Renewed Disclaimer: I. Don't. Own. This. I think I'll throw in one of these every five chapters or something, just for the heck of it. I wonder how much it would cost to own knights of the old republic... -daydreams-
Random Pre-Author's Notes: Ah, so, I've probably spelled half this stuff wrong, and if it wouldn't hurt anybody, I could use a beta reader, ya know someone to bounce ideas off of, to read and edit chapters before they go up... just email me if ya can help me out. Not, on with the story, more authors notes after the chapter...
XxXxX
Chapter Five: Deeper Down
"It costs to ride our elevator!"
Alaanis Pi and Carth Onasi both raised an eyebrow at the two grown men standing in front of them as they stepped out of the turbolift. Both men were wearing filthy rags as clothes and their faces were smeared in the dirt of the Undercity.
"I can't believe this planet, even the beggars are trying to shake us down!" Carth exclaimed quietly. Alaanis shook her head in agreement.
"Five credits!" one of the grimy men cried. "It costs five credits to ride our elevator!"
"Fine, just take 'em and buy yourselves some clothes," Alaanis told them, throwing them a credit chip. Carth turned his gaze to her.
"You just love giving away credits don't you?" he asked her. "We might need them!"
"We have plenty from all the bounties and the dueling ring flyboy," Alaanis responded. "I mean those men had nothing, a few credits helps them, even if it's just a bit. And it's only five credits."
"Whatever you say beautiful," Carth muttered.
"What did you call me?" Alaanis asked him with raised eyebrows. "Are you flirting with me Mr. Onasi?" she smirked and shot him a look.
"Just habit," Carth said shrugged. "Would you prefer a different name?"
"I thought my name was Alaanis Pi, not Miss Beautiful Chick," Alaanis pointed out, hands on her hips. "It's obvious that Carth Onasi is a fake name for Sexist Gammorean Mama-Lover."
"Ouch, that was harsh," Carth said laughing. He faked being sliced by her vibrosword and elegantly fell to the ground. Alaanis rolled her eyes.
"You got what you deserve," she smiled sweetly. Then she pulled out her vibrosword and held it menacingly at his throat. "Do you think you deserve this?"
Carth's eyes got stone cold and Alaanis knew immediately she had said the wrong thing. "Maybe I do…" he mumbled under his breath, standing up, walking off and with him went Alaanis.
"What did you mean by that?" Alaanis asked him quietly as they walked around the dirtiness of the Undercity. "Are you talking about Saul?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Carth replied tersely, never sparing a look for Alaanis.
"You have to tell me Carth," Alaanis said, stepping in his path of walking. He glared at her and walked around.
"No I don't, I don't answer to you Pi," Carth announced, his voice never losing the iciness.
"But we're working together on this," Alaanis told him. She hurried to keep up with his strides. "I want to be able to talk comfortably with you Carth. We're partners in this."
"Listen sister you wouldn't have been alive if it wasn't for me!" Carth exclaimed.
"The same thing could be said for me," Alaanis shouted. A lot of the outcasts of the Undercity were staring at the pair with interest.
"I don't have to tell you all about my life!"
"Why won't you though Carth? There's no reason for you to not talk to me." Alaanis stared at his brown eyes with her own shocking blue ones. He seemed to be undergoing an internal battle of whether to tell her or not. He finally sighed.
"Fine," Carth said resigned. "I'll tell you." They walked over to a pair of plasteel cylinders to sit on. The outcasts had mostly stopped staring by now. Alaanis shot Carth a look while he fidgeted seeming to try and find what he was trying to say.
"You see, I never talk about these things. To anyone," Carth began. "But you have heard of the destruction of Telos correct? Well, that was my homeworld. I had a wife and a kid there. Right after Revan and Malak returned from wherever they went after the Mandalorian Wars, they bombed Telos. But it's not easy task. Saul helped them. He turned traitor on the Republic by giving them the codes to bypass our security. I could've stopped him. Remember when I told you he was trying to recruit me for the sith? That's when I could have stopped him. I could have stopped it all. And for that I deserve to die."
