Savior Self

And someone left the cake out in the rain… I don't know if I can take it, because it took so long to bake it, and I'll never have that recipe again… Ooooh nooooo...

Taris part six.

Rated PG13

Disclaimer: Heehee. Would you read it if I actually made a disclaimer?

Savior Self

The next morning Carth dressed in the Sith suit to get to the Lower City. Cortessa led the way in silence, her hands clasped be hind her back, her head bowed in a display of submission. Carth held both her arms in his hands and walked behind her, so that she resembled something of a slave. Indeed, her clothing was tucked away in their supply sack, and she walked in her underwear, her legs and stomach suggestively bared for the world to see.

A few people stopped to stare, but for the most part they were ignored. Carth himself was having trouble walking behind Cortessa was she was dressed so scantly. It was horribly distracting, especially while she swayed like she did. He had to fix his eyes on the walkway.

They reached the Lower City without a problem, and Cortessa and Carth switched back to their day clothes, not looking at each other as they faced opposite ends of the street.

"We're visiting the Undercity tonight, doll," Cortessa said in a conversational way.

He had gotten used to the nickname and could dismiss it easily. "That's good to hear," he replied. "I was getting worried that we would turn up too late."

Cortessa finished up. He glanced back to see her zip up her vest, and her breasts were hidden beneath its thick padding.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Hurry up, will you? We don't have all day."

Carth shrugged on his jacket. "Let's go."

They walked together in silence before they came upon a small group of Vulkars.

"I got it!" Cortessa said, and he watched as her eyes began to glow with anger. She twirled her vibroblades and charged forward, screaming. She sliced through two Vulkars easily, and Carth stayed behind, taking a few awkward shots with his blasters. He was amazed at what a ferocious fighter she was.

A Vulkar came up behind Carth and grabbed him by the neck. He swore, squirming in his grasp. His blasters were useless. "CORTESSA!"

She kicked a Vulkar on the ground and looked back. "What?"

"Help."

She blinked, her eyes flickering. She charged forward and Carth gasped as he felt the sharp tip of vibroblade being pushed against his skin. "Whoa, whoa! Stop!" he cried.

Cortessa slowed down and finally stopped, frowning. "What's your problem?"

"Stealth shield," Carth croaked. The grip was tightening on his neck. "Right? Can't see him?"

"Nope."

"Well, he's gonna kill me."

After a moment she turned her stealth on. The grip on Carth's neck loosened. He could hear the Vulkar grumble with confusion. Something hot splashed against Carth's neck and the Vulkar fell to the ground with a thud.

"He's dead," Cortessa said good-naturedly.

Carth rubbed his neck, staring at the shimmering corpse on the ground. "Thanks," he wheezed.

Her pants and vest were stained red with blood, and she was grinning.

"How're you?" Carth squeaked.

Her grin widened. "Let's keep on truckin'!" She turned on her heel and led the way, swinging her vibroblades in a good-natured manner. Up ahead a man was badgering two Vulkars for credits. Carth and Cortessa ducked into the shadows to listen.

"You guys are behind in your payments. What do you… uh… you think that just 'cause you're in some gang you don't have to give Davik his cut?"

The Vulkars guffawed stupidly, elbowing each other and nodding their heads. "I don't see Davik doing anything for his share," a Vulkar said. "We do all the work. Davik claims he's part of the Exchange, so let's see him prove it."

The other laughed. "Yeah, let's see the big crime lord come and get his money from the Black Vulkars!" They giggled hysterically, slapping each other on the back.

The man smiled wryly. "Ah, so you want to play this the hard way?" He laughed. "Okay." Cortessa blinked as the man whistled once, short and sharp.

A muscle-bound man with grey hair and a cold face sauntered in, sliding one hand over the barrel of an enormous repeater. The expression on his face was firm and hard, but his eyes betrayed his boredom and revulsion.

