The sound of a Speeder cut through the otherwise calm dessert as a trail of sand and dust was kicked up by the racing vehicle. The people sitting on it was, of course, Sar and Alistar, who had left the slave camp after having rested enough and they were now on their way towards their original target.

"So, who is this Tyranus guy exactly?!" Alistar had to yell to get heard over the sound of wind rushing past their ears. Sar yelled back shortly after.

"I'm not sure. There was almost no information other than a name, and I have never heard the name before."

Alistar gripped the accelerator of the Speeder a little tighter as he did not like the lack of information about the mysterious buyer, but he swallowed his doubt and decided to trust in Sar's Jedi abilities.

"Okay then, but are you sure this is the right way." Alistar moved on to his second doubt as they were currently just heading towards nothing but more dessert and he had never heard of any smuggler base being spotted out here.

"I am. I am beginning to sense them; it's just a little further." Answered Sar while he had his eyes close, sensing the lifeforms located a little further ahead.

Alistar just shook his head before he sped up a little more zooming ahead.

Sar kept trying to sense were exactly their base was located. Suddenly he sensed something and quickly yelled for Alistar to stop the Speeder. Although he was confused Alistar stopped the Speeder, and Sar quickly got off looking around.

"What are you doing? There is clearly nothing out here." Alistar gestured to the wide empty dessert they had been traveling in for the last hour.

Sar ignored the question still looking around before his gaze stopped at a specific spot in the sand. He lifted his hand using the Force to push the sand out of the way, revealing a metal hatch and a control panel.

Alistar's eyes widened before he let out a high-pitched whistle.

"Well, well looks like those smugglers were smarter than I gave them credit for."

Sar just shook his head before he turned to look at his companion.

"Don't worry this hatch looks old I think they just stumbled on it by accident." Sar was under the impression that these smugglers with Hulma maybe being the exception probably wasn't the sharpest of the bunch.

Alistar just shrugged his shoulders before getting off the Speeder and stood next to Sar, before crouching down and looking the hatch over.

"Well, your right on account of this being old looks like one of the Hutt's old bunkers, but it's still sturdy. How exactly are we going to get in?"

Sar just tapped Alistar's shoulder and gestured for him to step back. Alistar raised his scales where his eyebrow would be before he stood up and stepped back with his arms crossed before raising a hand to signal for Sar to go ahead.

Sar just ignited his lightsaber and stabbed it through the metal hatch, the screen on the control panel flickered before turning off. Sar made a circle with the lightsaber, while the distinct sound of melting metal filled the air.

When Sar had finished the circle in the hatch fell into the now opened entrance. Sar then glanced over at Alistar, smirking, before jumping down into the bunker without using the ladder.

Alistar just grumbled while moving over toward the ladder and then began his descent while mumbling something along the lines of, "Kriffing Jedi, too good for ladders now?"

***

Hulma was currently not very happy.

He was currently sitting in his office his index finger rapidly tapping the top of the desk while his head was currently running through various thoughts at a rapid pace.

"How did this happen?!" Suddenly he slammed his fist onto the desk. Anger clear in his eyes. He had just finished waking up his men and making sure they were armed and on alert, or as alert as those drunks could be.

He knew that the Jedi was on his way to their location and that he had no problem with cutting them down according to the surveillance video he had just seen from the outpost he had sent Viera to.

Weren't Jedi supposed to be defenders of peace or something? That psychopath not only tortured and executed Viera but also sounded the damn alarm! Hulma had to admit that he was taken completely aback by the ruthlessness of the Jedi.

He had lost an outpost, a friend and competent subordinate and the advantage of ruthlessness. He had gambled on he would be able to use the other slaves as a bargaining chip should the worst come to worst, but now he was not so sure that would be a viable option.

Hulma leaned back in his seat, sweat rolling down his forehead. Failure was not an option, and currently, his odds of winning did not look good. He had gone through plans ever since he saw that video, but he currently only had one option: Kill the Jedi.

While he did have an escape tunnel, he would have to abandon the senator's son, as it would be hard to explain to his crew why he was escaping the base with their payday.

"Currently, I only have the option to kill that Jedi or I have to escape and plead with Tyranus to give me another chance, whatever the case I have to live." Hulma was so stressed that he had begun to talk to himself.

