Rian:

            I should have throttled Bastila.  I still couldn't comprehend how she managed to convince me to show up at the Sith Military base.  It certainly wasn't due to her modest demeanor.

            I guess that I was thankful for whatever she did to me the night before.  Where my shoulder was previously a mound of chewed up nerf burger fresh pink skin was in its place.  Sure there was going to be a small scar, but it would be nothing in comparison to what it would have been otherwise.  A part of me wanted to show Zelka Forn to see his reaction to my speedy recovery.

            Despite my healed arm I still wasn't comfortable around her.  I didn't like her, that was a given; overly attractive arrogant women have never made me happy, but there was something else.  It almost felt like Bastila could read my mind.  When I woke up in the morning from the nightmare in which she had a staring role, I found Bastila wide awake, her eyes on me.

            "Is something wrong?" she had asked.  "You seem as if something is troubling you."

            "Forget it, it's nothing." I snapped immediately.

            Bastila nodded slowly.  "As you wish." was all she said, but her eyes regarded me carefully for a time after that.

            To hell with Bastila, anyway, I thought.  She was hiding safe and sound in the apartment while I was stuck frolicking towards the Sith military base.  To top things off, I was stuck with a somber Wookiee, a whistling droid and a sulky flyboy.

            Carth had finally reclaimed his jacket after he saw the damage I was capable of.  I had never seen a man get so bent out of shape over a single piece of clothing.  He acted as though I had tried to stab his eyes out with a fork.

            I had to settle on borrowing a top from Mission.  It fit too well for my liking.  I suppose it could have been worse, her shirt could have been loose on my figure.

            It didn't really matter anyway.  Mission's top was hidden by some brand new body armor.  Unbeknownst to Bastila, I also carried her lightsaber.  There was no way I wasn't taking every precaution possible.

            Carth and Zaalbar had offered to come along with me and the metal footstool.  It was a shame that Mission was fond of the little droid, as soon as I could get alone with it, I'd disassemble it and sell it for parts.  As far as I was concerned a droid was useless if it couldn't speak anything other than Droid Speak.

            Metal-head must have picked up on my thoughts.  It burbled and rolled away from me.

            "She's not that bad." Carth replied to the droid.

            "That depends." I replied.  "How bad did it say I was?"

            "What?" Carth asked.  "Didn't you hear him?"

            "I heard a couple of 'bleeps' followed by a 'boop,' yes." I said.  "But it doesn't mean I can understand any of it."

            "Is that some sort of joke?" Carth sounded incredulous.

            "No.  It's not."  I gritted my teeth.

            "Really?"  His brown eyes widened.  "Sometimes I catch you speaking Rodese in your sleep.  I just figured that between all the exotic languages you do know, you would have to understand a simple language like Droid Speak."

            "Well, you figured wrong." I muttered.  "Let's just get this over with, okay?"

            The bucket on wheels rolled forward to the control panel for the military base's door.  It gave an irritated bleat as a metal probe appeared out of its front.  The T3 unit attached itself to the control panel and after a display of toots and flying sparks, the door slide open.

            We entered what appeared to be some sort of reception area.  A female Twi'lek behind a desk jerked her head up, startled.  Her milk white lekku signed out a stream of obscenities while her mouth remained more professional.

            "You can't come in here!" she protested.  "This is a restricted area!  You better tell me what you're doing or I'm going to hit the alarm!"

            I straightened my posture and turned my nose up at her.  "I'm here for a meeting."  I tried to sound as snooty as possible.  "Don't worry; I know where I have to go."

            The Twi'lek raised an eyebrow.  "Nice try." she replied.  "You think that just because I'm pretty I'm also stupid?"

            "I was hoping." I muttered.

            Carth glared at me.

            "Tell me why you're here or I'll hit the alarm and you'll have about three seconds before this office is swarming with Sith soldiers." she threatened.

            T3-M4 let loose a low whistle.

            I sighed.  "I had wished it wouldn't have come to this." I confessed.

            I began to dig through my pockets until I found what I was looking for.  I pulled out a fifty credit piece, my last fifty credit piece.  I cringed as I pressed the bribe into the Twi'lek woman's hand.  I was now officially broke.

            "You might want to get out of here before it gets messy." I advised.

            Fortunately, she took the bait and abandoned her post.  I held my breath until I was certain that the woman had left for good.  I let my posture slump back to normal.

            "Get super droid over here."  I pointed to the terminal behind the desk.

            A decidedly rude noise emitted from the droid as it rolled over to the terminal.  I ground my teeth together.  Forget scrapping that pricey caffa table for parts, I think I'd find melting it down into nothing more satisfying.

            The T3 unit hooked itself to the computer terminal while Carth fingered his blasters anxiously.  Zaalbar seemed to be the only one who was truly calm.

            "How do you think Mission is faring against Bastila?" I interrupted the silence.

            "Mission can take care of herself."  Carth smirked.  "I'm more worried about Bastila.  Have you ever tried to play pazaak with that kid?"

            I glowered.  So Carth thought Bastila was some sort of damsel in distress that needed protecting, did he?  This did not bode well for any of my would-be future manipulations.

            The T3 unit whistled as it revealed the military base's security cameras.  Maybe the pile of bolts wasn't so bad after all, not that I wouldn't scrap it in a heartbeat.

            "So, if we're going to avoid all the Sith soldiers, we should just stay in this room." I grumbled.

            "Teethree," Carth said.  "are there any terminals or war droids in the other rooms?"

            The droid bleeped its reply.

            "What are you getting at?" I asked.

            "Overload the terminals, then reprogram the droids to attack the Sith." he commanded.

