A/N: This would have been up sooner but I had a bit of a crisis. I had to go to Billings, MT for work and took my laptop and memory stick with me to work on my fic. I actually ended up leaving my memory stick in the motel room and I live over 400 miles away! The extremely nice people at the Cherry Tree Inn in Billings found it for me and mailed it. This chapter is dedicated to them. I would have been extremely upset if I had to rewrite everything. As always feedback is oh so appreciated!
Morii and Carth were in the front portion of the lift and peered into the blackness as the doors of the elevator into the Under City slid open. At first they nothing but the blackness, but they could sure smell it.
"Gnuh!" Carth commented as he held the sleeve of his armor up to his face. Morii, Zaalbar and Mission quickly followed his example. The smell of the Lower Cities had been bad; the smell in the Under City was almost unbearable. "Force, this is horrible," Carth exclaimed.
Morii nodded an agreement. She tried opening her mouth and breathing through that… but the air was thick and putrid and it didn't make the stench any better.
"Oh, I almost forgot," Mission said with a gag of inhaled air as she dug in her bag. She removed something out she said, "Here," as she handed it to each of the group. "Olfactory blockers," Mission explained at their confused look. "One thing most people hear about the Under City is the smell."
They muttered their thanks as they inserted the blockers into their nostrils. Carth was surprised at the girl's foresight. The Under City is still no place for a kid, he thought.
The olfactory blockers completely eliminated the horrible stench. Once the four of them wandered out of the elevator their eyes began to adjust to the permanent gloom. The ground was a dusty brown and it appeared they had actually reached the long forgotten surface of Taris. Small bits of fluorescent scrub clung to random patches of the ground and gave a small eerie light. Immense pillars stretched up from the dirt and disappeared into the blackness above them. Weak yellow lights could be seen from fires flickering in the distance. "You suppose that's the inhabitants of the Under City?" Morii asked the group.
Carth shrugged, "Dunno, but if a lot of them are criminals do we want to find out?"
Morii gave a shrug back, "It's the closest we're going to find to a guide in this dump."
They hadn't walked more than five feet when a hoarse voice shouted, "You there! Up-worlder! This is our elevator!" Despite the threat of the words the man's voice trembled.
The group stopped as two small men jogged toward them. They were short, only five one or two and they had the palest skin Morii had ever seen on a human. It was pasty white under the filth that covered their skin. Eyes swallowed in black from being permanently dilated glared at Morii. The hair on their heads was thin and wispy. Clothes, or rather rags hung from their sparse forms. The two would be muggers were possibly the saddest thing Morii had ever seen. Rarely had she ever felt so immediately sorry for anyone.
The second man put fists on his hips, attempting to look intimidating, "Yeah! You wanna use out elevator you gotta pay a toll! Five credits! That's the toll."
"I don't believe this planet," Carth muttered with a shake of the head. "Even the beggars are trying to shake us down!"
Morii dug out ten credits, "Here, five credits each." She held out her hand careful not to touch the disgusting men and dropped five credit chips into each outstretched palm. Carth gave Morii a shocked look and she spat, "What?"
"Nothing," Carth replied with a smile on his face as he gave another shake of the head. "You just surprised me."
Morii huffed, "It was ten stupid credits." The men took off speculating what they could do with their new found wealth. What would have probably bought Morii a meal in the Lower City had seemed like riches to the beggars. Morii felt a wave of pity squeeze her chest.
"That was nice, Beautiful," Carth gave Morii a soft look.
"Oh shut up!" Morii spun around and stomped toward the flickering lights. Had she really become so cold that such a small thing was out of character for her? Morii found she didn't like that. Had survival become all she was about now? When had she stopped even caring about others? Morii realized she was more angry with herself than Carth. Now she had to apologize. Damn!
Mission watched Morii stomp off and shot Carth a dirty look out of loyalty to her new friend. "Hey, Morii, wait up!" she called and trotted after the woman.
Carth looked at Zaalbar in bewilderment, "What the hell did I do?" he asked the Wook.
Carth couldn't understand what Zaalbar said but the helpless shrug made the meaning of, "Don't ask me," perfectly clear.
"Women!" Carth spat and Zaalbar chuffed in laughter. The two males took off to follow the women into the gloom.
They walked in silence for a moment before Morii mumbled to Carth, "Sorry."
Carth quirked an eyebrow, "What was that?"
