Corusant’s lower levels are quite active. With everyone who comes there seeking their own personal damnation, next big score, or the next sucker to take advantage of. Most places you go you would have to shout to be heard over the din, but here, in the relative comfort of a small quarters, the ambient roar was muffled to a dull moan. In the darkness, surrounded only by the light of a few vid screens and datapads, Dargo Karr studied each screen in turn. He had arranged for quite an elaborate system to be set up with a direct link to the Republic’s data centers. And while the Senate was footing the bill, he also arranged for state-of –the-art security systems and locks to be installed. He never cared about security before; he had nothing worth taking. He rarely even bothered to lock the door. But now, surrounded by profiles and dossiers, security reports and holo vids, he was finally beginning to feel like himself again. As long as the Republic was picking up the bill, he could have ordered a few comforts for himself, but he didn’t. The chair in which he sat was hard, but sturdy, and after so many years drinking and passing out in cantinas, he doubted his ability to sleep in a bed anymore.

Turning his attention to one of the datapads, he scowled and promptly dismissed the profile on the screen. He had been scowering records and reports for days, searching for candidates for his team to retrieve the stolen Safety Net plans…

It was going poorly.

He had organized clandestine operations before, of course, but then he had been serving in the military, and always had a wide pool of the best and brightest who were anxious to do their duty. Back then he could pick names almost at random and put effective teams together in a few minutes. Now, after days of searching, he had only a handful of possible candidates. All of whom would have to be recruited, and all of which had more than a few reasons to tell him to go pull a rancor’s tooth. Karr had his work cut out for him. He realized immediately that the odds of success in this mission were practically nil. Combine that with the fact that they wouldn’t be paid until after the mission, and it would be a hard sell. He could lie to gain their support. Tell them the mission would be easier than sunbathing on Tattooine and the money would make them filthy rich, but he wouldn’t do that. If there were any peace or redemption to be found in this mission, it would only come from the truth.

As he was about to dismiss another potential recruit, he received the alert from one of his vid screens that let him know that someone was calling him. He had disabled the standard ringing tone; it was insufferably irritating. Karr sighed heavily. It was probably the Senator’s representative looking for a progress update. Again. Karr was beginning to remember why he hated dealing with politicians. As he hit the button to answer the call, he was ready to give the little worm a piece of his mind.

“Look, I will never be done if you-“

His voice caught in his throat. There was no possible scenario he could have predicted that would lead to this. He sat slack-jawed. So surprised that a gentle breeze could have bowled him over.

The woman on the screen was strikingly beautiful, and all too familiar. Luxenna Bats was the daughter of Xen Bats, the old friend that Karr had killed in battle just a few years ago, and, technically speaking, she was still his god-daughter. Karr had never dared to show his face to her after the battle that claimed her father, but he had arranged, through a series of intermediaries, for all the money he won hustling games to be given to her as anonymous gifts. Luxenna was silent for a moment as well. The weight of the moment was clearly more than she had been anticipating, but, in the end, she had been preparing for this moment, and she recovered herself first.

“Hello Dargo. Don’t say anything yet, or I may lose my sense of purpose.”

She closed her eyes for a moment, and took a deep breath, then began to recite what was clearly a carefully prepared warning with an almost business-like efficiency.

“I didn’t follow my father’s footsteps in the military, but I still have friends there that keep me updated. Mostly gossip and the like, but occasionally I hear things worth knowing. I don’t know who exactly, or why, but the Imperial upper chain have sent a Sith warrior to hunt you down. Not a common foot soldier either, an actual Dark Jedi. I don’t know what they want with you, but it can’t be good. I don’t know where he is, but he is on his way, if he isn’t there already, so you need to go underground, before he finds you.”

Her warning delivered, her stoic demeanor began to slip, and she once again appeared as a vessel of uncertainty and confusion. Karr didn’t trust his own voice. Couldn’t move to clear the burning wetness gathering in his eyes. After a moment that felt like an eternity, the combined whole of his remaining faculties was just enough for him to ask “Why?”

She looked back at him. Her expression became somewhat clearer; maybe even softened a bit.

“Why do I bother warning you? Why don’t I curse you? Why do I still care about the man who killed my father?”

She looked away for a moment. She bit a fingernail nervously. Her Heart and mind were at war, for obvious reasons. Unable to reconcile the two, she looked back at Karr.

“I honestly didn’t know what I was going to say when I called. I didn’t know for sure if I would warn you away or ensure you walked right into his hands.”

And then, her face smoother. A soft, gentle smile appeared on her face. The years of inner conflict had drained away. Her heart and mind had settles on a side. She looked Karr straight in the eyes.

“You look like bantha fodder. At first, I thought you were sending me the money out of some kind of obligation, and yes, I knew it was you, I’m the daughter of a strategist, remember? I thought perhaps you were trying to absolve yourself, but looking at you now I can see that you only wanted to take care of me, and you have hated yourself more than I ever could. I started a clinic, did you know that? The Xen Bats Trauma Recovery Center, using the money that you sent me. We have physical therapy for wounded soldiers, grief counseling and support groups for families, victims and traumatized soldiers. It is completely free, and everyone is welcome, regardless of which side they have supported.”

Perhaps it was the stunned silence, or maybe the confusion on his face, but she seemed to answer his unspoken question.

“How can I forgive you so easily? Well, it wasn’t easy. I hated you for a long time. For a while it felt like I blamed to whole war on you. But, like I said, I still have friends in the military, and I can find things out when I want to. I saw the holo vids from the Battle of Narth and the records of the transmissions between the Republic and the Empire. I know you tried to talk my father down but he didn’t want to listen. And I also know that you only destroyed them when they tried to kill you all after you had already surrendered. I wanted to blame you, I really did, but I have watched those vids hundreds of times. I know every word that was said, and I had to admit that you were a good man placed in a bad situation.”

She glanced at her wrist. Her tone became business-like once more.

“My time is almost up. Go to ground Dargo, the hunter will be there soon and I don’t want you to die.”

She reached over to end the call, but paused. She looked to the screen once more, the softened expression returning to her face.

“And Dargo… Take care of yourself.”

The screen shut down. Karr sat staring at the empty space where she had been, his mind reeling. An hour passed, the only sound was the constant muffled roar of Corusant’s comings and goings.

When he finally looked up, a new man looked through his eyes. The one person in the universe that could have saved him had just thrown him a life-line. He believed, for the first time in years, that redemption was truly possible. He picked up his datapad with a new sense of purpose, and looked at the list of names. Thirteen potential candidates to meet, a Sith Stalker on his tail, a suicide mission to plan, and a planet to save. A wolfish grin crossed his face.

“Looks like this might be fun after all.”