13

"Slave quarters are this way, Davik's guests stay in this wing, now if we take this corridor…" Canderous punched in the security code for a set of sealed doors, and they slid open a second later. The hallway before them was empty, doors lined either side, but they were closed tight. He followed Canderous down several more unoccupied corridors, the Mandalorian taking great care to avoid Davik's surveillance and automated droid patrols. He had spent nearly three hours alone in the room the Exchange boss had provided for him, assembling and disassembling the blaster Canderous had lent him while the mercenary had disappeared. When he returned, he led him through back halls which were not as lavishly decorated as the ones Kang had shown him on the tour and anyone they came across had their head down and a heavy metal collar wrapped around their neck.

"Servant corridors, these halls are so they can travel through the villa unseen. Davik has many slaves, mostly alien, and doesn't like them to be seen by the guests. Lucky for us, these corridors are sparsely guarded and have minimal surveillance," Canderous explained as they ducked inside another sealed room. This one was very different from the others; it was dark, with sparse industrial lights hanging overhead, dimly illuminating the single metal table in the center and the numerous sharp instruments strung up on the walls.

The whirring of servomotors drew Avner's attention to the back, where a lone interrogation droid hovered beside an energy cell. Its single red ocular implant zeroed in on him. It extended its multiple arms, each one tipped with either a sharpened blade or electrical prod, and charged. Avner freed his pistol and fired one shot, the droid crashing to the ground, its ocular implant now a smoking hole.

"H-hey, Canderous, old buddy!" From within the energy cell, a young man, bruised and bloody, shakily got to his feet. Both of his eyes were nearly swollen shut, and his lower lip was busted open.

"Let's hope no one heard that," the Mandalorian grumbled as he kicked the smoking debris and completely ignored the imprisoned man. "Give me a minute to get this door open. The Hawk is just through here."

"You going after the Hawk? I can help, Canderous; please just give me a chance!"

"Who is this guy?" Avner asked while the mercenary typed in various passcodes on the terminal before them.

"Hudrow, Davik's former personal pilot."

"Former?"

"Idiot stole spice from Kang's personal lab, don't trust a thing he says. Ignore him," Canderous grunted.

Hudrow was pressed up against the energy cell's walls, and his face crumpled at Ordo's callous words. "It's not like that! I… I just… well…" He shook his head and quickly changed tactics. "You want the Ebon Hawk, right? Well, I can help you get it!"

Avner approached the cell and nodded for the other man to continue.

"The gravlocks aren't the only thing keeping the Hawk grounded. Davik uploaded several security passes that must be disabled before that ship can take off. I have the codes to bypass them, let me out, and they're all yours!"

He glanced back at Canderous, who had gotten the door open and now came to stand beside him. "Hudrow's a liar and a snake, but he may be right about those access codes. I wouldn't put it past Davik to add a second security measure outside the gravlocks."

"Let me out, and I'll give 'em to you. Please! You don't know what it's like here! Always waiting for that droid to hurt you, starving, thirsty, completely cut off from anyone else! It's enough to drive a man mad!" Hudrow's eyes were watering now; the man was clearly on the brink of a complete breakdown as he clasped his hands in front of his chest and knelt to beg.

Avner reached forward and thumbed the release switch and was immediately assaulted with the screams of hundreds of individual voices. Suddenly it was Davik's wrinkled hand engaging the gas chambers beneath the prisoner's feet, sending countless beings to their graves. He blinked once, and the screaming ceased. Davik… he may not be a Sith, but the man was a monster in his own right.

Hudrow scrambled from the deactivated cell and nearly hugged his legs. "Thank you! I owe you my life!"

"You owe me those codes," Avner reminded the other man sternly.

He nodded and stood, motioning for Avner's datapad, which he passed over. "I've uploaded them onto your pad. With them, you can activate the Hawk and get out of here – or ransom it back to Davik, or whatever, I don't care." He handed the datapad back and turned to leave. "I'm getting out of here before Kang figures out what you did."

Canderous clapped a hand on the smaller human's thin shoulder and squeezed hard. "If you breathe a word of this to anyone, Hudrow, or alert the guards, I will find you, and I will kill you."

Hudrow's face blanched, but he nodded furiously before practically running out of the room. Canderous sighed and shook his head. "Come on. Let's get out of here before that fool gets recaptured and has the chance to spill his guts."

The Ebon Hawk was even more impressive up close, with sleek curves seamlessly combining with the heavy armor into one beautiful, powerful machine. Canderous motioned him over to the first of the four gravlocks locked around the Hawk's landing gears. It would take both of them to disengage and maneuver the heavy locks away from the grounded ship. They worked quickly, but it still took time to pull the gravlocks free, and Avner's muscles in his arms and back were burning from exhaustion when they approached the last one. With two strong heaves, the last lock broke loose, and he and Canderous shared a look of triumph as they pushed it away.

