Chapter 16 Leaving Taris

The air taxi took Calak's group to a location not too far from the platform where they spent most of their time. Davak's estate was a large building, standing on its own private platform. The driver set them down in front and they got out, led by Canderous. Heading inside they soon arrived in the center of the estate which appeared to be modeled like a throneroom with a large chair in the middle. Seems Davak Kang liked to think of himself as a king, and perhaps he was here on Taris. A tyrannical deceptive king to be sure who extorted his people or allowed his men to do so on a whim and put prices on the heads of anyone that displeased him.

Davak was there on the throne as they entered. He was a near elderly man with wrinkling skin and gray hair, but a muscular physique, an expensive looking suit of armor covered his body. Next to him was a familiar little man with a turban and goggles. Calo Nord, the Bounty Hunter who would kill people just for talking to him if he wanted to. Calak gulped a bit.

"Well well, Canderous finally comes back," Calo said.

Davak got up and walked down to meet them. He noticed Calak and the others as he did so.

"So Canderous, I see you've brought someone with you," he said in a civil tone. "Most intriguing if I do say so myself. You usually travel alone."

"Its not like you to take on partners Canderous," Calo taunted. "You're getting soft."

Canderous glared at him. "Watch yourself Calo! You maybe the newest Kath Hound in the path, but you aren't top dog yet!"

Calo's eyes were covered by his goggles, but Calak had a feeling the Bounty Hunter was glaring at the Mandalorian. These two obviously didn't like each other. Calo even reached for his blasters and Canderous did the same.

Fortunately Davak stepped in before things could get violent.

"Enough! I'll not have my top two men killing each other! That's not good business!"

Both men took their hands away from their weapons slowly.

"I'm sure Canderous has a reason as to why he'd not working solo anymore," the crime lord said.

"This is a special case, Davak. I ran into someone the Exchange might want to recruit," Canderous said. "You may have heard something of there exploits already."

Davak took a closer look at Calak. "Ah yes! Now I recognize your companion! The rider who won the big swoop race. Most impressive, as was your display in the rather heated battle that followed."

He then looked at Bastila and Carth. "Hmm. You look like the Republic Officer that was offered as a prize during the race."

Bastila widened her eyes at him for a second and then waved her hand before saying. "Oh, no I'm not her."

"No you're not her," Davak repeated.

Calak smirked as he saw the old crime lord fall for the Jedi mind trick.

"No matter. I'm sure I can find some use for someone with your talents as well. And who is this?" Davak continued looking at Carth.

"I'm just a soldier," Carth said.

Davak nodded and turned to Calak who put on a false smile.

"Good to finally meet you, Davak. I'm Calak Star," Calak said thinking quickly for a little extra push. "You know, I'm the one who killed Matrik for you."

"Ah the traitor! Good! I heard he was killed by a bomb. Nice work," Davak said. "I believe you're also the new champion of the Dueling Ring as well. You know Canderous was right, the Exchange could use someone like you, capable and skilled. With a recommendation from him and a through background check, you could be come part of our little empire. Many would kill to prove themselves worthy of this honor!"

Calak gave another false smile. "Your offer intrigues me Davak."

"Good. Come with me, I shall give you a tour of my operations. I'm certain you will be most impressed," Davak said.

He led them around the estate, showing them the many expensive spoils from his criminal operations. Heads of large beasts mounted on the walls, barrel loads of illegal spice that was worth millions of credits, and-

"Ah there she is!" Davak said when they were in the hangar. "My pride and joy, the Ebon Hawk. Fastest ship in this corner of the galaxy."

The ship was _ shaped with a brown and gray coloration.

"The shields are completely impregnable, but even she isn't fast enough to avoid the auto targeting laser canons of the Sith fleet. I am, of course, working on acquiring the Sith departure codes so that I may come and go as I please."

Calak nodded while thinking, Good thing I already have those codes.

They soon finished the tour which had taken a couple hours and Davak took them to a room he'd assigned.

"These will serve as your quarters for the duration of your stay," Davak said.

Calak felt a little worried. "Am I a prisoner now?"

"Not at all, merely a guest," Davak assured him. "You will in these rooms for the duration of your background check. If everything checks out we'll be working together, I will not take no for an answer."

