Savior Self
Taris part 11,374,693,241
No, really. Taris part nine.
Rated PG13
Disclaimer: I am twitching in my chair.
Savior Self
Carth caught Cortessa in her startled swoon and held her for a moment as Mission sprinted up to them. All of the blood had rushed from the girl's face up to her headtails, which twitched and throbbed with her agitation. She reached out and grasped their shoulders. Her eyes were wild and her voice breathless as she stammered and spluttered.
"Please, you have to help me! Nobody else is going to help me! Even the Beks won't help me! But I-I just can't leave him there – h-he's my friend! You'll help me won't you?"
Cortessa looked shocked but managed to regain her feet. She slapped Carth's hands away and took Mission's hand instead. "Whoa, slow down, Mission," she said gently. "What's wrong?"
Mission's head was clearly reeling. She didn't calm down, but her hands fluttered wildly by her headtails as if she could cool them down. "It's Zaalbar!" she cried. "He's in trouble! BIG trouble! We have to help him! If we don't they'll sell him into slavery!"
Cortessa gently grasped the girl's shoulders. "Calm down, Mission. Take a deep breath and tell me what happened."
Mission's face turned beet red and she began to squawk. Carth could practically see her head spinning on an invisible axis. Cortessa did the only thing she could do. She slapped her – not hard, but well enough to smack the franticness out of Mission.
The Twi'lek looked faint for a moment, but much calmer, even though her voice was cracked and shaking, and she stammered. She took a deep breath, composed herself, and said, "Me… m-me and Zaalbar were just wandering around here in the Undercity… you know, looking for stuff we could find, just kind of exploring. We do it all the time! Only this time… they were waiting for us."
Carth frowned. "Who?"
She bit her lip. "Gamorrean slave hunters. We didn't even have a chance to run! Big Z threw himself at them and he roared for me to run! I-I… I-I took off! I figured Zaalbar would be right behind me! But there were too many of them – he couldn't get away! They're going to sell him to a slaver – I-I just know it!"
Cortessa nodded. "Look, I'll help you find your friend. But if I do, do you think you could get me into the Vulkar base?"
Mission, desperate to help her friend, agreed without a second thought. "It's a deal! As soon as we get Big Z, I'll show you a way into that Vulkar base. Now, come on – we have to find Zaalbar before they sell him to slavers, or worse."
Carth knew it wouldn't be all that easy. "Do you know where he's being kept?"
Mission fluttered her hands at her headtails again. She realized that Cortessa might slap her again and stopped. "The Gamorreans make their camps in the sewers. I bet that's where we'll find Zaalbar – and that's where I'll show you the secret entrance into the Vulkar compound."
Cortessa nodded. "Good. Let's go."
Mission's face was flushed, but she seemed to have recovered. Cortessa headed in the wrong direction, and Mission asked why.
"Look, I need to scout this place out, in case we need to make a quick escape," Cortessa said, and Mission's eyes grew wide with panic.
"What? B-But we are getting Zaalbar, right?"
"Yes, of course," Cortessa told her warmly. "We'll – wait. What's that?"
All eyes turned to the shapes in the distance.
"Sith," Carth spat.
A trooper walked up to them, glaring at them through his visor. Cortessa squared her shoulders and stared back defiantly, her chin thrust out.
"This is a restricted area. What are you doing down here?" the Sith growled.
Cortessa ground her teeth. "Look, I've got all the proper security papers. Leave me alone."
The Sith instantly backed down, treating her with respect – or at least a trickling of it. "Security papers? Oh… you're one of those trackers the Commander sent down, right? They should have given you an armed escort – it's nasty down here." Carth was amused. This man was underestimating Cortessa. The Sith continued. "We've already lost one patrol… we figure the rakghouls got them. We've had so many encounters with those things we've actually run out of rakghoul serum! Plus we've had several skirmishes with looters from those Lower City gangs. I'm telling you, we should just stay in the Upper City where we're in control!"
