Disclaimer: I don't own anything. It belongs to Lucas and Bioware.
After destroying the rancor, they confronted two guards outside the elevator to the Vulkar base. Sage snorted while removing the belongings of the fallen gang members, "How would you like that guard post?"
The others didn't answer. "I mean, come on," she continued and pointed down the direction they came from. "How many times do you think they looked down that hall and wondered if that rancor could fit through it? Who do you have to piss off to get rancor duty? Somehow I don't think these guys will be missed."
Carth smiled to himself, Leave it to her to think of something like that.
They decided it was time to stop and eat a little. Zaalbar ate four ration bars himself, but everyone knew that wasn't nearly enough for the big guy.
Carth sat quietly eating his ration bar. He noticed Sage seemed annoyed and, for some reason, he had a feeling it had something to do with him. He tried talking to her all morning, but she just brushed him off. He hadn't even had a chance to properly thank her for saving his life the night before. He knew she was tired and he didn't feel comfortable enough around Mission and Zaalbar to have a conversation that would probably lead into an argument.
He decided to stop thinking about it in order to prepare for their next move, "Mission, you've been in the base before, haven't you?"
"Yeah, I've been in there," she replied.
"Can you give us a rough idea of the layout?" he asked.
Mission used different objects on the ground to describe the layout. Carth laid out a plan for the others. Sage commented that Zaalbar's bowcaster was good, but his strength was needed close range. Carth agreed and pulled a vibro-blade and sheath off one of the fallen Vulkars and gave it to Zaalbar to use instead.
Mission said that she knew how to use a blaster, so he thought that would be best for her. Carth found Mission to be a very capable fighter, but he cringed every time he saw her run right in the middle of the battle. A blaster should keep her back some.
There was a guard droid outside the elevator when they emerged. Zaalbar picked it up and threw it up against a wall, smashing it to pieces. Sage and Carth smiled in satisfaction.
They fought their way through the base. They only encountered two friendly people along the way. One was an enslaved waitress who showed Zaalbar where the food storage was while the others picked through footlockers.
The other was a Vulkar who begged for his life and gave them the location of the accelerator. He also informed them that Bastila was being held somewhere outside the base, but he didn't know where.
Once they found the necessary pass cards to disable the elevator turrets, they headed in the direction of the garage to retrieve the accelerator. On their way, they passed the armory. They defeated the two guard droids to gain entrance to the room. Sage opened a footlocker and formed a huge smile on her face when she pulled out a mesh protector, "This is perfect…and look at these grenades…are these plasma grenades?" Her excitement was evident.
Carth couldn't fight his amusement to see Sage look like a little kid in a candy shop. His amusement faded with her next statement.
"Bendak uses plasma grenades. This mesh will fit right under this armor," she paused to open another container. Her eyes went wide, "Now I know these are concussion grenades." Her thoughts were racing. She was already planning out the duel in her head.
Mission started, "Whoa, wait…you mean Bendak Starkiller?"
Sage nodded with a grin.
Mission's eyes went wide with excitement, "No way…you're the Mysterious Stranger!" She was practically jumping with joy, "Are you really going to fight Bendak?"
Sage risked a glance at Carth, who was glaring at her. She met his gaze and smiled with confidence, "Yes I am!" He seemed to growl, which made her smile more. Why do I like bugging him?
"This is so big!" Mission said. "When's it gonna be?"
Sage shrugged, "I'm not sure, I have to talk to Ajuur to find out."
"I've got to find a way to watch that…I'm sure it will be broadcasted…" she continued to think of a way she would be able to see it.
Sage was anxious to go to the garage. She didn't remember ever seeing a swoop bike before and wanted to see what she was getting herself into. There was a whole row of bikes when they entered the garage.
"That's it?" asked Carth.
Mission confirmed, "That's it."
"But, there's barely anything to it…how fast does it go?" he asked.
"Fast," Mission said.
Carth watched Sage examine one of the bikes. She sat on the seat and bounced a couple of times on it. She grabbed the handlebars and bent forward as if she were riding it. She sat back up and took a long look at the machine around her. She nodded her head, "This might be f--."
She was interrupted by blaster fire coming in their direction. Sage dove from the bike while the others ducked for cover behind the other bikes. Carth and Mission provided cover while Sage and Zaalbar snuck closer before jumping out at the men firing at them.
After defeating the three men, they decided to use a little more caution in moving about the rest of the garage.
Upon entering a secured room, they met a group of four Vulkars. It was the first group they encountered that didn't attack on sight.
A Twi'lek male turned out to be Brejik's second in command, Kandon Ark. He tried to convince Sage to turn on Gadon Thek and join the Vulkars. He went as far as to suggest to Mission that she had been mistreated by the Beks. Sage grew impatient and interrupted his speech, "Are you going to give us the accelerator, or do I have to kill you for it?"
