Pain.

My vision blurred.

My hands shook.

Bastila Shan's lightsaber flared. Sparks flickered into my face like beads of sweat and the body of a dark figure fell to the ground.

Colorful skies. Red laser beams mixed with green blurred my vision like mist. I tried to shake my head but I couldn't move.

Until my hand lifted. A dark hand. It became a strong fist.

A soldier held his neck as he hovered feet above the ground. A crack resounded along with the explosions. The young man fell to the floor, eyes glazed.

I held a yellow lightsaber.

"You cannot win, Revan," Bastila shouted over the laser fire and smoke.

A dark figure turned and a red lightsaber blazed. A cold mask. Bastila tightened her grip when the dark masked man of nightmares held his lightsaber above his head in a dangerous stance.

A large sound shook the ground beneath my feet. One look out into the glass and I knew why.

Pain —

All people are marked by who they were before. It is a mark that follows you for the rest of your miserable life.

I had been a lonely, naïve child. I'd play at fighting evildoers in the forests by chopping off the heads of smugglers, villains, Sith. The type of games that children played where the right was always right and the wrong—always wrong. Years later, I lived for the cash that flowed through my hands and the quick words I would use to trade my earnings into spices and stolen kolto. Trask had been a foolish Republic soldier once. Now, he was dead along with the rest of them. Gone. And for what? Bravery? Honor? To save a cowardly smuggler who had tried to escape from his grasp the first chance he got?

How foolish. Wasteful. Naïve.

After all, it is impossible for anyone like that to change.

Depressing thoughts filtered through my mind as my eyelids cracked open with sleep crust. The smell was old yet metallic and the fabric beneath me was scratchy yet clean. There were nicks in the silver steel above me—a ceiling molded centuries ago.

Wait...did I just dream about that Jedi?

Something shifted as I sat up from the bunk. I placed a hand on the tender part of the back of my head. A large bump and dried blood were the only remnants of my brief excursion on the Endar Spire. An orange-jacketed man sat over a datapad in the corner, flicking the screen once in what appeared to be boredom. Moonlight poured into the tiny apartment room. The nightlife of whatever city I was in faded into the skies.

"Who—?"

Oh, right. Carth. Carth Onasi. The commander. I clutched my forehead like it was a festering wound. The sound of my voice alerted the Republic officer.

"You're awake."

Carth placed his datapad on the desk with a harsh clatter. I recovered from my headache only a bit in order to address the soldier.

"Where am I?"

Carth made his way towards me. Probably so that he didn't have to shout. "You're on Taris, the planet the Endar Spire was dragged to." He sat on the chair by my bed. "You've been in and out for a few days. I haven't seen anyone so animated in their sleep..."

I flung my feet over the side of the bed in order to get a better view of the broken-down place the commander had dragged me to. A workbench along with separate halls for either the bathroom or a kitchen became apparent. My red jacket laid across a dirty and broken chair like a forgotten item. I grinned at the sight then stood in slight pain.

Carth's gaze followed me. "You're lucky I wasn't seriously hurt when we crashed. Before the Sith could investigate, we were long gone."

The jacket was ripped in a few places, like the collar and the back, but the pockets were intact and the coin inside remained. I pulled the raggedy jacket over my arms and shook it into place.

Time to make my exit.

I turned towards the rusted doors and before I could leave, something grabbed my shoulder.

"Where do you think you're going?" Carth asked.

What did he want? The Endar Spire was gone. My prison literally blasted to pieces. Now I could be free to do what I wanted. He couldn't stop me. No one could stop me.

"I'm leaving this dump. Maybe go to the next system. I'm not sticking around for long though."

Carth sneered. "Well, you have to stick around unless you want the Sith to blast you out of the sky. Taris is under quarantine. Malak is looking for Bastila and unless we get our act together, we will have no chance at finding her."

Bastila was still alive? I wasn't exactly sure about that. After that long and dangerous drop to the ground, I wouldn't say she would be healthy at least. What annoyed me the most was the continued talk about the Jedi. Couldn't the Republic fend for themselves and not rely on the robust Jedi powers for their battles?

