Disclaimer: I don't own the Star Wars universe or Star Wars KOTOR, George
Lucas and Lucas Arts do. They also own all the Characters and Worlds
contained therein. The characters created by me for this story are all
that I own.
Taris – Undercity
The papers worked like a charm, just like Gadon had promised. The Sith trooper at the elevator to the Undercity said something about it crawling with rakghouls and advised that we should shoot first and ask questions later.
We exited the elevator to a grey landscape. The ground was dry dirt, and very little vegetation could be seen. There was not enough sunlight down this far down for much to grow. Two shabbily dressed men came up and accosted us as we exited, telling us we owed them five credits for using the elevator. I raised my eyebrows and asked them who they were. They said they were outcasts and had lived all their lives down here, they mentioned again that I owed them five credits for the use of the elevator. Moved to pity, I shook my head and handed them 20 credits. They grabbed it and exclaimed that they would be able to buy clothes and medicine and ran off to hide their sudden bounty. I felt ill, and wondered how Taris could claim that it was a civilized world when there were so many examples of how callously it treated anyone that wasn't human and fortunate enough to be born in the Upper City.
A woman came up and apologized for the behavior of the two men who had begged money from us. She assured us that not all of the villagers were like that and told us her name was Shaleena. She asked if the upper city was as beautiful as she had heard, I decided against commenting that it would be except for the people inhabiting it, and said that it was beautiful. She said that she had never seen the sun because she had been born in the Undercity. She mentioned that Rukil used to tell stories of what it was like to live up there and I asked her who Rukil was. She said that he was the oldest man in the village; he told them tales of the Promised Land, but those were just legends. I asked her to explain further and she said that they were only tales but if we wanted to know more we should ask Rukil. I nodded and asked about any other upworlders that had been through. She said that Gendar the village leader could tell us more than she could about that. I said I would go and speak to him. She shyly backed away and said that if I ever felt like talking to come back and see her since she hardly ever got a chance to speak to someone from the upworld. I nodded and said that I would do that if I had the time. I know Carth was impatient this entire time but I didn't really care, it would have been cruel to have brushed her off.
Rukil was interesting to say the least. He spoke in metaphor and asked me if I was the herald of prophecy or just another harbinger of shattered dreams. I was at a loss as to how to reply to him and asked what he was talking about. He replied that I was uncertain, and then went on to say that after a hundred years of life he himself became confused at times. The entire situation struck me as funny and I had to chuckle. I asked him what he wanted of me and he asked me if I could find out what become of his apprentice. I agreed that if I came across her or found out what happened to her I would let him know. He might be crazy but he was harmless and very concerned for Malya his apprentice.
I guess it was the surroundings and the grey dimness of the life they led, I found myself unwilling to add in any measure to their lot. If I could do something for them while I was down here I would do so. No one deserved to live like this, especially since whatever their parents had done, the punishment was being visited on their innocent children. I also spoke to Gendar about the village and found him to be a kind man. All in all I found them more pleasant and kind than most of the people in the Upper City. The only unpleasant one I met was Igear the salvage dealer, and I agreed with Carth's assessment that he was slimy.
We went toward the village gate where there was some commotion going on, a woman was pleading with a man for him to open the gate and let Hendar in. I looked past the gate and saw a man running, Hendar, I supposed, and chasing him was this whitish thing. A rakghoul, I realized. The woman cried "this isn't fair, let him in". The man said "they are too close I cannot risk it." I heard myself saying "open the gate I will kill the rakghoul." I was distantly surprised at myself but her despairing cry had roused a determination in me that I would not stand by and just let this man be killed. The man stared but opened the gate and I rushed though, I released my adrenals and then closed on the rakghoul powerfully attacking it to stop it from attacking the outcast man. Carth had been caught by surprise but also came though the gate and started firing at the creature. Between us we were able to kill it. The couple thanked me whole heartedly then embraced and walked arm in arm back to the village. I smiled, at them pleased that everything had ended well. I grinned at Carth and said "well at least we know we can kill the things. I suspect we will be seeing more of them out there." He grumbled, but I could tell he had been moved by these people's plight as well.
We went back out the village gate only to have the very person we were looking for come running up to us. She was distressed. "Please, you have to help me! Nobody else is going to help me. Even the Beks won't help me. But I can't just leave him there - he's my friend! You'll help me, won't you?" "Whoa, slow down Mission, what's wrong?" I said. I didn't see her Wookiee friend and I had the strong suspicion that he was the one who needed help. Zaalbar was in trouble she replied, I thought that's right Zaalbar or Big Z, she mentioned someone selling him into slavery. Almost everyone on this miserable planet seemed to be into selling people, I thought to myself. I got her to calm down a bit and tell me what happened, Gamorrean slave hunters had been waiting for them this time and had ambushed them. Mission had gotten away but there had been too many of the Gamorrean's for Zaalbar to deal with. I said that we would help her get Zaalbar back but we needed her help afterwards with getting into the Vulkar base. "It's a deal as soon as we get Big Z back, I'll show you a way into that Vulkar base " Mission replied to me. I was cheered by her words for they showed that she did know of a back way into the base.
