Wow it's been a while! Sorry about the delay. Life you know; such a bummer. Thanks for being so patient everybody. Love ya'll.

————————————

Bastila frowned and placed a hand to her head as she felt Aminta's exhilaration blast through her mind like one of the sand storms on Tatooine. As expected, her stomach lurched as Aminta's did, and it took all of Bastila's efforts to block their bond. Swoop racing was dangerous, and if the feelings that Aminta was experiencing were any indication of what it was like to be on a swoop bike, the tracks were every bit as awful as the council made them out to be.

Juhani took a seat beside Bastila on the floor of the women's dormitories, carefully tucking her feet beneath her thighs with the innate grace of her race as she did so. "What is wrong?" she asked smoothly as she ran her hands over her tunic.

Bastila chanted the code in her head in an effort to appear as serene as the others expected her to be. "The bond I share with Padawan Jae can be troublesome at times," she explained stiffly, and Juhani nodded as she averted her gaze, feeling ashamed for asking the simplest of questions. Bastila felt the woman's disturbance through the force, but chose to offer no apology for her abrupt tone.

The two women were silent for a few moments before Juhani turned back to Bastila. "I have been having a great deal of trouble meditating as of late. Would you be willing…" at this point she trailed off.

Bastila nodded quickly without so much as a blink and settled into a meditation pose- her legs crossed, her back straight, her hands resting ever so lightly on her knees. Juhani quickly bent her body into a similar position and closed her eyes as she concentrated on breathing. The act of meditation was once an easy feat for the woman to accomplish, but since her fall to the dark side everything had become jumbled in her mind.

Bastila felt Juhani's confusion as she adjusted her breaths to each wave of the force, and allowed herself to be carried by the current to Juhani's mind. It was indeed a troublesome place to be in… Where the strong, pulsing waves settled into threads that were organized neatly in shades of green and blue Bastila's mind, Juhani's mind bore a jumbled knoy of red, black, yellow, and purple. The current that swirled about the Cathar was strong, but it had a taint to it that Bastila's own mind did not bear.

Tentatively, Bastila helped Juhani detangle the mass of emotion and strings of the force that whipped about the Cathar like a storm while sending images of calm and serenity to Juhani's troubled spirit. After a time, Juhani was able to manage on her own, and she sent Bastila a wave of gratitude before continuing the inner workings of her spirit.

The force drew Bastila back to her own mind, where she concentrated on weaving the right threads together to form a barrier around her mind- one that kept her thoughts from leaking over to Aminta's consciousness (Force forbid! What a disaster that would be), but allowed her to peer into Aminta's mind when she had the need. Satisfied at last, Bastila drew herself out of her subconscious and entered the real world.

The jolt that she received upon emerging from meditation was anticipated, however she wasn't entirely prepared for it. She glanced over to Juhani's form, and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the woman was still deep in the throws of her own mind. Bastila harbored a deep dislike for the Cathar. For one to betray the Jedi… Bastila refused to continue the thought, knowing the dangerous territory that it would lead her into. Aminta was gone for the day after all. Out of sight- out of mind. Or so she hoped.

—————————————————-

Aminta smirked at Canderous and tossed him her helmet. "Ha. You owe me fifty credits."

Canderous caught the gear easily, and threw it back at the woman's head, but she held it aloft through the force with a grin. Canderous scowled. "You cheated."

Aminta twirled the helmet around in the air before allowing it to fall back to her hands. "I most certainly did not," she defended herself half heartedly and Canderous harumphed.

"You used the force," he retorted, and Aminta laughed.

"Ah, but that isn't cheating," she replied easily as she wagged a finger in his face. "It's a nice trick to have up your sleeve, but it isn't cheating. Besides, you can't even prove that I used the Jedi mumbo jumbo. Now stop being such a wuss and pay up," she demanded as she held out her hand.

"This is the last time that I ever make a bet with you," he grumbled as he threw the credit chip at her. Aminta caught it with one hand and tucked it into her belt. "You're a scoundrel."

