Slayers of the Old Republic
Book II: Taris
By Michael Weyer
The groans got Buffy's attention as she woke up. Her eyes opened and instantly took in her surroundings. Shafts of morning light were coming in through the window nearby and Carth and Faith were already up. Her eyes flicked over to where Vance was shifting on the bed. His eyes shot open and he sat up, gasping.
"Take it easy," Buffy stated as she came up. "It's okay."
Vance looked to her, blinking and sucking in breaths. "You…you're that Jedi…from the ship…"
"Elaine Somers." Faith glanced at her but kept quiet. Carth noted how she seemed surprised to hear that name and made a mental note to question it later. "Are you feeling okay?" he asked Vance.
"Think so," the man answered as he swung up to rise out of the bed. "Head still hurts a bit but otherwise…"
"Yeah, you bumped it pretty bad," Carth stated. "But good to see you up and around. We're going to need all the help I can get if we're going to rescue Bastila."
"Bastila?" Vance asked. "That Jedi? Why does she need rescuing? And where are we, anyway?"
Carth quickly brought him up to speed on the events on Taris and introduced Faith. "So we're pretty much on our own."
"Quick question," Faith piped up. "What's so important about this Bastila chick? How can one Jedi be so big?"
"Her gift," Buffy explained. "Bastila has a special ability called battle meditation. In battle, she can basically boost the morale of the Republic forces and dampen those of the Sith, which can make all the difference."
"It's that battle meditation that's helped us against the Sith," Carth said. "Malak wants to find her and kill her so she can't help us anymore."
"No, he doesn't."
Carth turned to Buffy, puzzled. "What?"
The young Jedi's face was drawn. "He won't kill her unless he has no other choice. His first choice would be to capture her alive and try to turn her to the Dark Side. If she were to use her meditation on the Sith…" She let the implications hang over the room.
"Damn, I never thought of that," Carth muttered. "And he could do it too. I've heard horrible things about what the Force can do. They say it can strip away your mind, your entire identity and replace it with anything they'd want!"
"Only the Sith do that," Buffy snapped. "We Jedi use it in better ways."
"I don't know about this," Vance mused, his arms crossed. "I was only hired on to do some scouting and translating duties. Hell, they never got around to telling me what the real job was! I'm not exactly thrilled about risking my neck like this!"
Carth narrowed his eyes. "You swore an oath to help the Republic, mister. Freelance or not, you have a duty and you're damn well going to do it!"
"Okay, okay, easy," Buffy said, holding up her hands as she stepped between the two men. "Let's not start fighting among ourselves. Right now, let's figure out our first move." She turned to Faith. "As the Taris expert, where do you think we should go?"
Faith stroked her chin. "Well, we can start with the Lower City cantina. The folks there could know more about any crashed escape pods than the upper city folk. The Uppers are trying to live their lives as normal, ignore the Sith."
"We'd better get started then," Carth said. "We're going to need some supplies though and that means credits."
"Gee, let me find my wallet," Vance said as he patted his pockets. He then smacked his head. "Oh, yeah, I left it on my dresser….which is currently floating in a million pieces over the planet!"
"Relax, pal," Faith said as she knelt under the bed and pulled out a large lockbox. She hit a quick code and opened it to reveal a huge pack of credits in a nice bundle."
"Whoa," Buffy said as she looked at it. "How'd you make so much money?"
"Just used my God-given skills," Faith casually said.
Buffy saw both Carth and Vance raking their eyes over Faith's body. "She didn't mean that way!" she yelled. She paused and turned to Faith. "You don't mean that way, do you?"
Faith chuckled. "Please, B! Despite what you've always thought, I got standards! Nah, I made it different ways." She rummaged through the locker and brought out a small datapad. She handed it to Buffy, who pressed a few keys to bring up its contents.
She saw a series of video files of Faith in what appeared to be some sort of arena fighting a series of people. In some, she was using a blaster. In others, it was hand to hand combat with blades. In every case, Faith was easily besting her opponents, from an elderly man who went down with no problem to a large armored figure who ended up on the end of her bladed spear.
Buffy saw a small title appear under her name and raised an eyebrow. "The Mysterious Stranger?"
"Hey, it wasn't my idea," Faith defended herself. "I was just looking to make some cash and someone suggested the dueling arena. Did pretty well too, took out all the other competitors. It's non-lethal, suppressor fields and such so no one gets hurt."
