Hey guys!
Sorry this is a little late, but it is long, so I get some credit for that... I hope. This is the Hidden Beks, the Undercity, and the sewers (including the rancor)--I'm getting it all over with. Anyway, when we left off it was with a vague sort of cliffhanger, so I won't keep you in suspense any longer...
Disclaimer: Don't own KotOR
Slum: a thickly populated, run-down, squalid part of a city, inhabited by poor people
Carth sat at the bar, feeling distinctly overworked. One hand was kneading his head, which was still aching from his encounter with a chatterbox Twi'lek flanked by a Wookiee. An odd pair, and it was odder still when the girl had managed to talk for almost a minute straight without a single pause: swearing she knew him from somewhere or other, and trying to figure out what holo he had been in that she had seen. He had tried to ask her about Ashi, but with no luck.
He sighed, took a sip of the drink and didn't taste it, and admitted it: he was worried about her. He didn't doubt her ability to get in trouble on accident, let alone if she was in a bad mood and looking for it. She hadn't come back, either, which led him to think she must be dead, arrested, or still angry with him.
They all sounded pretty bad.
He took another gulp from his bottle, and leaned against the bar, frowning angrily. He shouldn't be this concerned. It was pointless; after all, it wasn't like she couldn't take care of herself. It also wasn't like he should care whether she was there or not. She was annoying, and reckless, and impulsive, and…
Damn. That didn't sound reassuring at all.
Just as he sat down, he heard a number of voices and whistles coming from somewhere to his right. "What's going on over there?" he asked a man next to him, half-turning without really mustering any interest.
"I don't know," the man replied, glancing back over his shoulder with far more enthusiasm, "but it looks worth seeing. You know," he added suddenly, "I heard there's auditions for the dancers on or something. This's probably one of them." He stood up, new eagerness in his steps, and began to saunter over.
Carth glanced over to where the noise was coming from. The dancers were in the next room over, but there was an obvious crowd, and they all looked like they were enjoying the show. Carth frowned—despite several good times during his earlier days in the fleet, it was his impulse now to shun that kind of thing—but then decided unexpectedly, what the hell. Anything, to take his mind off of Ashi and how worried he was, when by all rights he should be thanking space.
He headed over wearily to stand at the back of the crowd, only able to partly see past the many people in front of him. It was an audition, he supposed, but to his vague surprise, only one of the dancers was Twi'lek. The other was human, but a quick scan around told him he'd be damned if she wasn't getting more attention. In fact, she was maybe even better than the other; her dancing was shamelessly seductive, and enough to provoke glares from the regular Twi'leki dancers. All the men in the crowd were grinning and many were whistling, too, including the one from the bar.
Normally, Carth might be whistling too, but at that moment he was having trouble even moving his lips. His gaze was fixed steadily on the human girl: he couldn't make out her face, but he could definitely see her slender body and the sway of her hips as she danced alongside the Twi'lek, and damn, it was enough. Her pale skin seemed to glow in the hazy cantina light, giving her an almost mirage-like appearance, and next to her the Twi'leks' coloring seemed suddenly flamboyant and gaudy. Although, he thought dazedly, but for her skin tone—pale rather than red—Carth wouldn't have hesitated to bet that she was from Zeltron.
"Check out the girl," remarked the man, nudging him and grinning widely. It was obvious he was referring to the human. "Even better than the regular dancers they have here. Can't believe they haven't hired her yet."
Carth nodded slowly. "I know what you mean," he replied, eyes still glued to her. Frack.
The man continued, unperturbed. "I had no idea she could dance like that. I mean, she's fracking hot anyway, but…" He trailed off, shaking his head again. "But I'd be careful," he warned suddenly. "She's fiery. I was talking to her earlier: frack, she's got a temper."
"Yeah?" Carth nodded, only half paying attention—anyway, half his attention for this man seemed to be one half too many.
"Better believe it," replied Holden with a grimace, not really caring. "I mean, it's hot and all—bet that makes things pretty fun, huh?—but damn. I tried talking to her, you know, all charming and everything, and she nearly bites my head off. And then I find out she's a fracking dancer? Usually they're pretty into that kind of thing." His clear irritation sparked in the words, spurred on by the Tarisian ale clenched in his hand.
Suddenly, however, a grin curled across his face, as he took a sideways swig from the bottle. "You think she's drunk?" he asked unexpectedly, glancing to Carth.
At that, the soldier half-frowned; slowly but surely, he was paying less and less notice to everything but the human girl. "What? Why?"
The man smirked widely. "Ever seen anyone dance like that and be sober?" he posed, with a leer that made it clear he considered 'drunk' exactly his type. The next second, however, he groaned loudly as the dance came to an end. The two dancers straightened up, each flashing the obviously disappointed crowd a teasing smile, and Carth felt all the color drain from his face as he caught sight of the human dancer's face.
There was no way she was that goddamn stupid. It couldn't possibly be her… except that it was.
"No," croaked Carth. "I don't think she's drunk. I think she's insane."
He stared, half-stepping forward towards Ashi. Holdan stared. "You know her?" he demanded incredulously. "Frack—you're a lucky son-of-a-schutta." Carth paid him no attention; most of his head was still stuck on what he'd just seen.
I wouldn't have been thinking that if I'd known it was Ashi, he thought, failing to convince even himself. In an effort to halt the thought in its tracks, he craned his neck to catch sight of her again. She was beaming, looking far too damn happy, and talking animatedly with her partner and a pleased-looking green Twi'lek who had been watching them.
Well, you're fracking hired, he thought irritably. Whatever he'd been thinking, it wasn't his fault; it was her fault for being the thoughts' catalyst. What was she even doing, dancing in a cantina in a fracking scumhole? For a moment, he even debated going over to her and demanding an answer to that question, but then realized the potential embarrassment of this, and the satisfaction she would get from realizing he had been shamelessly watching her performance.
And, besides, that was if she wasn't still angry. Instead, he gave her a final pointless scowl over the sea of heads, and went to sit sullenly at a table near the door, ready to find her when she came back.
It was a few minutes later that Ashi reappeared, wearing her regular clothes and a Cheshire cat grin. She strolled out of the room, still with the other dancer and talking effervescently. He had hoped for subtlety, but, hawk-like, her eyes darted suddenly to him, and he felt the undeniable contact before he could yank his gaze to the ground. Turning, she murmured something to the Twi'lek, before sauntering over and sitting down next to him. A wicked smile painted her lips
It's your fault, thought Carth with no conviction.
"Enjoy the show?" she asked, and even though he had predicted the question, he still flushed bright red. For a few seconds, he stumbled for words, before settling on the obvious and taking the offensive.
"What in space were you doing?" he demanded angrily. He willed his face to look irritated. He had been watching out for her, and she was stubbornly refusing to be kept out of trouble.
Inwardly, she gave a sigh—seeing him in the crowd, she'd hoped… she didn't know what. Something. Immediately, she looked hurt as only practiced liars can. "Dancing," she replied innocently. "I thought you saw." I know you saw, said a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth.
Still, he stared at her. "Why? Of all the things you could be doing to look for Bastila, you decided to go fill in as a cantina dancer instead?"
She paused, tilting her head to the side, before frowning at him. "Yes. Did you really want an answer to that question?" When he glared at her, she rolled her eyes, waving a dismissive hand at him. "Oh, lighten up. Besides, I was thinking I'd join them," she said, fixing him with a look that dared him to argue.
To her surprise, he matched her pace for pace. "Go, then," he replied flatly, with a jerk of his head. "Bring some diversity to the cantinas."
At that, she laughed aloud. "Frack, no. I'm not wasting raw talent like this in a cantina."
"Waiting for someone special to waste it on?" he wondered, with a rakish grin that took years off his face—the fact that the smile also made him suddenly very good-looking didn't escape Ashi's notice.
"Yeah, can't you tell I'm desperate to be tied down?" she replied, rolling her eyes, and he couldn't help a small smile. He had asked for that.
