the way they'd come. "It's down that way. There's a force field that protects that part of the sewers but I know how to get past it. Vulkar's turn stupid when they drunk too much ale."

"And you'll take us?" asked Carth.

Mission nodded and grinned up at Zaalbar.

"You helped me save Big Z."

"That's a 'yes' then," said Eilis, a smile twitching across her lips.

"That's a 'yes'," confirmed Zaalbar with a smile.

"Okay," said Mission, "but we'll have to be careful around the Rancor."

"Rancor!" said Carth, his eyes widening. He then looked around them and asked, "How the hell did they get a Rancor down here?"

The Twi'lek shrugged and replied, "How should I know? But don't worry! I've snuck past it lot's of times!"

"Yes, and scared the life out of me."

"You knew I'd be alright, Big Z!"

"It did not look that way to me, Mission."

"Hmphf. See if I buy you food again!"

Zaalbar grimaced and laid a paw on her shoulder.

"Mission…"

"I'm just kidding!" exclaimed the blue Twi'lek, hugging the Wookiee tightly. She then turned to Eilis and said, "We can go now. Do you want to go now?"

Eilis looked at Carth, who waved his hand in a 'go ahead' gesture. She smiling tightly at him, still remembering their harsh conversation earlier, then turned back to Mission.

"Lead on, Mission."

------

"You return!" said Gadon with slight surprise in his voice as Eilis walked up to his desk. She grimaced in response then dropped her sewer-slime coated pack on his desk. Reaching in, she dug around for a moment then pulled out the accelerator that they had just risked their lives for.

"Yeah," she said as he called two technician's over to take the swoop part, "and what a nice little trip that was. Now how do we get our friend back?"

"We must not allow the Vulkars to win the swoop race," replied Zaedra. "Your friend is the prize."

Eilis frowned at the Twi'lek then snapped her gaze to Gadon.

"You want me to race for you," she said, causing Carth to twitch behind her.

"What?"

"Indeed I do," said Gadon with an inclination of his head, masking his surprise at her insight. "The prototype will be unstable and I dare not risk any of my riders on it."

Carth's expression darkened and he snarled, "But you'd willingly risk her!"

Eilis turned and laid a hand on his chest, her blue eyes catching his gaze. "We have to get Bastila back," she hissed sotto voce. "This is the only way."

He frowned down at her for a moment then said, "Fine. But you'd better do whatever you can to that swoop to make sure you win. And not die in the process."

"Hey, I'm not a tech for nothing, flyboy," said the dark-haired woman with a smile. She then turned to Gadon and said, "I'll race for you. But I get to install the accelerator in the swoop."

"Beep bop!"

"And AT gets to help."

The swoop gang leader studied her for a moment then nodded.

"Very well," he said, ignoring Zaedra's protests that their technicians would be fine. "I place your life in your own hands. I only hope you have the skill to drive."

Eilis just smirked and said, "I raced swoops on my homeworld since I was big enough to. You will win against the Vulkars and we'll get our friend back no problem, that I promise you."

------

"You stupid bastard," hissed Eilis as she pulled her bloody vibrosword out of Brejik's heart. "I gave you a chance to live. Why didn't you take it?"

Because he knew he was done for, whispered part of her mind.

"Bop brrr brip!" cried AT, gaining her attention. She turned towards him and found him darting back and forth in front of the Jedi, who still had her yellow double-blade (which she'd snatched off Brejik as the fight broke out) ignited and was eying him.

"Hey!" snapped Eilis as she saw the lightsabre twitch. "Touch my droid and the Tarisian's'll be pickin' pieces of you out of their water for the next decade!"

The Jedi looked at her and the technician/smuggler bristled at the look in the younger woman's eyes. She was looking at her like she was nothing worthwhile!

"Your droid? How…wait, you're from the Endar Spire!"

"Yeah," growled Eilis, still angry at being looked at like she was nothing. She was everything and a glass of Corellian brandy compared to this Jedi who'd gotten herself captured by a swoop gang! The urge to beat the little upstart into a pulp for even looking at her like that swelled up in Eilis but she shoved it down, settling instead for speaking in as calm a voice as she could manage. "Eilis O'Bren. And you're Bastila. Now c'mon. We've got to get out of here."

"Wait!" said Bastila as the smuggler started to walk off. "How did you end up racing for a swoop gang?"

"Me and flyboy spent a lot of time wandering trying to figure out where you were," replied Eilis "Eventually ran into the Bek's and found out about you. There. Happy?"

"Well, I…"

"Bastila!"

The two women turned to see Carth jogging towards them, worry and relief etched across his face. He came to a halt in front of them, saying, "Well, things are finally starting to look up!"

"Commander Onasi?" gasped Bastila in shock. She then looked at Eilis and demanded, "Why did you not tell me you were working with him?"

