I held my grimy head as the Ithorian mechanic helped me to my feet and brushed me off.

"I-I can't believe it! You won!"

Ha...yeah. I still couldn't believe it either.

Walking was rather difficult since my leg got burnt from the overheated swoop. The crowd was still going wild with both glee and outrage. We were not done yet with the Black Vulkars. Oh no. Our problems had only just begun.

I waved the mechanic off as I limped towards the garage. A few Hidden Beks were whooping and gave me thumbs up from their bikes. I returned the gesture with a crooked smile. I defied the freaking laws of physics. Of course I was awesome...and shaken to the core.

A few Vulkars shouted at me when I got to the garage, but the many Beks were protecting me like I was Gadon Thek himself. The Hutt, Zax, was being overrun by angry gamblers each demanding a full refund that the creature would never give back. All of them were saying the Hutt cheated and lied to them. Really? After I performed something so...impossible, they blamed the Hutt for getting the odds wrong?

At least some of the yelling was being directed off of me.

The entrance to the Lower City Arena was overflowed with people of all races and sizes. Many Black Vulkars were marching angrily towards me. All were led specifically by a dark-skinned tired-looking man.

"You!" He pointed a wild finger at me. "You cheated you fucking bastard!"

I glanced towards the cage Bastila resided in. Before I could argue, the doors behind me closed and locked with a red light. The mechanic beside me flinched, his eyes widening.

"What are you—"

A wild blaster shot and the Ithorian mechanic went down. I backed away with my hands raised. What the hell? These Vulkars weren't seriously going to deny that I won that race. A few Hidden Beks, all of them swoop bike riders themselves, took out their rifles. The two groups were now in a stand-off. The heavy-eyed man in front of me puffed up in anger.

"You cheated!" he repeated.

"Shut up, Brejik, you liar!" shouted a Bek beside me.

I frowned. After this, I was going to have serious migraines. For sure.

"Okay...how the hell would I be able to fake that?" I asked.

The man—I assumed this was Brejik due to his stupid persistency—smiled at me. He glanced towards the poor Duro coordinator who backed up behind his microphone-enhanced desk that was echoing our conversations to the entire floor.

He laughed once. "Swoop bike accelerators are illegal on this circuit and Gadon bought one from the Exchange before Taris went under the Sith's radar. That's how!"

That bastard Gadon...he really did have all of his bases covered. He didn't expect me to live through this, did he? Well, he was going to have a few words from me after all of this was over.

I shrugged. "You don't exactly have proof now, do you?"

I thanked the Force that my bike exploded into smithereens after that race, despite the casualties it caused.

Brejik puffed again and glared at the Duro.

"Disqualify him!" he shouted at the poor alien.

The coordinator ducked. "I-I-The rules don't say anything about this. I mean...that was impossible—"

"Then I'm taking back the Vulkar's share of the swoop prize!"

There were a few gasps and confused glances—mostly coming from the smaller gangs. Some of the Beks around me were angry and alarmed and my heart was beginning to skip. He couldn't do that, could he? Kriff...that race had better been for something rather than nothing!

The Duros peeked up from underneath the desk. "B-But you can't do tha—"

Another blaster shot from the Vulkars. The poor coordinator collapsed, and his body turned off the sound systems with a screech. Did he have something against Duros and Ithorians or something? He really needed to tone down the aggression. That wasn't really helping to cool my own desire of killing him in the most painful of ways. The Beks turned their blasters off of stun. I raised my own and made sure to point it directly at that bastard Brejik.

I didn't want it to come to this. I mean, if we were going to have a fight, why didn't we do it before I almost raced to my death? Brejik raised his own blaster to point at me and neither of us made a move.

Then, something moved in Bastila's cage. The Vulkar who stood in front of it shouted. Two hands came from beyond the bars and bashed his head into the hard surface. I averted my gaze from Brejik to the chaos occurring near the cage.

Brejik was frantic. "H-How? I put you on a neural disrupter!"

As if in answer, the cage door creaked open. The collar fell to the ground beside the Jedi, and her grey eyes focused on the Black Vulkar leader.

"You underestimate the strength of a Jedi's mind, Brejik. A mistake you won't live to regret."

"..."

She just let herself out? And she could have done this...whenever? So, she just wasted my precious time. Couldn't she break out when it was a little more convenient for people like me who just risked his neck on a suicidal swoop race? Please and thank you.

The Vulkars waved their blasters about in confusion as if not really understanding who or what they should shoot.