"Do you really believe that?" Alaanis asked him, her eyes moments ago full of playfulness now full of sympathy. Poor Carth, no wonder he's so distant. Wait a minute… wife and kid? What happened to them?
"Yes I do believe that," Carth answered, turning his face away from hers. "Malak and Saul deserve to die for what they did. Revan got what she deserved when she died. But I still deserve death for being so stupid."
"Revan was a woman?" Alaanis asked sidetracked.
"Yeah," Carth answered. "After her death they revealed a lot of holovids on her. They dug into the Jedi computer system for pictures. Most of them were back in the Mandalorian Wars or even before then, but she was a woman all right."
I like the idea of a sith lord being a woman rather than a man, Alaanis thought to herself. Anyways… "What happened to your wife and kid?" Alaanis asked tentatively.
"Morgana died in the attack," Carth said sorrowfully. His eyes were staring down at the ground with the deepest sadness. Alaanis couldn't help but feel depressed too. "I held her when she was dying. We never found Dustil, my son's, body. He was presumed dead. If he wasn't then, he probably is by now."
"I'm sorry Carth," Alaanis said reassuringly. She placed a hand on Carth's back to try and soothe him. They sat there for a few minutes with Carth staring at the ground, thinking how he deserved death while Alaanis tried her best to keep him from those thoughts. Then a young outcast woman ran over to them.
"I'm sorry to possibly annoy you," the woman asked. She couldn't have been past nineteen. "But you're from the upworld aren't you?"
"Yes," Alaanis responded with a light smile. "We are."
"I've never been up there before," the woman smiled sadly. "I was born down here like my mother and father. My grandparents were from the upworld though. Before they died, they used to tell me stories of how beautiful it was. Even though they were only children, it sounded so beautiful." She had a glazed look on her face before she snapped back to reality. "I'm sorry, I'm so rude. My name is Shaleena."
"Alaanis Pi and Carth Onasi," Alaanis introduced them. "Nice to meet you Shaleena. I was wondering perhaps if you could show us around the village?"
"Oh I'd love to!" Shaleena exclaimed. "Come on. Our village may not be large, but Gender who runs the village is a sweet older man who is like a father to everyone. He rationalizes the food and supplies and helps us ward off the rakghouls. Rakghouls… I wish they didn't exist. They are the one thing keeping us from expanding, from growing as a people. Those diseased mutants continue to attack our villagers, transforming us into them. It's worse than death."
"I can imagine," Alaanis muttered. Shaleena was leading Alaanis and Carth towards a group of tents in the east.
"These tents are our homes," Shaleena told the foreigners. "We usually live with three to five to a tent. We store our clothes and some of our supplies in our homes. We usually just live with our immediate families, though sometimes orphans and widows get grouped together." Shaleena led them through the tents, waving to a few people every now and then, until they arrived at a larger tent where an old man was surrounded by a group of young children, mostly no older then six.
"Who's that?" Alaanis asked Shaleena, jerking her head in the direction of the old man.
"That's Rukil," Shaleena smiled. "He tells everyone the stories of the Promised Land. It's a self-sufficient myth." She sighed. "If only it were true. This place is a dump. We need a promised land."
"You upworlder!" the old man named Rukil exclaimed suddenly. "You are marked upworlder!"
Alaanis stared at the old man as he stopped in the middle of a sentence and jumped up, startling some of the children and ran through them to approach her. Carth gave the guy a suspicious look and Shaleena backed off, obviously slightly frightened as well.
"I'm marked? What do you mean?" Alaanis asked confused.
"You will lead us to the Promised Land!" he shouted. The children and Shaleena stared at Alaanis in awe and Carth donned an even more suspicious look.
"The Promised Land?" Carth questioned. He gave the man a 'you're crazy' look.