"Well, anyway, I'm sure the crowd will be sad to see you go," he offered, although there was an edge to his voice that she didn't miss. He might have been watching the show, but, the fracking hypocrite, he still seemed to feel the need to go parental on her. Ashi sensed a fairly unwelcome pattern reemerging.
"You better not be getting all protective again," she cautioned, crossing her arms. "Start a bar fight next time, if you're so pissed off at them. I'd be flattered."
Immediately he shook his head. "There's not going to be a next time," he stated firmly, leaving no space for argument in the words.
"Whatever," Ashi muttered, shrugging it off dismissively. "Try everything once, and all that." You take that very seriously, don't you? he thought, but didn't say it aloud; her expression had already shifted from mischief to vague worry and cut him off. "You're not mad, right?" she asked carefully, scrutinizing his face for any lingering trace of irritation.
Despite himself, Carth felt a smile flittering across his lips, and shook his head. "No," he reassured her calmly, and then added with a grin, "although you don't get to go to the cantina on your own anymore."
"Probably had it coming," she agreed amiably, leaning back with far more ease than anyone should be able to muster in a place like this.
"What about me?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Am I forgiven?"
She tilted her head, considering; he marveled absently at how quickly she could switch moods. "Well, you're not forgiven for calling me a spy…" she drawled, a half-grin not concealing the obvious exasperation there.
Against his better instincts, he frowned in protest. "I didn't call you that!"
"That's right, you just implied it," she snapped. Then, "Wait, no." She lowered her gaze to the table, fingers playing absently along its rim. "I am sorry I got so mad. But…" She hesitated, and there was a pleading look in her eyes when she lifted her head again. "I need you to trust me, all right? I can trust you, if you trust me."
Carth stared into her face, impossibly hopeful, for a long moment. She looked so open, so caring. He wanted to trust her, almost, and he did want to be able to be trusted. But he had learned a long time ago that traitors came in all kinds of packages.
He shook his head. "I can't," he replied gruffly. Before him, Ashi's face fell like a house of cards—it must take years of practice, he observed, to look that upset so quickly—but he continued mercilessly, "And if you're smart, you won't trust anyone either—not me, and definitely not yourself."
"Ah," Ashi said knowingly, leaning forward onto one hand and eyeing him playfully. "You don't trust yourself, is that it?" A smirk played across her lips, but somehow didn't reach her still-angry eyes.
He sighed, shaking his head tiredly. "Look, this isn't the time for this," he proclaimed. "How about we worry about something important right now?"
Her eyebrows drew together. "I think this is important."
"All right, all right!" Carth groaned, holding up his hands in surrender. "You must be the most damned persistent woman I've ever met. We'll talk about it, but later, okay?" She rolled her eyes, but nodded reluctantly.
"Fine," she agreed, making no attempt to hide her distaste. Turning away to face Lyn the next second, she muttered /Arrogant nerf-herder/ darkly in Twi'leki. The dancer burst out laughing, especially after a glance at a very nervous-looking Carth. They were both finding his non-knowledge of Twi'leki very funny.
/How do you know him, though?/ she asked curiously, looking again between the pilot and the smuggler. They certainly seemed like an unlikely pair. In fact, Lyn had already begun to form her own theories on exactly why a soldier was helplessly following her new friend around cantinas, and it had amused her to no end, particularly as she watched the two arguing.
Ashi shrugged, unwilling to verify any of Lyn's suspicions. /He's a friend/ she explained, and then added, upon further consideration, /sometimes./
The Twi'lek raised her eyebrows suggestively, not bothering to hide her surprise or her skepticism. /Only a friend? I don't think he'd mind being more./
Ashi's mouth dropped open as she stared at Lyn, stunned. /Uh, you have to be kidding. Republic/—damn, she thought, as soon as the nickname was out, but no matter; she doubted Lyn was likely to turn them over to the Sith—/over there and I don't exactly click. Haven't you seen how different we are?/ She paused, and then added for emphasis /As in, like, polar opposite different?/
They both turned and looked at Carth simultaneously, who looked utterly lost as he tried to decipher their conversation. He recoiled nervously as both girls briefly scrutinized him and then resumed talking.
Lyn gave a delicate shrug of her bare shoulders. /Opposites attract, I've heard/ she offered calmly. She had seen him well enough; to be fair, being a Twi'lek, she was naturally more perceptive than humans, but Ashi's pilot had still caught her eye. He didn't look quite like he fit in with the rest of the Lower City, and he hadn't been giving her the slightest attention—his eyes had been fixed on firmly on the smuggler. Lyn was surprised, and slightly doubtful, that Ashi hadn't noticed at all. /You really didn't notice how he looked at you?/ she asked.
Ashi grimaced. /It's usually more like glaring/ she admitted, and Lyn heard the honesty in her words. Still, she shook her head emphatically, headtails twitching in aggravation.
/When you were dancing, though./ When Ashi raised her eyebrows doubtfully, the Twi'lek sighed. /You humans are so stubborn./
At that, the shadow of a smile crossed Ashi's face. /So I've been told/ she affirmed lightly. Then reverting back to Basic—mostly to surprise Carth—she sighed, "I guess we'd better go, Lyn. Good luck with the dancing and all."
Lyn smiled at Ashi gratefully, waving goodbye as they started away. "Remember what I said about opposites," she added loudly, with a mischievous smirk that Ashi was clearly meant to catch.
She rolled her eyes, tugging Carth by an arm to the exit. "What was that all about?" he asked with plain curiosity, as the door ground open in front of them. "More secrets?"
"Lyn," Ashi said firmly, "is looking for something where it doesn't exist." She walked briskly out of the cantina, and into the graffiti-ridden street, leaving Carth to follow and wonder what in space she had meant.
Ashi led him to the entrance to the Hidden Bek base, having been already told by Mission where it was. A guard interrupted them, but with her usual charisma, Ashi managed to calm her down enough to let them in. Albeit suspiciously, the woman escorted them inside after hearing a word-perfect description of Mission Vao, and accepting that Ashi had won the girl's worthy approval.
The base was lit by the same florescent lights of the street, but they were brighter, maintained with obvious pride. The same went for the rest of the base: crates were stacked throughout it, but neatly in piles; though graffiti still festooned the walls, it advertised only one gang. The base were lively, too, with the sound of dozens of people talking, arguing, conspiring, and generally living, however, and that lit the rooms more than any lighting could. Ashi could fit in easily, something about her stride making her instantly a part of the crowd, but Carth found himself pegged with several suspicious glances as he followed—perhaps something to do with the armed guard next to him. It wasn't unusual to be careful with newcomers; it was to not have shot someone shady already.
Making their way to a mid-sized room scattered with paper and machinery, they were quickly introduced to Gadon Thek and his overzealous bodyguard. Ashi, to her merit and Carth's appreciation, immediately asked Gadon if he had heard anything about escape pods crashing in the Undercity.
"Ah," he replied as she asked, a shrewd smile on his face. "Interested in that, are you?"
"They could be spies, Gadon!" accused the bodyguard, although she didn't spare Ashi or Carth a glance as she spoke. "They could be working for the Vulkars, or the Sith!"
Both Ashi and Carth looked largely offended at her allegation. "I'm no Vulkar," said Ashi immediately. "And I don't plan on being one, either. They're a bunch of filthy punks." Gadon found himself unable to doubt her, so sure and insulted was her tone; when she added, "Beat some up in the street this morning, though," he found himself grinning along with her.
Carth's face, however, was filled with something far from humor. Eyes flashing dangerously, he declared icily, "And we are not Sith." His voice, soft and dangerous, carried an unmistakable edge. "You can be sure of that."