"Ho…me….fr…ee…."

Suddenly, Canderous' words are slurring, and everything crawled forward at a fraction of the speed it should like time itself had nearly stopped. He couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't speak. He could feel the ground vibrating beneath his feet, the very air becoming superheated as if he had suddenly been thrown into a furnace. A cacophony of screams echoed around him, his skin felt like it was boiling, and the floor was practically shaking. It was as if the world itself was splitting in two! The shrieks were reaching their zenith now, and Avner could see the roofing beams high above their heads beginning to break apart. Canderous didn't see it, or maybe he couldn't, but he was about to be crushed. Avner blinked, and when he opened his eyes, he had his arms around Canderous and was tackling him to the ground. They slid a few meters across the floor. When they finally rolled to a stop, the screams ceased, and the heat that had been blazing beneath his skin vanished.

"Avner what the hell!" Canderous snapped as he stood, rubbing his shoulder and wincing a bit.

"I saw… I…" What did he just see? The screams, the heat, the shaking… it all felt so real, but there was no sign any of it had happened.

BANG!

The entire hanger shook violently, and a massive girder fell on the exact spot Canderous occupied just seconds before. More explosions followed, and flames burst across the roof, raining down more debris on the two men. It felt like the place was being bombarded by heavy ordnance, the very foundation itself splitting apart beneath their feet.

"Fuck! Get the hanger controls!"

Avner dashed across the room, hands flying across the control terminal and opening the bay doors. Flames were now licking up the walls, and smoke was building within the enclosed space. As the doors opened slowly, the true horror of their predicament came to a fever pitch. The outside world was just as chaotic as their hanger, fire, and ash reigning down from the sky while buildings crumbled. It felt as if the very core of the planet itself was breaking in two.

"Damn those Sith to the void! They'll destroy the whole planet! Get the ship rea – well, looks like we have a couple of thieves trying to take my ship!" Davik came charging through the doors on the far side of the hanger with Calo Nord close on his heels. They skidded to a halt, Davik's eyes narrowing as he took in both he and Canderous before his hand shot to his blaster. "Figured you could take my ship? That you could steal from Davik Kang! No one steals from me!"

"I'll take care of it, Davik," Calo said, stepping forward. His blasters were in his hands instantly, and he fired off a salvo of shots before Avner could even move. Canderous threw himself to the side and pulled his own blaster cannon free, taking aim at Davik. The old man was surprisingly spry, ducking beneath the Mandalorian's shots and sliding behind a stack of cargo crates. Avner rolled forward, strafing the hanger drawing Calo's attention away from Canderous and onto him. The bounty hunter scowled and fired several shots, and Avner weaved, trying desperately to stay ahead of the mercenary's serrated bolts. They passed within inches of his head, the heat making his skin prick uncomfortably. He returned fire when he could.

A shout carried over the continuous blasts diverting the Kiffar's attention for a split second. Davik was crumpled over on his side, his left leg completely gone, with only a blackened stump remaining where his knee should have been. Canderous was stalking through the fire towards him, a look of cold determination etched across his face. Blazing pain exploded across Avner's right shoulder, and his knees hit the ground hard. Shavit! He had lost track of the merc briefly, and now… he tried to move his injured arm, and agony spread to the tips of his fingers.

Calo had turned away from him, so sure that he was dealt with, and instead threw a thermal detonator at the Mandalorian a few meters away. It caught Canderous off guard, forcing the other man to roll to avoid the brunt of the blast, knocking his blaster cannon free from his grip. Calo prowled forward towards Davik; the Exchange boss was spitting curses and clutching at his ruined leg, misery written across his wrinkled visage.

"Finish it, Calo!" He spat and pointed one bloodied finger at the downed Mandalorian. Calo took aim, but the entirety of the roof was now caving in; massive beams were falling all around them, and Canderous was caught in the middle, unable to move. He was too far away; they were all too far away: Carth, Mission, Zaalbar, Bastila, Doc Forn, Gadon, hell, even Zaerdra; he was too far away to save them. He was too far away to save Trask, and something shattered within him. Avner could barely move, barely breathe through the smoke choking his lungs. Sweat and soot mixed on his forehead and streamed into his eyes, blurring his vision, and the pain from his wound rushed to his chest. It was all coalescing together again; the inferno raging within his heart was burning hotter than the chaos outside. It needed a release, or else he would implode. Avner let out a howl fueled by every iota of pain racing through his body and threw his arms wide, fingers outstretched fully.

