Chapter Six: Rumble in the Cargo Hold

Carth Onasi entered the cargo hold and headed straight for the workbench. They'd be at the Star Forge in a week, and he wanted to make sure that his blasters were the best they could be. There was no telling what they'd encounter on their way to defeat Malak. It wasn't his job to take Malak down; it was Revan's. His job was to defend her at all costs. And he wasn't going to let an un-upgraded blaster be the death of her. Or him. Or anyone else.

Carth took apart a Sith Assassin pistol he stole from the Sith Academy, looking for anything that might be beneficial in upgrading his own two blasters. Carth pulled a stool over and had a seat while he went about messing with wires and pieces of the pistol. He heard the metallic footsteps of HK-47 enter the cargo hold. The droid was no doubt on patrol mode. It must be the top of the hour.

"Any threats, HK?" Carth called over his shoulder as he examined the pistol's trigger device.

"Answer: There appears to be no security threats so far," HK-47 answered.

"Good," Carth said, looking to see if the trigger device from the Sith pistol would fit his blaster.

Carth heard HK leave the cargo hold. Several minutes later he head another set of footsteps, heavy footsteps this time. Carth ignored them and focused on his work.

"Haven't seen you all morning, Republic."

Canderous. Carth sighed. "I relieved Jolee early so he and Revan could talk. Juhani's in the cockpit now."

"So they could talk about what?" Canderous asked.

"Her visions." Carth kept his answer short and to the point since he was still busy working. The cynic in Carth wondered yet didn't care why Canderous decided to have a conversation with him. Canderous never gave him the time of day in the first place.

"All that Darth Revan stuff?" Canderous asked.

Carth nodded.

Out of the corner of his eye, Carth saw Canderous cross his arms and lean against the wall of the cargo hold. "So tell me, Carth: What's it like ridin' a former Sith Lord?"

Carth closed his eyes. So that was it. Figures. He ignored Canderous.

"Or was it more like she was ridin' you?"

Carth looked at his blaster and suddenly wished it wasn't in three pieces.

"Did she use the Force at all?" Canderous asked. "There are some pretty interesting rumors about what those Jedi's can do with the Force during foreplay."

Carth clenched his teeth.

"I take that as a no?" Canderous asked. "She's holdin' out on you then, Republic."

Carth closed his eyes and kept repeating to himself that it wasn't worth it. Canderous was just trying to rattle his cage. Let it go…

"Bet if you asked her, she'd do a strip tease usin' just the Force. She could probably remove your clothes, too," Canderous said. "Less work for you. Just sit back and enjoy—"

"We didn't have sex, all right!" Carth yelled, slamming his clenched fist on the workbench. Carth closed his eyes, took a deep breath and tried to calm down. It wasn't worth it.

Canderous was slightly taken aback, standing up straight. "But T3—" Then he stopped, grinned, and nodded. "I see, I see. Poor, poor Republic. Hot babe, putty in your hands, and you couldn't stand at attention." He shook his head. "That's just like you Republics," he continued. "When the opportunity presents itself, you pull out just when it gets good."

Would anyone miss Canderous if he shoved him out an airlock? Carth clenched his fist again, and stared at the workbench.

"Then again, maybe it wasn't you," Canderous thought out loud as he started to pace. "Maybe it was her. She's a Jedi, after all. Those Jedi don't exactly bed-hop."

Carth's eyes narrowed. He focused on the trigger mechanism on the pistol.

"Maybe no one's ever bagged her before," Canderous chuckled. "If it were up to me, I'd give her a first time she'd never forget. The Mandalorian way, all the way. Woo-hoo. I'm tellin' ya—"

Canderous's sentence was interrupted by Carth's fist.

The Mandalorian was caught off-balance, staggering backwards, then falling on his backside. He sat up and held his jaw, then looked up at Carth.

The Republic Commander was standing in front of the workbench, breathing heavily, his head tilted downwards, his eyes narrow.

"You want to bash me? Fine," Carth snapped, his voice like whiplash. "You wanna poke fun at me? Fine. But don't you ever bring her into this!"

Canderous rubbed his jaw. He removed his hand and looked to see a smear of blood on his fingers. "Republic's got bark and bite," he said, standing up. "Feisty, too. Probably because Revan didn't give ya any."