Despite herself Morii smiled, "You heard me."
"C'mon, say it again…" he grinned.
Morii looked up at the… ceiling? She didn't know what you would call it. She paused and looked back at Carth, "I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry for snapping like that. It's just… some day's I don't like myself very much. I shouldn't have snapped."
"Ah, don't worry about it." Carth waved a hand in dismissal. He could sympathize with not liking one's self.
Morii stared at her boots as they walked and bit her lip in thought. She tried to remember what it was like to not think of her own skin first. Well there had been her group on Nar Shaddaa, and of course Lyn. It seemed like friends… real friends had been few and far between. She tried to remember before Therano and the rest of the group when a piercing pain shot through her head. "Ow!" She dug thumbs into her temples at the pain.
"You okay?" Mission asked while Carth gave Morii a concerned look.
"Yeah… yeah I'm ok," the pain had started to fade as quickly as it shot up. That was weird… Morii was trying to remember what had happened and then… "Ow!" Morii said louder as the pain spiked again.
"Morii?" Carth's tone was worried.
"I'm okay, I just need to stop trying to think," Morii said in a distracted voice while she massaged the sides of her head. She decided to leave it alone for now; she'd worry about it later.
Cautiously they approached the lights and spotted rag tag huts made of bits of long discarded metal and cloth. Groups of people sat around the little fires in attempt to absorb the warmth and light. Most of the people camped here didn't look any better than the two men they had encountered at the elevator, although a minority were a normal height and appeared a bit more filled out. Morii wondered if the short ghostly ones were people who had been born here. She shuddered at the thought of living her entire life in this place.
"This is horrible," Carth murmured his earlier statement as he came up next to Morii and gazed over the camp.
"Yeah," Morii's voice was quiet in reply.
A girl crept out of the darkness and approached them, afraid and unsure. She was very small and pale. It was only when Morii got a better look at her figure that she realized this "girl" was probably older than Mission…Force. Morii saw that the girl appeared curious rather than hostile and lifted a hand in greeting, "Hi."
"You're from the Up-world aren't you?" The girl whispered as her black eyes glittered with excitement. Her voice was soft and weak as she continued. "I've never talked to anyone who's come down from the Up-world before unless they've been banished. Most of the time they ignore us Outcasts."
"What's your name, miss?" Carth asked with a smile.
"I'm Shaleena," she blushed, gave Carth a shy return smile and hung her head.
Morii gave a smile of her own at the girl's reaction to Carth, "Hi, Shaleena. This is Carth, I'm Morii, that's Mission," Mission gave a wave and a smile, "and the chatty one back there is Zaalbar." Zaalbar chuffed. "Do you mind if we ask you some questions?"
Shaleena's head bobbed up and down in excitement, "Oh of course! I'd be happy to help."
"You said something about other Up-worlders?" Carth asked.
Shaleena nodded again. Morii fancied Shaleena's head might pop right off from the force of it. "Oh yes!" Shaleena continued with more nods. Morii resisted the urge to grab the girl's skull to stop her. "I've seen lots of Up-worlders since those big metal pods crashed into the Under City. Most of them were scary, and I didn't talk to them though. Gendar said some of them were Sith but I don't know what that is. He told us we should stay away from them."
Morii and Carth shared a look. "He's right," Carth nodded. "Who's Gendar?"
"Gendar's the leader of our village," Shaleena's voice filled with admiration. "He's very smart and he used to live in the Up-world, but he doesn't like it when I ask him about it," she finished sadly.
"Do you think we could speak to Gendar?" Carth asked.
Shaleena grinned and Morii restrained a wince. The girl was missing a few of her front teeth, probably from bad nutrition. "I can take you to him. Can… can I ask you a question first?" her voice was hesitant.
Carth and Morii responded with a nod. Shaleena asked, "What does the sky look like?"
Carth's stomach knotted. Poor kid, he couldn't believe that the Tarisian government was allowed to get away with treating people like this. They were members of the Republic for Force sake! "It's nothing special," he shrugged in attempt to play it off.
"Oh please! I would like to know," Shaleena begged.
"It's the color of a newborn baby's eyes only much lighter, like when someone goes blind," Morii described softly. She was trying to come up with analogies the girl could associate with. "If there are clouds, they're like little bits of fluff that float along across it and it seems like it goes on forever."
"Aw jeez, I think I'm gonna start crying," Mission whispered to Zaalbar behind them.