And suddenly, it was not the explosions ripping apart the foundation of the hanger, but rather an invisible wall of energy that detonated from within the very core of his being, sending fiery debris, smoke, and twisted metal flying out in every direction away from him. Davik was immediately speared through the chest and eye, his body blown limply backward from his powerful blast, and Avner felt little sympathy for the man who had murdered hundreds for little more than profit. The massive girders falling around Canderous froze and suspended within the air mere feet from the mercenary's shocked face. Even Calo was too surprised to act. He had been thrown back against a pillar, and blood streamed from below his cap down the back of his neck. His goggles had been knocked off, and for the first time, Avner could see the bounty hunter's eyes, and they were mired in fear. He raised a shaky blaster at him but, at the last second, took aim at the still-stunned Canderous, not willing to risk a shot against an enraged beast. Avner curled his fingers inwards, the durable metal shrieking in protest as it was forcibly twisted in on itself and hurled at Calo. It buried him before he even had a chance to let out a scream.

Avner strode forward towards his companion and offered him a hand up. The inferno was all-encompassing now, but it did not devour him as it had threatened to before. No, his pain fed his fire, and his fire gave him strength. Strength unimaginable.

"We need to get off this Force-forsaken world before we're buried in its ruins," Canderous shouted above the noise. He kept his distance, eyeing him warily as if half expecting him to tear him in half at any second.

Avner shook his head. "Not without the others."

"Kid, they're dead! Look around you! The whole world's coming to an end!"

Avner's hands shot to Canderous' collar, and he dragged the other man forward off his feet, holding the large Mandalorian off the ground with no trouble. "Bastila's alive! I can feel it! And if she's still breathing, then the others are too!"

It was a tense stare-off between the two of them for a brief second before, finally, Canderous nodded, and Avner released his hold. They boarded the Ebon Hawk, Canderous taking one of the pilot's chairs while he punched in the security codes. The ship hummed to life and slipped from the crumbling hangar with ease. He took the copilot's seat and wrapped his hands around the controls, guiding the ship through the fiery hell erupting all around them. Buildings were collapsing under the constant barrage from massive orbital lasers, the very earth ablaze in a sea of fire. Avner could feel the pain, the absolute hysterical fear pulsing through the air as people ran. But there was nowhere to run to, nowhere that the fire did not consume. He pushed past the terror, though, and instead focused on the one signal of stability amongst all the chaos. It was like a shining beacon giving guidance during a terrible storm, never faltering, and Avner knew, from somewhere deep in his soul, that it was Bastila. He wove the Hawk through the burning debris with ease, as if he could see every obstacle before it manifested, pathways opening and closing before his very eyes; his movements guided with pinpoint precision.

The inferno had wrapped around his spine now and seared through his mind. It allowed him to see beyond what was even in front of him, to glimpse across the world of Taris and behold its destruction in all of its terrible glory. It was suffering and agony at its deepest.

Docking Platform 15 came into view, and relief hit Avner when he saw four small figures waiting amongst the ruin. The landing strip was still mostly intact, and he set the Hawk down gently, releasing the landing ramp and jumping up from his chair to usher the others onboard. Mission and Zaalbar were the first aboard, the young Twi'lek looking absolutely stricken, her blue face a near ashy gray as the Wookie firmly tugged her inside. Carth charged up the ramp next with Teethree, his brown eyes wild, but they brightened when he noticed his fellow soldier. Bastila was the last aboard, and when she finally ascended the ramp seconds after Carth, she halted dead in her tracks, her eyes widening in absolute terror when she caught sight of him.

He felt something wrench shut deep within his chest, like someone hurling a cap over a fire or smothering an open flame with salt. It was so sudden that it felt like his heart had stopped beating, the inferno vanishing as if it had never existed. His head spun uncontrollably now, and Avner pitched forward onto his knees, retching violently. Then… silence.

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"I saw what I saw, Jedi; now get out of my way."

"It's not possible! That kind of Force ability just doesn't manifest spontaneously…"

Voices.

They were familiar but too far away for Avner to distinguish. They bounced off his brain like tiny pieces of debris thrown about in an explosion. Too loud, they were being far too loud. Instead, he tuned them out and focused on the other small sounds he could pick up on, trying to remember where he was. There was the continuous hum of sublight engines and the low blip that came from a monitor or terminal running in the background. He twitched his toes and let the motion continue up his legs. He could move, good. Avner allowed his knees to arch slightly and rolled his arms but winced when he was reminded of the burning hole that had been punched through his right shoulder. The pain brought memories, the smell of fire, and the taste of ash. Taris… gone. Everyone… dead.

