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Baroonda

"Oh man, that Onderon race took it out of me," Bokoof stretched out in the bottom bunk.

"Your ribs still hurt?" Lokrut asked from the top bunk.

"They still feel a bit tingly," said Bokoof.

"You were told to take it easy," said Lokrut, the shistavanen was starting to feel more part of the crew lately and didn't hesitate to speak his mind, "I already told you to use me. I can do your work around the ship."

"I just don't want to feel useless," Bokoof sighed.

"You do enough," said Lokrut, "Besides, I don't sleep much. I can use more to do."

Bokoof blushed as Lokrut slid off the top bunk and he got a full frontal view of him. Lokrut wasn't shy about what he had and didn't bother wearing clothes or covering up in the bedroom. The shistavanen started to get dressed. Nuz had given him clothes he didn't wear anymore. Today he slid on blue tights and a yellow poncho with black stripes.

Bokoof could feel his cheeks flush as he felt his loins stir, "Fine, I need to clean out Mugg's sleeping area today, and the cargo needs to be double checked before we touch down in Baroonda."

"Stay here and rest," Lokrut strapped his belt on and left, he nearly tripped over M2 on his way out the door, "Whoops, sorry friend."

M2 beeped and whistled, accepting the apology.

"Hey, are you busy?" Lokrut asked him.

M2 whirred and buzzed.

"Hmm, everyone keeps busy on this ship," Lokrut patted M2, "Should you need any help, just call me. I could use more tasks."

M2 chirped and wheeled away. Lokrut proceeded to go work on fixing up Mugg's sleeping area. Mugg had taken a big liking to him. It took Lokrut a while to get the gundark to ease off on the affection so he could clean. Once he was done getting Mugg's bed of blankets folded back up into an organized pile, he turned to the gundark and gave him scratches under his chin.

"You know, you could do this yourself," said Lokrut, "I know you got smarts in that noggin of yours."

Mugg grumbled and laid his ears back. Lokrut figured he disapproved of having to clean up after himself. Lokrut gave him some rubs between the ears before proceeding to Bokoofs other task. Knot was already working on it.

"You're not Bokoof," said Knot without looking up from his datapad.

"I am today," said Lokrut, taking the datapad from Knot.

"Rude," said Knot.

"So, walk me through this," said Lokrut.

Knot sighed, "You scroll through the list, identify the box numbers with what you have on your list, and make sure the boxes have what they say they have. And make sure none are missing. So easy, Mugg could do it."

Lokrut was plussed with Knots sass, "Must be why they have you doing it."

Knot looked taken aback, "Well, aren't you a mean one. Come on, get to it. I'll help you assess."

Lokrut spent the next few hours with Knot. Knot was actually good for Lokrut to talk to. They would launch mean commentary back and forth at each other. It seemed to the shistavanen that the droid was greatly enjoying this. They finished processing the cargo and got it readied up for unloading when they got to Baroonda.

"You're not half bad meatbag," said Knot when they finished, "You're a lot more fun than Bokoof. I hope we do this again sometime."

"You're alright too bolts," Lokrut patted him on the back.

The shistavanen went up to the galley. Dokraar and Daddus were cooking up lunch for everyone. The ship smelled delicious. Dokraar kept a small hydroponic farm in the galley that grew fresh herbs. He tended to it daily to ensure their meals always had fresh flavor.

Dokraar had a pile of steaks sizzling on the flattop. Daddus was busy chopping up vegetables and fruits to go with their meal. They were making runyip stew. Dokraar sliced the meat into cubes, having given the steaks a light sear, and slid it into a pot full of meat stock. Daddus threw in the vegetables after it. The selonian went back to peeling and slicing fresh fruit.

"That smells great," said Lokrut.

"Runyip stew," Dokraar smiled, "We should have plenty for now and for dinner."

"Any bread to go with it?" Lokrut asked.

Dokraar pointed at a compartment, "You can make it."

"Oh," Lokrut lowered his ears, "I don't know how to do that."

Daddus slapped Dokraar with his tail, "Be nice."

"I'm just picking on you Lo," said Dokraar, "We already have some buns in the oven."

"Oh," Lokrut nodded, "I think I'll go see if the captain needs help while you finish."

Daddus smacked Dokraar on the arm after Lokrut left, "Don't pick on the poor guy. He's just starting to fit in."

"He's tough," Dokraar smirked.

