Guys, I must warn you, I'm not sure if the next update will appear in the next two weeks. I have a lot of exams at university and I spend most of my time studying. So you can expect the next chapter to be published in three weeks I guess.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 21

Following Kreia's advice, Meetra and Atton proceeded further, making their way towards the rear of the ship and the fuel line. The Exile was doing her best to use the Force to probe the area in front of them, hoping to get a better understanding of what, or who was waiting for them. Luck appeared to be on their side – she sensed no one. Meetra would have let out a sigh of relief if it wasn't for Kreia's earlier words: I sense no one on board, she remembered. And yet, a Sith had found them. She didn't drop her senses for a split second, all the way to the engines.

Luckily, her senses weren't failing her. They haven't encountered a single enemy on their way. But that's as far as their luck took them. The doors to the engines were sealed.

"So far with your brilliant plan of getting out of here" Atton murmured but loud enough for her to hear him.

"For once you could do something useful instead of talking" Meetra replied, rolling her eyes angrily. "It's really not a good time for being a smartarse."

"Alright, alright, I'll see what I can do," Atton said quickly, lifting his hands in the air. "No need to throw a tantrum." Meetra rolled her eyes again, holding back a remark. "Alright, what do we have here?" Atton asked himself, approaching the door. Meetra positioned herself behind him. She was tightly clutching the vibrosword. She might have talked about it with Kreia, but she learned long ago to check everything by herself. After all, both Atton and Kreia could have been lying to her. "Two plus two is four, minus one that's three" he murmured to himself while working on the securities. Meetra looked at him as if he had grown out a second head.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Quick maths" he replied. "Pure Pazaak" he added, repeating the same words he said after gaining access to the terminal. The doors were opened for them.

Before Atton could as much as blink, Meetra closed the distance that was separating them and put her arm around his throat while at the same time pressing the vibrosword to his neck. She pressed him tightly against her body and the blade was touching his skin, threatening him if he made any sudden movement.

"What the…" he reacted, feeling the coolness of the blade on his neck. "Not a 'thank you' I was quite expecting," he said jokingly. He held his hands in the air.

"I demand answers," Meetra said. Her tone indicated clearly that she meant business. "Who did you contact?"

"What are you talking about?" Atton asked, genuinely surprised.

"I've seen you talking to someone when I was standing on the scaffolding" she explained; her voice was cold as the blade of her vibrosword. "A few moments later, the Harbinger, carrying the Sith on board, arrived at Peragus. So I repeat. Who. Did. You. Contact?" she said through clenched teeth. Atton thanked silently that he wasn't facing her. Otherwise, Meetra would have undoubtedly noticed the stress that was written all over his face.

"I was contacting a fellow smuggler" he replied quickly, hoping that his voice didn't betray him. Luckily for him, he perfected his lying skills during his life. "I was hoping that he would be able to get us the fuck out of here."

"And so it happened that the smuggler you've contacted was a Sith" Meetra countered, though she couldn't detect a lie in his voice.

"Have you gone mad?!" Atton burst out, trying to turn around but Meetra didn't allow him to move a single inch. "Have you already forgotten that droid you've encountered back in the mining tunnels? You've said yourself that we've been discovered. It was that trashcan that gave out our position, not me!" he begged her.

"Let's say I believe you… for now" Meetra said, still holding Atton in a deadly grasp. "Now onto the second question: How was I transferred from the Harbinger to the Ebon Hawk?" she asked.

Tell her the pieces of truth and colorize it, Revan's words echoed in Atton's mind. He took in a deep breath. "I've kidnapped you from the Republic ship" he admitted.

"And for what reason?"

"I don't know" he replied. "I'm a simple bounty hunter. Kreia hired me but she didn't explain for what reason. My job was to help her get you out of the Republic cruiser and work for her as a pilot."

"A bounty hunter, huh?" she queried. "Maybe you were trying to collect a bounty for me on Nar Shaddaa? You've said it yourself that this bounty is pretty high."

"Trust me, if I wanted to turn you to the Exchange, we would have never stopped here, on Peragus" Atton countered. "We took you from the Republic in the Serenno System and we were on our way to Telos. After getting hit, we landed on Peragus. Had we made a jump to Nar Shaddaa, we would have never arrived here. And trust me, I'd much rather be on the smuggler's moon right now than here, on this rock. The Red Sector is a place I haven't visited for far too long and I'd like to enjoy myself in the cantina with a nice company."

