Okay, pre apologies for any mistakes this time around, my internet was being evil so I took this short opportunity of it working to post it, so I didn't get a chance to send it to Shadow's Run for beta-reading. So, any mistakes, I'm sorry! Now… back to the angry Wookie!

XxXxX

Chapter Eight: Vanishing

Bastila Shan sliced through the flesh of yet another sith soldier. They seemed to be limitless, and yet she wasn't tiring at all. The training of a Jedi, she thought to herself.

Besides her, Zaalbar the Wookie was furiously swiping with his blades, roaring angrily in his native language. Bastila understood his words, and his despair. The week she had spent with the Wookie and his best friend Mission Vao, she realized that they were as close as anything. Bastila understood how furious Zaalbar must be that the sith had captured Mission…

Her yellow lightsaber hummed and swooshed as she jerked it into the stomach of an approaching solider, and then used the force to push back a droid approaching her. Zaalbar was shoving off all the blaster shots that had pierced his flesh and they fed him, enraged him.

Bastila felt a sense of detachment as she killed dozens of nameless and faceless soldiers, working their way towards the heart of the base where they knew Mission was being held captive.

She could only hope Carth and Rev-… no she was not Revan. Bastila may not have known Darth Revan personally, but the young padawan knew that the woman she was traveling with was not Revan. She was Alaanis Pi, a young force-sensitive soldier of the republic, loyal to the republic.

Nothing like Revan, Bastila thought to herself as she switched off her lightsaber and hurried forward past the dead bodies of at least twenty sith soldiers. She's changed.

XxXxX

Carth Onasi and Alaanis Pi were having better luck than Bastila and Zaalbar. Since the Wookie and the Jedi were causing quite the commotion, the two republic soldiers found their paths rather clear except for a few sith patrols here and there.

Stealth was working for the two of them. Carth snagged Alaanis and pulled her into the shadows as a squadron of sith troopers hurried down the hallway towards the prison cells. I guess they're protecting Mission from being rescued, Alaanis thought to herself.

After the soldiers had vanished from view, Alaanis and Carth hurried down the hallway. Alaanis had studied the plans for about half an hour, deducing that they could find they way towards a major air vent next to the laundry room and from there they could crawl through the air ducts until they reached the elevator. From there, they would go up to the next floor where the launch codes were being guarded by the sith governor of Taris.

"Carth!" she hissed, a few locks of her bright blonde hair dripping into her eyes. She'd need to chop off some of it when they got the chance. She pointed towards a room at the end of the hallway where a few laundry carts were sitting. Carth nodded and they ran over to the carts.

Unfortunately for them, timing was not on their side. As soon as they abandoned their cover of the shadows, three sith officers arrived at the other end of the hall.

"Hey!" one of them called, unsheathing his sword and running towards Alaanis and Carth. "You're not sith! What are you doing in here?"

Alaanis and Carth froze. They couldn't lie their way out of this one. Alaanis pulled out her swords quick as lightning and stabbed them both into the officer's chest. Carth ripped his blasters out of their holsters and began shooting at the other two officers. Alaanis rushed over to the other officers to meet them head on and attacked them with her vibroswords.

Swiftly, she jabbed her left sword into one officer's arm and pulled it out, leaving the soldier without an arm. Carth's blaster shot to the neck made his screaming stop. The other officer was already dead by Carth's fatal aim.

The short woman sighed and wiped the blood off of her sword. Just then more footsteps came from the direction the other officers had come from. She shot an urgent look to Carth and the two ran into the laundry room.

XxXxX

":This way:" Zaalbar roared. Bastila and the Wookie decided to try and outrun the sith instead of facing them head on. Bastila's mask was obscuring her vision slightly as it tipped, but instead of bothering to refit the mask, she used the force to see.

Using the force, she saw Zaalbar raging with vengeance for the sith and worry for his friend. She could hear his pleading thoughts for Mission to be all right.

After three minutes of outrunning the sith squadron, Bastila and Zaalbar arrived at a door.

"Many life forms beyond this," Bastila said quietly, seeing with the force. "I think this is where she is." She switched back on her lightsaber and threw one of the two blades into the lock of the door. In response to her action, the door flew open.