"I did," said Eilis grumpily. "He's flyboy. Now, if we don't want to get rounded up by the locals or the Sith, I suggest we get back to our little hidey-hole. Oh, and Carth, where are Mission and Zaalbar?"

"Who?" asked Bastila even as Carth replied, "I sent them back to the apartment after you won the race. Sorry I didn't help in the fight. I had to go through a Vulkar and a locked door."

"Guess we'd better get back to the apartment then," said Eilis. She looked up at the Republic pilot and thought, I wonder if he was frightened for me. Then she slapped herself mentally. Stop that, Elly. You're buying into that little rust bucket's idea.

Carth glanced furtively at Eilis, who had a slightly exasperated look on her face. He frowned slightly, wishing Bastila wasn't there. If she weren't, he'd have hugged the diminutive smuggler in relief once he saw her still standing.

He then noticed a gap near her waist in the thin Bek colored jacket she wore over her armor and pulled it open. Eilis hissed and spat, "Droyk!"

"You're injured," he stated.

"Yeah, one of Brejik's trained kathhounds got me with a vibroblade." She batted his hands away from the wound and said, "I can make it back to the apartment, thanks. We can deal with it there. But first we need to get that serum to Zelka."

As she walked off, she didn't see the worried look in his eyes.

"She is…strange," said Bastila from behind the pilot as they watched the smuggler trudge wearily up the steps.

"She's something," muttered Carth. "Though strange isn't what I'd say."

Bastila blinked at him then had a frightful feeling that she was about to stumble into a mynock's nest. And wasn't going to be able to get back out.

------

"You cannot seriously trust this man!"

Eilis sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes in an attempt not to throw something at Bastila. It'd been a day since she'd rescued the Jedi – or as she told it, she'd rescued Eilis – and already the smuggler wished she could kick the younger woman out an airlock.

"Look," she said, clutching a glass of Tarisan ale in her right hand, "we haven't got much of a choice. He says he can get us a ship to get off planet. All we've got to do is help him. So if you really want to be a help, Bastila, why don't you check and see if he's lying to us?"

Bastila colored slightly and said, "I will do no such thing! To invade someone's mind…"

"Is a handy trick and could be useful," growled Eilis, sipping the ale. She grimaced and wished she'd crashed on Corellia instead of Taris. They at least had good liquor.

"The Force is not meant to be used in such trivial ways!"

"Damnit, woman!"

The glass shattered and the smuggler cursed, shaking her hand to get rid of the clinging drops of ale from her glove. She silently thanked the fact that it was liquid-proof and she wasn't about to get ale in the finger joints of her hand. The last time she'd done that, she'd had to go two weeks without her arm so she could get her hand back in working order.

Eilis growled something unsavory under her breath in both Mandalorian and Twi'leki and rose to her feet. She glared down at the still seated Bastila and absently remembered to keep her voice down from a shout as they were in Javyar's cantina.

"Are all Jedi this worthless?" she spat before storming over to the table that Canderous Ordo had taken after they'd talked. Bastila had insisted on being the one to accompany Eilis to the meeting the Mandalorian mercenary had requested and she'd firmly told Carth to stay in the apartment. The pilot had bristled and would have gone into a tirade at the Jedi but he didn't at a shake of Eilis' head.

Now the smuggler was missing the pilot. Even if he was an aggravating man…

"I take it all didn't go well with your friend," said Canderous in Mandalorian as she sat down across from him and ordered another Tarisan ale.

"She's not my friend," growled Eilis. She waited until her drink came and downed half of it in one gulp, making her throat burn. "This stuff is Sithspit."

Canderous looked at her for a long moment then grunted, "Something we agree on, O'Bren. Oh, and here comes your friend."

Eilis groaned and looked over her shoulder to see Bastila heading towards them. The Jedi had an abashed expression on her face and sank slowly down into the remaining chair at the table.

"I am sorry," she said to Eilis, prompting the older woman to arch an eyebrow. "We do need to find a way off this planet but…"

"But what?" growled Canderous in Basic. "Don't want to trust a Mandalorian?"

Bastila looked at him and replied, "It is not that you're a Mandalorian. It is that you're a mercenary."

Canderous laughed then looked at Eilis, speaking again in Mandalorian.

"Your Jedi Princess doesn't trust me."

Eilis shrugged and said, "Doesn't matter to me. Now, can you get me a meeting with Davik?"

"Sure. You just have to break into the Sith base and get the launch codes we'll need to get off planet. Think you can pull that one?"

The smuggler grinned and leaned across the table, saying, "You're talking to the woman that smuggled a whole Hutt's treasury out from under his nose while having him think I was collecting things to smuggle for him. If I can't get in a Sith base, then I'm not worth a cred of my reputation."

"We've got a deal then," said Canderous, extending a hand across the table. "There's a droid Janice Nall has, a T3 model Davik paid for. He can help you get in the base."