Lokrut made his way up to the bridge. Buklam was busy checking their path. Baroonda was an easy straight shot from Onderon. However, Baroonda was in close proximity to Kessel. A lot of pirates ran through the area. He had to make sure they were ready in case they got targeted.

Lokrut cleared his throat.

"Whatcha need Lo?" Buklam asked, not looking up.

"I was wondering if you needed any help up here," said Lokrut.

Buklam looked up from his console, "Gettin' bored, are you?"

"The daily tasks you've given me have been simple," he said, "There must be more to do. It's been nearly two months now and I feel like I can provide more."

"You could relax?" Buklam suggested.

"Is there nothing more?" Lokrut asked.

Buklam laughed, "Lo, we're on a freighter and we transport goods. We're certainly not a palace, and we're not going to ask you to do all of the menial tasks. Welcome to freedom."

Lokrut took a seat, "I'm sorry, I just feel restless."

"You look tired," Buklam told him, "Maybe Grok has something to help you get better sleep." Buklam decided to review how the bridge worked with him. He figured it wouldn't hurt in case Lokrut for some reason was the only able crew member left to save them. Lokrut had some trouble identifying some of the switches and buttons.

"Lunch," Dokraar called over the intercom.

"Come on, let's eat," said Buklam, leaving the bridge to get to the galley. Dokraar and Daddus had dishes set out on the table for everyone to grab. Bokoof came out wearing shorts. He eased himself down into his seat. Grok looked up from his datapad.

"You want me to do another check on your ribs?" Grok asked.

"I'm fine," Bokoof sighed as he took a deep breath of the stew, "The bacta's doing its work. That last injection should be enough."

"You need to stop applying pressure on your ribs," said Grok, "I won't tell you again. No heavy lifting, no work, no fighting. It's bad enough you went racing."

"At least the races are spaced out well enough," said Bokoof.

"Well, don't let me catch you doing anything stupid," Grok said, giving Nuz a smooch as he joined them.

"Look what I built!" Sheef announced as he ran into the galley.

Thikok choked on his soup as Sheef powered up a lightsaber, "Sheef!"

The squib waved around the green lightsaber, "I figured out the mechanics of it! And, I manipulated its trajectory like so!" He flipped a switch and the blade split out the sides and started spinning rapidly, "It's like a shield!"

"Sheef," Thikok stood up, "Turn it off and give it to me."

Sheef flattened his ears as he turned it off, "But why?"

"They're dangerous," said Thikok.

Sheef narrowed his eyes, "Well doy, but this is mega koovy for me. You guys all get one, so why can't I?"

Nuz interjected before Thikok could speak, "Master Thik, I think you should let him keep it. There have been plenty of warriors in history that were not jedi or sith who have wielded a lightsaber."

Thikok sat down and sighed, "Fine, but you're training him to use it properly."

"I got you, koovy pup," Nuz winked.

"Yes!" Sheef jumped around joyfully, "I promise I'll be a good student!"

Buklam looked worried. Sheef had a tendency to overdo things. The squib having a lightsaber was going to stress him out even more probably. The lasat finished up his meal and went back to the bridge. He pulled them out of hyperspace and Baroonda came into view. Buklam sat down and steered them toward a ship with a docking platform.

They were dropping off several crates at the space station. The supplies were being distributed between the occupied moons. All the supplies were for fabrication. Most crates had ship parts, others were raw ore, and a few with unidentifiable bits and pieces if you didn't know what they were for. The crew departed from the space station and made their way down to the capital of Baroonda, Majaneetza City.

Majaneetza was a sprawling city in a valley of mountains. Vast temples and endless wondrous architecture made Majaneetza a popular hub for tourism. It was also a good place for pirates, bounty hunters, and Hutts to do their dealings. Being this far out in space, Majaneetza had made itself home as a primary trading hub before going into Hutt space or the outer rim. Buklam pulled them down into a spaceport near the outskirts of the city to avoid the hustle and bustle of the city center.

"Ugh, spice traders," Buklam rolled his eyes as he walked down the ramp, seeing nearby Pyke Syndicate ships.

"That's the part of the galaxy we're in," said Dokraar.

An inventory droid came to greet them. Buklam gave him the inventory datapad as the crew unloaded the ship. Once the ship was unloaded, Buklam called the local businesses to come pick up their goods. The lasat sat down on the loading ramp and looked out over the city.

"What a wild place to have a race," said Buklam.

"All the high bidders will be here," said Dokraar as he sat next to him, "If Bo does well, we'll have plenty of credits to go around."

"Yeah, let's just hope no one tries to assassinate him if he does too well," said Buklam.