"Except for this last guy," Buffy noted.
Faith grimaced. "Yeah. Bendak Starkiller. He was a big gladiator back when they fought to the death. When they outlawed death matches, he hung it up but came back to face me. I didn't realize he was going to take it so seriously so…" She tried to shrug but Buffy knew it was still haunting her.
"Looks like you took him down," Vance noted, looking over Buffy's shoulder.
"Yeah, I did," Faith answered. "And it turned out, he had a big bounty on his head so next thing I know, I'm in the bounty-hunting business."
"Bounty-hunting?" Carth was getting a bad feeling about this.
"Relax," Faith said, waving her hand. "I only hunted guys who deserved it. Although I did skirt the rules a bit. Like this one guy who had testified against Davik and had a price on his head. I helped him fake his death by blowing up his apartment. He got away clean and I got the reward for it."
"Nice," Vance said with admiration.
"Who's Davik?" Buffy asked.
"Davik Kang," Faith explained. "He's a member of the Exchange, the big intergalactic crime syndicate. He pretty much runs all the crime on Taris, gambling, smuggling, slavery, the works."
"Is he working for the Sith?"
Faith snorted. "Please. He hates the Sith as much as everyone. And he especially hates how this quarantine is cutting into his business. But he's smart enough to know not to fight them but just stay out of their way."
"Well, now that our representative from the Taris Chamber of Commerce has spoken," Vance asked with impatience. "Can we get on with this?"
"First things first," Faith said as she headed to the small closet. "I think I got a few things you can fit into, B."
Buffy frowned. "Fit into?"
Faith looked her over. "The robes, the lightsaber, the braid…B, you might as well flash a sign to every Sith soldier out there telling them you're a Jedi."
"She's right," Carth agreed. "The less attention we draw the better. They're already going to be on the lookout for any survivors."
Buffy sighed as she reached to take the top Faith was offering. "Let's just hope your dress sense has improved."
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The four left the apartment a few moments later. Buffy was now clad in a loose dark tunic and dark pants with a blazer-like jacket. The pants had some large circular pockets, one of which was perfect to hide Buffy's lightsaber. She had combed the braid into her hair, something she knew Bastila would have a fit over but it hid it well.
Faith was clad in leather pants and dark leather top with jacket. She wore a long vibrosword attached to a scabbard on her back, a remnant of her gladiator days. Beside her, Vance had supplied himself with his own sword while Carth was holding his trusty pair of blasters.
They had barely taken three steps out of the apartment when they saw an altercation taking place. On one side were a pair of Duros and Faith and Buffy noted how similar the race was to the fabled "grey aliens" often mentioned on Earth. They looked quite alike with their large heads, grey skin and big pupil-less eyes. At the moment, they were facing a trio of Sith, one officer and two soldiers.
"You'd better tell us what you know of the Tarsian underground, alien scum," the officer was hissing. "Otherwise, we will make your lives very difficult and very painful."
We know nothing of this underground one of the aliens replied. We are just honest merchants trying to reach our work…
"And where are your work papers?" the officer demanded. "All aliens must show clearance before they can proceed anywhere in this city!"
The younger of the Duros shook his grey head. There was a patrol here just yesterday and they found nothing! Why do you Sith keep bothering us?
Without a word, the officer fired point-blank into the alien's chest, sending him down to the ground, dead. Faith moved forward but Buffy put a hand out to stop her. However, the move got the attention of the officer, who whirled on them. "So, do we have more troublemakers here? Humans hiding out with the aliens?" His eyes raked over them, taking in the professional appearance of Carth and he leaped to a conclusion. "They're Republic fugitives! Quickly, get-----"
Before the words were out of his mouth, Carth had quick-drawn and fired his blasters, cutting him down. Vance was moving in, his sword drawn out and slammed it into the throat of one of the armored soldiers, right at the vulnerable point. The man choked as he went down. The other soldier dropped to his knee and aimed at Carth but Faith rushed in to kick him in the side of the head, sending him rolling on the floor. Spinning, Vance jammed the sword point into the man's upper back, another lethal blow.
It was odd for Buffy to feel left out in a combat situation but she had to admit her appraisal of the two men had just gone up drastically. Vance yanked his sword out and wiped it on the dead officer's shirt. "Damn, I wish they didn't have all this armor. Makes it harder to cut with just a vibro."