Bastila looked disturbed as Eilis slipped her hand into his large one and gripped it.

"We've got a deal. I'll meet you back here in two days with the codes."

The Mandalorian nodded and Eilis rose, toasting him with what was left in her glass before downing it. She grimaced and hissed, "Sithspit!" before turning to leave the cantina. Bastila rose quickly and followed her, her expression a worried one.

"How do you know we can trust this Mandalorian?"

"Why, Bastila," purred Eilis, "is that a bit of racism I sense?"

"I'm being serious!"

"So am I."

The Jedi gave her an exasperated look then said, "I sense that we can trust him for now. But who knows if we may later? Are you willing to risk that?"

"To get off this planet?" asked Eilis as they got in the elevator to the Uppercity. "Yeah, I'm willing to trust him. I've met Mandalorians that aren't even worth the name anymore but this one…this one I think is the real deal."

"Would that not be a…" Eilis cut the Jedi off as they exited the elevator past its Sith guard then let her speak again as they walked towards the apartment building. "…bad thing?"

"That he acts like a real Mandalorian? Not in my opinion. They had a lot of honor and they fought their battles for the glory of it, not over something really trivial. Those are real warriors."

Bastila frowned at her for a moment then said, "You seem to know a lot about Mandalorians for a simple smuggler."

Eilis shrugged.

"My mom was a language buff. She liked to learn them and study the culture behind them. That's why I know so much."

"Ah."

The two women walked in silence towards the apartments, the only sound the voices of people around them and the random ship flying overhead. As they got in the elevator, Bastila turned to the older woman.

"May I ask you a question?"

"Sure, why not?"

"What happened before you found me?"

Eilis shrugged and replied, "Crashed, wandered, made a few cred's playing Pazaak, rescued a Wookiee, stole back a swoop accelerator, raced said swoop, then rescued the most annoying Jedi in the galaxy. Oh and that was a compliment by the way."

Bastila tried to frown but found she couldn't when the older woman was smiling disarmingly at her. It was just hard to do…

"Yes, but you avoided detection by the Sith, discovered I was a Vulkar prisoner, and ended up racing for their rivals. That's quite the list of accomplishments."

Eilis shrugged again.

"Hey, it wasn't just me. Flyboy helped and so did Mission and Zaalbar. I didn't do it all on my own."

"Perhaps not," said Bastila. "But you were the catalyst."

Eilis frowned as the elevator stopped and turned towards the Jedi as the doors opened. "What's your point?" she asked.

"I requested you join the Endar Spire because of your smuggling background. But all of this…this is more than I expected from you. It would have taken a Jedi drawing heavily on the Force in order to get as far as you have this quickly."

"What are you saying?"

"The Force works through all of us, Eilis. And it works very strongly through you."

Eilis arched an eyebrow then said, "You're implying…"

Bastila shook her head and replied, "If you were younger the Council might take you for training. As you are now…well, I'm getting into things best left to them."

"You're saying I could be trained to be a Jedi, aren't you?"

"I will say no more."

Eilis glared mildly at the younger woman and left the elevator, striding towards their apartment. Bastila was right behind her, wondering if what she had just said was the best thing. She still didn't know what the Council wanted her to do with this woman…

The apartment door slid open and Eilis strode in, a slightly grim look on her face. Carth rose to his feet in alarm and started to speak but Mission beat him to it.

"Eilis! Is something wrong?"

"No," replied the smuggler. "We've got clear access to a ship that can get us off this heap. The problem is we have to get the launch codes to get off planet without being shot down."

Carth frowned at that then said, "Those codes are…"

"In the Sith base, I know," said Eilis. "There's a droid we can get that'll get us in with no problems."

"Beep beep bop!"

"AT, I'm sure you could get in fine on your own. But I've got a feeling we're going to need that droid." She then smiled at the circular droid and said, "Besides, I've got a bigger job for you."

Carth frowned at that and looked between her and the droid for a moment. Then he looked at her and began, "You're not…"

"Oh, but I am."

"What?" asked Mission, her lekku twisting about her neck. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to send AT into the base to get the codes," replied Eilis with a smirk. "If that droid shop has the right tools, I can make us a screen so we can watch his progress through his photoreceptor – it's not hard, I've done it before – and tell him where to go if we need to."

"You're sending him in there alone?" asked Bastila.

"I've sent AT in a Hutt's fortress before and he came out unscathed. I think he can handle a few Sith, right, buddy?"

"Beep bop!"

"Right," said Eilis. "Anyone else got a problem with my plan?"

"I think it is a wise move," said Zaalbar. "Any one of us could easily die if we were to enter there." Eilis noticed the big Wookiee glance over at Mission and nodded in agreement.

"Your absolutely right, Zaalbar. And thanks for the vote of confidence."

"You are welcome."

Carth sighed and shook his head, saying, "I don't think this is a good idea but if you insist, beautiful."