"I'm surprised no ones hired anyone to do that yet," Dokraar jokes.

"We need to watch our step around here," Buklam stretched his arms, "We need to avoid trouble if we can."

"Well, we've avoided most trouble this far," Dokraar leaned his head down between his knees, squinting at the city, "But, with this place being so close to Kessel, we'll need to keep our guard up. And we'll need to make sure Sheef keeps his hands in his pockets."

"I'll strangle him if he somehow comes back with a crate of spice," said Buklam.

"We could just drop it off at a medical facility," said Dokraar, "They pay good money for the stuff. Besides being a terrible drug, it can make good drugs."

"We're not hauling spice," Buklam punched Dokraar in the arm, "Come on, let's rest up and we can go explore the city."

* * * * *

Nuz was showing Sheef the basics of using a lightsaber in the now empty cargo bay. The squib was actually taking this seriously and kept up with Nuz on positions and movement. Sheef turned off his lightsaber and looked up at Nuz.

"Nuz, how come only certain people get special force powers?" he asked.

Nuz turned off his lightsaber, "Well, no one knows. As the council used to tell us all the time, the force works in mysterious ways."

"For something that's been around for a long time, you'd think someone would have an answer," said Sheef.

"I've never questioned my gift," said Nuz, "Nor have I used it for anything bad. And I think that's why some of us are more attuned to the force. Someone figured out how to use it, and over time, more and more figured out how to use it. As it grew in strength, the force probably selected those it knew would need it to bring balance."

"So, depending on the person, you would choose if you used it for good or bad?" Sheef asked.

"Precisely so," Nuz nodded, "You can't expect everyone to do what's right either though. I've made my fair share of mistakes in the past. Expecting the force to be useful is a fool's errand. If anything, it puts more expectation on us to do what's right. As for others, they choose to use it for all the wrong reasons."

"And when we use it for the wrong reasons, some of us realize that we were wrong," said Lokrut as he walked down into the cargo bay to join them.

"Even some of us who were great have done wrong and continued to do wrong," said Nuz, "The force is always at work in weird ways."

Lokrut pulled out his lightsaber, "I've come to learn with you. Before, I was just a monster, slashing down anyone in my path to please a master that did not care for me. I want to learn how to actually use this in better ways."

"Then let's get to it," Bokoof hopped down into the cargo bay, "We'll be an unstoppable force."

Sheef giggled at this, "Can't stop what's always there."

* * * * *

Thikok, Buklam, Dokraar, and Daddus left for the city. They wanted to see what kind of goods they could pick up for the ship. Whether it be food or ship parts, they hoped they would find something delicious or useful. Dokraar stopped by a street vendor to pick up cigars and cigarettes. Daddus picked out one of the cigars and gave it a long sniff.

"Mmm, smells like pta fruit," he stuck it in his mouth.

Dokraar bit the tip off his and spit it out, "The seller said these have been quite popular lately."

They both lit up and enjoyed the cigars as they traveled. Thikok and Buklam held hands as they moved from shop to shop. The lasat kept stopping at any place with offworld collectables. He was always on the lookout for any remnants of his homeworld. Having left his planet in a hurry, he didn't have much that reminded him of home except for his bo-rifle.

"Woah, you should see this Thik," Buklam directed them to a weapons shop.

On a shelf was an assortment of lightsabers. Thikok ran his fingers over them. Pictures of the owners flashed in his mind. The images weighed heavily on him. A toydarian came over to pester them.

"Ahh, interested in relics of the past, ah?" the toydarian fluttered in close.

"Yeah," said Buklam, "We collect jedi trinkets."

The toydarian laughed, "I have had these all traded in for credits. I never questioned if they were jedi themselves."

"Traded in, and then resold for a much higher price," said Thikok.

"Business is business," said the salesman.

"How much for each?" Thikok asked.

"Twenty thousand credits," said the toydarian.

"I can buy a ship for that much," said Buklam, "I'd get more use out of that than these."

The toydarian narrowed his eyes, "No haggling. My price is set. I always have plenty of interested customers."

Thikok continued to pick up each one. Some of them he recognized, showing him faces of old friends that were lost with time. Thikok took four down. These were from people he was most familiar with.

"I'll give you fifty thousand for these four," Thikok told the toydarian.

The toydarian saw an easy sale, "Sixty. No less."

"Pay him," Thikok told Buklam.

Buklam begrudgingly dished over the credits, "Are you sure these are worth it?"

