Disclaimer: Anything you recognize isn't mine. Anything that makes you go "what's that?" I made up.

Snackfiend101: Yes... The new edit thing is evil and demented. Whenever I make a change in the edit all the punctuation disappears.
Data: Yeah. cough Makes sense, that's it. -shifty eyes- lol actually, I am of the opinion Taris is boring, so I was hurrying it up some.
Dark Lord Daishi: Yep. Poor Bast won't know what hit her. Or will she recognize Revan? -cue suspenseful music- ;)
Jimbo Jones: Hmm, an evil Mission.. that's tough. Not sure I could pull it off with my measly writing skills.
Douglas Fett: When it's not broken, don't fix it. :) Yah, where's the fun in the story when you know what happens? (and besides, for some inexplicable reason, when I try to follow the storyline I get stuck)
Darth Arachne: No prob! At least you read. Thank you. And it's not tough to write getting Zal in danger/trouble with Mission around, on Taris or anywhere lol. My question was: is the life-debt worth it?
ether-fanfic: My Revan is complicated. She's evil yea, but she's also honorable. If you treat her with respect she'll do the same. Hmm. We'll see about Zal. Maybe I can come up with something later. -lmao at Griff and Zal together- I'm not that mean to Zal. Carth maybe, or Bast. You're right about the spelling, I'd change it, but I want minimum contact with the hellspawn quickedit. And I love long reviews, even if it's ramblings. I can get ideas from the strangest places lol.
Imperial 501st: Thanx alot.

Jen: A big applause to Snackfiend101 for betaing this chap! If it wasn't for her, I'd be waiting forever to post this lol.

A/N: Again, if anythings incomprehensible, point the pitchforks at the quickedit.

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Chapter 9: The Sewers

Revan and Carth stared incredulously at the square opening.

"A waste disposal chute." Carth finally said. "You expect us to climb down a narrow tube?" And the smell coming from it was enough to knock out a bantha.

"Well, yeah. There's no other way down, other than the elevators. And this way, we can go straight to the sewers." Mission told them. "Don't worry about falling. Big Z and I rigged some carbon ropes and handholds inside."

"Zaalbar was able to fit in there?" Revan said doubtfully, staring at the chute. She was just about ready to give up on this 'rescue'. Maybe she could just buy the Brat from whoever won her. She was not going to end up in a pile of garbage.

"Yep. It's much more bigger than it seems. Now come on!" Mission went forward and grabbed the top, lifting herself up and climbing in feet first.

Revan turned to Carth. "I don't suppose gas masks were on your equipment shopping list?" she asked hopefully. Carth shook his head. "Damn." Revan swore, adding some colorful words in varied languages. Revan was going to ask if he had a hat, and maybe a plastic coat, but dismissed the thought almost immediately. It seems she would just have to keep her senses on high alert. Literally. Then maybe I can redirect any trash coming down to hit Carth. Revan thought amusedly. Maybe going down the chute wasn't too bad after all.

Missions voice floated from the opening. "Yeesh, will you hurry it up!"

"You will get used to the smell." Zaalbar said reassuringly, though he was even less thrilled than the two humans. Wookie noses were highly sensitive.

"I certainly hope so." Revan muttered. Taking a deep breath and holding it, she turned back and imitated Mission, climbing in feet first. Revan felt Mission grab her foot and directed it to a small metal platform, only big enough to stand on precariously.

Looking to the side she saw Mission, standing on a rung and holding some ropes that led down into the depths in one hand, a weak glow rod attached to her belt. Revan moved onto the rung next to Mission's and firmly grabbed some of the ropes. When Revan felt she was solidly anchored she cautiously took a breath. Her hand flew to her face as she gagged and started to cough violently. A second voice soon joined her.

Mission and Zaalbar expected them to be like that for several minutes, but were surprised when they managed to control themselves within a short time. They both had discipline, Revan from her Jedi training, and Carth from the military.

"You guys all right?" Mission asked as Zaalbar began climbing down. If one of them were to fall he would be able to catch them.

