Carth:

I should have known that as soon as we were done with the ruins Rian and Bastila would be whisked away by the Jedi Council. I should have known that the Jedi Masters wouldn't give a nosy Republic pilot a warm reception. I should have known that Bastila would have been tight-lipped and icy. But Rian? That was too much.

A sigh escaped me as I slouched into my bunk in the crew quarters that Bastila designated as male. As soon as we finally made it back to the Ebon Hawk, Rian locked herself in the female crew quarters to think. I could only imagine what that meant. At least she had taken the time to scrub the vomit out of her hair.

Forn Dodonna wanted an update on the Jedi's activities in approximately two standard minutes. I flipped my datapad open and connected to the holo-net. The correct coordinates typed in and a moment later Admiral Dodonna was looking at me flatly.

"Report," she commanded. "And for goodness sake, speak plainly."

I nodded. "The Jedi seem to think they know how Malak has become so powerful," I said.

"I assume it's more than exercise and vitamins," Dodonna replied.

I swallowed hard. It wasn't difficult to see how that woman had become an admiral. She had a smile like a firaxa.

"There are these ruins on Dantooine that the Jedi had assumed to be simply ancient tombs and burial grounds," I explained. "But we explored them after discovering that Revan and Malak had visited them."

"Onasi," Dodonna cut in irritably. "In half an hour I need to smile pretty and kiss the Republic Senate's ass, so please get to the point."

"Of course." I nodded furiously. "The Jedi think that Malak has access to something called the Star Forge."

"What's the Star Forge?"

I sighed. "They don't know. They're going to send Bastila Shan and Rian Vega out to look for it."

"I'm aware of who Bastila Shan is, but who's Rian Vega?" Dodonna asked. "Shan's Master?"

"No," I answered. "She's a former smuggler and was employed by the Jedi for the mission aboard the Endar Spire. When we got to Dantooine, the Masters decided to train her as a Jedi for whatever reason."

Admiral Dodonna's eyes narrowed for a moment as she thought.

"Peculiar as hell," she muttered before she looked up at me. "Onasi, I want you to send me as much information as you have on Rian Vega. I'll see if anyone on my end can dig anything up. I want to know what we have on our hands."

"Understood." I nodded.

"Good," Dodonna replied before disconnecting.

I saluted to the blank screen and began to input everything I knew into my datapad. Rian Vega, age 26. Former smuggler, current Jedi. Home world: Deralia. Nice ass. I chuckled as I deleted the last sentence. I doubted Admiral Dodonna would have found it as amusing as I had.

As I sent the information to Dodonna, T3-M4 rolled into the small room. The droid bleated irritably and I laughed.

"She really did that?" I asked.

T3 gave a mournful whistle.

"Well, you've got to admit, you do look like a footstool," I replied.

The droid gurgled rudely.

"Come a little closer and say that so I can kick you," I dared.

T3-M4 continued to bleep obscenities as it scurried out of the crew quarters. He actually thought I'd kick him. Weird.

The rust bucket did have a good point. I figured I should check on Rian. She had been holed up in the crew quarters for too long and if what T3-M4 said was any indication of her activities, I'd rather put a stop to them than wait for Bastila to do so.

As I left the cramped quarters, I noted that the little astromech hadn't made it very far. Pinned beneath Canderous Ordo's firm boot, T3-M4 gibbered frantically. The Mandalorian shot me a bored expression.

"Keep walking, Onasi," Canderous said.

"What are you doing?" I demanded.

"It doesn't concern you," Canderous replied.

"I won't let you terrorize any member of this crew, droid included," I decided.

The Mandalorian barked out a laugh. "Terrorize?" he chuckled. "This damn obstinate droid has a jammed servo that needs to be repaired. It's painless, but he's being a baby about it."

Canderous accentuated the word "baby" by hefting more weight on top of the droid. T3-M4 tooted at me desperately.

"You're right," I agreed. "It doesn't concern me."

"You might want to get going, Onasi," Canderous advised. "It's going to get ugly."

I turned to T3. "Get over yourself."

The droid spared me an acidic gurgle.

I continued on my original path and ended up outside the women's crew quarters. I cleared my throat loudly before knocking on the door.

"Nobody's in here," Rian called from in the room.

"Are you going to let me in, or am I going to have to get Mission to override the lock?" I asked.

The door slid open and Rian headed back to the bed she had claimed.

"How are you doing?" I asked, shutting the door behind me.

"Alright," she grumbled, as she turned her attention back to the datapad opened on her bed. "I'm sure I'll get enough time to sleep it off in hyperdrive."

