I'm BACK! I'm back in black! Oh yeah.
Whoo! Three months since the last update! No, I'm not dead. I'd like to apologize to everyone who's been reading this fic and being patient so far. I haven't been getting these chapters out nearly as fast as I've wanted to, work, laziness, and computer problems being big reasons. -- whew It's taken almost a year to write this fic! However, good news is that I finally have more time to write this fic and get the chapters out faster. Once again, apologies, and thanks for your patience. Also, check out my profile for updates for info on fics if they ever take a while to update.
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Chapter 18: A Way In
Revan leaned back in his seat he and the rest of the crew sat around in the main hold. They all sat, busily discussing what they had all seen and learned their first day on Nar-Shadaa.
"Well, we know this much," Revan spoke. The Exchange has a tight hold on this planet. This whole place is like a breeding ground for thugs. And on top of it all, Visquis seems to be after Atton's hide."
"They've also got a really tight hold on the refugees," the exile added. "They're keeping them inside the sector in order to squeeze every credit they can out of them."
"On top of it all, the Exchange now may be working with the Sith. We will have to get into the Exchange somehow if we want to find out what is going on," Yuthura hypothesized.
"I think you're right," Revan replied. "The key issue here is how we're going to do it. Thankfully, we haven't really attracted any attention yet. But my gut tells me we're bound to do it soon, so we'll have to try and infiltrate them before people suspect us."
"Well, what are our options?" Quaid asked. "We could try to get hired by posing as bounty hunters."
"The Exchange is after me. Once word gets around, they'll send somebody after me anyway," Atton implied. "We could try to get in that way."
"Well we gotta decide sometime soon," Mission blurted. "We can't waste time here!"
"What do you think, Revan?" Quaid asked him.
"Easy. We'll do both," he replied.
"What?" Yuthura asked, shocked.
"Well, isn't it obvious? We'll have a much better chance at succeeding if we work together on this. And this way, even if one way fails, we'll have a backup plan to fall back to. At this point, there isn't much choice we have, here."
"So, what do you suggest we do?" Quaid said.
"Atton's going to be pretty much invited over. I figure I'll be able to go with him and pose as a slaver. I've already got a 'servant'." Mission rolled her eyes at the comment. "Quaid, Visas, Yuthura, and HK have already posed as bounty hunters. If they can get noticed, they'll have a shot at getting hired by the Exchange."
"Well, we don't have much time to plan this. But I think we're all tired. Maybe we should sleep on this?" Quaid suggested.
"Good idea. We'll figure out what to do in the morning," Revan agreed.
The crew disbanded and drifted into their separate dormitories. HK-47 went to his business of patrolling the ship, and T3 scuttled about doing its tasks.
Back in the men's dorm, Revan leaned back on his bunk. He tried to force himself to sleep, but a thousand thoughts raced through his head. Everything was becoming so confusing…
His minded drifted back to the bizarre creature that had been the cause of all this. Why did the Sith want it to so badly? And worse, how was it created? Revan felt there was more to the story than he knew. He had already seen the awful destructive power it possessed. In a flash, it devoured Bastila's power and left her practically dead. It wielded the force well enough – without any training – to kill others easily with it. It did not appear malevolent, to Revan's gratitude. But he had already seen enough of its destructive potential to know how dangerous it was. Revan could see why the Jedi had tried to keep it a secret for so long. Its ability alone to drain others of the force disturbed him greatly. He shuddered to think of the power the power the Sith would wield if they had mastered a technique such as that.
Even more, what were the Sith doing now? So far, they had shunned the open confrontation they were so fond of in the past and instead had switched to lurking in the shadows. They were planning something major, he was sure of it. He knew now, thanks to Visas, that they were behind the events on Katarr, and now they were planning something major. And he was sure the creature was a focal point of it.
Even with all these thoughts running through his head, Revan felt sleep tugging at his eyelids until finally they closed and he drifted off into his dreams.
He looked around him. He wasn't in the Ebon Hawk anymore. The dark gray interior of the hawk was replaced by a bright blue sky. Instead of his bed, he was lying on a soft bed of grass. Confused at first, he sat up to get a better view of his surroundings, but quickly the realization came to him that he was back on Dantooine. With that followed another realization that this must be another vision.
"Oh boy," he thought to himself.
"Beautiful, is it not?" a very familiar voice asked him. Revan turned his head and beheld her standing right there.