We meet one of the Sith patrols but the leader looked at my security papers and said "ah one of the trackers the Commander sent down right?" I nodded to him as it sounded like a good cover for us being down there and he mentioned that they had lost a security patrol in the southern section already but he couldn't go look for them. He mentioned that they had been attacked several times and had even run out of rakghoul serum. I asked where the patrol had been lost and he jumped to the conclusion that we had been sent down to search for them though he expressed surprise that they would. I thought to myself, no you're right Sith don't do that, but allowed him to think that might be the case, as I said that I needed to get going.
I outlined to Carth and Mission my idea for dealing with the rakghouls. I would go close enough to one as they were wandering to lure a single one away from the pack. I would then run with it following me back to them and we would take them out one at a time. Otherwise they might overwhelm us. They argued but agreed to try my idea; it was so successful with the first group that we decided to us it as a tactic whenever we could. It required a certain measured patient pace but it was sure and the best way to make sure we didn't get infected.
We came upon the corpses of the Sith patrol and I found the serum I had been looking for. I argued that we should take the time to go back to the Upper City and get it synthesized. It should take us less than an hour total and not only would the good doctor get a supply, but we would have several doses for ourselves.
Zeloka Forn was very pleased to get the serum, he didn't want to know where I had gotten it and I agreed that was probably wise. He tried to offer me something for the serum but I declined saying that the first doses he could synthesize would be plenty. He caught on to my sense of urgency and within 30 min we had enough serum for our usage and some extras. He then began synthesizing the serum for the clinic's usage.
I decided to use the time while we were waiting for the serum, to ask Mission where her parents or family were. She replied that she guessed her family was dead and that Big Z was her family now. She related how she had met up with Zaalbar in the lower city being harassed by the Vulkars. She had impulsively rushed to help him and I made the mistake of mentioning that she could have gotten hurt. I got the "your not my mother" reply, Mission really had an issue with anyone suggesting that she wasn't doing just fine by herself. Zaalbar had taken exception to the Vulkars knocking her around and had grabbed one of the Vulkars by the throat and lifted him up. The other two broke and ran and the one he had grabbed fainted.
I asked how she had survived she had done before she had meet up with Zaalbar and she mentioned something about a brother but didn't want to say anything more. I let the subject drop but resolved to find out more of her history when I had a chance to. The chance came up sooner than I thought as she quickly regretted snapping at me. She told us how her brother and she had been stowaways on a freighter, fleeing her brother's debt.
She told me about the skills she had taught her, and it sounded like her brother was a petty thief, but I said those were good skills to have. What could I say, I knew all of those types of skills as well, but I had learned mine at Covert Ops training. I asked her why her brother had left and she mentioned a woman named Lena whom she obviously blamed for her brother leaving and asked that we stop talking about the subject for now. We had been walking back down to the Undercity this entire time and I merely waved the serum containers at the guards. It worked like a charm as they all assumed I had went to pick it up at the Sith base, and, of course, no one would want to be without the serum in the Undercity.
I decided to check in with Gendar and let him know I had serum; he told me to take it to the village healer and thanked me for my generosity. I went where he pointed and found the woman. She said there was nothing to be done for the ones already infected as the risk was too great. I was shocked but decided that the healer was correct for herself; she would have no chance against a rakghoul if someone transformed. I said that I would go in and administer the serum. She said that I was foolish but she wouldn't stop me. I told Carth and Mission to be prepared and opened the gate. Unfortunately three of the infected ones changed as soon as I stepped in the quarantine enclosure, without Mission and Carth it would have been iffy but the three of us were able to kill the newly transformed rakghouls and administer the serum to the remaining people inside. One of the women I had administered serum to told us about an escape pod that had crashed to the northeast and I thanked her.
The healer came up and thanked us and said "You amaze me. I always thought the surface dwellers couldn't care less about us Outcasts. But you risked everything to help those infected villagers." I was embarrassed and blushed and said that I wasn't from Taris. She nodded and said that they had nothing to give me but gratitude and I said that and some healing would be more than enough. I left a few of the extra serums with the healer and told her if I could I would get more from the upper city doctor to bring to her.