"I'm fine." Revan said a little hoarsely. Carth just mumbled something incomprehensible. Clearing her throat a little, Revan started to climb down rung by rung after Zaalbar, followed by a very green Carth, and then Mission.

Several hours -and some random projectiles that all mysteriously fell on Carth- later, Zaalbar signaled a stop.

"What?" Carth said. He was beginning to get tired, though they had stopped several times for a breather.

"We're here!" Mission said brightly. Clambering down past Carth and Revan, she manipulated a lock on a panel. With a faint clang it opened. Mission poked her head out cautiously before quickly wriggling out.

Revan immediately followed, when she tumbled out she crouched in a defensive stance, alert for any nearby danger as her eyes adjusted, followed by Carth. He too crouched, a hand on one of his blasters. After a moment, they both eased up as Zaalbar climbed through the opening. The smell wasn't as bad as the chute, but it was still overpowering.

"We go this way." Mission said, pointing. She started to walk down the dim tunnel, followed by Zaalbar. After several minutes of walking in the endless maze, they all heard a blood chilling howl from further up. Mission shivered involuntarily, even though she had faced them before. "Rakghouls." she murmured to Carth and Arcana. Mission saw Carth blanch, but she found Arcana's reaction more interesting. Her face scrunched up in disgust, not fear, before smoothing to a more neutral expression.

When Mission had said they were rakghouls, Revan had reached out through the Force to see what they were like, then recoiled. What she encountered was something void of life, no emotions, no feeling, just a desire to kill and eat. Even Terentateks aren't that empty! They had an aura at least! Revan thought in horror.

"Do we go around them?" Carth asked. He remembered what Zelka had said about the rakghouls, and suppressed a shudder.

Mission looked somewhat nervous. "There isn't another way around. This tunnel will open to a space where different tunnels branch off a little farther up... and one's the only passage to the Vulkars force field."

Revan unholstered her blaster and vibroblade. "Then we go through." she said grimly, her teeth bared slightly. Rakghouls were an abomination, it would be her pleasure to send them to oblivion. Her hand itched for her lightsaber, or a good dose of Force Lightning, but she firmly told herself this wasn't life threatening enough. "Kid, use that stealth belt of yours, or is it just there for decoration?"

Mission was about to retort, but thought better of it. She could see a feral expression replace the neutral one on the mysterious lady who called herself Arcana, and Mission felt that she was very, very dangerous right now. She wordlessly flicked on her belt and vanished from sight.

As soon as the Twi'lek vanished, Revan began to creep forward, back against the wall, followed by the others. When they reached the opening, she took a quick peek out. There were two groups of rakghouls, the closest one having six of the pale slimy things, while the farthest had four.

Looking back at Carth, she made some hand gestures used in the military, Revan had no doubt he would understand. Carth immediately started looking through his pack, and quickly withdrew two grenades and handed them to her. Arming them, she threw the first to the farthest group and the second to the closest.

After she let them fly, she leapt out and ran after the second grenade. The first exploded, sending out sticky tedrils and trapping the hapless rakghouls. The second exploded out a wave of compressed air, stunning three rakghouls, who were brought down by Carth's blasters as the remaining ones charged Revan.

Revan aimed her blaster at the closest one and shot it down, then dodged the second rakghoul's attack and beheading it with the vibroblade. Drawing on the Force, Revan leapt and twisted in midair, landing behind the last rakghoul and seperated its torso from the rest of it's body.

Whirling, she was about to run to the other group but relaxed when she saw that they were all dead. While she and Carth had taken care of this group Mission and Zaalbar had killed off the rest. They really make a good team, Revan thought in approval. Putting away her blaster, but keeping her vibroblade in hand, Revan walked back to them.

"Wow, you're a really good fighter Arcana." Mission told her, impressed. She'd never seen anyone make such a high jump from a relatively stationary position.

Revan just shrugged off the praise. She smirked slightly at Mission. "That was nothing." Her face turned deadly serious. "What are our odds of encountering more of these things?" Revan refused to call them even animals. "Or anything just as dangerous?"

