XxXxX
Chapter Six: Swoop GangsA loud roar erupted from the room as Alaanis Pi and Mission Vao ran into it, shutting the door tightly behind them. Their stealth generators were on at full power so that they could move more swiftly through the rancor's nest.
But that plan wouldn't succeed real well as Mission tripped over a corpse and her stealth generator snapped off of her belt.
"Alaanis!" she shrieked as the rancor noticed her. Her eyes grew wide as dinner plates as she picked herself up and put the stealth generator back on. But it was too late. The rancor could smell her.
Alaanis knew she couldn't simply stand by and watch as Mission was chased by the rancor. She would kill herself later if Mission was hurt. Zaalbar would probably do that same.
The scoundrel needed the Twi'lek at her side when she infiltrated the Vulker base. And she couldn't just leave the teenager to die.
Alaanis fingered a frag grenade in her pocket and chucked it at the rancor just as it opened it's mouth to roar. Perfect shot! Alaanis cheered inwardly, just in case the rancor wouldn't die from that blow.
But she needn't worry. The rancor collapsed onto the ground as the grenade exploded in its throat. Mission turned off her stealth generator and so did Alaanis. They approached the rancor.
"Thanks Al," Mission barely whispered. Just then their comlink came to life.
"Alaanis? Mission? Are you two alright?" came Carth's worried voice. "We heard an explosion and a scream..." Zaalbar started growling into the comlink. ":Mission are you alright:"
"We're fine," Alaanis said into the comlink. "The rancor simply got a nice grenade for dinner instead of one of us."
"I bet it tasted real good," Carth muttered sarcastically. Alaanis and Mission laughed. Carth wasn't one to make the jokes or go along with one of Alaanis'.
"Anyways, we're fine. We have to turn this thing off unless we want to get caught by the Vulkers though." With a quick good luck on Carth's end and a growl from Zaalbar, Alaanis shut the comlink off.
"That was a close one," Mission said a bit subdued. Alaanis looked over at her.
"I'm glad you're okay though Mission. I don't know what I would've done without your help." Alaanis smiled at Mission and Mission smiled back.
"Thanks." Then they both turned their stealth generators back on and ran towards the next door that led to the elevator to the Vulker base.
There were two guards guarding the door. That was expected. Mission threw a concussion grenade and they collapsed to the ground. They didn't kill them though.
"It's pointless to simply kill lives because we can," Alaanis told her shrugging as she ripped off their energy shields and placed one on Mission's left wrist and one on her own. "They should be unconscious for a good hour which is enough time for us to get that swoop accelerator and get out."
Mission sliced through the door to the elevator easily and they hopped inside.
"Which floor?" Mission asked her as she peered at the panel.
"The garage floor probably," Alaanis said taking a look. "But damnit it needs a code!"
"One of the people in the base probably has it," Mission said. "I don't think those lowly guards had the code though, they were more like expendable guards since they were right by the rancor."
"I think you're right there," Alaanis replied. She pressed the button leading them to the floor right below the garage. "This is quite the big base," Alaanis mumbled.
"Yeah, well, being underground like this helps," Mission explained. "The Bek base is smaller, but they don't need it to be that big. Sure they have a lot of people, but Brejik has to store his illegal slaves, and corpses."
"Sounds like Brejik has quite a few skeletons in his closet," Alaanis commented. The elevator was at the floor just below the one they were aiming for by now. Mission responded with a 'hmm' and the elevator stopped and opened.
"Let's go now," Alaanis whispered. Both invisible, they hurried along hallways, looking for an office with a label on it that started with an actually impressive title.
"'Officer Kandon Ark'," Mission read off of one of the doors. "That's one of Brejik's right hand men! He's gotta have the codes to get us up to the garage and probably the disable some of the security."
"Pick through the lock Mission," Alaanis told the Twi'lek and she obeyed. "Once we get inside, I'll search through the datapads and you look through the computer."
Once the door was opened and the two were inside they disabled their stealth generators and began searching. Alaanis found a lot of datapads talking about Brejik's plans for the swoop war, moles that had infiltrated some of the gangs, things to be stolen from other gangs (including the accelerator) to help them, and... the location of Bastila!