"Bastila?" he asked, dumbfounded. There she was. Sunlight glinted off her as if she was an angel. To his joy, she was no longer the way she was when he had left her. Her skin was no longer a sickly pale color; instead all the color seemed to have returned to her as if it had never left. Her eyes were no longer a dull, grayish-blue, but had returned to the vibrant ocean-blue he had remembered. He lay there, staring at her, almost too awestruck to move.
"Surprised to see me?" she asked him.
"Well, yeah. A little," he replied sarcastically. "Too bad this is all a dream."
"Then it's a good dream," she responded softly as she approached him. She knelt down and lay over him, while he wrapped his arms around her and the two shared a blissful kiss. Revan almost couldn't believe this was a vision. Everything seemed so real - her lips, her skin, the very ground he was lying on felt as if it was really there. Revan however, could tell one thing – Bastila was there. Or at least, in a way. He could feel her presence in the dream.
"How are you here?" he asked her after they had pulled away.
"I'm contacting you through our bond, Revan. I don't know how long I can maintain this, but I had to reach you. For your own sake."
"What?"
"Revan, you're giving up hope. I could sense it. Please, I don't want you to lose sight of what's at stake here."
"I'm sorry, Bastila."
"Don't be. I know what you are going through, believe me. But I don't want you to give up because of me. If you truly love me, Revan, you won't let go of everything you once cared about just because of me. If I died, Revan, would you be able to carry on?"
That question caught him off guard. He didn't know what to say. There was once a time when Revan would have been able to answer that easily. But that was before he had fallen in love. He hated to admit it, but he could almost see why the Jedi feared love so much. He struggled to answer her, but he couldn't. "You're not going to die, Bastila," he finally replied.
She frowned. "Revan…you don't know that."
"Bastila, don't say that!" he protested more firmly than he'd intended.
"Revan, listen to me, please," she begged. "I love you with all my heart. And I know you feel the same about me. I know you'd do anything for me. But if I don't make it through this, I need you to be able to carry on. I don't want to see you tempted to throw everything away. I know you would Revan."
Revan sighed and looked down, avoiding her gaze.
"Remember our promise, Revan," she resumed. "That no matter what, you wouldn't lose sight of what you have to do. If you truly love me, then please press on, even if I don't…make it. You must find the strength from yourself and your friends." She raised his head up so their eyes met. "You'd say the same thing in my position, Revan. I know you would. You know it, too."
Revan, as much as he didn't want to admit it, couldn't deny it. He looked deep into her eyes and smiled for the first time. "Agreed. Just don't you quit on me too soon, alright?"
She laughed. "You said you'd always be there for me, Revan. Well, I'll always be here for you, too. And you know we'll never truly be apart from each other, Revan. Even in death." She leaned down and kissed him again. Revan reached and grabbed her hand and held it.
"Thanks, princess."
Her lips curved in a sweet smile. "You know what you must do. I have faith in you, Revan. I know you can do this. Oh, and Revan, as for what you're looking for – just follow the gizka."
"What? What does that mean?" he asked her, confused.
"You'll find out soon enough." She smiled. "Farewell, my love. Good luck." On cue, Revan could feel her presence begin to fade. But it was not over yet. Her expression turned grave. Revan saw her skin fade once again to an almost ghastly white. The vivid blue in her eyes faded into dullish gray-blue.
"Hurry, Revan," she whispered before fading away.
Revan woke abruptly, and was back in the familiar interior of the Ebon Hawk. He let out a deep sigh and sat up, the memory of the vision racing through his head.
"Follow the gizka?" he thought to himself. "What the hell does that mean?" He slumped back down onto the sheets. "I'll save you, Bastila. I promise."
Revan was the first to wake up the next morning. He dressed and went over to the main hold, where he found the two droids.
"Greeting: Hello, master! I hope your recharge period went well. Is there anything you would like me to do for you?"
"No thanks, HK," he replied wearily.
T3 beeped and buzzed noisily, startling Revan.
"Oh, master, your utility droid wishes to inform you that you received a transmission while you were recharging."
"From who?" Revan asked.
"Answer: From Admiral Onasi. He sounded most distressed."
"Play the transmission!"
A second later, T3 projected a blue 3D image of Carth Onasi talking to the room. "This is Admiral Onasi contacting the Ebon Hawk. Revan, I don't mean to rush you, but you might want to finish whatever you're doing there as soon as possible. We've just received word of more Sith sightings within Republic space. This time they were spotted on the rim worlds of Onderon and Tatooine. I don't know what they're doing, but I don't like it. And we could use your help over here as soon as possible. Contact me whenever you get the chance if you want to talk about this. Admiral Onasi signing out."