Carth threw another punch, but this time Canderous was ready for him and defending with a punch to Carth's chest. Something cracked, and Carth let out a cry, then sent a solid punch to Canderous's nose. Soon the two warriors were throwing punches and rolling on the floor, their military-trained fighting skills thrown out the airlock, punching and kicking like a poorly choreographed dance number. Arms and legs flared as Carth and Canderous traded insults, too.

When HK-47 entered the cargo hold at the top of the hour, he watched the fight with great amusement. He called to T3, who wheeled in just as Canderous pinned Carth against a footlocker.

HK looked at T3. "Wagering statement: My RAM chips are on the Mandalorian meatbag."

Carth brought his legs up and wrapped his feet around Canderous's right knee cap, twisted his feet and sent the Mandalorian crashing to the ground. Carth got up and dove on Canderous, pinning him so he couldn't move.

T3 beeped.

"Statement: The Republic meatbag only has the advantage for the moment. The Mandalorian meatbag will recover."

T3 whistled.

"Disagreeing statement: There is no need to inform Master. They are not harming anyone but themselves. Beside, this is entertaining!"

T3 chimed and beeped. Canderous flipped around and hit Carth across the jaw. Carth cried out in pain and fell backwards.

"Agreement: It is true that Master would not appreciate it if whiny, Republic meatbag was injured."

T3 beeped that he was going to go get Revan. Before the droid could move, rushed footsteps echoed through the hall. Jolee and Revan ran into the cargo hold. Revan gasped.

"Salutation: Greetings, Master!" HK said.

Revan raised her hand. Canderous and Carth suddenly froze in mid-punch. They hovered for a few seconds, then where set flying in opposite directions, landing on the floor of the cargo hold with painful thuds. Revan ran over to Carth's side.

"What in the name of the Force is going on in here!" Jolee roared.

Revan knelt and helped Carth sit up. "Owowow!" Carth hissed, holding his side. "Oh," he moaned. "Oh, not good…"

Revan let him lean on her, wrapping an arm around his shoulders as she wiped strands of sweat-drenched hair away from his face. Carth's face was covered his bruises, as was the rest of his body. His nose was bleeding, and his left eye was swollen. Revan frowned, then placed her free hand on his chest. Carth felt a cool, tingling sensation all over his body. He closed his eyes and softly moaned as Revan called to the Force to heal his bruised, battered, and broken body. No sooner did the sensation come to him then did it disappear. She even healed his ribs. He felt as if he hadn't just spent the last few minutes fighting like he was twenty again.

When Revan removed her hand from his chest, she looked at him with her bright eyes. "What happened?" she asked.

"I'd rather not say, Beautiful," Carth whispered. It was best Revan not know.

Canderous scowled. "Carth hit me," he said, nursing what looked like a broken nose.

Carth glared daggers at Canderous. "You asked for it!"

"You clocked me!"

"You had it comin'!"

Revan closed her eyes. Carth turned his attention away from Canderous and looked at Revan. What was she doing?

"Interruption," HK said. "If I may, Master. I did not see the beginning of the confrontation, but it was clear that the Mandalorian meatbag had the advantage."

Canderous grinned.

T3 beeped angrily at HK-47.

"Query: Oh, what do you know about fights, you rusty, bucket of bolts?" HK sighed in disgust as T3 beeped again.

Silence filled the room. "Revan?" Carth asked.

"This room… echoes with the argument," Revan whispered. "Can you feel it, Jolee?"

"Indeed I can," Jolee answered, looking at Canderous in disgust.

"What?" Canderous asked.

Revan opened her bright eyes again, looked right at Canderous and frowned.

"What?" he asked again. The longer she stared, the more uneasy he felt. And Canderous never felt uneasy. Her glare was loud and clear: She knew exactly what had transpired.

Revan finally turned back to Carth. She smiled sadly, then kissed his cheek. With one final glare in Canderous's direction, she stood up and exited the cargo hold.

Jolee looked back and forth between Carth and Canderous, then at the over-turned cargo containers. "Clean this mess up," he scowled.

"Hey, don't I get any healin'?" Canderous asked.

"They're called medpacs, son," Jolee answered. "Use 'em." And with that Jolee left.

Thanks to Ocelott and Jiara for letting me bounce ideas off of them for this chapter.