Shaleena beamed, "Oh it sounds beautiful, thank you! Follow me," she beckoned at the group with her right hand, "I'll take you to Gendar." Shaleena turned and began walking further into the small village.
Morii's face briefly crumpled for the girl and Carth gave her shoulder a sympathetic squeeze. She returned the gesture with a sad smile. They trailed after Shaleena into the village with Mission making sniffing noises behind them. Zaalbar let off a low rhythmic growl as he patted the Twi'lek girl's back.
Shaleena led them to a lean-to in the center and called out Gendar's name. A tall human man with medium brown skin exited the dwelling. He looked from the group to Shaleena and scowled. "Shaleena! You shouldn't be talking to Up-worlders. I told you they can be dangerous."
"But Gendar, they're nice! They talked to me and they just wanted to ask some questions." Shaleena protested in a hurt voice.
Morii stepped forward, "Excuse me, Gendar, we asked Shaleena to take us to you. We just wanted to ask you some questions; we don't mean you or your village any harm."
Gendar gave them a suspicious look but relented, "Well all right. I suppose with as heavily armed as you all are if you meant to hurt us you would have already done so." He turned to Shaleena, "I'm not angry with you, Shaleena, I was just worried. You need to be careful; most Up-worlders who come down here aren't very nice. Go on, child, and let me talk to them."
Shaleena nodded and turned to Morii and the others, "Thank you," she gave another small smile and wandered off.
Gendar was still shooting them suspicious looks, "So what is it you want to know?"
"Well we're actually looking for the entrance into the sewer system," Carth said.
"Why? The only thing in the sewers is Gamorreans and rakghouls." Gendar scowled again.
"We're looking for a friend of ours, and we think she might be in the Vulkar base," Carth offered. It wasn't exactly the truth, but close enough and who knew, maybe the Vulkars had moved Bastila to their base. Carth was hoping so. "We're looking for the back entrance."
Gendar visibly relaxed. "You're Republic, aren't you? You're looking for that woman they grabbed from one of the Republic pods." He said the last sentence as a statement. "Don't worry," he held up a hand at Carth's suspicious look, "I have no love for the Sith. We heard them grab her several days ago. From the sound of things she put up quite a fight. The pod's not too far off from here."
"Why didn't you stop them?" Carth's asked, irritated.
Gendar snorted, "With what? They have blasters… the only weapon's we have are the one's we can make from salvage that finds its way down here. I may not like the Sith but I'm also not going to send my people into a losing battle with heavily armed gang members to be slaughtered for the Republic."
Carth looked away but didn't reply.
Gendar continued, "The entrance isn't far from here. We have a barricade set up to keep the rakghouls out although some of them manage to get through it from time to time. You can go talk to the gate guard to get out of the village but I warn you if you're bitten he won't let you back in. Once you get a rakghoul bite it's only a matter of hours before you'll transform. We have to keep the rest of the village safe."
"How far is the sewer entrance?" Morii asked.
"Not far," Gendar shrugged, "about a click or two. Watch out for Sith and Vulkars though. Oh, and we had some mercs come through today. I think they work for Davik."
"Why would Davik send anyone down here?" Mission wondered.
"Don't know," Gendar answered, "and I didn't ask. As long as they leave my people alone they can play with the rakghouls all they want."
"Thank you for the information," Carth gave the man a nod. They continued through the village until they came to the gate Gendar told them about. The guard at the gate was arguing with a woman. She had obviously originated from the upper levels of Taris recently as she looked relatively clean and healthy.
"Please open the gate! You can't leave Hendar out there!" The woman grabbed the man's rough tunic and shook him.
"I can't Hester! The rakghoul is too close! You know the rules, he's on his own." The guard pulled Hester's hands off of him.
"No!" she yelled, "they'll kill him!" Hester darted around the guard in an attempt to reach the gate lever but the man caught her around the waist and dragged her back.
"Dammit, Hester! You'll kill us all!"
"I don't care!" Hester was giving ineffectual swats at the guard as he pulled her back, "I won't let him die!"
At this point a man in approximately the same physical condition as Hester ran up to the other side of the gate and hooked his fingers through the grate, "Open the gate!" he screamed. "The rakghoul's right behind me!"
"I can't…ooof!" the guard yelled as he wrestled with Hester. Morii noted that Hester had finally gotten smart and elbowed the guard in the gut. Still he hung onto Hester. "The rakghoul's too close!"
