Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 14: Suspicions

Carth Onasi sighed in relief as he set his unconscious companion on a cot and searched through the duffel the man was carrying. Noting several valuable and useful items, Carth nodded in approval of the man's foresight before his hand came across a cool metal cylinder. Frowning, Carth pulled the device from the bag and scowled, turning to his companion. After clicking the button and seeing a blue beam shoot forth, Carth calmed himself and rummaged through the pack for a medpack. The Republic soldier warily looked his companion over for injuries and administered a small amount of kolto before he stalked back to the table and searched through the contents of their supplies.

Bastila groaned as she undid the clasp of her restraints and stumbled to the floor. Her hand idly ran to her belt and all grogginess vanished when she realized her lightsaber was absent. Cursing, Bastila rubbed the bump on the back of her head where it had impacted from the whiplash of the landing and searched for her weapon. The Padawan's vision swam for a moment as nausea passed over her.

"Force, I must have a concussion."

Knowing she had little time and that Sith patrols could be nearing, Bastila searched quickly for a weapon. A sudden feeling gripped at her heart as she thought of the Spire's destruction.
"Did Revan escape... Was he captured?"

Shivering slightly, Bastila turned to see her lightsaber wedged between an outcropping of one of the other seats. The Padawan struggled for a moment to pull the weapon free, cursing as it refused to budge.
"Dammit!"
Bastila snarled as she turned her attention to her companions. After a brief scan through the Force she closed her eyes and allowed a moment of silence, knowing they had become one with the Force. Seeing a vibroblade in a sheath on one of the dead soldiers, Bastila pulled it from its case and attempted to pry her saber from its prison. Bastila paused for a moment as nausea rose once more within her and took a steadying breath. A clicking noise on the hull of the escape pod alerted the Padawan to intruders. Cursing, Bastila stood beside the door, preparing to strike with the vibroblade.
The sound of metal whining was heard as the pod's door was wretched free and Bastila swayed slightly, her eyes rolling back into her head as her concussion came back in full Force.

"What to we have here!"

A voice leered. Fighting for control, Bastila removed her hand from the support of the wall and glared at the alien. The Padawan moved swiftly, despite her condition and cut the man cleanly across his chest. A death-cry sounded from the man as he fell back from the opening. Bastila panted for a moment, the use of her Battle Meditation and the emotional and physical drain on her body exhausting her. She was vaguely aware of a clicking sound and turned to see a flash grenade drop into her pod. Cursing, Bastila was blinded by the flash as she failed to cover her eyes.

The Padawan's brain was wracked with pain as the light flooded her already overloaded senses. Crying out, Bastila dropped to the ground and before she could recover, felt a powerful hand wrap tightly around her.
"Take her back to Brejik."

A voice hissed. Bastila struggled against the hold weakly until a blaster handle connected with the back of her neck, knocking her unconscious.

Carth sighed in frustration as he tossed his datapad on his bunk. He had been searching through the personnel files for hours and he could find nothing wrong with his companion, Tauryn Katarn's service record. The soldier literally had a spotless record. Frowning, Carth stood and walked over to his unconscious companion.

In Carth's opinion, it looked like the man was having a nightmare of hallucinating. He could hear him mumbling incoherently but he could never decipher the words. Shaking his head, Carth quickly scanned the man before leaving the apartment to scout the area. The Republic soldier's exploration of Taris was uneventful. It was like any other Sith controlled world he had seen. The populations living in terror and the Sith and upper classes living off of them. Disgusted, Carth stalked to a restaurant and used some spare credits to get some food.

Bastila awoke in a cell, shivering slightly. Looking down at her apparel, Bastila snarled angrily as she eyed the slave's outfit.

"What the devil is this! I'm not a bloody tart you know!"

She screamed, groaning as the sound cause a wave of pain to assault her. The doors opened several minutes later and a dark-skinned human walked in, leering at her.

"You are now, woman."

The man declared. Bastila's eyes narrowed as she took a defensive stance. The man laughed and shook his head.

"Its too bad I've already offered you up as the Swoop Championship's prize..."

The man smirked as he eyed Bastila. Bastila glared at him and motioned with her hand, sending him into the now sealed doorway.