Aminta raised a brow. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

At that, Canderous chuckled gruffly. "So, what are you planning on doing with all of the credits that you earned?" he asked after a moment as he grabbed her elbow and steered her away from a Selkath that was eyeing her a little too closely.

Aminta sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. "Almost all of it will go to weapons and armor. What little there is left is going to have to be divided amongst the crew… money doesn't go very far these days."

"Ah, the horrors of being in charge," Canderous snickered, and Aminta scowled at him. "You could always use Mission's philosophy, you know."

"What? Steal to get my bread?" She laughed humorlessly. "I did. That's how I got into the whole mess. Do you honestly think that I want to be on the planet of red tape?"

"I thought you liked Manaan."

Aminta shrugged. "I did. Before the war that is. Now that they've gone neutral and are enforcing the peace with drastic measures… I'm not too fond of it anymore."

Canderous chuckled and nodded. "Rules and regulations always do tend to spoil the party."

"No kidding," Aminta replied dryly.

Canderous stopped in front of the cantina and turned to Aminta. "I don't know where you're going, but I'm starving. Want some lunch?" he asked, nodding to the sign hanging outside the door.

"You sure you're not just going in for a drink?" Aminta asked with a raised brow, and Canderous chortled.

"Of course I am. And I'm going to spend my portion of the winnings on a glass of Tarisian ale. But I thought you'd like something to eat while I was drinking."

Aminta rolled her eyes. "How incredibly considerate of you."

Canderous grinned, and then headed inside. Aminta braced herself for the wall of smoke that usually enveloped her when she entered a cantina, but found the place disappointingly sterile. The floors shone like new, and the large room was decorated in tasteful colors, all muted to bring about the constant air of serenity. "Well, this is the highest class bar I've ever been in," she muttered darkly, and Canderous sighed.

"You know squirt, we've got to get you used to the finer things in life."

"I'd define the 'finer things' as a ball gown, a room with chandeliers and an actual dance floors where they play the Telonisian Waltz. Not a cantina that looks like it should be located somewhere in a hospital."

"I was being sarcastic."

Aminta rolled her eyes. "I know that." She grimaced as she looked about the room in distaste. "Guess we'll have to be on good behavior, huh?" she noted wryly, and Canderous chuckled.

"You? Behaving properly? That's a laugh."

"Shut up, Candy."

"I don't take orders, Squirt."

Aminta made a noise in the back of her throat in response before she turned to the bar. "Are you going to get that drink or what?" she muttered darkly and Canderous grinned.

"I don't know. Are you going to buy my drink for me?"

"Are you ever going to treat me like a lady?" Aminta retorted, and Canderous raised his eyebrows.

"What? You're a lady?"

"Mandalorian…" Aminta muttered threw gritted teeth, and Canderous leered at her.

"You can have yourself a nice little temper tantrum while I'm drinking my ale," he patted her head, and was gone before she had a chance to swing at him.

Aminta's eyes narrowed as she watched the hulking man order a tall glass of the most potent drink the cantina had to offer. I really wish I knew where those hangover pills went to… Oh well; doesn't matter. If I can't find them, neither can he. The thought of Canderous waking up with a pounding head in the morning gave her somewhat of a sense of justification. Of course, he'd be a beast to deal with… It is so worth it.

As Canderous downed his drink in a few gulps, Aminta concentrated on surveying her surroundings. Ignoring the pristine condition of the walls and the near sparkling floors, she looked to the beings gathered within. Several sith were there, enjoying their drinks as they spoke; a selkath stood in the corner by himself, ostracized by those who were visiting his homeworld. Finally reaching the conclusion that no one was worth her time, she headed towards the bar.

The bartender was, of course, a selkath, and he eyed her warily as she approached. ":What can I get you?:" he asked in his strange, slurring language as he glanced over to Canderous who had downed two ales already. Aminta grimaced at her friend and turned back to the Selkath.

"Do you have any fruit?"

The bartender smiled in relief that the woman before him wouldn't be as disruptive as her companion was. ":Of course,:" he replied graciously, his tone slightly warmer to her than it had been a moment before.

