Revan the
Barbarian- Cht. 2
The First Day
Intruders… no, hunters…
They come… but they will fail…
Hmm? That woman... Oh-ho, a challenge!
"Hello? Taris to Alistair, Taris to Alistair, come in, Alistair." "Huh? Oh, sorry; just… daydreaming, heh…" "Oh? Well, pay attention next time we head out, okay?" "Yeah, sure. Sorry."
The three men- Carth, Saino, and Alistair- stepped out into the filtered sunlight and recycled air that covered the Upper city of Taris, the third planet of the Dynmarias System. They spoke little, for they were warriors, and used to the silence of preparation.
Alistair broke it when he noticed that Carth was staring off into space, not seeing where his feet landed. He stopped and turned to him; he liked his comrades to be focused, not daydreaming. "Carth, what's up?" "Huh? Oh… nothing. Forget it." "No, tell us."
Carth sighed. "Well, if you really want to know… I was thinking of my home world, Telos. The Sith chose that as one of the first 'examples' of their new conquest against the Republic." Anger filled his face as he continued speaking. "We heard the distress signals, and scrambled as fast as possible, but… it was too late. Too late, damn it!"
"Whoa, slow down. You're making sound like it was your fault." "No, it- argh, forget it. I don't like talking about my past, and anyway we've got to concentrate." "I'll have the rest out of you sometime later, then?" Carth glared at Alistair. "What the hell do you care? Alright, fine. Just leave me alone for now, okay?" Alistair nodded and turned around again, but he knew that he would have to pick it back up later on.
They walked in silence for a while, observing the city before them. It was beautiful, in a way; towering skyscrapers, elegantly fluted fountains, paved streets. It wasn't until you look close that you realize what Carth had said earlier; the skyscrapers were cracked and crumbling, the fountains were covered in mold where aging maintenance droids had missed, and the roads were faded, in disrepair.
The people had it, too. They all seemed happy and content, until you noticed the shabby, out-of-date clothes, the strained smiles, the tired air that many had. The Sith grunts wandering about did little to relieve the situation.
They were coming close to a place that had lights and banners strewn about; a cantina, if Alistair was any judge. A group of drunks was loitering about near the entrance, and as the three off-worlders came close, one of the drunkards noticed them and called to the others. "Hey, look you guys! (hic) Shlummies!" "Huh? Oh… (hic) uh, get outta here, shlummies. Go back to your, uh… Lower City!" "Yeah! (hic) Go back down there! We don't deserve to look at your (hic) ugly mugs!"
"Oh great, a pack of drunks. What's next?" Carth muttered. Saino, however, didn't take to their talk very lightly. "You're one to talk about ugly mugs, you pack of drunken idiots. Why don't you stumble back to your filthy beds and sleep it off? Maybe when you wake up you'll look better; then you can talk about ugly mugs." It was a corny insult, and Alistair groaned. The drunkards took offence, however, and one of them drew a blaster. "Shlummies can't just walk up here and prance around, you know! We'll show ya! (hic)" He brought it up and tried to aim, but he stumbled and the gun fell, firing at the pavement.
Alistair let them have five seconds, just to be fair. Then he whipped out his blaster, set it to stun, third power level, and rapid fire, and shot them all in the head, three times in succession. The one with the drawn blaster fell immediately, the other two flew backward before finally crashing down, knocked out cold.
A group of Sith ran over, carbines at the ready. "What's going on here? Drawn blasters aren't allowed, you know!" "Relax, officer. Just taking care of a pack of drunkards." The soldier stopped and looked down at the three stunned men. "Oh, these three again. We've warned them to stay in the cantina or get someone to take them home at nights, but they insist on making trouble. And at this time of day, too! Sorry about that, citizen; they won't bother you again." The soldiers grasped a man each and dragged them off, in what Alistair assumed was the direction of their base. He gestures Saino over. "Turn your cloak on and follow them; it may be to our advantage to know where their base is. We'll wait for you in the cantina, ok?" "Got it." The field flowed into life around him, and the other two were alone.
They headed for the cantina. The doors opened automatically before them, and they stepped out of the cool midmorning air of Taris into the cool midmorning air of the North UpCity Cantina.
It was surprisingly well lit within, and the patrons were unusually well behaved. But that made sense, seeing as how it wasn't even midday yet. Alistair reckoned that the lights went down with the sun, and the ale came up with the moon, if there was one. In front of them was the gaming lounge; an old man was sweating, fumbling his cards, while on the other side a greasy-haired younger man grinned, the picture of cool collectedness.