"Zaalbar!" Mission screeched. She was in a restraining cell. Bastila looked at it. It was much more elegant than the plain steel one she had been put in back when the Vulkers had captured her. If Mission touched the force field blocking her from the rest of the world, she'd be knocked unconscious.

But besides Mission in the room, there were practically fifty sith officers guarding her. Bastila flourished her blade in challenge and Zaalbar roared. The sith began shooting their blasters, and Bastila was a bit worried they might be outnumbered…

XxXxX

Alaanis continued crawling frantically through the maze of the air ducts. It would be hard to find their way to the elevator, even if they did have a copy of the blueprints with them, just in case.

"They're not following us Alaanis, you can relax slightly!" Carth shouted from behind. Alaanis didn't slow though. She had to keep hurrying. She had to get those launch codes. She could only hope that Bastila and Zaalbar could rescue Mission…

"AH!" she screamed as a panel below her broke as she stepped onto it with her knees. She slid forward and tumbled down onto a sith soldier. Carth jumped down after her and landed on another sith soldier. They were all holding blasters and firing towards two people… Bastila and Zaalbar! Alaanis and Carth had fallen right into the middle of a battle. But that meant…

"Alaanis!" screamed Mission's blue form, lying within a restraining cell. Alaanis knew that this was Bastila and Zaalbar's mission, but they were obviously outnumbered by more than just one. There had to be at least fifty officers.

"Come to help?" Bastila asked, swinging her lightsaber and leaping into the air so that she landed closer to Alaanis and Carth. Carth started firing his blasters and replied with a grunt.

"Of course," Alaanis smirked. "I'm never one to shy away from a battle." And with that she raised her vibroswords and attacked the closest soldier to her, decapitating him.

Slicing again and again, she boxed out the cries of agony from her swords cutting through armor and flesh. Beside her, Bastila was serenely swishing her double-bladed lightsaber every which way, blocking bullets and chopping up bodies. Then Alaanis realized that she hadn't been hit yet with a bolt.

She's guarding me too, Alaanis thought to herself. Weird. Alaanis had thought Bastila would be more of a loner, not counting on others' help or helping others. Not that Alaanis didn't appreciate the effort… it would save her a lot of trouble treating her injuries later.

Halfway across the room, Zaalbar was chopping at the sith that dared to challenge the angry Wookie. His blades, sharpened earlier that day, cut through the armor and flesh so simply it looked like he was cutting air.

Soon enough, all of the sith were dead. Alaanis and Bastila hadn't suffered any serious injuries, Carth had a few choice blaster bolts in his left arm, but Zaalbar was the worst. He had blaster shots all over him and a few places where swords had cut him were bleeding.

Alaanis walked over to the restraining cell and freed Mission using the console. Soon enough, Mission threw herself onto the older woman.

"Alaanis!" she squealed. "Zaalbar! Carth! Bastila! You guys saved my life!" She hugged each of them in turn, taking her longest with Zaalbar. Then she studied the bloody Wookie. "You need some medical attention Big Z. We should go visit Zelka."

"I'll take them out of the base," Bastila volunteered. "We should be able to get out fine. We can handle it." She gave Alaanis a small smile and left with Zaalbar slightly hanging onto Mission.

":I'm so glad you're alright Mission:" the large Wookie growled fondly.

"I'm glad we're both alright Big Z," Mission grinned. Alaanis smiled, watching the three of them leaving and then turned back to Carth.

"Well," she said grinning. "I guess we've got to do this their way then."

XxXxX

Carth and Alaanis arrived back at the hideout long after midnight. After their fight with all the soldiers on their way and the sith governor (who was much tougher than he led on), they needed to stop at Zelka's for a couple hours and get some treatment. Once they arrived back at the base, Bastila, Mission and Zaalbar were fast asleep.

Both exhausted, they collapsed on the couch and fell asleep immediately.

"Now that is something amusing," Mission's voice said through giggles. Zaalbar was laughing lightly as well and as Alaanis opened her eyes she saw Bastila smirking down upon her.

That's when Alaanis realized what they were laughing at. She and Carth had both fallen asleep on the couch… together. And somehow while they were asleep, Carth's arm had snaked its way around Alaanis waist. Alaanis almost laughed herself as she pulled herself up out of his grasp and poked Carth in the stomach.

