Anther chapter! This fic is already a lot longer than I thought it'd be. Since it's so long, here's a quick summary of what's happening at the beginning of this chapter:

Revan, Atton, and Mission were exploring the planet to find more hints of the Exchange. They hope to find out where the Sith are hiding so they can find the bizarre "creature" they ran into on Dantooine and hopefully save Bastila's life. They found out Atton was being hunted, and so Revan came up with a plan: have Quaid, Visas, Yuthura, and HK-47, who are posing as bounty hunters themselves, pretend to catch them in order to get into the Exchange. The trio is headed for a shuttle in order to get back to the Ebon Hawk so they can discuss the plans. Unfortunately, they're about to encounter some obstacles along the way.

Chapter 19: Inside

Revan, Atton, and Mission, stood by the shuttle stop as they waited for it to arrive. Revan was starting to wish they had a landspeeder with them.

"Atton, I'll contact the others while we're waiting," he uttered as he reached for his communicator. He found it just when an unfamiliar voice.

"I sure hope you aren't planning on leaving just yet," a voice hissed from behind them.

The trio turned to behold a group of four menacing-looking thugs eyeing them threateningly. Two of them were Rodians, one was a Gammorean, and the fourth was a reptilian Trandoshan, the one who had just spoken to them.

"Atton, our old friend," one of the Rodians spoke. "We're so glad you chose to come back. Visquis is especially happy to see you. Maybe you'd like to pay him a visit?"

"This is going to get ugly real fast," Revan thought.

"Are you guys with the Exchange?" Atton growled.

"Why yes!" the Rodian answered him. "And I see you brought friends with you. Very touching. You know, Visquis sent us to look for you. Half the bounty hunters on this planet are also probably after you. Although Visquis wishes to tell you that if you come with us quietly, you can be spared the humiliation of having to be dragged in by a bounty hunter. Or you could resist and have to be taken in by force. The choice is yours."

Atton paused for a moment. "Tell Visquis he can go to hell," he finally snapped.

"Yup, I was right," Revan thought again.

The Rodian sighed. "I see you choose the latter option. And now your friends will have to be dragged in, too. Well, don't say we didn't warn you." The group raised their weapons.

Revan had almost grabbed for his lightsaber, but stopped himself just in time. "I'm not supposed to be a Jedi," he remembered. With lightning reflexes, Revan grabbed his blaster and was the first to fire a shot. In a red burst, the Trandoshan went down, leaving the two Rodians and the pig-like Gammorean.

The two Rodians raised their blaster rifles and fired off a hail of red flashes at the trio. Revan and Atton leapt out of the way just in time, and Mission ducked behind a wall. Atton pulled out his blaster and fired at the large Gammorean who was charging them with his large axe. The shot hit home, but the Gammorean merely shrugged it off and charged Atton again.

"Oh crap," was all Atton had time to say before dodging a mad swipe from the Gammorean's axe. Meanwhile, Revan dodged another volley of blasts from the two Rodians. He could have taken them both out easily but using the force was too risky. But he'd gotten by without it before, he could do it again.

The Jedi raised his blaster and fired another shot, only this narrowly missing the Rodian's head by an inch. At the same time, Atton dodged another blow from the Gammorean. He aimed his blaster to fire again, but the Gammorean knocked it out of his hands with a sharp elbow to the arm. This Gammorean was surprisingly quick. Unarmed, Atton could only duck again as he tried to spot where his blaster had landed.

Revan had taken the opportunity to activate his energy shield. He only hoped they weren't using disrupter rifles. Momentarily protected from the blasters, he fired again and this time hit one of the Rodians square in the chest. The other one, however, had used the time to throw a flash grenade. Before Revan could cover his eyes, the thing detonated in front of him. His entire world went white.

Atton spotted his blaster but the Gammorean had reacted first. The large alien sent a hard punch into Atton's gut, knocking him over. "Damn," Revan muttered out loud when he heard Atton fall over. The Rodian laughed and fired at him. The shots hit his shield and Revan could feel it starting to fade. He was indeed using a disrupter rifle. "Just my luck," he thought. His thoughts raced on what to do next. A loud explosion cut his thoughts short.