The last trick was played; Hair Grease won. The old man swore, threw the credit chips at Hair Grease, picked up his cards and stalked off to the other side. Hair Grease noticed the two newcomers and motioned them over. "Ah, new faces! Would either of you be familiar with Pazaak?" "Maybe we are, maybe we aren't. What's it to you?" "Why, I'm just interested in a friendly few rounds. Bets, of course…" He grinned confidently; Alistair noticed that his teeth were too shiny, too white.
Carth made a quick decision. "I'd play you, if I had a deck. Know where I could get one?" The old man overheard, and spoke up. "You can borrow mine, so long as I get ten percent of what you win. If you win…" Carth took him up, and he and Hair Grease sat down to play. "We'll start low, since you're new. Say… twenty credits?" "Yeah, sure."
Half an hour later, Carth was out forty credits. "The galaxy will learn to fear the name of Niklos, the greatest Pazaak player on Taris! You there, giant man. Interested?" Alistair considered the offer. He wasn't good, by Mandalorian standards. But judging by the cards that Niklos pulled from his sleeve every now and then, neither was he. "Sure, I'll play. As soon as you empty your sleeves, that is." This made Hair Grease (as Alistair's mind still insisted on calling him) very mad. "You accuse me of cheating? Me, the greatest player on-"
"Stuff it, Hair Grease. Dump the cards, and we'll play. Don't dump them, and I'll spread the word that Niklos cheats." "No one will believe you! You're just an off-worlder!" "Yeah? How many of your fellow citizens have you fleeced out of all their credits? You look wealthy, you must have fleeced them of more than mere credits…" He looked pointedly at the young Twi'lek girl hanging off of Niklos's arm. She sneered at him.
The man was beside himself. "Fine! We play! One hundred credits!" Alistair chuckled, and conveniently forgot about his challenge to dump his sleeves out. "Sounds good. Let's go."
But not fifteen seconds into it, and Niklos had tried to slide a card from his sleeve. He fumbled it, the card fell, and everybody watching (Carth, Alistair, the girl, and the old man) saw that Alistair was right; Niklos was a cheat. "No! You can't tell anybody! I'm the greatest!" "Really? One more game. The stakes; every last credit you can lay your name on, your decks and spare cards, and… oh, let's see… ah, I know; all your property and that fancy shirt you have on there." It was a ridiculous bet, but Niklos was frantic. But he hadn't lost all his cool. "And if you lose? What will you offer up?" "You're in no position to argue, Niklos. But I'll play fair; if I lose, I won't tell anybody that you cheat, and neither will these people. Right?" He looked around at them, and they all nodded. The old man, however, crossed his fingers behind his back and winked at Carth, who had seen. "And you get this." He unstrapped his scabbard, massive sword still in it, and leaned it against the wall behind him. Niklos gaped at it. "That thing is huge! I could sell it to that Yurt woman…" The thought of money was rapidly calming him down, and he nodded.
They sat down to play. But from the first trick, it was obvious Alistair had the upper hand. Without his cards up his sleeve, Hair Grease was no better than the old man. He held out for a while; Lady Luck was with him for that game, at least at the beginning. But then she left, he got nervous, started fumbling his cards…
In the end, it was the biggest loss in the history of Pazaak on Taris. No longer was Niklos the greatest Pazaak player on the planet; now he was the biggest loser. He was sobbing as he signed the papers that gave Alistair everything he owned, right down to the last piece of property. Which was quite a lot of property, judging by the amount of paperwork. "Is there some way to ensure that everything is here? I don't like swindlers…" This was accompanied by a very fierce glare. The poor man wilted beneath his glance. "I keep my word when it comes to Pazaak… please…" Alistair stared him down a while longer, before muttering "Pathetic wretch," and turning around, picking up his sword, and walking away.
Niklos sobbed, but then he turned and began to walk out of the cantina, pulling on the chains that bound the girl. "Come, Mission. I did not wager you." But she pulled back. "Oh yes you did! He said all your property, remember? That means I belong to him now!" "You'll shut your mouth and come along, if you know what's good for you!" "No! I don't belong to you! Help, I'm being stolen!" The girl had a very loud voice; many people heard, not the least of which was Alistair. He turned back to them; he looked amused. "Hair Grease, are you trying to fleece me?" The other man, already in a rage, suddenly went berserk. "You damned Outworlders! You are the reason we have to endure the Sith! And now you are taking our property away from us! Die!" He drew the blaster which Alistair had so generously left him. Which was a mistake.
