Mission's announcement stunned Bastila.

"You... lost... Carth's... blaster?" the Jedi repeated in shock.

"Well, he shouldn't have left it behind in the first place," Mission replied with a trace of indignation.

"You... lost... Carth's... blaster?!"

Bastila was starting to look a little scary. "Jedi control, Bastila," Mission reminded her. "Jedi control."

"Mission!"

"I know, I know… he's going to kill me!" The Twi'lek joined the Jedi down on the floor of her room aboard the Ebon Hawk, where she'd been meditating before Mission had interrupted her. "Please, you have to help me!"

"What happened?"

"I already told you—"

"No, no… details, details."

"Oh. Well, I was rooting around the ship and found where Carth keeps all his stuff." Bastila glared at her at this. "What? Why are you looking at me that way? I'm just a naturally curious person, that's all!

"Anyway, when I found his blaster, I suddenly had a great idea. You know how he's always complaining that he needs to upgrade the scope, but he somehow never finds the time to do it? Well, it just so happens I know this merchant, Yigelsa, over in west Ahto, who can fit a very nice scope onto a blaster for a great price. I thought it'd be great to surprise him with it."

"Very considerate of you, Mission. We've only been on Manaan a few days now; how is it possible that you know this much about it already?"

"I get around. It beats sulking about the ship when you get ditched by the others."

"I am not sulking, Mission. And we were not ditched. While the others are investigating Hrakert Rift, someone has to be responsible, and stay with the ship, while apparently the other is out gallivanting around losing her friends' prized possessions."

"Gallivanting around? Hey, I'm gathering important information here. Contacts, gossip, rumors, intel. It's a sight more useful than moping on the ship, mooning after—"

Bastila sniffed in indignation. "I am not moping, nor am I mooning after anyone. I was meditating. It is an important daily routine for us Jedi."

"So why don't I see Enosh meditating more? He doesn't seem the worse for it."

"He's—he's just different in how he approaches things."

"He's different. I understand you, Bas."

"And what is that supposed to mean? Are you trying to infer something?"

"Of course not. I'm just a kid, remember? Now can we get back to our problem?"

"Our--?"

"Anyway, I also had an old Arkanian blaster I wanted to sell, so I figured I could do both while you and T3 guarded the ship. But on the way to Yigelsa's place, I see this punk Rodian kid, claiming he's some hotshot Pazaak player. Of course, I didn't believe it for one second... this kid looks like he just got weaned! I knew he or his handlers must be pulling some sort of scam, fishing for gullible marks in the streets."

"My head is starting to hurt."

"So I thought I'd teach this nerfherder a lesson or two about Pazaak. I didn't have enough credits on me to meet this kid's minimum pot, so I put up the blaster I was going to sell as my wager. And… uh, I lost," she finished sheepishly. "Turns out he's legitimate."

"Has anyone talked to you about your gambling?"

"No, but I have a feeling it's about to happen very soon now. Hey, Enosh does it, too!" she protested to Bastila's stare.

"Yes, well, I've already spoken to Enosh about this on more than one occasion," Bastila replied frostily.

"Great! Look, why don't you save the lecture until he's back, and you can give it to the both of us together and save yourself some duplication. Now can we get back to our problem please?"

"Our problem?"

"I put the wrong blaster in the pot. It's not my fault; Carth's blaster looks just like a stock Arkanian blaster on the outside, aside from that family symbol that you can barely see because it's faded so much. Hmmm… maybe Yigelsa can do something to fix that; I'll have to ask her later. Anyway, I didn't find out until later, when I went to Yigelsa's, that I'd got the blasters switched. So I hurried back and tracked down that Rodian, only to find out the little schutta had already sold Carth's blaster to someone! A merchant named Thelgarn, who runs a weapons store over in east Ahto, right next to the Sith embassy."

"So? Did you go see this Thelgarn?"

"Not really. When I went inside, it was packed with Sith soldiers, doing their shopping or something. He spotted me and yelled at me to get out." She sighed. "It wouldn't have mattered anyway. Knowing how much these merchants mark up their merchandise, I couldn't afford to buy back Carth's blaster anyway.

"That's it. That's the end of my story. So, are you ready to help me?"

"Help you?"

"Yes! Help me get it back!"

"Mission, I think the best course of action is to wait for the others to return."

"But then Carth will know I lost it! He'll think I'm irresponsible!"

"And exactly how would that be inaccurate?"

"Besides, who knows how long it will take for the others to get back from that undersea station? If we wait for them to come back, Thelgarn might sell Carth's blaster to someone else! You wouldn't want to be responsible for losing Carth's blaster, would you, Bas?"

"Me? Mission, that doesn't even make any sense."

"Here I am, all prepared to retrieve Carth's blaster, and here you are, dragging your feet, all content to sit here and 'meditate' while some smelly Gamorrean buys Carth's blaster and takes it all the way to Gamorr. Carth will hate me forever, and it'll all be your fault! Thanks for turning your back on a friend in need, Bastila! I'll be sure to pay back the favor sometime!"

"Mission! I am not 'turning my back' on you! And please stop being so dramatic! Let's be calm and reasonable here. You've already admitted that you can't afford to buy back Carth's blaster, which obviously means that whatever you're thinking about is dangerous. However, the others have enough credits to buy back Carth's blaster. It's the safest, simplest solution."

"As long as someone else doesn't buy it."

"Highly unlikely."

"Oh, I understand."

"Understand? Understand what?"

"And here I thought you were different. Someone to look up to. A role model."

"Mission, what ever are you talking about?"

"Too afraid to do anything by yourself, huh? Not used to making decisions on your own?"

"That's a ridiculous conclusion to make, Mission, and also a very transparent attempt to—"

"No, no, it's okay, I understand. We'll just wait here nice and quiet like the little girls we are, pull out our knitting, and wait for the big strong guys to come back and fix our problem for us."

"Our? When did this become our problem? And I am not some indecisive, helpless—"

"That's the spirit, Bas!" Mission jumped up to her feet. "Come on, I've got a plan!"

Bastila remained seated. "I'm sorry, Mission, but I think we should wait for the others."

Mission dropped back to the floor, kneeling before the seated Jedi. "Bas—Bastila… please! Please! You have to help me. I know I've made a mistake, but I also know that I can make amends."

"I'm sure you think you can, but—"

"Please, Bastila! I'm—I'm just a kid. Do you want to see me beg? Cry?"

"Of course not, Mission. I'm not heartless, no matter what everyone else aboard this ship thinks. I just think it would be safest—"

A tear leaked out.

"Mission, please. This isn't worth—"

Another tear followed.

"It isn't worth it to get so, so—"

Mission's lower lip began to tremble.

"Well—well, I guess… it couldn't hurt to try—"

Bastila was suddenly caught up in an enthusiastic hug from the Twi'lek. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, Bastila! I take back all the mean things I've said about you behind your back, every single one of them!"

"What?"

"Oh, don't mind me, just kidding!" Mission smiled.

"One condition, Mission."

"What's that?"

"After all this is said and done, you have to tell Carth the truth about what happened."

"But—but what does it matter, if we get his blaster back?"

"Mission! This is non-negotiable."

"But I don't understand—fine, okay, okay. I will tell Carth the truth about what happened."