"Of course I insist, flyboy," said Eilis, winking at him. "Didn't you tell me this is my show?"

"Still is, beautiful."

"Okay then!" exclaimed the smuggler, rubbing her hands together. "We've got a droid to go get and some surveillance equipment to set up. AT, how's your flamethrower?"

"Bop brip beep boop."

"And we need a flamethrower. Oh, and an extra stealth generator I can modify just in case AT needs it."

"What are we waiting for then?" asked Mission excitedly, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Nothing," replied Eilis. She then grinned at the assembled group and chirped, "C'mon, folks. Time's a wastin'."

------

"Okay, AT, try that door up ahead. From these schematics you sent through, it looks like it's an elevator."

"Beep bop brr!"

"What was that?" asked Carth, looking down at T3-M4.

Eilis frowned from where she sat in front of her impromptu surveillance system and replied, "He said that there's two droid's in the room before you get to the elevator. He noticed it when he hacked into the system."

"Will AT be okay?" asked Mission, who had gotten rather attached to the little droid.

The smuggler bared her teeth in a parody of a grin and replied, "He may be small but he's got a hell of a punch."

On the screen, the apartment residents watched as the door opened and two shielded combat droid's appeared. The droid's pointed their weapons at the little droid then AT beeped something and they stood down.

"What?" said a shocked Bastila.

"He's also a brilliant little droid," said Eilis. "I think he may have switched his codes a bit when he hacked into that security desk. So he could make them enough like their droid's that he wouldn't be shot."

"Smart droid," commented Carth.

T3 whistled in agreement.

They watched as AT entered the elevator then all gasped as they discovered that the room it led to was occupied. The man residing within the room was tall, fit, bald, and had a double-bladed Echani staff.

"What is this?" they heard him say, taking a step towards AT. "You aren't one of our droid's."

"Droyk," hissed Eilis. "AT, get to where he can't hit you!"

The droid beeped an affirmative and suddenly their view was of high above the man, who was now shouting at the droid and for guards. Eilis quickly unhooked her datapad from the surveillance system and checked to make sure the base schematics were in it before she shoved it into a slot on her belt. She then went over to the footlocker where they'd stored the various weaponry they'd gathered on Taris and dug out several grenades before heading towards the door.

"Where are you going?" asked Mission even as Bastila and Carth began to follow the smuggler.

"I'm going to go save my droid," growled Eilis in reply. "And if that man harms a circuit of his, it'll be the last thing he does."

"I'm going with you," said Carth. Eilis glared at him then smiled and nodded.

"As am I," added Bastila, stepping up beside the pilot.

"Fine," said Eilis. "Let's go."

It took them no time at all to get to and through the Sith base to the elevator. AT had sprung several traps while he was going through the base and had killed several of the Sith soldiers by causing nearby generators to explode. The one's he couldn't get that way, he'd locked behind doors.

Eilis practically flew through the base towards the elevator and dove into the room with the two guard droid's despite Carth shouting a warning at her. He cursed and opened fire on the droid's once he was close enough, leaving Bastila to go help the smuggler with her lightsabre.

The Jedi, however, was nearly too shocked to do anything. Eilis taking a running leap though the doorway had already destroyed one droid by her landing on top of it. A gash in its body showed where her vibrosword had destroyed its control cluster.

And her jump had been unconsciously Force propelled.

The other droid the smuggler was currently dancing around, her sword lashing out in a vicious dance that struck its shield at times and its armor at others.

Bastila was suddenly shocked into action when one of the droid's shots grazed the older woman's shoulder and she hurled her lightsabre at the droid as Eilis stumbled back. Sparks flew and a huge gap that showed it's inside suddenly opened. A blaster shot from the corridor struck the gap dead on and the droid fell as its circuits fried.

Carth ran into the room, his blasters in hand, and hurried to Eilis, who was trying to dig a kolto patch out of one of her pouches with her vibrosword still in hand. The pilot put his blasters away and reached around her, taking the patch out of her pouch easily. Blue eyes lifted to glare mildly at him in annoyance and he glared right back.

Then Eilis held out her arm to him and Carth ripped the hole in her sleeve open to get access to the wound. He gripped her elbow as he applied to patch to the burned flesh.

"Thanks, flyboy," said Eilis.

"Welcome, beautiful," replied Carth with a smile. "Now let's go get that droid of yours."

The smuggler nodded and pressed the panel to call the elevator, stepping into it once it came. Then she sent it upwards to where her droid as being attacked with a grim expression on her face. Beside her, Bastila could feel anger rolling off the older woman in waves. But it was controlled with such fierceness that it nearly took the Jedi's breath away.

A Jedi could rarely control anger like that.

The elevator doors opened then and they saw the man standing there with his back to them, with two armored soldiers on either side of him shooting their blasters at AT.

"HEY!" shouted Eilis, causing all three to turn. "Shoot my droid again and it'll be the last thing you shoot."