"Of course," Calak said, getting the message.

Good thing he didn't intend to stay. He didn't know what sort of things Davak's search would turn up, but he might find out about a few things such as Calak being the one to give the cure to Zelka Forn, as well as convince one of Davak's men to let a woman who cut him go free. The former would probably really put a damper on things, if Calak were really looking to join him.

"If you need anything, the slave quarters are nearby," Davak said. "Lets go Calo. Time to retire."

It was true, the sun was getting close to setting.

"See you in the morning, Davak," Canderous lied.

"Good night," the crime lord said before stepping out.

Calo stayed for a moment, glaring at Canderous under his goggles. But he made no move to attack and simply stepped out muttering faintly, "One day, Canderous."

Canderous looked after him and chuckled slightly once he stepped out of earshot. "I think one day is today, Calo."

He then turned to Calak and the others. "Okay we're inside. We need to find a way to undo the shields protecting the Ebon Hawk and then steal it and get off this planet."

"Right," Calak agreed.

"I certainly won't miss this planet," Carth said.

"Nor will I," Bastila said before looking out the window. "Something feels off. I'm sensing a great amount of danger approaching."

Calak looked out as well, noticing some large shapes high up in the sky. A lot of Sith Warships seemed to be coming closer to the surface.

…

On board the Leviathan Karath converged with his officers.

"We're nearly there Sir, just one hour left and I think it will be ready," one officer said.

"Good," Saul said.

The Sith Destroyers continued to move slowly over the planet, preparing to blow it to smithereens.

…

Calak, Carth, Bastila, and Canderous all stepped out of their room, blasters drawn. Their quarters were next to the throne room, which at this time was empty. They had their weapons out, ready for a fight if need be. They might have been able to do this with subtlety, if not for the fact that the man who knew this place the best was a member of a war loving culture. They stepped into one of the nearby hallways.

"There is a prisoner in the torture room," Canderous said. "He used to be the pilot but he was caught stealing from Davak so he was put in a torture cage."

"Eh," Calak muttered in disgust.

As they wandered the hallways, they ran into a single patrol. A Trandoshan alien with reptilian skin.

He hissed at Canderous and spoke in his alien tongue. "No one is allowed in this part of the estate at this time!"

Canderous's only response was to shoot at the Trandoshan with his heavy blaster before the alien could react. The sound of the shot echoed through the estate.

"Guess we won't be able to lay low now," Bastila said as she activated her lightsaber. Twin yellow blades blazed.

"What's going on out there?" A voice asked from behind a nearby door.

The door opened and a guard stepped out. He looked and saw them.

"Intruders! A Jedi!"

Calak shot now, the guard tried to go back into the door he'd come out of but was too slow. He was shot in the back and fell. Then there was the scrambling of footsteps, multiple ones. Calk immediately activated his energy shield, as did Carth and Canderous. Bastila assumed a defensive stance as well. A large number of guards emerged from the room nearby which must have been the barracks. They fired at the intruders, who were once again lucky to have shields that could deflect a number of shots. But there were more of the guards, however, having a Jedi on their side more then evened the playing field. Bastila deflected the shots aimed at her with decent skill, maybe not the best Jedi out there, but good enough to last through this battle. Her twin yellow blades cut down the crimelord's henchmen as she got close while the three soldiers, two republic, one Mandalorian, shot down the others that they could without risking hitting her. It was ironic, a short time ago, the Republic had been at war with the Mandalorians, of course far from every Mandalorian was an ally now. Most them had simply returned to their home planet after the final battle at Malachor V.

They pressed forward after the last of the guards in the barracks were cut down by Bastila. No doubt they'd probably run into more resistance on the way. Someone had to have heard all that blaster fire. Soon they came to a lone door at the end of the hall. Opening it they saw two levitating droids inside, and a man in a cage. That had to be who Canderous had told them about. The droids, no doubt Torture Droids beeped at them as they raised their weapons. Recognizing the aggressive sign, the two immediately went on the offense to defense themselves. They released a set of different attacks, one shooting Canderous with a painful electrical charge.

"Aah!" the Mandalorian screamed, his energy shield useless against this type of attack.