"Honestly, Zaedra!" sighed Gadon, looking annoyed and sounding like he had already had this argument. "If the Sith thought we knew anything useful, they'd have a battalion of troops kicking down our doors. These people aren't Sith, and I can't seem to believe that you might be Vulkars, either," he continued, with a half-smile to Ashi. "Although," he observed, stroking his chin mostly for effect, "you look like you're not locals, either. And interested in the escape pods…"
He stopped, and then shrewd comprehension spread across his face. "You wouldn't be looking for a crewmate, would you?" he wondered.
"And if we are? Although," Ashi amended quickly, "ex-crewmate; I'm not Republic any more." She smiled cockily, despite Carth's glare and his obvious annoyance at her being so free with their identities.
The Bek leader shrugged. "I have no problems with it, if that's what you mean. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, as they say, and next to the Vulkars, the Sith are my enemies right now."
She shot Carth a see? look, wondering, "You've got problems with the Sith?"
"A foreign army invades our planet, declares martial law, and cuts off all travel to and from the planet?" His voice rose slightly as he listed, losing just a hint of its nonchalance. "Damn right, I have a problem with that."
Ashi nodded. "Yeah, I think I can see where that gets annoying." She paused, and then offered slowly, "So, uh, about those escape pods…"
Gadon laughed, a chuckle deep in his throat that Ashi immediately trusted. "Persistent, aren't you?" he observed, but didn't wait for an affirmation. "Very well. I do know a little bit about the escape pods, and I think I can pass on the knowledge. After all, it can't hurt us, but it could cause problems for the Vulkars, and," he said, with a conspiratorial grin, "that's okay in my book."
He settled into his chair, tilting his head back to look up at them. "The Black Vulkars got to those pods first, I'm afraid. A shame, too, as you'll never guess what they found—or, actually," he added, eyeing first Ashi and then Carth, "maybe you might. Would you be looking for a female Republic officer called Bastila?" he wondered coolly.
Carth gasped, and Ashi's eyes widened. It was a reaction she could have hidden, but, at ease with Gadon, she didn't bother. "Damn. Well, that complicates things," she muttered, glaring at Carth as if it were entirely his fault—which, to some extent and with some heavy justifications, it was. "What'll happen to her now?"
The gang leader sighed, rubbing a jaw sprinkled with faint gray stubble. "I'm afraid your friend has become a pawn in Brejik's plan to take over the Lower City," he said, and his voice was weary; this seemed to be a plan he had spent too long thwarting. "He hopes to win the support of other, smaller gangs, by putting her up as a prize for the swoop championship."
Ashi nodded; Mission, the walking encyclopedia of Taris, had filled her in on the basics of swoop racing. "So what can my friend and I do? We need to rescue Bastila; she kind of can't become a slave. Not that I care, but you know, it's one of those 'fate of the galaxy' things," she said lightly, the last few words accompanied by a crooked smile. Again, ludicrous as the words sounded, she spoke them with such assuredness that Gadon couldn't help but to believe them.
"Yes, you seem like a person who might be involved in that sort of thing," he observed, nodding calmly. He leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms behind his head in a relaxed manner. His expression contained the deep satisfaction of a person who has just found themselves in a win-win situation.
"I think," he proclaimed, "that we can help each other, Ashi."
She raised an eyebrow: continue, said her face. "I'm listening."
"For the swoop race," he explained, "we've been developing a prototype accelerator. It was a very important piece of technology, practically guaranteed to give us a win. Unfortunately, the Black Vulkars had someone on the inside"—here, nobody missed Zaerdra's lips pressing together in fury—"and managed to steal it. We need to get it back if we want to have any hope of victory."
"So you need me to get it back for you," she clarified for him. "What'll you do for us if we come through?"
He rubbed two thick, worn hands together, a ready grin on his face. "I think you'll like this part. We'll let you race under the Bek banner, and if you win Bastila, she's yours. Sound good?"
"Depends on the catch," Ashi replied immediately. "What do I need to do to get your accelerator?"
The Hidden Bek leader gave her a quick, respectful glance. "You don't miss a trick, do you?" Ashi smiled proudly, evidently taking it as a compliment, but his still-serious expression dampened her enthusiasm slightly.
"That won't be easy," he replied. "You'll have to break into the Vulkar base to get it back. There's no way you can get in through the main door, so you have to sneak in. Luckily, there's an entrance in the sewers, and I know who can help you find it." At this, a spark lit in his eyes that could have been either eagerness—to Ashi—or a warning—to Carth. "Perhaps you've met her already? Her name is Mission Vao."
Ashi's face broke into a wide smile as Carth's fell. "Mission! Great, I know her, I met her today," she exclaimed, just as Carth moaned, "Isn't there anyone else who can help?"
The bodyguard seemed to side with Carth, although she looked at no one but her leader. "Mission?" she echoed dubiously. "Gadon, she's just a kid."
Ashi smirked. "Don't tell Mission that."
"No, I'm sure," said Gadon decisively, with a single shake of his head. "Mission knows every inch of the sewers. If anyone can help you through them, it's her. You know her—I take it you can find her?" he asked, turning his attention back to Ashi.
She shrugged. "Kind of seemed like someone who might be anywhere. Do you know where she usually is?"
Gadon nodded calmly. "She and her Wookiee friend, Zaalbar, are probably exploring in the Undercity. You could look for them there, but you'll need help getting into there. Luckily, I have…"
He broke off to ruffle quickly over the contents of his desk, before seizing on a stack of official-looking documents. "Some papers that will get you down," he explained, brandishing them for Ashi's inspection. "All you need to do is trade those Sith uniforms"—he pointed coolly to her bag—"you've got there for them."
"But the papers will get me everywhere I need?" asked Ashi. Gadon assured her they would, so she quickly handed over the two uniforms. "Thanks, Gadon," she said with a smile, and then paused, her notorious curiosity piquing. "Um, one more question."
Gadon nodded encouragingly, and Ashi scrutinized him. His most interesting feature was by far his eyes: silver and hard, like steel, but more than just as a simile. There was definitely something distinctly metallic about them, and Ashi wondered about it, remembering that Gadon was, by all rights, blind.
"Are those ocular implants?" she asked, before she could change her mind, gesturing to his eyes.
She heard a groan from behind her, and saw, out of the corner of her eye, Carth shaking his head, a hand over his face. "Oh, very tactful," he muttered, looked up to meet her gaze. "What, are you itching for a fight, or something?"
Zaerdra, too, seemed to swell with rage. "I should kill you where you stand!" she exclaimed, her head-tails writhing in anger. She had a knife and a blaster tucked in her belt, but, eyes darting to her, Ashi decided the woman could probably—and very easily—kill with bare hands for that comer. Her eyes widened as she took in, for the first time, how scary Zaerdra actually was.
"Please don't," she said quickly, raising her hands in peace. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. I just wondered. Ocular implants are really cool. I knew this guy with them, he could see in the dark. It was pretty damn useful. Saved my ass once," she added with a faraway grin, looking vaguely reminiscent; it wasn't an expression Carth would have expected on her, and looked like one her face wasn't quite accustomed to. Then, unable to help herself, she added, "Can yours do any of that stuff?"
Gadon smiled. "Not only night vision—these can read heat signatures. I'm sure you would have found that pretty useful too." He looked pleased at her interest, rather than offended. "I'm not ashamed of what I am, Zaerdra," he added pointedly, and his bodyguard slunk back a couple steps, looking appropriately abashed.
"These help me deal with my loss of sight," he continued, now more to Ashi. "They allow me to see perhaps better than I did before. Slightly ironic, no? I see better when I'm blind." But, unexpectedly, there seemed to be no hint of bitterness in his voice. In fact, he seemed almost pleased by her curiosity for a moment, before his face grew serious again.
"Is that all, then?" he inquired, not sharply but with a businesslike edge. Well, Ashi supposed, you don't stay in power in the Lower City by wasting time. "It would be good if you could start planning to break into the Vulkar base and get back our accelerator."
She nodded—of course. "Yeah, that's all. Thanks, Gadon," she said with a smile. "I'll be back soon."