We decided to go looking for the escape pod the woman had mentioned and found a lone Republic survivor, he had been infected and I quickly gave him the serum. They had been attacked as soon as they came out of the escape pod and had killed the other people in the pod with him. I asked him about Bastila and he said that they had been tracking her pod and that it had gone down west of here. Suddenly he said "I heard something it's those monsters run!" He sprinted past us panicked and right into a pack of rakghouls. There was nothing could do, one of them killed him with one blow. I was dismayed and saddened what were they teaching these men? You never ran off like that leaving your fellows behind, first Trask and now this soldier whose name I never got. We fought off the rakghouls and cautiously continued on.
We ran into Canderous Ordo and ended up fighting off some rakghouls with his group. Canderous lost two of his men during the fight, and told us that everything in the pods had already been stripped by the lower city gangs. He was going to take his remaining men and leave and advised us to do the same. I nodded and watched them walk off. We continued looking for other pods and any survivors.
During this search we found the body of Rukil's apprentice and I took her journal to give to him later. We decided to press onward and check out the lower sewers, both to find Zaalbar and to check for any survivors. We ran into more rakghouls and Gamorrean's and had a few nice fights. In one of the rooms I saw a skeletal body with a datapad in its hand. I walked over and gingerly removed it wondering if it was related to more of Rukil's Promised Land searchers. Reading it I could tell that it was and I tucked it away with the apprentice's journal. I resolved to keep my eye out for anymore of them while we were down here.
We finally found Zaalbar guarded by several Gamorreans. We managed to kill them all and released him. He asked who we were and I replied with introductions, he was surprised that I understood his language. Then proving that no good deed goes unpunished he swore a life debt to me. I tried to talk him out of it, but he had already made his vow. Mission said that wherever Big Z went she went as well and that I was stuck with her too. Everyone seemed to be getting a great deal of amusement out of my predicament, Carth most of all. I closed my eyes and wondered how I would explain this one to my Commander. 'Uh sorry Sir, I seem to have picked up two dependants, a Twi'lek teenager and a Wookiee.' Oh yea this would go over real well, the guys would find it a prime source of amusement for a long, long time.
Oh well, I thought nothing could be done about it now and his presence in the team was a very welcome addition. We found Zaalbar's bowcaster in a nearby footlocker, and the Wookiee was very pleased to see it again.
We finished checking through what Mission called the Lower Sewers and found a second Promised Land journal but no Republic survivors. I decided to return to the village before we entered the Upper sewers. The journals looked as if this Promised Land was some type of hidden underground facility, from the notes in the data pads it might actually exist. I argued with Carth some about it and reminded him that we had promised we would return if we found the apprentices journal. Besides a visit to the healer would be good for everyone, especially Zaalbar, I pointed out.
Rukil began as cryptically as the last time, being called a beacon to the path to their salvation was highly embarrassing and I could feel Mission and Zaalbar staring at me. I asked how I could guide when I didn't know where the Promised Land was. He said something about me being marked up, and a mantle of destiny. By now I had given up hope of understanding what he was talking about and stopped trying.
Finally he said that he would tell me the history of the people of the village. I was interested in finding out why they were down there, so I asked him to continue. He told us that 100 years ago Taris had suffered a widespread famine due to rising levels of toxic waste, the poor had rose up against the wealthy who were hoarding food and rebelled. The rebellion was eventually crushed, and those taken prisoner were banished here. Mission chimed in that the Tarisian nobles would stuff their mothers down here if it would make more room, and I had to agree with her. He finished by telling us about the Promised Land, it was supposed to be an underground self sufficient colony founded just before the rebellion. He mentioned that his father and grandfather had journals that had been lost and said that these journals might hold the key to the location of the Promised Land. I was already pulling out the two journals I had found in the sewers; I knew they had to be the ones he was speaking of.
He immediately saw what I had seen in the cryptic notes, the Promised Land might actually exist and the journals showed the route. We went to show them to Gendar, and he looked them over. Gendar said "Is this true?" the light of hope dawning in his face. Gendar and Rukil discussed it some more and talked about the journey that would have to be made. It would take weeks, maybe months to make it but they had the supplies to make the journey. I pulled out the weapons we had found on the dead Sith and Gamorreans and insisted that they take them, they would need them for the journey much more than I needed to sell them. We visited the healer and had Zaalbar checked out, everyone's wounds healed, and then we wished Rukil well and went back to the sewer gate closest to the village.
I paused for a moment as we passed the gate and said a prayer in my thoughts for them that they safely make the journey and find a better life, that the colony was the Promised Land they hoped it would be. They certainly deserved better than the life they had.
We went back in the sewers and followed Mission to the force field that blocked the entrance to the upper sewers; Mission had the codes for it and lowered it so we could pass through. There were a few minor confrontations with rakghouls and Gamorreans, but it wasn't long before we were approaching the area where Mission had told us the rancor lived. As we approached I noticed a gruesome sight, an arm with a datapad still clutched in its hand along with some containers filled with a liquid.