Cortessa blanched and flushed with anger before she calmed down. "You said you lost one patrol already?"
The Sith seemed to sober up. "Oh, is that why you're down here? Search and rescue? I didn't think they would send anyone! They were in the southern section of the Undercity when we lost contact." He pointed. Carth glanced at Mission, who was writing this information down in her datapad. He smiled. She would do well. The Sith shook his head. "I would have gone to investigate, buy my orders are to search for those crashed escape pods… even if it means leaving another patrol to die." Carth felt sick. What monsters!
Cortessa handled herself well. "I'll be going now."
The Sith nodded. "Yeah, sure. The Commander won't be too happy if you come back empty, right? Same thing goes for us. Come on, patrol. Let's get back to it. The sooner we get this search done the sooner we can get out of this mutant infested hole. Move out!" He strode past, and one Sith nudged Cortessa suggestively as he ambled by. Carth shot him a glare and the Sith seemed to quail a little.
Cortessa pressed forward, drumming a tattoo on the hilts of her vibroblades. In no time they had come across a pack of rakghouls, feasting on a corpse. She crouched down, pressing against the wall. "Heads up," she hissed, and pulled a grenade out of her pocket.
As Mission stared with awe, Carth scowled. "Where did you get those?" he hissed.
"Your back pocket, doll," she hissed back dryly, and tossed the grenade. Two rakghouls were sent flying and a third slumped to the ground, its head blown clean off. Screaming, Cortessa rushed forward and charged them, cutting through them with her blades before Mission and Carth could even provide cover fire.
She sighed, brushing herself off. "That was fun," she said good-naturedly, and began checking the corpses for supplies.
Mission watched, biting her lip. Carth glanced at her. "You alright, kid?"
She nodded, gasping to calm herself and standing up straight.
Cortessa cried out. Carth rushed to her side. "What? What is it?" he asked urgently. She looked at him, her blue eyes burning.
"I found our serum," she said breathlessly, and handed him a belt half-filled with individual vials, each filled to the brim with a glowing green liquid. Carth looked up at her, his heart warming. He could tell from the look in her eyes that she was going to give it to Zelka, unlike that slime of an assistant had asked of her. She actually cared. He could have kissed her, but decided against it, and tucked the belt gingerly in his pocket.
"You're great, Cortessa," he muttered.
She flushed and got to her feet, fluttering her eyelashes like she always did to disguise feelings of surprise or discomfiture. "I love you, too, doll," she said softly, in that non-committal manner. "Don't get all sappy."
Mission looked from one to the other, raising an eyebrow.
"No, we're not," Cortessa said shortly.
Mission nodded, but didn't look convinced. Carth looked away, nudging a rock aside with his foot.
"Let's go save Zaalbar, then, alright?" Cortessa said to change the subject. "Let's go."
Mission nodded absently, studying Carth avidly. Carth paused to study a corpse more closely, and Cortessa gave him a firm nudge.
"Keep it moving, flyboy."
"'Flyboy?'" Mission asked, tilting her head to one side.
"Republic pilot," Cortessa said, glancing at him. Carth smiled at Mission, who lolled her head thoughtfully.
They walked in silence, and Mission was so distracted she didn't even tell them where the entrances to the sewers were, and in the end they took a wrong turn and came across a group of mercenaries, led by none other than the Mandalorian Cortessa had talked to earlier in the Lower City.
Canderous stopped, blinking once with unmasked surprise. The other mercenaries leered or didn't pay attention at all.
The youngest one out of all of them squealed with fright and held up a blaster, his hand shaking something awful. "D-Don't… don't move! I'm… I'm not afraid to use this blaster if I have to!" he cried.
Canderous cuffed the man upside the head. "Settle down, kid. We've already lost enough men to those damn rakghouls. The last thing we need now is more casualties from a needless firefight." The man was sobered. Canderous looked back to Cortessa. Familiarity struck, but he hid it well. "By the looks of it I'd say you're down here for the same reason we are: to salvage something from those downed Republic escape pods. Let me give you some advice: forget about it. Do yourself a favor and just head back the way you came."