Brejik growled. "Kill the swoop rider! Kill the Beks! Kill them all!"

Well, no need to be so quick about this—

I ducked when Brejik shot his blaster at me and used the desk with the dead Duro as cover from the Black Vulkars. Some other Beks thought of the same idea and ran to my side. Their grenades and rifle shots covered the sparking desk. A few shouts were coming from the far side of the room. When I peered up from cover, Bastila twirled in the air like a bird with her newly acquired vibroblade. She stabbed at one of the Vulkars that guarded her. His parsed screams assured me that the Jedi was more than capable of helping herself.

I shot out from beyond the desk and hit a Twi'lek Vulkar—that same one that cursed me out on the swoop race track. Smirking at the sweet revenge, I ducked again as a grenade flew in our direction...then flew straight back at them. The Black Vulkars couldn't even react before it exploded in their faces.

That Jedi really was something. It made me grateful, for a second, that I was on her side. I think...

That all changed when Bastila appeared like a bad headache and shoved something over the side of the desk and into me.

I groaned as I shoved the dead Vulkar away only to jump when Brejik barreled over the desk. I hadn't even noticed when the Beks were shot down so I had no backup fire. Brejik tackled me with his blaster, and my own weapon spun away. I pulled my knife in order to return the offense which included attempting and failing at pushing this bag of meat off me. Using my head, as always, I hit him squarely in the jaw.

I scrambled to my feet and grabbed my blaster.

He raised his hands when I pointed that blaster at him. "Please...I surrender..."

My eyebrows scrunched up in disbelief as I edged closer to the Vulkar.

"Are you serious? You think I would show you any mercy after what you did?" I said, remembering the face of that poor girl and the slaves I had to abandon.

Brejik coughed again. "I...misunderstood this responsibility. I just wanted Gadon to see that I was right! I...I never meant—"

I pulled the trigger. Brejik's body jumped when the blaster shot hit him. His blank, unseeing eyes stared up at the silver Lower City ceilings.

I killed him just like I promised. Yet why didn't I feel satisfied? This guy was a monster...

I decided to ignore the Vulkar leader's body, then spotted Bastila from across the room. The crowd was in an uproar—I began to worry about Mission and the others. I really hope they weren't caught in a mob.

Bastila lowered her vibroblade which was now marked with blood from the Vulkars surrounding her. We were the only two still alive. All of the swoop racers who participated were dead. I frowned at the massacre that we both somehow survived then smirked. After all, we survived.

She sighed as she bent over her blade.

"What am I to do now..."

"Well..." I began, rubbing my head. "We could start by getting the hell out of here."

She twisted around with the blade and pointed it at me. When our eyes met, I was reminded of that time on that Republic carrier ship when she gave me that shocked sad look. That look disappeared like the wind. She lowered the weapon and her expression turned numb.

"You. You're...that soldier. From the Endar Spire. You survived?"

I smirked. "Well, of course I survived. Who do you think I am?"

"And?" she asked.

I frowned. What exactly did she want now? We had to leave this dump before people realized we weren't all dead up here.

"And...what?"

"Why are you here?" she finished.

I hadn't even noticed when my own angry thoughts surfaced in my voice.

"Why am I here?" I half-shouted, narrowing my eyes. "Hmm, let's see—I risked my neck by crashing a Sith party, by walking through the Lower City, by almost being shot to death by a crazed bounty hunter, by defeating a rancor of all things, by climbing through a gang's base to only rescue a kriffing Wookiee, by being conned into racing with a swoop that could explode in my face—it almost did by the way, and all you can say after all of that is 'why are you here?' Really?"

She raised her eyebrows. "Are you done?"

My face felt hot. I couldn't believe this. After sacrificing my own pride by listening to Carth's orders, I'm treated to this unappreciative Jedi.

"I rescued you."

She tilted her head, that annoying amused look still on her face.

"Rescued me?" she said. "I think I let myself out of that cage without your help. Some rescuing you did. Actually, you are more correct to say that I rescued you."

Kriff...she was being difficult.

"How?" I asked with a dry tone. "I protected myself all throughout that fight."

"Not just the fight," she responded. "The swoop race. I used battle meditation on those other riders after I broke that collar. You weren't exactly...winning."

I didn't really know how I felt about that. I definitely felt less accomplished than before. Heh, so I really did cheat on that race. I glanced at Brejik's corpse empathetically.