            "So you are pretty useful." I mused.

            "You're not so bad, yourself."  Carth raised an eyebrow.

            We waited for a few minutes until the blasts on the other side of the door quieted.  I looked around, from droid, to Wookiee to human.  Was I the only one that wanted to run screaming?

            "That should have cleared up the majority of trouble we would have faced."  Carth cleared his throat.  "But we should still be careful.  Anything can happen."

            I could use my stealth generator.  That would reduce the chance of an untimely death.  Of course, I'd be following two heavy footed fellows and a gibbering droid.  Scoundrel's luck be damned, I was convinced that I'd be fortunate enough to take a hit in their crossfire.  I fell in line, conveniently behind Zaalbar.

            The hallways were quiet save for the marching feet of the reprogrammed droids.  For trained soldiers, those Sith were really caught off guard when their own droids started to attack them.

            "Where do you think the launch codes will be?" I whispered.

            "Probably in the Governor's office." came Carth's response.

            We continued down the halls in silence.  The overloaded terminals and droids seemed to have worked for the most part.  On the occasions that there were a few remaining soldiers, Carth and Zaalbar made quick work of them while I was left quaking in my boots.  T3-M4 appeared to be utterly useless.

            We reached the final room at the end of the hall with little fuss.

            "Past this room should be the stairs leading to the Governor's office." Carth said.

            As the door slid open we were faced with a gigantic droid of doom.

            "Just great." I muttered.

            Zaalbar stepped in front of me while he and Carth started to lay it to waste.  Their blaster fire seemed to bounce off the droid's shields.

            "This isn't working!" Carth screamed.  "We're going to have to take cover!"

            Zaalbar, Carth and I dove to the side of the doorway as the droid erupted in blaster fire of its own.

            "What are we going to do?" I demanded

            Zaalbar gave a disgruntled moan.

            "I'm working on it." Carth snapped.  "If we had some ion grenades this would be a hell of a lot easier."

            Just then, the blaster fire coming from the droid ceased.  In its place were gurgles and whistles.

            "Where's the T3 unit?" I asked.

            Carth scratched at his goatee before he peered around the door.  "I don't believe this." he mumbled.

            "What's going on?" I wondered.  As I poked my head around the doorway, I think my jaw hit the floor.

            T3-M4 stood a mere yard away from the other droid and the two were conversing.  Amid the mishmash of burbles and toots, the other droid dropped his shield.  What the hell was going on?

            I didn't get the chance to figure it out.  A blast smashed into the enormous droid and it crashed into the ground.  I looked over my shoulder to see Zaalbar, his bowcaster in hand, a smile crooked on his face.

            "Show off."  I grumbled.

            The Wookiee laughed.

            "The Governor's office is right ahead." Carth cut in.  "Let's do this quick."

            The Governor's office was a small little room with a desk and a file cabinet.  As luck would have it, the Governor's office also contained the Governor himself.  On a small mat in the middle of the floor in full lotus, his eyes flew open as we entered the room.

            "Who dares to break my meditation?" he demanded with a practiced menace.  "You will pay for interrupting my… wait."

            Carth had his blasters aimed at the other man and Zaalbar had placed himself between me and harm's way.  The Governor stood up and looked at me curiously.

            "I sense the Force is strong within you." he murmured.  "Very strong."

            "You take one step closer to her and you'll have a smoking hole in your head." Carth warned.

            The Governor spared Carth a bored expression.  As he flicked his wrist I was hit with a strange sensation.  Almost as if my muscles were transforming into stone from flesh as they constricted.  The feeling washed over me suddenly, but just as quickly disappeared.

            It seemed to have affected Carth and Zaalbar as well.  Where it was a moment of discomfort on my part, however, it seemed to have them frozen in their spots.  I reached for Bastila's lightsaber.

            "What did you do?"  I ignited the doubled-bladed weapon.

            "Who would have thought a Force adept could be found on this insignificant planet?"  A crimson blade sprang to life in his hands.  "But your talent is no match for a disciple of the Dark Side!"

            This was not good.  Not good at all.  If I managed not to lose control of my bodily functions, I might be lucky and live long enough to tell Bastila how much I hated her for sticking me in this situation.

            He struck first, and I parried easily.  He was toying with me.

            "I'm going to enjoy gutting you." I growled.

            He smiled.  "Yes, feed the anger and hatred within yourself." he coaxed.  "Call upon the power of the Dark Side.  But not even that can save you now!"

            While he was looking into my eyes, I stomped on his foot.  He yelped, but instantly sent me sprawling into the wall with whatever "Force voodoo" he was using.  I nearly maimed myself on the cumbersome double-bladed weapon that I was holding.

            I never thought I would die like that.  I always pictured it to be something more cinematic than me lying in a pathetic heap on the floor with some ugly skinhead gloating over me.  What a lousy way to kick it.

            He lifted his lightsaber high above my head, while I wracked my brain to see if there was any god worth praying to.  He appeared still for a moment.  Then his eyes widened, first with shock, then with pain.  As he howled, I took advantage and slashed through his chest with my lightsaber.

            It's interesting how even the most masculine of men tend to shriek like little girls when the opportunity presents itself.  Most men might argue differently, but most men never have lived to boast after getting their backside toasted by a flamethrower-toting astromech droid.

            T3 chortled.

            I grimaced at the droid.  "Are you trying to prove yourself, or something?" I asked.

            In the meanwhile, Carth and Zaalbar had come to.  I started rummaging through the Governor's desk until I found the datapad containing the launch codes.

            "Let's get out of here." I said.

            No one argued.