Carth returned to the abandoned apartment that night with a box of take out food Zelka had generously procured for him and Venar. He was grateful, especially since they were technically fugitives and didn't have any credits. Carth quickly punched in the code to the door of their apartment he had sliced into and programmed when they had first arrived.

The door slid open with a hydraulic hiss and he stepped inside, the door automatically resealing behind him. The lights activated and he set the container of food down on the table next to the door. As he looked up he was shocked to see a Sith trooper sitting casually on the old metal couch in the corner of the room. Carth instinctively drew his blaster and aimed.

"Woah! Woah! Easy there killer!" the Sith trooper called out through muffled static of his helmet. Venar ran a hand through his hair as he took off the helmet and set it next to him on the couch. "You wouldn't believe how hot these things can be!"

"I could've killed you!" Carth shouted.

"Hey! Take it easy Sargent Rancorface," he shot back sarcastically," I'll have you know I'm not so easily killed."

"Yeah well if you don't start taking this mission more seriously you are going to end up dead soldier!" Carth shouted angrily, "while your off partying with the enemy and playing dress up I'm trying to find a way off this blasted planet and save this mess of a galaxy"

"Hey Carth-"

"What?!"

"Remember how you said only Sith troopers could get into the lower city..."

The realization struck Carth suddenly, jolting him out of his frustration, "You did it! You blasted did it! You're a genius!"

"Can I get that in writing?"

"How did you pull it off? How did you-"

"I noticed the girl in the cantina checking me out as soon as we walked in," Venar explained, "I also noticed the Imperial insignia on her dog tags. So I sat at the bar and sure enough she sat down. I knew if I played my cards right she could be useful. I wasn't sure how, but it looks like we rolled right on the high chance cubes this time."

"She just gave you the armor?"

"What? No of course not. I got her and her friends drunker than a womp rat bathing in jomba juice. Then I stole it."

"You stole a Sith's armor?!"

"Relax she's just a low level trooper she's not one of those freaky Dark Jedi wackos. Although now that you mention it... I bet those Sithy robes would look good on me."

"You better hope we don't run into any Dark Jedi while we're here. They say Dark Jedi interrogation techniques are especially brutal. I've heard the Force can do terrible things to a mind. It can destroy your will and wipe away your very identity."

"You're squadron must have loved your constant sunny disposition," Venar said sarcastically.

"Yeah well you haven't seen what I've seen."

"Story time?" Venar said as he poured himself and Carth a glass of Tarisian ale he had also stolen from the party. Carth passed Venar a bantha burger as he sat down and took a sip of his drink.

"Oh no you're not going get me to talk that easy," Carth said before taking a bite of his burger.

"Well I just figured that if we're going to be working together we might as well get to know each other."

"No offense," Carth said," but I'm not exactly comfortable telling my story to someone I just met."

"Ah so you have trust issues."

"Look, I don't need a shrink," Carth said, "and well I'm not trying to be rude but call me cautious. Come to think of it, it is a little strange you happen to be here isn't it?"

"What do you mean?" Venar asked not liking the change in Carth's tone.

"Well why is it," Carth began," that a raw recruit like yourself, with no formal military training, requested aboard last minute by Bastila herself, just happens to be the only survivor from the Endar Spire?"

"First off," Venar replied, "I had no idea the Jedi requested me aboard. Secondly, while I have no military training I've been in more of my share of skirmishes in the Outer Rim. Thirdly, probably not a good idea to start accusing the only other person on this planet who is out to help you."

"Look, I didn't mean anything by it I'm just trying to- you know what never mind," Carth said frustrated," you're pretty tenacious you know that?"

"So I've been told."

"Alright I guess there's no harm in telling you my story," Carth said before taking a deep breath. "I was born on a world called Telos Four, I had a wife, Morgana, and a son, Dustil. Years ago I fought in the Mandalorian Wars alongside Revan and Alek, when they were still Jedi. Well I served under them anyways, never met them personally. In the war, I served under the Admiral Saul Karath, he was my mentor. Almost like a father to me."

