Taran sprang to stand up, but Bane's pistol aimed at his chest stopped him, causing him to only get into a half-kneel.

"Not so fast boy," said Bane. "Nice hat by the way."

"I needed some kind of inspiration. You fit the description for 'scum-of-the-galaxy' wear," said Taran. Bane chuckled at that.

"Funny, you seem to have grown more mature since our last meeting, but no matter," said Bane.

"I just have one thing to ask: did you capture Ahsoka?" said Taran, his voice barely hiding his hidden rage.

"As a matter of fact, I did. She gave me quite a headache trying to capture her, but in the end, I get my targets, even if they are not the ones I'm after," said clenched his fist and narrowed his eyes in anger, but did not move.

"And how do I know you wouldn't say that just to piss me off?" said Taran. Bane grinned and reached into his pocket.

"A little souvenir," he said. What he pulled out made Taran's eyes widen in shock. Bane was holding the necklace he had given to Ahsoka two years. The blue crystal shined still. Taran's fist clenched unbearably tight as he fought to regain control of himself before his dark energy escaped him as Bane placed it back in his pocket.

"You're outnumbered Bane," said Taran.

"By who?" said Bane. At that moment, seven lightsabers to his left activated, followed by the sound of three blasters cocking, aiming at his direction. For the first time ever, Taran saw a look of fear come over Bane. The bounty hunter was usually prepared for anything, but taking on assailants of this caliber was beyond him. With no choice, Bane turned tail and ran out as fast as he could.

"After him!" said Taran. He, Bruck, Tia, Lux, Katooni, Ganodi and Petro went after Bane while Korkie, Zatt, Byph and Lagos went to help and look over Amis and Soniee.

Bane used the jets in his boots to fly out and land on a speeder. The startled Mandalorian driving the speeder looked up in shock to see Bane.

"Keep moving," he said to him, holding his pistol to his head. Taran saw Bane making his escape and hastily pulled out his glider.

"Try to cut him off before he gets to the spaceport," said Taran before he took off after the bounty hunter. Bruck and Tia jumped onto another passing speeder while Katooni, Ganodi and Petro did the same, the two groups heading off in different directions where they could help cutoff Bane.

Taran weaved and dodged speeders left and right as he kept up his pursuit of Bane. Bane never left his sight as he glided through the daily traffic of Keldabe. Bane turned to see Taran still following him.

"Guess I'll need another way to lose him," Bane said to himself. He picked up the pilot from the speeder and flung him out. The man screamed as he plummeted to the ground 20 stories below. Taran saw it, and though he wanted to keep up the pursuit of Bane, he couldn't let an innocent die when he had the chance to save him. Taran dived downwards towards the falling pilot.

The man saw the ground rise up to greet him and he knew that his life was about to end and closed his eyes. Suddenly, he felt something grab his hand and his drop stop, the motion instead reverting to him flying across the sky. He opened his eyes and looked to see a teenage boy holding his hand while the other one gripped a glider of some kind.

"Hold on," he said. He flew to a low-lying building and softly dropped the man on flat-lying roof. Once Taran let the man go safely onto the roof he took off full force after Bane, the man thanking him in Mando'a. Bane saw that Taran was out of sight and chuckled to himself. He didn't notice the speeder come up rapidly behind him and rear-end him, making the speeder lurch forward and have Bane's head hit the steering wheel. He turned to see Bruck, Tia and Lux behind him in a speeder. Lux took shots at Bane to keep him pinned down.

"Steady it," said Bruck as he prepared to jump from his seat. Once he judged it right, he Force-jumped onto Bane's speeder. Bane saw this and began to veer the speeder left and right to try and shake Bruck off. Bruck held on to the speeder's surface desperately to keep his hold. Bane saw this wasn't working and aimed his pistol at Bruck. Bruck had to make a split-second decision and chose to let go. The blaster round streaked past him and hit the front of their speeder, absorbing it harmlessly save for a blackened scorch mark.