Must not appreciate drinking. Trask would have loved this guy. Steeling herself against the thought of her friend, Aminta ordered a small fruit bowl and took a chair a ways away from Canderous. Unfortunately, her choice of seating landed her beside a drunk Sith.

"Hey gorgeous," he slurred and Aminta rolled her eyes and turned her head away from him. She reached into the force so she could block out the crude comments he was making towards her, thankful that the blasted Jedi were good for at least something. The barkeep returned with her food, and Aminta thanked him before tossing him a credit chip. All the while, the Sith kept talking, and Aminta continued to ignore him as she ate her food.

Finsihed, she stood and left the Sith where he was sitting as she headed over to Canderous. A look over her shoulder revealed that the guy was so plastered that he continued to speak to the empty chair that she had vacated. Choking back a laugh, she finally reached Canderous' side and roughly pushed his shoulder. "I'm heading back to the Hawk. You gonna come with, or do you want to stay and drink some more?"

Canderous glowered at her before drinking the remainder of his ale with gusto and signaling the barkeeper for another one. "I stay," he growled, and Aminta smirked.

"You're going to fork over all your credits to 'fishboy'," she warned him, and Canderous glared at her before tossing another credit chip onto the counter. Sighing with resignation, Aminta headed out of the cantina and wandered down the streets of Ahto City. Deciding to take a different route back to the Hawk, Aminta unwittingly stumbled upon the shopping district.

Shops lined both sides of the street, and although the advertisement was subtle, it was there. It had been a long time since Aminta had simply been able to shop. She'd been so busy over the past few years, after all. She found herself wondering whether or not she should waste her time peeking into the multitude of stores before she stopped debating and scowled at her behavior. I'm traversing the galaxy for the blasted Jedi. Who the hell cares whether I shop for a few hours or not. I've earned the right to be selfish. With that thought, she continued down the street for a while with a spring in her step.

Out of the corner of her eye, Aminta caught sight of something very blue. Turning quickly, she saw Mission skipping through the streets. Apparently the girl had made quite a few purchases- Zalbaar was trailing behind wailing mournfully as he held an armload of packages. "Mish!" Aminta called, and the girl whirled around to face her.

"Hey Ami!" Mission cried out, and sprinted over to where the woman stood. Zalbaar followed his charge quickly, growling out complaints about infantile behavior as he did so. "I thought you were with Canderous," Mission noted when she drew to a stop, and Aminta realized with a smile that the girl was scarcely out of breath.

"He decided to get plastered," Aminta explained, and Mission giggled.

"He's a moron!" she exclaimed with a toss of her lekku, and Aminta grinned.

"Have fun shopping?" The woman asked as she gestured to the packages that the poor Wookie had been forced to carry. Zalbaar met her eyes and growled pitifully, earning him a chuckle and a pat on his furry arm.

"Did I ever!" Mission exclaimed, her lekku twitching with excitement as her mouth stretched into a wide grin. "The people here actually let me into the stores! There weren't any signs up sayin' NO ALIENS ALOUD, or nothin'." The girl gushed, and Aminta paused as she waited for the cloud of hurt to pass over Mission's face at the mention of Taris. Thankfully, the young girl was too excited to realize her off hand reference, and she grabbed Aminta's sleeve. "You need to get some stuff for yourself too," Mission announced, and Aminta grinned at her enthusiasm.

"Much as I'd love to, the credits I earned have to go to armor…"

Mission cut Aminta off before she could continue her sentence. "We've got plenty of armor already. Besides, you earned the money. You should do what you want with it!"

"Mish…"

"Come shopping with me. Please?" Mission made a pouting face, and Aminta sighed in resignation.

Gods girl, you really are going soft. "Fine. But only for a little while," she conceded, and Mission grinned.

"Come on! This store over here has it advertised that they have great sales! They've got clothes, jewelry, and everything. You have to go in there. I was about to go in before I saw you…" The girl began to ramble on and on, occasionally gesturing to one package or another. Aminta forced herself to listen, although her attention continued to drift elsewhere.