"That name sounds familiar," Venar interjected.

"Well it should," Carth said grimly," he's now the Grand Admiral for Darth Malak's Sith Armada. But anyways, we fought hard and bravely during the Mandalorian Wars. We did what we had to do. I fought to protect my family from warriors whose only goal was to experience the 'glory of war'.

When the Republic finally won, thanks mostly to Revan's tactical genius, I left the Republic Navy and returned home to be with my wife and son."

"What happened?" Venar asked, downing his glass of ale.

"One day Admiral Karath contacted me, he wanted to recruit me for some expedition Revan and Alek were leading into the unknown regions. I refused, deciding to stay with my family. I didn't see the point in staying in the navy since the war was over.

Everything was good for awhile, never heard from Karath again, and according to what I've been told, the Jedi Council lost contact with Revan and Alek. Until a few years later, they returned with the largest battle fleet the galaxy has ever seen. They started conquering world after world, and declared themselves Sith Lords, Darth Revan, and Darth Malak."

"So what about your wife and your son?"

"One day we walked outside, we looked up, and we saw the Sith fleet in orbit over our planet. My former mentor, Admiral Karath lead the assault. Me and some other local pilots tried to defend our homes from the air but the Sith bombed the planet into submission. We were forced to surrender. When I returned home... there was only a crater where my home had stood... my wife... my son... gone..."

"I'm... I'm sorry Carth..."

"We were betrayed by our own heroes! The Jedi preach that Revan and Malak they were seduced by the Dark Side but what about the men and women who joined them?! They don't have the Force! There's no Dark Side to be seduced by! Those men, like my mentor, deserve to die for what they did! They betrayed the Republic! They betrayed their friends and their families! And now we're in another blasted war and the enemy is winning! So now I hope you can understand why I don't trust anyone. Not even myself."

"I get it," Venar began, "maybe not fully but I get where you're coming from. It wasn't your fault though. You couldn't have predicted what happened. No one could. I won't betray you Carth, I mean I may get on your nerves, but I won't betray you."

"Well we'll see about that won't we?" Carth wiped a tear from his eye. "I'm sorry I didn't mean that. Let's just... focus on the mission."

"So I take it you weren't able to meet with those scavengers since the lower city is closed," Venar said changing the subject.

"No and they're not exactly... welcome in the upper city either... the upper city citizens seem to have a... bias towards other species," Carth said, "we'll have to try to find them tomorrow once we bypass the Sith guards."

"Well then we better get some shut eye," Venar said.

The next day Venar and Carth made their way through the streets to the elevator that descended to the Lower City. Venar, dressed in the Sith armor, couldn't help but notice how most of the civilians avoided looking his direction or moved aside as they walked past. If there was one thing the Sith were good at, it was instilling fear. He cradled the blaster rifle in his hand and readied his trigger finger as they approached the elevator. Standing at the door to the lift was a single Sith trooper.

"Hold up," the trooper said through his helmet, "where is this man going?" He motioned to Carth.

"I have orders to escort him to the Undercity," Venar responded through his own helmet, "he's one of the trackers we hired to search for the Jedi."

"Very well," the trooper responded, "just make sure you have your authorization papers ready at the Undercity elevator."

"Yes sir." Venar and Carth stepped into the elevator and they sighed in relief as they were brought several hundred stories down deeper into the depths of Taris' massive metropolis. Venar couldn't help but be in awe by the scale of the city. It seems they were going down for what seemed like an eternity. This planet must surely rival the scope of Coruscant. The further down they went, though, the darker and dirtier things got.

"Do you have much experience in places like this?" Carth asked suddenly.

"I am a smuggler after all," Venar replied, "never quite been to a place like this though. Be ready for anything."

Once the elevator stopped, they wandered out into a dark deserted street, dimly lit by flickering street glow lamps. Trash and debris littered the streets, abandoned rusted swoop bikes and speeders, carbon scoring on the walls.