The Vulkars instantly blenched. "Oh, hey… Canderous! We didn't know you was working for Davik now!"

"Yeah, we were just goofin' around. We don't want no trouble with a Mandalorian. Here's Davik's cut."

The man – the agent for Davik – grinned, bouncing the sack full of credits in his hand. "I knew you boys would see reason. Now get out of here."

The Vulkars ran.

The stone-faced man, a Mandalorian, Canderous, apparently, sighed in a bored way. He spoke in a flat voice, but his throat was rough and his words sounded like a harsh bark. "Too bad. I was looking forward to cracking some heads."

The agent rolled his shoulders. "Maybe next time, Canderous." He winked, smirking, and pocketed a credit from inside the sack he held. "I better get this over to Davik. I'll call you if anyone else gets behind on their payments."

Cortessa giggled for, as soon as the agent turned his back, Canderous rolled his eyes and took aim with his repeater, pretending to blast the man to bits before he turned away.

"Let's talk to him, doll!" Cortessa squealed quietly, tugging at Carth's hands.

Carth gaped. "Are you nuts?" he gasped as she pulled him to his feet and dragged him towards the Mandalorian.

"Hello, there!" Cortessa said good-naturedly.

Carth felt his hands go cold. He felt like he was going to turn into a mound of mush.

Canderous cocked his gun in her direction in greeting. "Those Vulkars are dumber than a Coruscant granite slug. They actually think that being in that pathetic gang of theirs makes them important. Gadon keeps his Hidden Beks in line, but Brejik's getting dreams of grandeur. If Davik's smart, he'll slap that young punk back down."

Cortessa tilted her head cutely. "May I ask, who are you?"

Canderous shook his head, recoiling as she snuck closer. Carth hid behind Cortessa. "I'm someone you don't want to get on the bad side of, and I'm not one for small talk," the Mandalorian muttered. "I don't have time to stick around here, anyway. Davik's got me working on a special assignment." He said this as if the words made him feel sick.

"I'll see you around, then," Cortessa told him. They saluted each other and Canderous wandered off.

Carth felt weak. "You're insane, Cortessa. Truly insane." He knew that, most likely, without Cortessa's luck with other people, Carth would be a smear on the ground. He was truly lucky to have her with him.

"I love you, too, doll," she replied. "Come on. We still have to get to the Undercity." She took his wrist and led him down the streets to an elevator, where a Sith stood guard. She flashed the guard a smile before she reached for the door.

"Hold on there, civilian!" the guard barked. "Only those with official Sith business are allowed into the Undercity. Unless you've got the proper security papers you better just turn around and go back the way you came."

Cortessa frowned. "But…"

"LEAVE, DAMMIT!"

Cortessa blanched. "Okay."

The Sith cleared his throat. "Good. I don't have time for this foolishness. Down here we run a tight ship – not like the slipshod operation in the Upper City."

Cortessa backed away and walked out of hearing distance of the guard. "Just great. Another roadblock," she seethed. She paused, looking up at him. "Hey… are you alright?"

Carth blinked. "Yeah," he said. "Why?"

She shrugged. "Never mind. I want to discuss something with you."

Carth and Cortessa had never had a proper conversation. The suggestion of one surprised him. "You do?" he said. "Well, fair enough. What do you want to discuss?"

She clasped her hands behind her back, setting her face into a serious expression. "We didn't finish our conversation last time."

Carth made a noise between a laugh and a sigh. He shook his head. Of course, it was understandable why she was upset. He had really been abrupt last time. "I'm sorry. I knew you wouldn't understand where I was coming from," he murmured. "Let me try to explain." He took a deep breath. "You're probably one of the most skilled women I've ever met. You've saved my butt more than once and I'm lucky you're here to help me, no question." She smiled warmly, and he realized he was giving her too much room. He backed out, but he had already planned on telling her this… just not as harshly. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop watching you or being wary. I'm just not built that way. Period."