"I won't say it again, Jedi; get out of my way."

"Stand back, Mandalorian."

The Kiffar cracked open one eye. Bastila stood in front of his bed facing off against Canderous, who glowered down at her, hands clenched into tight fists at his side. Bastila's hands were also balled into fists. What was eating those two? Canderous' eyes connected with his, and the Mandalorian frowned.

"Well, well, look who finally rejoined the land of the living."

Bastila turned quickly, and Canderous took the chance to shoulder past the Jedi, planting himself in front of the soldier, looking down at him with something nearly akin to a predator's gaze. His hands were still clenched tight, and Avner briefly wondered how hard the merc could hit. He would most definitely lose a few teeth if he didn't put up his guard. Bastila's hand landed on her saber strapped to her side, and she looked about ready to lob off one of Canderous' limbs if he made a move, but the Mandalorian's gaze instead turned thoughtful.

"Vor entye."

Avner blinked in surprise at the words that left Canderous' mouth. The bounty hunter said nothing more, only nodded once, and then walked away, leaving him alone with the Jedi, who stared after the retreating man with a look of bewilderment. Her hand was still on her saber's grip, and now Avner wondered if she was originally protecting him or Canderous. He slowly rolled into a sitting position ignoring the throbbing pain radiating through his body as he rubbed his eyes. They still burned.

"What did he say?"

Avner glanced over at the girl who was studying his face carefully. "Thank you, or the Mandalorian equivalent of it. I saved him, so now he has incurred a debt that he is honor-bound to repay."

A crease formed above her left brow, and she crossed her arms tightly over her chest. "Yes… Canderous told us all about your… heist."

Images flashed behind his eyelids: the power, the inferno that had escaped from somewhere deep inside of him and nearly destroyed the hanger. "Yeah, and what did he say happened?"

"He… claims you lifted things with an unseen power, threw around debris like it was nothing, used powers known only to the Jedi… or the Sith."

Avner met Bastila's gaze evenly; her gray eyes were hard but also guarded, allowing nothing to slip through her carefully constructed expression of professional curiosity. And why wouldn't she be curious? Here he was, an average soldier using powers beyond those of any ordinary being, power exclusive to only those sensitive to the Force. He wasn't one of those people; he couldn't be. All his life had been spent either mining ore or behind the scope of a rifle. If he had this connection to the Force, then why hadn't he experienced it sooner? Why was it revealing itself now?

"I'm not Force-sensitive." He was unsure who he was trying to convince; Bastila or himself.

"No…" she murmured, then shook her head. It was clear she wanted to say something more but didn't. "Perhaps not in the traditional sense, but there is no denying you hold an unusual power within yourself. You must have felt it before."

He shrugged. "No… well, maybe I have a few times, but I've always chalked it up to adrenaline, fight or flight. I'm nothing more than a soldier, the Force… it has nothing to do with me."

"The Force works through all of us to some degree. It binds every living being in the galaxy together; no one is exempt from it." Bastila's posture loosened a bit as she considered him carefully. "Some individuals go through much of their lives without discovering their connection to the Force until they are put into severe circumstances that force their power to manifest."

"Wouldn't your Order have found me before all that happened, though? Sensed my… connection?"

"Not necessarily. The galaxy is vast, and there are few Jedi to send out to every corner of known space. Many Force-sensitive individuals reside outside of the Jedi or Sith and simply live their lives completely unaware of their abilities. Small things may happen every now and again, like seeing something before it happens or maybe sensing what another person is thinking. Still, most people brush it off as merely a coincidence or a figment of the imagination," Bastila explained meticulously before considering him closely. "The Force… it has been working around you this whole time. Even now, I can sense it flowing through you. I'm not certain what to make of this discovery, though."

Avner stared at his hand, opening and closing it several times. He didn't feel any different. No, he only felt tired and bruised. Certainly not flowing with the Force or whatever the Jedi had said.

"Perhaps if you weren't – well if you were younger, the Jedi may have considered training you. But as it is…" Again her eyes were watching him with a startling familiarity, like she was half expecting him to do something he hadn't quite figured out yet.

"Well, then I guess I should thank the Force for that small kindness."

Bastila's brows pulled together into a deep furrow, and she frowned. "Regardless of your feelings towards the Jedi, you do have a great gift. Perhaps the Jedi Council could offer more insight into what is happening with you."