"What's everyone laughing at?" he asked groggily as he opened his eyes. Bastila was having a hard time suppressing laughter while Mission, Alaanis and Zaalbar were all practically rolling on the floor at Carth's dumbfounded look.

Carth wasn't very happy about everyone laughing. Alaanis eventually told him what had happened and he blushed crimson.

"Eh… sorry?" he suggested lightly while Alaanis sipped another mug of caffa. They were sitting on the floor of the apartment, each sipping a drink. Zaalbar was drinking some juma juice while Mission drank plain water and Bastila sipped her tea. Carth was having his own caffa.

"Don't be sorry," Alaanis winked. "It wasn't so bad." She grinned at him. Carth laughed nervously and blushed slightly harder while the rest of the group laughed outright at him.

"Anyways," Bastila said in a slightly more stern voice. She hadn't laughed, only smiled during the ordeal. "The launch codes are in your journal, right Alaanis?" she asked Alaanis. The blonde woman nodded her head and touched the datapad in her right pocket. "Well then we better get those codes over to Canderous. I think I can presume that he'll be in the cantina all day."

"Presuming he'll be getting drunk all day?" Alaanis asked with a grin. Bastila sniffed at her, proving Alaanis' guess correct. Bastila really doesn't like Canderous, does she? Just the understatement of that thought almost made Alaanis burst out laughing.

"Either way, we'd better go meet him," Carth stepped in. "And we should all go. So that we understand the plan."

XxXxX

At one o'clock, Alaanis, Carth, Bastila, Mission, Zaalbar and T3 were all walking into Javyar's Cantina. This time, with the large group of them, they had a harder time passing by the guard to the Lower City. Bastila had to use her force powers to confuse him.

"The Jedi learn force tricks like that young?" Mission asked eagerly.

"It's a necessary asset on some missions when people don't comprehend the importance of a jedi mission," Bastila explained. "I learned these tricks when I was ten years old."

"How old are you now Bastila?" Mission questioned the jedi Padawan curiously. Alaanis herself had been wondering the same thing. Bastila couldn't have been over twenty, but she had to be at least sixteen.

"I'm nineteen Mission," Bastila informed her. "But age is not as important as experience, talent and skill."

"Yeah, everyone underestimates me because I'm fourteen. It's not like I haven't grown up in the middle of a gang war," Mission said sarcastically. Alaanis smiled knowingly at Carth. He grinned back. Bastila sounded like she wanted to say something, but stayed silent as they spotted Canderous, sitting at the bar.

"I heard there was a break-in at the sith base," Canderous grunted, turning around in his seat to see an odd crowd standing around him. A jedi, two republic soldiers, a teenage Twi'lek, a Wookie and a small astromech droid. "I know it was you. I also heard there was a Twi'lek captive that was rescued by a jedi and an angry Wookie. I know that was you too. And I also heard that the sith governor of Taris was murdered. And I know that was you as well."

"Yup," Alaanis smirked proudly. Canderous grinned at her. He finished the Tarisian ale he was drinking and slammed the cup down on the bar table. He dropped a credit chip and stood up. Alaanis could small the stench of the ale from where she was standing.

"Well, I've got a plan to get us off, as I said already. Since you have the launch codes, we can take my speeder to Davik's estate and rob his ship. Then we'll pick the rest of your crew up at your hideout," Canderous told them the plan. "But I can only bring two of you with me. I'll pretend I found some new recruits; Davik loves swoop races so he'll certainly be interested in the champion of the Annual Swoop Race joining the Exchange. So who else wants to come?"

Alaanis stared around her at the people with her. Mission and Zaalbar were not possible as they had been on Taris for so long, they could be recognized by somebody at the estate. Having a jedi would be a dead giveaway so Bastila was out. So Alaanis guessed Carth should be the one coming…

"I'll come," Carth said, stepping forward. Canderous smirked.

"Not too tough for you Republic?" the Mandalorian joked. Carth glared and shook his head negative. Alaanis rolled her eyes.

"So, Bastila, Mission, Zaalbar, T3, you guys wait at the apartment," Alaanis declared.

"We should be picking you up later tonight," Canderous said. "Expect us anytime. I'm not sure when we're going to get a chance to steal the Ebon Hawk. So don't go anywhere."