He had hated the Republic ever since they had taken his daughter and wife from this world, and now he had a chance to bring them back, only for the Republic to once again rip them from him. Had the circumstances been different, he would have charged at them with everything he had even if it would cost him his life, but with the chance of getting his family back, he had to survive.

Standing up from his chair he entered another code into the safe he had used earlier this time however instead of the safe opening, a small part of the wall opened up revealing a tunnel that was completely dark.

Hulma knew that if the Jedi survived this last stand that he would have to get out as fast as possible or all his hopes would be extinguished.

***

Sar and Alistar were currently sneaking along the tunnel they had climbed, or in Sar's case jumped into. The tunnel was well kept as he had expected it to be falling apart considering the fact that it was a smuggler hideout, but it seemed well maintained.

Though, Alistar and himself were alerted by the obvious lack of smugglers patrolling which did not match the usual tactics of these criminals.

Alistar had drawn his blaster-pistol, and Sar was using his Force senses to the limit while being ready to ignite his lightsaber at any sign of danger.

"You may be right that I was too quick to take back my prejudice about these guys intelligence," Alistar whispered to Sar while keeping his blaster pointed forward and sneaking down the hall. "No guards? These guys really are morons."

Sar shook his head while he kept moving beside Alistar.

"No, there seems to be more to it than that." Sar then stopped and closed his eyes. Alistar moved forward a bit more before he noticed that Sar had stopped. He turned and looked at Sar before he asked him.

"What happened? Are your Jedi senses telling you something?" Alistar spoke in a slightly mocking voice as he already knew that Sar was sensing something, but it had become a habit to ask anyway.

"Yeah." Sar kept his eyes closed, but a small frown had emerged on his face. "It would seem that they know we are coming. I sense a lot of lifeforms in one room."

Sar then opened his eyes and looked at Alistar who was currently twirling his blaster around while leaning on the tunnel wall. Sar raised an eyebrow at the lizard's relaxed posture because in the short time he had known him he always seemed very much tense.

"You don't seem that concerned about this news," Sar stated in a confused voice.

Alistar's face split into a smug smirk revealing his sharp teeth.

"This is actually good we know where they are, and they are trapped in a room." Alistar stopped and looked at Sar as if he expected him to realize something, but seeing that Sar just kept staring at him, he continued.

"We have constantly been running around in the dark, but now we know not only the location of our enemies but the most likely location of our target, not even these morons would leave their merchandise un-guarded."

Sar widened his eyes in realization as Alistar was right. .While it wasn't good that they knew they were coming, it was a clear advantage that the duo knew were their enemies were. But Sar was still not sure how to use this to their advantage just yet, but it would seem that Alistar had a plan.

"I assume you have a plan?"

Hearing Sar's question, Alistar pushed off the wall and began explaining.

"Oh, I have a plan, alright." He paused, and Sar rolled his eyes at the over-dramatic lizard. "We go in, kill the smugglers, rescue the son, and get paid." Alistar puffed out his chest, which made him seem very proud of his plan.

Sar just stared at him until he realized that he had just been told the whole plan. He let out a sigh, dragged a hand slowly down his face before he held up his hand with his palm facing Alistar.

"So let me get this straight. Your whole plan is to just charge through the front door?" Hearing Sar's question just made Alistar smile wider while nodding. Just as Sar was about to question his new friend's sanity, he was interrupted by Alistar.

"Listen, Sar; you aren't from around here so you might not realize that us two are a rarity in the underworld. Even the most feared bounty hunter and assassins when it comes to it are just amateurs compared to military forces. Most of them are really just drifters or junkers looking to make some fast credits. They are drunk half the time, and even when they are sober, they aim like blind people." Alistar finished his more detailed explanation before he gestured for Sar to follow him.

Sar was a little shocked at Alistar's sudden lecture, but he realized he was right they weren't fighting warriors or soldiers, and Alistar really knew more about this environment than he did so Sar relented and began following the lizard.

Seeing that Sar was following him made Alistar smile at finally getting the upper hand on the know it all Jedi.

Luckily there was only one path to follow, so there was no chance of them to get lost, though that would have been difficult with Sar's abilities. It didn't take long for them to arrive in front of a door.