Curious I pried the datapad from the hand and read it, ignoring the grimaces I got from everyone. It was interesting reading, it seemed it had belonged to a Hidden Bek and that the liquid in the containers was a synthesized odor designed to attract the rancor. The owner of the arm had hoped to lure the rancor into eating something lethal to it but obviously he had failed.
I motioned for everyone to stay back and went to have a look at the next area. A rancor stood facing a door with his back turned toward me, a pile of half eaten bodies and animals some distance behind it. A thought came to mind, it was gruesome but it had a good chance of working. I didn't want to ask Mission to do what I was planning, so I indicated that they were to remain where they were. Keeping an eye on the rancor I silently slipped over to the corpse pile, it smelled as bad as I suspected it would and I was careful to breath through my mouth so I wouldn't gag.
I located what I was looking for and gently levered the half eaten body to lie over by itself. Steeling myself I took out some fragment grenades and carefully wedged them into the corpse's gaping chest cavity. Then I quickly opened the synthesized scent and poured it over the corpse. I sprinted back to where Mission and Carth were waiting and we hid and waited for the rancor to react.
It wasn't long before the rancor came over to check out the scent and grabbed the torso and ate it. That dislodged the grenades I had placed in the body and they exploded inside the rancor killing it. I went back to where some clean looking water had been flowing and cleaned my hands as best I could, if I found some soap I would definitely clean them again. I did get some looks from Carth and Mission and said "yea it wasn't pleasant but the rancor is dead and we aren't hurt."
Beyond the door the rancor had been facing was the Vulkar base, we were in, now to find the prototype accelerator. We had killed off quite a few of the guards and patrol droids when we came across a woman cowering in what looked to be a kitchen. After reassuring her we were not going to kill her we asked her if she had any idea where the accelerator might be, she didn't know but thought it might be on the lower level where the garages were. I asked if she thought she could find her way out and she said yes she could, I wished her well and told her to go ahead and leave. I also took the opportunity to quickly scrub my hands clean. Carth saw me washing my hands and chuckled at me.
We went further into the base and found a lone Twi'lek man in one of the rooms; he knelt and surrendered after only a few blows. I quickly pulled up my blade and backed away from him. He asked that we not kill him and said he wasn't like Brejik and his new Vulkars. He said the Vulkar's hadn't been violent and bloodthirsty before Brejik took over. I asked why he hadn't left before. He said that Brejik wouldn't allow people to leave the gang, at least not alive. I told him he was free to leave, and as he did so he wished us well.
There was a security panel in the area and I took a moment to slice into it to scout out the rest of the base. I quickly realized that we had already covered most of the lower area already. The few rooms that were left however included the barracks and there were eight Vulkars in that room. I decided that it would be unwise to fight such a large group and entered in the commands to overload the power conduit in that area. I went back to the camera a few minutes later and noticed that there was one Vulkar left alive in the room. I nodded to everyone and we headed that way. The one remaining Vulkar would not surrender and I had to kill him, afterward I checked all the bodies and found a passcard to the lower level on one of them. This was what we needed to get down to the next level. We went back to the door with the pass card reader and opened it, and took the elevator down to the next level.
In the garage office I found another pass card and another security terminal. I sliced into it and took a tour of the level using the security cameras, there was a droid in the loading bay and four people in one of the rooms with what I thought might be the accelerator. There was no conduit in the area I could use; we would have to do this the hard way.
The loading dock was a room we probably shouldn't have passed by, the droid had some type of stunning attack that I had to dodge, but we finally took him down and paused to heal ourselves. The chests that it had been protecting contained over 3000 credits and some nice equipment, almost making the fight worth the risk.
When we came across a workbench I think Carth was both amused and annoyed that I insisted that we take the opportunity to install some of the upgrades kindly provided by the Vulkars. I was skilled enough that I only took me 10 minutes to finish the upgrades and Carth had to agree with me that they would give us more of an edge in the upcoming fight. The only door we hadn't touched was the one to the room I suspected the accelerator was in and I knew it would not be an easy fight. Before I opened the door I insisted that everyone use an energy shield, I also used my adrenal implant.
The Twi'lek man in the room tried to talk us into joining the Vulkar's against the Bek's but I had seen too much of what the Vulkar's were like to ever want to be associated with them. I refused their offer and told them I would not betray Gadon. The fight with the four Vulkars was longer than I would have liked and I was thankful that I had insisted upon the use of the energy shields.
We picked up the swoop accelerator and I thought to myself that Brejik was likely to be livid when he found out. Not only did we have the accelerator but we had just killed off a large number of his gang members. We decided to use the front door of the Vulkar base instead of returning through the sewers and quickly made our way back to the Hidden Bek base.
