The sewers seemed to get darker, filthier, and more run-down the further they progressed through the intricate maze of tunnels. Mission navigated them with ease, even stopping occasionally to check caches she'd hidden throughout in explorations with Zaalbar. Exploring the sewers was dangerous business, even with a wookie at your side.

"You know," Mission said as they walked along, "Tarisian legends say the rakghouls were created by some mad Sith Lord hundreds of years ago who had a secret lab down here. I don't believe it, but that's probably why everyone on the planet is uneasy about the Sith being here."

"That and the fact the Sith have completely blockaded the planet," Carth added, "doesn't exactly help their image they keep everyone confined here. Not that they worry about their image, I suppose."

"Well yeah, of course," Mission said, "but I think Tarisians are even more wary of the Sith since they think every time the Sith come here something very bad happens."

"Can't blame them, "Carth said, "anywhere the Sith go something bad happens."

"Anywhere there's guys with lightsabers trouble always follows," Mission replied matter-of-factly, "even the Jedi."

"Why do you say that?" Carth asked suddenly defensive, "without the Jedi, the Sith would've taken over the galaxy long ago."

"Didn't the Jedi create the Sith?"

"Well, no, um not exactly," Carth stammered, "the Jedi are peacekeepers. They fight the Sith to protect the rest of us."

"Mmmhmm," Mission said rolling her eyes, "wasn't Revan a Jedi?"

"Well, yeah," Carth replied.

"And aren't these the same Sith forces that once answered to Revan? Not to mention wasn't Malak a Jedi too?"

"Yes and yes," Venar interjected suddenly, "at least to my understanding. What's the matter Carth? Twi'lek got your tongue?"

"Wait so you'd actually rather the Jedi stay out of it?" Carth asked bewildered.

"No," Mission said, "I'm just saying, the way I see it, if the Jedi weren't so strict maybe the Sith would've never existed. I mean, I'm glad the Jedi are trying to protect us, don't get me wrong, but as far as I see it, they share the blame for all the war in the galaxy."

"I don't think you understand galactic history," Carth said, "wait- you know what? No, why am I arguing galactic ideals with a kid?"

"Yeah, well this kid is your only guide through this maze," Mission shot back, "so unless you'd rather-"

"Shhhhhhh!!!!!" Venar suddenly hissed at them, holding up a hand for everyone to stop. "Listen," he whispered. For a moment, everyone stopped and stared down the dark tunnel ahead of them. They could hear faint clicking and scraping noised echoing from somewhere deeper in the tunnel.

"Rakghouls," Mission said. Zaalbar let out a low whimper as he readied his bowcaster. "They're still far off," she continued, "but we need to hurry. Let me see the coordinates for the beacon."

"Here," Carth said handing her his datapad. She looked at the screen at the blinking red dot in relation to their position, which was relatively close.

"We're almost there," Mission confirmed, "It seems the swoop bike has been parked for awhile. It just a few intersections down."

The group followed Mission at a brisk pace through the damp dingy hallways, alert with weapons at the ready. It was becoming unbearably warm down here, Venar thought, sweat dripping down his forehead. All of this for one Jedi? She better be damn worth it.

The sounds of the rakghouls were getting closer and they were all beginning to wonder if the rakghouls could sense where they were or had they been hunting them the whole time? As they ran, Venar took note of Zaalbar's enormous size, his fur flying wildly as the wind whipped past. He was glad they had a wookie with them down here.

"This is it," Mission said as they came to the end of the tunnel, which opened up into a larger circular room with an open ceiling that allowed them to look up at the city above them. The area was dark and a foul stench licked the air, stronger than it had been in the tunnels, and with a tinge of death. Venar activated a glow lamp built in to one of his blasters. It illuminated a small area in front of him. Just a few meters in front of him he spotted the speeder. There was no rider in sight, and he noticed claw marks along the sides of the vehicle.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Carth said as they surveyed the area.

"Grrrawwwh!" Zaalbar bellowed, which translated to: 'there's another speeder over here'. Sure enough, a second speeder, engine still running, hovered just a short distance from the first one. Carth went over to check it out while Venar and Mission approached the first speeder.

Upon closer inspection, Venar noticed the speeder had what appeared to be some sort of advanced mechanism attached to the engine with glowing blue lights on it. "This looks like the swoop Gadon sent us for," Venar called to Carth.

"Where's the riders though?" Carth said, an uneasy tone creeping into his voice, "something's not right here!"

Just then, Venar heard a noise somewhere in front of him. Shining his light, he saw a weequay man hunched over, struggling to stand. Blood was dripping from his eye sockets and his clothes were torn and bloodied. His skin looked like it was beginning to peel and pale in places.

"No! Get away!" the weequay called, "get out of here!" Suddenly, his body contorted and he began to vomit up blood as his eyes turned red and as he screamed, sharp serrated teeth came into view. Then, in the dark, hundreds of red eyes began glowing in the shadows.