She began to look at the datapad as Mission hacked away at the console when they heard footsteps.
"Mission!" Alaanis hissed. "Stealth!" She switched on her stealth generator and Mission hurried to do the same. One invisible again, Mission continued to look through the computer files, as quietly as possible.
The patrol outside the office passed by and looked in quickly to see nothing out of the ordinary. Not a very observant guard is he? Alaanis thought to herself. Those Vulkers sure are stupid...
"I found it!" Mission exclaimed quietly, interrupting Alaanis' thoughts. She walked over to where Mission stood at the console and took a look.
"Here's the code to disable the garage security," Mission said. Alaanis pulled out her journal and began tapping in the code. "BK946GT343"
"What about getting the elevator to take us up to the garage?" Alaanis asked once she had tapped in the code.
"I don't see one... but there is a map leading to a back elevator where we don't need a code," Mission explained. "There's a couple guards back there, but we should be able to take them out easily."
"I'm out of concussion grenades Mission," Alaanis informed her as the Twi'lek logged out of the console. Mission gave her a thoughtful look.
"I don't think we have a choice Al," she said. Alaanis sighed.
"I guess not."
XxXxX
"I hate this waiting!" Carth shouted impatiently. Zaalbar roared in response. Carth wished at times like these he understood the language of the Wookies. But his thoughts were too focused on what Alaanis was up to and if she was all right. And Mission too.
Two Gammoreans rounded the corner. Zaalbar shot them easily with his bowcaster. Though he knew Carth wouldn't understand him, he growled reassuringly. ":I'm sure those two can take care of themselves.:"
"I say we go in after them!" Carth proclaimed. "They may be invisible, but what if they're discovered?" He started towards the door but Zaalbar roared and stuck out an arm to stop him.
":They will never forgive you if you run in to save their lives and they're fine:" the tall Wookie growled. Carth sighed angrily and dropped down onto the floor.
"They better be fine," he grumbled, his thoughts straying back to what he would do if Alaanis got hurt. Or if Mission got hurt, he added.
XxXxX
"How did we get into this mess?" Alaanis shouted over the gunfire. She and Mission were cowering in the corner opposite the elevator leading to the garage, their stealth generators were on, but it wasn't Vulkers shooting at them. It was blaster turrets.
"I forgot to check for turrets?" Mission suggested. The blaster turrets continued to shoot towards the corner where Alaanis and Mission were being covered simply by a couple massive metal boxes. Good thing they don't melt from blaster fire, Alaanis thought to herself. Or explode, she added when she saw a nearby plasteel cylinder explode after being shot.
"We have to get through!" Mission shouted.
"I know!" Alaanis shouted back. "How do you propose we do it?"
"Um..." Mission thought aloud. "I have no idea."
"Great!" Alaanis laughed sarcastically. "Well, this sucks."
"Maybe we can call Carth and have him dismantle the turrets?" Mission yelled.
"First of all he'd go bonkers that we're in trouble, and second of all, he doesn't have a stealth generator."
"Oh yeah."
Mission and Alaanis had been stuck like this for a good ten minutes. Alaanis then noticed a metal shield lying flat on the ground a few meters away, close to the opposite wall.
"Maybe we could use that shield?" Alaanis suggested, the blaster fire still pinging off of the metal boxes in front of them.
"It's suicide to try and reach that!" Mission shrieked. Alaanis sighed. She needed to get that damned shield over there to help them. It was large enough to cover both of them to reach the elevator. They could shut down the turrets once they got to another console upstairs.
Alaanis leaned against the metal box, her eyes shut lightly. She felt like she was beginning to fall asleep. It was surely quite late at night by now. Checking her chrometer, Alaanis wasn't far off. It was about two in the morning.
"These blasters will wake the whole base up!" Mission exclaimed. Alaanis wasn't listening; she was relaxing against the boxes, a serene look on her face as she wished the shield would come over to them. Sprout some wings or legs or something.
Involuntarily, Alaanis arms shot out and in surprise her eyes shot open. In a split second, the shield was in her hands. She stared at the shield with her eyes both wide open.