Carth stepped forward with a hand on each blaster butt, "Open the gate and we'll take care of the rakghoul."
Hester and the guard froze to stare open-mouthed at Carth while Morii rolled her eyes. "Carth!" she hissed.
Carth spun on her with eyes blazing, "I'm not just going to sit here and watch that man die!" He turned back to the two Outcasts, "Now open the damn gate!" Carth pulled out his blasters.
"Oh for the fracking love of the Force," Morii muttered as she pulled her vibrosword from its back sheath. Mission and Zaalbar got out their weapons as well.
The guard paused for a second and then nodded, "Alright, but you have to be quick. As soon as you're out there I have to close the gate again." He let Hester go and lowered the lever; "Go!" he shouted.
Carth ran through the gate while the rest of them trailed behind, Morii muttering obscenities about do-gooder Republic soldiers. The gate clanged shut behind them as they got their first look at a rakghoul. The man Hendar had some sort of pole raised in a defensive pose and looked terrified while Carth, Mission and Zaalbar all brought up weapons. Morii ran in first with her blade raised in a high guard.
If Morii thought the Outcasts were pale they had nothing on a rakghoul. Its skin glistened white and appeared to be covered in some sort of clear film. The eyes were shrunk down to pinpoints and the teeth were elongated and sharpened. Morii noted with horror that the rakghoul had a little bit of cloth around its middle… a cloth that looked to be what was left of a Republic uniform.
The rakghoul saw Morii and turned its course from Hendar, taking a swipe with long, razor-like claws. Morii jerked back on instinct as her companions begin firing from behind. She ducked the rakghoul's second swing. It didn't even seem to register the shots that made contact with its skin as it roared in a high pitched cry and lunged for her. Morii jumped to the side into a roll. The rakghoul made another grab for her as she lay prone on her back and she distantly heard Carth cry her name. She brought up her vibrosword as the ghoul came down directly on top of her. The rakghoul impaled itself on Morii's weapon and in its death throes slashed her right bicep with its claws, but she noted with immense relief it hadn't managed to bite her.
The corpse of the rakghoul slid down the length of the sword to rest on top of Morii and she was extremely grateful at that moment for Mission's olfactory blockers. She could feel some sort of lukewarm slimy liquid run down the side of her stomach. Whatever passed for rakghoul blood was leaking from the body onto her and soaking through the side gap in her armor.
She heard Carth, Mission, and Z making frantic inquiries if she was all right and yelled, "Get this ugly bastard off me!" The weight was lifted from Morii and she sighed as Carth and Zaalbar grabbed the corpse. All three of them stared anxiously and Morii scowled at Carth, "Great idea, flyboy."
"Shut up," Carth said as he grabbed her left arm and helped her up. "We thought you were dead." Carth checked her arm, "It's not…?" the look he gave her was horrified.
"No," she answered. "It's just a scratch."
Carth gave a relieved sigh and pulled out a kolto patch and a med kit. "Moronic woman! Would you use a blaster next time?" His voice seethed with anger.
"I suck with a blaster," Morii shot back and then hissed as the antiseptic compound from the patch hit her wound. Despite Carth's scolding his hands were gentle as he doctored the injury.
"Morii, you okay?" Mission asked with wide eyes.
"I'm fine, Mish…ouch!" she said as Carth injected the med pack.
"Well you'll suck even more if you're dead or worse!" Carth rebuked as he finished treating her. When he had seen Morii charge at the rakghoul he thought his heart would stop. When the ghoul went down on top of her he felt it leap into his throat. He had thought for sure the thing was going to bite or kill her.
The guard let them all back through the gate after he was satisfied Morii's wound wasn't a bite and they found Hester crying all over Hendar. Hendar cradled the hysterical woman and murmured comforting words.
"You… you… you… shouldn't have… done that… Hendar!" the woman sobbed. "I thought… you… whu… whu… were… dead!"
"I'm sorry Hes…" Hendar continued to stroke her hair. "I thought I could find some salvage… I just feel so bad about dragging you down here."
"I don't care about that!" Hester responded furiously. She then turned tear filled eyes to Carth and the others, "Thank you for saving him! If he… I don't know what I would have done." Hester buried her head in his chest.
Morii and Mission shared a glance and rolled their eyes at the woman's dramatics. Carth said softly, "You're welcome. I'm just glad we could help."