"Bruck!" yelled Tia as she saw him fall. She rapidly brought the speeder down as Bruck fell to the ground. Bruck turned in midair and managed to grab on to the front of the speeder. Lux reached out and grabbed Bruck's hand to help him back in. Though Bruck was safe for the time being, Bane was getting away. Bane thought he was in the clear and reclined back onto his seat. He didn't see the dark shape hurtling down to him from above.

Taran landed on the front of the speeder, plunging his lightsaber into the speeder's engine. Smoke began to spew from the hood, disrupting Bane's vision. The bounty hunter hastily activated the jets in his boots and flew out of the speeder as it began to plummet to the ground. Taran jumped off and landed on the top of a building, running across the rooftops to keep up with Bane. Bane turned and fired at Taran as he tried to escape. Taran deflected the blaster rounds aimed for him, sending some back in Bane's general direction to throw off the bounty hunter's aim.

Bane continued to try and make his way back to ship, all the while Taran hot on his heels. Looking ahead, Bane threw a thermal detonator up towards a statue on top of a grenade went off near the base, fracturing the statue in half from the blast. It fell, heading straight towards Taran's path. Taran used his bending to keep it from falling onto him and set it gently atop a roof. Taran shot a fireball straight at Bane, making the bounty swerve to the side to avoid it burning him. Bane continued to shoot at Taran to keep him off of him.

One shot from Bane met Taran's lightsaber and Taran expertly deflected to hit one of the jet boosters on Bane's right boot. The booster fried and fizzled, causing Bane to lose his equilibrium and fly around in sporadic zigzag patterns and circles in the sky. Taran seized the moment to jump and grab onto his still functioning jet booster leg, making them hover down steadily. Bane tried desperately to shake him off, but Taran clung on, Taran losing his hat on the way, but he didn't care. He had to capture Bane at all costs.

Bane's damaged jet booster finally sputtered out and Bane savagely kicked Taran across his face, causing Taran to let go of his leg and fall down on his back onto a rooftop fifteen feet below. Sucking his teeth from the pain, he steadily rose up, swallowing the blood in his mouth as he gave chase from the rooftops. Bane switched off his other booster and decided to make a run for it across the rooftops.

Suddenly, in front of Bane, another speeder came to a halt in his path and out jumped Ganodi, Petro and Katooni. Their lightsabers were on and they advanced towards Bane. Bruck, Lux and Tia came out from behind a building, jumping out of their speeder as well, lightsabers and blasters in hand. This new turn of events caused Bane to halt and backed up into the middle of a circle. Bane charged towards the younglings. Ganodi dodged to the side and meant to swing at him, but Bane came up behind her and knocked her lightsaber out of her hands, wrapping his arm around her neck and holding his blaster threateningly to her.

"Back off and the little girl won't get hurt," said Bane.

"Bane that's just low," said Taran, angry that the bounty hunter would resort to this to get his way out. His fists clenched and his teeth grit as he tried not set Bane off and have him kill Ganodi.

"Back off, nice and slow," said Bane to the others. They all reluctantly drew back a few steps as Bane slowly moved back, all the while keeping his blaster pointed at Ganodi's head. Ganodi struggled to get out of his grasp, but Bane had a firm grip on her. Taran looked to Bruck, and Bruck slightly nodded. Without a moment's notice, Taran charged at Bane. Bruck used the Force to push Bane's pistol to the side, the sudden motion causing him to pull the trigger, the bolt firing harmlessly into the air. Taran hurtled into Bane as Ganodi twisted out of the way. Taran full tackled Bane off of the building. The two fell as the others watched their fall.

Taran punched Bane in midair, Bane returning the punch with one of his own as they fell ten stories. Taran reached down and shot a gust of air to cushion them enough to not die from the fall. They hit the ground, hard. Taran groaned as he sat up enough to see Bane point his blaster at him. Suddenly, a shot rang out and Bane's pistol was shot out of his hand. Lux held the blaster from above towards Bane as the others climbed down and encircled Bane. Taran hastily rose to his feet.

"You're coming with us."

"There, that should be good," said Korkie as he dressed Soniee's wounds. Byph and Zatt were helping Amis as well while Lagos prepared their medical supplies. Through the doorway, they saw the others arrive, with Bane's hands bound behind his back tightly.