Meetra couldn't help but feel a little hurt at Atton's words. During her time in exile, she visited Nar Shaddaa more than once and she was fully aware of what the Red Sector was. A mere thought of prostitution was repulsive for her but she wasn't born yesterday. She knew that for many women this was the only way of earning money. But the idea of Atton spending time with them caused a twinge of jealousy in her.

"And how exactly did you kidnap me?" she asked, deciding to ignore Atton's words about Nar Shaddaa. "And I warn you, if I sense you trying to lie to me, you won't live long enough to regret it."

"I disguised myself as a doctor and I drugged you" Atton admitted. Meetra wasn't sure if she heard a trace of regret in his voice. Or at least something close to it. "The Harbinger was already under attack by the Sith and I had to act quickly. This was the only idea I came up with, but don't worry. I didn't inject you with anything harmful. Only soporific that ensured you would sleep for a couple of hours."

"I was unconscious more than just a couple of hours" Meetra countered.

"Don't look at me" Atton replied, still trying to get himself out of Meetra's tight embrace. But the small woman proved to be much stronger than he originally anticipated. "I made sure that the dose I gave you would make you sleep twelve hours at best."

"And how can you be so sure?"

"I'm a bounty hunter, remember?" he countered. Nice one, Jaq, he praised himself. Now it was much more convincing. "I'm an expert at such things. The reason why you were unconscious longer had to be due to something the miners did to you before putting you up into the kolto tank. And before you ask, if I wanted to transport you to Nar Shaddaa, you still would be lying unconscious and we would be far away from this rock."

Meetra was at war with her own thoughts. Atton wasn't good at lying, especially in a stressful situation, so he obviously told her the truth. Although his actions were… questionable at best. A little reluctantly, Meetra released the man from her tight embrace and lowered the vibrosword, though she still kept it in her hand.

"Nice 'thank you' for opening the doors" Atton commented, massaging his neck that was sore from remaining in an uncomfortable position. "Though I must admit, I enjoyed being this close to you… especially your chest so close to my body" he added teasingly. Meetra rolled her eyes at the comment while Atton let out a silent sigh of relief. He learned long ago that sarcasm was capable of lowering the tension as well as the awareness of other people.

"Let's say I believe you," Meetra said again. "But I will keep an eye on you. And if I have a feeling you're up to something wicked, we'll be talking differently."

"You can keep both of your eyes on me if you want" Atton replied, moving his brows up and down. "And I must admit that being interrogated by you is quite exciting" he added with the same teasing tone. Meetra rolled her eyes again, though Atton's words did their magic on her. She couldn't help a small snort escaping her mouth. "What? You can't blame me. I've spent far too much time with that old hag. And you have absolutely no idea what it does to a man."

"Let's go" Meetra commanded, ignoring his comment.

"Just say the word."

"I just did" she replied, looking at Atton. The man in response blushed slightly and scratched the back of his head. Meetra nearly laughed at that. Whatever tension there was from her 'interrogation' was now completely gone.

They entered the engine room, following a narrow path until they arrived at yet another closed doors.

"This won't be as easy as the last time," Atton said, approaching the terminal nearby. "This section of the ships is usually magnetically sealed and no one can possibly overcome it manually" he continued on while pressing something on the terminal. "Luckily, it's a brief moment of work if you have access to the computer that operates the door," he said and after a few seconds, the door was opened. "But please, tell me you're joking. We are not going to cross back into the Peragus facility through the fuel line – that's crazy!" he added.

"It's the only way to get around the sealed door and into the hangar where the Ebon Hawk is" Meetra replied.

"Alright," he said reluctantly. "But I know I'm going to regret this."

"I sense you, my Master. Faint… weak" Sion said when the two were left alone and the doors were sealed behind Traya. She approached the Sith Lord, keeping a steady pace.

"Your senses betray you" she replied calmly. "As you betrayed me."

"After all that has happened, still you live. You are difficult to kill" he almost praised her.

"For one as limited as you, perhaps" Traya replied mockingly. "To have fallen so far and learned nothing – that is your failing."

"The failure is yours" he countered angrily. "No longer do your whispers crawl within my skull. No longer do I suffer beneath the teachings that weaken us. And now you run in search of the Jedi. They are all dead, save one – and one broken Jedi cannot stop the darkness that is to come."

"Perhaps" Traya replied, igniting her red lightsaber that, until this moment, was resting peacefully, hidden beneath her robes. "We shall see."

Sion in response ignited his own crimson blade and prepared to attack, though Traya anticipated it. She blocked the crosswise slash easily and tried to land her own hit. But she wasn't young anymore and it had been ages since the last time she had dueled. Sion was much stronger and faster than her and swiped away her blade without effort.