"Rakghouls are common down here, but Gamorreans also make the sewers their base. The sink reminds them of home, I bet." Mission said. "You shouldn't worry too much, though. They're at the other end of the sewers, we won't be going anywhere near them."

"Even so, we should be on alert. Gamorreans have a bad habit of leaving traps lying around, even if it's not in their territory." Revan said sharply.

Mission gulped at her tone and nodded. "We take that tunnel," she said, pointing. Revan nodded and started down it.

After half an hour of walking, Revan suddenly sensed a surge of danger in the Force. Before she could call out a warning there was an explosion behind her. The force of it slammed her against the tunnel wall, knocking the breath out of her. Unfortunately for Zaalbar and Mission, they were the closest to the blast and were definitely unconscious, Carth was laying a little away from Revan, unconscious as well, though not as badly injured as the other two. From what Revan could sense, he'd hit his head on the side of the tunnel.

Through the smoke, Revan could hear snorting and grunting. "We gots them! We gots them!" "Slave price good now." "Boss gonna be pleased." "This Wookie. Take it to boss." More grunting. "Here Twi'lek, she pretty, fetch gooood price."

Regaining her breath, Revan immediately removed her blaster. She hadn't come this far to be balked by a bunch of piggies. Letting the Force guide her she fired off a round of bolts, to the uninformed it would seem she had merely fired blindly into the smoke. Several loud squeals indicated her blaster fire had hit home. The Gamorreans fired back, but they did not have the Force, and their shots went way off the mark. Revan didn't even bother to dodge. Quickly replacing her blaster, she drew out her vibroblade and charged through the dissipating smoke. The poor piggies had no chance.

After she had dispatched them, Revan noticed that Zaalbar was missing. She cursed inwardly, the kid would want to go and rescue her furry friend before going on. Checking on Mission, she saw burns and a possible concussion. Picking her up, Revan carried her back to a junction chamber she had noticed. Then she came back and dragged Carth and their things there as well. Revan checked on Carth, she concluded he'd just have a big lump on his head.

Shaking him roughly Revan said, "Wake up, you useless piece of meat!"

Carth groaned and put his hand to his head. "Wha' hit me?"

"You hit your head when you went flying. Get up, Mission's hurt." Revan said curtly.

That got him alert. "Mission?" Looking around he saw her lying in a corner. Getting up dizzily he walked over to her. He saw that her wounds were dressed and that she had a bandage around her head. "You seem to have done a good job to me."

"Will you be alright here?" Revan asked. "I'm going to go after those Gamorreans. They have Zaalbar."

"Wait a minute, you're going after them? Alone?" Carth said disbelievingly.

"I'll be fine." Revan answered curtly. "Will you be fine here or not?" She was getting impatient.

Carth blinked. "We'll be alright. It won't be long before the kolto kicks in. We could wait..?" Carth trailed off at her stubborn expression. He sighed. "Fine, but be careful."

Revan nodded to him then jogged back to where the Gamorreans had first appeared. Time to hunt for some pork chop. Revan thought, grinning madly. And this time there was no one to hinder her in using her lightsaber or her powers.

Revan crouched down and checked the trail she had been following again. The tracks had been faint and would have been missed by an ordinary tracker, but Revan could see them easily and followed accordingly. They had been getting steadily fresher and Revan had no doubt she would come upon their base in a bit.

Hearing a grunting coming towards her, she flattened herself against the wall and used the Force to blend herself into it. A fat Gammorean rounded the corner and passed by Revan. Detaching herself she glided after him and drew her vibloblade, no sense to make unnecessary noise with her lightsaber. The Gammorean's head was separated from his body without a sound.

Taking the patrol as an indication that she was very near the Gammoreans' base, Revan reached out to the Force and searched for Zaalbar's Force presence. She immediately found him, surrounded by Gammoreans. Probing further, she sensed he was awake and in pain, he was also quite mad and worried. Following his presence, Revan was led to a set of chambers almost identical to the one where she left Carth and Mission, only from what she could hear, the door in the inner chamber was jammed, creating a high-pitched mechanical racket. Perfect for covering up the hum of a lightsaber.