Revan heard bodies fall to the ground, and everything went silent. His vision just then started to kick back in. When he could finally see clearly, he beheld the Rodian and the Gammorean lying dead. Atton was still doubled over, but had managed to catch his breath.

"What hap-"Revan began. He paused and turned to see Mission standing off to his left, wearing an innocent face. She pointed over to the corpses.

"Oh, sorry about that. I forgot where I put the grenade. I'll remember to keep them on my belt next time," she said casually.

Revan couldn't stop a massive grin from spreading on his face. He walked over to the young Twi'Lek gave her a playful hug.

"Touching," Atton said sarcastically as he got up.

"Well, it won't be long before even more come after us. We'd better hurry up and get back to the Ebon Hawk," Revan advised. Just then, the shuttle they were waiting for arrived and landed next to them. When the door slid open, the first thing the pilot saw was the trio standing over a mass of dead bodies.

"Hi. We'd like to go to the docking sector," Atton said casually. The pilot complied without question.

A quick ride later, the trio departed the shuttle and headed toward the Ebon Hawk. "So Atton, tell me," Revan said as they moved along, "where would a bounty hunter go to collect his pay?"

"There's a place near the refugee sector the Exchange uses as a hideout and a front. A lot of thugs go there to meet, but it's also a favorite for bounty hunters. I think there's our best bet."

"Good. We'll try there. But first we gotta contact the others." Quaid, Visas, Yuthura and HK had already left the Hawk a while ago. Revan hadn't heard back from them since.

Once back inside the ship, Revan dashed for the cockpit and sent out a transmission.

"Yes?" Quaid's voice answered.

"Quaid, where are you?" Revan asked.

"We're near the refugee sector."

"Okay. Look, get somewhere where nobody can hear you, fast."

"What? Revan, what's going on?"

"Just do it. I'll explain in a minute."

"Alright." A few moments later, Quaid's voice came back on the intercom. "Alright, Revan. What's going on?"

"Listen, I've got a plan to get into the Exchange. But we'll need your help for it. And I hope you guys are good actors."

"What? What plan?" Quaid asked impatiently.

"Alright. Look, we found today that Visquis has put a bounty on Atton's head. If we don't do something fast, we'll have bounty hunters knocking on our door at any time."

"So what's your plan?"

"You guys are going to help us out. From what I gather, you've already made convincing bounty hunters. We might be able to use you to get us into the Exchange," Revan explained.

"Wait, do you mean you want us to capture you?"

"Exactly. I need you four to pretend to capture us and turn us into the Exchange. If do this right, it might work."

"Revan, are you sure about this?" Yuthura's voice asked him. "This could be really dangerous."

"It wouldn't be the first time, would it? I know it's risky, but it's the best thing we've got right now. It's our only chance. There's too much at stake here for us to let this thing slip through our grasp."

The radio went silent for a minute, and then Quaid's voice came back on. "Alright, Revan. What do you want us to do?"

Much later, Revan, Atton, and Mission walked along another of Nar-Shadaa's many dark, barren streets. Revan looked around and wondered if the sun ever shown on this force-forsaken planet. All looked calm enough, but Revan was about to play one of his biggest gambles yet on this mission.

"How long is this going to take?" Mission whispered to Revan.

"Just be patient," he whispered back. "We need witnesses. But be on your guard."

There already were people littering the street, but Revan was hoping for a little more. A few minutes later, a quick jump in his force-sense confirmed his hopes.

"Hello, Atton," a masked voice said from behind. The group beheld a group of thugs wearing body armor. One of them Revan sensed was a Mandalorian. "Visquis will definitely pay a nice sum for your head." Unlike the first group of bounty hunters they met, this group didn't wait to start shooting. The trio of hunters raised their large blaster rifles.

Revan, Mission, and Atton responded by diving out of the path and behind cover. Mission and Atton took refuge behind a wall, while Revan hid behind an idle speeder. Grabbing his blaster, he rose from behind the speeder and fired at the group of thugs. A wave of blaster bolts came at him in response, one which missed him by mere inches. Meanwhile, Atton and Mission were holding off the trio of thugs as well. Revan sensed the bystanders were now watching the spectacle.