"Everyone okay?" said Korkie.

"Well we probably destroyed some parts of the city, startled and scared many civilians and the security forces are running wild trying to find us, so in all it was a normal day," said Tia.

"So what now?" said Amis.

"We interrogate him. You have another room somewhere?" said Taran. Lagos nodded and pointed to a doorway in the back of the main room. Taran thanked her and borderline dragged Bane to the room. Once he opened the door, he shoved Bane into a corner and closed the door, leaving them alone. Taran sat down cross-legged in front of Bane.

"Oh, now you play the part of the interrogator. Please, I'm curious to how you'll make me talk," said Bane.

"Where is she?" said Taran, his voice controlled.

"Where is who?" said Bane coyly.

"Don't play dumb with me Bane. You're in no position to try and barter your way out," said Taran. "Just tell me what I need to know, and I'll let you go."

"Just like that?" said Bane. Taran nodded.

"Alright Cyneran, she's on Boz Pity," said Bane. Taran looked at him for awhile.

"You know, I'm almost tempted to believe you Bane, except for one fact: Boz Pity is under siege, so a prisoner-of-war camp on the planet is highly unlikely," said Taran.

"Hmm, smart inferring there," said Bane, his smile returning.

"Bane, stop lying and tell me where," said Taran. "Or else."

"Or else what? You have nothing Cyneran. You can't Force choke me," he said, gesturing to his external breathing tubes, "and beating me to a pulp will do nothing for you. I know what you're like. Even when you have the means, you can't finish the deed. I saw it back on Hypori. You had the chance to end my life right then and there, but you didn't do it. You want to to know why?"

"It's because you can't do the dirty work. It's against your nature, and as much as you want to fight it, you can't go against yourself. You're weak, and you always will be, just like your Togruta friend. She actually could have escaped had she had killed me while pursuing her, but she hesitated, and I shocked her until she could no longer scream," said Bane. "Face it, you two are pathetic. I think I did your parents a favor to make sure they didn't grow up to see how weak their only child would be."

Taran listened to the entire story with a clenched fist and he closed his eyes as he fought the power threatening to take hold. However, when he talked about Ahsoka and his parents, he couldn't help it anymore. Taking a few deep breaths, he looked at Bane with barely restrained eyes betraying malice and rage.

"You know...I'm getting really sick of this," said Taran. He held out his hand and Bane was flung via the Force into the wall on the other side of the room. Taran stood up, his eyes going yellow, a spectacle that Bane saw despite the throbbing in his head.

"You want bad Taran, you have him," said Taran as he made Bane levitate in the air. He crashed him into various walls, causing cuts and scrapes to form on the Duros. Soon, green blood began to flow from his wounds as Taran repeatedly hit him on the walls, the ceiling, and the floor for the next three minutes. He flung Bane back to the original wall he was propped on, letting the bounty hunter catch his breath.

"Is that all (pant) you can do?" said Bane, still defiant. Taran glowered darkly.

"I just began," said Taran. Suddenly, electricity arcs danced around his hands and hit Bane full force. Bane yelled from the pain of the electricity circulating through his body. It was like every nerve in his body was alive, and dying of agony. He writhed and screamed from the pain. Taran had a merciless look on his face, no emotion present. It was as if he was asking Bane to give in before he forgot and just went on with it. After a few more tantalizing seconds, Taran stopped.

"One more time now. Where (shock) is (shock) Ahsoka?" said Taran, putting a lot of his willpower to making sure the shocks were extra painful. Bane strained to catch his breath as he tried to sit up, but failed.

"Wrong answer," said Taran. He used his Force lightning again to shock Bane even further. Tia opened the door to reveal the sight to everyone else.

"Taran? What are you doing?" said Bruck.

"What I should have done a long time ago," he said darkly as he continued to shock him.

"Taran stop! If you keep going, he'll die," said Bruck.

"That's the general idea," said Taran. The younglings, Lux and the Mandalorian teenagers could only sit back and watched in horror. Taran stopped shocking Bane long enough for the bounty hunter to catch his breath.

"Cyneran...no more," Bane said weakly. Taran's face went near murderous with that request.