No. No! She didn't save me at all.

I crossed my arms. "Well...I won that race anyway, so I own you now."

When I glanced back at her, that victory-like smile disappeared from her face. "No one owns me," she said. "And you really thought that a Jedi couldn't get out of that situation herself?"

"You looked pretty defenseless to me, 'Jedi,'" I retorted with air quotes.

Her face scrunched.

"I only appeared defenseless so those guards didn't start suspecting something. Do you think I'm that stupid?"

I raised my eyebrows, smirking. "Well...you look stupid," I said, pointing with my gaze at her embarrassing hooker costume.

Her face froze and she turned away with a red face. She marched towards the door with a "harrumph" before stopping at the locks. I made my way to her side as she waved her hand over the lock. Somehow using her Jedi magic to get us out of this situation.

It was silent as I peered past the Jedi only for her to glare back at me. I didn't stink that much, did I? Well... I had been climbing through Gamorrean infested sewers a few hours ago. I probably smelled like death. She deserved that anyway after her caustic remarks.

I took a step forward once the door hissed open—blaster at my side.

"Follow me. I know the quickest way out," I said.

The crowds all rushed around like little bugs. Zax was escaping near the tracks with a bounty hunter squad surrounding him. At the opposite side of the hall, an elevator that was in lock down was untouched by the surrounding chaos. Both of us made for that elevator. I tried to open it, yet I sighed when it denied my biometrics. I was no hacker, but I might as well try.

"Were there any others?" she asked.

I looked at her briefly before turning back towards the panel again.

"We don't really have time—"

"Just yes or no," she said. "Were there other survivors?"

Her depressed voice barely rose above the sounds of the rioting around us. Strange. I thought the only emotion she had was stuck up her ass. I cursed as I messed with the alien letters of the panel then slapped it when the thing wouldn't cooperate. It was asking over and over again for a keycard. These damn machines.

I moved away from the panel in order to look for the keycard. Then I realized. Bastila's question. Right.

She followed me as I dug around in the pockets of multiple dead bodies.

"Just that commander. He was the only one I was with..." I said.

A few people ran past us as I searched for the manual way up along with a few Black Vulkars. They were all smart enough not to mess with us though.

Bastila's face relaxed. "Carth Onasi is alive? Finally some good news." My survival was bad news then? "I was worried that I left the commander to his death when I crashed on Taris. Maybe I misjudged you. Carth wouldn't have sent you if he didn't trust in your...abilities."

I stopped searching the corpse of a Twi'lek and turned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

The Jedi stopped pacing then crossed her arms. "Well...if I remember correctly, you were just a recruit on the Endar Spire. I'm quite amazed that such a low-ranking officer was able to escape the ship and survive down here. And if Carth Onasi believed that you were capable enough to race, then you must be more than you appear to be."

A grin marked my face as I resumed my search. How was she able to do that? Unlike the pilot who demanded answers, this Jedi just flat-out guessed them all. Well, except for one minor detail.

"Of course I'm capable. In fact, the only reason I'm here is because Onasi was incapable."

"What are you talking about?"

I didn't answer as I held up a blaster to a sneaky-looking Black Vulkar who was trying to get into a different elevator. When he raised his own pistol I shot him down then ran up to the panel. The keycard was still inserted into the frame and the elevator shot open.

I shoved the dazed Jedi past the open doors.

"Ladies first."

Her face scrunched again and I smiled back at her.

"You didn't answer my question."

I followed her in and finally relaxed when the elevator closed. Probably the cleanest getaway I've ever done. Let's hope that the situation doesn't change. I looked down when I noticed that Bastila was still glaring at me.

"What?" I asked.

"You don't really pay attention at all...do you?"

I sighed. "You'll see soon enough."

We arrived at the base around midnight. The Hidden Beks were all in shambles. There had been many casualties during the race and the battle afterward. Some were sitting on the ground covering their grieving face with their hands. Some were looking up at us with hate in their eyes. I grit my teeth as I led the Jedi to the med bay with the intention of showing the pilot my success.

Mission was already there with the little kid who looked up as soon as we entered. Zaalbar was nowhere to be seen.

Something like a boulder collided with me.

"Wes! You won that race and...that was just amazing!"

Mission had begun suffocating me again. I smiled over towards Bastila. Yeah, I won that race. And I will not let that down.

"Are you alright?" I asked when she finally released me.