Out of nowhere, a grenade landed near the center of the group of bounty hunters. The three barely noticed it before it detonated right underneath them. Revan briefly smirked in satisfaction. They were here.

Atton and Mission stood to see what had happened. The trio of armored thugs lay dead, and in their place stood two figures. One of them was a small, crimson-robed Miraluka holding two blasters. Visas. The other figure was a darkly-clad male figure with a large vibrosword in one hand and a grenade in the other. A large mask with a yellow visor concealed his face.

"Thanks for that. You guys just saved our lives," said to the pair.

The male figure laughed in response. "Save you?" he hissed in Quaid's voice. "No. We were merely saving the bounty we've been meaning to collect for ourselves."

"In that case, prepare to be disappointed," Revan replied. He raised his blaster again and prepared to fire. Visas had reacted first and fired a crimson bolt at Revan. Instead of missing him, as he'd expected, Visas shot his blaster clean out of his hand. Revan watched in genuine shock as the blaster sailed away. He didn't realize she was that good of a shot. Now he understood why she was Nihilus' top assassin. The fact that she was blind made it even more remarkable.

"Nice try," she said slyly. Quaid in turn came at Revan with his vibrosword. In response, Mission and Atton fired a volley at Quaid, which he dodged by rolling across the pathway and behind a large dumpster.

Revan braced himself as he prepared for what he knew would happen to him next. A second later, something was jabbed into his back and his body shuddered violently before going numb. A quick pair of hands grabbed him and pulled him close. He found himself being held tightly by Yuthura, who was also holding a vibroblade across his throat. In her other hand she held a bothan stunner, which she had just used on Revan.

"STOP!" she ordered. Mission and Atton ceased firing. Their attention shifted to Revan who was being "held hostage" by Yuthura. "Step away from the wall," Yuthura ordered them. Mission and Atton hesitantly complied, but kept their blasters aimed at Yuthura.

"Condescending Command: Drop your weapons, you talent-less organic meatbags! You have fifteen seconds to comply," HK's mechanical voice sneered at them. The red droid stood behind the group with his blaster rifle leveled at Mission and Atton. After a moment of thinking, the two hesitantly dropped their weapons.

"We owe you for that," Quaid said to Yuthura as he approached. He glared at Revan from behind his mask. "So, which one of you is Atton?" he asked.

"I am," Atton responded.

Quaid turned to him. "You'll fetch a nice sum for us. Visquis might be interested in your two friends as well."

On cue, Visas approached from behind at jabbed a stunner into Atton, and then did the same to Visas. The two fell to the ground, limp.

"Bind them," Quaid ordered. Within moments, Atton, Mission, and Revan were bound and dragged away from the scene.

As they were being dragged away, Revan whispered to Quaid. "Were there a lot of witnesses?" he asked him silently.

"Yes," Quaid whispered back. The group came to a landspeeder parked alongside the path. "Revan, I can't thank you enough for keeping a landspeeder in your ship."

"Don't mention it," Revan said back silently.

Revan, Atton, and Mission were thrown into the back seat. The other four climbed in and the landspeeder took off. "Good job, guys," Revan said from the backseat. "Real bounty hunters couldn't have done it better."

"Alright, Atton. So where we do we go to turn you in?" Quaid asked him from the pilot's seat.

The landspeeder stopped at a rather large, dark building near the refugee sector. The four piled out of the landspeeder, then pulled out the bound trio from the back. Quaid observed the building by which they stood.

"Visquis lives here? This place is a dump."

"He doesn't live here. This is just a place from which he conducts business," Atton corrected him.

Yuthura picked Mission up and dragged her along the ground. "OW! Not so hard!" Mission protested.

"Sorry, it has to look real," the purple Twi'lek responded.

They walked around back and saw two Gammorean thugs guarding a small door. The two of them saw the group approaching and became aggressive.

"Stop! You no come in here! You not enter unless you have authorization," the one guard grunted.

"Authorization?" Quaid mused. "Okay. I'll show you my authorization." He picked Atton up for the guards to see his face clearly.