"You want me to stop?! You kill my parents, nearly get me and my friends killed countless times, sent Ahsoka to prison, and you want me to stop?!" said Taran. Suddenly, he started laughing, which unsettled everyone. His eyes still acid-yellow, Taran looked at Bane after it ten seconds of laughter.

"Here's what's going to happen," said Taran. He grabbed Bane by his throat and pinned him to the wall.

"TELL ME WHERE AHSOKA IS OR SO HELP ME I'LL MAKE SURE THAT I FUCKING END YOU PERMANENTLY!" yelled Taran in his face, his voice deep and commanding, shaking the walls of the entire room complex, scaring everyone in the room, even had never seen Taran like this. his presence was like being near a volcano that hungered for the eruption that would set off a cataclysm of destruction and death. If looks could kill, Taran could have killed him horribly twenty times over.

"A-Aargonar," said Bane. Taran's heart froze. Next to the Citadel and the Maw, Aargonar was one of the deadliest war prisons in the galaxy. The prison had been built after the Republic under Ki-Adi-Mundi was pushed out. Anakin had told us about the brutal campaign there.

"You...sent...her...there?" said Taran, his voice so quiet the others almost didn't here it. Bane grimly nodded. Taran knew this time, he was telling the truth. Suddenly, his face changed to one of pure evil and power, nearly triggering his Avatar state. Suddenly, he began to shock Bane even more, this time with added ferocity. As he shocked him, Taran felt a strange feeling come over him.

"Taran, stop!" yelled Bruck, seizing his friend by the waist, pinning his arms to his sides and putting an end to Bane's torment.

"Bruck, let go!" yelled Taran as he struggled against his grip.

"No," said Bruck. Taran struggled against his grasp.

"This isn't you Taran. He's not worth it," said Bruck.

"He has to die Bruck!" said Taran as he tried to get back at Bane.

"Taran, please stop!" said Tia, helping Bruck hold Taran back. The two struggled to restrain him, but it felt like Taran was getting stronger by the second. Suddenly, he twisted and pushed back against Bruck freeing himself from his grasp and pulled out of Tia's grasp. He turned to face them, anger apparent in his face.

"What's wrong with you?" said Bruck, hurt in his voice.

"He single-handedly ruined my life! I'm not letting him mess up anyone elses," said Taran, electricity crackling along his fists. "And if you stand in my way.." Bruck and Tia backed off, their faces revealing horror. They had never seen their friend like this. It was horrifying, and it broke their hearts.

"Taran, you don't want to do this," said Bruck, coming closer to Taran as Taran gazed threateningly at him.

"I'm sick of doing the right thing! Everytime I do the right thing, someone else gets hurt because I couldn't do what any other rational person would do," said Taran.

"Taran, we know what you're like. If you do this, you won't be the same person anymore," said Tia. Taran looked to a mirror on the wall to see his reflection. His yellow eyes, his dark appearance. He looked like...

Ceran.

His image morphed in the mirror, a white mask his face and his robes as black as the shadows. He stared at in horror. This couldn't be him. This couldn't be his fate.

His eyes slowly turned back to their normal green. The electricity went away. His expression softened. He turned to Bane and grabbed him by the throat.

"If I EVER see you again, I'll kill you," said Taran. Taran let him go, Bane slumping to the floor. "You're the pathetic one, not me. I hope you remember that a pathetic boy spared your wretched life, twice." He took out the necklace from Bane's pocket and turned and left him in the room, the others following him. They kept a distance from him for his own good.

"Are you-"

"I don't want to talk about it," said Taran, cutting off Bruck. "The longer we stay here, the longer Ahsoka's life is in danger."

Taran sat off by himself in the ship. His eyes were closed as he meditated. His breaths were deep and controlled. The others sat a distance away from him, their numbers including Korkie, Amis, Soniee, and Lagos. Taran hadn't spoken a word to anyone when they got back, only going to the cockpit, putting the coordinates into the navigation, and came back to sit down by himself. Even when R3 came up to him, he said nothing. It unsettled everyone.

"I've never seen him like that," said Katooni quietly to the others.

"Me neither," said Tia. "I think we should try to talk to him."