Buffy looked to the Duros. "Are you okay?"
The alien nodded as he looked down at his companion's body. Poor Xgil he murmured. He should never have talked back. He looked up to the others. My thanks for your aid, humans. This isn't the first time the Sith have come here to bother us. Hopefully, it will be the last.
"Won't someone come to check on them?" Buffy asked as she saw Vance kneeling to search the Sith. He pulled a sword off the officer's body and pocketed a couple of credits.
The Duros shook his head. Do not worry. I will move them to make it look like they were killed somewhere else. That should keep the Sith off the trail for a while. My thanks again, humans." With another bow of the head, he started to drag the bodies away.
Carth glanced to Vance, who was hefting the Sith blade in his hands. "Wouldn't you be better off with a blaster?"
"Never been good with those," Vance stated. "I'm better with a blade, trust me."
"Another fun day in Taris," Faith announced as she led the way to the elevator leading to the outside.
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In the daylight, Taris looked a bit better. The silver skyscrapers shone bright in the morning sun, casting shadows on the walkways below. As the quartet exited, they saw some droids working around a fallen escape pod with a pair of Sith troops overseeing it. They quickly moved on to merge with the crowds of civilians walking about.
"Nice place," Buffy said. "Reminds me of Coruscant, only a bit less crowded."
"Reminds me of Nar Shadda," Vance countered. "Only the smell is a lot better."
"Only up here," Faith said. "Once we get to the lower parts, you'll see a difference."
They kept the walk up, passing by shoppers, people heading to work, the odd Sith soldier and others. They saw a man standing on a corner, trying to preach about "the evils of the aliens among us!" Buffy shook her head as she leaned in toward Faith. "Reminds you of L.A., huh?" The other Slayer grinned.
They were passing by a large doorway when Faith paused. "We better stop here for some supplies. There's no telling what we could run into and a couple medpaks might make a difference." The others had to agree as they entered the medical facility before them.
Behind a counter, a middle-aged black man in a dark suit looked up and smiled. "Hello there. I can see that a couple of you are off-worlders. Get stuck here by the quarantine, eh? Well, never let it be said that Zelka Forn refused aid to others just because of their origins."
"Then we won't say it," Buffy stated with a slight smile. "We just need a few supplies."
"Certainly," Forn said as he led the way to the supply counter nearby. "I'm afraid my stock isn't as large as it should be because of the quarantine. But at least the Sith have their own medical stores so I won't have to worry about them moving in and taking my inventory."
"Is that a common thing?" Carth asked, trying to make it sound like an innocent question.
"Oh, it's happened at a few places," Forn said as he went over the supplies. "Mostly, it's from the weapons merchants, to take the high-end arms away. They hate the idea of the citizens here having firepower. It might give some the idea to start a rebellion. I've also heard that they've taken some of the more advanced droids and parts from the droid sellers. However, as I said, I've managed to stay out of their sight."
"That's good," Buffy said. "We'd like a few medpacks, maybe a antidote kit or two if you have them?"
"No problem," Forn stated. "I have medical supplies for almost anything…save rakghoul disease of course."
"Rakghoul disease?" Vance asked with a frown. "What's that?"
Forn's face darkened. "A very terrible affliction that has plagued Taris for as long as I can remember. It is confined to the Undercity, a deadly virus spread by some sort of creatures. Those who are infected are doomed to mutate into those creatures, becoming mindless beasts."
"There's no cure?" Buffy asked.
"No," Forn stated. "Although I hear the Sith have a serum that can treat the effects if administrated quickly enough. I do believe that if I were to get hold of a sample, I could synthesize a cure." He shrugged. "However, as you can imagine, the Sith aren't too interested in sharing."
"Too bad," Faith stated. "Say, ah, you know anything about any Republic escape pods that crashed in the city?"
"Escape pods?" Forn started. "Ah, no, no I don't."
It didn't take Jedi senses to tell that Forn was lying through his teeth. Buffy glanced around the shop, her eyes resting on a locked door nearby. She moved toward it as the others kept pressing the doctor.
"You must know something," Vance stated.
"I am too busy running my facility to care about such things!" Forn said, a bead of perspiration running down his balding head. "I know nothing about this!"
Faith leaned in. "Here's a tip, Doc. Make sure you stick to the whole confidentiality thing with your patients. Cause, buddy, you suck as a liar."