"Yes," said Thikok.

Once the toydarian was satisfied with the amount paid after counting it twice, he let them go. Thikok fastened the lightsabers onto his belt. Buklam took him by the hands and pulled them to his lips, giving them a smooch.

"People you know?" he asked.

"Yes," said Thikok, "If I sit down with these, I can figure out what happened to them."

"Let's hope these ones are still alive," Buklam hugged him close, "And maybe we can find them."

"I'm confident most went into hiding once the clones turned," said Thikok, "We're survivors after all."

"Maybe there's a whole mess of them with a bunch of loose cannons like us," Buklam smirked.

"They'd be fortunate to end up with such handsome companions," Thikok gave him a smooch.

The lasat blushed and chuckled. They continued down the road to find Dokraar and Daddus engaged in negotiating parts for their engines. It was difficult to find the right parts for the 720. Most pilots left the freighters for dead once they stopped working. The maintenance proved to be too much for most. But Buklam and Dokraar loved their ship.

"We need parts for a Ghtroc overthruster ion engine," Daddus told the merchant.

The feeorin merchant stroked his chin before disappearing into the back of his shop. His tendrils last to disappear as he turned down a long hall of parts. There were many parts in this shop. Some looked even more obsolete than the 720's parts. Several bodies of droids were hung up on the walls. Dokraar's attention was caught by one of them.

"Well, hello there," Dokraar rubbed a lifting droid's lens clean of dust, "We could use one of you bad boys."

The feeorin merchant returned with a giant crate for Daddus to look through, "The droid's three thousand credits. Comes as is."

"Is he charged?" Dokraar asked.

The feeorin came over and flipped the droid's switch. The lifting droid let out an exclamation, begging to not be disassembled. He then paused and took in his surroundings. He held up his arms and then his legs. Seeing that he was still intact, he pulled himself down off the wall.

"I am whole," he announced in a deep, vibrating voice.

"That is not an acoustic signaller," said Dokraar.

"He was heavily modified by his last owner," said the feeorin, "Said it got lonely not having someone to talk to during his runs, so he gave this fellow a voice and personality."

"I'll take him," said Dokraar.

"A new master!?" the lifting droid asked excitedly, "What happened to master Gonaric?"

"He sold you to me," said the feeorin, "Traded you for two astromechs and some parts."

The lifting droid sagged, "I can't believe he would do that to me."

"Well, I tend to not let my droids leave me," said Dokraar, "You'll also have a full time job helping me out on the ship."

"I guess," said the droid.

"Three thousand credits," the merchant said.

"I'm only three thousand credits?!" the droid cried out as Dokraar paid the feeorin his fee.

"What's your name?" Dokraar asked him.

"I am designation HAMAK-525," the droid responded.

"Well, Hamak," said Dokraar, "Welcome to the crew. I'm Dokraar. Let's get you back to the ship when Daddus is done fishing for parts."

* * * * *

The lifting droid Hamak was a dream come true to Hungo. Dokraar had never seen the dug so happy to see a machine. Dokraar went around and introduced Hamak to everyone. Knot was unimpressed.

"I can't believe I've been replaced," said Knot.

"You've not been replaced," Dokraar told him.

M2 beeped and whistled.

"You be nice," Dokraar shot at him, "Knot is a vital member to the crew. But now, you can concentrate on helping with engineering. Hamak can do a majority of the heavy lifting for us."

"Fine," Knot walked away and went to engineering.

"That doesn't mean you need to go hide in there!" Dokraar shouted after him.

"I have so many new masters!" Hamak excitedly declared, "This is wonderful."

"So, they replaced his signaller with a vocabulator," said Hungo after checking the droid out, "This was a work of love at some point. I can't imagine why they'd get rid of him."

"Maybe because I can talk too much sometimes," Hamak lowered his large head.

"You can talk with me all the time!" Sheef declared, "I have space in my room for you to recharge too!"

"Oh, no, no," Hungo said, "He can recharge out here with the other droids."

"Aww," Sheef frowned, "Fine."

Thikok summoned Nuz, Bokoof, and Lokrut to join him in the empty escape pod. Thikok had convinced Buklam long ago to leave it empty to use as a meditation room. The lasat gladly obliged. Once inside, Thikok set out the lightsabers on the floor, and he knelt down in front of them.

"What is this?" Lokrut asked.

"Master Thik tries to pick up lightsabers when he sees them being sold on the market," said Nuz, "He picks up the ones he's most familiar with."