"…And Flanigan's Boutique had all kinds of sparkly things- they were kind of ugly really- but there was this one necklace that was such a pretty shade of red. But, you know, read and blue don't really match, so…" Mission continued on as she dragged Aminta through the doors of the store she had referenced earlier.

There were indeed amazing sales on everything from fabric to armor. Aminta's gaze locked on the weapons rack, and Mission sighed dramatically. "Come on, let's look at the girly stuff first. You can look at the swords later." With that, she pulled Aminta in the direction of the clothing racks, and dropped Aminta's arm only long enough to pull garments out for the woman's inspection.

"Look, Mish, these are very pretty…" she gestured to the clothes draped over Mission's arm. "But considering our mission, they're not very practical. Besides, I already have a case full of civilian clothes."

"Yeah, right," Mission agreed as she placed the garments back on the rack. "But your supply of unmentionables is seriously lacking. So was mine, actually, but I bought some in Vitaria's Secret an hour ago." Zalbaar growled out his mortification at entering such a store, but both females ignored him.

Aminta's eyes widened. "They have a Vitaria's Secret on Manaan?"

Mission dimpled. "Yeah. Isn't it great? They had perfume there too. And pajamas. And lingere, but who needs that?" she asked with a scrunched face, and Aminta smiled.

"Plenty of people dear. Just none your age," Aminta clarified for the girl who scowled at her.

"I'm not a baby you know."

"I know. So, can we head back there, or what?"

Mission grinned, delighted at the thought of actually shopping with Aminta. The last time they had gone together had been incredibly frustrating… Mission determinedly blocked Taris from her mind, and hurried to the shop exit. "Come on, Ami!" she exclaimed over her shoulder as she raced out into the sunlight. Swallowing a laugh at Zalbaar's muttered complaints, Aminta follwoed.

The last time she had been in Vitaria's Secret… well, it had been ages ago. She had gone with a good friend of hers actually, Vitaria Niele. Aminta had laughed at the name of the store yet again when she looked at her friend, who had gone red in embarassment.

"I wonder what your secret is, Vitaria."

"Please, Ami. I think you know all my secrets," the tall blonde laughed as she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

Aminta grinned and skipped ahead. "Do I?"

The girl sighed dramatically, and planted her hands on her hips. "Fine. You want to know my secret? I own this bloody store and I named it after me so that all my friends would make fun of me."

Aminta laughed and shook her head. "Wow, Vi. You really are good at quick comebacks, aren't you."

"Not as good as you," Vitaria teased.

"No, you're not," Aminta replied simply and both girls laughed as they entered the store.

The next thing she knew, Aminta was pulled rudely from memory lane by a blue twi'lek with a bright smile. "Come on Ami. They had some pretty neat stuff on the clearance racks," Mission announced before flouncing inside. The cashier winced, and managed to give Aminta a watery smile in greeting after seeing the twi'lek go bounding through her store yet again.

"I see Mission's made some friends," Aminta commented to Zalbaar, who stood directly behind her.

":You have no idea,:" Zalbaar growled, and Aminta realized belatedly that Zalbaar was using her as a buffer between him and Mission. Shavit.

Aminta found Mission at the back of the store, and she joined the girl in sorting through the sales rack. Surprisingly, the sales area of the store was in every bit as good order as the normal sections. These selkath just turn over all the rules of organization, don't they?

Aminta carefully picked out the most practical of the undergarments in her size, and Mission scowled at her. "Come on, get something at least kind of pretty," the teenager muttered, and Aminta spared the girl a smile.

"Those are more expensive."\

"Who cares?" Mission replied flippantly. "At least pick ones with some sort of color to them. The ones you chose are all black, tan and white."

"Black for black shirts and skirts, white for white shirts, and tan for everything else," Aminta clarified, and Mission sighed dramatically.

"You're hopeless."

Aminta grinned in response and continued shifting through the rack before pulling out a thin, frothy and all together flimsy article of lingerie that could only be defined as completely impractical. She checked the price tag and smiled slightly when she realized exactly how dirt cheap it was. And from Vitaria's Secret. Jackpot.