"What?"
Shaking his head for a moment, the man jumped to his feet.

"Guards!"
He screamed. Soon several aliens rushed into the room and shot Bastila with a stun bolt before she could recover from the headache the Force attack had given her. After a guard helped him to his feet, Brejik stared down at Bastila, shaken and angry.

"Find a neutral disruptor... now!"

He screamed to his guards. Turning his attention back to the unconscious Jedi, Brejik scowled.

Carth returned to his hideout from another scouting mission to find his companion sitting up, looking around the room with a glazed expression. Seeing Carth, Revan grunted and rubbed his head.

"What the hell happened?"

Revan asked, feeling like he had alcohol poisoning.

"You're been slipping in and out of consciousness for a few days now..."

Revan felt a dull throb in his skull and scowled, rubbing the lump that still hadn't receded as Carth continued to explain their situation.

"I guess I owe you my life... thanks. My name's Tauryn Katarn by the way."

Carth nodded.

"Carth Onasi."

The former Dark Lord smirked.

"Did you say Darth Onasi?"

Carth blinked for a moment then scowled.

"Hell no, that is NOT funny."

Revan chuckled.

"I thought it was."

Carth's eyes narrowed as he pulled a lightsaber from Revan's pack. Revan noticed the Sith Uniform he had stolen was present along with the Jedi robes he had stowed away.

"Care to explain this?"

Carth asked in a suspicious tone as he palmed his blaster. Revan gave Carth a calculating look for a moment. He could sense a lot of hostility burning in the man though overall he felt that he could trust him. After a subtle probe with the Force, Revan dismissed throwing Carth from the apartment's balcony.

"I figured we could use whatever we could get our hands on... being on a Sith occupied world. You saw me strip that armor from that Elite."

Carth scowled but nodded.

"Fine. I've been scouting this place the past couple days and-"

"In that?"

Revan asked incredulously, motioning to Carth's Republic flight suit and hideous orange jacket. Carth furrowed his brow and looked down at his own appearance.
"What?"

Shaking his head, Revan sighed.

"I don't think its such a good idea to be walking around in Republic gear... regardless of how little."

Revan muttered. Carth shrugged, he had been fine so far.

"Jedi or Sith?"

Revan asked as he stretched and stood, glad that the throbbing in his head had calmed. Carth sneered at him for a moment.

"WHAT?"

The man roared. Revan winced as the sound caused his head to throb.

"Hey Darth, quiet down."

Carth fumed at the nickname and glared down at the red Sith uniform and the obsidian Jedi robes that could easily pass as a Dark Jedi's gear.

"I'm more handy with a blaster and they might recognize me..."

Revan nodded, stalking to the refresher.

"Good, I'll be back in a minute."

Sighing in frustration, Carth shed his Republic gear and pulled on the crimson Sith armor.

"Great..."

Revan returned several minutes later, a towel draped around his neck as he eyed the Jedi robes. Carth scowled as he held the red and black Sith helmet in his hands.

"I wish there was another way..."
Revan nodded.

"Yes... but look at it this way..."
Revan began as he laced his knee high boots.

"What better way to get by the Sith patrols than by looking like one."

Knowing Revan was right, Carth said nothing, only grunted as he pulled the helmet over his head.

"It smells like someone died in this..."

Revan laughed.

"Someone was fried to a crisp in that, I'm surprised there's no carbon scoring on the outside..."
Revan added thoughtfully. Carth merely glared at his companion. Revan's bemused and groggy tone vanished instantly as he pulled the cloak over his shoulders and strapped the lightsaber to his belt along with a shoulder holstered holdout blaster and a small vibrodaggar.
"If we're going to find Bastila, we'd better hurry..."

Revan began, his serious tone so different from what it was before that Carth shivered involuntarily. The younger man's face was a mask of seriousness and intelligence that Carth was startled with for a moment before he spoke.

"I understand from your files that you speak a remarkable amount of alien languages..."
He said, trying to break through the mask of seriousness. Revan nodded, his features relaxing slightly.

"You get that running from the scum along the Outer Rim..."

Revan said bitterly. Carth nodded, knowing that the man was raised on an Outer Rim world from his files.