Zaerdra was still glaring at her. Turning so the desk and a particularly large stack of parts hid her from Gadon, she gave the bodyguard a meaningful glance over her shoulder. As the woman stared back, Ashi began to walk away, and very deliberately, by her side, gave the Twi'leki woman the finger.
Zaerdra, bit back a visible snarl, going purple with anger. Her fists seemed to be trembling slightly with the effort of not going for a weapon. Ashi, making her way briskly out of the office, pretended not to notice. Carth had—he shot her a sideways glance that clear was laden with irritation—but as she turned into the hall, she thought she heard a deep chuckle from behind her.
Huh—the Hidden Bek leader had a sense of humor. Obviously, not a bad ally at all.
As it turned out, however, she didn't plan to go explore the Undercity right away. Ashi instead headed for the apartment complex, ignoring Carth and the less-than-subtle severe looks he was throwing her. Instead, she searched the empty apartments, collecting anything and everything useful she could find. He couldn't complain, however, when their number of medpacs doubled, although he was slightly annoyed when she began to take grenades. Unfortunately for him, though, Ashi was not to be deterred, and took everything she found that could possibly be deemed helpful, along with several things Carth was sure could not.
"I," she snapped when he objected, "have no interest in being ripped apart by mutants in the Undercity, if it's all the same to you." Finding that he had no response to that, Carth grudgingly stopped protesting.
However, it became very clear after only a few apartments that Ashi couldn't escape her magnetism for trouble, any more than Carth, flapping his arms, could escape gravity. She had just sliced the lock on one door and let it hiss open when she came face-to-face with an angry-looking woman, wearing thick armor and carrying a large blaster. In a split second, it moved from by her side to in front of her, aimed directly at Ashi's head. She froze, an apologetic grin on her face.
"Hi, Ashi Lucas," she said, with an experimental wave. "I'd appreciate it if you could, uh, point your blaster away from my face. It's a little disconcerting." The woman gave a venomous scowl, not amused, but Carth saw Ashi's hand moving slowly to her vibroblade, even as she spoke. She was getting ready to fight.
"What are you doing here?" demanded the woman, blaster not wavering an inch. "Get out!"
Ashi frowned. "Okay, okay. Space, though, someone could use a little attitude adjustment." When the woman snarled, pointedly laying her finger tighter across the trigger, Ashi gave her an unexpected smile, snapping her fingers as if something had just occurred to her. "Hey… you wouldn't happen to be called Selven, would you?"
"Selven?" Carth repeated incredulously. "Selven? As in the assassin?"
"The most dangerous on Taris," she growled, not lowering her blaster.
Ashi shrugged. "Meh. I've seen worse."
"That's it!" Selven snapped, cocking her gun. "Now you'll see how I earned that reputation!" She lunged towards Ashi, who spun to the side, drawing her vibroblade. The assassin beat away Ashi's swing with the barrel of her blaster, and then drew her own blade.
"Ooh, scary," muttered Ashi, and Selven gritted her teeth, forcing down Ashi's sword. Ashi swung it up and around, landing a hit on her shoulder; however, the assassin didn't even flinch, instead parrying Ashi's next flurry and ducking under blaster fire Carth sent her way. With an uncanny speed, she pulled a knife from a belt on her waist, slinging it in Carth's direction. He dodged, but barely, and the blade lodged itself in the wall behind him, quivering gently.
Ashi's eyes widened. "Good aim. How many people did you knock off with that move?" Selven seemed slightly annoyed by Ashi's nonchalance, and sent her a low swing Ashi couldn't block. The blade cleaved her side, under her ribs, and she hissed in pain.
"Damn, you don't fight fair, do you?" she spat, kicking Selven in the chest. The assassin reeled, and Ashi swiped at her, a sudden, cleaving blow that took off her non-sword arm. Selven looked stunned.
"You cut my arm off," she said disbelievingly, staring at the disembodied limb on the ground with horror. Ashi wasn't fazed.
"Mm, so it would appear," she replied, and then lunged forward. She stabbed Selven through the chest, just as Carth's fire hit her, piercing her armor.
"Your aim's not bad either," Ashi observed, before reliving Selven of several possessions, including a number of credits and several grenades that she slung in her bag, just in case.
It was the next day that, both swallowing reluctance, they made their way to the Undercity. In the sunless, underground village, even Ashi was uncomfortable. "This place is awful," she had commented the moment they stepped off the rickety elevator, before Carth's eyes had even begun to adjust to the dim half-light.
Once he could see, he couldn't help but agree, horrified at the conditions they could force people to live in. The small village was a combination of huts, small fires for light made by burning heaps of garbage, and rubble of all shapes and sizes. The ground was rough, and a few pale, scraggly plants grew tentatively with no sunlight to nurture them. The entire village was encased by a huge wall that kept mutants out; it was the only thing in the place that looked well taken care of, including all the people.
As quickly as they could, they made their way to the gate—although with such grimness, it might as well have been the gallows. A couple people tried to stop them—first two young boys trying to mug them, who were easily won over with twenty credits, and then a shrunken, skeletal old man who insisted Ashi was the savior he'd been waiting for. Carth's immediate speculation, 'crazy enough to be dangerous', was entertaining, but unfortunately seemed fairly accurate. Still, Ashi felt bad for the man, and listened to him long enough to accidentally promise to find his apprentice, and bring back her journal. At that point, Carth pulled her away, reminding her why they were there in the first place. Ashi grew instantly sullen at the mention of Bastila, but obligingly left the old man, now gracing the lightless world with a gummy, toothless grin.
They found the gate to the outer area eventually, just in time to stumble into an argument. Outside, a terrified man was being chased by a rakghoul, while his wife, a young woman who looked much older than she must have been, implored the gate guard to let him in. "I… I can't," sighed the guard, his face torn with indecision. "Not while the rakghouls are so close."
Shock colored Ashi's face immediately: the monster was far from the gate, a blotch of faraway white, and unless the creatures were sprinters, she doubted it posed any threat. "You'll let it kill him while you watch?" she demanded.
"If I open the gate, they'll kill us all!" he snapped. "Unless you want to do something, up-worlder?" he added challengingly. The man was obviously familiar with people from the Upper and Lower cities who could care less about their problems.
Ashi glared at him, drawing her vibroblade, as Carth sighed and muttered under his breath at her typical recklessness. "Hell yeah, I'll do something about it," she snapped. "Open the gate, old man; I'll kill the rakghouls."
The guard's eyes widened. "You'd risk your life for a stranger, and an Outcast?" He chuckled wryly. "You're brave, up-worlder."
"Or stupid," interjected Carth. Ashi glared sharply at him.
"Okay, I'll open the gate," said the guard, "but you have to be quick." He pressed a button, and the rusty gate swung open. Ashi and Carth rushed through, coming face-to-face with the panicked Outcast. He raced up to her and clutched her arm desperately.
"Help!" he shrieked. "It's going to kill me!"
Ashi rolled her eyes and then, as she looked up, found the fairly legitimate cause for his panic. In front of her was a horrible-looking mutant. It was no longer a blotch of white, but a tangle of dead, reeking flesh and red eyes, along with fangs dripping bright green venom. For a moment, its gaze flickered across the three of them, but then it lunged for Ashi.
She whirled away, dodging, and its claw slashed through the air where her face had been a moment ago. Swinging the vibroblade expertly, she took an arm off the creature, but it hardly even slowed it down. It swung at her, with a strength that she hadn't expected, and her blade was wrenched from her grasp. She froze in terror—oh dear space, killed by a mutant in the middle of a scum pit surrounded by nobody I particularly like except a Republic officer—but the next second a blaster shot rang out and the rakghoul keeled over, a hole in its head.
Ashi turned, her face ashen, and grinned weakly at Carth. "Thanks, flyboy. I owe you. Uh, again." She picked up her blade from the gray, cracked ground, before turning to the Outcast. "Are you okay?"