"I don't know. He doesn't want to talk to anyone in the state that he's in," said Lux.

"He has to come to terms with it. We all do. Bottling up something like that is not a good idea," said Tia.

"I'll talk to him," said Bruck. He got up and went over to his friend. He sat across from him.

"We have to talk," said Bruck.

"There's nothing to talk about," said Taran, his voice low and eyes still closed.

"Yes there is! What was that back there?" said Bruck. Taran opened his eyes and looked Bruck dead in his. It made Bruck a tad bit nervous, but he knew there was nothing to fear in those eyes. Instead, they looked hurt.

"If I told you, you wouldn't understand," said Taran. "I lose control for one second, and I almost went over."

"Lose control? Of what?" said Bruck.

"Myself," said Taran, gazing down at his hands. "There are still some things you don't know about me Bruck. I'm not ready to tell you guys just yet."

"Who have you told?" said Bruck.

"Ahsoka. Obi-Wan. Anakin," said Taran. "I only needed just them to know about it. I will say this though: It's a hidden power I can barely control."

"You me when your eyes turned yellow?" said Bruck. Taran nodded.

"I didn't want to harm you guys, but I almost did," said Taran.

"What about Bane? Did you plan to hurt him like that?" said Bruck.

"Not at first, but when he kept talking, I couldn't help myself. I went overboard and gave in to it. I wanted him to hurt the way I did for everything he did to me," said Taran.

"Did you regret it?" said Bruck.

Taran shook his head. "I...enjoyed it. Every second he screamed, was one more second that I relished. As much as I want to regret it, I don't," he said. "The only thing I regret is threatening to hurt you guys if you got in my way. I don't know if I can keep letting all of you risk your lives like this."

"Now stop right now," said Bruck. "We ALL know what's at stake here. All of us being here heightens the chances of Ahsoka getting out. Going by yourself is a suicide mission. Whether we manage to free her or Force forbid we don't and we all die, we chose to because we care about Ahsoka, and you. We wouldn't want to be anywhere else but by your side helping to free her."

"He's right. If it weren't for Ahsoka, there's no telling what would have happened to all of us. She helped us when we were in danger; we'll do the same for her," said Katooni. The other younglings nodded and gave words of agreement.

"Ahsoka helped us to end the corruption back on Mandalore. I don't even want to imagine what could have happened if she didn't lead our class that day," said Korkie. The Mandalorian teens also nodded.

"Ahsoka's helped me more times than I can admit. She's probably saved my life more times than I realize. It's an honor to repay her for all she's done for me," said Lux.

"You know I'd give my life for any of you. Ahsoka's my sister, and I would do anything for her," said Tia.

"As would I. We're all here for you," said Bruck.

This act of loyalty, dedication, and selflessness, moved Taran greatly. Everyone in this ship was willing to sacrifice themselves to free Ahsoka. He smiled, the smile coming purely from the gratitude he felt to each and everyone one of them.

"I don't think there's any words in Basic or Elementian to tell you how much I'm thankful I am to have all of you here," said Taran.

"Then let's put words to better use. Is there anything you know about this prison?" said Bruck.

"A few things, but I do have a layout of the prison, courtesy of Jabba," said Taran. "We can start planning now, but I have to do something first."

"Still no word of them," said Master Windu as he walked with Master Yoda and Master Plo. "Clone intelligence is trying their best, but I don't believe they'll find them in time."

"Trust in the Force we must, Master Windu. Time will tell, all movements it will," said Yoda. "Anything to say, have you Master Koon?"

"No Master Yoda. If I know Taran, he's moving through the underground, away from observing eyes on both sides," said Plo.

"I still cannot believe that your apprentices and four younglings left with him," said Windu.

"I'm sure that they had their own reasons to join him. Many in the Order would risk everything to save a friend," said Plo. Yoda studied Master Plo for a few seconds, before he nodded. Suddenly, a clone officer with red markings ran over to them.

"Sirs, we picked up a coded message sent directly to the Jedi Council," said the officer, handing it to Yoda. The Jedi Master read the message.

Bring evac and strike team. Aargonar.

-T