"Come on Hes, let's go back to the village," Hendar guided Hester back into the gathering of tents.
Morii opened her mouth to make a smart-assed comment but the naked pain on Carth's face stopped her. Quickly she snapped her mouth back shut. Instead she nudged Mission and said, "So Ms. Vao, ready to go play with some more rakghouls?"
"Oh yeah sure, why not," Mission shrugged and then gave a laugh. "How about it, Big Z?"
Zaalbar's growled response was resigned.
"Carth?" Morii came up behind Carth and asked softly. He was watching the Outcast couple walk off into the darkness with a look of longing on his face. "You ready?"
Carth turned toward Morii, "Yeah, let's go."
They went back through the gate and it snapped shut with an ominous clang. Morii gave her shoulder a few experimental rotations until she was satisfied that the injury wouldn't impede her. The kolto was already working its magic through the wound, yay. She pulled her sword out and gave a few practice swings. Carth frowned as he watched her.
"Morii, I really think you should be using a blaster down here," Carth advised.
Morii chuckled, "Unless you want to end up shot in the ass I think I'd better stick with the vibrosword."
Carth raised both eyebrows, "You're really that bad?"
"Oh yeah," she returned with a sheepish smile, "I'm that bad."
Carth frowned but let it drop. He knew from first hand observation how good Morii was with a blade but… he'd just have to watch and make sure she didn't end up in over her head.
They made their way through the gloom which became thicker the further they moved from the village. Mission dug something out of her pack and gave it a smack. A soft green light flooded them and lit a small circular area.
"Nice," Morii commented on the light. "What else you got in there?" she waved a hand toward Mission's bag.
"Grenades… spare power packs, a few med packs, um…" Mission began digging. "Security spikes, some mines and an interface I made for high grade security fields… miscellaneous junk."
Carth was impressed at the girl's foresight again. He was beginning to think he may have underestimated Mission. The power packs, medpacks and grenades he would have thought of, but the light and other items it would have never occurred to him.
They hadn't gotten very far when they say another fire burning in the distance. Morii tilted her head and asked the others, "More Outcasts?"
"/No,/" Zaalbar replied. "/The fire is too big for a campfire./" Zaalbar squinted into the black and then opened his black eyes wide in surprise, "/I think it's one of the escape pods./"
Morii and Carth exchanged wide eyed looks, "There is no way we are that lucky," Morii told him.
Carth looked back at the pod, "Probably not but we should check it out. There may still be someone alive…"
Morii frowned at Carth, "Yeah and they'll probably try to eat us." Carth threw her a look and Morii instantly regretted her words. Evidentially he had spotted the cloth on the rakghoul as well. Those had been his comrades and probably even some his friends. "I'm sorry," she gave him a genuinely repentant look and bit her lip. "That was really out of line. I wasn't thinking."
Carth looked away, "Let's be careful," and he moved off in the direction of the pod.
Morii winced and tuned to Mission, "Next time I open my mouth would you just give me a swift kick in the ass?" she asked the Twi'lek.
"You deserve one," Mission said with a nod.
Morii looked at her feet. "Yeah I know. Sometimes my mouth blasts off without checking with the control tower in my brain first."
Mission smiled, "We'd better make sure the old fart doesn't get himself killed. C'mon," she jerked her head at Carth's advancing figure.
Morii turned to Zaalbar and sighed, "You still love me don't you?" she joked.
Zaalbar said something very unflattering in Shriiwook and Morii winced. Ouch, she thought. Stupid mouth!
They all caught up to Carth and moved toward the pod. To Morii's astonishment there was someone alive. A man in Republic armor lay prone next to the pod with a few mines around him. Morii grabbed Carth as he started toward the pod and pointed, "Mines."
Carth paused while Mission and Morii stepped forward and took care of the charges. Once the field was disarmed Carth approached the man and knelt down next to him. "Soldier, are you alright?" he asked.
The man was covered in a sheen of sweat and there was a nasty wound on his left thigh that looked like… a large bite. Shavit, Carth thought. He had the disease.
"Captain?" the man asked. "Captain, something's wrong with me… I think I'm sick. I… I… those things… they came at me… and they attacked… the other man in the pod… Captain, they ate him!"
Carth squeezed the soldier's shoulder, "Don't worry, son. We're going to get you some help." He stood up and turned to his group. "We need to find that serum, now."