"I don't have time to sit around and wax philosophical with your Jedi Masters. I need to report back to Command about Taris' destruction. Carth can escort you the rest of the way." He got to his feet and immediately felt the entire room sway, the floor warping under his feet. Avner tilted forward at a dizzying angle, but small hands pressed against his shoulders and pushed him back against the table. He gripped the edge of the medical bench, steadying himself. He clenched his eyes shut tightly, breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth as he tried desperately to find some semblance of balance. His knees were shaking, head pounding, and he could still see the fire consuming Taris behind his eyelids.

"Easy, take a deep breath and center yourself. You're still riding off the emotions… the pain of Taris," Bastila said softly, her voice steady.

"Did anyone?"

"I don't think so… any ships trying to escape were shot down."

They were all gone. Doc Forn, who had opened his home and clinic to anyone in need, Sarna with a smile bright enough to light up any room, Gadon and Zaerdra and Jek… his throat constricted, and he clenched his fists tight, heat building up deep in his gut. A low rattling began to echo around the room; the terminal was shaking back and forth while several sealed beakers of kolto shattered apart.

Bastila's hand pressed against his chest directly over his heart. "Breathe, Avner, calm your storm."

Her words washed over him like a cool wave, and he latched onto her calm strength, pushing back his own grief and horror. It wouldn't help anyone now if he couldn't pull himself together. The rattling began to quiet just like the pulse of heat within his chest to a dull thrum of warmth. Everything stilled. He wondered if maybe there was some truth to what Bastila had said before. Perhaps he had some connection to the Force… it was the only thing that could explain what he had been feeling the past few weeks and what had just happened now. Fuck, when had his life become so complicated?

"Canderous said I would – am I interrupting something?" Carth stopped in the medbay's doorway and glanced between him and Bastila. He was still backed against the table while she was practically pressed up against his chest, and to any outside observer, their position almost appeared… intimate.

Bastila took a quick step back and shook her head. "I was just helping to steady Sergeant Marek. He's still recovering from his injuries."

He didn't miss how much more formal the Jedi had suddenly become now that Carth was here but agreed with her nonetheless. "Bastila was just helping me find my feet after…" He didn't finish and instead glanced down.

Carth frowned deeply but nodded. "Taris… I haven't been able to contact the Republic and let them know what's happened. We're still in enemy space, and sending out any communications can leave us open to being tracked. We need to find someplace safe to land and let High Command know… maybe they can send some kind of rescue effort… I don't know…"

"Plot a course for Dantooine. We'll find shelter there."

"Dantooine? There's hardly anything there except a few farming colonies. I doubt they'll have any long-range coms equipment," Carth objected.

"There's a Jedi Enclave there that will offer us refuge. It's not well known, and only members of the Order and those who reside on Dantooine know of its existence, but it will have the resources we need, plus, it's remote and outside of Sith-controlled space," Bastila explained.

"That could do. What do you think, Avner?"

The Kiffar blinked in surprise. The pilot asked him for his opinion instead of just ignoring it altogether. "I think we don't have much of a choice, there's no way we can make it to Coruscant without possibly getting caught, and High Command needs to know what happened as soon as possible."

"Then it's settled; we head for Dantooine," the Jedi finished, clearly bringing their conversation to an end. An alarm suddenly blared out, and Carth whipped around, letting loose several curses as he ran for the front of the ship. Avner pushed off the medical table, following on the pilot's heels as they burst into the cockpit. Teethree was hooked into one of the terminals and began whistling a warning when the droid caught sight of him.

"The sublight engines are overheating," Carth said, tapping a few buttons on a control panel while he eased back on the throttle. "They must have taken a hit during our escape."

"The hyperdrive's also dead," Avner revealed from his spot by the astromech. "If we don't land soon, we'll be dead in space."

Carth was flipping through the Ebon Hawk's onboard star maps but shook his head. "Dantooine is too far away for us to make it. We'll burn out long before we get out of the Yavin system."

His ears perked up at the mention of Yavin. "How far away are we from Yavin Prime?"

Carth glanced back at him briefly before punching in a few keystrokes. "Not far, but there's nothing out there. The planet is nothing but a gas giant, and its moons are completely uninhabited."

"There's a space station orbiting the main planet called Port Terminus. It's off the grid, mostly used by smugglers, but it's somewhere we can land without drawing too much attention to ourselves, and we should be able to make it before our engines shut down." He had never personally visited the small station but had heard about it from other soldiers who had scouted the Yavin system. Unknown to most, it was the perfect place for anyone looking to disappear. No questions were asked, and everyone looked the other way.

"I don't know… you sure this place exists because I can't find it on any map."

Avner nodded. "It's there. Head for the fourth moon of Yavin, and I'll take us the rest of the way."