"I've never seen him bring back four before," said Bokoof.

"This is a good place to disappear and start a new life," said Thikok as he motioned for them to sit around the lightsabers.

"Master Thik can sense the past through objects," Nuz explained to Lokrut, "He's always able to hone in on the original owner of an object first. Then he can see where the object has been, and when it last had contact with its owners."

"And we help amplify his power here through meditation," said Bokoof.

Lokrut settled down on the floor with them. He was starting to become used to meditating. He found it was calming to his mind. Thikok held his hands out over the lightsabers, and they all did the same. Lokrut closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing.

Thikok held onto the thoughts of those he knew that owned the lightsabers. One by one they rose to his mind. One he saw on a battlefield. The togruta was fighting against droids when she suddenly stopped. Thikok winced as he watched the clones gun her down from the back. The vision ended and switched to the next lightsaber.

This one showed a human traveling into hutt space. She found a shop in the deepest depths of a hutt trade market. She had a tattoo burned into her neck. This jedi had fallen into being part of a gang. She sold her lightsaber for only one thousand credits. Thikok shook his head.

The next one flashed into his mind. A ryn sorting datapads in a library of sorts. The pale walls loomed over him as he walked down the halls. He held his chest as if he was having a heart attack. His eyes teared up before he saw the clones approaching him. He pulled out his lightsaber and rushed at them, but they were too many.

The last one was a cosian. He trained with him when he was a padawan. He was at what appeared to be a hutt auction. He offered up his lightsaber to a hutt. The hutt approved of the condition the lightsaber was in and paid him twenty thousand credits. The cosian bowed to the hutt and took his leave.

Thikok opened his eyes, "I guess two of them may well still be alive. They gave up their blades for a price. I imagine the decisions were difficult."

Buklam knocked on the door and came in, "Hungo says we're being watched by some red woman."

"Is it the same one from Mon Cala?" Thikok asked.

"Yeah," said Buklam.

"We must have drawn her attention while we were meditating," Thikok frowned, "We should move ports."

"Move to the inner city," Nuz suggested, "We'll be able to blend in better."

"Ugh, I hate the inner city," Buklam left and found Hungo sitting up in the gunners seat.

"She hasn't moved," said Hungo.

"Good, now we just have to hope she doesn't hit us with a tracker when we take off," said Buklam, "We'll need to do a sweep when we land at the next port."

Buklam moved them into the inner city. He chose a spot near where the swoop race was to start. This area had many ships flying in and out of it. Buklam pulled them into a ship tower. This gave them better cover, and a high up advantage. Buklam then put everyone to work on keeping an eye out for drones and trackers. After a few hours of inspection and investigation, Buklam was able to determine they were safe. He hoped.

Buklam instructed the droids to charge up. He was going to task them with watching the ship overnight. Hamak was more than thrilled. M2 gave the most responsible response. And Knot of course gave Buklam scathing sarcasm on droid rights to sleep at night. Once they were done with dinner, Buklam made sure the droids were in place.

The lasat dropped down into bed with Thikok, "Alright, too much excitement for today."

Thikok hugged an arm around him, "We'll be ok."

Buklam wiggled himself onto his side, pulling Thikok against him, "I just hope those stupid droids pay attention."

"M2 will save us," Thikok chuckled.

Buklam gave Thikok a smooch on the lips, "At least I know he's dependable."

Thikok ran a hand down the lasats body, sliding over his bare bottom, "How about I take your mind off things?"

Buklam growled playfully and tore the covers off Thikok to get at him.

* * * * *

Sirrfhukk had bought Phiss proper clothing. The trandoshan had on form fitting pants, a pullover, and a custom leather vest. The wookiee was using him as an assistant and was paying him credits for everything he did for him. Phiss refused the credits, but Sirrfhukk kept putting one credit in his room per task Phiss did for him that day. Phiss was quickly learning that if he did less, he wouldn't be forced to take credits.

"Clever tactic," Bokoof told Sirrfhukk as he pulled his helmet on, "Maybe this'll break him."

Sirrfhukk chortled in agreement. Bokoof saw something out of the corner of his eye. He glanced over and saw a white four legged creature staring at him from the sidelines. He pulled down his goggles and the creature vanished.

Kas pulled up next to him, "You ready to turn up the heat?"

"Takes more than a volcano to stop me," Bokoof smirked.

"I'm gonna hang in your stream," the lepi said, "That way I'll know when the danger is."

"Oh?" Bokoof laughed, "Is that what I am now? Your guide in the race?"