"This the place?" Alistar looked over his shoulder and asked Sar, who closed his eyes before opening them shortly afterward, nodding.

"Yep, it is." Sar could feel the many people through the Force; he could also sense faint emotions of nervousness and fear, probably coming from the slaves. He then moved to stand beside Alistar, who was currently leaning up against the wall right next to the door his blaster raised slightly.

"You ready?" Asked Alistar while he looked towards Sar. Sar just nodded before he quickly ignited his lightsaber, while Alistar quickly pressed a button on the panel next to him making the doors slide open with a soft hiss.

Before the door had even fully opened, they were greeted by a barrage of blaster bolts. Most of the bolts hit the not fully opened doors while the few that got through was quickly deflected.

As soon as the door had opened enough, Sar charged into the room switching seamlessly between the second and third form to remain mobile while at the same time deflecting any bolts coming his way.

It would seem that Alistar was right as these smugglers couldn't aim at all, most of their shots hitting the metal walls or some of the furniture in the room. Sar used the many tables as springboards as he jumped from table to table, cutting any smugglers in his way down.

Seeing their colleagues getting cut down like nothing made some of the smugglers panic, causing them to fall over furniture or empty bottles laying on the floor.

One of the smugglers saw this and attempted to raise their morale and courage.

"Come on, boys! We kill this Jedi, and we will go down as legends!" Some of the smugglers calmed down slightly as the man's words ignited their greed. Seeing that it was working the smuggler continued.

"They boss promised 50.000 credits to whoever kills that Jedi sc-." He was suddenly cut off by a blaster bolt hitting him in the face ending his sentence part-way through.

Alistar had peeked around from his corner and felt it was appropriate to shut the loudmouth up.

When the other smuggler snapped out of their shock at seeing the shouting smuggler crumble to the ground, some of then began focusing their blaster fire at Alistar. This made it so that about half of the focus was now on Alistar, the fact that Sar quickly used to his advantage pushing the smugglers focusing on him down at an even faster pace.

The smuggler didn't stand a chance Alistar had been right when he had said that they weren't trained as most of them were either farmers or henchmen tired of working for the Hutt Clan. They had never encountered enemies as skilled as Sar and Alistar.

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It was currently only greed that kept the smugglers from surrendering, but even greed had its limit, and when the number of their people had dropped from the original 60 to 20, the result became obvious.

It didn't take long before one of the smugglers threw his weapon down before raising his hands into the air, and once that first smuggler surrendered the rest soon followed suit. In just a few seconds, the rest of the smugglers all had their arms in the air saying things like.

"We give up!"

"Master Jedi, please show mercy!"

Sar sensed that they had lost their will to fight, so he stopped cutting them down and yelled for Alistar to come out.

Alistar soon emerged from his hiding place, keeping his blaster pointed at the nearest smuggler.

"Do you have anything to restrain them with?" Asked Sar.

Alistar nodded and was just about to say something when Sar interrupted.

"Good, restrain them I'm going after Hulma." And with that, Sar stormed towards the office before Alistar even had a chance to reply.

Sar Force Blasted the door so hard that it flew off the wall hitting the wall at the other side of the room. He quickly entered the room and used his senses to find Hulma, but he soon spotted the opening in the wall.

Sar walked up to the wall and stared into the darkness all traces of Hulma's presence was gone. Sar turned off his lightsaber, before quickly turning around and using the Force to lift the desk inside the room and slam it into the wall, making it splinter into small pieces.

He then walked out of the office as if nothing had happened. As he walked into the bar area where he had left Alistar, he was greeted with the sight of 15 or so smugglers tied up with what looked like some sort of restraining forcefield.

He spotted Alistar at the other side of the room crouched down next to the body of an unconscious young man that was propped up against a wall. Sar recognized the man as the person he was sent to rescue. This made him relax a little, though he was still annoyed at the fact that Hulma had escaped.

Alistar, probably having heard Sar entering, stood up from his crouched position and walked over to him.

"No luck with Hulma?" Sar just shook his head as respond before heading over to one of the tables that hadn't been destroyed in the battle and sat down on a chair in front of it. He then gestured towards the Senator's son.

"How is he?" Alistar waved his hand in front of his face as if to dismiss the question.