Morii rather thought they should just kill the guy, he looked pretty far gone but she kept this to herself. Who said she couldn't keep her mouth shut? "The only place we're probably going to find that is on a Sith trooper," she said with a sigh. "Someone's going to have to stay with him too." She waved a hand toward the Republic soldier.
Carth grimaced, knowing she was right. They couldn't leave the man alone in case the rakghouls attacked but Carth didn't want to send the rest of the group off with out him. He didn't have any other option though, "I'll go if you three will stay down here with him."
Mission was watching the Republic soldier as he started to shiver violently.
"That's a bad idea, Carth, if you run into more rakghouls you can't take on a whole gang of them by yourself. We should split up two and two," Morii suggested.
The man's eyes glazed over and then rolled into the back of his head.
"Guys…" Mission began. Carth and Morii didn't pay the Twi'lek any attention.
"Anyone that goes out looking for Sith is going to be in more danger. I should be the only one to go, he's my man and I've had the most combat experience," Carth emphasized with a nod.
"Guys…" Mission said a little louder. The injured man was starting to convulse.
"No," Morii shook her head, absorbed in the argument, "What if you run into too big a group? The Sith will take one look at you and know instantly you're with the Republic."
"Morii, this isn't a discussion. You three stay. I'll go after the serum."
"Guys!" Mission yelled.
"What?" Morii and Carth turned and asked simultaneously.
"I don't think the serum is an issue anymore," Mission nodded at the guard and began to back up as Zaalbar pulled his bowcaster. The other two turned to look at the soldier as he shook and flailed on the ground. Carth threw up an instinctive arm in front of Morii and started pushing her backward.
The group watched helplessly as the man in front of them screamed in agony. The soldier's skin rippled like water across his body and gray slimy patches began to bloom all over. His eyes bled to solid black as his teeth elongated and sharpened like something out of a horror holo. Claws ripped from the skin at the tips of his fingers and muscles began to grow and stretch in places no human should have them. The sound of tearing cloth accompanied the man's cries as his voice began to take on a strange echo, getting louder and higher at the same time. His skull expanded and had been completely consumed by the gray flesh.
When the soldier was completely gone the rakghoul that had replaced him threw back its head and let out a shattering roar that echoed through the depths of Taris.
The group gaped in horror at what had once been human as the rakghoul shook its head in disorientation. Finally it stopped as it looked straight at Morii and Carth. The humans and the ghoul stared for a moment and then the rakghoul charged.
Morii had already pulled her vibrosword and Carth had his blasters out in a flash. Morii ducked to the side and avoided the first swipe of a claw. Several blaster burns bloomed in the filmy white skin and jerked the rakghoul's frame but it kept coming. Morii sent out a slice that caught the ghoul in the arm and it howled in rage and charged her. What am I, rakghoul bait? She idly wondered as the ghoul rushed her.
A black boot shot out from nowhere and kicked the rakghoul in the head. Carth turned with the kick and resumed hammering the thing with shots as it forgot Morii and turned onto him in fury. Seeing her chance Morii stabbed the rakghoul in the center of the back. She hadn't noticed last time how tough rakghoul hides were since gravity had been on her side, but the thing's skin was a schutta to push through. The rakghoul arched its back and let out a death shutter. It fell to the ground as Morii removed her weapon.
"That was kinda dumb, Carth," Morii said in reference to his kick.
"Well that's gratitude," he scowled. "I just saved your ass."
"Granted," Morii countered, "but you almost got yours bit off." Now that would be a galactic tragedy, an inner voice commented.
Mission and Zaalbar came up to check if they were alright. Before the two could respond Zaalbar pointed back the way they had just come, "/I think it called some friends with that howl. It sounded like some sort summoning./" Sure enough, five rakghouls charged around the corner and started running right for them.
Zaalbar pushed Mission behind him as they all readied their weapons. Morii had pulled Z aside before they went down to the Under City and asked him to make sure he kept an eye on Mission. Zaalbar had let an amused chuff and responded, "/I always do, as much as she'll let me./" Morii was happy to see that Z was keeping the girl in the back of the group and to her credit Mission wasn't arguing.
The ghouls came at them en mass and the fight began in earnest. Morii hacked, slashed, and dodged as the rakghouls came forward and the three adults formed a semi circle with Mission in the rear providing backup. They had two down rather fast. Zaalbar had given up the bowcaster and pulled a blade from somewhere and both of Carth's blasters were firing faster than Morii could track.