"Look man, we're busting straight out of this city, and running into five different abandoned podrace tracks," said Kas, "There's a lot of kaka out there I'd rather not run into. And you, you're damn lucky every race. Granted, you got busted up by that stupid twi, but you still got second."

Bokoof cracked his neck and gave the lepi a wink, "Keep up then."

The racers got into position. Sirrfhukk tilted his head towards another racer. The wookie always seemed to know who would be a problem each race. Zinla the kaleesh was leaning over and whispering with Fensil the duros. Kaleesh have scaly skin, tusks, and long nostrils. Almost every kaleesh wore a traditional skull mask, and Zinla was no different. Duros were well known for their large domed heads, big red eyes, and blue-green skin. This duros was the favorite to win.

People are generally hesitant around kaleesh by how they look and act. More so these days after General Grievous, a notorious kaleesh well known for his terrifying war crimes. It appeared Zinla had plans to help Fensil out. She noticed Sirrfhukk watching and hissed at him. Fensil smirked as he revved up his swoop. Bokoof had a feeling he was going to need to help Sirrfhukk defend this race.

Yum and Guna did their countdown and everyone shot off. As promised, Kas was tailing behind Bokoof. Bokoof noticed Sirrfhukk hadn't taken off. What was that wookiee up to? The shistavanen didn't have time to worry about that. He had to focus on winning. Bokoof found himself cruising in seventh. He had a feeling something was up when he watched the racers in front throw signals to each other.

Bokoof put up the slowdown signal to the lepi behind him. Bokoof was looking from racer to racer as they slowly gained ground away from him. After the fifth checkpoint, they hit the first abandoned podrace track. Mobaw was coming up on Bokoofs side. The gungan gave him a smile and thumbs up as he went by. Bokoof then saw one of the racers come flying off from the side of the track right at Mobaw.

Bokoof floored it and rammed into the corner of the racers swoop. The spiky headed nikto swerved away and came back to strike at Bokoof. Bokoof hit his booster and the nikto went flying off the track into a rock. Kas caught up with him and Mobaw. Mobaw now realized that this race was going to be dirtier than usual.

They dipped down into a swamp with a lot of low hanging branches and vines. The path curved and careened through the trees. Bokoof could see Vee up ahead. She was being kicked back and forth between Zinla and a trandoshan named Skuhskk. Bokoof stepped on it despite the dangers of the overgrown swamp. Before he could get there, he heard a familiar sound come roaring up behind him.

Sirrfhukk blasted by him. Bokoof had never seen him move that fast. The wookiee slammed right into the back of Zinla's swoop. The wookiee leaned off to the side to dodge her swoop as she slid right up and over him. Bokoof heard her scream as the swoop landed on top of her. The wookiee then tore after Shuhskk.

The trandoshan did his best to zoom away. Vee was now free from torment. The rodian pushed past the trandoshan and kicked him on the way by. She yelled some rather unappealing words at him as she left him to his fate. Sirrfhukk had a hold of his swoop. Bokoof didn't wait around to watch and sped past.

They shot up out of the swamp and found themselves on another abandoned track. This one shot right up the side of an active volcano. Ash kicked up around the swoops as they drove on. Sirrfhukk came chugging up behind them. Bokoof leaned into his accelerator to keep in front of him. Kas was starting to trail behind. The lepi was going to have to rely on his boosts for the last leg of the race to catch back up.

The racers slipped down into a cave that shot away from the volcano. The path narrowed to allow only two racers to fit side by side. Not unless you were Sirrfhukk, he took up the whole space. Bokoof could see Vee ahead. She was closing in behind a gran, Drorbil. He has three eyes, a goat-like face, and a plan. This gran was determined to not let Vee get by him.

The echoes of everyone's swoop engines rang through the cave as it winded this way and that. Everyone had to slow down. This gave each racer an opportunity to catch up and overtake once they got out of the tunnel. Drorbil the gran had a different idea. He slammed on his brakes and turned his swoop sideways. Vee had to slam on her brakes and Drorbil pushed her off of her swoop.

The gran laughed as he turned back up the path and sped off. Vee clambered back up

onto her swoop. The crowd of other racers were stuck behind. Shouts and screams to move echoed through the tunnel as she shot off after Drorbil. The rodian could be heard swearing in her native tongue as she cleared out of the tunnel. Drorbil wasn't expecting what she did next as she fired her boost.