"I…I think so," he stuttered.
"Get back in, then. You're not a fighter," she snapped. He grimaced and hurried back into the settlement. Ashi nodded to his wife, and then started to look around, raising a hand to shield her eyes more from habit than necessity. "See Mission anywhere, flyboy?"
No sooner were the words out of her mouth than they heard a frantic cry, and saw a small blue figure racing towards them. "Ashi! Ashi, thank space it's you!" yelped the girl, her eyes lighting on them. "You gotta help me! No one else will help me, even the Beks won't help me, but you'll help me, right? Please? I can't just leave him, he's my best friend!" she cried, her voice panicked and words stumbling over one another as she sprinted to where they stood.
"Whoa, Mission, calm down," instructed Ashi, grabbing the frantic Twi'lek girl by the shoulder and spinning her to look her in the eyes. "What the hell is wrong? And," she added, immediately noticing the absence of Wookiee, "where's Zaalbar?"
The name sent Mission nearly to tears. "Slavers, Ashi!" she finally managed. "They were waiting for us in the sewers, right? And Big Z swiped at one and yelled for me to run, so I did, 'cause I thought he'd be right behind me, you know, but then he wasn't, and they're gonna sell him and I'll never see him again, never!"
"Okay, first off," Ashi instructed flatly, "relax. Deep breaths."
Admittedly, Mission took a deep breath, but then burst out talking again. "You're gonna help me, right, Ashi? You get that I can't leave him, right? I mean they're slavers, Ash, and he's my friend, and—"
Ashi sighed. "Yeah, and yeah, and yes, I hate slavers too. Calm down. But," she added, raising an eyebrow. "You have to help me get into the Vulkar base if I do, all right?"
Mission nodded emphatically. "No problemo. I hate those Vulkars; they're core-slimes. I can get you into the base, easy, but first we go after Big Z, right?"
Assuring her that they would, Ashi managed finally to calm the girl down, before pulling a blaster from the holster on her waist and tossing it to her. Mission caught it was a very disturbing expertise. "I figure you'll want to be coming too. You can fire that, right, kid?"
Mission grinned. "You bet." Ashi was almost surprised she didn't take offense at the nickname, but she seemed to pick up on it being more of an affection thing than an insult.
"First off, though, I have to help a geezer," she added reluctantly. "We're going to go look for the old guy's apprentice, okay?"
Carth nodded. He was half-surprised Ashi was bothering at all, but starting to consider that maybe there was slightly more than pure recklessness and impulse in her motives. In spite of all his caution, he was beginning to at least trust that she might be a good person, especially after watching her take care of Mission. The girl, meanwhile—speak of the devil—looked reluctant to spend any time not looking for Zaalbar, but wisely decided not to push her luck.
They set off through the Undercity, which the soldier decided was definitely only getting worse with every new sight. It was like being inside a giant skeleton: the foundations of the city above towered like ribs, but where they were they were left with shrapnel and broken bones littering the world around. The earth rose and fell in waves of worn, lifeless gray, a still ocean that spawned intermittent packs of rakghouls. It was slow, painful going, more from the setting than from the task itself, but eventually they managed to find a ravaged corpse with an electronic journal. Ashi flicked through it, ignoring the bloodstains coating the sides and splattered over the screen, and then gave them a sad nod: it was what remained of the strange old man's apprentice.
They had begun to head back to break the news to him, but Carth stopped when he noticed a flash of motion near one of the skeletal escape pods. "There's something over there!" he hissed. Ashi glanced up in interest, and then squinted. The next second, her face broke into a surprised grin.
"There's people over there," she nodded, and changed direction, walking over.
Carth stared—he hadn't intended for her to go introduce herself—but followed behind with his hand on his blaster in case they weren't quite as friendly as her. However, to her credit, Ashi eyed the group carefully as she approached. They were all humanoid, men in their thirties or so, except for the biggest one. He was tall and silver-haired, but the thing Ashi noticed first was his muscular build. He wore a sleeveless black shirt and an orange vest, but she could still see the outlines of muscles, and various scars that marked the rest of his body. It occurred to her how many there were with a surprised respect. Then she frowned. This was no ordinary scavenger. In fact…
She took a closer look, and her eyes widened. That was a fracking Mandalorian. What was he doing on a city planet, leading a field trip in the Undercity?
Suddenly, one of the men caught sight of her, paling instantly. Good, Ashi thought dryly; he knows to be scared of me. Loudly, he called out to her, "Hey, you! Don't… don't move! I'm not afraid to use this blaster if I have to!"
She raised her eyebrows. "Really?" she wondered skeptically, completely ignoring the order to stand still. Canderous was equally unimpressed.
"Shut the frack up, kid," he snapped. "We've already lost enough men to those damned rakghouls. Last thing we need is more casualties from a needless firefight."
Embarrassed, the man lowered his blaster, and Ashi, Carth, and Mission approached. "From the looks of you," the Mandalorian grunted, "you're down here for the same reason we are—salvage. Let me give you some advice: forget about it. Just get out of here and back where you came from."
Ashi crossed her arms, eyes narrowing. "Yeah? That a threat?"
"Mandalorians don't make threats," he replied calmly. "We make promises. And this isn't a good place to stand around chatting. The place is crawling with rakghouls—I've already lost a half dozen men to those monsters."
The nervous man started suddenly, and then pointed with a quivering finger over Ashi's shoulder. "Canderous!" he exclaimed. "I heard something over… over there!" He had gone pale, and Ashi spun and saw why: a herd of rakghouls was swarming towards them in a massive wave of mutant white flesh.
"Mission!" Ashi barked. "Behind me and Carth!" Intelligently, the girl made no objection. "Don't let them bite you," she instructed to Carth, who nodded, and then added, "Cover me, yeah?"
Again, he nodded in affirmation. She grabbed a plasma grenade from her belt and pulled the pin, tossing it into the swarm and following it up with a couple more. Fiery explosions cut chunks in the herd, but more still poured toward them. Ashi glanced at Carth, making sure he had her back—he gave her the slightest nod, and she smiled back, her version of a warning—before racing in to meet them head-on.
Canderous had seen what she was doing, and quickly pointed a couple of his men to join her in hand-to-hand, preventing her from being the only target. Meanwhile, the fastest of the mutants had caught up to Ashi, but she ran one through with a single stroke, and then cut off another's head with the backlash. Canderous's apparent belief she couldn't fight for herself annoyed her, and she had resolved to prove her own worth.
The other men weren't as good, or as lucky, as her. The rakghouls found them easier targets, and as a giant mass, almost its own entity, the herd engulfed them. Nonetheless, Ashi fought on, and Carth and Mission covered her where she couldn't cover herself. After several grueling minutes, the rakghouls were gone, and Ashi jogged back to the rest of them with a smug grin.
Canderous looked grudgingly impressed that she had survived. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for the majority of his posse. Several human corpses littered the ground among the rakghoul ones.
"Damn," he growled. "I told Davik this salvage mission was a bad idea. His men aren't trained for this kind of thing, and I can't fracking babysit them all." None of the men who were left looked insulted at the statement of fact. "Come on," said the Mandalorian sharply. "We're getting out of here before I lose someone else."
He spared Ashi and her friends one final glance. "You'd be smart to get out of here too," he told them, speaking to her. "I don't care how well you fight."
Ashi allowed herself a small moment of satisfaction, accepting it as his acknowledgment of her ability, but then smirked. "What, you running away?"
Carth rolled his eyes, unimpressed, but Mission and a couple men gasped quietly. Canderous just snorted. "Another day, I'd kill you for that," he replied indifferently.
She smiled. "Oh, well. Another day."
Canderous nodded, and then motioned to his men. "Come on, boys; let's move out."
They marched away, Canderous the only one with any visible confidence. Ashi grinned. "Hey, flyboy, looks like you're not the only one who talks like that after all."