Taris – Undercity
The papers worked like a charm, just like Gadon had promised. The Sith trooper at the elevator to the Undercity said something about it crawling with rakghouls and advised that we should shoot first and ask questions later.
We exited the elevator to a grey landscape. The ground was dry dirt, and very little vegetation could be seen. There was not enough sunlight down this far down for much to grow. Two shabbily dressed men came up and accosted us as we exited, telling us we owed them five credits for using the elevator. I raised my eyebrows and asked them who they were. They said they were outcasts and had lived all their lives down here, they mentioned again that I owed them five credits for the use of the elevator. Moved to pity, I shook my head and handed them 20 credits. They grabbed it and exclaimed that they would be able to buy clothes and medicine and ran off to hide their sudden bounty. I felt ill, and wondered how Taris could claim that it was a civilized world when there were so many examples of how callously it treated anyone that wasn't human and fortunate enough to be born in the Upper City.
A woman came up and apologized for the behavior of the two men who had begged money from us. She assured us that not all of the villagers were like that and told us her name was Shaleena. She asked if the upper city was as beautiful as she had heard, I decided against commenting that it would be except for the people inhabiting it, and said that it was beautiful. She said that she had never seen the sun because she had been born in the Undercity. She mentioned that Rukil used to tell stories of what it was like to live up there and I asked her who Rukil was. She said that he was the oldest man in the village; he told them tales of the Promised Land, but those were just legends. I asked her to explain further and she said that they were only tales but if we wanted to know more we should ask Rukil. I nodded and asked about any other upworlders that had been through. She said that Gendar the village leader could tell us more than she could about that. I said I would go and speak to him. She shyly backed away and said that if I ever felt like talking to come back and see her since she hardly ever got a chance to speak to someone from the upworld. I nodded and said that I would do that if I had the time. I know Carth was impatient this entire time but I didn't really care, it would have been cruel to have brushed her off.
Rukil was interesting to say the least. He spoke in metaphor and asked me if I was the herald of prophecy or just another harbinger of shattered dreams. I was at a loss as to how to reply to him and asked what he was talking about. He replied that I was uncertain, and then went on to say that after a hundred years of life he himself became confused at times. The entire situation struck me as funny and I had to chuckle. I asked him what he wanted of me and he asked me if I could find out what become of his apprentice. I agreed that if I came across her or found out what happened to her I would let him know. He might be crazy but he was harmless and very concerned for Malya his apprentice.
I guess it was the surroundings and the grey dimness of the life they led, I found myself unwilling to add in any measure to their lot. If I could do something for them while I was down here I would do so. No one deserved to live like this, especially since whatever their parents had done, the punishment was being visited on their innocent children. I also spoke to Gendar about the village and found him to be a kind man. All in all I found them more pleasant and kind than most of the people in the Upper City. The only unpleasant one I met was Igear the salvage dealer, and I agreed with Carth's assessment that he was slimy.
We went toward the village gate where there was some commotion going on, a woman was pleading with a man for him to open the gate and let Hendar in. I looked past the gate and saw a man running, Hendar, I supposed, and chasing him was this whitish thing. A rakghoul, I realized. The woman cried "this isn't fair, let him in". The man said "they are too close I cannot risk it." I heard myself saying "open the gate I will kill the rakghoul." I was distantly surprised at myself but her despairing cry had roused a determination in me that I would not stand by and just let this man be killed. The man stared but opened the gate and I rushed though, I released my adrenals and then closed on the rakghoul powerfully attacking it to stop it from attacking the outcast man. Carth had been caught by surprise but also came though the gate and started firing at the creature. Between us we were able to kill it. The couple thanked me whole heartedly then embraced and walked arm in arm back to the village. I smiled, at them pleased that everything had ended well. I grinned at Carth and said "well at least we know we can kill the things. I suspect we will be seeing more of them out there." He grumbled, but I could tell he had been moved by these people's plight as well.
We went back out the village gate only to have the very person we were looking for come running up to us. She was distressed. "Please, you have to help me! Nobody else is going to help me. Even the Beks won't help me. But I can't just leave him there - he's my friend! You'll help me, won't you?" "Whoa, slow down Mission, what's wrong?" I said. I didn't see her Wookiee friend and I had the strong suspicion that he was the one who needed help. Zaalbar was in trouble she replied, I thought that's right Zaalbar or Big Z, she mentioned someone selling him into slavery. Almost everyone on this miserable planet seemed to be into selling people, I thought to myself. I got her to calm down a bit and tell me what happened, Gamorrean slave hunters had been waiting for them this time and had ambushed them. Mission had gotten away but there had been too many of the Gamorrean's for Zaalbar to deal with. I said that we would help her get Zaalbar back but we needed her help afterwards with getting into the Vulkar base. "It's a deal as soon as we get Big Z back, I'll show you a way into that Vulkar base " Mission replied to me. I was cheered by her words for they showed that she did know of a back way into the base.