Taking out said weapon, Revan slinked through the shadows, angling herself to have a better view of the interior. There were two Gammoreans guarding the door, and several inside sitting on makeshift chairs and polishing weapons. And another Gamorrean who wore many decorations on him, who informed Revan this was the leader, sat near the back.

Tensing, Revan reached out to the Force and leapt though the doorway while igniting her lightsaber. The red blade made a menacing hiss as the glow cast an eerie light in the surrounding area. Revan landed lightly, a little into the doorway, twisting quickly to the left, she brought the deadly blade in a horizontal circle, cutting the two unprepared guards in half. Continuing her momentum she bent and lashed out with her foot, connecting with a Gammorean's forehead making a satisfying crack! as he collapsed. Throwing out her hand, she sent four of them crashing to the wall, their bones snapping from the impact.

The Gammoreans had finally gotten the message that they were under attack. "Get Jedi!" The leader squealed to his underlings while looking for a way out. The Gammoreans converged on Revan, thinking to overwhelm her with sheer numbers. Unfortunately for them, the leader's assumption she was a Jedi enraged Revan. Channeling her rage into the Force, Revan flung out her hand a second time. But this time, instead of sending the Gammoreans flying, bright blue lightning arced from Revan's hand and struck the helpless Gammoreans. The roomful of Gammoreans collapsed dead from Revan's Force Lightning. Here and there a corpse twitched spasmodically as the last of the Force-generated electricity dissipated.

Deactivating her lightsaber and replacing it under her armor, Revan walked to the other side of the room where she could feel Zaalbar's presence. Bending over, she examined the lock, apparently it was a very old style semi-mechanical lock that couldn't be sliced by normal means. Probing with the Force, Revan delicately manipulated the inner catch. With a satisfying click the door cycled open to reveal Zaalbar on his rump, chained to the far wall.

As Revan approached, Zaalbar lifted his head and started to growl something obscene but stopped abruptly when his eyes focused on the figure in front of him. "Arcana!" he howled in delighted surprise, which quickly turned to worry. As Arcana bent down and started working on his manacles, he pelted her with questions. "Why are you here? Where is Mission? And your companion Carth? Are they all right? Tell me!" He was yowling with worry by that last.

Revan made a calming gesture. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm here to rescue you. Mission was slightly injured, but should be awake and healed by now. Carth just got a bump on his head. You should be more worried about yourself." From what Revan could see where his fur was burnt and charred, he had more severe burns than Mission, and the way his pupils were reacting, a mild concussion as well. With a last twist of Revan's fingers, the manacles snapped open. Revan reached into her pocket and handed him a kolto shot, taken from a medpack. As he injected it, Revan asked, "Can you stand?" She was not relishing the prospect of having to carry a full-grown Wookiee. Or even being a walking stick for that matter.

"I-I will manage." Zaalbar pushed against the wall to get to his feet. He swayed for a bit, and Revan thought he would fall, but it was only momentary. When Zaalbar felt he was stable enough he let go of the wall and nodded very slightly to the human, trying not to move his head to fast.

Revan calmly walked out, glancing back once to see if he was following. Satisfied he was able to walk, Revan ignored him from then on. Trudging after the human, Zaalbar had been prepared to see the Gammoreans dead and maybe feel satisfied that these slavers who had hurt Mission and planned to send them all to slavery were dead. He felt that indeed when he saw the bodies, but it eventually gave way to confusion. It seemed that they had all died from massive electrocution, but he saw nothing to attribute it to. His engineering training itched to find out what had caused it.

"What happened to them Arcana? It seems there was an electrical explosion..." He trailed off as he saw the two guards. Bending over and ignoring the dizziness this caused, he examined the severed bodies. Their wounds, it looks like a Jedi's weapon did this.. but.. His trail of thought was cut of when Arcana's voice broke into it.