"You should destroy that datapad..."

Revan began. Carth briefly wondered why he was listening to a soldier, since he was the senior and superior officer but shook the thought from his mind. From what he could tell, Tauryn Katarn knew what he was doing and how to blend in. After incinerating the Republic files on the datapad, Carth followed Revan at a distance as they walked out of the apartment.

"Alright you alien scum, up against the wall!"

A Sith officer shouted, waving his blaster rifle threateningly towards two Duros. Revan shook his head.

"Get out."
He roared to the officer, pointing towards the exit. The officer gave him a puzzled look.

"You are ruining an investigation. If you have a problem with this you can always take it up with me..."

Revan took a menacing step forward, allowing his hand to reveal the lightsaber hanging from his waist. The Sith officer paled considerably.
"O- of course, sir."

The Sith officer and his droids vanished within moments. Revan turned to the two Duros.
"Leave, now."

He said simply. Both Duros nodded and quickly rushed away.

"That was fun..."

Carth muttered sarcastically through his mechanical filter. Revan made no response as he led the way from the apartment.

"This place is in pretty bad shape..."

Revan said thoughtfully as he eyed the slightly worn appearance of the Tarisian upper city. Carth snorted.

"This is nothing. They say it gets worse the further you go down. Damn Sith."

Revan sneered for a moment towards a Sith trooper that walked too closely to him. The trooper jerked in shock and scurried away from what he thought to be a Dark Jedi.

"Kind of reminds me of Nar Shadda... and Coruscant..."

Carth scowled slightly, knowing the comparison had some merit.

"Yea, lets get moving. We don't have time to stand around all day."

Revan nodded his agreement as he led Carth to another section of the Tarisian cityscape. As he approached a walkway, Revan heard a man crying out.

"Help me, please! They're going to kill me!"

Turning his attention to Carth, Revan gave him a questioning look.

"Its not like we don't stick out already..."

Carth muttered as Revan nodded and walked over to the two bounty hunters and the old man.

"What's all this racket?"
Revan snarled in an excellent impression of a Dark Jedi.

"Hey hold on, looks like we've got some company..."

The human bounty hunter said to his aqualish companion.

"You know the deal between Davik and you Sith..."

The man muttered dismissive and turned back to threaten the old man. Revan sighed, shaking his head.

"The deal is with the governor, not me."

Revan hissed. The bounty hunter stiffened and turned.

"It looks like we're going to have to teach you a lesson then..."

The man muttered, nodding to his companion. Before either of them could pull their weapons, they both felt Revan's hands on their shoulders.

"Goodbye."

Revan sighed as he threw the offending bounty hunters over the edge of the walkway.

"Thank you for saving me!"

The old man began, Revan glared at the man.

"Get the hell away from me."

Revan snarled, causing the old man to stumble away in shock and fear. Carth was about to comment on his companion's cruelty when he noticed a squad of Sith troopers approaching the spectacle. One of the troopers looked over the edge of the walkway and laughed, clapping his hand on Revan's shoulder.

"That was a great idea!"

Revan smirked.

"Gets your filthy hands off me, low class."

The soldier stiffened for a moment and glared at Revan through his mask.

"What did you-"

The man's words were cut off by a blood curdling scream as Revan took the offending hand and twisted it, bringing the trooper to his knees.

"I said..."

Revan began, hearing a snap.

"Get. Your. Filthy. Hands. Off. Me. Low. Class."

Revan enunciated each word with more pressure, causing the trooper to cry out in pain. Releasing the trooper, Revan waited for the man's reaction. The other troopers stood by laughing at the man.

"Fine..."
The man breathed as he stood and held his arm. Revan nodded, turning on his heel and walking through the walkway with Carth following close behind. Revan heard a pop and the man scream as he tried to fix his dislocated shoulder.

"Wasn't that a but... extreme?"

Carth questioned quietly. Revan shook his head.

"From what I've seen of the Sith, we fit in perfectly. And we couldn't make it look like we were trying to help that man..."

Carth nodded silently. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought his companion was just having fun.

"So where are you from?"

Revan asked suddenly as he and Carth continued down the walkways, ignoring a group of drunken men who were trying to get their attention.