Cortessa frowned, putting her hands on her hips. For the first time in several days he could see her feeling cold towards him. She rocked her head from side to side sassily. "And just what, exactly, are you watching me for?"

Carth stammered. "I don't know that yet." She raised an eyebrow in that way she did. Damn her. He rolled his eyes, putting his voice in a flat, monotonous tone. "Like I said before, it's probably nothing. But I've been betrayed before by people and I…" he took a deep breath, "well… it just won't happen again. That's all."

Cortessa's face grew red. He was stunned. She was angry at him. She had never been angry at him. Her voice was shrill as she shouted. "Of course it won't happen again if you never trust anyone!"

Carth cringed. "Look… I'm not trying to insult you. This is just the way I am. No need to take it personally."

But she was going to take it personally. "DON'T TELL ME NOT TO TAKE IT PERSONALLY, YOU HAIRLESS WOOKIEE!" she screamed.

What? She wasn't going to call him 'doll?' The wry, sarcastic thought struck him hard. A defense mechanism. He grabbed it and used it to try and calm her down. "Hairless Wookiee? Alright, sister, just… just… just calm down, before your head explodes."

She wouldn't have it. Her eyes burned him. "We'll just see whose head explodes, you ungrateful monkey-lizard!"

The words escaped him before he could stop himself. "Is that your idea of an insult? Come on, sister, take your best shot!" This sounded familiar, but now it wasn't playful.

Just like before, her face turned beet red and the words came out in an angry bubble. "DROOLING BOMARR CAST-OFF!"

Carth actually laughed and she seemed to deflate. "Oh, ouch. I think you hurt my man-feelings with that one."

She had definitely deflated. She bowed her head, kicking a rock on the ground lamely. "Well, you had it coming," she muttered.

Carth smiled. "I guess I did. Feel better now?"

Cortessa smiled weakly at him. "Maybe a little."

Whoops. He had let her in again. He sealed it off. "Good. Then maybe we can talk reasonably about this." He shook his head. "All I've been trying to say is that this isn't personal. If you were smart, you wouldn't trust anyone, either… not me, not Bastila, and especially not yourself."

Cortessa was done being angry. She raised her eyebrows, interested, and a small smirk had come onto her face. "Ah… so you don't trust yourself, is that it?"

Carth narrowed his eyes. "I don't need to be analyzed, thanks. Can we get back to business?"

She frowned. He had put her out. Good. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

He got irritated now. "No, I don't want to talk about it! What I want to do is save the galaxy, if that's even possible." But curiosity struck up. He shook his head. "Why does whether or not I trust you - or anyone - so damned important to you? Why… why do you even care?"

She opened her mouth to reply. He couldn't allow that.

"We don't have time for this, so can we please just… drop it? For now? Can we pick it up later if you really must? I… want to get underway."

"You'll trust me someday, Carth," she told him.

He sighed. "Don't get your hopes up."

But she had already started down the street.

------

The brown-skinned woman at the door was more vulture-like than Cortessa had first suspected. "Hey! You can't just walk in here! This is the Hidden Bek base! How do I know you aren't a Vulkar spy sent to kill Gadon Thek?"

"I need Gadon's help. I was told to speak to him," Cortessa said smoothly, working the old mill, worming her way into her wishes. She always did, in the end. It was her talent.

The lookout studied her warily. What a wench. She needed a bottle of ale and a Twi'lek five-credit blow, she honestly did. "A lot of people want to go inside and speak to Gadon. He's a hero of the common folk. But the days of the Hidden Bek's open-door policy are gone. Between the Sith conquest and the Vulkar gang war Gadon has more enemies than he used to. We're being extra careful about who we let in now." Blah… blah… blah…

Cortessa smiled sweetly, allowing her lashes to flash her eyes attractively. "Maybe I can be an ally against all those enemies."

Carth shook his head at her. What was he trying to tell her? She reached back and grabbed his sleeve and she could feel him let out a long sigh behind her.