Revan groaned. "Lovely." He said to himself.
Later, when everyone was up and gathered in the main hold, Revan addressed them once more.
"Alright, guys. We have an idea what's going on here so far. We don't have much time, so we can't waste it here. We'll go out in the same groups as yesterday and do some more investigating. Hopefully we'll be able to attract the Exchange's attention soon enough. We already have a former employee." He cocked his head toward Atton, who rolled his eyes. "But just in case, Quaid and the others we'll try to get in on the inside as well. Jolee will stay here and watch the ship."
"And above all," he added, "We cannot be seen with each other. We'll leave the Ebon Hawk one group at a time and go off in different directions. We can keep in contact through our communicators. Quaid, you and the others may have to find somewhere else to stay in the meantime so we don't blow our cover. We've been pretty lucky so far in not being noticed together. Let's keep it that way."
Later, Revan, Mission, and Atton were making their way through the dank streets of the city. Revan, still remembering the suspicious message given to him by the two Twi'leks yesterday, kept a wary eye on Atton.
"Atton, where in your opinion would the worst of Nar-Shadaa hang out?" he asked as they walked.
"The Jek-Jek Tarr is a good place. We could also check out check out swoop track. The Cantina next to it is also a favorite place for bounty hunters."
"Good. I think we'll stop at the swoop track first."
"Of course," Atton added, "Not many people race that much, anymore. The owner of the track has this one robot that nobody can beat. He's using the thing to reap in profits so he can pay off some debt with the Exchange."
"Sheesh! Those guys are just everywhere on this planet!" Mission remarked.
"Follow me. We can take the shuttle," Atton motioned.
A quick shuttle ride later, they came to a large building. In front of the building was a large pylon standing over the entrance. Behind the building were tall lights and a wide open space that appeared Revan guessed was the swoop track.
"A favorite place for bounty hunters, you say?" Revan asked Atton.
"Yep. Hard to believe, I know. It's a favorite place to hang out because information tends to spread around where people gather. The swoop track is a great place for that."
"Well, that makes sense, I guess."
The inside of the building was not like what Revan had seen in previous swoop tracks. Having already been to three on Taris, Tatooine, and Manaan, Revan had already learned that swoop tracks are very different depending on which planet you go too. The one on Manaan felt much more like legitimate community entertainment, whereas the one on Taris had felt more like an underground gangster event. The one on Nar-Shadaa almost instantly seemed to Revan like a combination of the two. He figured it may have to do with the fact that gangsters made up a lot of people on this planet.
Revan was worried that Mission would seem out of place here, but thankfully there were quite a few Twi'Leks lurking around. Near the bar one of the Twi'Leks seemed to be making some sort of commotion. Revan and the other two could hear him shouting out random nonsense. A crowd had gathered around him, amused by the spectacle. Behind the bar another female Twi'Lek was yelling at him to stop, at which he turned around had started yelling at her.
"I can do whatever I want!" he shouted. "I don't have to take ordersh from you or anybody elshe! I don't fear you or any bantha! I'm the toughest fish on Manaan!"
"He's definitely gone," Atton muttered behind Revan's back.
Revan pushed his way through the crowd to get a better look at what was happening, with Mission and Atton following close behind. The yelling Twi'lek raised his arms as if he was about to say something else, but instead fell over and passed out on the floor. With the show over, the crowd dispersed and went back to their business.
A third, green Twi'lek walked over to the passed-out barfly looking quite distressed.
"Oh dear! This is the third time in two weeks he has done this! Oh Borna, could you please move him out of here? The guests are going to trip over him if he stays here."
Looking quite annoyed, the female Twi'Lek walked out from behind the bar, stooped over the unconscious drunk, and slowly dragged him out.
"Uh, thank you!" the green male Twi'lek shouted after her. The female merely grumbled in response as she lugged the drunk away.
The green Twi'Lek turned to Revan. "Can you believe that? He does this all the time! He's almost become a sideshow for my customers!"
"Are you the owner of this place?" Revan asked him.
"Yes, I am. The name is Lupo. Lupo Shar! I run this place. I also had this bar installed a while back but I'm beginning to think it was a bad idea." Lupo cocked his head to look behind Revan and noticed Atton. "Atton! Nice to see you around here! I thought you were arrested-"
"Shh!" Atton cut him off.
"Oops! Sorry. I guess the Exchange wouldn't want to hear it, would they." He turned back to Revan. "I don't know your name. Are you a friend of Atton?"