"Can't she take care of herself? She's a Jedi."

Carth narrowed his eyes. "Yes...but she's important for the war effort. You know that, right?"

"Yeah. Sure." A thought crossed my mind. Perhaps I could take advantage of this situation. "And why do I have to help you, exactly?"

"Huh?"

I looked into his eyes.

"What's in it for me?"

"For you?"

Smirking at his disgusted expression, I walked to the couch that he had been sitting in and collapsed, flinching at the slight pain. I swiped the datapad and read over what looked like some article. After all, had to orient myself if I'm on some unknown planet.

"I don't live off rainbows and sunshine, Orangy."

"Orangy?" He paused. "Wait, are you serious? I just saved your ass!"

"I didn't ask for my ass to be saved. It can save itself, thank you very much."

The Sith broadcasted the new laws of the land over the Net. People were reporting in Republic soldiers by the dozen. Anyone trying to escape the atmosphere was shot down. Escape pods were stripped clean and the residents were killed without question. Unless, of course, a Jedi was among them.

That made things...difficult.

I pursed my lips. "So, I'll ask again in case you were deaf five seconds ago. What's in it for me?"

Before I could look up more information about a pod that fell into the Under City, the datapad disappeared from my loose fingers. Carth's furious face replaced it.

"Don't touch my stuff." My lips thinned when Carth shut down the datapad and sat across from me. "Who are you?" He shook a finger. "Your record was made a day before we left on the Spire. You aren't a normal Republic soldier, are you?"

"I see. There's nothing in this for me. Otherwise, you wouldn't have changed the subject—"

"Answer. My question."

Now, this was tricky. Since this planet was indeed quarantined like the Republic soldier said, I had no hope escaping the planet. Smuggler or not. This Bastila could be my ticket out of here. Including her Republic friend. If I told Carth "I'm a smuggler, trust me," that would get us nowhere. Especially since this soldier appeared ridged and unwavering in his choice of morals.

When a minute had passed of me thinking, I shrugged.

"Of course I'm a normal Republic soldier. I was on the roster."

I mean, it wasn't as if I was lying.

Onasi didn't look convinced.

"I see." He really didn't see anything though, did he? His face appeared strained. "You probably already know my name. I'm Carth Onasi, Republic fighter pilot and commander of the Endar Spire."

"Wes," I responded. "Wes Gale."

After a weird moment of silence, Carth grabbed two blasters from the desk and slid them into their holsters. Meanwhile, I was weaponless after the escapade inside the Endar Spire.

A rattle beside me brought my attention to the ratty table. An old-looking blaster had been thrown there. There were a few nicks in the handle—probably by some gang member.

"We should probably go armed around here," Carth said. "Taris isn't exactly the warmest of places."

He didn't have to tell me twice.

When we both left the apartment the soldier had found, Onasi led us into a cantina in order to scout for information. He already had an idea of where Bastila might be. However, in order to get down into the Under City, we would either have to join the Sith (not possible) or start something in the middle of the Upper City's streets (which was just plain stupid).

All elevators were blocked off, all aircraft had been taken, all paths to freedom—gone. Carth visited a shop in order to find a speeder, however, even those had been embargoed. The Sith were really thorough, weren't they? And this Malak was desperate to get his hands on that Jedi. Desperate enough to lock down an entire planet. How could we do this? After all, it was us two against a Sith army. I gambled a little in Tatooine once. The odds did not look pretty. Not pretty at all.

"So, you say that you're a soldier," he shouted over the cantina music, "but, you don't seem to know the proper way to treat your upper officers..."

I ignored the soldier's question about my suspicious background and pretended I couldn't hear him over the singing Rodian. The cantina he brought us to was lamer than a lame bantha. It was "pristine" which meant "boring." He shouted that stupid question a few times before asking it directly into my ear.

The dark strands in my scalp rose.

"Kriff! I heard you, I heard you!" Huffing, I raised a hand at the human bartender. If I had to talk to this soldier, then I needed a drink too. "I was a new recruit, remember?"

"New recruits are required to have taken at least a year of military schooling in Coruscant. All recruits know the regulations and their duties because of it."

"I didn't need to take your stupid school."