"What the hell?" she whispered. Mission looked over and her eyes grew wide as well.
"Al," she said, her voice wavering in fear a bit. "How did you get that over here?"
"I..." Alaanis began. But words failed her. How did she get the shield over there? The last thing she knew her eyes were shut close and she was just thinking about it flying over and the next instant it was in her hands! "I don't know Mission."
"It doesn't matter," Mission finally declared, realization slipping onto her face. "Let's use it and get over to the elevator! Quickly, before the Vulkers arrive!"
The two of them both held up the shield with one hand and dragged it along the floor, leading them across the room. The blaster shots hit the shield, but ricocheted off leaving small dents behind.
Still invisible, they finally reached the other side of the room and dropped the shield and ran into the elevator. Mission sliced the weak security system easily and the doors closed behind them as the elevator brought them up to the garage level.
Breathing heavily, Mission turned off her stealth generator for a moment. "That was close," she panted. Then she turned towards the still invisible figure of Alaanis. "How did you manage to get that shield anyways?"
"I truly have no idea," Alaanis said earnestly. "One minute it was meters away and the next it was in my hands. It's like magic or something."
"Sounds like something a Jedi would do," Mission shrugged. If Alaanis wasn't preoccupied with the situation at hand, she would've thought a bit more on what Mission had said. But as it was, they were both a bit busy as the elevator stopped moving and Mission turned her stealth generator back on.
The garage level was about the same as the level below, except there were swoop bikes here and there and a big group of them in the main garage.
"So here's the swoop part of the gangs," Alaanis muttered to herself. The two invisible women continued walking. Mission found what they were looking for about five minutes after stalking through the halls. A computer console outside of a heavily secured room.
"I wonder what's in here," Mission said quietly. Alaanis was thinking the same thing. "You cover me while I slice this thing." Alaanis did as she was told and stood guard, looking for patrols as Mission sliced through the computer.
"Give me the code to dismantle the security," Mission requested a few minutes later.
"BK946GT343," Alaanis read out of her journal. Mission tapped it in and the door in front of them clicked.
"That must be the room where the accelerator is," Alaanis thought aloud. "I wonder if the guards are awake... it's pretty late."
"I wouldn't be surprised, especially after the encounter with the blaster turrets," Mission replied. "Speaking of which, I should shut those down. Pass me two computer spikes would ya Al?" Alaanis reached into her pocket and pulled two out. She had left her gigantic bag of supplies with Carth and Zaalbar, only taking some grenades and supplies with her and Mission.
"Alright, the turrets are down," Mission announced. "Now we just have to beat whatever bad guys await us in this room, take the accelerator and get back to Carth and Zaalbar."
"Piece of cake," Alaanis mumbled. Mission opened the door in front of them and as they stepped into the room their stealth generators shut down. "Damn!"
":Hello there:" hissed a green Twi'lek in the Black Vulker clothes. There was a yellow Twi'lek female standing to his right and two Rodians in Black Vulker uniforms behind them. They were all holding twin blasters, except for the yellow Twi'lek who was holding a large blaster rifle.
":Shall I dispose of these spies Kandon:" asked the yellow Twi'lek.
":No my dear:" Kandon replied. ":Not yet.:" He turned his gaze towards the intruders. Mission and Alaanis stared back hard, both trying to appear tougher than they looked. They were both young female women with small bodies. That didn't normally appear too tough.
But of course none of them has dueled with Alaanis, Mission thought to herself. She smirked at that advantage.
":I see you are not wearing the colors of the Hidden Bek gang. Would you care to turn sides to save you from a horrific death and join the Vulkers:" Kandon proposed.
"No," Alaanis said firmly. "I'm no traitor. Now hand over that swoop accelerator and nobody gets hurt."
The Vulkers all laughed. They obviously underestimated Alaanis. ":How amusing my dear:" Kandon chuckled. ":But I think it's you and your friend over there who are going to be hurt.:"
":May I dispose of them now:" asked the yellow Twi'lek not without a hint of bloodlust in her voice. Kandon nodded his head and everybody aimed their blasters. Before anyone got a shot off though, Mission noticed Alaanis holding a concussion grenade behind her back. She said she was out of them! Mission exclaimed internally.