"Lower city certainly has seen better days," Carth said. Venar ducked into a deserted alleyway and began stripping off the Sith armor. He hid it neatly behind a dumpster under a worn piece of tarp. He brushed off his trousers and jacket he had been wearing underneath and stepped back into the alley.

"Alright where we supposed to meet your scavenger friends?" Venar asked.

"Place called Javyaar's Cantina," Carth said. They began walking at a brisk pace through the dense jungle of metal. Occasionally, they could hear blaster fire in the distance which reminded them of the current gang war going on.

A few blocks away they came to Javyaar's Cantina. A nimble seedy looking Rodian stood outside brandishing a stun baton. As they approached, he muttered something at them in his native tongue. Venar nodded in respect and then entered the cantina.

"What did he say?" Carth asked as they entered.

"He said, 'attitudes and blasters stay at the door,'" Venar responded.

The cantina was crowded with patrons, loud music playing in a room far off to the left with several scantily clad twi'leks dancing suggestively onstage, a gambler's den at the far back of the club, and a bounty hunter's lodge to the far right. The center room was made up of one large circular bar, filled with various different types of species from all over the galaxy.

"So what does your friend look like?" Venar asked.

"That would be her right over there actually," Carth gestured to small blue-skinned twi'lek girl who looked to be no more than twelve or thirteen years old.

"Her???" Venar asked in disbelief, "a child?"

"Keep an open mind, she knows these streets better than anyone," Carth responded, "or so I've been told."

At the moment she was wandering frantically about the bar trying to get the attention of anyone who would listen. She seemed rather upset about something.

"What's she doing?" Venar asked.

" Let's go find out," Carth said as they made their way through the club over to the twi'lek girl. "Mission! Mission!" Carth called to her as they got closer. She turned her head at hearing her name and ran over to them. She had the look of a street rat, wearing a dark gray vest and slim black pants and boots. Black straps adorned her long blue lekku.

"Carth!" The girl said," you have to help me! No one else will help me! I helped you so you have to help me!"

"Woah, slow down Mission," Carth said, "what happened?"

"They took him! They took Zaalbar!" she cried loudly.

"Who took him?" Venar asked impatiently. He never did get along well with kids.

"The Gamorrean slavers! We- we were out in the Undercity just exploring, you know, and they came out of nowhere! They're going to sell him!"

"Who is Zaalbar?" Venar asked.

"Her wookie friend," Carth explained, "if we help you find him Mission, you said you knew how to find our friend Bastila?"

"Well I don't know how to find her," she replied, "but I know someone who might."

"Good enough," Venar said, "let's get out of here. This is... no place for a kid." Just as he said that, a bounty hunter walked through, towing behind him a man, who was clearly from the Upper City, in shackles and chains.

"Hey I'm not some snot-nosed punk, chuba face!" Mission shot back at him, "I've probably seen more action down here in the Lower City than you ever will in your lifetime!"

Venar instantly backed up and threw his hands up, "woah easy there, didn't mean anything by it."

"Well let's go then!" Mission said as she hurried out of the cantina.

"Looks like you met your match," Carth said to Venar as they walked out. Venar just frowned in mock annoyance and then followed Carth out of the cantina.

Mission led them further down the streets of the lower city. As they went along, they noticed more and more blaster scoring on the walls. Carth couldn't help but notice the small charred craters in the streets that were most certainly from grenades of some type. He had certainly learned to recognize a war zone when he saw one. This was still out of his comfort zone. He was used to fighting either from the cockpit of his fighter or blasting enemies from afar on an open battlefield. This was neither.

As he looked at his surroundings, he felt more like he was walking through a very large hallway more so than a city street. The lower levels didn't get much natural sunlight, only self-sufficient artificial street lamps lit their path. Other than the noise of air traffic from the higher levels, the street was quiet and no one else was around.

"Wait," Venar said suddenly and came to an abrupt stop.

"What is it?" Carth asked.

"We're being watched," Venar explained in a hushed voice, "we have been for the past two blocks."