The two soldiers lifted their blasters but Carth was far quicker and more accurate, nailing both in the eye slit of their helmets.

"Impressive," said the man as the two corpses fell at his feet. He then looked at Bastila and Eilis and continued, "Who would have thought Force Adepts were on this insignificant planet? Oh, how I'll enjoy this. Your talents are no match for the Dark Side!"

Bastila spun her double-blade, the yellow blades gleaming.

"You're fooling yourself."

"Am I?" said the man, stretching out one hand. Carth gagged suddenly, dropping his right blaster to clutch at his throat. Eilis saw this out of the corner of her eye and Bastila felt her anger begin to rage out of control.

"You lobotomized Gammorean!" she howled, rushing at him. Her blade struck his in a flurry of sparks and he smiled at her.

"Killing you three will be all I need," he hissed to her. "My master will grant me my lightsabre for this…"

"He won't if you're dead!" snarled Eilis, switching her grip on her sword. The man smirked as her left hand gripped the hilt, expecting her to be weaker in that hand. To his dismay, she wasn't.

He didn't expect the punch that she threw at his temple either.

Bastila watched in awe as the punch from the diminutive woman sent the much larger man sprawling. She then sprang forward as he rose again, attacking him with her lightsabre in a flurry as Eilis coaxed AT down.

"Get the codes!" the smuggler shouted at the droid before she dove into the battle again. The man's blade dropped towards her and she used her right arm to block it, fully enjoying his look of dismay when the force he put behind the blow didn't cause it to go through her arm. Then he felt the kiss of Bastila's lightsabre on his leg and lashed out at both of them with the Force, throwing them backwards.

Eilis rolled with her new momentum and landed in a crouch that she sprang out of an instant later. She landed and spun around, blocking his sword with hers then slamming half the full momentum of a roundhouse kick into his side. Her foot ached from striking his armor but he staggered off balance because of it, allowing a newly arisen Bastila to get another throw at him.

He dodged the lightsabre and slashed at Eilis again, this time slicing through the light armor on her stomach and drawing a line of blood. The smuggler hissed and lashed out with her right arm again, this time towards his chest. Her fist collided with his armor and dented it deeply enough to shatter several of his ribs.

He bellowed in pain and hurled her across the room into a control panel with the Force. This time she couldn't roll with it and slammed into the panel hard. She heard something crack in her back and screamed in pain as her body started to slide towards the floor. Digging her hands into the panel, she willed herself not to move.

"Now, the end," she heard the man say and looked up to see him starting towards her. Behind him, Bastila started forward with her lightsabre but it was a blaster shot that went straight through the man's temple that stopped him. As his body collapsed, Carth came into view on his hands and knees, his blaster smoking. He looked up at her in the midst of coughing and smiled slightly – a smile that she returned.

"Beep bop!"

"AT's got the codes," hissed Eilis as softly as she could, closing her eyes. Every time she breathed, something in her torso burned fire through her nerves. "Let's get out of here."

"You're hurt," she heard Carth say, his voice raspy from being choked. She felt his hands touch her sides and screamed as he tried to lift her up. "Bad."

"I may be able to heal her a little," said Bastila, looking worriedly down at the injured smuggler.

"Do it," said Carth and Eilis felt something began to sift around inside her, fixing pieces of what was broken. She winced as bits of her ribs snapped back into place and held back a shriek of pain as several broken vertebrae abruptly reset themselves.

The presence inside her faded then and she heard Bastila say, "I've done all I can."

"We'll have to take her to Zelka," said Carth and Eilis felt his hands again. She dimly felt her body being lifted into his arms trough the haze of pain that had overcome all of her senses. "Stay with me, beautiful."

Eilis tried to open her eyes and smile reassuringly at him but she was certain what little she'd managed of that had looked horrible.

"Ain't goin' nowhere, flyboy," she muttered before her mind finally gave into the pain and sent her into blissful unconsciousness.

Carth stared down at her now limp body in his arms for a moment then forced his own aching body into a run once the elevator had returned them to the regular floor of the base.

He'd already allowed one woman to die in his arms.

He wasn't about to let another do the same.

------

Canderous arched an eyebrow as Eilis sank into the seat across from him with a wince. He saw the Republic pilot hovering behind her take a step forward, a worried look on his face, but she waved him off. The pilot nodded and stepped back, turning his dark eyes towards Canderous.

The Mandalorian wasn't surprised to find dislike burning in them.

"Have some trouble?" he asked the smuggler across from him.

"Yeah," growled Eilis through the pain still lancing occasionally through her ribs. "Some Dark Jedi wannabe was on guard duty. He took it unto himself to decide that I wanted a sudden meeting with a nearby control panel."

The fact that she was making jokes through her obvious pain told him that she was strong. And proud. She obviously didn't like showing people that she was weak.