"Let's go then." Alaanis grinned. Carth simply glared at Canderous who had an amused look on his face.

"Let's go."

XxXxX

Davik Kang was the head of the Exchange on Taris. Everybody knew his name and that owing him a debt was a damn stupid idea. And almost everybody knew that he had recently hired a Mandalorian mercenary, Canderous Ordo, about two years ago.

Canderous was now leading 'Exchange hopefuls' Alaanis Pi and Carth Onasi through the enormous city of Taris to Davik's estate. He had met the young woman Alaanis only the previous day and yet she had already impressed him.

Well, she did become the champion of the dueling ring, win the Annual Swoop Race and steal launch codes out of a sith military base, Canderous mentally told himself. He stole a glance back at Carth, still manning the controls. Carth eyes were not glaring at Canderous anymore. Instead, they had a determined look to them, staring straight ahead, beyond Canderous.

The Mandalorian shook his head. Republic was someone Canderous wished he could've worked without. He knew that Carth was good with a blaster, damn good he heard from the rumors of the base break-in, but was he any good besides that? It was obvious from the group of misfits Alaanis had carried around with her that she was the leader. Bastila, the jedi princess as Canderous had mentally dubbed her, seemed the voice of reason and stiffness. Sounds like she's got a vibroblade up her ass…

The small Twi'lek girl Canderous recognized. He had been in Javyar's cantina a lot, and so had Mission Vao. The small Twi'lek was often accused of cheating at Pazaak, but nobody was stupid enough to bring it up when she had her Wookie bodyguard Zaalbar around. Canderous had to respect Mission for her tough attitude. He wondered if she would've ever survived this long without her Wookie pal though…

"Fancy," Alaanis muttered, staring straight ahead at Davik Kang's home. It was a large five story building, with its own small swoop track, hanger, garage, training facilities, spice labs, slaves and pool. Canderous would leave those extravagant explanations to Davik, who loved to brag about his large estate… as well as the good security on all of it.

"Yeah, Davik loves to show off," Canderous replied, swerving the speeder to head towards the grand entrance (and it was quite grand) of the estate.

Walking into the estate, Alaanis tried to keep to herself the awe of the home… more like a palace really. Canderous smirked. He didn't find all of this that impressive. Then again, he didn't really find material possessions as pointless as everything Davik owned that impressive anyways. Carth was simply staring around, occasionally sparing a glare for Canderous.

Canderous was able to pass security easily being an agent of Davik, and once he, Alaanis and Carth were inside the entrance hall, Davik himself entered, along with a short man wearing a suit like a pilot's.

"Canderous!" Davik greeted his mercenary with a handshake and a business smile. The short man simply stood still in the background, his face impassive. Davik himself was wearing deep purple armor that looked completely impregnable. And quite flashy. Canderous was used to this armor, it was Davik's personal armor. Davik's grey hair revealed his true age, and his slightly wrinkled skin was covered in business warmth as he glanced upon Canderous' companions.

"I see you brought back-up Canderous," the short man in the background chuckled. "You're going soft aren't ya? Next time you'll be bringing along an army of your Mandalorian friends."

"You may be the newest kath hound of the pack, but you aren't top dog yet," Canderous growled at his competition. Calo Nord was the top bounty hunter in the galaxy. Canderous recalled Mission Vao, the little Twi'lek girl, talking about his skills as a bounty hunter. Canderous had to admit that Calo was a tough competitor. Nobody should have let Calo's height, which was minimal, judge who Calo was. He was one hardcore killing machine. He was usually seen wearing an old pilot suit he robbed off of his first victim when he became a bounty hunter. It was very tough material, being more than it seemed, the bright blue, orange and white shining from Calo's cleanliness with his favorite suit. He also wore the matching hood and goggles whenever in public. Rare few had seen Calo's eyes.

"No fighting," Davik said plainly. "I won't have my top two men killing each other. It's bad for business. I assume Canderous has a reasonable explanation for his companions." Then the older man gave Canderous a look that plainly said 'this better be good.'

"Davik, you may recognize this woman here as the swoop rider who won the Annual Swoop Race?" Canderous explained. Davik's expression lightened up considerably.

"That was some race miss," Davik commented. "One of the best runs I've seen. And I've seen a lot. So, what brings you here?"

