The ship lurched, pitching Rain forward. Her eyes snapped open in alarm and she threw out her arms to catch herself.

I fell asleep?!

She climbed to her feet, stumbling as the ship rocked a second time.

What is going on?!

Fighting to keep her balance, she pushed forward, heading for the bridge. As she reached the well, she heard Bane's voice.

"You're coming in too fast, Hardeen! Are you trying to kill us?"

"They'll be waiting for us in every spaceport," Hardeen explained, "We have to ditch the ship."

There was a loud thud as Rain started to climb the ladder and she had to hold on tight to keep from losing her grip.

"You mean you're going to intentionally crash us into the swamp?" Bane demanded.

"Yeah, that is exactly what I'm going to do."

"He's right," Eval interjected, "We have no choice."

"Get ready for a fast exit," Hardeen warned.

"Do I have a say in the matter?" Rain asked.

All three pairs of eyes turned in her direction.

"Miss Callyn, you are quite a persistent one!" Eval exclaimed, his shock evident.

"You weren't supposed to be here!" Bane snapped.

"I have a question," Rain said, ignoring their comments, "In the event of a collision, would it be safer to head to the back or the front of the ship? Because if the back is safer then I'll just go back to hiding."

"Wait a minute," Bane said, getting up from his chair, "How long have you been standing there listening? What did you overhear?"

"Nothing except that we're crashing. I spent the entire time asleep in the back cargo module. Maybe you should have thought to check the ship you were using."

"You were told to stay on Coruscant," Bane insisted, his blood red eyes narrowing.

Rain gave a cunning smile, "Just think of it this way: we were lucky enough to meet again." The ship jerked suddenly and Bane was thrown back into his seat. Rain grabbed onto the backrest before she could go flying. "That is, before we all die," she added.

The swamp raced up at them. Something struck them on their portside and Rain gripped the seat tighter, watching white-faced as the nose of the ship abruptly dived.

We're going to die. We're going to die. We're going to die.

As gravity disappeared, Rain used the seat to swing herself around onto Bane's lap. Abandoning any reserve she had, she threw her arms around him, clinging to him for dear life. The ship somersaulted, digging into the surface before flipping over a second time. Rain felt Bane slip and her hand shot out, catching hold of the armrest and stopping their fall. The ship finally came to rest on its starboard side, and Rain found herself dangling half-off the seat with one leg hooked around the left armrest and one arm wrapped tightly around Bane's waist. Hastily releasing her hold, she let herself drop onto the viewport. Everyone seemed alright, but the swamp was quickly flooding the ship. The four of them formed a single file line and found their way onto the top of the sinking ship with Hardeen leading them.

"Nobody can trace us here," Hardeen said confidently, "The swamp will swallow up the ship."

"So we leave no trace of our crash," Eval concluded, dusting himself off as he spoke, "Moralo Eval likes a man who plans ahead. You do have a plan?"

"Yeah. I know Nal Hutta," Hardeen replied, "We can get a new ship at Bilbousa Bazaar. But this time we buy one. Otherwise, we'll have the authorities back on our tail."

"Not so fast," Bane cut in, "We need to decide what to do with the little lady. We don't know what she might know."

Eval frowned, "Killing a lady is a distasteful job."

Rain's brow furrowed, "Um, I'm standing right here."

"We could always let her go down with the ship," Bane suggested.

"Look," Rain said, biting down her irritation, "Don't you think if I had overheard your plans, I would be using it as leverage?"

"You could have other plans for that information."

"I'm not a spy if that's what you're thinking."

"I would believe you, if only for the reason that you've done such a poor job of giving yourself a solid cover to fool us with, and no spy would be so sloppy," Bane said disparagingly.

Thanks a lot, you paranoid creep.

"Then what's the problem with bringing me along?" Rain demanded.

"I don't believe in being too careful."

Rain glanced back and forth between the two bounty hunters and their employer, feeling at a loss for words. Finally she threw up her hands in defeat.