"Telos..."

Carth answered simply. Revan nodded.

"Which war?"

Carth grumbled something inaudible to himself and growled.

"Both."

He said simply as he glared at Revan. Revan nodded once more.

"Where have I heard of Onasi and Telos before..."

Revan furrowed his brow in thought. He had heard that a Sith patrol had captured a group of citizens before the bombardment of Telos and could have sworn that he remembered hearing the name Onasi from Admiral Karath as he spoke with Malak.

"Sorry..."
Revan began. Carth sighed heavily.

"Don't worry about it. I'm not used to people prying into my past."

Revan nodded.

"So what about you, where are you from?"

Carth asked as they navigated past a man shouting about evils walking amongst them. Revan turned his head to glare at the man for a moment before rolling his eyes and continuing to the lift that would take them to the Undercity.

"Some Outer Rim world that the Mandalorians burned when I was a kid..."

Revan did not add that he was one of those Mandalorians. Carth was silent for a moment before he sighed.

"Lovely galaxy we live in, huh?"
He muttered sarcastically. Revan sighed as well as he passed the silver clad guard and entered the lift to the Undercity, ignoring what the trooper was saying.

"Yes... yes we do."

Revan motioned for Carth to fall silent as the lift doors closed. Taking a datapad, Revan quickly wrote down the reason.

"The lift may have listening devices in it, be silent until we clear it on the lower levels."

Carth nodded and handed the datapad back to Revan as the former Jedi leaned against the wall. As the lift slowed, Revan pulled himself from the wall and pulled his blaster.

"From what I've heard the scum down here doesn't wait until you're ready."

Revan added. Carth nodded, readying his blasterpistols. The lift doors opened and immediately blasterfire rained into the lift. Revan noticed that the fire seemed to be random and chanced a glance. Two groups of aliens and humans were exchanging fire between themselves and it looked as though the group of Tradosians was winning.

"What do you see?"

Carth yelled, firing randomly from the lift.

"Looks like a gang war..."

Revan muttered as he pulled himself back into the lift and waited as the sounds of battle slowly died down.

"Why do you think they were fighting here?"

Carth asked as he searched his pack for a grenade. The sound of battle ceased and Revan heard an alien shouting.

"Sith are not welcome here!"

Casting a glance to Carth, Revan nodded to the soldier as he raised his holdout blaster and fired a volley alongside the Republic Commander. The Vulkars were soon dead and the two made their way to their bodies. Revan kicked one of the less dead corpses and fired a single blast into his skull.

"I never said I wanted to be a Jedi again, I just said I didn't want to be the Lord of the Sith..."

Revan mentally reasoned as he made a disgusted face at the corpses.

"Looks like they are wearing the colors of the Black Vulkars... A local gang."

Revan nodded to Carth's explanation.

"Mind if I ask you something, soldier?"

Carth asked, pulling rank. Revan shrugged as he warily eyed his surroundings.

"Go for it Republic boy."

Carth scowled for a moment before asking.

"You seem a bit... bloodthirsty... Any reason?"

Carth asked. Revan winced slightly. To be truthful he was pissed that he couldn't get a good lock on Bastila's presence and was beginning to think she was seriously injured.

"I just don't like seeing all this scum in one place... It reminds me of the war..."

Revan explained. Noticing Carth's already intense scowl darkening, Revan added.

"And I don't like to help people who bring it upon themselves..."

Carth frowned for a moment.

"Like that old man?"
Revan nodded.

"He brought it on himself when he chose to deal with Davik..."

Carth nodded.

"I can see your point... and we don't want to attract too much attention..."

Revan snorted.

"I think Bastila's down here personally. The Sith would've spotted her easily in the upper levels..."

The former Dark Lord did not add the fact that he could sense her somewhere in the lower levels. Carth did not question him.

"Yea, I hope she's alright. She may have crashed into the Undercity..."

The two companions shuddered at the thought.

"Maybe we should check out the cantina..."

Carth suggested. Revan smirked.

"I could use some Tarisian ale..."

Carth chuckled for a moment and followed Revan through the lower levels of the Tarisian cityplanet.