"Legend tells of a self-sufficient colony full of everything we need, free of the rakghouls and somewhere we can live happily down here in the darkness!" Rukil cried out. The children turned their gaze towards him.
One of the children, a young girl with messy blonde hair, made a request. "Tell us the story of our history Rukil Wrinkle-Skin!"
The children all laughed at the nickname, and even Rukil laughed too. "The laughter of a child is so beautiful," he said to Alaanis. "Alright Cestra, I shall tell you the story of how we outcasts arrived here."
Rukil sat down on an old withered wicker chair in the back of the tent. Alaanis, Shaleena and Carth all joined the children on the wet ground and listened.
Rukil told the story of how there was a rebellion against the rich who were hoarding all the food and goods after a great famine a century ago. The poor rose up and began a civil war. Then the rebellion was crushed, and the jails weren't large enough to hold all the traitorous poor. So they were sent into the Undercity as the outcasts and now their children and their children's children suffered the same fate.
Once the story was finished, the children strayed off leaving Shaleena, Carth and Alaanis with Rukil. Rukil stood up and walked over to the three, staring Alaanis in the eye.
"Like I said you are marked upworlder," Rukil told her again. "You will lead us to the Promised Land. But first, you must prove yourself. Find the journal of my apprentice. Find what happened to her. She vanished some time ago. I fear she may be dead. Find her journal and return it to me, and then you will lead us!"
"I'll keep an eye out for her," Alaanis replied simply. Was this guy completely nuts or what?
"You will lead us!"
XxXxX
Shaleena finished showing Carth and Alaanis around the village by introducing them to the kind old man Gendar, leader of the village, the outcast healer who was keeping a few victims of the rakghoul disease locked up, and Igear. Igear was as slimy as his clothes were… which were covering his selfishness. He claimed that he didn't share his finds with the rest of the village for good reasons.
Good reasons to you, Alaanis thought to herself. Selfish reasons to me, and probably everyone else in the whole damn galaxy.
Shaleena left Carth and Alaanis at the village gates.
"Well, we still haven't seen Mission or Zaalbar," Carth pointed out the obvious.
"There are the sewers still and all of the rakghoul area," Alaanis said. She turned towards the gate keeper and requested for him to open the gate for them.
"Its suicide you know," the old man warned.
"We know," Alaanis told him. The old man shrugged and opened the gate for them. The republic soldiers entered the rakghoul infested areas of the Undercity.
They walked. And they walked. And then they walked some more. It felt like hours of walking before they stumbled upon something to report. Too bad it wasn't good news.
"You there!" called a uniformed sith officer. "You are civilians are you not?" Before waiting for an answer he drew out his blaster and called over four other members of his patrol. "You aren't supposed to be down here! Men! Attack!"
Before Alaanis could convince them with their papers a blaster shot hit her in the side where she was stitched up the previous evening by Zelka. "Ahh!" she screamed. The pain was overwhelming as the stitch burst open and she collapsed to the ground, bleeding again.
The last thing she saw before black was Carth fighting five sith at once.
XxXxX
"Alaanis!" Carth screamed as she collapsed to the ground. He couldn't fight five sith at once! But he had to. He'd been in worse spots before. But Alaanis… she was seriously injured again. Worse than before. Shooting the woman first in an injury, how classless.
Carth, crazy as he was at the moment, took his blaster in one hand and grabbed one of Alaanis' vibroswords in the other. Swirling it madly while shooting frantically, he ignored each blaster shot in his body. He would be as hurt as Alaanis soon enough.
But quicker than expected, all five sith were dead. Carth had been grazed by their blasters multiple times, but only one deep wound was in his right shoulder. He dropped onto the ground next to Alaanis to see if she was still alive.
There was a pulse. Thank the Force… Carth couldn't have lived with himself if Alaanis had died, and it would've been his fault too for not protecting her better.
Protecting her? Why are you protecting her Onasi?
I can't fight this stuff by myself. As infuriating as she is, Alaanis is somebody I need around to do the fighting with.