The empty hall of the Harbinger was filled with the sounds of two lightsabers clashing against each other. Traya did her best to keep up with her former student, but she quickly found herself on the defensive. She sent a Force Wave to push her opponent back, only if just a little, but Sion managed to block also that attack and charged at her again. Traya leaped back to avoid the killing stroke but she wasn't as fast and agile as she used to be in her duel against Yusanis. Sion's blade found the part of her body, cutting off her hand at the wrist. Traya gasped at the sudden pain and backed down a little. But when she did that, she stumbled against an empty crate and landed heavily on her back.

"It is the end for you, my Master" Sion said and brought down his blade to pin Traya to the ship's floor. But just as the lightsaber was about to embed itself in the old woman's body, she disappeared, vanishing from Sion's senses.

Meetra caught her left hand as the sudden wave of pain coursed through her. The pain was enormous and she fell to her knees, letting out a silent scream.

"Wh… what's wrong?" Atton asked concerned. He quickly ran up to Meetra. "Are you all right?" Meetra didn't respond. She kept holding her hand tightly. "Dammit, hold on! It's only a little further. Don't give up on me now!"

"My hand… felt like it was being dipped in molten carbonite" Meetra explained to him when the pain lessened a little.

"You look fine" Atton replied, taking her by the other hand. "Come on, we need to keep moving" he urged her on. Meetra nodded her head and stood up quickly. They were already at the entrance to the fuel line.

They crossed the fuel line that was shaking beneath their feet all the time. Meetra and Atton were taking careful steps forward, trying to ignore the fact that if this idea wasn't going to work, they would land in space, suffocating immediately. They both gave a simultaneous sigh of relief when the rubber beneath their feet moved over for the metal floor.

"Be careful" Meetra warned Atton who was a few paces behind her. "I can see something on the other side."

Meetra drew her vibrosword, not liking the idea of being taken by surprise by an enemy. The silver dot she spotted began to take shape of an astromechanical droid.

"It's a utility droid" Atton commented when he saw what Meetra warned him about. "Looks like it's been hit with an ion charge and dumped here," he said after approaching the small unit.

The droid seemed to wake up at his voice and let out a series of beeps, startling Atton who took a few steps backward. Meetra laughed at the sight.

"Relax, it's just a small droid," she said, still laughing slightly. Atton could be a bounty hunter but he couldn't keep cold blood even if his life depended on it. "I know," she said, turning to the droid. "We ran into the 'protocol droid' earlier, he attacked us, too."

T3 beeped in response.

"Don't blame yourself" she said reassuringly, patting T3 on the head. "If you hadn't gotten us out of the administration level, we'd have never made it this far."

The droid let out a series of beeps that could be interpreted as prideful. If droids could feel pride.

"Let's go, T3" Meetra said, urging the droid to go with them.

The three of them made their way through the fuel depot. Luckily for them, they haven't encountered any obstacles and soon reached the hangar bay. The Ebon Hawk was waiting for them on the other side of the viewport. Meetra couldn't help but smile. The Force was on their side apparently.

"This door's magnetically sealed, just as the previous one" Atton said after examining the entrance that led to the hangar. "I can't believe this! The ship's right out there, and we can't get to it!" he exclaimed angrily.

T3 beeped in response.

"Huh?" Atton asked, not understanding a single thing. "What is that piece of junk saying?"

"He said he can open the door to the hangar" Meetra explained to him. "He just needs to access the hangar terminal up on the platform" she added, gesturing at the small computer that was standing at the top of the ramp.

"How can you even understand that noise?" Atton asked again, trying to hide his shame that he failed to notice the terminal.

"I served with a lot of utility droids in the… well, many years ago" Meetra explained, not wanting to bring up the touchy subject.

"All right, well, if he can slice the door open from the terminal above, don't let me stop him" Atton replied, scratching the back of his head. Meetra found this nervous twitch quite adorable.

T3 then moved up the ramp and approached the terminal. He gained access to it and quickly disabled the magnetic seal. The doors to the hangar were wide open for them.

"Let's go" Meetra commanded and her two companions followed her.

The loading ramp to the Ebon Hawk was lowered down, inviting the three of them to go in. Meetra was about to enter when suddenly, out of nowhere, a blaster fire passed mere inches from her head, hitting the Ebon Hawk. Meetra turned around to see a dozen or so assassins, dressed in black robes.

"To the Hawk, quickly!" she commanded. Atton and T3 didn't have to be told twice as they charged at the loading ramp, shutting it down behind them. Atton rushed to the cockpit, taking a seat as the main pilot.