"Hyperdrive? Where are we going?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out." Rian chuckled as she motioned towards the screen of her datapad.

"What do you need help figuring out?" I sat down next to her and peered over her shoulder.

The corroded Star Map was displayed in Rian's datapad. Behind the Star Map's sparse information she had input a handful of trade routes. I recognized the Hydian Way first because Telos was part of that particular route.

"We've got to go to these planets looking for more Star Maps, right?" Rian smothered her words with the lip of a glass that smelled of fruit and brandy. "I'm just not sure which one to visit first."

"Why not just go in order?" I suggested. "From Dantooine they practically form a straight line. Korriban, then Kashyyyk, Manaan and Tatooine. It would save a lot of travel time."

Rian raised an eyebrow. "You really want to go to Korriban first?"

"Why not?" I took the glass from her hands and set it on the floor. "We'll have to go there eventually, won't we?"

"I was hoping to save that dust bowl for last," Rian admitted. "Korriban doesn't exactly strike me as a fun place to be."

"And Tatooine or Manaan do?" I laughed. "Those damned idiot ancients, they should have constructed their artifacts on Coruscant, huh?"

"Or Corellia." Rian nodded. "But seriously now, Korriban's home of a huge Sith academy."

"What about Manaan, then?"

"They have an interesting legal system there, don't they?" she asked.

"And?"

"Do you honestly think that this motley crew has the ability at present time to not get thrown into a Selkath prison?" Rian grinned.

"Point taken." I nodded. "So we've narrowed it down to either Kashyyyk or Tatooine."

"Yeah, they both sound pretty harmless," Rian agreed.

"So should we flip some credits over it?" I teased.

"Well…" Rian's smile widened. "Tatooine has 23 hour days, but Kashyyyk has 26 hour days. That's an entire hour more to sleep than what we get here on Dantooine."

"So Kashyyyk it is, then." I laughed. "What has Bastila had to say on the matter?"

"She wants to do Tatooine first," Rian said. "Then Manaan, then Kashyyyk, then Korriban. That way, once we're finished, we can run right back to Dantooine and tell the Masters everything."

"It does make some sense," I said.

Rian grimaced. "So does saving Manaan and Korriban for last."

"Well, you could go Tatooine, then Kashyyyk and still save those two for last," I suggested.

"But then that creates a big zigzag," Rian pointed out. "If we do Kashyyyk first, then we've got a sort of circle."

"You've got it all figured out then," I replied.

"Besides, Zaalbar hasn't been to his home planet in years." Rian grinned. "It might be a nice surprise for him. I'm sure he's got some Wookiee ladies that he's been dying to see."

I laughed. "That was definitely not a mental image that I needed."

Rian shrugged and shut the datapad. She reached for her glass and I slapped her hand away.

"Are you looking for a fight, pal?" She raised an eyebrow.

"What are your nightmares about?" I asked.

"They're nothing," Rian insisted. She reached for the glass again.

I didn't stop her. "I think they are," I said.

She didn't reply. Instead, Rian took a heavy slug of her drink.

"Come on," I urged. "Everyone has nightmares. I do too, sometimes. They can't be that bad."

Rian continued to ignore me and concentrated on her brandy.

"What could your nightmares be about?" I wondered aloud. "Canderous Ordo as a cross dresser?"

"Yeah, you're right." Rian smiled. "The worst part is that he has boobs that are bigger than mine."

"But that can't be all, can it?" I continued. "Maybe Mission and T3-M4 having a lovechild?"

"Those robotic head-tails are terrifying," she lamented.

"Or is it worse?" I grinned. "Am I in them?"

Rian began to choke on her drink.

"I am in them, aren't I?"

She finished off her drink. "Not all of them. Not all of the time."

"Rian, I'll never do anything to hurt you," I said. "You've got to believe that."

She laughed lightly as she patted me on the cheek. "You honestly believe that you're the monster in my nightmares?"

"What am I doing in them, then?" I asked.

"You're not in all of them," Rian said. "The worse ones have Revan in them. Bastila has them too. She claims they're visions."

"Those nightmares were the root of all this Star Forge nonsense, huh?" I realized.

Rian nodded.

"But what about the nightmares with me?"

"They're much nicer." Rian giggled. "We're just separated and you're screaming for me. It's funny because I feel different, like I'm not really me. Taller. Blonder. There's always something that I say too…"

"You never did cry for me, did you darling?" we murmured in unison.

"How did you—?"

"That isn't your nightmare." I replied.