"I need to ask you something," Cortessa said.
Canderous snarled. "This isn't a good place to stand around chatting. The Undercity is crawling with rakghouls. I've already lost half a dozen men to those monsters."
A mercenary yelped. "Canderous, I heard something!"
Canderous rolled his eyes. "Probably just your stomach, kid."
"No! It was over there, in the shadows! It sounded like a rakghoul!"
The slimy, pale creature emerged from the darkness, his face twisted into a hideous smile. Canderous drew his repeater, taking aim. "Looks like we've got company! Get those blasters ready, boys!"
The mercenaries clumsily drew their weapons. Carth and Mission drew theirs as well and decided to help, for what it was worth. Cortessa ran ahead of everyone, stunning them as she cut through the front lines before she was overtaken and knocked backwards.
Carth watched in horror as she bucked and screamed, thrashing beneath a rakghoul's jaws. Blood ran fresh everywhere as her limbs shot into the air helplessly. Carth could see her face, twisted with pain and pale with fear. There was a horrible ripping noise and her vest split open, revealing her chest, which was barely covered by her shredded underwear. She struggled to free herself, beating the monster's face with her fists and trying to crawl backwards, but its weight pressed her down onto the earth as it got a firm grip on her neck with its teeth.
Carth took aim but Canderous got there first, blasting the rakghoul to oblivion. It slumped, dead and heavy, on top of Cortessa's heaving body. Her eyes had rolled back in her head and she thrust her torso upwards, but she was pinned. She gasped and moaned, turning sickly green, as the last of the rakghouls was brought down. Everyone gathered around, staring as she slowly died.
Carth threw himself at her, shoving the rakghoul off fiercely. He seized the supply sack and grabbed a serum vial. "Hold on," he whispered, gathering Cortessa up in his arms. Her thigh had been split wide open by the mutant's claw, and there was barely anything left of her pretty neck. Carth uncorked the vial and screwed it into a syringe. He took a deep breath and administered the serum, and Cortessa sputtered out. The bucking stopped. Her hand went limp.
"No!" Mission cried, tears welling up in her eyes.
Carth ripped off a strip of his shirt again and tied it around her thigh, then did the same to her arm, and her neck. He pressed his fingers to her wrist, and her heartbeat ran strong.
"I think she'll be alright," he breathed, and pressed his fingers to her lips, feeling for her breath. There was none. He swore, looking around. "Anyone else know CPR?"
No one moved. Canderous took a step back after a moment and Carth groaned. He would have to do it himself.
Her mouth was limp and cold and, though he tried to avoid it, he could barely taste some of the blood that had risen to her lips. He forced himself to ignore how odd it felt, and breathed.
Minutes ticked by menacingly. No one moved. Carth continued with his work, becoming frantic. She remained unresponsive and limp, as good as corpse in his hands. Mission was atremble, her headtails flushed and flicking. Suddenly, Cortessa gasped, taking in a large breath.
Finally. Carth cried with joy and instantly set to work with some medpacks, shaking his head at the overwhelming relief he felt. This had been the second time in far too soon that she had nearly died on him. Thank the gods for his military and medical training.
"Are you alright?" he asked, forcing her to face him. Her skin was insipid, but she looked to be in alright shape.
"I think so," she rasped. She paused, frowning. "What happened?"
Mission knelt at her side, grinning an impish grin. "Carth kissed you."
Carth flushed and glowered at the Twi'lek girl. "I did not!" he snapped. "She wasn't breathing! I had to do something!"
"It's alright, doll," Cortessa muttered, sitting up and clutching her head. "Oh."
Mission heaved her to her feet and Canderous looked them over and recovered the situation with a well-placed swear word. "Damn!"
All eyes turned to him.
His cheeks turned a darker shade of ash grey and he continued. "I told Davik this salvage mission was a bad idea! His men aren't trained for this kind of thing, and I can't baby sit them all!"