The North UpCity Cantina had very strict rules about fights; take it outside, or take it to the dueling ring. The Sith had outlawed the outside, which left the ring. Too often, though, some hothead lost his cool and tried to blast away some other person, or cut them to ribbons depending on their disposition.
So the owners had invested in a security system, which consisted of sensors connected to high-powered stun lasers mounted in recessed panels in the walls. Most of them were in the Pazaak lounge, for obvious reasons.
What all that meant was that the second Niklos drew, he was also flat on the ground, knocked out cold. In the next second the lasers withdrew, the panels closed, and it was business as usual.
The old man gaped, trying to figure out what had happened. Carth and Alistair shrugged; they had seen this sort of thing in cantinas across the galaxy. The girl was unfazed by it. Rather, she was on the floor, having been pulled down when Niklos fell. She didn't remain quiet for long, though. "Hey! You gonna leave a girl on the floor all day?" "You aren't a girl, you're a slave. You're also my slave. But then, there's the fact that I don't like slaves, so…" "Ah, come on. Sure, I'm only fourteen, but I'm good…"
"Get off and go back to your old owner. I'm not into joy girls." She pouted for a second, and then burst into a wave of talk. "But you don't get it! My old master was a Lower City crime boss, and he beat me every day I couldn't dance, which was almost every day because I was always sore, and…" "Okay, fine. What's your name?" She brightened imediately. "The name's Mission Vao. Me and a friend of mine know the Lower and Under Cities better than anybody! I could be really helpful if you have to go down there, that I will!" He stood for a second, then looked back down at her. "Can you use a blaster?"
Mission's face fell back. "Uh, well… sorta. I mean, Zaalbar's tried to teach me, and stuff, but…" "You couldn't shoot to save your life, right?" That made her angry. "Hey, what's that supposed to mean? Jeez, I offer to help and what do you do? You throw back in my face!"
Alistair was rapidly losing patience with the girl. "Look, I just saved you from slavery, so show a little respect or you'll end up without your head." She laughed, but it sounded nervous. "You can't pull weapons in this place without getting blown into unconsciousness by the hidden cannons, offworlder, you saw. Try again!" "And what makes you think I need a weapon to rip your puny frame to pieces?"
That was when Mission noticed just how outclassed she was. Or in other words, how far back she had to tilt her head to look him in the eye. "Uh… right, um… hey, let's get a drink; they're cheap right now…" Alistair didn't say anything; he merely continued to stare her down. Then he changed his mind. "No, no drinks. Let's go get those slave tattoos removed, eh? And that collar, too. Maybe some decent clothes…"
She gaped. "You mean… freedom?" "Yeah, sure, why not? You could be useful." "But… I need the money! See, I get a small bit for every good job I do, and Zaalbar's always hungry, and I don't want to have to steal, and-" "Hey, you saw me beat Niklos and take everything he owned, right? We'll be fine."
She swung back into bubbly mode again; her mood swings were starting to irk Carth. "Hey, yeah! I could show you a few places where you get good deals, and-" "In the mean time, be quiet, ok? We like our silence."
Carth broke in, then. "Hey, what's taking Saino so long?" At that moment, the doors opened. But it seemed that nothing was coming in. They stared for a moment, until Alistair noticed the faint shimmer that indicated someone was being stealthy.
The shimmer walked up to Carth, who still hadn't noticed it. Then his gun came floating up out of its holster, seemingly by itself. This Carth did notice, and he grabbed at the gun. In doing so he brushed at the shimmer, there was a loud sparking noise, and Saino came back into view, rather abruptly, smiling sheepishly and still holding Carth's blaster.
Carth snarled and swung at the other man, connecting solidly with his jaw. Saino flew backward into the wall, where he crumpled and rubbed his jaw. Carth would have gone for more had Alistair not brushed his hand across his jaw. Carth froze instantly, hand still up behind his shoulder.
"We don't need to be fighting like this. We're on the same team, the last I knew. Or have things changed?" Saino got up, looking ashamed of himself. "Uh, yeah… sorry, Carth." Carth still couldn't move, so Alistair made that brushing gesture again. His hand fell back to his side, and he too looked ashamed. "I shouldn't have gone off like that. Just don't ever try to steal my blasters again, ok?" "Sure."
With all that taken care of, they were about to go on to the rest of the cantina when Saino remembered something. "Oh, hey Alistair! Come here, there's something you have to hear…" Alistair hunched over, letting Saino whisper into his ear for a while. When he was through, he straightened; his face looked thoughtful. A plan was forming in his head, a plan that would require much more thought, more players, and much time to put things together. But something told him he didn't have that much time…
End of Chapter Three