Kandon sighed, "I can see there's not much chance of convincing you to come work for us after all. Most unfortunate."
His supposed bodyguard, a female Twi'lek, asked, "Now can I kill them, Kandon?"
He replied, "Yes, darling. Kill them. Kill them all." Those were his last words.
Sage retrieved the accelerator. She glanced at Mission who had a sad expression on her face. She walked over to her, "Hey, you alright?"
Mission looked at the ground, "Yeah, just thinking about what he said is all."
Sage looked down at the fallen Kandon and frowned, "Mission…he was trying to rattle you…he really didn't want us to join them, he just didn't want us to take the accelerator. This swoop race is a big deal for these guys. Whoever loses is going to lose more than a race. Personally, I prefer the gang that hasn't been trying to kill us ever since we arrived in the Lower City."
Carth added, "You know, Mission, when we needed help, you were the first person Gadon recommended. Believe what you want about the rest of the Beks, but Gadon Thek respects you."
Mission smiled, feeling much better after the pep talk, "Thanks guys, you're right…Kandon was just trying to save his own butt."
Sage started walking towards the door, "Ok, let's get out of here…I need a shower."
At that statement, Mission seemed to be reminded of Zaalbar's appearance. They continued to argue as the group walked towards the elevator. Sage was just about to say something when shots were once again fired in their direction. They ducked behind a wall.
Carth peeked out and confirmed that a sentry droid had detected them. They all activated their shields. Sage handed each of them ion grenades before moving out of their hiding place.
She covered half the distance to the droid before she couldn't move any further, FRACK! She was frozen by the droids cryoban weaponry. She stood there frozen while the other three assaulted the droid. She watched as Mission was also frozen. She was released from her cold imprisonment just as Carth met the same fate. She dove out of the way before the droid was able to hit her again, essentially wasting one of his charges. By the time she reached him, Zaalbar was hit as well. The droid switched weaponry which told Sage that his other was spent. She was joined by blaster fire as the others were released and eventually defeated the droid.
Sage, Carth, and Mission were all shaking while Zaalbar was swatting the ice from his fur.
"Damn!" Sage said. "After all of that, we were almost taken out by one droid!" She tried to rub the circulation back into her arms as she moved over to a set of footlockers.
Mission worked on the lock of one. When she pulled out its contents she gasped.
"What is it?" Carth asked.
"Uh…hey Sage…when you said I could have any credits I found, I don't think you thought we'd find this." Carth shot Sage a questioning look upon hearing the deal she made with Mission. Sage ignored it and looked in the box.
She raised her eyebrows, "Wow." She thought for a moment, "You know Mission, you and Big Z really helped out today…the least we can do is to let you have that."
Mission's eyes grew wide, "Are you serious?" Sage nodded.
Carth looked at the large amount of credits in the box and frowned. He knew they'd probably need those credits to get off Taris, but he had to agree that Mission definitely deserved it.
On the way out of the base, Mission walked ahead with Carth. They apologized to each other for the fight they had that morning. Sage watched with interest as the two exchanged playful insults regarding the others' age. He doesn't look that old to me…looks pretty good actually.
The weary travelers made their way to the Hidden Bek base. Sage walked up and set the accelerator on Gadon's desk.
Gadon looked at the accelerator with satisfaction. He called over one of the Beks and had him take it to the garage where the mechanics could install it on one of the bikes.
He then informed Sage that she would be the one testing the highly volatile prototype. He was certain that if it performed properly, she would win the race. Sage contemplated the proposal. Her best odds of getting Bastila would be if she actually won the race. She really didn't want to have to negotiate with a Vulkar or Bek if either won the "prize." So she agreed. Gadon told her she could stay at the base that night.
The four travelers returned to the Upper Taris apartment to get cleaned up.
Sage wasn't shy about being the first to jump into the shower. She stood under the hot water washing away all the dirt, grime, blood, and who knew what else from her hair and body. She was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to curl up in her bunk. However, more important than sleep was hunger.
She waited in the common room for Carth to finish getting cleaned up. She talked about the plan for the evening with Mission and Zaalbar. Everyone was hungry, but Sage thought Carth should see Dr. Forn before descending to the Lower City. Mission and Zaalbar wouldn't be allowed in the Upper City cantina, so they decided to split up for the night. Sage gave them the access code to the apartment so that they could meet back there the next day.
When Carth entered the room, Mission was planning her evening, "Tonight's a big night on Taris."
\ Aargh, Mission, I do not wish to get involved in tonight's festivities. \
"Come on, Big Z…how can we miss it?" Mission coerced.
