Oh look, another update already! I am trying to keep to a scedule, but I cannot make any promises. Many thanks for the few and proud who have stuck with me this long and left me feedback. I hope you are enjoying the ride!

"Imbeciles," Canderous thought to himself. "Idiots one and all, down to the last man."

His voice rattled with grumpy annoyance in his mind. He stood guard at the foot of the freighter's boarding ramp, watching Sith agents load containers and boxes of pilfered supplies from the hangar. They should have been gone by now—long gone. There was no mystery in his mind how Revan came to rule these morons; or how much the Sith needed her leadership. This was foolishness; every passing minute increased the chance they would be caught…and the chance that the others would figure out their little tracer trick had been discovered. He knew them; this surely would be the first place they would look, or at least regroup.

"Enough," he growled under his breath. He turned to march up the ramp just as Maysaat bounded out excitedly.

"Canderous!" she yipped joyfully, a broad smile dancing across her face. "Just as you said…except the Wookiee smell…" she added with a wrinkled nose.

"Hadn't noticed," he grunted back. "Why are we still here? Where is Revan?"

"We have sent word, now that the ship is secured. Darth Yuthura and Lord Revan are on their way. They need to gather a few items from the base and they will be here."

"What took so long? The ship was secured as soon as we entered the hangar!" he yelled back.

The plan had worked better than even Canderous had anticipated. The ICE card he used to slice the system allowed him access to every bay and door in the spaceport; he simply walked past security and onto the ship. Not a single shot had been fired, much to the endless annoyance and disappointment of HK.

"We should have left at once. Time is fleeting in this!" he shouted.

"Follow you blindly? Lead us into a trap, perhaps? We had to make sure, especially after the tracking patch. But I am happy you did not disappoint," she said with a sly grin, her hand reaching up to his cheek. Her fingers began to stroke along his jaw and she pressed dangerously close to his body, her curves brushing against him. Canderous pulled away from her touch. Undaunted, she continued to paw at him, slipping her hand onto his hip as she positioned herself again against him, making sure contact was made in the most obvious places. Deliberately and slowly, she raised herself on her toes, causing a sensual slide up his body. "We are on the same side, my friend," she whispered as she leaned into him, her lips close to his face, "no need to pretend you don't want…"

"I want to see Revan," he stated flatly as he turned from her and resumed his guard position.

Maysaat stumbled at the sudden loss of his support and nearly tripped down the rest of the ramp. "You will change your mind," she vowed. "Once you know what you are missing, you will beg."

"You're the only one begging here, sweetheart. Can't say as I blame ya."

Maysaat glowered at his back, then stormed into the ship, barely avoiding HK as he emerged from the hold.

"Statement: I have never wanted so badly to kill a meatbag as I wish to excoriate that Zeltron. I desire to terminate that organic even more than Yuka Laka." An angry buzzing vibrated from the droid. "Exclamation: Boxes! I am ordered to carry boxes! My genius engineering and programming, reduced to being a porter? Declaration: Oh, that meatbag will pay…how they all will rue the day…I will greatly enjoy watching them all suffer. Observation: I find the thought most soothing."

"Not now," Canderous growled.

"Query: upon the return of the Master, which should I ask for first? To be properly repaired, or permission to choke the useless breath from that organic's scrawny neck? I find either prospect equally satisfying."

"You'll get your chance to ask soon enough. Revan is finally on her way," Canderous huffed. "So let's get the next phase of this plan started. Let's hear your impression of Onasi."

"Clarification: excuse me?"

"We need to get flight clearance codes in order to get off world. Best way to do that is for Carth to ask for them. Since he isn't exactly willing to help us out, it is up to you to sound like him. So, let's hear it," Canderous moved his hand in a rolling motion, encouraging the droid to speak up.

HK paused, then made a small series of electronic coughs, as if clearing his throat. "Impression: Oh woe is me!" HK began as he slouched forward and waved his hands melodramatically. Carth's voice filled the air, with only the slightest trace of mechanical drone. "Angst: My mentor betrayed me so I cannot trust anyone, anywhere! My son is an obnoxious, insufferable whiney meatbag who cannot behave. My above average piloting skills and marginal fighting ability lend me some measure of confidence, which I sorely lack in all other areas of my pathetic existence.

"Melodrama: While I claim to expect the unexpected, I am constantly surprised and aghast at events unfolding around me, which I then complain and whine about at length.

"Distress: I appear completely incapable of grooming myself properly as these two strands of hair remain ever out of place and I cannot seem to position myself close enough to a shaving device in order to remove this disturbing facial growth. My fashion sense is clearly nonexistent as evidenced by my choice of apparel—oh that jacket!

"Delusion: I can find nothing better to do with my insignificant self than to follow Master and…"

"Alright!" Canderous shouted, too angry to laugh, but damn close to it anyways. "Got that out of your system? Now do it right!"

"Confusion: Was that not correct? I found it a perfect impression of that simpering meatbag pilot."

"Listen, scrap heap, no funny business. You need to get up in that cockpit and radio in for the security launch codes, and you need to make them believe Onasi is asking for them. Got it?"

"Comprehension: Ah, I see. You wish me to impersonate the human. Query: Why did you not say so?" With that HK turned and took himself up the ramp, heading towards the darkness of the cargo bay.

Canderous breathed hotly as he watched the droid stomp away. He was certain the pile of junk was defiant on purpose, just enough to be annoying without being disobedient. Why HK was following his orders anyway was an interesting question. HK was fully autonomous and had never been subject to a purge; the data collected over the years had formed an unusually strong personality in the droid, an uncommon sense of self. He could, at any moment, act on any of his desires, and Canderous had no doubt that one of them was to kill him—not too difficult a conclusion, given the droid's deep appreciation for violence equaled only by his hatred for everything living. Without Revan to hold him in check, HK was capable of anything. But now, now that she had turned, would Revan place such restrictions on him? Canderous scowled darkly; he had to get to Revan first. He realized asking to kill Maysaat was not the only request HK would have for his master. He snarled at the retreating red metal as it vanished into the ship's hold, but his thoughts were quickly interrupted by a familiar sound behind him.

"About damn time," he grumbled to himself. He turned when he heard the door opening and looked up, expecting to see Revan, but saw his former teammates stroll in. They were completely off guard.

Canderous took aim.