Alaanis threw the concussion grenade into the room and pulled Mission out of it. They heard the explosion as it knocked all of the people in the room unconscious and Mission and Alaanis ran back into the room. Mission picked herself into a footlocker and found the swoop accelerator. It reminded Mission of Alaanis. It was light, small, but very essential and something worth fighting over. What a weird metaphor, Mission thought to herself.
"I thought you were out of concussion grenades?" Mission asked as she and Alaanis turned their stealth generators back on and they hurried back to the elevator.
"I knew I would need one then so I saved one of them," Alaanis explained simply. "I wasn't sure how many guards would be in there, so I thought a concussion grenade would be better rather than a head on battle."
"That makes sense," Mission muttered.
XxXxX
"I wonder what would happen if I tried contacting them on the comlink..." Carth though aloud. Zaalbar roared at that thought and Carth knew it was a no. "Fine then... I won't."
Another Gammorean patrol ran down the corridor and Carth shot it in the head with his blasters while Zaalbar shot it in the neck with his bowcaster. The two together made a lethal team fighting the Gammoreans that attacked them.
"It's been almost an hour," Carth grumbled. "They should be back by now!"
Just then he stood up form his sitting position on the ground and Zaalbar turned his head towards the door into the room with the dead rancor. Footsteps were approaching. The doors swished open revealing... nothing?
Alaanis and Mission suddenly came into view as they turned off their stealth generators. Mission was holding the swoop accelerator. Of course, she almost dropped it when Zaalbar practically threw himself onto her.
":Mission! You're alive:" he roared. Mission and Alaanis laughed.
"Yeah, I'm fine Big Z," Mission replied grinning like mad. "And we got the swoop accelerator!"
Carth himself had a hard time restraining himself from reacting like Zaalbar had to Mission and crushing Alaanis, showing how glad he was that she was alive.
"Everything fine back here flyboy?" Alaanis asked Carth who was smiling goofily.
"Yeah, it's good to see you alive and here with the swoop accelerator and everything," he told her. "Zaalbar here and I were worried about you and the kid."
"Hey, I ain't no kid!" Mission exclaimed suddenly.
"Relax Mission," Alaanis said chuckling. "Carth didn't mean anything by it."
"Yeah, well, he's an old geezer anyways," Mission replied. Alaanis laughed harder and Carth glared at Mission who smiled innocently. She seems to be picking up on things Alaanis does... But Carth noticed how different it was when Mission teased him and when Alaanis teased him. A thought for another time perhaps...
XxXxX
It was well into the late night by the time the party of four was able to sit and relax in the back of the Hidden Bek base. A lot had gone by for them in the past couple hours since they had rejoined with each other...
Alaanis had found the second Promised Land journal just outside the entrance to the rancor den. She was overjoyed to have found it and flipped through the two journals.
"Wow, this really makes a lot of sense," she said while reading it. It took a good half an hour for the group to find their way back to the Undercity through the sewers, but they made it.
There was only one stop needed in the Undercity before they left and it would be the last conversation they had with any of the outcasts.
"Rukil," Alaanis said, approaching the old man. Most of the villagers were sleeping, but he was awake. The old man looked up at Alaanis who was standing over him, her short blonde hair accentuated by a light hanging from the roof of his tent. Mission, Carth and Zaalbar stood a little off to the side.
"Have you found the journals upworlder?" Rukil asked eagerly.
"Yes I have Rukil," Alaanis replied smiling. She pulled the journals out of her pocket and handed them to him. "I wish you luck in your search for the Promised Land. I think you can find it with those journals as your guide."
Rukil took fifteen minutes flipping looking through the datapads and his smile grew wider often. "Perfect!" he exclaimed. "These are perfect! Thank you upworlder. You were marked for this, and I would ask for your help, but I think you are marked for another destiny."
"It was nothing Rukil," Alaanis replied grinning. Rukil ran off in search of Gendar. As she, Carth, Mission and Zaalbar headed back to the elevator leading to the Lower City, she heard Rukil and Gendar talking about leaving around daybreak.
