Taris Part 6

When Avner was summoned to join the other swoop riders, he was already awake. He hadn't slept the entire night. He trudged along with the other swoop riders, hardly paying attention to anything in his path, nearly running into walls multiple times.

But he got there. The mechanic was telling him how to use the swoop bike, but Avner wasn't listening. Riding swoops was something that he remembered very clearly. Instead, he looked over the area for Bastila. He saw her very quickly and took a deep breath, knowing that he had no choice but to win.

When he was sent to go start his heats, he went up to the race coordinator. He asked about the track record and scoffed when he heard it.

"I can beat that in my sleep" he muttered, lowering the helmet visor over his eyes and walking out onto the track.

Avner let his mind relax as he watched the starting lights, waiting to go. He revved the swoop engine and smiled.

"It's good to be home" he muttered. When the light turned green, Avner sent the swoop flying. Once he got going, the pressure just disappeared. It was effortless for him. He felt like he was riding in slow motion. He missed every single piece of debris and ran over every single accelerator pad as well.

When he skidded to a stop and dismounted the swoop, he pulled the helmet off his head and ran his hand through his hair before walking out back to the Bek racer area. When the mechanic told him his time, his jaw dropped. He shattered the track record that Redros set earlier in the day at 26.03 seconds by posting a time of 23.87 seconds. The Bek riders all knew that Avner had posted the winning time, but they all had to wait for the results to become official.

Once the clock chimed 1800, Avner's time was official and he walked over to free Bastila, but Brejik was having none of it.

Instead of listening to Brejik, Avner just zoned out, keeping an eye on Bastila while giving Brejik a lazy stare. Avner was broken out of his stupor when Bastila responded to Brejik's accusations.

"I might have something to say about that, Brejik!" Bastila exclaimed, using the Force to bust her way out of her cage.

"Hey, if you want a fight, let's get to it! I have a schedule to keep!" Avner shouted, interrupting Brejik as he was about to respond to Bastila escaping.

"Vulkars, to me! Kill the prisoner, kill the swoop rider! Kill them all!" Brejik shouted. Less than a moment later, all hell broke loose. To say that Brejik was livid at Avner was an understatement. Avner won the race, breaking the swoop record despite only racing one heat. Brejik also had the opportunity to be have Avner as a Black Vulkar, but Kandon was unable to convince him to change sides. Getting interrupted just sent Brejik over the edge.

The battle that ensued wasn't much of a battle. The team of Bastila and Avner, wielding vibroblades, was more than formidable. It was just too much for the Vulkars to handle, as they all died very quickly. And though she would never admit it, Brejik's death was the sweetest of the day for Bastila.

"That should teach Brejik a thing or two about trying to keep a Jedi prisoner. And as for you, if you think you can take me as a slave, I have something to say about that" Bastila snapped, still with one hand on her double vibroblade.

"Calm down, princess. Carth is waiting for us back at our base. We need to get to him as soon as we can. And hopefully before the Sith come to investigate" Avner told her, taking her hand and pulling her out of the swoop arena.

When they got back to the apartment, Avner was pulled aside by a twi'lek messenger as Bastila entered. But, instead of following her into the apartment, Avner went off to the cantina to meet with Canderous.

Once Avner got to the cantina, he spotted the Mandalorian at the bar ordering the drinks for them.

"I hope you're into Tarisian Ale" Canderous said, handing Avner a large glass, causing the smuggler to smirk before taking the drink from the big Mandalorian. Before he had come in, Avner had put on a set of sunglasses so the Mandalorian couldn't read what he was thinking through his eyes. It was his favorite trick to win at Pazaak as well.

If your opponent doesn't know what is in your head, he is as good as dead.

Avner was confused as he didn't recognize the voice that said that. He looked around and saw that Canderous was waiting for him to speak. He shook his head and did so.

"What do you need me to do?" Avner asked.

"You're a man of business, I like that. Davik has been cheating me, so I think it is time to break the Sith blockade. Now, I know you want to get off this planet, so I've got a deal for you" Canderous told him.

"I'm listening" Avner said casually, taking a sip of his drink.

"If you can get the launch codes from the Sith military base, I can provide our road off Taris; Davik's flagship, the Ebon Hawk!" Canderous explained.

"How am I supposed to get into the military base?" Avner asked.

"Go to Janice Nall's droid shop and tell her that I sent you. She'll get you a droid that can get you into the base" Canderous answered.

"Now, I have some friends who will come with us. As long as they can come, we've got a deal" Avner said, pulling his sunglasses down just far enough so Canderous could see the hard look in his eyes.

"That won't be a problem. No need to give me that look" Canderous said, laughing at Avner's emotionless stare. When Avner just nodded, Canderous shook his head at the man in front of him. The burly Mandalorian took one more gulp of his drink and stood up.

"I'll be in Javyar's Cantina. Meet me there when you are done" he said.

"One more thing before you go; why me?" Avner asked, wondering if the Mandalorian knew about the Avner/Revan confusing conundrum.

"First, you dominate Ajurr's dueling ring. Then, you win Zax's dueling ring, defeating Bendak Starkiller despite an attack from behind. You also beat Tanglow even though the Hutt tried to stack against you. Then, you showed Zax what happens to traitors. You shattered the swoop record and killed Brejik, ending the gang war, and you rescued that girl of yours too. Then you came in tonight and you showed hardly any emotion at all in this conversation you have had, which is what I was looking for, especially for something like this. Let's face it; you can get the job done" Canderous told him.

"Well, let's hope I can get it done one more time" Avner joked, slapping mugs with Canderous. The two men downed their last glass of Tarisian Ale before going their separate ways.

Avner walked back to the apartment hideout to see Carth and Bastila finishing a little discussion. From the looks of it from Mission's demeanor, the discussion was very loud a few minutes prior.

"Where have you been?" Bastila snapped once she saw Avner.

"I was in the cantina meeting with Canderous of clan Ordo" Avner explained.

"You met with a Mandalorian? Are you crazy?" Carth demanded.

"That remains to be seen, but I got a few drinks for the trouble. And he gave us our way off Taris" Avner told them.

"Well, don't keep us in suspense!" Mission exclaimed.

"At 0500 tomorrow, we are taking the Sith launch codes from the Sith military base!" Avner exclaimed. The chaos that ensued was lost to Avner, he was on one of the beds, going to sleep. He was more than ready to leave Taris the next day.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Alright, just three chapters left on Taris. I can't wait to get off Taris so we can get to the real meat of the story.

I am very sorry that it took me so long to post this chapter. I am currently without a laptop at my place, so I have to use borrowed computers whenever I want to post something . But, rest assured that I will do my absolute best to post a chapter next week . I have not abandoned this story, I am just in a struggling place as far as computer situation .

So, I will still see you very soon . I will be posting soon. Please review until then if you don't mind. I am working hard on this story and will do my best to post soon. Thanks again for the reviews.