As Z took out the third ghoul, the fourth made a dodge around the Wookiee for Mission. Zaalbar roared and brought down his blade. The rakghoul shrieked in pain at the large cut in its shoulder. Zaalbar brought his vibroblade back up a fraction of a second too late and the ghoul latched onto his arm with its teeth. Mission had her own melee weapon pulled, chopped the rakghoul in the back of the neck and it fell over dead.
Morii as a general rule usually didn't like people firing blasters right behind her but she had found over the past week that Carth was excellent with his. He had a knack for finding just the right openings and a deadly aim. Morii swept up her vibrosword but the ghoul ducked around her at the last minute and lunged for Carth. The thing caught him across the inside half his left thigh and he screamed as the claws sliced through fabric and into flesh. Morii saw Carth fall and brought down her blade with a strength she didn't know she had; splitting the ghoul's skull clean in two.
As soon as the last rakghoul fell Morii dropped her blade and ran for Carth where he lay bleeding on the ground. His left thigh was already soaked in blood. Morii skidded to a halt on her knees as she reached him and rolled Carth over to get a better look at his wound. She could hear Zaalbar also making pain-filled noises and Mission saying something. Morii spared a quick look and saw that Zaalbar didn't appear in immediate danger. She ripped the leg of Carth's pants apart and paled. It looked like the rakghoul's claws had sliced him clear to the femoral artery. If she didn't get the bleeding stopped now he was going to die.
Morii dug out all her med packs and kolto patches and turned back to Carth. She ripped the cloth of his pants clear off, making them into a half pair of shorts.
"Trying to get in my pants, Beautiful?" Carth's voice was thready and weak at the joke.
"Hush," she told him. Morii began cleaning off the blood so she could get a better look at the wound. She clenched her teeth as she got to the worst of it, watching the blood spurt to the surface at an alarming rate. She needed to stop it and she needed to stop it now. Grimly she pushed her finger into Carth's thigh and he let out a cry. "Mission!" she cried. "I need you now!"
"Big Z…" Mission said.
"Carth's dying!" she screamed at the girl.
Mission scooted over to Morii's side and her eyes became wide when she looked at Carth. She swallowed thickly and said, "What do you need?"
"I need that med kit! Get it out and open it." Carth was dangerously pale. This injury was too deep for kolto. The medicine would never spread through his system in time. Morii didn't think he was quite at the critical point yet but he wasn't far off, and she had to improvise. After she saw Mission had the kit open she told her assistant to pull the sterile gloves out of their packaging. "Put on those gloves first," she told Mission. "Okay now put the other set on me." Mission did as Morii instructed. "Good, now had me that tourniquet… no that… that's it." Morii tied the elastic band around Carth's upper thigh. "I need bio adhesive," Morii had to seal the artery shut before Carth bled out.
Mission looked up from the med kit after digging for a moment, "There isn't any," she whispered.
"What!?" Morii took her free hand and checked the kit herself. Sure enough there was no bio adhesive. That's what she got for using a stolen medpack. Digging further she found a pack with sterilized thread and a needle. Oh bloody fracking hell, she thought. Resigned Morii instructed Mission to open the pack and thread the needle. "Shavit!" Morii swore. The tourniquet had slowed the blood but she couldn't see anything again. "Get that swabbing cloth out and clean him off. I need to be able to see. Carth's body had begun to shiver from blood loss. "Hang on, flyboy…" she said as Mission continued to clean off the blood.
"Bossy woman…" Carth muttered. He knew he should be alarmed at the panic in Morii's voice but he felt light and tired. Carth realized he was dying but he just couldn't seem to care. His lack of concern more than anything sent a chill of fear up his spine. Oh that's bad… he thought.
Morii laughed but it was forced. She wanted to keep him awake. "That's rich coming from you."
Carth let out a huff of breath that was probably supposed to be a laugh.
"C'mon, Carth, stay awake!" She gave him a shake and he groaned in response. "Mish, give me the needle." Morii held out her right hand and Mission gave her the curved threaded needle. Morii bent down and bit her lip. The angle was awkward but she couldn't see a way to make it better. She needed to get the artery stitched up fast.