She frowned. "Zaalbar was hurt a bit in the rush out. Otherwise, we're all okay. He said it was just a scratch and barreled through those Vulkars like a trooper!"

Another instance of this Wookiee's brash nature...

Carth sat up when he saw the Jedi. He looked a bit better, so much so that he flung his legs out of the bed. Kolto bandages were wrapped around his legs and his arm was still in a sling. Somehow, the sight of the Jedi returned the color to his paling skin.

"Bastila! You're alive! Things are starting to look up! Now we just need to find a way off this planet." He blinked once before his features contorted with confusion. "What are you wearing?"

I smirked. Bastila was still wearing that outfit Brejik made her wear. I wondered when she would ever decide to get rid of it. Unless she liked wearing those scantily clad clothes. I wouldn't complain if she continued...

The Jedi coughed. "Nothing. Just...forget this for now."

I really doubt anyone would want to forget that.

"What happened while I was gone?" she asked. "And what do you mean you haven't found a way off this planet? What have you been doing?"

I interjected. "We were trying to find you, remember?"

"That's no real help. You should have been more focused on getting out of here, not skipping around doing who knows what."

I sighed then sat on a bed beside Carth's. That's what I've been saying.

The pilot's face turned red. "Skipping around? We were trying to find you Bastila. You didn't really expect us to just sit around and wait for the Sith to capture you, right?"

"We could be leaving now if you had found passage off of this planet. Now, that I'm back in charge maybe we can start by doing some things right."

"We couldn't find passage off of this planet," Carth said. "We are quarantined. What do you expect?"

Bastila huffed before looking away. "Well, as your upper officer, Carth, I expected more from you. I've helped the army win more than enough battles with the use of Battle Meditation. I'm sure that my abilities will be of more use then...whatever you have been trying to do so far."

Great, what a nice way to pull rank. Mission was getting agitated along with the little boy that had jumped up to sit beside me. I frowned, leaning forward, holding my head and covering my eyes.

"You guys are kinda loud. Can you take your domestic dispute somewhere else?" I muttered, pulling my hand through my hair. "And does it really matter what we did or didn't do right now? We need to get off Taris. Isn't that more important than fighting over who's the line leader like spoiled children?"

My voice was cracking a bit. After all, I was rather tired. I had gone through two days already without proper sleep. Was it too much to ask for some peace and quiet?

Bastila narrowed her eyes at me. Oh no, what was the Jedi going to say now?

"I...I'm sorry. I've been through a lot recently. For now...it's probably best that we rested."

Wow...hadn't expected her to say "I'm sorry." Maybe I misjudged this Jedi.

I wondered where we would sleep after she said that. I doubted the Beks wanted us around anymore. The apartment was in the Upper City and at least a few hours walk. Carth looked healthy but not healthy enough for a morning jog.

I guess that meant we were going to sleep in those uncomfortable bunks again. I was not looking forward to it.

The little tach monkey (I had no other name for him) jumped up and attached himself to my arm. I pulled the little kid off quickly.

"Look...you don't have to follow me everywhere, right? Probably safer for you if you stayed away, actually," I said, placing him on the ground.

He sighed and muttered, "But..."

Wait, I understood that. I tilted my head as Mission began to lead us away. I stared down at the kid for a long time, wondering if the little slave wasn't just playing games.

I jumped when Bastila stood before me.

"Are you coming?" she asked.

I looked between the kid and the Jedi before smiling, shaking my head.

"Must have been my imagination," I muttered, walking forward.

The Jedi came up beside me.

"What was your imagination?" she asked.

Mission was leading us to the accursed bunks when I shook my head—dazed. I must have been tired, that was it. Fatigue playing with my mind.

"Nothing."

A red mask. Golden sparks. Bastila's terrified face. A devil shrouded in darkness. Explosions. Pain.

Air returned to my lungs and I sprung up. Once I realized that it had only been a dream and that we were still here, on Taris, I sank back to the ground.

Another nightmare. I tried to massage away the ever-present headache as the dream I had repeated in my mind over and over again. They were getting worse, those dreams, right after we returned to the apartment in the Upper City.

I was sleeping on the ground—my own bed had been taken over by Mission who snoozed unaware of the troubles below. She had insisted she come with us after hearing about the Wookiee's life debt. I was surprised, I had thought the Hidden Beks meant everything to her. Yet, perhaps in the process of protecting her, they had also pushed her away.

Gadon. The Beks' leader was still in mourning after I debriefed him on what happened. I don't know why. Brejik had become a monster. He should have been understanding, not depressed and heartbroken.