We meet one of the Sith patrols but the leader looked at my security papers and said "ah one of the trackers the Commander sent down right?" I nodded to him as it sounded like a good cover for us being down there and he mentioned that they had lost a security patrol in the southern section already but he couldn't go look for them. He mentioned that they had been attacked several times and had even run out of rakghoul serum. I asked where the patrol had been lost and he jumped to the conclusion that we had been sent down to search for them though he expressed surprise that they would. I thought to myself, no you're right Sith don't do that, but allowed him to think that might be the case, as I said that I needed to get going.
I outlined to Carth and Mission my idea for dealing with the rakghouls. I would go close enough to one as they were wandering to lure a single one away from the pack. I would then run with it following me back to them and we would take them out one at a time. Otherwise they might overwhelm us. They argued but agreed to try my idea; it was so successful with the first group that we decided to us it as a tactic whenever we could. It required a certain measured patient pace but it was sure and the best way to make sure we didn't get infected.
We came upon the corpses of the Sith patrol and I found the serum I had been looking for. I argued that we should take the time to go back to the Upper City and get it synthesized. It should take us less than an hour total and not only would the good doctor get a supply, but we would have several doses for ourselves.
Zeloka Forn was very pleased to get the serum, he didn't want to know where I had gotten it and I agreed that was probably wise. He tried to offer me something for the serum but I declined saying that the first doses he could synthesize would be plenty. He caught on to my sense of urgency and within 30 min we had enough serum for our usage and some extras. He then began synthesizing the serum for the clinic's usage.
I decided to use the time while we were waiting for the serum, to ask Mission where her parents or family were. She replied that she guessed her family was dead and that Big Z was her family now. She related how she had met up with Zaalbar in the lower city being harassed by the Vulkars. She had impulsively rushed to help him and I made the mistake of mentioning that she could have gotten hurt. I got the "your not my mother" reply, Mission really had an issue with anyone suggesting that she wasn't doing just fine by herself. Zaalbar had taken exception to the Vulkars knocking her around and had grabbed one of the Vulkars by the throat and lifted him up. The other two broke and ran and the one he had grabbed fainted.
I asked how she had survived she had done before she had meet up with Zaalbar and she mentioned something about a brother but didn't want to say anything more. I let the subject drop but resolved to find out more of her history when I had a chance to. The chance came up sooner than I thought as she quickly regretted snapping at me. She told us how her brother and she had been stowaways on a freighter, fleeing her brother's debt.
She told me about the skills she had taught her, and it sounded like her brother was a petty thief, but I said those were good skills to have. What could I say, I knew all of those types of skills as well, but I had learned mine at Covert Ops training. I asked her why her brother had left and she mentioned a woman named Lena whom she obviously blamed for her brother leaving and asked that we stop talking about the subject for now. We had been walking back down to the Undercity this entire time and I merely waved the serum containers at the guards. It worked like a charm as they all assumed I had went to pick it up at the Sith base, and, of course, no one would want to be without the serum in the Undercity.
I decided to check in with Gendar and let him know I had serum; he told me to take it to the village healer and thanked me for my generosity. I went where he pointed and found the woman. She said there was nothing to be done for the ones already infected as the risk was too great. I was shocked but decided that the healer was correct for herself; she would have no chance against a rakghoul if someone transformed. I said that I would go in and administer the serum. She said that I was foolish but she wouldn't stop me. I told Carth and Mission to be prepared and opened the gate. Unfortunately three of the infected ones changed as soon as I stepped in the quarantine enclosure, without Mission and Carth it would have been iffy but the three of us were able to kill the newly transformed rakghouls and administer the serum to the remaining people inside. One of the women I had administered serum to told us about an escape pod that had crashed to the northeast and I thanked her.
The healer came up and thanked us and said "You amaze me. I always thought the surface dwellers couldn't care less about us Outcasts. But you risked everything to help those infected villagers." I was embarrassed and blushed and said that I wasn't from Taris. She nodded and said that they had nothing to give me but gratitude and I said that and some healing would be more than enough. I left a few of the extra serums with the healer and told her if I could I would get more from the upper city doctor to bring to her.