"My name is Corto," Revan told him. "Yeah, Atton and I ran into each other a while back."
"And who might I ask is this young lady?" Lupo asked, referring to Mission.
"She's just a servant. Not exactly the most obedient, but very useful."
"Ah," was all Lupo said in response, not wanting to press the point. "Do you swoop, or do you just like to watch?"
"I've swooped a little before," Revan answered.
"Oh really? Were you any good?" Lupo asked eagerly.
"Well, a little," Revan answered almost nonchalantly. He decided to leave out the part about him being the swoop champion of Taris, Tatooine, and Manaan.
"Oh wonderful! Would you buy chance be interested in racing? I sure could use racers here."
"Maybe you'd draw more racers if you didn't have an unbeatable contestant," Atton said scathingly.
"Oh, the droid?" Lupo said, embarrassed. "That droid is, um…necessary. But that's beside the point!"
Revan actually found himself thinking about racing the track. He had taken a particular liking to Swoop racing on his first search for the Star Forge. His ego also didn't really like the idea of being bested by the droid. But there were more important things to be doing right now.
"Thanks, but not at this moment," Revan told him.
"Oh, okay. That's fine," Lupo replied, looking a little crestfallen. He perked up and immediately changed the subject. "So, Atton, what are you doing back on Nar-Shadaa? I would have thought you would have avoided this place."
"Yeah well, some things have come up," he mumbled in response.
"I see. It's just that with Visquis placing a price on your head and all, I thought-"
"WHAT?" Atton interrupted him. "What do you mean he put a price on my head?"
"Oh, you didn't know?" Lupo said, shocked. "He set a reward for your capture not to long ago. You getting caught and the fuel supply not being delivered didn't make him to happy. Of course, with bounty hunters crawling all over this place, I'm a little surprised nobody's-"
"I can't believe this!" Atton cut him off again. "That slime Visquis! And here I thought even he wouldn't sink this low!"
"Looks like you're more popular here than you thought," Revan teased.
"This isn't funny, R-, uh, Corto," he replied, almost yelling Revan's name. He leaned closer to whisper in Atton's ear. "I'll bet at least a third of the people in this joint are bounty hunters. If what he says is true, then we'll have a horde of these guys after us in no time. Especially since someone just shouted my name out loud." Atton directed the last sentence at Lupo, who looked away nervously. Revan came to realize Lupo wasn't too bright.
Revan sighed. Completing their task with an army of bounty hunters chasing them would not help their plans in any way whatsoever. Just then, an idea came to him.
"Well, it was nice meeting you, Lupo," Revan said to the Twi'Lek. "But we really should be going now."
"Okay. Well, so long. Come back soon," he waved. "Eh, hopefully," he said quietly.
The three of them turned around and left. Revan could already feel the gaze of dozens of eyes following them as they walked out. Bounty hunters, indeed. Revan exitted the building with Atton and Mission following close behind.
"So what are we gonna do now, fearless leader?" Mission asked him.
"Yeah, do tell," Atton added with his arms folded.
"Relax, guys. If we play our cards right, we'll get into the Exchange in no time," Revan assured them.
"Yeah, while being dragged in by bounty hunters," Atton muttered.
"Exactly."
"Huh?"
"Don't you remember, Atton? We already have four bounty hunters of our own to catch us."
Atton looked confused for a second, but a sly grin quickly formed on his face. "Oh yeah. So, what do you have in mind?"
"First, let's get out of here," Revan motioned. He could feel they were being watched.
While they were heading away, Revan resumed. "The way I see it, Visquis is offering a prize for your head, so bounty hunters are coming after you. That's our ticket into the Exchange. If we get ourselves caught, we'll be on the inside in no time. And the way I see it, what better bounty hunters to be caught by than our own friends?"
"So basically, we're going to fake getting caught, right?" Mission guessed.
"Yes. I'm going to discuss the plan with Quaid. But we're going to have to do this quickly, and it has to look real. We can't have them suspecting something, or we'll be sunk." He broke into a run as they headed for the shuttle stop. "Hold on, Bastila."
I know! A cliffhanger! Sorry about that. The next chapter we'll come out much sooner, I promise. As of right now, chapters we'll be coming out on a much more frequent basis, so no more waiting for months for a single measly chapter. Yay. Oh, and the whole "follow the gizka" thing was inspired by "follow the white rabbit" for those of you who have seen The Matrix. A little forced, I know. Anyway, thanks for reading, and as usual, drop a review in. So long.