He ignored her, and Mission snickered, but then remembered with a jolt why they were there in the first place. "Ashi, seriously, can we, uh, go find Big Z?" she asked, biting her lip, and Ashi nodded quickly.
"Right," she replied. "Okay, then, kid, lead the way… to the…" Her voice trailed off as she remembered where Zaalbar was. Damn it, she cursed to herself, as the suddenly effervescent girl led them eagerly to the sewer entrance. Mission, you're going to owe me.
Water dripped from a dark, moldy metal ceiling, hung suspended in the air for a moment, and then landed on Ashi cheek. She yelped, and then pulled a face, scrubbing it away quickly with the back of her hand. At this point, no one even glanced up—it wasn't the first time. They had been in the sewers ten minutes, and already it disgusted her. In fact, she thought, glancing at the rusted metal walls and then the sewage flowing freely below the catwalk they stood on, it seemed impossible to think of anyone who wouldn't be disgusted.
Except, that was, for Mission, who seemed too anxious to think about anything but her best friend. For once in her lifetime, she was completely silent, apart from when they ran into rakghouls or Gammorean slaver patrols. At that point, she was perfectly happy to yell at either of them as she picked them off with expert sniper shots. Ashi added a fantastic repertoire of insults to the list of reasons she liked the girl.
Luckily, they stumbled onto a Gammorean patrol that they followed to their compound. The slavers were large and angry, but relatively easy to kill. After they finished, Mission hurried over to the door and picked the lock, revealing a bedraggled but ecstatic-looking Wookiee.
"Big Z, you're okay!" Mission squealed, rushing up to give Zaalbar a hug. She pulled away quickly, however, wrinkling her nose. "Ew, Zaalbar, you smell nasty." He shrugged, looking vaguely offended, and then barked a greeting to her in Shyriiwook, before glancing back at the other two. /Who have you brought with you, Mission?/
Mission turned, and smiled at Carth and Ashi. "You know Ash, and this is Carth. They helped me rescue you, Big Z."
Ashi stepped forward, smiling. /It was no problem/ she explained in Shyriiwook, with fluency that shouldn't have been physically possible.
Zaalbar's eyes widened beneath overgrown, shaggy hair. /You speak my language? That is impressive, among your people./ He then turned to Mission. /You say they helped you rescue me?/
Mission nodded, and Zaalbar looked again to Ashi. He appeared to be grateful, although it was hard to tell with all the fur in the way. /There is only one way to repay this, Ashi. I must swear you a lifedebt./
Mission's jaw dropped. "Whoa. Whoa," she repeated, finding nothing else to say. "Z, you sure?" But he nodded steadfastly, and so she turned her gaze to Ashi, eyes still wide and stunned. "Ash, Big Z's swearing you a Wookiee lifedebt. Do you know what that means?"
Ashi frowned. "It's some kind of loyalty vow, right?" She could speak enough Shyriiwook to get by, but didn't know as much as she suspected was needed for this.
Mission nodded seriously. "A lifedebt is the most solemn vow a Wookiee can make," she explained. "It means no matter where you go or what you do, Zaalbar will always be there with you."
Zaalbar cleared his throat, giving Mission a glance to say her explanation had been enough, before bleating in Shyriiwook, /To you, Ashi Lucas, I swear a lifedebt. May my vow be as strong and timeless as the roots of the giant Wroshyr trees on my planet Kashyyyk./
His voice was strong and certain, echoing impressively against the background of water dripping onto metal. Ashi smiled, swallowing a grimace. Space, I've got a goddamn Wookiee following me the rest of my life… "I'm honored to accept your vow," she told him, though, realizing this was probably something you didn't say no to. Although I may have to do something about the smell.
Mission grinned. "And I go where Big Z goes, Ash, so I guess you're stuck with me too."
"Good," Ashi said, honestly this time, and added in Twi'leki, /Someone's got to be able to help me annoy Carth./ Mission smiled and nodded, laughing at the pilot's puzzled and frustrated expression when he caught his name.
"Now, about breaking into that base," continued Mission, a wicked grin forming on her face. "There's an entrance on the western side of the sewers I can help you find. And then it's straightforward; I just lead you through to the Vulkar base." She paused, and then added as an afterthought, gazing off into space, "I hope that giant rancor's not still there, though."
Ashi did a double take, spinning back to face the girl. "Giant rancor?" she repeated in horror. "And, um, why the hell is there a giant rancor in the sewers?"
Mission shrugged breezily. "I don't know. The Vulkars keep it as a guard, I think—ya know, feed it prisoners and stuff. I don't know, 'cause I figure I wouldn't want that thing within a mile a' me if I had a choice"—what a smart girl, thought Ashi dryly—"but they kind like big things with lots a' teeth, and… yeah. But I got past it before and stuff, so we should be fine."
Ashi didn't look convinced, but she nodded anyway, beginning to head in the direction Mission had pointed out. The girl had been right about one thing, at least; the way was relatively clear, and they didn't encounter anything too lethal until they reached an unusually thick door. Mission stopped sharply.
"The rancor's behind here," she said softly. "Be really careful, okay? 'Cause I heard they give it these chemicals and stuff to make it grow, right, and, y'know, you're really not s'posed to give things radioactive-type stuff to eat, but I heard it gave it…" She lowered her voice for effect. "Powers. Like, it's psychic and stuff—it can hear you, and…"
She trailed off. Ashi was staring. "Fine," Mission allowed tetchily. "So maybe it's not psychic. But this thing's crazy smart, okay? You gotta be really careful."
Ashi nodded; Mission had made her point. Trying to rid her voice of apprehension, she asked, "Mission? Is it a big rancor?"
Mission hesitated nervously. "Compared to you? Yeah. Very."
"What about compared to Zaalbar?" Ashi asked, and Mission laughed briefly.
"Still massive," she said regretfully.
"And, uh, what are the chances it would eat us if I opened the door?"
Carth's eyes widened in disbelief, and he shook his head furiously. "What? No way, sister. You're not opening the door and waking up a fracking mutant rancor to satisfy your damn curiosity about how big it is."
Ashi rolled her eyes despairingly. "It's important," she snapped. "Mission? Do you think it would eat us?"
Mission looked horrified. "Um, probably, yeah. Before you could say 'wow, it is big.'" Carth almost cracked a smile at this, but Ashi looked unmoved. They both uttered muffled cries of protest as she reached out to the door and slid it open a crack. Ashi motioned sharply for them to be quiet, and then reached into her black bag with utter silence, pulling out a pair of night-vision goggles. She slipped them on over her eyes, before peering cautiously through the opening.
The goggles illuminated the massive room in varying shades of green, and she glanced around, eyes moving from rubble to corpses, both of which there were plenty. Then, a sudden snort from the far end of the room drew her gaze there, and she gasped, stunned.
The beast was as tall as five of Zaalbar, and twice as wide. It looked like it was asleep, but it was still probably the most frightening thing Ashi had ever seen. It was sewer-colored, huge and leathery, and had too many teeth for its mouth: they bulged out, overflowing around its jaw. Despite the amount, however, they all looked equally razor-sharp. Claws that must have been three feet long tipped all its limbs. Compared to this beast, Zaalbar was snack food, not to mention Ashi and Mission.
"Space!" she exclaimed in a whisper. "It's fracking huge!"
"Told ya," Mission grumbled, and then added edgily, "Now shut the door!"
Ashi pulled back readily, carefully closing the door behind her. As soon as it was shut, she turned back to them, slipping the neon green goggles up off her eyes. They tugged her hair upwards, messing it further up, but she neither noticed nor cared. "Okay," she conceded, looking grudgingly at Carth and Mission. "Maybe it is pretty big."
Mission nodded; it was only what she had expected to hear. "What do we do now, then?"