He needed a bottle of ale and a Twi'lek five-credit blow, too.

The lookout softened. "Well, we do need all the help we can get. And you don't look like you're with the Vulkars or the Sith. Besides, it's not like you can do anything to harm Gadon in the heart of his own base. Not with Zaerdra watching his back."

Cortessa's eyes brightened. Finally! "So you're going to let me in?"

The lookout cracked her neck. Cortessa suppressed a groan. It must be a local thing. Everyone here was rolling their shoulders and cracking their necks. It was disgusting. The lookout spoke up again, her eyes wandering down the halls. "Go in and speak to Gadon if you want. Just remember to be on your best behavior. The Hidden Beks are watching you."

"Five-credit blow," Cortessa sang under her breath, slipping through the door. She herself had never had a five-credit blow, but from the way her old bunk mate on her old smuggling ship - the Goliath - had told her, it definitely cured.

Carth bumped into her from behind. It was cute, really, how he tailed her like a Kath Hound cub, and he always got so flustered whenever he touched her, like right now. He backed away, stammering a quiet apology.

"It's alright, doll," she said absently, waving a hand. He hated the nickname, she knew, but he would get used to it. People paced back and forth, mostly humans and Twi'leks, but she spotted a Rodian having a sparring match with his shadow off in the corner. Rodians were well-known for being sporty and hard-wearing little guys with spunk and cleverness. They were often used as bodyguards, scouts, and smugglers.

And the Twi'leks. They were all best known for sex and temper, nothing more. The poor fellows. It was especially odd since they had sex via-headtail, but humans apparently weren't so picky.

Sighing, Cortessa counted the blue circles that led up to Gadon Thek's desk. One… two… three… four… five… six –

"Hold it right there!" barked a Twi'lek bodyguard, drawing her blaster instantly. Cortessa summed her up. White skin, blue headtails… blue eyes and lips… She was a rare breed. Cortessa snapped out of it. The Twi'lek was talking. "Who are you and what is your business with Gadon?"

The old man chuckled. "Calm down, Zaerdra. Nobody is going to try anything here in the middle of my own base. It would be a suicide mission."

Zaerdra twitched, raising her eyebrows. "And who says someone wouldn't commit suicide to kill you?" she cried. "You're too trusting, Gadon! Brejik and his Vulkars want you dead! Anyone we don't know is a potential threat, and it's my job to make sure you're safe!"

Cortessa rolled her eyes. She sounded like Carth. Carth apparently sensed this and gave her a nudge. She nudged him back.

Gadon's ears turned red with irritation. "Do you want us to start attacking strangers on sight, Zaerdra? Like the Vulkars do? I will never let it come to that! Now step aside and let them pass."

Zaerdra tensed up, her face twisting into an expression of utmost pain. "As you wish." She turned to Cortessa, looking her up and down. Cortessa thrust out her chest and hips in an intimidating way. The Twi'lek shuddered, and Cortessa could see her palms go red. She wanted to rip out Cortessa's throat. Carth rested his hand on his blaster in caution. Cortessa shot him a look and he kept his hands unthreateningly at his sides.

"You can speak to Gadon if you want, but I've got my eye on you!" the Twi'lek hissed. "You try anything and you'll be vaporized before you can say, 'Vulkar spy!'"

Cortessa wrinkled her nose and saluted. "Positively absolutely, Butch."

Screaming, Zaerdra kicked the wall with anger.

She needed a bottle of ale and a five-credit blow, too, from anyone. Cortessa could hardly believe how uptight people were around here.

"You'll have to forgive Zaerdra," Gadon said warmly. She looked at him and was stunned by those artificial eyes staring back at her. She bit back a yelp and stood there calmly as he continued speaking. "Ever since Brejik and the Vulkars began this war against us, she's been a little over-zealous in her security duties." Zaerdra over-zealous. Catchy, Cortessa thought. Gadon sighed. "The problems with the Sith haven't helped things. Zaerdra seems to forget that I know how to look after myself!" He said this more to the Twi'lek than Cortessa. Zaerdra sneered. Gadon fixed his jacket, looking to Cortessa. "Now, how can I help you?"

