mirrored on AO3

Note: for story purposes the only canon is the original movie trilogy, KoTOR 1 and KoTOR 2. I'll consult the Expanded Universe but not too deeply.

Downtime

Carth knew something was wrong as soon as he got the call to report to Admiral Dodonna's office and receive his new assignment. No one had to report in person for a routine assignment. Probably going to stick me behind some desk, he thought with a scowl as he reached for the datapad the Admiral handed him.

Not a dirt-side assignment, at least, he thought with some relief as he read though the datapad. His brow furrowed when he finished reading much faster than he expected. He even tried shaking the pad to see if some bug was hiding a second page.

"Is there a problem, Commander Onasi?" Admiral Dodonna asked.

"Advisor position? Under the command of the Jedi. On a classified mission. To parts unknown. This uh, isn't, that is, I thought I would be going back to the front lines with my unit."

"Are you filing a formal refusal to follow orders?"

"What? No, no, of course not. But is Command certain I'm the best man for this job? Whatever it is."

"Yes."

"And I have to go into this blind. There's nothing you can tell me about the nature of this assignment."

"Information will be given on a need to know basis. And you don't need to know at this point."

Carth was a good soldier, but there were times he wished he could tell Command to go suck a rancor. He stood up and saluted. "I understand, Admiral. Will that be all?"

Dodonna sighed and leaned back in her chair. "No, Carth, you don't understand. Just believe me when I tell you this assignment is of the highest importance. The Jedi are up to something dangerous, and we need you to keep an eye on them."

"Yes, Admiral. Will that be all?"

"Not quite," she said. "You haven't left the base in weeks. You need to take some time off, have some fun, do something besides training and paperwork," she pulled a card out from her side pocket. "Here, this leave's on me. Take my expense card and go have some fun."

He took the card reluctantly. "Thank you, Admiral."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The music was loud, most of the patrons wore much too revealing clothes, and the drinks were flowing far too freely for his taste. He would never have come here without being ordered to. Technically he wasn't ordered to visit the cantina, but when your Fleet Commander tells you that you need some downtime, and then tells you to send her your bar tab, well, you had better have a bar tab to send her.

At least this was a cantina that catered to the military, which meant the patrons would leave him alone. Being a decorated hero of the Republic could be a pain in the ass around civilians. No one here would be rude enough to approach him asking for 'war stories'.

"Fleet! Hey, you old son-of-a-zabrak!"

Well, almost no one. He knew that over loud, over cheerful voice. He'd served with Tomak years ago, even before the Mandalorian Wars. They had been through too much together for Carth to get away with ignoring the old bastard. He looked around the floor until he spotted Tomak waving at him from a table by the window.

"Carth!" Tomak said happily when he reached the table. "I didn't think you ever left the base." He stood up and grabbed Carth's arm, pulling him down into the seat beside him. "Sit down, sit down."

Tomak turned and grinned widely at the woman beside him. "We've got a genuine Hero of the Republic with us today. Drink up, and let us all rejoice at our good fortune!"

Carth groaned. "Keep it down you idiot, stop imitating a troop groupie."

"But the excitement, the wonder of it all! The great, the one and only, Carth Onasi is gracing us with his presence! This is unheard of, unprecedented, unbelievable!" Tomak winked. "Seriously, what brings you here? I can't recall the last time you did anything but work around here."

"I was ordered to take some downtime, if you must know," he grumbled. "The Admiral insisted I take her expense card, and now I have to get some credits on it. Anyone need a drink? Feel free to buy the good stuff."

"Oh, you poor man," the woman simpered, fanning herself with one hand. "The life of a soldier is truly one of hardship and despair."

Carth looked her over. Dirty blond hair, as under-dressed as the rest of the patrons, and displaying skin which carried the too smooth and too pale look of someone just out of a Kolto tank. He could see the barely visible outline of a blaster beneath her dark shirt. "And you would be?"

She leaned back and threw her arms out. "I am the best damned advance Scout in the Republic, if not the entire Galaxy! Consurralita Donazar at your service. I'm not kidding about being the best Scout ever, either. You should have seen what this nerf-head offered me to rejoin the Military. Better pay than a Grand Admiral. Between you and me, I was holding out for the offer of my own senatorial seat."

"She's exaggerating. We didn't offer her that many credits," Tomak said.

"He's trying to recruit you? What, has the Republic taken up Sith tactics? Get 'em drunk then sign 'em up?"

"I resent that," Tomak sputtered, waving a glass around. "I'm not trying to recruit Consu anymore. She doesn't want to join up, and this is me admitting it."

"He's been badgering me to re-enlist for days, ever since I got released from the hospital. Practically met me on the doorstep. It took a lot of work, but I finally got him to admit defeat. Poor guy needed a break after beating his head against the rock of Consu for so long, so I brought him here to have a little fun."