I sighed. After that nightmare, I doubted I could ever return to sleep. It was the same every night after we returned. Bastila fighting a...Sith? Revan? The mask looked a lot like the ones displayed on the holonews. It terrified everyone. I don't know why my mind was so focused on the Jedi and Revan lately. I was pretty sure I had the turn of events aboard that ship memorized. Said a lot about my mental state, honestly.

Eventually, I glanced towards the Jedi. She was sleeping on the floor after I convinced her that the pilot needed soft ground to heal off the rest of his wounds. Surprisingly, she didn't argue.

Instead of returning to my hopeless attempts at sleep, I shook the blanket off of my form and grabbed my blaster. Fresh air. Or at least partial fresh air. That's what I needed. Which meant another midnight stroll around the building. What else was I supposed to do? Slipping on boots quietly, I checked to make sure that Mission and the little kid were still fast asleep. Nodding to myself, I turned again and headed for the door.

Then a presence. Danger. I lashed out behind me without hesitation. Before my punch collided, my wrist was caught. It took a few seconds for me to realize bright grey eyes were peering at me from the night.

"Where are you going?" Bastila asked.

I pulled my hand away from her grip and relaxed. "Kriff...don't scare me like that. I almost hit you."

And, again, why does she care about where I was going? Have I made friends with stalkers? Were these crazy people even my friends?

The Jedi Commander wore civilian clothes after I teased her enough about that stupid outfit. When we came up here with Sith papers that Zaedra provided, Carth insisted that she wear an old cloak to hide her identity. Since these Sith were morons, I doubted that they would be able to tell who she was anyway.

Bastila crossed her arms as she was wont to do. "That is beside the point. What I want to know is where you think you're going this late at night."

"Who are you, my mother?" I opened the door. "Ah, you've caught me. I've been sneaking out of the house to crash cantinas that I'm not allowed to go to. Please don't ground me."

Bastila closed the door again somehow and I turned to glare at the Jedi. She really didn't know how to take a joke, did she?

Ever since we returned to the apartment, the Jedi always kept an eye on me like a stalker. I really shouldn't have been surprised when she finally decided to follow me out like a mother who caught her son sneaking out of the house with a girl. Really.

I sighed. "Can't I just have a nice evening stroll once in a while?"

She stared at me. Kind of off-putting. I wonder if that was me or just the effect these Jedi had on people. They were protective yet cruel. Yet, for Bastila, she grew crueler and crueler as the minutes went by.

"I could sense that you've been...disturbed these past few nights after I escaped the Vulkars."

My annoyed looked turned into that very emotion she described. Okay, so now she was using her Jedi powers to poke and prod into my mind. The apartment was small enough already. She had to take my psychological space away from me as well?

Instead of addressing that issue, I smirked. "When I rescued you, you mean."

She sighed. "That again? I undoubtedly remember rescuing and protecting myself in that fight."

Remembering fighting those Vulkars...and how I killed Brejik afterward made me flinch. I wondered if she could sense that? I felt myself growing red slightly.

"That doesn't exactly give you an excuse to snoop through my mind with your physic powers, now does it?"

The Jedi frowned—was she actually feeling guilty for what she did?

"I'm sorry. I couldn't help but notice. You...you have a certain effect on the Force that I cannot explain. I've felt it ever since that swoop race and the battle afterward. Mission told me the details. I find the situation quite...odd."

I hit the manual button to the door again and stomped outside.

"Well it sounds as if you don't even know what you're talking about."

If we were going to be talking about such stupid things then I at least wanted to have the view of the "lovely" Tarisian skyline.

The hallways were desolate. Occasionally, a few cleaning droids made their rounds.

And Bastila still followed me.

"You race a swoop that is supposed to explode after too much activity. The accelerator eventually overheats one of the engines and what happens? Your swoop keeps on going like nothing happened. I mean...you may or may not have the ability but we need to consider—"

"Stop talking." I swiveled around in order to face the Jedi. "That isn't...what you are trying to say can't be possible! That wasn't..."

I leaned against the hallway wall, my face shaded in darkness created by the low-budgeted lights. What happened to that swoop...that was just my dumb luck acting up again. I was used to it, as a smuggler, things would just happen the way that I wanted them to. But the Force? Me?

She walked closer, but I didn't turn to look back at her.

"You might not want to listen to me, but I've sensed that the Force has been working through you for some time."