"Fine," she said, "You want to be that way, go ahead." She started to back away slowly. "I'm just going to walk away—"

"You're going the wrong way," Hardeen spoke up.

Rain stopped in her tracks.

"I'm going the wrong way," she muttered to herself, "I've never been on Nal Hutta."

Which means I can't walk two feet without getting lost. Which means I'm helpless. Great. I guess I could always threaten them into taking me along since I'm armed and they're not, but it strikes me as a bad idea to make enemies of fellow Separatists. Well, I feel like an idiot now.

"Come on, why don't we bring her along?" Hardeen asked, "If it comes down to it, there's three of us and one of her."

What do you think I am, a novice?!

"I'm not opposed to having some extra hands," Eval said, "What do you say, Bane?"

Rain turned to face Cad and he considered her for a moment before giving his answer, "Fine. What's one more complication?" He made to leave, then paused. "One last thing. We need to ditch these prison fatigues. We'll have a bounty on our heads for escaping. And I don't like to stand out."

Way ahead of you on that one.

They set off, Rain contemplating her new situation as she trekked along.

I need to stay wary of these people. Hardeen suggested they bring me along instead of killing me, but what would he have to gain from that? Eval wanted me in the group from the beginning so I don't think I have to worry about him so much. But Bane...well, Bane couldn't get any more confusing. One minute he acts like he'd love to have me around and the next he makes it sound like he can't wait to get rid of me. On the one hand, I can understand that he doesn't trust me. But on the other...

An image of Bane running his fingers through her long hair flashed before her mind's eye.

I thought he was mocking me but now I'm not so sure.

Rain could've sworn she'd recognized the look in his eyes as the same one that she had seen countless times on the faces of those who frequented the bars on Trandosha. The only difference was that those looks hadn't bothered her. They'd been a necessary discomfort, and she'd grown used to them over time. But this was...different.

"You never answered my question."

Rain started, glancing up quickly to see Bane keeping step with her.

Speak of the devil.

"What question?"

"Where have we met?"

I was really hoping he wouldn't bring it up again.

"In a mess hall in the Republic detention center," Rain answered, "Did you forget?"

Bane gave her a knowing smile, "You're not a very good liar, sweetie."

Rain stomach twisted and she wondered if her fear was plain on her face. She pursed her lips.

Get it together, Rain!

"I'm not lying," she said, meeting Bane's eye, "You have me confused with someone else."

Cad looked away and a long silence followed. Rain felt suddenly awkward, casting frequent sidelong glances at the bounty hunter as they walked.

"Was it business or personal between us?"

He's not going to stop, is he?

"Did you even listen to what I just said?" Rain said irritably, "We don't know each other. End of story."

"I can't help but wonder what's so significant about your first name," Bane persisted, "Afraid someone here might recognize it?"

That's too close to home for my comfort. Maybe it's time to turn the tables.

"Am I not allowed to keep secrets?" Rain demanded, "You seem to have no problem keeping secrets from me, such as what it is the three of you are up to. Where are you headed?"

Bane chuckled, "Is that your attempt to be sly?"

"Hmm. Fine. If you won't answer my questions, maybe Eval will. Or Hardeen."

Cad's smug expression vanished.

Bingo.

"It sucks not being able to trust anyone around you, doesn't it?" Rain asked, a wily smile creeping across her face, "Tell you what, how about we be friends? I figure since I'm seemingly your first pick in everything—first pick in conversationalist, first pick in being the person to ditch—that I'd be your first pick as friend too."

"Friend isn't the word I'd use."

So what IS the word you'd use?

"What is your problem with Hardeen?" Rain asked, changing the subject.

"Something smells off about him."

"You mean much like it does with me?"

"I suppose you could look at it that way."

"Well, I assumed since he escaped with you that he was an official part of your group. Guess not. I suppose it would be better to have two pairs of eyes on him instead of one, right? Allow me to investigate."