The other unleashed a stream of fire at Bastila, who managed to put up a barrier to save herself then threw her lightsaber at the droid, cutting it in half. Carth and Calak also shot a set of blasts from their weapons at the droid attacking Canderous. Carth missed with one pistol, and grazed the droids arm with his other, while Calak shot it dead on and it blew up.

"You okay, Canderous," Calak asked in concern.

"Yeah, no need to worry about me," the Mandalorian said as he clutched his chest where the electricity had torn a hole in his sleeveless black shirt under the red vest.

"Here, I can-"

Bastila walked over to tend to their new allies injuries but he put up a hand.

"Leave it! I have a healing implant that will allow me to recover from this in minutes!" he said. "You'd be wasting a medpack on me."

"Oh I wasn't going to use a medpack," Bastila said. "But if that's what you prefer so be it, Mandalorian."

They turned to the man in the cage, who was making groans of pain. Finding a lever nearby they opened it and deactivated the torture cage. He took several deep breaths and looked at them.

"Thank you! You have no idea what it was like in there!" he said gratefully. "I don't know how I can ever… Wait! I know just how I can help you! You're not with Davak are you?"

He then noticed Canderous. "Ah! I was wondering if you might be looking to betray him Canderous! Well I can help you! I used to be the Ebon Hawk pilot! I know the codes to disable the security around the Ebon Hawk!"

"Good, that's why we're here," Calak said getting out his datapad.

"Here, I can load them on!" the prisoner said taking the pad. After a few moments he inserted the codes. "Now you can use the Hawk, sell it to the highest bidder, ransom it back to Davak, whatever you want!"

"Thanks," Calak said. "Go on before more guards show up!"

"Right!" the pilot said before running off.

"We've got what we came for!" Canderous said. "Lets get out of here!"

They ran off as he led them to the terminal near the hang. The group ran into several guards and droids but three highly trained, heavily armed soldiers and a Jedi were able to overcome them with only slight difficulty. Some dozen blaster shots and they were at the terminal.

…

In orbit above Taris, the Sith Fleet had finally assumed its position to be able to attack the entire city that covered the planet. At least a hundred ships circled it, with Saul Karath commanding them all.

"Admiral, we are all in attack position!" a Sith officer said on the intercom.

"All ships, fire!" Karath ordered.

The laser turrets primed their guns and began to fire. Red blasts descended from the sky onto the large buildings below. Fighters hung back for the most part as all air traffic had been grounded and what Sith had been evacuated were on their ships. Still, a few squads patrolled various areas of the planet.

…

No sooner had Calak finished inserting the codes to disable the hangar security then he heard a large number of blasts from outside. The building shook.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Danger," Bastila said. "The Sith are destroying the planet!"

"We have to get out of here then!" Carth said.

"To the hangar quick!" Canderous said.

They headed to the door and opened it. But as they stepped inside they were shocked to see they were not the only ones. Davak and Calo were inside, had they been waiting for them here? Or hiding while Davak let his forces deal with the intruders?

"Damn those Sith! They're bombing the whole planet!" the crimelord exclaimed as he ran. "I knew they'd turn on sooner or-

He then spotted them. "Well! Look what we got here! Thieves in the hangar!" he took a few steps forward, drawing his heavy blaster pistol on them. "So, you figured you'd just steal my ship for your getaway and leave me high and dry while the Sith turn the planet into dust? Sorry but that ain't gonna happen!"

Calak wanted to suggest they should worry about the bombs and laser fire instead but he doubted the crimelord and bounty hunter would listen to reason.

"I'll take care of them Davak," Calo said, looking at Canderous as he drew both his heavy pistols. "I've been looking forward to this for a long time!"

Canderous grinned. "Now we'll see who is really top dog!"

"Make it quick, Calo! The Sith mean business! If we don't get to our ships and find somewhere safe the bombs they're dropping will kill us all!" Davak said.

Calak, however smirked. "You should be more focused on the bombs that your nearby opponents might drop!"