Once they had left the Undercity, Mission was yawning like crazy. Zaalbar ended up carrying the young Twi'lek and she fell asleep in his arms. The sith patrol was half asleep, so he obviously didn't care that a strange Wookie and Twi'lek girl were now with the two 'sith'.
Alaanis smiled as she glanced over at Mission, sleeping on a bunk in the dormitory. It was a small dorm that Mission, Zaalbar, Carth and Alaanis were sleeping in for the day. They would have to awake later that afternoon, or at least Alaanis would, to begin practicing for the swoop race tomorrow. Speaking of which...
"You have the accelerator?" Gadon asked the group as they walked towards his desk. Carth simply set the accelerator on his desk as a response. Zaendra, who was standing guard nearby, looked over in surprise.
"I guess you really are helpful offworlders," she commented. Alaanis smiled.
"Now that you've done your part, I will sponsor you in the race tomorrow," Gadon told her. "I'm a man of my word. You say you haven't raced much before? Well, after you get some sleep, you can practice a bit on some unmodified swoops. My mechanics will take some time to install the accelerator. But don't worry; you'll be racing on that swoop tomorrow."
Zaendra, Alaanis and Carth were all surprised by that statement. "Gadon! You can't be serious!" Zaendra exclaimed. "We need one of our best racers on that swoop!"
"Why are you doing this Gadon?" Alaanis asked.
"I have to be honest," Gadon said slowly. "There's a good chance the swoop will explode during the race. It can only take about four or five heats before the accelerator overheats. I can't ask one of my own racers to take the risk. So you'll be racing in that swoop."
"Sounds like you've got all your bases covered," Alaanis said with a raised eyebrow.
"You don't get to be leader of a swoop gang without some strategic skill," he replied chuckling. "But don't worry; I'm sure you will do just fine with a little practice. And if we somehow win your Republic officer and you survive, we can strike a deal. But I'm pretty confident and you seem like the racing type. Zaendra will take you to a small dormitory and you can sleep it over."
"I guess I can do this," Alaanis shrugged. "But some sleep does sound good."
XxXxX
But she didn't really get much sleep. It was about sunrise when Alaanis finally did fall asleep. Everyone else had been asleep for at least an hour already. But she didn't stay asleep for long. For some reason, she just couldn't sleep.
She felt rather awake though once she had gotten two hours of sleep. She decided to check their inventory, see all the supplies they had. It was rather boring, but a bit necessary.
"You couldn't sleep either beautiful?"
Carth's voice surprised Alaanis while she was seeing how many spare parts they had. "You better be lucky I wasn't checking on the grenades or we'd probably all have exploded," she commented. Carth chuckled.
"Sorry, didn't mean to surprise you. I just couldn't sleep, so I got a mug of caffa," he told her. "You want some?"
"I'd never turn down a mug of caffa," Alaanis smiled. "Where'd you get yours?"
"The mess hall is now serving breakfast for the Beks, so I snuck in and got a mug," Carth explained.
"I wasn't aware you ever snuck anywhere," Alaanis teased. "Come on; show me where this so called mess hall is located so I can down a cup or two."
"Okay then," Carth shrugged. Alaanis got to her feet and followed Carth out of the room and down a couple corridors. They walked in silence for a bit until Alaanis absent-mindedly walked into Carth's shoulder.
"Ack!" she exclaimed. "I always walk into people!"
"Like Bendak Starkiller perhaps?" Carth teased.
"Bug off flyboy," Alaanis grumbled, regaining her composure and walking ahead of Carth.
"Whatever you say beautiful," Carth said mockingly. She stuck her tongue out at him and he chuckled some more.
"Still don't have the brains to find a better nickname than beautiful, flyboy?" Alaanis asked a minute later.
"Still don't have the brains to find a better nickname than flyboy, beautiful?" Carth echoed. Alaanis rolled her eyes. They kept on walking.
"Where's the caffa?" she whined a couple minutes later. She began tinkering with a security spike she had in her pocket.