"Oh this is not good," Venar said, as him and Mission hurriedly jumped onto the swoop bike. Carth and Zaalbar wasted no time either, quickly mounting their bike. A thundering thud shook the earth beneath them as the lights of the bikes illuminated a large creature rising from a pile a scrap and metal.

With a bellowing roar, the rancor made his presence known. It brought its mighty pale white hands down into fists and struck the ground with powerful force. It began bounding towards Venar and Mission as he hit the accelerator. A gaping maw snapped at them, as they zoomed past, dried blood around its jowls and eyes, weird contusions all over the monster's body.

The speeder bikes zoomed back into the tunnel they had just come from as hundreds of rakghouls poured out from scrap piles and crevices and pursued them. Carth held on tight to Zaalbar and aimed his blaster back at the horde of rakghouls. At the head of the pack, was the weequay man, down on all fours, barreling after them. His face and body now more contorted than before, saliva and blood oozing out the sides of his mouth, he was now almost fully transformed. Carth could see there was still a little humanity left in the man, though, and with careful aim, placed a blaster shot between his eyes.

About thirty minutes later, they arrived back at the Hidden Bek base. Gadon had prepared a room for them to stay in and rest up after their ordeal. After a hot meal, and some time in the refresher, Venar felt a little rejuvenated, though found it hard to get rid of the stink from the sewers. Zaalbar had gone off to the mess hall to fill his stomach with more of whatever the gang had to offer. Mission was fast asleep in one of the bunks, and Carth just stared out the window of their room.

Venar walked up next to Carth and gazed out at the other buildings and towers that seemed to go up forever. And down for that matter. That was the odd illusion of the lower city. It wasn't quite near enough the bottom to be able to see the planet floor, and not towards the top enough to be able to get a good view of the sky.

"Gadon offered me one of the gang's spots in the race tomorrow," Venar said, "unless you'd rather take it."

"No that's fine, you should do it," Carth said, "good work out there today soldier."

"Yeah, well, thanks."

"You know," Carth started, "what you said earlier. About the Jedi. I don't necessarily trust the Jedi Council either, you know. During the Mandalorian War, the Council refused to get involved, leaving the Republic to fight the war alone while countless planets were massacred by the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders. They just stood by while good men fought a died in battle after battle."

"I thought the Jedi did fight against the Mandalorians."

"Not right away," Carth explained, "truth is, the Republic wasn't prepared for the war. The Mandalorians are trained as warriors from birth, their whole culture revolves around war and conquest. Its barbaric. But there was one Jedi who dared defy the Council, Revan. He rallied other Jedi who wanted to step in and fight and protect the Republic. Malak, from what I heard was his best friend, and together they lead another faction of Jedi that broke away from the Order and fought alongside us. They were heroes to all of us."

"You knew them? Revan and Malak?"

"Not personally, no," Carth said, "though I did fight in many battles with them. Revan was declared the Jedi Commander of the entire Republic army and if it weren't for him we would have lost that war. He used unlikely and bold strategies that took the Mandalorians by surprise. I only saw him a few times but he was inspiring to watch."

"What was he like?"

"Bold, charismatic, but also kind and lighthearted when he needed to be. To many he was more than a man, in fact very few people ever saw his face. He always wore a Mandalorian mask he had acquired from a Mandalorian woman who had sacrificed herself and betrayed her own people to save his life. Some say he wore the mask to hide hideous scars, others say he wore it as a symbol to rally behind. He saved the Republic."

"I know a little bit about him. Him and Malak were declared heroes of the Republic. What happened to them though. I know they turned on the Republic but why?"

"None of us know why," Carth said sadly, "One day they were our heroes, then the next thing we know they've declared themselves Sith. Before they turned to the dark side, Revan and Malak they lead an expedition into the Unknown Regions of space. They disappeared from the galaxy for several years, everyone thought they had died. Then one day they rolled back into Republic space with an armada the size of which the galaxy has never seen before, they start bombing Republic worlds, and Revan declares himself Dark Lord of the Sith. Something happened to them out there. We were still licking our wounds from the last war and they came and kicked us while we were down. And many Jedi, and soldier joined them. They're all traitors and they all deserve to die. My wife, my son, killed by heroes and soldiers I once served with."

"Sometimes I wonder what its like to care as much as you do about everything," Venar said, "I never knew my parents, I never had any other family and all my partners never stuck around long, or weren't trustworthy. Smuggling was all I was ever any good at. Its odd but sometimes I envy the people who risk everything to fight for what they believe in or for the people they love. I've only ever looked out for myself which is rather... lonely. Maybe that's partly why I joined on with the Republic, a chance to live a life of meaning and not one so... empty."

"I'm starting to think maybe its better to be alone," Carth said a little bitterly, "people always let you down anyways. You can't trust anyone."

"You know there was a time I would've agreed with you," Venar said turning to go, "but I probably wouldn't be alive if I hadn't trusted you."