Carth frowned. "What?"

"Because I'm a military genius. Bonafide marvel. That's right."

When my drink arrived Carth stopped the glass from sliding all the way to me.

"Do you think I'm an idiot?"

I looked between his face and the drink before I sat back—disappointed. "You're the one who's pointing fingers and asking personal questions. How would it make you feel if I asked if you were a real recruit?"

"What...that doesn't—that doesn't even make any sense! I've been in the Republic army since the Mandalorian Wars."

The Mandalorian Wars...yeesh.

"Then you know that the Republic is desperate for soldiers. Talented soldiers. Like me."

The soldier rolled his eyes. "You have the ego of a bantha."

I reached over and yanked my drink from his protective grip. Carth crossed his arms and started making faces in the reflections in the glass of the bar. Maybe he was thinking up an idea for our escape? I hoped so. I wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. The sooner I separated myself from the Republic and the Jedi, the better.

A few off-worlders argued with an off-duty Sith near the entrance of the cantina. Their shouting drowned out the annoying band and before any of us could react, blaster fire stung the poor man who fell down in pain. The Upper City's tight-lipped nobility took no notice of what would be a crime in Coruscant or any other Inner Rim planet. Of course, this was normal in the Outer Rim.

The soldier scoffed. "This place is disgusting. The rich treat aliens and strangers like dirt while the Lower City dwellers gang fight and murder on the streets. The Sith occupancy hasn't helped this planet at all."

I raised my drink. "Welcome to the Outer Rim, commander."

Carth looked over his shoulder at me. "You were born in the Outer Rim?"

"Deralia."

He sat back as I took a sip of the beer.

"That planet was attacked by the Mandalorians, wasn't it?" I stopped drinking and glared at him from my cup. "Actually, now that I remember it, Deralia was one of the first—"

I slammed the beer down. Who did he think he was asking all of these personal questions? I was fine with the suspicion about my occupation but Deralia? I didn't want to be reminded of that. Ever. So, I left the bar, and my drink. If the "commander" wanted answers so badly, he could find a railing and jump off it.

When a hand grabbed my shoulder, I turned, fuming. "Look, mister paranoid, I don't want to answer your damn questions—"

"I'm sorry. Did I interrupt something?"

A dark-haired and easy-smiling woman held an untouched drink. The commander still sat at the bar...with my own drink. He better pay me back for that.

I smiled at the sweet woman. "I...no. Sorry about that. It was just an annoying friend of mine."

Friend with a broad definition.

She didn't look like a noble from the Upper City. She lacked the pinched, stuck-up expressions that all of the other people had around here along with the reflective clothing that blinded anyone who passed by.

She smiled. "I see. We all have those sorts of friends, don't we?" She coughed then placed her drink onto a table. "You don't look like one of these stuck-up snobs. This planet is so dull. And the cantinas...crowded with dull people. We should have put a curfew on this disgusting planet when we had the chance. Still, they complain."

A Sith? My opinion of this woman changed and all I could see was a black armored machine.

Carth looked in my direction with a tilted head.

The woman was still blabbering. "The higher-ups are all so serious. Why can't we just relax for a little? It's not like the Jedi is going anywhere."

Her cheeks glowed underneath the weak cantina lights. Heh...she was smitten by me, wasn't she? Or drunk.

"I totally agree." I patted her shoulder. "I mean, if you go around with a negative and paranoid attitude all the time, then what's the fun in that?"

Carth. Take the hint.

The woman's face brightened. "Right! It's all about attitude. You know...you really seem to understand how I feel about this. You're an off-worlder, aren't you?"

I hesitated at this question before nodding. "Pretty much. And I've been so bored just sitting around. So, I understand where you're coming from."

Her body grew close. My smile grew. Hook, line, and sinker.

"Really? Well, tonight at midnight we're having an off-duty party with my friends. I don't know many people in my shift so I'll be kind of lonely. Why don't you..." her face was even closer to mine, "...join me?"

"Gale."

My heart jumped when Carth's voice interrupted. I backed away from this woman then waved a hand towards the soldier.

"This is my friend that I was talking about. Can he come with us?"