Mission glanced over to see what Aminta had added to their basked and frowned. "What are you going to use the for?" she wondered aloud, and Aminta gaze her a look. Mission scrunched up her face in distaste and coughed as her skin turned purple with her blush.

Laughing aloud, Aminta rested her hand on Mission's shoulder. "Don't worry. It's not going to be used any time soon. It's just a useful thing to have around," she clarified, and Mission turned slightly more blue than purple.

"Are you sure you don't want anything besides those boring colors?" she asked, completely changing the subject.

"Yes," Aminta replied simply, and Mission sighed in resignation.

"Fine then. Let's go pay."

———————————————————-

The girls arrived back at the Hawk, Zalbaar coming a few steps behind them with their packages in tow. Aminta had finally convinced Mission to allow her into a store that sold weapons and armor, and had spent a good hour pouring over the items within. Aminta had then forced Mission to carry her clothing purchases so that Zalbaar wouldn't be too encumbered, and had clearly stood out on the streets as tourists on their way back.

Bastila met them at the ramp, and frowned when she saw all the purchases. "Don't worry, Bas, we didn't forget you," Aminta said with a smile, tossing Bastila a small package. Bastila sighed and turned back to the hawk.

Aminta grinned and nudged Mission. "I told you she wouldn't be very happy about the shopping spree."

Mission shrugged. "Oh well. It was fun."

Aminta and Mission headed to the girl's dormitory where they dropped off their personal purchases before the pair took several of the bags of armor from Zalbaar and then carried those to the cargo hold. Finally finished with the day, Mission wiped her hands on her pants and yawned. "I think I'm going to go to sleep. Shopping really makes you tired," she announced, and Aminta grinned.

"Go on. I'm going to see if Canderous made it back yet." The two parted ways, and Aminta poked her head into the men's dormitory, and smiled in amusement when she saw Canderous sprawled out on his bunk, snoring loudly. Stifling a chuckle, she left the room and headed to the cockpit, where Carth had dozed off.

Slowly, she crept into the room and placed her hands on his neck. Her touch made Carth awake with a start, and he almost reached for his blasters before realizing that it was just Aminta. "Hey," he greeted her somewhat sheepishly, and ran a hand over his face as he yawned.

"Hey yourself." Aminta curled up in the co-pilot's chair, and glanced over the controls. "What are you doing in here? We're not flying," she noted, and Carth gestured to a screen that was beeping softly.

"Just checking up on things," he admitted, and Aminta smiled.

"You would be," she murmured under her breath, and Carth chose not to ask her to clarify.

"So, what did you find out?"

Aminta rubbed the back of her neck with her hand. "I won the championship on Manaan. That was… interesting. The twi'lek that I bested really has it out for me, I swear," she grumbled, and Carth laughed. "Nobody really knew anything about ancient artifacts, but a republic soldier told me to go visit Roland Wann. Said he might know a thing or two."

Carth nodded. "I recognize the name. Fought with him once."

"Is he trustworthy?" Aminta probed, and Carth took the comment as a thinly veiled insult.

He glared at her. "Come off it."

Aminta rolled her eyes. "Don't get yourself into a fit Carth. I was being serious."

Carth eyed her warily and then shrugged. "Fought with him once. He's a little hard around the edges, but overall he's okay."

"You don't sound too taken with him," Aminta noted, and rubbed a hand over his face.

"He's too much of a… tactician, I guess. Anything for victory- he doesn't quite care how many men have to die before he gets it," he clarified, and Aminta frowned.

"Isn't that usually the policies used for war? I mean, better a soldier's death than that of a hundred civillians," Aminta observed, and Carth shifted uncomfortably.

"I hope you don't feel that way about your crew's lives."

Aminta shrugged and looked away. "A month ago, I could have cared less. Now…" she trailed off. "Now you don't have to worry about me sending any of you on a suicide mission."

"You would have a month ago?"

Aminta met his eyes. "Yeah."

Carth was silent for a few minutes, and he turned back to the computer screen. "Everything looks to be in order with the Hawk's mechanics. I think I'll be able to join you tomorrow when you go to see Roland."

