After Han Solo landed the Millennium Falcon on the launchpad connecting to the Evacuation Route in the underlevels of Coruscant, he took a look around. He saw the massive amounts of yorik coral leftover from the Yuuzhan Vong War. Thirteen years. And not once did the senate think to clean this all up. They only cared about the upper levels. He thought.

They had dealt with evacuations on Ossus to the Hapes Consortium. Now, they were tasked with taking Bazel Warv–Barv–to warn the barabels. Allana wasn't very specific about the warning, but she didn't seem willing to budge on that.

"Han, why the devil would you bring a child–not just any child, but Tanel Ka's own daughter–to a warzone?!" Zekk scolded.

"Well it wasn't necessarily my decision. I told her to stay put, and she didn't listen."

"And you didn't bother looking for her while she was sneaking about the Falcon?"

"More like stomping…" Han muttered.

While Zekk and Han argued about recent events, Barv and Leia were trying to get specifics from Allana. "Allana, we can't help you if you don't tell us why the barebels need help." Leia remarked.

"Because they'll be in danger! My vision showed me!"

"In danger, how? What exactly are the Sith going to do?" Leia asked.

Tears began forming in Allana's eyes. "I can't tell you! I'd be breaking a promise I made to them!" Barv wanted to help, but wasn't sure if Allana would want him also betraying the barabels' trust.

Leia caressed her granddaughter's cheek. "Well it's either break a promise, or we'll be unable to warn them."

Allana's eyes shot up. "You're making me choose?" She cried.

Leia shook her head. "Not me. The Sith."

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Allana ultimately relented. "There's a barabel nest in the underlevels."

"Yeah, we know." Leia remarked.

"What?! How?!"

"We've suspected that there's been one for quite some time now. The barabels had been going on multiple missions on occasion with no briefings." Leia turned to Han. "Get those doors open." She called.

Han relayed the request to R2-D2. R2's interface arm turned slightly, then a message appeared on the adjacent screen. THERE IS ALREADY AN EMERGENCY REQUEST TO OPEN THE DOORS.


As Vestara kept running, she felt the floor disappear from underneath her! She inhaled deeply to keep from screaming, and curled herself into a ball. She rolled to the ground, and lied sprawled out. Her eyes darted to the opening. She heard the clatter of boots hitting the duracrete. She didn't make a single sound. She heard the clatter pass, and finally got up.

Knowing that the Sith would find out where she actually was sooner or later, Vestara struggled to her feet. Her breaths were short, rapid, and shallow. Her heart was pounding. Her legs and chest burned badly. It hurt to walk, let alone stand.

The comlink she took from the deceased knight was beeping more frequently. I must be getting close. She thought.

She continued hobbling further down the corridor. Her steps were slow and deliberate. If she tripped, she'd alert her pursuers. She began noticing more yorik coral, and recently, fungi from Abeloth's planet were showing up. She saw cocoons with half dissolved slashrats in them. She nearly gagged at the sight.

After a while longer of going through the corridors, she heard boots hitting the ground in the distance. Her heart immediately jump started. It was now only a matter of time until she died. Upon realization of that, Vestara began to quietly sob. She leaned her back against the wall, then slid down. She brought her knees close to her chest, and buried her head into her thighs. I don't wanna die. She thought.

She didn't want Ben to live with the guilt of being unable to save her. But the Sith had other plans.

"Awaiting password." A voice from the comlink said.

Vestara looked up, and saw a depression in the wall. The evacuation tunnel! She thought. There was hope yet. She recited the code, and the computer accepted it. Seconds went by, and the clatter of boots drew closer. Vestara's panic grew. "What's going on? Why isn't the door opening?" She asked, "It's an emergency."

"Emergency request accepted. Doors will open at the soonest possible time."

"Open them now."

"That would require admin override."

Vestara realized that it would be futile to simply guess an override command. "Just open them as soon as possible." She begged.

"Of course. That is the nature of an emergency request."

She didn't want to use her stolen lightsaber to carve a hole as the Sith would definitely know she was there, and there'd be no place to hide. The clatter grew closer, and Vestara's heart rate accelerated. Her breathing sped up too. She shut her eyes, awaiting the heated pains of blaster bolts and lightsaber blades. A tear left her eye, traveled down her cheek, and hit the ground.

"Opening doors." The computerized voice announced.