"He is just fine he probably just fainted from shock." As he was answering, he was moving towards the bar area located in the middle of the room.

Sar looked down and rubbed the bridge of his nose as if he had a headache, while he asked another question.

"And the other slaves?" Sar raised his voice slightly as Alistar was currently over at the bar rummaging through it looking for something.

"I think they were moved to another location; it would seem that they only cared about keeping the Republic rich kid."

Sar leaned back in his chair before letting out an exhausted sigh, he had been running around and using the Force all day he was pretty tired, and the fact that Hulma had slipped through his fingers didn't help.

Sar pulled a device out of his robes it looked really small and looked just like a triangular piece of metal, but Sar pressed down on the device making it emit a slow beeping noise while a red light outlined the small triangle blinking in tandem with the beeping.

"I've sent the extraction signal. The Republic will be arriving soon." Sar then placed the device on the table and looked up at Alistar who were currently placing two small glasses and a bottle on the table before sitting down opposite of Sar.

"Oh, can you convince to let me keep some of the smugglers some of them have bounties on them." Seeing Sar's disapproving look, which just made Alistar shrug. "Consider it my tip for being such a good 'guide.'"

Sar just shook his head and sighed a bit at his lizard friends antics, but still relented.

"Fine, I'll ask." Sar then spotted the glasses and bottle on the table, which made him raise an eyebrow. "What's with the bottle and glasses?"

Alistar smiled before he grabbed the bottle and removed the cork, which made a satisfying 'plonk' noise before he poured the brownish liquid into both glasses.

"Well I always drink after a job well done, and these have, or I guess had some really good stuff." He raised the bottle a little bit before turning it around so that Sar could read the label. "Tevraki Whiskey, this stuff is pretty rare and trust me its good stuff."

Sar had never tasted alcohol before, and he was a little unsure on whether he should participate. Alistar probably noticed his hesitation as he began speaking again.

"Come on Sar; we've been working ever since we met let's kick back a little and share a drink until your friends get here, or do your Jedi Oath forbids you from enjoying yourself?" The last part was said with a mocking tone of voice.

Sar frowned before he jabbed back.

"First of all its a Code, not an Oath and second knowing you, this will probably catch fire as soon as I pick it up." Sar looked at Alistar, but the same smug grin was still on his face.

"Fine, I'll drink with you." Sar relented which caused Alistar to grin even wider before he pushed the other glass toward Sar.

"Bottoms up!" They both picked up the glasses and downed the drink in one go.

Sar immediately felt the liquid burn it's way down his throat, making him break out into a coughing fit. Alistar laughed at this as he filled both glasses up once again while poking fun at his friend.

"Would you look at that the great Jedi Sar defeated by Whiskey."

Sar just sent a glare Alistar way which just caused him to laugh even more. It took Sar a couple of seconds to recover.

Having recovered Sar was able to actually taste the drink, and he had to admit that Alistar was right; it did taste good. It had a slightly smokey flavor, but there were also hints of sweetness and now that he got used to it the burning in his throat did feel pretty good.

"So what do you think?" Asked Alistar when he saw that Sar had recovered.

"I have to admit you were right; it is pretty good." Answered a more relaxed Sar.

"Now, that's the way, my friend." Alistar seemed happy as he pushed the refilled glass towards Sar again.

The two just sat at the table talking and drinking whiskey as if they hadn't just wiped out a whole group of smugglers hours before.

"So what do you think?" Asked Sar having paused the drinking to ask a question.

"Think about what?" Alistar asked while he filled his own glass.

"This, helping people." Sar was curious especially after the story Alistar had told him.

Alistar was just about to down another glass but stopped hearing Sar's question. He placed the glass on the table before holding his chin as if he was deep in thought.

"To be honest, it wasn't quite what I expected. I had thought that things would be clearer that I would unlock something I guess." Alistar removed his hand from his chin and looked at Sar.

"But it didn't feel any different from my usual jobs really." Alistar tilted his head slightly. "Well with the exception of working with a Jedi." Alistar smiled a little. "So I think I really am made for this Bounty hunting business after all, though there is one thing this adventure changed."

Hearing this last bit made Sar raise an eyebrow.

"And that is?"