"There was an energy conduit under the floor. Those wounds are normal for a vibroblade," she said, her voice flat and somehow compelling... Zaalbar's vision blurred. Putting his paw to his head he waited a moment for it to pass. Removing it he looked down again, such was Revan's powerful Mind Trick that Zaalbar saw a power conduit poking out from the flooring, and the Gammorean guards had a pool of blood around them. Growling in disgust, his earlier thoughts erased, Zaalbar eased around the imaginary conduit and gingerly stepped over the non-existent pools of blood. When he had joined her at he entrance, she handed him a blaster. "Try not to shoot me in the back if something comes at us." Arcana said in amusement. Drawing her vibroblade she headed back the way she came.

Approaching the place where she had left Carth and Mission, voices could be heard. They were obviously yelling to be heard at this distance.

"I'm going to go look for Big Z! H-he might be hurt or-or-"

"Not a chance Missy, you're staying here until Arcana gets back! And she has a better chance of finding Zaalbar since she left soon after. You wouldn't know where to look!"

"Hey, I've lived here longer than you! And I know where the Gamorreans' base is!"

"Even so, you're in no condition to go traipsing off into a battle yet!"

"You ain't my mother! I can take care of myself!"

Whatever Carth had been about to say died on his lips when he caught sight of Arcana walking through the entrance.

Just as Mission looked over her shoulder to see what had caught his attention, Zaalbar limped though. "Zaalbar!" Mission yelled. Rushing up to him, she nearly knocked him over when she threw her arms around him and squeezed. "I was so worried! What happened? Are you all right?"

Trying not to wince, he answered, "I have been spared a life in slavery, thanks to Arcana." He nodded towards her. Arcana just shrugged.

"I think you could use a bit more kolto." Carth said critically and handed the Wookiee a medpack he had retrieved from his pack when Zaalbar had entered.

Zaalbar nodded at Carth as he took it gratefully. The amount that Arcana had given him was adequate for him to make it here, but he was about ready to collapse. Injecting it, Zaalbar let out an involuntary rumble of relief as most of the pain vanished. Seeing Mission's worried face, he told her "I will be fine. We must continue."

Mission was still worried. "Are you sure, Big Z? You could wait here while I-"

"No!" Zaalbar roared. "I won't leave you! And I will not be a burden." Now that he had felt the despair of going into slavery, he was even more keen to help the other two. He turned to them, "I will aid you in retrieving your fellow. It is the least I can do for what you did for me. My people are being sold into slavery, because of our strength we are used as labor. Slavery is one of the worst things that can happen to a Wookiee."

"Thank you, your help is welcome." Carth said, after Mission was done translating for him. He looked at Revan.

"Very welcome." Revan said absently. She was feeling a ripple in the Force, originating from an aura that she had met only once in person. The Brat's probably just waking up. Revan felt outrage and humiliation being broadcast strongly. Looks like she's found out she's a prisoner. Revan thought in amusement. "I think we should hurry."

Zaalbar nodded. He felt a slight shame in being captured in the first place and having needed to be rescued.

"Yeah. We still have to get past the Rancor!" Mission said brightly. Carth and Revan froze where they had been gathering their things.

"A Rancor?!" Revan said, shocked. This little rescue was going too far!

"Don't worry. It's really stupid and easily distracted." Mission tried to reassure them.

"She is right. The beast can be distracted." Zaalbar said in support.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there." Carth said. Shouldering his pack, he walked towards the door followed by Zaalbar and Mission.

Revan frowned and started muttering imprecations in Mandalorian that the brat better be worth it as she followed.

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Jen: There ya go! The 9th chap! This is gonna be the last chap for a while, maybe until Jan or Feb. I plan on scittering off to a deserted island with my xbox, tv, and my KotOR2 disk! -rubs hands in anticipation-

Revan: You mean this? -holds up a cd-

Jen: -shrieks- Noooo! How dare you lay your hands upon the holy disk?! -gets out her saber and makes a swipe at Revan-

Revan: Force! -ducks- I'd forgotten why she's called Darth Jenrai! -starts running-

Jen: -waves lightsaber cheerfully at her readers- Please review! See you next year and Merry Christmas! -starts chasing Revan into the distance-