I was livid.

"Working through me? What does that even mean? And you can't actually be serious."

"How else were you able to avoid the Sith's detection, discover my location, kill a rancor, invade that Vulkar base all on your own, and gain sponsorship for the race? That is quite a resume."

I shrugged. "What can I say? I'm a talented individual."

Bastila walked directly into the space I was gazing in which forced me to look at her.

"Yes, I can see you don't lack in ability. Although modesty is another matter."

I huffed. Modesty was a weakness that people liked to plague themselves with. If all of us were as assured about this as I was, maybe the Republic would actually get stuff done. Like protecting the people from Sith or Mandalorians...maybe?

"If you think so...but the Force?" I laughed as I leaned off the hallway wall. "I think you underestimate us non-Jedi."

She didn't respond as I walked away once again down the hall.

What would using the Force help me to achieve? I heard of the Jedi many times and their death-defying feats. Even saw a lightsaber or two in the black markets. But to actually chain myself down and become one? I was born to travel the Outer Rim...not to sit around like a chastised monk and preach about becoming one with the Force. Jedi Knights traveled around but always under orders. Never by choice.

And I lived by choice. And freedom.

What Bastila was telling me was not what I wanted to hear. At all. And...how, after the thirty-two odd years I had been alive, was I suddenly "Force Sensitive?"

A hand grabbed my shoulder. I turned to face the worried-looking Jedi and was prepared to run off if she tried to say one more word about—

"I may not be a Jedi Master and these new abilities that somehow manifested themselves within you might be unfamiliar...but the Force works in mysterious ways. At times, it is better to accept what is true than to forever live in ignorance."

I stopped my prepared rant then gave the Jedi a curious look. I didn't want her to be right, but if I was Force sensitive then I wanted to know about it. Having some unknown hidden power inside me didn't sound safe. And with the Sith out and about...

The fatigue had begun to catch up with me, so I sighed and slid down to the ground against the wall.

A few things had been a bit...off about our whole adventure in Taris, all starting with that flickering light, then that lightsaber somehow changing course, until finally the swoop bike. The truth fell into my lap like cantina dominoes. Like a crime scene revealing the killer to be the victim—me—after all this time.

I felt a body beside me and glanced over at the Jedi. Her eyes looked older and wiser than she was really at times. That nightmare came back to me again and in it, those eyes had been determined yet...sad. She swiped her dark pigtails over her shoulder and gave me a look.

"You want to say something?" she asked, her eyebrows lifting.

"I've been dreaming about you." I flinched once I realized how creepy that sounded then quickly amended. "I mean...I dreamed about you and a man in a red mask. Revan. Fighting in a space battle. Do you...know what that means?"

Her old eyes appeared hurt and she looked away from me as if I slapped her. Maybe...Revan was a sour topic around the Battle Meditator? He definitely didn't look or act pleasant. Since we were metaphorically being held hostage by the Sith, mentioning Revan probably wasn't a good idea at all when Malak—his apprentice3was trying to find her.

However, I was curious and these nightmares were starting to piss me off. I wanted to rid myself of them but at the same time, I wondered how these dreams were getting into my brain to start with.

After a while, Bastila finally stood and began to walk away.

I shot up with her.

"Hey...where are you going?"

For once, I was asking that question.

Before she opened the door to the apartment, she twisted back around to address me.

"I...I don't know what to say about that. Without proper wisdom, I doubt I could tell you what that dream really means. But maybe, someday, you will know the truth."

I sighed. "Look, all I want is for these dreams to go away. I don't need answers, really."

If the Force was giving me these visions...then I at least wanted to learn how to force them away. Literally. And if applying myself to the Jedi's teachings for a little bit would help me solve that problem, then why wouldn't I? Ha, that was crazy for me to say. Though...maybe it was just a fluke. If these Jedi realized I was just that then I would be happy. No, ecstatic.

Bastila lowered her gaze. "I wish...I could help you."

And with that foreboding statement, the door opened and Bastila left me in the hall. I should probably be careful with what I say around her. She must have been disturbed after being held hostage by Brejik for so long. I know I would.

I glanced up through the large windows out at the Sith fleet.

A pale bald man with a metal jaw.

Pain surfaced in my brain and I shook my head when that strange image entered my mind. I was going crazy. First, that boy speaking to me in Basic, and now random images were popping into my head.

A shrink in Coruscant would have deemed me insane the second I walked across their carpets.