We decided to go looking for the escape pod the woman had mentioned and found a lone Republic survivor, he had been infected and I quickly gave him the serum. They had been attacked as soon as they came out of the escape pod and had killed the other people in the pod with him. I asked him about Bastila and he said that they had been tracking her pod and that it had gone down west of here. Suddenly he said "I heard something it's those monsters run!" He sprinted past us panicked and right into a pack of rakghouls. There was nothing could do, one of them killed him with one blow. I was dismayed and saddened what were they teaching these men? You never ran off like that leaving your fellows behind, first Trask and now this soldier whose name I never got. We fought off the rakghouls and cautiously continued on.
We ran into Canderous Ordo and ended up fighting off some rakghouls with his group. Canderous lost two of his men during the fight, and told us that everything in the pods had already been stripped by the lower city gangs. He was going to take his remaining men and leave and advised us to do the same. I nodded and watched them walk off. We continued looking for other pods and any survivors.
During this search we found the body of Rukil's apprentice and I took her journal to give to him later. We decided to press onward and check out the lower sewers, both to find Zaalbar and to check for any survivors. We ran into more rakghouls and Gamorrean's and had a few nice fights. In one of the rooms I saw a skeletal body with a datapad in its hand. I walked over and gingerly removed it wondering if it was related to more of Rukil's Promised Land searchers. Reading it I could tell that it was and I tucked it away with the apprentice's journal. I resolved to keep my eye out for anymore of them while we were down here.
We finally found Zaalbar guarded by several Gamorreans. We managed to kill them all and released him. He asked who we were and I replied with introductions, he was surprised that I understood his language. Then proving that no good deed goes unpunished he swore a life debt to me. I tried to talk him out of it, but he had already made his vow. Mission said that wherever Big Z went she went as well and that I was stuck with her too. Everyone seemed to be getting a great deal of amusement out of my predicament, Carth most of all. I closed my eyes and wondered how I would explain this one to my Commander. 'Uh sorry Sir, I seem to have picked up two dependants, a Twi'lek teenager and a Wookiee.' Oh yea this would go over real well, the guys would find it a prime source of amusement for a long, long time.
Oh well, I thought nothing could be done about it now and his presence in the team was a very welcome addition. We found Zaalbar's bowcaster in a nearby footlocker, and the Wookiee was very pleased to see it again.
We finished checking through what Mission called the Lower Sewers and found a second Promised Land journal but no Republic survivors. I decided to return to the village before we entered the Upper sewers. The journals looked as if this Promised Land was some type of hidden underground facility, from the notes in the data pads it might actually exist. I argued with Carth some about it and reminded him that we had promised we would return if we found the apprentices journal. Besides a visit to the healer would be good for everyone, especially Zaalbar, I pointed out.
Rukil began as cryptically as the last time, being called a beacon to the path to their salvation was highly embarrassing and I could feel Mission and Zaalbar staring at me. I asked how I could guide when I didn't know where the Promised Land was. He said something about me being marked up, and a mantle of destiny. By now I had given up hope of understanding what he was talking about and stopped trying.
Finally he said that he would tell me the history of the people of the village. I was interested in finding out why they were down there, so I asked him to continue. He told us that 100 years ago Taris had suffered a widespread famine due to rising levels of toxic waste, the poor had rose up against the wealthy who were hoarding food and rebelled. The rebellion was eventually crushed, and those taken prisoner were banished here. Mission chimed in that the Tarisian nobles would stuff their mothers down here if it would make more room, and I had to agree with her. He finished by telling us about the Promised Land, it was supposed to be an underground self sufficient colony founded just before the rebellion. He mentioned that his father and grandfather had journals that had been lost and said that these journals might hold the key to the location of the Promised Land. I was already pulling out the two journals I had found in the sewers; I knew they had to be the ones he was speaking of.
He immediately saw what I had seen in the cryptic notes, the Promised Land might actually exist and the journals showed the route. We went to show them to Gendar, and he looked them over. Gendar said "Is this true?" the light of hope dawning in his face. Gendar and Rukil discussed it some more and talked about the journey that would have to be made. It would take weeks, maybe months to make it but they had the supplies to make the journey. I pulled out the weapons we had found on the dead Sith and Gamorreans and insisted that they take them, they would need them for the journey much more than I needed to sell them. We visited the healer and had Zaalbar checked out, everyone's wounds healed, and then we wished Rukil well and went back to the sewer gate closest to the village.
I paused for a moment as we passed the gate and said a prayer in my thoughts for them that they safely make the journey and find a better life, that the colony was the Promised Land they hoped it would be. They certainly deserved better than the life they had.
We went back in the sewers and followed Mission to the force field that blocked the entrance to the upper sewers; Mission had the codes for it and lowered it so we could pass through. There were a few minor confrontations with rakghouls and Gamorreans, but it wasn't long before we were approaching the area where Mission had told us the rancor lived. As we approached I noticed a gruesome sight, an arm with a datapad still clutched in its hand along with some containers filled with a liquid.