Any excuse to get away from you will suit me just fine, thank you very much.

Rain broke away from Bane, lengthening her stride to catch up with Hardeen in the lead.

That did not go well at all, she thought uneasily, It's like I'm transparent! Bane'll probably figure out who I am LONG before we can get out of here. Though, looking on the bright side of things, there does seem to be ONE advantage I can use. There's obvious distrust between Bane and Hardeen so if I can find a way to play one against the other, maybe it can serve as enough of a distraction to keep attention off of me.

"So you decided to join me," Hardeen observed as Rain fell in next to him, "Bane wearing you out already?"

"Actually, I had a question for you. Why is it you wanted me along?"

Hardeen smiled, "I couldn't let that thug toss you in the mud to drown. Eval said it himself: it's distasteful."

"Good to know chivalry isn't entirely dead," Rain said, flashing a smile of her own. "So you're the mighty Kenobi's killer?"

"Word seems to travel fast."

"I overheard it in the prison."

"I meant to ask you about that," Hardeen said suddenly, "How is it that you ended up tangling with us during the escape when you should have been in the female's section, and only the male's managed to break out? Not to mention you weren't even wearing prison garb."

"I'm a Sith assassin," Rain replied, "I was there on a covert operation. Though it's rather unfair if I may say so: I never got arrested but had to go to prison anyway. My target was arrested right before I reached him, so I had to improvise. It was my first mission and I was determined to see it through."

"Your first mission? So you're a new recruit," Rako surmised.

"Yep."

"And what is it you did before you decided to become an assassin?"

"I'm afraid my past is a rather delicate subject for me, and one I'd rather not discuss."

"Fair enough," Hardeen relented, "So why is it you sneaked onto our ship? You could have saved yourself a headache if you had just quit while you were ahead. Or is it money you're after?"

Rain sighed, "I suppose you could say curiosity killed the cat."

"You joined us just out of curiosity?" Rako laughed, "Well that was a mistake."

"Tell me about it." Rain ran her fingers through her hair. "So I heard Kenobi was killed with a sniper shot."

"Yep. It was a piece of cake."

"I must admit I never expected him to go out that way. I suppose with people like that, you just sort of expect them to go out in, you know, a blaze of glory so to speak, but never by a sniper shot. It's almost...disappointing."

Rain watched the bounty hunter's face carefully.

Did you feel a sense of pride when you shot him? Did you feel accomplished when you killed him from the safety of the shadows?

When she received no answer, she fell silent, her gaze dropping to her mud-splattered boots. She wondered what she would do when the time came for her to be faced with the choice of killing one of her former colleagues.

They're not colleagues anymore. They're enemies, and I should feel no remorse over the death of an enemy.

You shouldn't feel remorse over the death of a stranger either, the small voice in the back of her head challenged her, But you still do.

"Are you alright?"

Rain looked up to see Hardeen watching her. She hadn't even realized it but she'd been glaring fiercely. She gave herself a shake.

"Fine," she answered.

Focus on the task at hand.

Rain leaned in slightly toward Rako, lowering her voice conspiratorially, "You know, I get the impression Bane doesn't like you very much."

Hardeen cast a brief glance over his shoulder at the Duros.

"Really?" he queried, his voice dripping sarcasm.

"Now why would that be?"

Hardeen snorted, "He's afraid I'm after his money. And he's probably afraid you are too."

Rain shook her head, "What is it with you bounty hunters and your money?"

"It's right in the title, sweetie."

Rain frowned, "Don't call me that. I don't need you calling me that too."

Rako chuckled, "So Bane has been wearing you out. I won't push my luck then. But I'm curious as to why it's only your first name that's confidential. Are you sure you don't have any history with Bane?"

Rain gave a sly smile, "Maybe. Though don't tell him I said that. He's paranoid as it is."

Hardeen chuckled, "Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me."

I hope I'm making the right move.