"I'd like that."

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The next morning found Carth and Bastila trailing after Aminta as they headed towards the Republic base. Carth, who had never been to Manaan before, found himself staring in awe at the structures that Aminta had passed a day before. Bastila also was barely able to conceal her appreciation for the Selkath eye for beauty.

"You look like tourists," Aminta commented dryly, causing Carth to snap his attention to her, and Bastila to regain her serene composure.

"Manaan is a planet of wondrous beauty," Bastila excused her lack of focus, and Carth merely shrugged sheepishly.

Aminta rolled her eyes and pulled out her datapad to view the directions to the base. The Selkath that she had gotten them from hadn't been too terribly happy that she had interrupted…whatever it was that he had been doing. He certainly hadn't seemed busy at the time. "We take go straight through those doors and then take a right," Aminta informed her companions as she nodded in the correct direction.

"Do you suppose that this Roland Wann will be able to help us in our quest for the star maps?" Bastila asked as the threesome made their way down the long hall.

Aminta shrugged in response. "The grunt soldiers don't know much. Being of a higher position… Roland might know something. He also might know a whole lot more than just something."

"Never know until you try, right?" Carth noted, and Aminta spared him a smile.

Bastila clasped her hands in front of her. "What if there is a traitor among the members of the base that hears us speak of this most delicate matter? We could alert Darth Malak of our intent…"

"What if the chemicals in our body mutate and we spontaneously combust?" Aminta interrupted her, and Bastila frowned.

"I was being serious."

"So was I," Aminta retorted, and Bastila fell into silence. However, the code blared its way through Aminta's mind, and the woman scowled at Bastila. "Get out of my head!" she exclaimed, and Bastila made a hasty retreat. "Gods! How many times do you repeat that thing in one day?"

Bastila sighed and struggled to remain serene. "It is not a 'thing'. It is the sacred code of the Jedi order…"

"And we all know how I feel about the jedi order. Blackmailing snivgolds," Aminta muttered under her breath, and Bastila coughed.

Carth quickly stepped in to play the role of a peacemaker. "Come on. We're here already; you don't want the Republic to know of our… considerable difficulties."

"Is that what you call them?" Aminta replied, and Carth leveled a heavy gaze at her. "Fine, fine. I'm shutting up," she grumbled, and the corners of Bastila's mouth turned upwards in what could only be described as gloating. Thankfully, Aminta didn't see it. If she had, there would have been hell to pay.

The three entered the Republic base, and Aminta practically sagged with relief at the change of atmosphere. The color was darker; less pure somehow, and the atmosphere set Aminta at ease almost instantly. She hadn't realized how incredibly tense the muted colors of the Selkath had made her until that moment. Bastila, however, underwent an opposite reaction to the new environment. Jedi.

A soldier dressed in orange as fluorescent as the color of Carth's flight jacket approached them and offered his assistance. Aminta requested permission to see Roland Wann - demanded being the appropriate word. The soldier nodded curtly, and escorted the trio to a large desk, behind which sat an older, dark skinned man with a receding hairline.

"What do you need?" he asked gruffly without looking up from his paperwork, and Aminta bit back a sharp sigh of annoyance.

"Help," she said simply, her tone conveying her impatience. Roland at last set aside his spectacles and his attention was caught by the lightsaber that was strapped to her hip.

"Master Jedi," he intoned with an inclination of his head. "I would be pleased to help a member of the order," he informed Aminta formally, and nodded to Bastila as well. A spark of recognition flashed in his eyes when his gaze turned to Carth, but he ignored the pilot and turned back to Aminta.

"We're looking for ancient artifacts. They'd most likely be on the ocean floor," Aminta informed him brusquely, and Roland nodded slowly.

"I may be able to help you," he admitted, and then leveled her with a calculating gaze. "But I'll need your help too. You look like you're up for it."

Aminta raised a brow. "So there's a price for information these days?"

"Not a price for information." At this point, Roland smiled. "A price for a ride to the ocean floor."

Aminta looked to Carth, who nodded. "You know where the ruins are?"