"We're almost there, relax beautiful." Carth shook his head. He was right in saying that Alaanis had rubbed off on Mission. It seemed Mission had rubbed off on Alaanis a bit too. She hadn't tinkered with security spikes before. Then again, he couldn't say that since he had only known this woman very well for about a week.
"Did you use to tinker with security spikes before?" Carth asked her randomly.
"No," Alaanis replied, shaking her head. "Not really. In fact, I'm not even sure how I know how to tinker with one." She stared at the security spike for a minute and then shoved it back into her pocket. "Weird," she muttered.
"Have you always been such a freak for caffa?" Carth questioned her teasingly. Alaanis took the question to heart though.
"Yes, I love caffa," she said dreamily. "It reminds me of home. My father and two brothers used to drink caffa all the time and so I ended up getting into the habit. My mother was more of a tea person. She always lectured me about drinking caffa and how I would end up short like my brothers. It was quite funny though as she was the shortest in the family. Even I was taller than her."
Carth stared at her for a minute. It was weird how much story was behind a simple drink. He also noticed how her hair was beginning to grow a bit and some shaggy parts were starting to hang down to her ears. A loose piece was hanging in front of her ear. He was very tempted to tuck it behind her ear... but that'd be a bit strange.
"Carth?"
Alaanis' voice shattered his thoughts and he stared back at her, standing in front of him by a few meters. "Are you going to lead me to the caffa or not?" she asked jokingly.
"Coming gorgeous," he said smiling and shaking his head.
"Now that's a better nickname!" Alaanis exclaimed.
XxXxX
It was the day of the swoop race. The previous day Alaanis had practiced nonstop the racing techniques and she had to say that she wasn't bad at it. She remembered back home, racing with her brothers sometimes. They always beat her though...
Carth, Mission and Zaalbar were all watching the race back at the Hidden Bek base. They all had wished her good luck and told her that she was going to win. She smiled at this parting.
Once she had entered the swoop platform, she noticed a few other racers hanging around with their mechanics. Two of them seemed to have acquired some nice injuries from racing their first heats. One racer, the announcer had said, had died. He was a part of a smaller gang, one Alaanis hadn't heard of before. Then again, she hadn't heard of many outside of the Hidden Beks and the Black Vulkers.
":Now racing for the Hidden Beks is Alaanis Naquin:" proclaimed the announcer. She used a fake last name in case the sith would hear about the swoop racing. Keeping her real first name though would make it easier for her remembering whom she was.
Around the swoop platform was also a caged Bastila. Alaanis had noticed her first when she entered the swoop platform, seeing her guarded by two Vulker guards. She was wearing a neural restraining collar, forbidding her from moving of her own free will.
Maybe some of her jedi tricks could free her from that later, just in case I can't do it or if something goes wrong, Alaanis thought to herself as she left the platform and got onto the swoop track. Her mechanic, an older Ithorian, was reminding her of some last minute hints and tricks while she strapped herself in.
5...4...3...2...1... GO!
Alaanis pushed the engine as hard as it would go for her first heat, hoping to get everything over and done with as quickly as possible. With the modified swoop, she finished the track in the record time, leaving little room for someone to beat it.
But someone did. A Black Vulker no less. She would have to race again. No other racers volunteered to try and beat the time, they all thought it impossible.
Back at the Hidden Bek base, Carth, Mission and Zaalbar were all watching the view screen nervously.
"I don't know how Alaanis can beat that time!" Mission exclaimed worriedly.
"She's running a modified swoop, maybe with that she can," Carth said reassuringly.
5...4...3...2...1... GO!
Alaanis pushed the engines even harder this time. Avoiding all the obstacles, hitting all the speed thrusters, and willing herself to go as fast as possible, somehow she managed to beat the time made by the Black Vulker.
She was greeted by mobs of cheering Hidden Beks and angry Black Vulkers as Alaanis reappeared on the swoop track.
":Amazing! Simply amazing:" the Ithorian mechanic shouted over all the cheering. ":You beat racers who've been doing this for years:"
As the Black Vulkers tried their best to beat that time Alaanis had made, after half an hour the top time still belonged to Alaanis.