The woman took stock of the confused-looking middle-aged man. I could see that she didn't really find anything attractive about him. Though, I didn't know why that was important.

"Just so long as he stays out of our way. So, you'll be there in an hour? My apartment is just a few blocks away from here. The old Republic estates. Room B-145."

"Of course."

The woman blushed then left the both of us with slow steps. My grin was still plastered on my face as she left. Carth gave me an accusing look.

I scowled.

"Shut up."

He held up his hands. "I didn't say anything."

"You were going to."

True to her word, the Sith party was held in B-145.

I couldn't believe our luck that some Sith woman fell in love with me! And Carth could keep his damn thoughts to himself. This was for his "mission." I'm not going to be falling in love with some Sith woman. When I told Carth this he held his forehead. The elevator stopped at floor B.

"You really think I believe that crap? How is a party with the Sith going to help us find Bastila, exactly?"

"I'm thinking, all right?"

Wasn't he the supposed "commander?" Why didn't he think of a way for us to escape?

We stepped out of the elevator and spotted the party immediately. A dark helmeted Sith bouncer stood before the apartment doors while the flashing lights and electric music vibrated the entire floor. I couldn't help but smile as soon as I saw the party.

Carth groaned.

"I'm too old to be doing this..."

The Sith bouncer held up a hand when we arrived at the door. I nonchalantly placed my hands in my red jacket pockets.

"Who are you, spacer?" The helmet distorted his voice.

I looked back at Carth who was giving me the side-eye.

"Um...well."

"He's a friend," called out a familiar voice.

From the loud music and flashing lights, the same woman I met before smiled at me. Her blush was even clearer in the party lights. I wondered if she was still drunk. Well, that would make my job easier now, wouldn't it?

I passed the bouncer with a grin and in return, he held his rifle tight. Some people...really.

About twenty Sith were at this supposed party. The bass of the music was turned up and I was afraid that my own heart might hop out of my chest and onto the floor. Cigar smoke drifted from the corner and a few people were laughing at the couch. Including the women. I twisted around then pat Carth quickly on the shoulder.

"Well, have fun, Orangy!"

Before I left, Carth grabbed my shoulder. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to get information. My way."

The older man grimaced. "Just don't get too carried away. We aren't here for fun, you know..."

I shrugged him off as I finally left for the fun What a party-pooper. Military types always took their duties way too seriously.

I approached the couches at the other end of the room. The Sith woman I met before sat beside another man—one who was smirking at me.

"You're the one Sara was talking about?" he asked.

This man had his arm around the woman Sara. He gave me a knowing smile that pissed me off. Immensely. Had she been flirting with me before? Was this her date? Impossible...

As I pondered whether or not I had been duped, Sara held up a green bottle.

"The Sith really do pay well for this crappy job. Tarisian ale has to be one of the best distilled ales in the galaxy."

Her "partner" laughed. "Don't let Jiora hear that. What a lightweight..."

I felt out of place in their little group. Hadn't she said that she would be lonely here?

No. I hadn't planned on anything serious. I wasn't that desperate for a woman's affection. I had standards.

When she poured out shots, I caught Carth's eye from across the room. When it came to socializing, Carth definitely wasn't up to the task. He created a social vacuum around where he was sitting against the wall. Those glares he was shooting at me weren't helping his chances.

Sara beckoned me to sit beside her. When I did, she slid a shot glass into my hand. "Here. Try it. You probably won't get another...chance..."

I remembered what this substance did. And it was already having its effect upon the woman and her friends. So, I laughed, nodding my head, and drained most of the ale onto the floor. And no one batted an eyelid. Sara chuckled and bent over my knees in her drunken stupor, and her partner gave me a dangerous eye.

By the end of this night, I wouldn't be surprised if everyone was unconscious.

Meanwhile...

"So, I hear the Sith fleet is looking for a... Barista? Balista?"

Sara took another shot. "Bastila. The Jedi. No one can find that bitch though. Without her, we have to stay here in this dump. Why did I even join the Sith?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Why did you?"

She laughed as she tried pouring herself another shot but spilled most of the clear liquid onto the blue carpet.