Buffy felt the presence behind the wall and moved her hand over the lock. She concentrated, letting herself pull at the mechanism, which wasn't as hard as she thought it'd be. There was a rumble as the doors slid open.
"Hey! Get away from there!" Forn called out as he rushed from the counter and to Buffy. The Jedi had entered the room, which turned out to be some sort of laboratory. Before her were a pair of large tanks, each holding a body suspended in kolto.
Forn stopped, a look of fear coming on his face as the others came behind him to take in the sight. Carth frowned for a moment before his eyes widened. "Wait a minute…I recognize them from the Spire!"
Forn looked at him. "You do? But then…you must be with the Republic."
"Not just that," Buffy said, opening one of her pockets enough for Forn to see her lightsaber.
The doctor visibly relaxed. "Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't sure if you were actually Sith agents trying to smoke me out. Since the battle in space, people have been brining me some soldiers from escape pods. A couple were minor ones, I managed to patch them up and they went their own way. Sadly, most of have been like these, their injuries far too severe to do anything."
"So…they're dying?" Faith softly asked.
Forn sadly nodded. "I'm afraid so. I figure the least I can do is make their last few days as comfortable as possible. It's better if they're getting some treatment instead of being in a Sith torture cell.
"Well, for that, you have my thanks," Carth said with obvious gratitude. "It's good to know at least some of these men landed in compassionate hands."
Nodding, Forn shut the door and led the way back to the counter. "Well, let's get you rung up with your needs." He quickly added things up and handed them a small pad.
Faith took it and frowned. "Wait a sec…it should be more expensive than this."
A slight smile came to Forn's face. "Let's just say you all qualify for a…special discount." Faith returned the smile as she handed the credits over to him and within minutes they were on their way.
"Okay, spill," Vance stated. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
It took Carth a moment to realize Vance was talking to him. "Excuse me?"
Vance stopped and faced the Republic soldier. "You've been giving me the eye almost since we hit the streets. So come on, what is it about?"
Carth sighed. "I didn't mean…I was just trying to piece it all together. I'm trying to figure out why you, a guy who was added onto the roster at the last minute, was one of the few to escape. It just…it seems off somehow."
"Wait, are you suggesting I had something to do with the attack?" Vance said with obvious anger. "Come on, you heard Faith! The Sith have been in control here for weeks, they obviously had the whole ambush set up in advance!"
"But they still had to know we'd be coming here," Carth stated. "Listen, maybe I'm reading too much into it. Maybe I'm being paranoid. Still, I learned not to take things at face value and I hate to be surprised."
"Hey, we're on the same side."
"I know and it doesn't have to do with you personally. I just don't trust anyone. For my own reasons." He shot the two Slayers a look. "And no, I am not going to explain them so don't ask."
Faith and Buffy exchanged an uneasy look, neither happy with the direction this partnership was going. Vance was still seething as the group walked down a few blocks before coming to an elevator. A Sith soldier stood guard before it. "Shit," Faith said. "I didn't know they were actually guarding these things."
"Should we take him down?" Vance asked.
"It could cause too much of a fuss," Carth said. "We'd better find another way."
"No need," Buffy said as she calmly walked toward the soldier. "I've got this." The three exchanged confused looks as Buffy walked up to the soldier. The man stiffened and held out a hand. "Halt. Only those with authorization can go to the Lower City!"
"We have the authorization," Buffy said, her voice calm and even, her eyes fixed on the soldier's visor as she made a little wave with her hand.
"You…have the authorization," the soldier repeated in a flat tone.
"We can all go down."
"You can all go down."
"You don't have to remember us being here."
"I don't have to remember you being here."
Buffy moved to punch the pad and open the elevator doors. She shot the others a triumphant smile as she stepped in. Carth, Vance and Faith quickly moved in to join her as the doors shut closed.
Buffy let out a breath and shook her head. "Damn, I've still got to work so that doesn't take so much out of me."
"You did great," Carth informed her. "Looks like our odds just got a whole lot better."
"Not bad, B," Faith stated. "Beats our contingency plan."
"Which was?" Buffy asked.
"Flash him and Vance could punch him out while he was ogling."
Vance and Carth looked to each other, then at Buffy. "Is she serious?"
Buffy shrugged. "To tell the truth, I gave up wondering long ago."
It was the men's turn to worry about their female partners as the elevator took them down.