Curious I pried the datapad from the hand and read it, ignoring the grimaces I got from everyone. It was interesting reading, it seemed it had belonged to a Hidden Bek and that the liquid in the containers was a synthesized odor designed to attract the rancor. The owner of the arm had hoped to lure the rancor into eating something lethal to it but obviously he had failed.
I motioned for everyone to stay back and went to have a look at the next area. A rancor stood facing a door with his back turned toward me, a pile of half eaten bodies and animals some distance behind it. A thought came to mind, it was gruesome but it had a good chance of working. I didn't want to ask Mission to do what I was planning, so I indicated that they were to remain where they were. Keeping an eye on the rancor I silently slipped over to the corpse pile, it smelled as bad as I suspected it would and I was careful to breath through my mouth so I wouldn't gag.
I located what I was looking for and gently levered the half eaten body to lie over by itself. Steeling myself I took out some fragment grenades and carefully wedged them into the corpse's gaping chest cavity. Then I quickly opened the synthesized scent and poured it over the corpse. I sprinted back to where Mission and Carth were waiting and we hid and waited for the rancor to react.
It wasn't long before the rancor came over to check out the scent and grabbed the torso and ate it. That dislodged the grenades I had placed in the body and they exploded inside the rancor killing it. I went back to where some clean looking water had been flowing and cleaned my hands as best I could, if I found some soap I would definitely clean them again. I did get some looks from Carth and Mission and said "yea it wasn't pleasant but the rancor is dead and we aren't hurt."
Beyond the door the rancor had been facing was the Vulkar base, we were in, now to find the prototype accelerator. We had killed off quite a few of the guards and patrol droids when we came across a woman cowering in what looked to be a kitchen. After reassuring her we were not going to kill her we asked her if she had any idea where the accelerator might be, she didn't know but thought it might be on the lower level where the garages were. I asked if she thought she could find her way out and she said yes she could, I wished her well and told her to go ahead and leave. I also took the opportunity to quickly scrub my hands clean. Carth saw me washing my hands and chuckled at me.
We went further into the base and found a lone Twi'lek man in one of the rooms; he knelt and surrendered after only a few blows. I quickly pulled up my blade and backed away from him. He asked that we not kill him and said he wasn't like Brejik and his new Vulkars. He said the Vulkar's hadn't been violent and bloodthirsty before Brejik took over. I asked why he hadn't left before. He said that Brejik wouldn't allow people to leave the gang, at least not alive. I told him he was free to leave, and as he did so he wished us well.
There was a security panel in the area and I took a moment to slice into it to scout out the rest of the base. I quickly realized that we had already covered most of the lower area already. The few rooms that were left however included the barracks and there were eight Vulkars in that room. I decided that it would be unwise to fight such a large group and entered in the commands to overload the power conduit in that area. I went back to the camera a few minutes later and noticed that there was one Vulkar left alive in the room. I nodded to everyone and we headed that way. The one remaining Vulkar would not surrender and I had to kill him, afterward I checked all the bodies and found a passcard to the lower level on one of them. This was what we needed to get down to the next level. We went back to the door with the pass card reader and opened it, and took the elevator down to the next level.
In the garage office I found another pass card and another security terminal. I sliced into it and took a tour of the level using the security cameras, there was a droid in the loading bay and four people in one of the rooms with what I thought might be the accelerator. There was no conduit in the area I could use; we would have to do this the hard way.
The loading dock was a room we probably shouldn't have passed by, the droid had some type of stunning attack that I had to dodge, but we finally took him down and paused to heal ourselves. The chests that it had been protecting contained over 3000 credits and some nice equipment, almost making the fight worth the risk.
When we came across a workbench I think Carth was both amused and annoyed that I insisted that we take the opportunity to install some of the upgrades kindly provided by the Vulkars. I was skilled enough that I only took me 10 minutes to finish the upgrades and Carth had to agree with me that they would give us more of an edge in the upcoming fight. The only door we hadn't touched was the one to the room I suspected the accelerator was in and I knew it would not be an easy fight. Before I opened the door I insisted that everyone use an energy shield, I also used my adrenal implant.
The Twi'lek man in the room tried to talk us into joining the Vulkar's against the Bek's but I had seen too much of what the Vulkar's were like to ever want to be associated with them. I refused their offer and told them I would not betray Gadon. The fight with the four Vulkars was longer than I would have liked and I was thankful that I had insisted upon the use of the energy shields.
We picked up the swoop accelerator and I thought to myself that Brejik was likely to be livid when he found out. Not only did we have the accelerator but we had just killed off a large number of his gang members. We decided to use the front door of the Vulkar base instead of returning through the sewers and quickly made our way back to the Hidden Bek base.