"Miss what?" Carth asked.
"It's the night before the season opener…the Lower City will be crazy tonight and tomorrow…there's going to be people everywhere," Mission explained.
Sage quirked an eyebrow, "So…all the gang members go out into the street and boast about how they're going to win?"
Mission nodded, "Oh yeah, there's a lot of that going on."
Carth said, "Sounds to me like a good night to get shot…or stabbed."
Mission agreed, "Well, you'll always have that."
"Listen Mission, if you're interested, Carth and I won't be here tonight…you guys are welcome to crash here after you eat," Sage suggested.
Carth wasn't sure how well he trusted the girl and the Wookiee, but the thought of her roaming the streets in the middle of the pre-race events didn't seem right. "I'll be back here in the morning, maybe we can catch the race on the holoset."
Zaalbar seemed to like that idea much better. By the time Sage and Carth left, Mission was already testing the holoset to make sure they could watch the race.
On the way to the cantina, Carth took the opportunity to talk since they were alone, "I want to thank you for what you did for me last night. You saved my life."
Sage smirked with a wink, "I would have done it for anyone."
He chuckled, "Thank you."
"You're welcome…how does it feel?" she asked pointing to his shoulder.
"It's still sore, but much better. The whole experience was so strange…and I don't know whether it was the venom or the serum, but it's the strangest hangover I've ever had. Everything is real fuzzy. The last solid memory I have is you and Mission setting those mines."
Sage didn't respond.
"Was I even coherent when you came back?" he asked.
Sage was getting a little nervous with his questions, but proceeded with caution, "You were firing at everything that moved by the time I got back. I'm not sure how many cells you went through, but there were small rodents lying everywhere…you were still coherent, though."
"When did that part change?"
"You seemed to lose it on our way back to the village," she explained.
"Then what?"
"We gave you the serum and you passed out," she said.
"The healer said I woke up a few times, was I even aware of what was going on?" he asked.
"Um…I'm not sure…Esala said you were delusional when she spoke to you," she said while quickening her pace.
"Did I speak to you at all? Did you think I was delusional?" he asked.
"Well…um…I'm not really sure if you were or not, to be honest," she said.
Much to her relief, he seemed content with that answer.
Bendak was waiting when they walked into the cantina. Sage told Carth to find a table while she finished her conversation. He grudgingly agreed.
Carth found a table in the corner and ordered drinks for them. He had already finished his first drink before Sage found him.
He studied her a moment, "Did he tell you anything?"
"No, he said I had to talk to Ajuur."
"That's all he said?" Carth thought she was gone for a long time just to be told to talk to someone else.
"I wasn't really there to talk about the duel…I wanted to get a good look at that armor he wears," she explained.
"I guess he does have a bounty on his head…could explain why he wears it everywhere," he said. "Did you talk to Ajuur?"
"No, but I need to before we leave."
Carth thought about the race. He found the idea of the prototype exploding a little disconcerting, "So you're not worried about the accelerator?"
"Not really," she said before taking a drink of her ale.
Over their meal, they discussed the plan for the next day. Carth wouldn't be allowed on the swoop platform, so it was up to Sage to retrieve Bastila. He seemed nervous about that and it didn't go beyond her notice.
"I want to discuss something with you," she stated.
"You do? Fair enough. What do you want to discuss?"
"I want to talk about these issues you seem to have with me."
He sighed, "I knew you wouldn't understand where I was coming from. Let me try to explain." He paused to take another sip of his drink, "You're probably one of the most skilled women I've ever met. You've saved my butt more than once and I'm lucky you're here to help me, no question. But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop watching you or being wary. I'm just not built that way. Period."
She furrowed her brow, "And what, exactly, are you watching me for?"
He shrugged, "I don't know that, yet. Like I said before, it's probably nothing. But I've been betrayed before by people and I…well, it won't happen again, that's all."
She snorted derisively, "So you want some guarantee that I won't betray you!"
He leaned back in his seat, "I don't know that you'll betray me. But there are no guarantees…not for you, not for me. You don't have to take it personally."
She thought for a moment and then decided, "No, I do take it personally!"
He crossed his arms across his chest, "Well, that's too bad, then, because I'm not going to change."
She scoffed, "That settles that, I guess." She got up to leave.
Carth stopped her, "Why is whether or not I trust you or anyone so damned important to you? Why…why do you even care?"
"Don't worry, I don't," she said firmly.
"Could have fooled me," he said under his breath. He reached for his drink.
Sage turned to leave, but decided otherwise. She turned to face him with half a smirk on her face. "You know what, Onasi? Here's something for you to chew on…in your state of delirium last night, you kissed me."
Carth gasped and started coughing over the ale that went down the wrong way. Sage watched with a smile.