"I am interested in joining the Exchange," Alaanis replied without skipping a beat. She smiled like a nervous interviewee. Canderous wouldn't have been shocked if she actually were interested in joining the Exchange; her acting skills were so well performed.

"Ah!" Davik exclaimed, obviously glad. "I see! Well, we're always looking for new and exciting people to join us in our lovely business. Come! Let me give you the grand tour!"

Canderous zoned out a bit during the typical tour of Davik's estate showing off all the different parts and pieces of the palace. He did notice Alaanis paying extra attention as Davik showed off his security system on the hangar. But Canderous had heard it all before. Finally, Davik and Calo led Canderous, Alaanis and Carth to the guest wing and Calo left with a last look at Alaanis as though he was confirming something.

"Now, you three shall stay in this wing for the next two days where I will do a background check on Miss Pi," Davik explained. Alaanis smiled gratefully. "I ask that you not venture beyond this wing. If you need anything at all, just ask the slaves at the far end of the hallway. If your background check goes fine, you will be asked to join the Exchange. I suggest you accept our offer Miss Pi."

"I would be overjoyed to," Alaanis answered. Canderous caught a hint of sarcasm in that one though. He smirked. Davik gave them a small bow and left. Alaanis fell down onto the bright and comfy white couch while Carth sat in a chair in the middle of the room Canderous stayed standing.

"Alright, so, we've got about three hours to get this done," Canderous explained. "I'll take care of the security, I have the codes."

"But what about the codes to the Ebon Hawk?" Alaanis asked. "We need those too."

Canderous swore under his breath. He had forgotten about that. A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts though. Alaanis answered the door and a male slave entered the room. Alaanis stared at the slave for a second before it became obvious that a thought had dawned on her.

"Hello fair mistress," the male slave, a human, said uniformly. "May I offer you some fruit? Or a massage?"

"A massage sounds perfect," Alaanis said grinning. Canderous almost laughed out loud as she sat on the couch and was massaged by the slave. He had an even harder time not laughing from looking at the look on Carth's obviously jealous face. If Carth Onasi was not obviously falling for Alaanis Pi, Canderous would've eaten his own arm.

"I have a question," Alaanis piped up.

"Yes Mistress?" the slave asked.

"Do you know where the codes for the Ebon Hawk security are located?" The slave stopped massaging Alaanis and stared at her. Alaanis obviously guessed the slave was a bit more loyal than that. "I will tell your master what a great job massaging me you did if you give me any information you have," Alaanis proposed persuasively.

"Well…" the slave muttered, beginning to massage Alaanis again. "In the torture chamber in the northernmost hall of this floor in this estate is a former pilot of the Ebon Hawk. He knows the codes."

"Why thank you slave," Alaanis turned around grinning. She handed him a fifty-credit chip. "I will tell you master what a great job you did. Don't you worry."

"Thank you most gracious mistress!" the slave said, overjoyed. He left the room and closed the door behind him.

"Well," Canderous cleared his throat. "That was rather easy."

"I'll go free the old pilot," Alaanis declared. "Canderous, you disable the security. Go with him Carth." Carth looked at Alaanis like she was crazy, but the woman had a determined look on her face. Great, Canderous thought to himself. I get to have Republic there as a tagalong.

But before either man could object, Alaanis shushed them as a guard passed by in the outside hallway. Carth gave her a look and Alaanis held a hand up to shush him until the footsteps of the guard disappeared.

"How could you tell there was a guard coming?" Carth questioned Alaanis suspiciously. "I didn't hear any footsteps coming." Canderous looked over at Alaanis who looked slightly nervous. The larger man hadn't heard any footsteps either.

"I… could sort of sense him," Alaanis admitted tentatively. Like she was scared of the concept itself. Before anybody could say anything else though Alaanis took on a 'back-to-business' look and hurried out into the hall, switching on her stealth generator as she moved.

"We better get moving too," Canderous grunted.

"I don't trust you Ordo," Carth spat bluntly. Canderous chuckled.

"Well, I don't like you either Republic," Canderous replied smirking. "So it's mutual. Now let's get to work disabling that security. Do you have any spikes? The console is in Davik's old office down a few halls."