Is that it?
Carth shoved his inner demons aside and began lifting Alaanis up. But before he got too far lifting her, he saw a small vial of something rolling out from one of the dead sith. Carth thought it might've been the rakghoul serum Zelka Forn had been talking about and so grabbed it.
He continued trying to lift Alaanis back up She was quite light, but he had a hard time carrying her with his right shoulder on fire. Luckily enough, a familiar blue Twi'lek ran straight into him just at that moment.
"Carth!" Mission screeched. "You've gotta – wait, what happened to Alaanis?" Her eyes grew big as she stared at Alaanis' still body. "She's not…"
"She's not dead," Carth confirmed. "She's just unconscious. The Sith shot her in an old wound. Now what were you saying?"
"Zaalbar!" Mission exclaimed. "He's been captured by the Gammorean slave drivers. They were waiting for us this time! I mean, we always explore the sewers and stuff and we never get caught by the rakghouls or the Vulkers, but this time the Gammoreans caught us! They grabbed Big Z and he told me to run off so I did! I thought he was right behind me, but he wasn't! And now… now they're going to sell him into slavery! You've gotta help me!"
"Calm down Mission," Carth told her. "Here, help me carry Alaanis back into the village. We need to get the healer to help us. And this may take awhile. When she wakes up, we'll help you find Zaalbar. I promise."
"Alright," Mission resigned, grabbing Alaanis' arms and head while Carth held her torso and legs. "Let's get back to the village."
XxXxX
Carth was one of those passive-aggressive people in Mission's opinion. One minute he was laughing along with Alaanis and the next he was sending her death glares. Well, at least in the day Mission had known him.
Carrying the unconscious Alaanis, Mission couldn't think of something to say, so she stayed quiet. While she knew Carth's mind must've been on Alaanis, hers drifted back to Zaalbar.
I was so stupid to just leave him! She scolded herself. I should've been a better friend and stayed, helped him fight. I hope he forgives me…
They finally arrived back at the village. The gate keeper simply stared at Alaanis' body for a full minute before opening the gate.
"Is she alright?" he asked Carth. He nodded his head. The carriers of Alaanis continued their path to the outcast healer.
"What happened to her?" the outcast healer, a young woman with jet black hair who was probably in her mid-thirties exclaimed. Carth and Mission dropped Alaanis onto a flat cot on the ground under a badly put together tent.
"The Sith attacked us," Carth explained. "She took a blaster wound to an old vibroblade injury.
"I think I can treat this, but it will take all night. She should be awake by morning," explained the healer. "By the way my name is Sonya. I will let you stay around while I heal her…"
"Carth," Carth finished. "My name is Carth. The patient there is Alaanis and this is Mission…"
"…Vao," Sonya finished. "I've seen her before. She's gotten herself in a lot of scrapes. Lucky to have her Wookie friend around. By the way where is Zaalbar Mission?"
Mission couldn't look her in the eye. "He's still in the sewers," she answered honestly. Being held captive by those damned pigs. Stupid Gammoreans! Why does everyone want Wookies as their slaves?
Carth placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Mission looked up and saw him staring at her and simply telling her with one look that they'd find him. She smiled back, happy to hear she hadn't lost her best friend, and that her new ones would help her. If only Alaanis would wake up.
"…Sith… I am… I will…" Alaanis was mumbling in her unconsciousness. Carth, Mission and Sonya all stared at Alaanis as her eyes opened wide and her upper body flew up off of the flat cot she was lying on. She cringed in pain.
"Al!" Mission cried. She almost threw herself onto Alaanis happy to see her awake. "You're awake!"
"She wasn't supposed to wake up until tomorrow," Sonya pondered with her brows furrowed. "Nonetheless it's good to see you awake miss." Alaanis gave everyone a grateful smile through her pain.
"Is this going to hurt again?" she asked through clenched teeth.
"Yes it will Alaanis, but I can assure you that though I live down here in the Undercity, my tools are god enough to heal almost anything," Sonya reassured her.