He glanced towards her other companions, who had taken up a nearby table. The Jedi Princess was watching them intently while a blue Twi'lek and a big Wookiee were arguing over something with the astromech droid he'd told her to go buy. Another droid, this one circular and powered by a repulsorlift, floated past them to hover by her shoulder.

"You get the codes?" he asked, turning his gaze back towards her.

Eilis smiled and replied, "Wouldn't be here if I didn't. When do we go see Davik?"

Canderous sat silent for a moment then said, "Now if you want."

"We really shouldn't," said the pilot suddenly. "You're still not completely healed."

"We've got no choice," said Eilis back to him. "The Sith were bound to have surveillance in that base. They know what we look like. If we don't get out of here now, we may never get the chance."

Canderous watched the pilot's face go through a variety of emotions until finally settling on grim acceptance.

"Alright. It's your call, beautiful."

He arched an eyebrow at the nickname then nodded when Eilis turned to him and said, "We'll go now."

"Good," said Canderous. "I've got a speeder sitting outside. The plan is get in, have a little chat with Davik, then get his ship the Ebon Hawk, and get the rest of your crew later."

"That sound risky," said the pilot.

"Any plan's risky, Republic," shot Canderous. He then said to Eilis, "You and me'll have to go in alone."

"No way in hell am I letting you go in alone with him!"

"Carth," said the smuggler, touching the hand the pilot had gripped the back of her chair with. "We've got no choice."

Canderous watched in amusement as the pilot's jaw jumped at those words. Then Republic relaxed and shook his head, saying, "I don't like this."

"I know."

Eilis then said to Canderous, "Let's go."

The Mandalorian nodded and rose from his seat, earning a glare from the pilot as he walked past him. He smiled in amusement as the smuggler touched the man's arm and he calmed slightly.

The man was on a short leash it seemed.

He then found Eilis standing beside him outside and nodded to her before climbing into the speeder. She carefully climbed in beside him and sat back with only a nod to him, even though he knew the movement had to hurt her.

I think I'm going to like working with this one, he thought as he started up the speeder and headed towards Davik's estate.

------

"Eilis O'Bren," said Davik with a smile as she and Canderous stopped in front of him. But she noticed his smile was cold and his eyes didn't reflect it either.

Though if he was trying to scare her, he'd have to do better than a cold smile.

"You've got quite the reputation, Miss O'Bren," he said, eying her body. She held herself back from punching him into the next system but she'd remember to make an attempt to do so if she saw him after stealing his ship. No one eyed her like she was a slab of meat! He then smiled that cold smile again and added, "Though I'd heard you were working for the Republic now."

The way he said 'Republic' told her that this man, like most she'd worked for, didn't care about anyone but himself.

"Yeah, well," she said offhandedly, "they caught me. It was either get tossed in a cell or work with them. Which would you have chosen, Mister Kang?"

"I doubt I would have been caught in the first place, Miss O'Bren. Now, what exactly is it you want?"

"Well, I've escaped from those pig brained Republic's, so I figured I'd get back on my feet by working with you." She smiled coyly and purred, "I hear you've got the fastest ship around."

"Indeed I do. Though it's unfortunately grounded because of this blockade."

Davik started to walk and Eilis fell in step beside him, Canderous following behind her. Calo Nord, who she'd noticed standing behind Davik, stepped in line with the Mandalorian.

"Not like you to take on partners, Canderous," she heard the small man say. "You're getting soft."

"Shut up, Calo. You may be the newest kathhound in the pack but you're far from top dog."

Davik stopped and turned to glare at both of them.

"Enough! I will not have my top men at each other's throats. I'm sure Canderous had a good reason for taking on a partner."

Eilis felt his eyes roam over her again and she had to fight hard to keep the anger out of her eyes. Instead she smiled warmly at Canderous and said, "Oh, yes. He can be awfully persuasive."

She saw the lust grow in Davik's eyes and found Canderous smirking at her, amusement glinting in his gray eyes. The look on Calo's face was a mix of astonishment and rage.

"Come now," said Davik. "I'll show you around the grounds."

An hour later, Eilis was washing her face in the 'fresher of the room Davik had given her. Canderous suddenly appeared in the doorway and said, "You're an impressive actor."

"Have to be in my line of work." She then winced as she stood up and corrected herself. "In my ex-line of work, I mean."

The Mandalorian shrugged and said, "It's still your line of work. You're just not doing it right now."

"I suppose," said Eilis as she dried off her face. Then she looked at him and said, "That ship definitely has some security systems. He's likely got some codes we'll have to get past to even fly her out of here."

"How do you figure that?" asked Canderous as she walked back out into the room past him.

"It's what I'd do. Ship like that and a bunch of mercenaries and bounty hunter's on my payroll? If there wasn't good security on her, someone would have stolen her long ago."

She then frowned and scratched her chin, wondering aloud, "But where would be find those codes?"