"I've got some spikes," Carth told the Mandalorian, slapping his small pouch that held a few supplies. "Let's go."

XxXxX

How did I do that? Alaanis asked herself as, invisible, she ran down hallway after hallway, looking for the room the slave had mentioned. She looked at her automatic map. Alaanis loved her personal journal. She held inventory in it, it took note of important details, and it automatically mapped everything. It had been a gift from her father and brothers when she had first left home to become a smuggler.

Stop thinking of home Alaanis, she shook her head and almost yelled at herself out loud except that a couple guards were walking down the hall and she thinned against the wall, evening her heavy breathing.

But what happened when she had sensed the Rodian guard had confused her. And the way Carth had looked at her, like he was almost scared of her. She was scaring herself. Alaanis tried blanking her mind. Thinking and accomplishing a mission were two hard things to do at once.

All of a sudden, a sudden surge of… something… told Alaanis she was in front of the room where the former pilot was. Quickly enough she opened the door and immediately felt danger.

And danger there was. Two torture droids, who were aiming their devices at a victim in the cage Alaanis could've only assumed to be the former pilot, turned towards Alaanis. She felt pain pouring over her as the stealth field generator faded and the torture droids began shooting their disruptor rifles at her.

It was hard, but somehow Alaanis pulled through the pain and chucked an ion grenade at the droid, chasing after the grenade with her two vibroswords in hand. Slicing off the many arms of the droids (all holding different torture tools) was easy enough, but it didn't make much of a difference with their disruptor rifles built into the heads of the droids. Alaanis swung and swung again, chopping at the droids until she could knock them down. Finally, one fell and collapsed onto the ground. The other continued firing at Alaanis, her body ached in extreme pain.

Alaanis screamed as one of the torture implements went through her arm. It was sharp, like a needle, and she felt her arm getting paralyzed. Her left arm… it wasn't working properly anymore. Her vibrosword collapsed onto the ground and Alaanis continued screaming, the pain hurting her so much…

Keep moving Alaanis!

The voice came from within Alaanis' head… but it wasn't her own voice. It was… Bastila's!

What are you doing in my mind!

Pick yourself up Alaanis, I'll explain later. But there won't be a later if you don't keep fighting.

Kill curiosity, Alaanis threw herself onto her right arm and ignored the hurt and usefulness of her left arm. She picked herself up, and holding both vibroswords in one hand, she threw her entire body weight onto the droid. It collapsed onto the ground and Alaanis sighed as she fell onto something painful, black blinding her.

"Are you alright?" a voice called.

Alaanis opened her eyes. "How long have I been unconscious?" she asked, looking into the eyes of a man she had seen just before she was knocked out… oh yes! It was the pilot!

"Only for about five minutes," the pilot replied. "By the way, thank you for falling onto the switch to let me out of that cage. I don't know if I could've lasted much longer in that cage. I'd give you a reward for saving me, but eh, I don't really have anything."

"You have the codes to the Ebon Hawk's personal security right?" Alaanis said, cringing from her left arm, still aching. She grabbed a medpac from her oversized bag and stuffed the kolto needle into her left arm. It didn't ease the pain, but the sting that had been there before dissipated.

"Uh, yeah I do," the pilot told her. He grabbed her journal that had sprawled onto the floor when she fell and typed in the code. "Enjoy." The pilot smiled at her and left the room.

Alaanis cringed and swore as she picked herself up from the floor the pilot had rolled her onto. Throwing her hunter green bag onto her back, she ran out of the room and switched on her stealth generator.

It took her about ten minutes, but she found her way to Davik's former office Canderous had mentioned to her before at the start of the speeder ride to Davik's estate earlier that day. Carth and Canderous were nowhere to be seen. But the console was blinking like a notice was left behind.

'Ebon Hawk. Now.' The notice said. 'Map in console.' Alaanis downloaded the map the notice spoke about into her console and followed it, still invisible to the hangar where she was greeted by Carth and Canderous standing by the boarding ramp of the Ebon Hawk, looking in the opposite direction of Alaanis.

Before Alaanis had a chance to admire the handiwork of their job stealing the Ebon Hawk, a sudden bolt shooting down from above somewhere in space entered the hangar, followed by the rumblings of many more. Carth and Canderous ran onto the Hawk, spotting Alaanis on their way. Carth did notice how injured Alaanis was, but the most she knew he could do was to wait until she got onto the ship after them.