"Great. It's going to hurt."
XxXxX
Carth watched yet again as Alaanis went through what looked was torture but was actually medical treatment. At least she was alive… and they had found Mission so now they could get that prototype swoop accelerator. And find Bastila.
Finally he fell asleep on the wet ground of the Undercity. Mission had already fallen asleep about an hour ago leaning against a metal box.
The morning came sunless, as it always did in the Undercity. Carth awoke to see Alaanis moving about with her vibroswords, dueling against Mission.
"Ah!" Mission squealed. "You cut me!"
"It's just your finger Mission, you better be happy I'm not sith or your whole arm would be gone," Alaanis smirked.
"No, she'd be dead," Carth put in. Alaanis and Mission both stared at him. Mission sticking her tongue out and Alaanis giving him a smile.
"Morning flyboy," she greeted him. "Glad to see you're in a better mood."
"Nothing like a sleep on the good old disgusting Tarisian ground to make me happy," he explained sarcastically. Alaanis rolled her eyes.
Mission reached into the pocket of her grey vest and pulled out a tattered journal. It didn't appear to be very old, just very worn. Alaanis took a look at it over Mission's shoulder and snatched it.
"Where'd you get this journal Mission?" Alaanis exclaimed excitedly. She looked like a alcoholic who had been deprived of alcohol for months and then finallyfound a gigantic bottle of ale."It's Rukil's apprentice's! We have to get it to him. Come on!" Alaanis dashed through the mostly empty tents sat and arrived at the last one where Rukil was sitting on a plasteel cylinder, facing the ground with his eyes closed.
"Rukil, we found your apprentice's journal," Alaanis told him. His eyes opened and hetook the journal from her from her open hand.
"It is as I feared then," the withered man sighed. "She has joined the other hunters of the Promised Land in death."
"Yeah, I found it on a corpse near the sewer entrance yesterday," Mission explained.
"You have proven yourself worthy upworlder, now comes the task of leading us to the Promised Land," Rukil told Alaanis, giving her a look that simply told her that she couldn't weasel out of this.
"What must I do?" Alaanis said with a sigh. Carth suppressed a chuckle. It was obvious she was not interested in doing this. He's a complete kook, I don't blame her…
"You must find the journals of my father and grandfather," Rukil proclaimed. "You shall find them somewhere in the journey I know you are bound for. But you will find them. And when you do... you will return them to me and we will finally be led to the Promised Land!"
Carth raised an eyebrow at the crazed old man. Mission looked like she might burst out giggling any second. Alaanis simply nodded. "I will do this task for you," she declared.
"Thank you upworlder," Rukil said with a wrinkled smile.
Alaanis, Carth and Mission all headed back towards the gates into the rakghoul infested area. But along the way, Carth picked at something with her.
"Why did you promise to help them?" Carth asked her. "It'll be hard to spare time looking for those journals."
"They don't necessarily need the Promised Land itself," Alaanis told him. "They need hope. And those journals - or at least someone saying that they care enough to look for the journals – are something to give them the hope that they need."
"I guess it makes sense," Mission shrugged. They continued walking in silence, and though Carth wouldn't say it, Alaanis had a point. Hope was often more important and useful than material things or places. They were stopped right by the healer's tent by Igear, the slimy salvager.
"Are you the upworlder Rukil is saying will lead us to the Promised Land?" he questioned Alaanis.
"What's it to you?" Alaanis raised an eyebrow. She placed her hands on her hips and stared him straight in the eye. "If you've got a deal for those journals, you're not getting it. You are a selfish pig, and giving you those journals for a few credits or supplies is pointless. So bug off. I'm giving them to Rukil, not some slimeball like you."
Igear just stared at Alaanis for a moment until he realized that she could slice him up nicely if he didn't comply with her vibroswords. He ran off and Carth and Mission took their turn to stare at her.
"What?" Alaanis asked with her hands still on her hips.