He threw the grenade he'd gotten out of his pocket while Davak had spent those precious few seconds talking when he should have acted. The grenade, a concussion type, landed at Davak's feet and exploded, letting of a wave of white kinetic energy that hit Davak, his armor absorbed the worst of the attack but he was still disorientated. Canderous meanwhile shot at Calo but the shots just seemed to bounce off him for the most part. The bounty hunter had armor under his garment that protect him. He tried to retaliate and hit Canderous who didn't have armor, and his energy shield wouldn't last long against Calo's Mandalorian heavy blasters. But Bastila put herself between the two and deflected the shots that would have hit and possible broken through Canderous's shield to kill him. Carth, meanwhile, shot at Davak as he lay on the ground recovering. This time his aim was true and he shot the old crimelord right between the eyes where his armor didn't protect him. He fell over, dead.

Calo cast a glance at his bosses corpse. His armor would protect him, maybe even from a lightsaber strike, but only for so many hits. He was doomed, so he reached into his pocket.

"You may have me outnumbered and outgunned, but if I'm going down, I'm taking all of you with me! This thermal detonator will blow us all to bits."

He held the grenade high, Calo looked ready to charge at them with it raised. The group prepared themselves. But then before Calo could run at them a laser blast hit the rough directly above him, startling him.

"Damn those Sith! They'll bring this whole hangar down around our ears! Aaah!" Calo screamed.

Another blast from the ships above that appeared to moving in a line back and forth blasted a hole in the roof, directly above Calo. The durasteel supports fell and landed on top of the bounty hunter. He fell with the wreckage still on top of him a few feet away from Davak.

"Well that was lucky!" Carth said.

"No luck, only the force," Bastila said. "This is our chance!"

"Yeah, lets go!" Calak agreed.

"Hold on! Lets bring Davak's body!" Canderous said running over and seizing his deceased former boss by the arm and dragging him on board. "This armor cost a lot to make, and should fetch a good price once we get out of here."

Carth and Calak helped him with the body as they got on the Ebon Hawk. They dropped the corpse as soon as they were up the ramp.

"Lets get this ship fired up!" Canderous said as they made their way into the cockpit. "We'll pick up the rest of your friends and get out of here.

Carth took the pilot seat while Bastila took the copilot. They primed the ships systems and managed to take off as the hangar slowly cave in. A bit of the ceiling fell on the Ebon Hawk but the ship managed to easily overcome it and fly, the debris fall off as they picked up speed. They flew at full speed toward the platform where the apartment was. Just in time to, it was on fire, and largely destroyed. All around them, the rest of the city was suffering the same fate. Buildings were blasted to rubble, fire's burned.

Calak's mind went back to all the people he'd met, Zelka Forn, Dia, Marl, Gadon, Zaedra, Rukil, Gendar, Shaleena they were all going to die if they weren't already. Unless they got very lucky? Maybe the Undercity would be spared as it was far below? Regardless, his face scrunched up as he watched all the destruction the Sith fleet was bringing. Then it suddenly stopped.

…

On the Leviathan, Karath approached the bridge where Darth Maul still stood as they took a brief break from the bombing, it was as if he hadn't left since he ordered the fleet to destroy the planet. He bowed and made his report.

"Taris is defenseless against our assault, Lord Malak. They are offering no resistance, the city is in ruins."

Malak looked down with hatred at the city below. He could still sense her, Bastila was still alive. He didn't have a strong connection with her, but he'd seen her Battle Meditation enough times to know when she was in the same system.

"Resume the bombardment, Admiral. Wipe this pathetic planet from the face of the galaxy!"

The Sith reloaded their guns.

…

Still they had a chance to save at least some people. On the edge of the platform, they could see two beings, one large and brown the other small and blue, and one droid. Mission, Zalbaar, and T3 were still alive. But they might not be for long, a set of laser blasts struck near them, barely missing. The Ebon Hawk came in for a landing and the ramp opened. The three of them ran (or rolled in the case of T3) up and into the ship. Just then another blast hit the platform in a row where the trio had been just moments ago. It traveled on and hit the Hawk, thankfully, Bastila had put up the shields which managed to withstand and negate the damage.

"Lets get out here!" Carth said he closed the ramp and brought the ship back up into the air again.

They flew skyward, hoping not to run into a Sith Destroyer in orbit. By some luck or perhaps the force as Bastila believed, they didn't find one. However, as they emerged from the atmosphere, a squad of fighters picked up the ship and followed them at top speed.

"Plot a course for Dantooine!" Bastila said. "There's a Jedi enclave there where we can find refuge!"

Suddenly a beeping noise sounded from the pilot console.