As if to prove his point, several figures suddenly emerged from the alleyways and broken windows of the shops from both sides. They were quick, brandishing blaster rifles and vibroswords. Three of them were human, the other three were alien, led by a purple-skinned twi'lek woman with a scar on her upper lip.

"Stop right there!" she called in a harsh authoritative voice. "This is Hidden Bek territory, state your business!"

"We uh-" Venar started

"Really Dierdra?" Mission interrupted. "I'm practically a Hidden Bek already you might as well make it official."

"Take that up with Gadon," Dierdra responded, "I don't have a problem with you, but I don't know these two. How do I know they're not with the Black Vulkars?"

"Because if they were, I would've shot them myself," Mission said retrieving a hidden blaster pistol from under her vest and giving it a twirl.

"Well I don't know them," Dierdra responded.

"Enough Dierdra!" a deep voice called out from behind her. A bald dark-skinned man in a brown jumpsuit with metallic armor plating emerged from a doorway and walked up behind Dierdra and the rest of her men. His eyes were glazed over and his gazed always seemed fixed at some unknown point in the distance. "The Hidden Beks have always had an open door policy to outsiders and I'm not about to stop that now."

"Gadon, there's a war going on, we can't take any risks," Dierdra replied, "if the Black Vulkars or the Sith-"

"They're clearly not Black Vulkars or Sith-" the man said.

"They could be spies, Gadon!"

"Brejik isn't smart enough, and the Sith rely on brute force. If they wanted to drive us out of the lower city they'd have a battalion not send two spies. No, I believe these two off-worlders have their own agenda, and I'm interested to see where it leads."

"Fine," Dierdra said then lowered her weapon and motioned for her men to secure a perimeter.

"Excuse my security chief," Gadon said, "she's been a little over-zealous since this war broke out and since I lost my sight in a swoop bike accident. How can I help you?"

"Gadon, these were the two I helped escape the undercity from the crash," Mission said.

"Ah Mission, always good to hear your voice," Gadon spoke in a calm and soothing voice, "follow me to my office, where we can talk more freely." He turned around and walked back to the doorway he had emerged from.

As they started to follow, Venar whispered to Carth, "how does he know where he's go-" Carth hit him sharply in the shoulder, giving him a look to remain quiet. Venar grabbed his arm and mouthed the word "ow" to Carth.

Gadon brought them into what appeared to be an old office building of some kind. Now, barricades and defenses had been erected in the lobby. Hidden Bek gang members armed with blasters and vibroswords stood guard. The gang's insignia was scrawled over the walls in several places.

"Welcome to the base of the Hidden Bek swoop bike gang," Gadon said as they left the main lobby and walked down a long corridor that took them into the heart of the building. They walked into a large open lounge area, filled with members of the gang engaged in various leisurely activities. There were a dozen men and women of various species huddled around a pazaak table, another group around the dejarik board, and yet another watching holos of swoop bike races.

As they made their way across the room, Venar noticed several odd characteristics about the base. In stark contrast to the cantina and other gang hideouts he'd seen, this one resembled more of a military base than a gang stronghold. The way the other gang members carried themselves, the way they had been ambushed, the high grade munitions he noticed stockpiled in one of the rooms they had passed on their way here.

The gang leader lead them over to an unoccupied area of the lounge to a few couches towards the back of the room. "Please, make yourselves at home," Gadon said and Venar, Carth, and Mission took a seat on one of the sofas. Gadon sat down on the couch opposite of them before saying, "I believe we have not formally introduced ourselves. I am Gadon Thek, leader of the Hidden Bek gang."

"Carth Onasi, Republic soldier," Carth said, "are you the one Mission said might be able to help us?"

"Depends," Gadon said, "on how brave you are."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Venar asked suddenly.

"Ah, and who might you be?" Gadon asked, his head turning towards Venar's general direction.

"I'm Gorbo the Hutt," Venar replied, "forgive me for sounding skeptical but you don't seem like a typical swoop gang to me. What is it you're really up to?"