Cortessa smiled again. "I need information on those Republic escape pods that crashed in the Undercity."

Carth shifted behind her. I need air, you Bantha. Get off my tail. Cortessa bowed her head, weathering through it for now.

Gadon blinked. "The escape pods? You know, I heard the Sith have been asking around the Upper City about them as well… but you don't look like you're with the Sith."

Cortessa rolled her eyes beneath her lashes. How would he know, the blind old man?

Zaerdra burst out. "They might be spies, Gadon! They might be working for the Sith!"

Gadon glared at her. "Calm down, Zaerdra! If the Sith thought we knew anything they'd have a battalion of troops kicking down our door. No, I think this off-worlder has her own agenda."

Cortessa pressed a hand to her leather vest. "Don't worry, Gadon. I'm not working with the Sith, I assure you."

Gadon smiled approvingly. "I suppose I could tell you what I know," he said slowly. "It's not like it could do any harm to me or my gang… but it might cause problems for the Vulkars, and that's okay in my book." He paused and Cortessa slid a credit across the table. Zaerdra fumed. Gadon picked up again. "The Vulkars stripped those pods clean within hours after they landed. It's too bad we didn't get there first, considering what my spies reported the Vulkars found."

"What did they find?"

Gadon cleared his throat. Another credit passed between them. This guy may be nice, but he sure wasn't generous. "A female Republic officer named Bastila Shan survived the crash. We Beks don't believe in intergalactic slavery, but the Vulkars aren't so picky. They took her prisoner."

Cortessa covered her surprise by batting her eyelashes rapidly. "Bastila's a slave? What will happen to her now?" Carth nudged her. She bent her knee swiftly, kicking him in the shin inconspicuously. He yelped and backed away a step. Zaerdra studied them approvingly.

Gadon rolled his shoulders. Cortessa pursed her lips and passed another credit. "She's too valuable to leave with the Vulkar scum at the base," Gadon said. "Brejik's probably got your Republic friend hidden away somewhere safe until the big swoop race. You'll never find her."

Cortessa swore. "There has to be some way I can get to her," she growled.

Gadon didn't take her credits this time. "I'm afraid your friend has become a pawn in Brejik's game to take over the Lower City. He's offered her up as the Vulkar's share of the prize in the annual swoop gang race."

"Why?"

"By putting up such a valuable prize, Brejik hopes to win the loyalty of some of the smaller gangs. Their numbers will allow him to finally destroy me and my followers."

Carth frowned, speaking up for once. Cortessa flinched. She hated it when he did that. "So how do you propose we go about rescuing Bastila, then? We can't fight all the gangs."

Gadon was stoic.

"What the hell," Cortessa snapped loudly, and slammed a ten-mark credit on the desk.

Gadon grinned. "The only hope you have of rescuing Bastila is to somehow win the big season opener of the swoop race."

Cortessa groaned. "But I don't even have a swoop bike."

Gadon thought for a moment before he said slowly, "I might be able to help you with this. If you'd be willing to help us." Growling, she reached into her pocket, and he laughed. "No, no credits this time. But we both have something to gain here – and much to lose."

Cortessa raised an eyebrow, interested. "What you proposing?"

Behind her, she could hear a Bek giggle, "You might wanna pull up a seat!"

------

Author's Notes: Ooooo! What kind of evil conspiracy is Gadon going to force on our poor little Carth and Cortessa?

Well, we all know, but…

WAIT TO SEE WHAT IT'S LIKE IN A FANFICTION, DURNIT!

SilverSentinal21 - Did I give you enough of Cortessa's brain yet? XD

Amme Moto - No, I haven't. If you ever find it again, let me know, eh?