"You're crazy Al," Mission said, shaking her head, her headtails flopping around a little. Alaanis almost chuckled at the nickname. She had never usually been called anything but Alaanis in her life. 'Al' was a bit of a funny one to her.
"Yeah, well, slimy businessmen, also known as pigs, like him don't deserve to even bring up their propositions," the scoundrel told the Twi'lek. Suddenly she stopped for a second and glanced over at the outcast healer, putting away some tools and the plopping down with a datapad. "Hey Carth... that sith patrol that attacked us yesterday, did you loot them?"
"No..." Carth said slowly. Alaanis swore under her breath. "Why?"
"Because they might've been carrying the rakghoul serum I promised Zelka," she told him.
"Wait," he called as she began to keep walking, Mission at her side. Alaanis jerked her head around and saw Carth fumbling through his pockets and then pull out a small vial. "This was on the ground yesterday after I killed them. I think its the serum."
Alaanis ran back to him and took one look at the clear liquid. "I think it is too," she decided. "Thank you Carth!" She threw herself onto him in a rib-shattering hug that would not be out of place if she had been a Wookie.
"Uh... you're welcome?" Carth replied unsure. Alaanis backed off of him, realizing that she had jumped onto him and walked over to the outcast healer in her tent, sitting on the ground, still reading her datapad.
"Sonya," Alaanis began. "Do you still have any patients infected with the rakghoul disease? Do they have a chance at survival?"
"Tons of patients," Sonya replied, setting down the datapad and standing up. "But the majority of them won't be able to be cured. They've gone too long with the disease. They've all put in the request to be killed once they've become rakghouls. It's such a horrible fate really... but there are two that were attacked just a couple hours ago. They should be fine... if we had the cure."
Alaanis held up the vial and Sonya gasped. "You have the cure?" she questioned, her voice wavering. Alaanis nodded. "Follow me to the gated area where they are! Come on, we've got to hurry! I'm not sure of the span of how long until one cannot be cured, but I don't want to take chances." Sonya grabbed Alaanis' hand and dragged her quickly away from the tents and towards a small area Alaanis hadn't noticed before. Two outcasts were sitting on the ground inside, their clothes as grimy as usual, but their faces extra pale and their expressions grim.
"Hendar! Hester!" Sonya called as they approached. "We have a cure for you!" The man and the woman inside the gated area lifted up their heads and watched as the three upworlders and Sonya ran over.
"You have a cure?" the woman named Hester asked, her face still pale but hopeful. "Quickly! Open the gate!"
Sonya opened the gate and she and Alaanis entered the area. "Don't use it all," Alaanis said. "I need at least a bit for a sample to mass produce this cure."
Sonya nodded her head in understanding and took one quarter of the vial and injected it into the woman. "I can feel the disease burning away..." the woman sighed happily. "Thank you upworlder. Thank you Sonya."
The man was administered with another quarter of the rakghoul serum and he took thanked Alaanis and Sonya. Sonya expressed her gratitude by thanking Alaanis hundreds of times and declaring that if Alaanis or her companions ever needed healing again, she would be happy to help.
"We still have enough to give to Zelka?" Mission asked Alaanis as she rejoined her and Carth. "By the way who is Zelka?" Mission, Alaanis and Carth were heading back towards the gate to the rakghoul infested areas so that they could travel to the sewers.
"Yeah I think we have enough," Alaanis decided, looking at the vial closely. "And Zelka Forn is a doctor in the Upper City. He wants to mass produce the rakghoul serum so that he can give it to everyone. He helped me stitch up that blade injury when I first got it. We didn't have time for him to completely fix it up because I was invited to a sith party where I swiped some uniforms."
"Geez, and how long have you been on Taris?" Mission asked.
"Well, before Alaanis woke up, she was unconscious for a good two days," Carth explained. "But after that we spent one day in the Upper City, half of yesterday in the Lower City, and our fifth day is today."