"Hurry! I KNEW those sith would turn on us. If they don't stop blasting us, we're all going to be dead!" came the voice of Davik Kang from the opposite entrance to the hangar, following by none other than Calo Nord. "We'll get onto the Ebon Hawk and leave this damned planet!" Then he spotted Alaanis. "Thief! Trying to steal my ship eh? Not so fast!" Davik lifted his blaster rifle and aimed it for Alaanis.

She dodged his shot just in time, landing on her left arm. She screamed in intense pain as she chucked her sonic grenade at Davik. It flung him backwards into the wall. She heard a loud crunch as his neck snapped.

"Not so fast!" came Calo's voice as Alaanis hurried towards the Ebon Hawk. He was holding something small and shiny in his right hand.

"A thermal detonator!" Alaanis' eyes widened. That thing would blow them all up.

"I'm sure, though, that you would be a very valuable prize unharmed," Calo smirked, lowering his hand, setting his blaster to stun and aiming it. "Goodnight Re-"

Just then, another bolt of the sith's guns shot down into the hangar… exactly where Calo was standing. He screamed as the bolt fell down upon him, murdering him. Alaanis was slightly confused about what Calo was about to say, but was also outraged that he planned on selling her as a slave. Both of those emotions were gone within seconds though as she realized that she needed to get onto the ship.

Running up the boarding ramp of the Ebon Hawk, Alaanis fell onto the floor of the Ebon Hawk and found herself unconscious again.

XxXxX

"How is the bombardment coming?"

Darth Malak questioned his admiral of the sith fleet, a loyal soldier of his: Saul Karath.

"Wonderfully," Saul answered with a bow. "But… one ship got past us."

"It does not matter," Malak growled. "Continue the bombardment. Wipe this pathetic planet off the face of the galaxy. It has had a downfall coming its way for some time. Lets give it a head start."

"But sir…" Saul stuttered. "What about our men on the surface? What about the countless billions of innocents on the planet's surface?"

"Do not question me!" Malak shouted. He glared down at Saul. "I am in a merciful mood, but do NOT question me again soldier." Saul bowed his head.

"Yes sir."

Saul walked away from the bridge of the Leviathon, leaving Malak to stare at the destruction of Taris gleefully.

Soon Bastila will be dead, Malak thought to himself.

"Sir!" a lone voice called. A young and small-ranking soldier ran past Saul who was walking away. The younger soldier ran up to Darth Malak. "She's gone! Bastila Shan has vanished!"

XxXxX

FINALLY! TARIS IS COMPLETE! Lol, sorry, I'm just so happy that I finally finished Taris. It felt like it took forever (perhaps because it did). Anyways, mucho thanks to the reviewers, because those reviews make me VERY happy. XD

Wild's Daughter – Yeah, I'm not the best with subtle romance. I mean, it'll be easier for me since Taris is done because its on Dantooine that everything between Alaanis and Carth is really starting. At least as far as I've been planning. Anyways, Dantooine will last a long while. Unlike Taris, which I wanted to get done quickly, Dantooine is something I'd like to take my time with. By the by, your suggestions are always welcome! I'm not one of those people who ignores all suggestions! If you do have any suggestions for subtle romance between Carth and Alaanis, feel free to email me. XD

Beatletrekkie – I love that line too lol. And as you can see in this chapter, there's a bit more force-sensitivity involved. And Calo almost spills the beans! How could he!

So, until the next chapter, REVIEW LIKE CRAZY, burn finals, and sacrifice snails (why snails? I have no idea). Oh and a personal announcement that makes me sad. I decided to turn vegetarian a couple days ago (I tried a few years ago and failed lol) but on top of that, my doctor told me yesterday that I'm lactose intolerant. Therefore, I'm basically a vegan. Dangit. And there was ice cream cake yesterday! XcriesX Eh. Sorry, im being weird and just imforming everybody of that now.

Oh and by the by, this chapter is only like thirteen pages so its not as long as the previous few. Sorry. I just REALLY wanted to get this chapter done. And I needed the ending line to be "she's vanished!" Anyways, REVIEW PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE. And I shall see you soon!

5-7-05