The guards guffawed at the sight. "Atton!" the other one laughed. "So nice to see you! Okay, you enter. Bring them to Visquis. Grumnog will take you to him." He stepped aside and opened up the door. One by one, they entered the building.

The inside was a small room, with a desk on one side. It had almost an office look to it. Behind the desk was a green Twi'lek. Another large Gammorean stood beside the desk.

"Who are these?" the Twi'lek demanded.

"These bounty hunters. They have Atton and want to take him to Visquis," one of the guards told him.

"Ah, okay. Grumnog, please escort them." The large alien snorted in response. He waved his hand for the others to follow them down a hall. They twisted and turned through the arched corridors until they came to a set of large doors. Revan could hear the sound of voices and music coming from behind.

Two guards in body armor opened the doors upon seeing them approach. Inside the room was a bizarre spectacle. The room was large and dimly lit. All around them were aliens of all sorts. Twi'leks, Rodians, Trandoshans, Gands, and various other kinds stood around the room. Some stood in groups talking, others were sitting around, and some of them were obviously drunk. Near the corner a Bith band played, and in the back at the center of the wall was an alien Atton instantly recognized as Visquis.

When they entered, many of the thugs stopped and stared as they approached Visquis. Visquis, a bizarre alien with tentacles coming out of his face, didn't notice them until one of his servants called them to his attention. Upon seeing them, he stood up from his chair and greeted them in mock-cordiality.

"Why hello, my friends! And hello, Atton! I've been expecting you. Ah, what have we here? And may I ask who you are?" He directed this last statement at the four who were posing as bounty hunters.

"We are just citizens trying to make a living," Quaid answered innocently.

"Well, word of your capture reached me before you arrive. I admit I'm very impressed from the way you executed it. Though I hear you also did away with some other hunters as well."

"They were in our way. And let's say this was too easy of a catch to let someone else have it." Yuthura added.

Visquis laughed. "I see. Though I hear they're not so easy, they had already killed a group that had tried to catch them earlier. But it's no matter. You were the one who brought him to me, you get the payment. And who are they?" he asked, pointing to Revan and Mission.

"We don't know. But we found them with Atton," Quaid told him. "Should we just let them go?"

"No," Visquis waved his hand. "They are probably friends of Atton. But I want to keep them here just in case. They probably know a lot about us by now, if Atton's as talkative as he was before."

Atton sneered at him. "And I see you're still the same ugly pile of slime you were. Though I admit, I kind of like you before you put a price on my head."

"Now Atton, don't talk that way! You know we needed that fuel, and more importantly we needed you to not get caught. And yet, you failed us on both terms. Now what if every mercenary who worked for me thought he could lapse into mediocrity? What kind of example would that set? And as for the price on your head, you know I needed you back here as soon as possible, especially since you probably wouldn't have come back to me on your own."

"With a face like yours, I'm surprised anybody ever comes back to you," Atton snapped.

"Ha! What a sense of humor you've got. If your brain was as quick as your mouth, maybe you wouldn't have gotten caught. But it's of no matter. You're stuck here, and believe me, I have plans for you." The alien waved to a pair of Rodian guards. "Take Atton away and lock him up." The two came forward and made a grab for him.

Atton instinctively struggled and tried to break free, but was unable to do much of anything the way he was bound. He shouted as he was being dragged away. "You're going to regret this, Visquis!" The Exchange boss merely laughed as Atton shouted at him. With Atton gone, he turned his attention to the rest.

"You two! Take them away," he commanded, referring to Mission and Atton. "Make sure they're in separate cells." Two more guards, a Trandoshan and a Twi'lek, grabbed them and started dragging them off.

"Wait! You can't do this!" Mission shouted in protest. Visquis said nothing, but instead seemed to ignore her. "You ugly tentacle-faced piece of bantha poodoo!" she screamed. "I swear, when I get my hands on you, I'll sock you so hard, you'll be looking backwards the rest of your life! Let me go!" She kicked and screamed as she was being dragged away, prompting several thugs to laugh at her. Meanwhile, Revan tried to remain calm as he went over the plans in his head.

"Such a feisty one," Visquis remarked when they were gone. Now, only Quaid, Yuthura, Visas, and HK stood before him. "You four did well! You definitely make an unusual group, if you don't mind me saying. You don't work for me, do you?"