"Hm," Mission muttered. "I guess being republic soldiers you get a lot more done."
"Huh?" Carth asked suddenly. Then it clicked. "You told her?" he asked Alaanis. She smiled sweetly.
"Why can't I talk about who I am?" Alaanis said, flapping her eyelashes at Carth mockingly. "But anyways, yes Mission knows." She smirked at Carth as though threatening him to question her. I'm not stupid enough to do that beautiful, Carth said inwardly.
"I've got nothing against the republic," Mission declared. "So it really doesn't matter if you're republic to me. If you were sith however... we'd have some issues."
Alaanis chuckled. "Well, we're not sith. But we do have to go find Zaalbar. Hey Mission, when we find Zaalbar you'll lead us into the Vulker base won't you?"
"Sure," Mission said. "As soon as we find Big Z, we'll get into the Vulker base. I just hope that rancor is gone..."
"Rancor?" Carth exploded. "There's a rancor down there?"
"Uh..." Mission looked uncomfortable. "Yeah, last I knew there was. But no worries, I've snuck past it a hundred times. It shouldn't be too hard..."
"Heh... right," Alaanis said nervously.
XxXxX
The sewers were a nasty place of Taris. Mission told them that the sewers had been there for centuries. Well, they were dirty enough to have been.
The three of them, Alaanis, Carth and Mission, had already made their way through half of the Gammorean compound in the sewers, killing the gigantic pig-like raiders when they came their way.
Alaanis took another look at her vibroswords and decided that it probably was pretty gruesome seeing her fight with those things. They were covered in the blood of the Gammoreans.
Times like these I wish I had a lightsaber... the though strayed into Alaanis mind and instantly she wondered where that thought had come from.
I wouldn't be qualified to use a lightsaber, what the hell am I thinking? She kicked herself mentally. I've never even used a lightsaber before, and only seen them when we were on board the Endar Spire.
A Gammorean patrol turned the corner and Alaanis gutted him with her blade. Mission and Carth both worked their blasters and shot him repeatedly in the head. He was down quickly.
Fifteen minutes passed by and five more Gammoreans lie dead. Finally they came across an old-fashioned door that showed exactly how old the sewers of taris were.
"I've never seen a door like that and I've picked almost every type of lock in existence," Alaanis told her companions.
"But I have," Mission cut in. "I've explored these sewers from top to bottom and seen a couple doors like these every here and there. I figured out to get through them a long time ago. Just a second..." Mission tinkered with the lock on the door for a minute before it swung open. "Yes!" she exclaimed. Inside the door was a tall hairy Wookie... Zaalbar!
His brown fur seemed more tangled than before and he was definitely relieved to meet his rescuers. ":Mission:" he growled in the language of the Wookies. ":Aren't you a sight for sore eyes:"
"It's good to see you too Big Z!" Mission exclaimed, throwing herself at her Wookie friend. She then started sniffing him and backed away. "You smell Zaalbar. You need a bath."
":Well we don't really have time for that right now, we have to get out of here:" Zaalbar declared. Then he caught a glimpse of Carth and Alaanis. ":These are the two offworlders we talked with yesterday.:"
"Yep, you remember Alaanis and Carth right Big Z?"
":Yes I do. It's good to see you again:" Zaalbar grumbled.
":Good to see you again as well Zaalbar. Though perhaps not here:" Alaanis said in his language.
":Impressive:" Zaalbar stated.
"Thank you," Alaanis said back in Basic.
"If it wasn't for these two I would've never saved you Big Z," Mission told him. "I may be good with fighting, but I could've never taken down those Gammoreans by myself."
":Well then:" Zaalbar started. ":I must proclaim a lifedebt.:"
"A lifedebt!" Mission exclaimed. "Are you sure about this Big Z?"