"Quick! We're going to need some time to fire up the engines. Let's give the laser turret a workout" he said. Meetra quickly dashed to the turret, taking a seat behind the controls.

It has certainly been some time since the last time she operated the laser turret but some things are simply not forgotten. Meetra quickly got adjusted to the controls and began to fire at their attackers. The assassins were accompanied by a handful of soldiers. They took cover behind the piles of crates to avoid the heavy fire. Meetra pressed the button and the laser turret came to life.

The machine gun was firing at an incredible speed, taking down anyone who failed to find cover. Meetra rotated the turret, shooting at the piles of crates. Just as she expected, many of them blew up, taking down with them the soldiers who used them as a cover. Meetra allowed a small smile to find its way onto her lips. She enjoyed it.

She left the laser turret as soon as she felt the Ebon Hawk come to life. The ship was slowly ascending from the metal floor. Meetra quickly joined Atton in the cockpit.

"Let's get out of here!" he said, rotating the Ebon Hawk in order to fly out off the hangar.

"And what about Kreia?"

"You want to go back there?" Atton asked, gesturing at the mining facility. "Be my quest then, but I'm not staying here any minute longer."

"We must go." They both heard from behind them. Atton and Meetra turned around simultaneously, looking at the source of this sound. To their great surprise, Kreia was standing there, resting against the navicomputer. "Our enemy is here."

"Kreia?" Meetra asked in disbelief before she noticed something else. Where there used to be Kreia's left hand, now was only a stump. "Your hand – what happened?"

"There is no time – we must leave" she countered and Meetra obeyed her. She took a seat next to Atton as the copilot. The Ebon Hawk, still under fire, left the hangar of the Peragus mining facility.

As soon as they were in space, the Harbinger began to fire on them, just as it did in the Serenno System. But unlike before, now they had an asteroid field as a cover.

The laser fire from the Hammerhead Class cruiser hit an asteroid that was barely a few meters away from them. Atton cursed silently as the Ebon Hawk shook slightly.

"If they hit us, we're dead! But if they keep missing us, we're dead! That's great odds" he commented sarcastically.

T3 beeped in response.

"Somebody shut that trash compactor up!" Atton yelled angrily.

"Can we jump to hyperspace?" Meetra asked from her seat.

"If you want to crash us against the nearest asteroid in front of us, then why not" Atton replied. His sarcasm didn't leave him for a second. "But if that's not your purpose, then we must leave the asteroid field so we can make a clean jump."

"Alright, no need to be so rude about it" Meetra replied.

"Rude? You mean as 'holding-your-blade-to-the-neck-of-the-man-who-made-the-escape-possible' rude?" he asked, glancing at her over the console. Meetra rolled her eyes at the comment. "But if we leave the asteroid field, then they're going to have a clear shot at us. And we're dead" he said, returning to the previous topic.

"Just do your best to keep your distance" Meetra replied. "We'll get out of this yet."

"What of the asteroids?" Kreia asked from her spot against the wall. "They can be destroyed by us as well as them, can they not?"

"That'll take out the whole field, the colony, and maybe us. We might not even be able to jump to hyperspace in time" Atton explained, still navigating the ship across the asteroid field.

"Then we die here" Kreia summed up bluntly. "Choose now" she ordered.

"We don't have any choice" Meetra agreed. "Do it!"

"Hold on! This is going to get a little rocky!" Atton warned them. As soon as he said these words he fired upon the asteroid that they just flew by. They didn't see the explosion but they felt it as it was strong enough to shake the Ebon Hawk.

Soon, they felt other explosions following the first one. Before they knew it, the asteroid field around Peragus was changed into a minefield. But that was beyond their concern now. They were able to fly out of the asteroid field, leaving the Harbinger in a deadly trap. Atton pulled the lever that operated the hyperdrive and the Ebon Hawk vanished in the interstellar space, heading to Telos IV.

"HK" Revan said via his communicator. "You have a new mission."

"Commentary: HK-47 is ready to serve, Master" the droid replied immediately. "Query: Do you need someone killed, Master?" HK asked in what seemed to be a hopeful tone.

"Possibly, HK" Revan replied. "Some of the HK-50 units were taken over by our enemies. I'm sure you'll be able to find some of them on Telos. Find one of them and copy your programming into it. Leave the copy to guard Bastila and you will be joining Jaq and Traya. They should arrive at Telos shortly. Enter the Ebon Hawk and join them. They will need your help… and your rifle could use some workout."

"Amused answer: With pleasure, Master."

Oh man, I feel I'll be skipping some of the KotOR 2 plot because it's… boring XD. And I couldn't help myself with the reference to 'The Ting Go Skraa' XD