Suddenly she remembered Davik mentioning something about needing a new pilot as they'd left the hangar the Ebon Hawk was stored in. And there had been screaming coming from behind one of the rooms they'd passed by…

"I think I have an idea," she said.

"Good," said Canderous, lifting his repeating blaster from where it hung along his back and shooting the door panel. The locked door slid open and an alarm immediately began to blare. "We've got maybe twenty minutes before the guards arrive."

"I could have picked the lock, you know," she growled as they ran from the room.

"Would've taken too long."

Eilis snorted then slammed the door panel that lead to what seemed to be the main room of Davik's compound, which was devoid of any life. Turning to the door directly to her left, she opened it and drew her vibrosword as two Rodian's on the crime boss' payroll turned towards them.

Canderous' blaster shouts resounded in her ears as she sprang forward, jumping onto the table in the center of the room and running down the length of it. She leapt off the end and slammed feet first into one of the Rodian's, both of them collapsing to the floor. As he tried to get up, her right hand came hurtling down onto his throat in two quick jabs, which caused it to collapse under the onslaught.

With a snarl, she flung herself towards the other Rodian, who drew a vibroblade in defense. Their blades clashed for mere seconds before her blade found his throat and his head rolled from his shoulders.

The impressed look in Canderous' eyes as they continued through the fortress made her smile slightly. Her boss' had always been impressed with her fighting skill but she'd never had a real warrior be impressed with them. And her father, who'd taught her how to fight, had told her that when a warrior was impressed with you, you were doing well.

The corridor they were running down shook suddenly and Eilis staggered to a halt, fighting to keep upright.

"What the skrag was that?" she exclaimed.

"I don't know," replied Canderous darkly. "But it doesn't sound like something we want to stick around for."

"On that we both agree."

With that they were running again until Eilis slapped the door panel of the room she'd heard the screams coming from. The door opened and two droid's turned towards them, their implements of torture extended on their spindly arms.

Canderous opened fire on then and Eilis dove into the room, her vibrosword slashing ruthlessly as she ducked the droid's flailing arms. She spun away from an arm that held a nasty looking device and Canderous' blaster took out the droid. The other one was already on the ground, its arms flailing feebly. Eilis strode over to it and kicked it in the center of its photoreceptor. Immediately the droid stopped moving and fell over as it shut down.

The smuggler quickly ran over to a console and turned off the force cage that a man was trapped in. Canderous caught the man before he collapsed and she hurried over to inject him with one of her medpac's. The kolto seemed to revive the man and he looked up at her, forcing a smile.

"Th-thank you," he stammered, standing on his own feet now. He looked nervously towards Canderous, who towered menacingly over him, blaster held at ready. "Y-you have n-no idea what it was l-l-like in that cage."

"Trust me," said Eilis, her memory flicking back to several times when she'd been a guest of such devices. "I know what it's like. And no one should suffer like that."

The man looked at her then asked, "D-do you have a datapad?"

Eilis nodded and handed him hers, into which he typed something before handing it back.

"Th-those are the codes to the Ebon Hawk. I w-was it's p-pilot before Davik threw me in h-here. Take her. Davik doesn't d-deserve her."

"Thank you," said Eilis. "This was just what we needed."

The pilot nodded then limped out of the room, leaving them alone with the two broken droid's.

Another explosion suddenly rocked the complex and Canderous growled, "Let's get out of here."

Eilis nodded and they were off again, running back the way they had come. She dispatched a human mercenary who had appeared in a side door by punching him in the cheek hard enough to spin him around. As they continued down the corridor, Canderous eyed her right arm speculatively.

"That's not a normal arm," he commented as she began to hack into the security system around the hangar.

"No, it's not," she replied, tearing two wires apart and tying them to two other wires. She glanced at the door and cursed before tugging at different sections and finally pressing a ripped wire down onto a circuit board. The hangar door shuddered then slid open, to which she grinned. "Ha!"

They sprinted out into the hangar and were running up the Hawk's loading ramp when Eilis heard a voice from behind them.

"Damn those Sith! They're bombing the entire planet. I knew they'd turn on us…"

So that's what's causing all the explosions, thought Eilis, pausing on the ramp. We have to hurry.

"Well, what do we have here?" she heard Davik say suddenly and turned to stare right at him. "Thieves in the hangar! Let me guess, you're here to steal my ship and leave me while the Sith bomb this place to dust?"

"Sounds like a good plan to me!" chirped Eilis.

"I'll take care of them, Davik," said Calo. He pulled something out of his coat and Eilis gasped.

"You're mad! You'll take all of us out with that thing!"

Calo smiled and said, "Oh well." His finger came down on the trigger of a thermal detonator and suddenly he was gone, buried under a caved in a portion of the hangar's ceiling.

"Di'kut," she heard Canderous comment behind her. If they'd been in any other situation, she would have laughed.