Ashi paused, cocking her head to the side in consideration. "Sneaking past's out of the question," she said disappointedly, and then, with a pointed look at the other two, added /Especially with Commander Colorblind and the walking carpet./
Mission snickered, causing both the Wookiee and the pilot to look suspicious, but then she grimaced. "So, you know, what do we do now?" she asked worriedly.
Ashi grinned; it was even more worrying than her indecision. "You," she said firmly, "are all going to stay here. And I'm going to go through the door. I don't want you following me; you won't be able to see, so you might accidentally blow yourselves up."
Carth's face grew even more anxious. "Just what are you planning?" he asked.
Ashi shrugged. "You'll see. Or not. Point is, I go out. And you—all of you," she added emphatically, "stay behind this door, which will be closed. Don't come out until you hear a thud in about five minutes." She paused, and then clarified quickly, "Which will, by the way, be preceded by an explosion."
He frowned hesitantly. "How big a thud? You mean…"
His voice trailed off in stunned realization, and Ashi smirked. "That's right, flyboy. Rancor-sized." And before any of them could object, she pulled down the vision goggles and flipped on her stealth generator, rendering herself virtually invisible. Sliding the door open just wide enough for her to squeeze through, she brushed past and vanished into the room.
The first thing she noticed was that her concept of bad smells had reached a new low, and that was saying something after the Gammoreans. This place reeked of rotting meat, and she suspected that was from the rancor's past meals. Covering her mouth with her arm, and breathing in the familiar scent of the worn jacket instead, she made her way forward. Her gaze darted around the room with an expert's eye.
It probably can't see really well… well, maybe it can, I don't know, but either way I'll have to make myself obvious, just in case. And so if I plant a couple frag mines here, to slow it down, and then the main field here...
She moved around the room with the utmost care, sure to stay unnoticed for now. The basic plan was to lure the rancor into a huge pool of mines in the center of the room, by, naturally, doing something incredibly stupid. She looked around once, checking all the mines seemed to be in place, and then swallowed, grateful at least that no one could see the trepidation… no, screw trepidation. No one could see the fear on her face. There were quite a lot of ways this could go wrong, and she knew that too well.
For a moment, she wondered offhandedly why she was bothering with this. Risking her life for what: to rescue a Jedi?
And then next second, she realized how selfish of her that thought was, with an unpleasant jolt that sounded an awful lot like a conscience. Before she could reconsider, she deactivated her stealth generator and grabbed a flashlight off her belt, flicking it on so she couldn't be much more obvious. Pulling out her Echani blaster, she fired off a couple shots at the huge creature for good measure, and shouted, "Hey! Over here—dinner!"
The shots bounced off the rancor's leathery skin, but generally, it seemed to have the effect she'd hoped for and dreaded. The monster snorted and jerked awake, before turning in response to the shots, the light, and the shouting.
It charged.
Outside, her friends were torn between staying and going out there to see what in space she had decided to do, especially when the heard the yelling and the pounding footsteps, along with a deafening roar. Ashi hardly had time to think, damn, it's fast, before she was sprinting. "Come on, come on," she murmured under her breath, backing up. The beast slowed, and looked almost catlike as it gave the impression of playing with its food.
"Space," Ashi muttered. "I'm your prey, not your fracking entertainment." But this was even better. A couple steps, and it would trigger the minefield, and now it was going slow enough for them to work.
She told herself that, and tried not to look at the three-foot claws and giant teeth that glistened with saliva, and could probably rip her in two in one bite.
The rancor took another step forward, and there was a quick beep as the mines were triggered. It looked distracted by the sudden noise under its feet, and Ashi took advantage of the momentary diversion, turning and running full out. Because there was about to be that explosion she had talked about, and just like the thud, it had to be rancor-sized.
Three… she sprinted, trying to get as far away as possible… Two… no, she was still too close… One… no time left—dammit, this wasn't far enough but it had to be…
And then a huge explosion sounded behind her, and a wave of heat and shrapnel threw her several feet as if she was nothing more than a rag doll. Midair, she felt the slight zap of her stealth belt shorting out, although she heard nothing. There was time enough for a disturbing sense of déjà vu before she hit the ground. She landed on her wrist, and it twisted with a sickening crack, but she couldn't feel it; she was too overwhelmed by the sudden flash of light and pain that rushed through her head as it smacked against the floor. And there was something heavy and painful in her back, too, something that was jamming against her shoulder blade and cutting off her breathing.
The vision goggles were still on, dying her gaze green as she stared across the room from her position on the floor. She could see a trickle of something dark running down the lens, dripping onto the ground; with dizzy shock, she realized that it was blood. And someone, a blurry figure, was running across to her, too, and she saw who it was the next moment when the goggles picked up the luridly bright jacket. He raced over, kneeling beside her.
"What the hell did you do? Blow up the entire fracking sewers?" he demanded, his voice stunned and full of concern, which she thought was kind of nice.
She laughed—something like that—and then coughed weakly. Something warm and wet and dark splattered the scorched ground in front of her. "Not bad, huh?" she mumbled, before her thoughts and vision blurred simultaneously and everything went black.
Carth felt a flood of panic as Ashi blacked out, and reached for her neck, feeling for a pulse. It was there, but weakening fast. He could see a huge gash on her forehead that was dripping blood in an extremely macabre way, and suspected that wasn't all. Her wrist, too, which seemed to have taken the weight of her fall, was bent at an awkward angle, and he could see a shard of shrapnel sticking out of her back, near her shoulder blade.
He reached immediately for her black bag, which had been thrown onto her arm, and rooted through it, grabbing several medpacs. He took a shirt she had, too, and wrapping it around her head to stifle the bleed for a little while, as he gently loosened and slipped off the goggles. Next, he pulled off her jacket, tossing it to the side, and injected a shot of kolto into her arm. He glanced over her arm, and then sucked in a small breath as he saw her wrist, bent far too awkwardly with the fingers splayed. Carefully, he adjusted the limp hand, making sure it wouldn't reset the wrong way.
Mission and Zaalbar had reached him by now, both looking horrified. "Is she okay?" the girl demanded frantically. "She's okay, right?"
Carth shrugged helplessly, and Mission, taking a second look at Ashi, swallowed hard. "Um… what's that in her back?" she said slowly, her voice horrified.
Carth grimaced. "Shrapnel, I guess," he shrugged, anger and worry equal in his tone. "I don't know what she was thinking. Did she honestly think she could set off an explosion that big and not get caught in it?" He shook her head, obviously not waiting for an answer. "Look, if you don't want to look, don't. But someone's got to treat her."
Mission nodded, and then plopped down next to him. Carth looked over, evidently surprised, but she cocked her head stubbornly, and he disregarded it, deciding instead to see how bad Ashi's back wound was. He sat her up, and leant her forward slightly, beginning to peel the blood-soaked shirt off her back. With a sudden jolt, he was reminded of the cantina and the Sith party.
He told himself fiercely that there was nothing romantic about this—he was only treating a comrade—as he hesitated. He felt stupidly, irrationally uncomfortable. Angrily, he fought down the feeling, motioning for Mission to pass him a medpac.
She gave a small 'oh' and quickly obliged, and he stuck it quickly into Ashi's side—it would help relieve the pain for now. As he injected it, she relaxed visibly, but then suddenly stirred. "Mm… thanks, love," she sighed, a faint smile on her lips.
Carth almost recoiled in shock, but then grinned incredulously. "Ashi?"
Mission giggled uncertainly—on one hand, Ashi was hurt; on the other, it was going to be great asking her about this when she was better. But meanwhile, Ashi was dreaming, she supposed…
…Outside a cave on a strange planet, she stumbled and collapsed into a field. Beige grass scratched her face as she lay motionless, her cheek pressed against the ground. It was vaguely annoying, but on the other hand, she couldn't move. Someone hurried up behind her, cursing as she moaned in pain. She could feel the poison seeping like ice in her bloodstream. She was going to die, she decided, and cried out in pain as a wound on her stomach burned. Couldn't it at least not hurt?