Carth glanced around. One of the mercenaries lay dead. Something cold hit his stomach. Had they been so distracted by Cortessa that they had forgotten about this poor man? Had they ignored him while he lay dying?
Canderous seemed to want to get out of the place quickly. "Okay, boys, we're getting out of here before we lose anyone else. I can't carry all this salvage back by myself!" He glanced at Mission and Carth, and the woozy Cortessa. "You'd be smart to get out of here as well. Even if you can handle the rakghouls, I doubt there's anything worth finding anymore."
"Any survivors?" Cortessa mumbled.
Canderous frowned. "What? Sure, I guess. I don't know. A guy was there – out cold, though. He isn't going to live much longer, I'll tell you that much. Now… come on, boys! Let's move out!" He took off, hoisting a large sack over his shoulder. The mercenaries followed sullenly, their faces set with grim determination.
Carth looked back to Cortessa. "Are you alright?"
Cortessa nodded, but she still looked a little out of it. "I… the Republic escape… him… we… go…."
Carth frowned, exchanging a worried glance with Mission. The Twi'lek bit her lip.
"What are you on about?" Carth asked, and started as Cortessa's legs gave way. Swearing, he grabbed her under her arms and pressed another hand to her hips for support. Her face pressed against his chest and he looked down at her, scowling, as she stared into space, her pupils growing and shrinking as the world came in and out of focus.
Slowly, she reached out and pointed with a shaking hand, and Carth looked to see the downed escape pod. "What!" he shouted. "Go save him?"
Cortessa went slack. Swearing fluently in every language he could think of, he passed the woman off to Mission, hoisting their supply sack over his shoulder. "Watch her," he growled, and marched over the escape pod.
A man stood there, staring blankly down at a puddle of vomit at his feet. Carth listened as the poor guy moaned and groaned, clutching his side at the pain and trembling. Before Carth could ask him anything, however, the most horrific thing happened.
The man suddenly doubled over, retching. Carth stepped back with disgust, and the man sank to his knees, screaming. The noise started out high-pitched, but slowly and surely became gargled and deep, and there was a distinct crunching sound. The man flopped onto the ground, convulsing and writhing. His Republic clothes ripped clean off, and Carth realized with a start that the man's skin was unnaturally pale.
There was a sickening tearing noise and the skin split off him like a husk, revealing a shimmering, slimy, green layer underneath. The man's face twisted and bones crunched, forming into the unmistakable figure of a rakghoul.
The face was last, melting into a sort of inhuman, shapeless blob, and the man's panicked green eyes widened, stretching over his face, as the pupils dilated to take up the entire eye, turning it black and blank. The man gave an almighty lurch and roared.
Carth scrambled back and fired without hesitation. The shots missed and the rakghoul lunged at him, snarling and screeching. It limped awkwardly as it walked, unused to its new legs. Its claws scraped the ground and left small welts in the dirt. Green saliva dripped from its teeth. Carth fired and missed again, and the blaster clicked. It was out of rounds. He swore and watched with horror as the rakghoul advanced, its rank breath suffocating him. Out of nowhere, another charge hit the creature right between the eyes, and it fell, dead.
Carth gasped for breath, his heart fluttering wildly in his throat, his head reeling. He looked back, raising a shaking hand to brush his bangs from his eyes, and saw Mission, bent over with Cortessa's weight, her gun pointed out, her eyes wide and glassy. Her little mouth was hanging open and her brows were twisted with her fright.
Without warning, she began to cry. Carth stumbled to his feet and held the poor girl, gently patting her on the back, and studying Cortessa's limp form with a detached relief. The vision of her skin splitting off of her came far too easily, and it made him feel ill.
He wouldn't have been able to shoot her.
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Author's Notes: Eww, right?
SilverSentinal21 - Here's your Mish, love! She gets better soon - right now she's a little upset.
Amme Moto - It's good to have you back. I'm afrad the sewers won't be detailed at all - I have little patience for them. I'm sorry.