"Incoming fighters!" Carth said as he looked to see the image showing the squad preparing their laser blasters.

Bastila turned to Calak. "Quickly! To the gun turrets! You have to hold the Sith Fighters off until we get those hyperspace coordinates punched in!"

Calak ran to the gun controls that were located in a small space of the ship. He climbed down the ladder and took the control. The Ebon Hawk certainly was fast but the Sith fighters were built lighter and for speed as well, so they managed to keep up just enough to be a threat. They fired, and Carth performed some maneuvers to avoid while Calak aimed. It took a few moments for the less experienced soldier to steady the turret, but then he did and pulled the trigger. It had been a while since his space combat training, but he seemed to have retained a good deal of it. His first two shots hit the first fighter in the squad of seven and blew it up. He aimed for the next one but missed. Thankfully they didn't manage to penetrate the shield right away. That gave Calak time to shoot more and more. He let off a volley of blasts at the squad which broke up.

Calak shot blast after blast, pausing every so often when there wasn't anything in view. He hit another one, and another, but they also managed to get some hits on the Hawk as well.

"Calak! The rear shields are fading! Carth said. "We take many more of those and its over!'

Calak redoubled his efforts and shot more furiously as another fighter came into view. That took out another fighter. Just two more. He rotated the top turret and found the other two, the first managed to dodge one blast but was caught on the second. Just one more.

The last fighter landed a hit that depleted the last of the ship's shield. The enemy pilot locked onto them, hatred in his heart strong enough that Calak seemed to feel it. But he too felt a rage as he saw the fires on Taris which was getting far away. He shot just in time, the blast destroying the last fighter that was ready to destroy them.

"I did it!" Calak shouted for all the group… now a ship crew….to hear.

"Just in time! I thought we were goners!" Carth said. "Well we got the coordinates! Its now or never!"

He pulled the lever and they vanished into hyperspace before more trouble could appear. Finally, they were off of Taris. But the war with the Sith was far from over.

Everyone took a moment to relax, feeling a mixture of relief and sadness. They'd gotten Bastila and gotten off Taris, but that planet had been destroyed. Calak didn't altogether like that world for all its corruption and hate toward aliens, but there had been good people like Zelka there. It didn't deserve to be destroyed like that. Mission was especially quiet, while Canderous and Zalbaar had lived on Taris for a time, it wasn't their home like it was hers. There was a long silence as they had no words right now. Then they pulled out of hyperspace once they heard the beeping indicating they were approaching. Calak, Carth, and Bastila returned to the cockpit.

Bastila looked at the world through the viewport at a green planet. She sighed. "Dantooine… feels like a lifetime I was last on her surface. Though in truth it's only been a few months. We should be safe here."

"Safe?" Carth repeated. "You saw what his fleet did to Taris! You think anything can stop that from happening here too?"

"Even the Sith will hesitate to attack here, Carth," Bastila said. "Some of the most powerful Jedi Masters in the order are stationed here."

Calak wasn't entirely sure after seeing an entire planet destroyed. "Maybe Carth is right. Maybe we should keep moving."

Bastila shook her head. "We can't keep running forever."

"I guess you're right," Calak admitted.

"We can get supplies here and recuperate," Bastila said.

They brought the Ebon Hawk in for a landing at the Jedi Academy there. They landed in the middle and the ramp opened again.

"Now I must speak with the Jedi Council," Bastila said getting up from her seat and making her way off the ship. "I must inform of recent events."

Calak sighed in a mixture of relief and exhaustion. He didn't know what was going to happen now. Bastila was with the Jedi, but he and Carth were Republic Soldiers, Canderous was a Mandalorian, and well… Mission and Zalbaar and agreed to join Calak and help him stop the Sith, and T3 would be in the same boat as he was a droid that belonged to Calak. Whatever the future held, they would probably face it together. Calak was sure he could count on all of them to stand by his side except for perhaps Canderous, but who knew?

Alright, we made it off of Taris. Been eight months sign I started this fanfic now. Hope you guys are enjoying so far. Now I know I mentioned I might start updating this one weekly but as I thought about it, it might make more sense to work on my stories that are probably gonna be shorter, so I think I'll go back to doing this one once every two weeks after this month ends.