"We get that sometimes," Quaid answered him. "And no, we don't. Now, there is the matter of credits."

"Ah yes! Well, as there are four of you, err, three…" HK-47 had no use for credits. "You'll have to divide it amongst yourselves. 40,000 credits."

"45,000," Yuthura demanded. "At least then we can divide it by three."

"Alright, fine! But that's it! Now, are we done with this conversation?"

"Not yet," Visas interjected. "We still have something to ask of you."

"Yes. You see Visquis, it's been rather hard for us to come by credits recently. We were wondering if perhaps you were looking for new help around here. We wouldn't mind becoming employees of the Exchange itself. We assure you, we'd be of great help. And we'd get the job done," Quaid added.

"Bah! You wouldn't be the first to come to me. But I admit, you seem capable enough. Your droid here looks rather impressive."

"Boastful reply: Indeed! I am also highly equipped for all forms of meatbag extermination. But I have to say, you meatbags are rather messy when you expire! Why, all the fluids and parts just seem to get everywhere once you're cut open! Why, I remember this one meatbag had this purple fluid that just-"

"And I see it has personality as well! Anyway, as I was saying, I have my hands full with those blasted refugees. They're starting to become less cooperative. Not to mention all these small gangs on this planet making trouble for the Exchange. Tell you what, you stay with us, and we'll see about hiring you. In the meantime, think of your little stay here as an extra bonus for such a great capture. I'll have someone escort you to some rooms, unless you'd rather stay here a bit. The stolen juma juice we obtained is quite nice."

"No, thank you," Quaid declined.

"Very well. In that case, we'll be able to talk tomorrow. Farewell."

"One last thing, Visquis," Quaid asked before he left.

"What?" the gangster asked, now sounding slightly annoyed.

"Just what do you plan on doing with Atton?"

The alien laughed. "HA! You'll see. But let me just say, I've been looking something to add to my carbonite collection for some time. Farewell."

Quaid gulped behind his mask. As they were lead away, a sense of both victory and fear gripped him. They had gotten inside, in fact way more easily than he'd expected. But now they were going to freeze Atton in carbonite. They had to work fast, or else. They had to find that creature soon.

"Revan, I hope you know what you're doing," he thought to himself as he and the others left the room.

Meanwhile, Revan was beinglead to his cell by the Trandoshan. Periodically, he would jab and push Revan either to get him moving faster or just for the fun of it. They came to a row of cells Revan couldn't see Atton or Mission in any of them. The thug pushed Revan again to get him moving along. He directed him to a cell near a corner and shoved him in.

"Watch it!" Revan snapped angrily.

"Silence," the reptilian thug hissed. "You just stay there, friend of Atton. Visquis will decide what to do with you."

"This is ridiculous! Why are you keeping me here? Visquis wanted Atton, not me!"

"I said silence. Play your cards right, and you might get out of here alive." The creature turned away, and as he turned, Revan noticed something on his jacket's right sleeve. Embroidered on the shoulder of his jacket, Revan saw a familiar image. Upon closer inspection, he saw that it was a picture of an innocent-looking gizka.

"Follow the gizka." Bastila's words echoed in Revan's mind. That bizarre statement now rang over and over in Revan's mind. This had to have been what she meant. He knew it.

"What are you staring at?" the creature hissed angrily.

Revan snapped out of his trance. "Uh, nothing." The thug hissed again and left the room. Revan leaned against the wall of his cell, a thousand thoughts racing through his head. They had gotten in. Even better, he had stumbled upon Bastila's clue. He could only hope Quaid and the others were having luck in their task. As for Mission, Revan could only pray that she would come through on her part of the plan. It was a gamble, but he had faith in Mission. She had done it before.

In the meantime, he decided to get some sleep. He leaned against the hard wall of his cell. He had a strange suspicion that somewhere else in the building, the creature was being held as well.

Done! See, I can get chapters done faster now! Anyway, some of you may be confused on just what Revan's plans are exactly. Don't worry, it'll be explained. However, since I haven't updated my other fic for a while, I need to update that first. Thanks for reading. Adios.