":I'm sure:" Zaalbar decided. He turned towards Alaanis. ":I Zaalbar swear a lifedebt onto you Alaanis Pi. I shall follow you wherever you go. May the bond of this lifedebt grow as deep as the roots of the trees of Kashyyyk.:"
"Wow, a lifedebt," Alaanis muttered. "I am honored to accept this vow." She bowed her head at Zaalbar and smiled. "I'm glad to have you aboard Zaalbar."
"There's no way you're getting rid of me then," Mission declared. "I follow Zaalbar everywhere he goes."
Alaanis chuckled. "I wouldn't dream of it. Glad to have you aboard Mission. Now we have to get to the Vulker base..." she cut herself off and looked towards the ground where a few corpses lie. She reached down her hand and searched the pockets of a rather filthy corpse, wearing what resembled the same rags the outcasts of the Undercity wore.
She pulled out a journal. "This must be one of the two Rukil was speaking about," Alaanis mumbled to herself. "I wonder where the other one is..." She flipped open the book. "Wow, this is detailed." She shut it suddenly. "Come on, let's get going."
Mission led the way towards the upper sewers along a long ladder. The upper sewers had their share of the Gammoreans and though Alaanis expected to find tons of rakghouls, they only found a few. I guess the Gammoreans got to them...
They were heading down a corridor and Mission told them they were getting pretty close. Then they heard a roar.
"Please tell me that was somebody's stomach," Carth whispered.
"Sounded more like a rancor," Alaanis replied sighing. "How are we going to get past a rancor?"
"We could sneak by," Mission suggested. "I have a stealth field generator."
"I have one too, but only one," Alaanis said. "Maybe... Maybe we can sneak through the whole Vulker base invisible. We just probably need to kill whoever is guarding the accelerator. No need to kill more lives."
"But the security that place must have?" Carth questioned skeptically.
"We can search through offices in stealth mode," Mission told him. "And we can call you on a comlink if we need your help."
Carth sighed. "I guess I have no say in the matter?"
":I'd have to say the same thing:" Zaalbar grumbled. He obviously didn't want to let Mission go into that base without him, even if she was going with Alaanis.
"We should be fine," Alaanis declared. "We'll be invisible. After getting past the rancor, it'll be a piece of cake. And plus, we're not stupid. And we can handle ourselves."
"Yeah!" Mission exclaimed.
Carth sighed again. "Alright, I guess I have no choice. Good luck you two."
With a last look back, Alaanis and Mission slipped on their stealth generators and ran into the room with the rancor.
XxXxX
Whew. I've been working on that since I finished the last chapter almost nonstop. Longest chapter yet I believe. Sorry I didn't cram in the Vulker base and the swoop race into this, but that stuff seems like it didn't go with the chapter. Don't worry, it'll be in the next chapter. So anyways, Carth starts up with the beautiful nickname. ;-) Don't worry you Carthaholics (I'm one of you) you'll get some more in due time. I didn't introduce Canderous at all if you've noticed, but that's a) because I'm lazy and b) because I think I want him to make a bigger entrance. Oh and the same with Calo Nord I believe.
Shadows Run - Glad you like doggy biscuits. You get some more for another review. XD Lol. By the way, just thought I'd let you know I started reading Beautiful. I didn't get too far yet (my internet is being evil) but I like it so far. :) I'll review once I catch up lol.
beatletrekkie - Glad you liked the boot part. I love making Alaanis tease Carth. It's the humor of these early chapters that makes me love writing this fic...
Thank you both for the reviews. XD They make me OH SO HAPPY! So review some more please:) Anyways, the next chapter will be Mission and Alaanis' infiltration of the Vulker base and the swoop race. I'm not sure if I will introduce Bastila much in the next chapter yet or not... that's undecided. Anyways, I'm off. Expect the chapter either very soon or not so soon. I have a hectic week ahead of me: two track meets, track practice every day, a talent show friday and a school thing I have to attend on the weekend, Throw in two geometry tests (and yeah I need to study all I can for those) and that's my lovely week. God forbid I have some biology labs and english papers to write... so I have to go. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Crazy Miss Sarah is going, going, GONE!
4-23-05