Davik lifted his blaster then and Eilis dove back into the Hawk, dragging Canderous with her and slapped the panel to close the ramp. The crime boss frowned then looked behind him at a slight beeping sound. From the pile of rubble, the thermal detonator blinked at him and he cursed.

Eilis ran towards the cockpit of the ship, dimly hearing the sound of the thermal detonator going off and something (that was likely the crime lord's body) hitting the hull of the ship. She sank into the pilot's seat and tapped in the security codes the previous pilot had given her. Immediately the console in front of her came on and she powered up the ship as quick as she could.

"This whole place is coming down around us!" bellowed Canderous as he stormed into the cockpit.

"I know!" shouted Eilis. She flicked one last switch on and grabbed the ship's yoke, pulling slightly back on it. Beneath her, the ship rumbled to life and she felt it rise into the air. Something clanged on the hull, this time metal, and she heard Canderous curse vehemently in Mandalorian as she shoved the yoke forward.

They shot out of the hangar into a midst of laser fire and she cursed in five different languages as she dodged them. Canderous sank into the co-pilot's seat then and strapped himself in, growling, "You'd damn well better know how to fly this thing."

"I'm not a Republic fighter pilot or anything but I know how to fly!" shouted Eilis, jerking the yoke hard enough to make the ship spin entirely around. She then shoved her datapad at him and hissed, "Now punch in those launch codes! We don't need anything else shooting at us when we get the hell off this rock!"

The Mandalorian complied and Eilis hurled the customized freighter between the buildings of Taris before setting her down right outside the apartments. She quickly switched on the communicator she and Carth still had from the Endar Spire and shouted, "Get outside now and on this ship if you want to get off this planet alive!"

She heard muffled shouting on the other end then Carth calmly said, "We're on our way."

One of the Sith lasers struck the pavement near the freighter and Eilis silently prayed that they wouldn't have the bad luck to get hit. Luck – or the Force – had been with them for this long. Surely it wouldn't give up on them now.

"We're in!" she heard Carth shout from somewhere behind her.

Eilis snarled at that and savagely pulled the Ebon Hawk back into the air. A laser hit the spot where they'd been moments before and she spun the ship in a complete 180-degree turn that had them heading towards the sky. She then drove the yoke forward and they began to climb into the sky, dodging laser fire as they went.

Dimly, she heard Mission crying from somewhere behind her in the ship and felt a pang for the Twi'lek. Her home was exploding before her eyes and she could do nothing about it. Eilis just hoped Zaalbar was right there with his friend.

Suddenly they cleared the atmosphere of the dying planet and she jerked hard left to avoid going straight through a Sith war ship. The console beeped suddenly and she shouted, "We've got incoming fighters!"

"I'm on it!" shouted Carth from behind her. She heard Canderous get out of the co-pilot's seat and suddenly Bastila filled the space.

The Jedi grabbed onto the console as Eilis made a sickeningly tight move between two Sith fighters then asked, "Is there anything I can do?"

Eilis didn't reply for a moment, too caught up in dodging what laser fire she could and still keeping Carth and Canderous in good firing positions. Then she hissed, "Punch in some coordinates."

"Where?"

"ANYWHERE!" bellowed the smuggler in response as she pushed the Ebon Hawk into a steep dive. She then tapped the COM system on and shouted, "Boys, I need those fighters gone five minutes ago!"

"We're working on!" she heard Carth shout back.

Canderous just replied with a laugh and she heard his gun discharging in the background.

"He's enjoying this!" gasped Bastila.

"He's a Mandalorian," hissed Eilis as she hurled the freighter into a hard starboard turn. She then flicked a glance down at the console and shouted, "There's two more fighters incoming and if we're not out of here in a few minutes, one of those war ships is going to notice us and then we're dead! So get rid of that last fighter tailing us so we can get out of this fracking hellhole!"

"We'll never make it!" said Bastila.

Eilis snarled in response and howled, "We will make it, damnit! I will not die at the hands of some Sithspawn pilots!"

"Last fighter gone, beautiful!" she heard Carth say what seemed an eternity later.

"Hang on, boys and girls," shouted Eilis as she dived close to the hull of one of the war ships then pulled up to angle the Ebon Hawk off into space, "we're about to jump!"

She checked to make sure they weren't close to the war ships anymore then leaned forward and punched a button on the console in front of her. Instantly the blackness of space streaked around them and the ship jumped slightly. Eilis collapsed breathlessly in the pilot's seat seconds later as the autopilot took over until they reached their destination.

They'd made it.

Author's Note

Teja gra: Mandalorian expression of dismay

Droyk, skrag: Corellian swear

Di'kut: Mandalorian "fool"

Planet galaxy locations found on http/www.kolumbus.fi/antti.lusila/starwars/galaxymap.html

Taris is not on this map, therefore, it has an unknown location