Vee jumped off of her swoop and kicked Drorbil off of his. She sped off with his swoop to catch back up to her own and jumped back onto her ride. She threw up a rude hand gesture as she fired another boost. She knew Fensil set this all up and she was ready to take him out. Sirrfhukk's engine rumbled as he shot off and zoomed past her.

Kas came up the side of the track and overtook Bokoof. He figured the lepi felt he was out of the danger zone. He let him take off. Mobaw was chugging along next to Bokoof as they approached the last five checkpoints. Cacyn was trailing behind them. The cathar had become less aggressive since Sirrfhukk saved him. He was still determined to win, but left people on the track alone.

Once they hit the last checkpoint, everyone hit their final boosts to catch up with the frontrunners. Vee and Sirrfhukk had Fensil locked between them. Vee was angrily punching him in the arm as Sirrfhukk kept hold of his swoop. The duros tried to swing back but hesitated when Sirrfhukk roared at him. Sirrfhukk held onto the duros's swoop and let the rest of the racers pass by.

Vee leaned as hard against her swoop as she could. A green blur went shooting up the track. Kas had saved his last two boosts for the final stretch. Vee cried out as she got overtaken. Mobaw gave Bokoof a thumbs up and leaned forward. The gungan had him by a few centimeters when they shot through the finish line.

Sirrfhukk came up the track. He forced Fensil to follow in behind him. By forced, he threatened to tear his arms off. Kas took off his helmet. The lepi was awestruck as he saw his face shoot across the winners screen. Cheers from the crowd roared over the racers as a group came in to lift Kas onto their shoulders. Tears ran down his face.

Bokoof picked up his five thousand credit payment from FR-33. The droid also had another twenty thousand from bids. The droid bid him farewell and retreated with his two oversized bodyguards. Bokoof watched as Kas learned what it meant to be in the top three. Even worse, being the big winner. Bokoof was happy to see Vee and Mobaw helping him out.

Cacyn motioned Bokoof over to him, "Hey, can we talk?"

Bokoof nodded, "Yeah, what's up?"

"So, this is the only place I haven't seen it," said Cacyn, "But there's been a curious white creature that's shown up at every race. He's been watching you. I noticed him following you at the last race. And I saw him again here."

"That is curious," said Bokoof, "I noticed him right before the race."

"Watch your back," said Cacyn, his ears laid back "I'm not done racing you."

Bokoof smirked, "I'm sure it's nothing. Thank you for letting me know."

Cacyn patted him on the arm and took off. Bokoof wondered what or who the white creature was. He didn't entirely get a good look at him before the race. The shistavanen left the building to find Sheef waiting for him.

"Good racing Bo!" Sheef wagged his tail, "You'll get them next time."

"We'll see," said Bokoof, ruffling up his head fur "Come on, let's get home. That race was a little exhausting."

Bokoof and Sheef walked across the field leading to the spot where Buklam parked. Bokoof suddenly stopped. Sheef kept talking and walking. The squib then realized he stopped following. Bokoof felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

"Sheef, do you have your lightsaber on you?" Bokoof asked.

"Yeah..." Sheef pulled it out from his pack.

"Give it to me, and run as fast as you can to the ship to get help," Bokoof held his hand out for the lightsaber.

Sheef could see a red woman approaching Bokoof from behind. Sheef tossed him the lightsaber and took off running as fast as he could. Bokoof took in a deep breath as he turned the lightsaber on and turned to face the woman.

"Well, well," the red woman smiled, "Aren't you a feisty one?"

The woman is a zeltron. They look human in all aspects except for their red skin. She was light red, almost pink, with her fiery hair tied back to keep it from flying in her face. The wheat rustled as the wind blew over both of them. She pulled out a saberstaff and fired up both ends with red blades.

"Who are you?" Bokoof demanded.

"Why does it matter?" she asked, "You're just going to die anyway."

"Rather confident for a sith," said Bokoof as he readied himself for attack.

"I'm Caliti Faan," she started to circle around him, burning the wheat stalks with her lightsaber, "A devoted leader to the New Reborn."

"Never heard of them," Bokoof kept himself still.

"There's a reason for that," she said from behind him, "Every force user we hunt down either joins us, or dies."

She threw herself at him but wasn't ready for what happened. Bokoof activated the spinner on Sheef's lightsaber. She dodged out of the way as Bokoof charged at her. She tried swinging her blades in to get to Bokoof, but every attack was deflected. Bokoof jumped backwards and force threw the spinning blade at her. Wheat went flying in all directions as Caliti backflipped out of the way.