"Relax," said a deep, soothing voice, and warm arms encircled her. She was rolled off her stomach and onto her back, and her head lolled weakly, but a strong hand was behind it, cradling her gently. "I can heal you, but you have to hold still."
She whimpered, but did as instructed; she hadn't heard a thing he'd said beyond 'relax', but she trusted him enough to obey regardless. The next moment, she relaxed with a faint smile as she felt the poison fade away. "Thanks, love," she murmured weakly, and he sighed in relief. Slowly, she opened her eyes to look at the man who had his arms around her. He was blonde and good looking, with deep gray eyes that were full of concern. As she focused on him, his face broke into a dazzling smile.
"Thank the Force you're all right," he whispered, and lifted her head slowly, tilting his down so their lips met…
As Ashi came to, the first thing she noticed was that she was no longer in a field. Without her even opening her eyes, the smell told her she was still in the sewers. Her nose cried out in protest and she wished she had her jacket to cover it. The second thing she noticed, which seemed much more important all of a sudden, was she was sitting up, and despite the different scenery, someone had his hands all over her. She tried to ignore a sudden and very confusing shiver that ran down her spine at the warm touch, and pulled away groggily.
"Hey," she mumbled resentfully, her voice slurred. "If that's what you want, flyboy, there's a reason we have cantina dancers."
She heard a small bubbly laugh, full of relief. "Well, she's fine," said Mission, who grinned as Carth flushed, visible even in the dark sewer. Then, however, he smirked back.
"What did you call me there?" he asked, and Ashi could hear the grin in his voice.
She frowned, genuinely puzzled. "Um, flyboy?"
"No, before that." Carth still sounded amused, and it began to bother her.
"I think that was when I passed out, actually," she replied slowly. Oh, space. I didn't sleeptalk, did I?
He raised his eyebrows. "'Love' doesn't sound familiar, then?"
She snorted, swallowing a rush of embarrassment. "Like I'm going to be calling you that. In your dreams, maybe." Already, the images were slipping away. She tried to remember what the man had looked like: he had seemed oddly familiar, but she had certainly never seen him before. Quickly changing the subject, she added conversationally, "My shoulder hurts, by the way."
He grimaced, concentrating again. "Have any idea how many medpacs I've given you already?" he wondered, but glanced over it nonetheless, running his fingers gingerly around the shrapnel. "Yeah, I can bet. You've got a big piece of something in your back, I'm going to take a look."
Ashi sighed wearily. "And I'm supposed to believe that's all you're looking at?"
Carth went even redder as Mission laughed, but, irritated at the fun at his expense, he frowned exasperatedly. "Look, I don't know if you realize, but you have a chunk of floor sticking out of you from your genius stunt with the rancor…"
She moaned quietly. "That's what it is? And of course I fracking realize, you idiot, I can feel it. You going to do something about it, or what?"
Her words, rueful and making no effort to hide their distress, filled Carth instantly with guilt. Here he was, busy being useless, while she was in pain. He lifted up the back of her shirt gently, trying fruitlessly to dry some of the blood with it. Ashi sighed, and carefully reached to her head with her good wrist, passing him the shirt. He took it gratefully, wiping away some of the drying blood, before hesitantly pulled a chunk of shrapnel out of her shoulder. Ashi winced.
"I need more fracking kolto," she muttered resentfully. Mission, deciding there was no point watching Ashi be petulant now she knew she was all right, got up and walked off, probably to see what else had survived the explosion. Zaalbar paused, and then followed, seeming satisfied that Ashi was in good hands.
Meanwhile, Carth grabbed another medpac, jabbing it into Ashi's back to heal the cut that was now bleeding freely. She hissed in pain. "Damn it! Warn me next time you do that."
He shook his head in slight frustration, and then frowned. "Ashi, you have a flashlight?"
She shrugged. "You need it?"
He nodded, adding as she passed it to him, "I need to make sure there's nothing in the wound before it heals." He flicked on the light, turning it to her back, and, the next moment, felt his jaw drop. His attention was completely distracted from the wound on her shoulder to a huge scar that sprawled, a ghastly tattoo, across her back. It was like a starburst, with a concentration in the center that moved outward, peppered with cuts and shadows like bruises. Her back was smoothed over, for the most part, but the dark, gruesome spiderweb of scars was still clearly visible, inked into the pale skin.
Carth stared at the extent of the damage with horror and a morbid fascination, wondering briefly how anyone could possibly survive an injury like that. Cautiously, but without thinking, he ran his fingers across the main scar, and Ashi gave a slight shiver. Quickly, however, she turned her head, fixing him with an acerbic glare over her shoulder to save face.
"I thought you said you wouldn't be looking at anything else," she said sharply, though he could hear the hint of playfulness that told him she didn't really care, and probably wasn't that surprised either.
He snapped back to anyway and gave the now-healing wound a once-over, before sliding her shirt back down and handing her the extra medpacs. She nodded, and tossed all but one in her bag, before asking, "Carth? What time is it?"
He shrugged, before checking his comm. "Night," he replied offhandedly, and then added, "Why? You tired?"
Ashi rolled her eyes. "Yeah, genius, I hear it's a side effect of almost blowing yourself up." This was spoken with calm, accustomed nonchalance, but the next second she yawned deeply, reaching up with her uninjured wrist to cover her mouth. Carth grinned.
"You're exhausted," he observed. "And you're going to need some time to recover from all your injuries, anyway. You should rest."
She looked around, an expression of distaste on her face. "Here? But it smells like rancor flambé."
He laughed, shaking his head. "Whose fault is that?"
Ashi scowled. "You're lucky I'm too tired to argue," she muttered, before lowering herself slowly back to the ground. She folded her arms under her head as a makeshift pillow, and then closed her eyes.
She couldn't fall asleep, though. She ached all over, even with all the kolto, but she wasn't going to use another medpac and risk the inebriation that came from too many. She was also very cold, probably from the blood loss or something equally not her fault. Sighing, and unable to keep from sounding rueful, she rolled over, trying to find a more comfortable position, but it didn't help. When she opened her eyes again, Carth was staring at her.
"You're shivering," he said worriedly, before she could comment. Ashi rolled her eyes.
"Shaking from blood loss, Republic, it's a different thing," she snapped, but he didn't back off like she'd expected.
"Here," he said, and slipped off his flight jacket, wrapping it around her shoulders gently. She didn't refuse it—she was too cold, and pride was only important to a certain point—but did smirk lightly.
"Is it my color?" she asked mock-seriously, struggling to keep a laugh out of her voice.
Carth snorted dryly. "You don't have to keep it," he offered, holding out a hand to take it back.
Ashi frowned and curled up tighter, wrapping the jacket closely around her. "No thanks. I'll give you this, flyboy, it is warm."
He nodded. "Good," he replied with a smile, and then glanced away. Ashi rolled over, trying to fall asleep, but it was still hard when the smell of roasted sewer mutant was fresh and ever-present in the air. She pulled the jacket over her face and breathed in. To her surprise, the smell was nice: sort of warm, in a way, and oddly comforting. She kept it over her nose, and slowly relaxed as her breathing deepened.
A few minutes later, Carth looked over, and couldn't help a smile. Ashi was fast asleep, the jacket wrapped around her and draped over her face, clashing magnificently with her fiery hair. Her expression was, despite all she had had to contend with that day, untroubled and calm. She looked the most peaceful he had ever seen her. He smiled, and then slowly lay down, folding his arms behind his head, and drifted off to sleep.
And that's a wrap. Next time... well, the chapter's called "terminal velocity". Look that one up if you haven't skydived or played portal (and if you have, good for you. For me, that one's right up there with kotor). But anyway, I digress. If you looked it up, or you're smart and know what it means, that I figure you're probably guessing what comes next. If not, here's a quote:
Mission: She's going to do something stupid, isn't she?
Carth: ...Yeah. I think so.