"Why won't you stay in the fleet if they need you so much?" Carth said, frowning. "The war's nowhere near ending, and the Republic needs all the good people it can get. If we lose this war than the Sith will plunge the Galaxy into centuries of darkness."

"Now we know why the great Carth Onasi is slumming in the Cantina," Consu said, dropping her head on the table with an audible thump. "No more recruiting, please. I don't wanna fight, and you can't make me. There's got to be someone else you can get. I'm good, and I've been lucky a few times, but I'm not that good. I don't know where you guys get your info from but someone really padded my file."

"Whoa now, I'm not here to recruit you, I don't even know you! I just ..."

"Let it go, Carth," Tomak said quietly. "The Lady served her time."

"I spent more than fifteen years serving the Republic," Consu said lifting her head off the table. "On my last mission I ended up as close to death as you can get without actually crossing over. Is it that hard to understand that I woke up a little bit changed? Right now all I want to do is take some time off to have a little fun," She leaned across the table and reached for Carth's expense card. "Speaking of fun, you did mention you wanted to get some credits on this thing. You mind if I borrow it for few minutes? I'm going to go bribe the band to play something better than that head-splitting dreck that's so popular right now."

"Go ahead," Carth said.

"Want to dance?" Consu asked Tomak.

"Oh, hell, no," both Tomak and Carth replied at once. Tomak glared at Carth and then waved Consu off. "Long story, involving a horrendous incident on the dance floor that led to half a destroyed base on Telos back in our raw recruit days. You go ahead and have fun."

"Black Ops?" Carth asked, turning his head to watch Consu make her way towards the bar.

"Don't know, her file is fairly ordinary, but you know that doesn't mean anything," Tomak said. "The Jedi Council wants her for the same hush-hush mission they just roped you into; with those guys that could just mean some Knight saw a vision of Consu after breathing in some meditation fumes."

"What the hell do you know about my current mission," Carth sputtered. He looked around furtively. "And what are you doing bringing it up here?"

"Oh please, you think no one would notice when one of our top ships, several men and officers from various units, and a bunch of Jedi are being sent on a mission? Half the base knows something's up."

"I didn't know," Carth said sullenly. He leaned forwards and lowered his voice. "You wouldn't happen to have heard any rumours about the specifics of this mission, have you?"

"Sorry," Tomak said. "There's a lot of wild suggestions out there, but none you can put any credits on."

Any further discussion was interrupted by the sound of cheering coming from the bar. Carth twisted to see a crowd mobbing the bartenders. "Now what?"

"I think I heard someone yell 'drinks for everybody'," Tomak said, pointing at Consu who was now dancing on the bar while holding something over her head. Something that looked very much like the Admiral's expense card.

Carth groaned. Tomak slapped him on the back. "At least now the Admiral will believe you when you tell her you had a really good time."

"The Admiral's going to kill me," Carth said when Consu sauntered back. He snatched the expense card from her hand and glared at her.

Consu laughed and sat down in Tomak's lap. "Your friend worries too much," she said, tucking a strand of Tomak's dark hair behind his ear. "Maybe he'll lighten up when the dancers I ordered for this table get here."

"Depends if they're male or female," Tomak said.

"I ordered one of each," Consu replied.

Carth finished his drink, and watched Consu with narrowed eyes. He was trying to decide if it would do any good to scold her, when she suddenly stiffened and frowned.

"Buzz-kill alert," Consu said, hooking an arm possessively around Tomak.

"What?" Tomak said looking around. He spotted three brown-robed Jedi heading their way. "Oh, not to worry, I know Master Kavar and he's one of the better robes, he comes by every once in a while and tries to drink me under the table."

"Evening, Master Kavar," Tomak said when the Jedi reached their table. "Care to join us for a drink?"

"Not tonight, Tomak," Kavar said sorrowfully. "This is business."

"I knew it!" Consu groaned.

"Huh, looks like buzz-kill was the right word," Tomak muttered.

Kavar sat down and smiled brightly at the scowling Consu. "We just want to talk to you, that's all. I'm not sure you understand just how much the Republic needs good Scouts like you."

"I don't think you people understand the meaning of the word no. No, I'm not rejoining. No, I don't care how 'invaluable my expertise is'. No, I don't want to talk anymore. No, I'm not going to stop myself from shooting the next idiot who tries to recruit me."

"Come now, we just want to talk. There's no harm in talking is there?" Kavar said softly. "I'm sorry for ruining your evening, but I'm sure you won't mind giving us a couple of hours of your time."

Consu blinked, and then smiled at Kavar. "I ... I suppose I could give you a couple of hours of my time. There's no harm in talking." She kissed Tomak lightly, and then stood up and sighed. "Sorry I have to cut this short, Tomak, we should do this again sometime. And it was nice meeting you, Carth."

"What just happened?" Carth asked Tomak as he watched Consu leave with the Jedi Master.

Tomak sighed. "Damn robes and their holostar looks. There goes my date for the evening," he signalled the waitress over. "Want another drink?"

"Make it a double."