"My planet had been taken. My family would have starved if I didn't join. Not really a problem though. We're going to win anyway."

I watched a wet spot on the floor. It...disturbed me that the Republic was beating back soldiers who didn't actually want to fight. But, what could they do?

Before long, the entire room except for Carth, the bouncer, and I were in a drunken sleep. Yes, Tarisian ale really did pack that much of a punch. I tried the substance before and let's just say that they won't remember my face in the morning. Which meant we had plenty of time to snoop around now. And I had already thought of a plan.

I searched the room before I found what I was looking for. A wardrobe. Stepping over bodies, I took off my jacket then threw it at Carth. He caught then stared at the red fabric.

"What are you doing?" Carth asked.

I gave him a blank stare.

"What do you think, genius?"

I opened the wardrobe and took one of the uniform blocks from the shelves. Hooking the dark armor around my waist, I pressed a switch near the side and the armor fit to my form. A helmet turned my vision a blue tint—night vision. I turned to Carth then threw him a higher ranking Sith uniform.

He gave me another one of his looks.

"You really think this'll work?"

"These Sith are pretty dense. Trust me." Instead of waiting for his response, I pointed to the Sith uniform he was holding. "Get dressed, Orangy. That jacket of yours makes you stand out."

The pilot gave me a heavy sigh but did as I instructed. We both walked out like we had a purpose. As we left, I muttered a "going on patrol" remark to the bouncer. This was the art of smuggling in its purest form.

Once we entered the elevator to leave, Carth threw my jacket over my head.

"Carry your own shit."

The Lower City reminded me of my old ship's atmosphere. Try as I might, it was hard not to smile underneath my helmet as both Carth and I walked through the dangerous halls. The Sith guarding the elevator hadn't batted an eye. Hadn't even asked for a reason why we were going down there. Of course, this was all in the art of human smuggling—play upon people's faulty expectations.

I re-gripped my blaster into my hands. My black gloves were getting sweaty just by walking down these halls. The insulation was nonexistent down here. Fans whirled above us, sure, but that only blew hot air down. The Sith armor wasn't helping.

I had enough of the helmet—no matter how much I enjoyed making faces behind the commander's back. I pressed a button to release myself from the inner humid atmosphere.

Carth was ahead of me in the Sith uniform. He gave me another "why don't you just behave?" look.

"We need to gather information about Bastila, Gale. Remember, that is our priority here."

Maybe he thought I was deaf. "What do you think I'm doing? I don't see you looking for anything, mister commander."

"What am I—? Look. I'm the only one who is actually taking this seriously." He sighed, then muttered underneath his breath. "Out of all the people in the Endar Spire, I had to be stuck with this nerf herder of a child..."

Ignoring that comment, I wiped my forehead of the sweat that accumulated.

"Taking this seriously? Of course I'm taking this seriously. I take everything seriously."

"You know, I find that hard to believe. You have a questionable background in the Republic Navy, easily convince a Sith to do...whatever, agree to join their party, and you're smiling and joking about this along the way!"

"What? Just because we're stuck down here, you're expecting me to cry about it?"

Carth groaned. "You just—you don't even know what the Sith could do if or when they find us, do you?" His military eyes set into his face like a brick. My ever-smiling face decayed. "The Force can do terrible things to a mind. They could wipe out your memory and destroy your very identity." His gaze met mine. "When the Sith finds me or you or Bastila...what do you think is going to happen then?"

I glanced away from Carth's intense stare. That Sith on the Endar Spire almost choked me to death with his Force powers. The pale man smiled as if my pain was amusing to him. From that experience alone, I knew that I feared the Sith. If they caught me with Carth then I would be subjected to their tortures. Who knew what they could do to us just to get information about the Jedi?

I really, really, didn't want to know the answer to that.

I looked back at Carth and the expression on his face was exactly as it had been when I looked away. What was I supposed to do? Mope around like this soldier and hope that Bastila will come waltzing into our arms?

Before I could give Carth a proper response, red light from above interrupted my thoughts. I twisted around and pointed my blaster at the noise.

Down the hall of the old Lower City balcony, a battle had begun.