Bokoof pulled the blade back to him and stopped the spinning,"Looks like I bought myself enough time."

The entire ship was running up the field, ready for battle. Caliti let out a shrill cackle. She pulled a horn off her belt and blew into it. Bokoof tilted his head when he heard a roar in the distance. A looming figure came out of the nearby woods.

A giant whiphid came tearing out of the woods towards the sound of the horn. Whiphids are muscled, furred sentient beings. They were notable for their large tusks sticking up out of their lower jaws. Bokoof let out an audible gasp when the whiphid pulled out the most frightening lightsaber out.

The sound of it powering up echoed across the wheat field. The lightsaber blade was at least ten times thicker than any other blade. Sparks and bands of energy rolled around the blade as the giant creature charged forth. Bokoof readied himself for impact as he went up to block. Lokrut came flying from the side and slammed into the whiphid.

Lokrut leapt from side to side as the whiphid started swinging wildly at him. Bokoof jumped in and slashed at the whiphid, hardly leaving him injured. Nuz ran in to join. The creature swung its monstrous weapon around, narrowly missing the three shistavanen as they leapt in and out. Thikok instructed the rest of the crew to retreat back to the ship and prepare for takeoff.

Buklam didn't argue and they ran back. Thikok put his focus on Caliti. She smiled as she swung hard against Thikoks attacks. For being quite old, Thikok still moved as he did when he was a jedi master. Caliti did her best to pound her blades back and forth against Thikoks movements. Thikok was ready to play dirty and kicked dirt up in her face.

She leapt away and screamed at him as she chucked her blade at him. Thikok dodged backwards and lost his footing. She came leaping across the field to swing her blade down on him. A green lightsaber blocked her attack. It was the white creature. He was no longer running around on all fours. He pushed Caliti away with a force push.

"Finally decided to stop looking like a cute pet?" Caliti shot at the newcomer.

Thikok blinked. The creature before him was a rare sight. He has two long ears which are tied back, and a short snout, and large round eyes. He stood less than a meter tall on his hindlegs. His kind were more at home running on all fours, but their opposable thumbs gave them advantages and they did just fine on two feet. The kushiban pulled his lightsaber back and his white fur turned into a flowering blue color.

"Finally decided to show your ugly face?" he shot back at her in a rough, raspy voice.

"Master Enko?" Thikok gasped.

"Goodness, you've gotten old," Enko laughed as he charged in at Caliti.

Thikok suddenly felt recharged. Enko spun circles around Caliti. She couldn't handle something so small and fast. Not with the giant beast that Thikok was as he came swinging at her too. She backflipped out of the situation as fast as she could.

"Fing, it's time to go," she yelled at the whiphid.

Fing roared as he squatted down between the three shistavanen fighting around him. He threw up his hands and force pushed all three of them out of the way. Caliti ran off across the field with Fing in tow. The three pulled themselves up off the ground.

"What the fark was that thing?" Nuz asked.

"A whiphid," said Bokoof.

"No! His lightsaber!" Nuz cried out, "I've never seen anything like that."

"It's a highly unstable weapon, is what it is," Enko said to them, "You boys ok?"

"Yeah, great," said Lokrut.

"Uh, Master Enko," Thikok knelt down, "Have you been following us?"

"For some time," said Enko, his fur was fading back to white "I passed by you at a market in Naboo. I'm easily missed and mistaken for someone's pet often. Which is what I was pretending to be, haha. I've been using that as an advantage since the fall of the jedi. You should have seen his face when I told him I had to go."

"Probably driving himself crazy," Thikok laughed.

"But anyway," Enko continued, "I noticed that bunch in Esseles. So I investigated. I

investigated too close. They immediately started tracking me. They weren't about to do anything stupid on public transports. But every port I left, they would follow. So I stuck to crowded areas."

"That's why you've been at the races," said Thikok.

"Easier to move with the crowds." Enko smirked, " I don't know what triggered them to come hunting after you guys though."

"That would be my mistake," said Thikok, "We put off too much of a presence while we were meditating."

"Bah, those dung sniffers," said Enko, "Hope they learned their lesson."

"Won't they just come back with more?" Nuz asked.

"No," said Enko, "They hunt in small parties. They'll just go report in with their tail between their legs. They'll likely only come back to spy on us and plan a massive attack, but we'll be long gone by then. We'll worry about that later. I'm hungry, I'm tired, I've been sleeping in weird places, and I want tea. Show me your ship."

Enko turned and led the way to the Thundasa.