"The number of things on my list of things I trust." Alistar leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, looking at Sar, who just began to smile.

"Oh and is this new thing going to be: incredibly good looking red-haired Jedi, by any chance?" Sar wiggled his eyebrows as he spoke in a teasing voice.

Alistar sat up again and chuckled at the joke.

"Haha, no nothing that specific." Alistar lifted his glass up before he exclaimed.

"To friends!" Sar smiled at this and lifted his own glass, clinking it on Alistar's before he also exclaimed.

"To friends!"

***

Hulma was currently standing in a lonely canyon a long distance away from his former hideout. He had escaped using a Speeder he had placed at the exit of the escape tunnel and quickly escaped to this canyon.

He was tightly clutching the blaster he had hidden behind his back as he waited for Tyranus. He was constantly cursing the Jedi and the Republic as he waited. He had the blaster as a last measure if he could not convince Tyranus to give him another chance, he hoped to threaten him to reveal the method to revive his daughter and wife.

He didn't have to wait long as he soon spotted a ship heading towards the canyon. The Ship was shaped almost like an eyeball with two triangle shaped eyelashes at the top and bottom of the eye.

Hulma recognized the ship as it had been the one Tyranus had traveled in the first time he met him. Sweat began to roll down his forehead, and he could feel fear creeping up his spine as if telling him to run, but he couldn't do that.

The ship had arrived inside the canyon and turned around so that the back part was facing Hulma. A ramp then lowered, and a door slid open, revealing a dark cloaked figure.

Seeing the figure made Hulma tense up. The figure slowly began moving down from the ramp, his footsteps leaving no sound or footprints even as he walked on the sandy ground. He stopped a little distance away from Hulma.

"Lord Tyranus, I-" Hulma quickly went to explain with a shaky voice, but he was interrupted before he even began.

"Your failure is already known." The voice coming from the cloaked figure sounded aged, but it carried great strength and dignity.

Hearing those words made Hulma gulp and he was ready to draw his blaster at any moment, but he was caught off guard off guard by his next words.

"Afterall, your failure was expected." The voice remained indifferent to Hulma's growing confusion and concern.

"Ex-expected my lord?" Hulma asked in a trembling voice.

"Yes, after all that senator's son was no more than bait, I already have what I came here for." The voice made no sense, but Hulma was relieved that it didn't seem like he had messed anything up and had somehow fulfilled whatever they had wanted from him.

"Th-then my lord, what about my wife and-" Hulma was just about to ask him to fulfill his part of the bargain but was once again interrupted.

"You seem to misunderstand." The robed figure lifted his arms a bit pointing all ten of his fingers at Hulma. "Our deal was that I would revive your wife and daughter after you bring me the senator's son."

Hulma eyes widened, and he was just about to plead for another chance, but Tyranus continued.

"And yet I see no such person present. So I have no more use for you." The aged voice finished, and Hulma quickly tried to point his blaster at him, but before he could even react blue lightning shot out of Tyranus's fingertips engulfing him.

"Arghhhhhhh!" Hulma screamed out in pain as he felt every muscle in his body constrict due to the strong electricity. The lightning stopped, and Hulma crumbled to the ground, white steam floating from his body.

"Everlin, Lilly..." With his last breath, he uttered the names of his wife and daughter, the people he had hoped to save.

Tyranus just looked at the body before turning around and entering his ship. He entered something into his hologram-device before kneeling down before it. The image of another robed figure emerged. You could only see the bottom half of the figures face, and even that was darkened.

"I have accomplished your task, Master," Tyranus spoke to the hologram in a respectful voice while looking up at it from his kneeling position.

"Good, very good." The voice sounded sinister and hoarse. "Your observation, my apprentice?"

Tyranus answered immediately for fear of angering his Master.

"The boy shows great potential as you have already said, Master."

The hologram broke out into slight laughter.

"It would seem I will have to make a slight change in the plans." The figure then returned to its dark and sinister tone. "You know what you must do now Tyranus do not fail me."

Tyranus looked down before answering.

"Yes, Master." As soon as he had said this the hologram disappeared and Tyranus rose from his position. He acted quickly and entered the coordinates to the place where his next task was.

Dark plots were starting, and the galaxy would soon come to know that the Sith weren't as extinct as they all thought.