Roland shrugged. "My team came across some ancient artifacts when we went down in the beginning. As I figure, that's your best shot."

Aminta bit her lip, and then met his eyes. "What is it that you need done?" she asked after a moment or two.

With a poker face, Roland replied, "Infiltrate the Sith base."

Ignoring the sputtering of her companions, Aminta pursed her lips and then sighed. "How do I get in?"

Roland grinned, and stepped out from behind his desk. "There are two options that you have," he began as he inserted his security code into the door labeled PERSONELL ONLY. The doors whoosed open, and Roland entered, gesturing Aminta to follow him. The first is this: We have a Sith in custody who knows the code to enter. Unfortunately, he is being most unresponsive." He gestured into a room that had computer terminals surrounding a cage that held a Sith. "Question him, using force if necessary. Once he steels himself from answering you, you must use serum to erase his memory. Too little, and he will find out what is going on. Too much, and he dies."

Aminta nodded. "And the other?"

Roland passed on to another doorway. "We have uncovered a crate of Sith pass keys. Unfortunately, they are heavily encrypted with mathematical sequences that baffle even our most highly trained technicians. One mistake, and the whole passkey is rendered unusable. Thankfully, there is a whole crate to experiment on."

"I'd rather toy with a card than a man's life," Aminta decided after a moment, and Roland nodded. He entered the second room and handed Aminta a pass key. "Here is a blank one. The crate is over there," he gestured to a half empty box, "And the ruined ones are there," he finished, pointing to a box directly next to the computer terminal. "Enjoy."

With that, Roland Wann turned on his heel and exited the room, leaving the trio behind to conduct their work.

Carth frowned, and drew Aminta aside. "Whatever happened to not sending us on any suicide missions?"

Aminta sighed. "You don't have to come. I'll go on my own if I have to."

Bastila chose that moment to enter the conversation. "Absolutely not!" she exclaimed, her voice almost panicked. Quickly, she calmed herself and regained her composure. "I will enter the base with you; you will need a great deal of help, after all."

Carth sighed after a moment. "I'm coming too."

Aminta nodded. "Good. Now, as for this…" she gestured to the computer and sighed. "Might as well get started."

Quickly, she inserted the key into the computer, and frowned as a string of numbers appeared on the screen. 1, 2, 4, 7, 11, 16. She gnawed on her lower lip as she glanced over it, and then laughed. "If this is hard…" Each number was added by one, then two, then three, then four, then five. "Add six and…" she typed in 22. "Bingo."

Once she entered in the answer, a second string of numbers appeared on the screen. 21, 18, 16, 15, 15, 16. It repeated itself, obviously. Aminta entered in 18, and a new string of numbers appeared. 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32. Each number was the result of multiplying the previous number by two. Aminta entered 64, and once again, more numbers appeared. 128, 64, 32, 16, 8, 4. Simple. Each term was divided by two. So, she entered 2.

1, 32, 81, 64, 25. Aminta stared at the numbers, but for the life of her she couldn't make any sense of them. Bastila peered over her shoulder and then smiled. "Six."

Aminta frowned. "How do you figure?"

"I didn't. Just a guess," Bastila admitted, and Aminta sighed.

"Fine." She entered the number 6 into the sequence, and blinked with surprise when it turned out to be the right answer. "Don't go getting a big head," she muttered, and Bastila frowned.

"Jedi are not prideful."

"Of course they're not." Aminta turned her attention back to the screen and coughed. 10.83.32 5 .128. Aminta frowned and rubbed her eyes. I'm not even going to try. "Okay, genius, what do you think it is?"

"Seven."

"A guess?" Aminta asked, and Bastila nodded. "Well hell," she muttered, and punched in 7. Not surprisingly, Bastila's guess was correct.

Aminta pulled the card out of the computer terminal. "Well, I guess there's only one thing left to decide."

"Hm?"

"When do we head to the Sith base?"

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Once again, I apologize for the extremely long amount of time it took me to write another chapter. But please, don't let that keep you from reviewing. In fact, it might make me post the next chapter even faster if you drop me a comment.