"This is gonna hurt," Morii mumbled as she leaned forward and put her face level with the injury. She put two of her left fingers back into the wound and Carth grunted. She used them to push apart the layers of fat and muscle, felt for the opening and closed her eyes.
Morii had to do this part by feel. It was too small to do by sight and she was no medical droid, although she'd give all her credits for one right now. Once again she used her fingers to find the opening and inserted the needle. Carth let out a yell and jerked. "Mission, pin his leg down," Morii instructed with her eyes closed. She couldn't afford to screw this up. The flesh under her hands stopped squirming and Morii began to stitch it up.
As she progressed through the tiny stitches Morii began to actually see the wound in her mind. She could see the red color of the flesh, the black of the thread and the glint of the needle as it became coated in blood. She worked the impossibly tiny sutures over and over until she sensed she had come to the end of the wound. Carefully Morii tied the last stitch off and opened her eyes. Still in a semi-trance state she said softly, "Mish, get the scissors and cut the thread." Mission grabbed the scissors and cut the end of the thread off.
Morii moved her hands to the tourniquet and told Mission, "If you believe in any Gods, start praying." Morii untied the tourniquet and held her breath. If she had done this wrong, now they'd know. Morii froze as she waited for blood to start spurting again from Carth's leg. When there was only a small bit of seepage from the rest of the cut she let out her breath in a whoosh. The stitches held. She indulged in a moment of trembling and then had Mission hand her more of the kolto drenched cloths. Morii cleaned the rest of the blood from the area and made sure there wasn't any dirt. She needed to do something about the rest of the wound to Carth's thigh though. "I need more thread," she told Mission.
"There is no more," Mission said nervously, "that was all of it."
"Fracking son of a kath!" Morii swore. The man lying on the ground chuckled softly. "Nice to see you're still with us," she told Carth.
"You have the worst mouth," Carth told her. He was feeling a bit giddy and definitely light headed.
Morii thought fast and came up with a temporary solution. She removed the gloves, cleaned her hands and said, "Mish, help me get this armor off." Mission helped her unbuckle the straps to her armor and Morii peeled off the two pieces. After she got the armor off she peeled off her shirt and shivered as she knelt on the ground in only her bra.
Carth watched the whole thing while prostrate on the ground with a silly grin. "Must be my lucky day," he said while he watched Morii strip. "First you rip off my pants and now you're taking off your shirt… but I'm not sure I'm up for it, Beautiful."
"Dream on, flyboy," she retorted. Morii realized he was probably loopy from loosing a couple pints and was infinitely glad he was still here to harass her. As Morii tore apart her shirt she realized something that shocked and scared her. In a very short time Carth had began to worm his way into a category that Morii had very few people in. It was the same category Lyn inhabited. Carth was becoming one of those people she would do just about anything for. Someone she actually cared what happened to. What's worse is Morii had a sneaking suspicion that Mission was beginning to fall in that category as well. It had happened so fast that it frightened Morii.
Morii threw aside the piece of the shirt that had been covered in rakghoul blood and made the rest into long strips. "Okay, Mish, I'm going to need your help here."
"Okay," Mission moved up next to Morii. "What do you need me to do?"
"I need you to hold the wound closed for me while I bandage it." Carth was going to have a hell of a scar and possibly some muscle damage, but the second could be easily fixed with minor surgery and the first could also if Carth was vain. Morii snorted to herself as she imagined Carth telling all his soldier buddies how a woman had literally ripped his pants off during his adventures on Taris.
"What's so damn funny?" Carth asked curiously. He lifted his head to glare but it flopped back to the ground.
"Nothing," she replied. "So what are you going to tell all your fleet friends when they see your nifty new souvenir from Taris?" Mission held the wound closed while Morii began wrapping the remnants of her shirt around his leg.
"I'll tell them how a beautiful dangerous woman ripped all of my clothes off," Carth began laughing hard at this and even Mission giggled.
"Well I did threaten to cut your choobies off…" Morii joked as she worked.
Carth began to laugh harder interspersed with "ow's". "Oh Force, Beautiful, don't make me laugh it hurts."
Morii finished and injected a med pack to dull the pain and prevent infection. Carth's body visibly relaxed as the medicine worked through his system. With a sigh Morii wiped two stray hairs away from her face with the back of her wrist. "We need to get him to a safe place. We should probably head for the Outcast Village."
"We can't," Mission's lower lip trembled as her lekku hugged her shoulders. "Big Z's been bit."