The announcer began the winning ceremony. ":The winner of this years' annual swoop race is Alaanis Naquin, racing for the Hidden Beks. Congratulations Alaanis! Come to the center of the platform to collect your prize, a hefty amount of credits from most of the gangs, but also this Republic officer given up by the Black Vulkers.:"
Alaanis headed towards the announcer's stand, but stopping her from collecting her prize was none other than Brejik, the leader of the Black Vulkers.
"You cheated! The Vulkers withdraw their prize because you ran with a modified swoop accelerator!" he exclaimed, the black human looking angry enough to explode. Alaanis thought he looked and was acting like a selfish brat. But she couldn't change that.
Before she could try and compromise with Brejik, the swoop announcer interrupted. ":You cannot withdraw your prize now Brejik! That is breaking our oldest rules:"
"I don't CARE about your stupid rules!" Brejik shouted. "Vulkers, to me! Kill this woman!"
Everyone but Alaanis, six of the Vulkers, and Bastila who was still chained up, ran off the swoop platform as quickly as possible. Before the swoop announcer left though, he aimed a nice blaster shot at one of the Vulkers' heads.
Five against one, Alaanis thought to herself. Good odds. She pulled out her vibroswords and began hacking at the Vulkers attacking her with their own vibroblades and shock sticks. They didn't stand a chance against Alaanis' expertise with melee weapons. Brejik soon was the only one standing. He walked towards Alaanis.
"I was supposed to be ruler of the Lower City!" he exclaimed.
"Not today Brejik."
Alaanis and Brejik both turned towards the caged Bastila... to see the cage now opened and Bastila throwing the neural collar off.
"You were restrained by a neural collar!" Brejik yelled.
"You underestimate the strength of a Jedi's mind Brejik," Bastila said calmly, stepping out of the cage and pulling a few loose strands of her chestnut brown hair back. "A mistake you will never make again." She used her Jedi powers to summon her double bladed lightsaber to her from Brejik's belt and took a clean swipe at her neck, decapitating him.
"Nice blow," Alaanis commented after a moment of silence. She stripped Brejik of his vibroblade, his specifically made belt and energy shield, and of course his visor.
"If you think you can collect me as a prize you are dearly mistaken," Bastila threatened, her pale features scrunching up in light anger. Then her features relaxed and her brown eyes grew slightly big. "Wait a second... I can't believe this! You're – you're from the Endar Spire aren't you?"
"Yeah, I'm Alaanis Pi, scout and scoundrel at your service," Alaanis mock bowed at Bastila.
"Very funny," Bastila said sarcastically. "Are you the only survivor?"
"Besides Carth Onasi, I believe so," Alaanis replied shrugging.
"Carth Onasi is alive?" Bastila asked. Alaanis nodded her head as though she was explaining something to a four-year-old child. "Finally some good news. I guess I underestimated you... Carth wouldn't have sent you if he wasn't confident in your abilities. Can you take me to him?"
"Sure," Alaanis answered. "Follow me. He's back at the Hidden Bek base right now."
"Let's get going then."
XxXxX
Okay, well, there we leave off with Bastila meeting Alaanis. Haha… clash of the personalities perhaps? But I have a soft spot for Bastila, so I'm trying my best to be nice to her… eventually. Until then, she's the snooty jedi opposite of Alaanis. XD Right, so, thank you for the reviews guys, they make me feel like my writing is really worthwhile! So thanks go to Shadows Run (I caught up with Beautiful and I gave you a lil review over there. :)), Kitome-chan, and Wild's Daughter (holds up right hand solemnly and swears oath to holy book of Carth lol).
So, anyways, the next chapter should be up within a week or so, no guarantees because if I had guarantees on all my writing of fics, I'd be dead long ago by my readers. XD The next chapter should condense Bastila meeting the rest of the crew, trying to escape Taris, the entrance of Canderous (and Calo Nord) and the infiltration of the sith base as well as Davik's estate. XD Well, as far as I know, Taris should be done in the next chapter. Then, onto Dantooine! Whee! Okay, well, this chapter was pretty long me thinks hitting a whopping 14 pages, so, hopefully you'll enjoy it! Adios peoples! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!
4-25-05