Savior Self
I wish I had something clever to say here. I'm burnt out. .
Taris part something. Sixteen?
Rated PG13
Disclaimer: George Lucas has the right to kick my butt, but suing me would just be taking it too far, don't you think?
Savior Self
Cortessa came to a few minutes later, long after the smoke had cleared and all supplies had been taken. She groaned, feeling awkward now that the drugs had worn off. Mission watched her guiltily, her headtails flushed purple with her humiliation.
"I'm sorry for what I did," she offered. "It was an accident."
Cortessa didn't understand. "What did you do?"
"I slipped some stim boosters into Bastila's drink, but you took them instead. It kind of made you loopy all day. Do you remember anything?"
"Janice Nall?"
"Right."
Cortessa moaned. "Great. Just great." She got woozily to her feet. Her head roared with pain. She swore and spat, pushing her sweaty, blood-stained hair from her face. A cold Dark Jedi corpse lay at her feet, her prized vibroblade jutting out of his back.
"Did I do that?" she murmured.
"Carth would have died if it weren't for you," Mission mumbled. "You did good, for a drunk lady."
Cortessa nodded, looking down at herself. Her clothes were bloody and mussed, and she wasn't even wearing armor. How had she survived? She bit her lip and looked for Carth, and found him fishing T3-M4 out of the garbage dispenser. The little droid's squeals echoed up to them, hollow in the endless pit.
Cortessa stood by him and helped him pull the diminutive droid up, grunting with the strain. Apparently his armor made up for his apparent size, because he sure as hell wasn't light. "Look," she gasped when T3's light came into view. "I'm sorry, for what I did."
"It wasn't your fault," he growled back, heaving the rope again. T3-M4 expressed his joy to be able to see them. The rope wobbled.
"Yes, it was," she muttered. "If I had been more aware about what people put in my drink…"
"Hey," he repeated. "It doesn't matter."
T3-M4 slammed against the grating on the side of the dispenser. He squalled and blatted his protests, and they paused to take a breath.
"We have to get out of here, soon, though," Carth said after a moment. "The Sith are bound to know what's up when their entire base goes offline and no one reports out of their shifts."
Cortessa nodded, glancing down at T3, whose metal body structure could be faintly seen in the gloom. "We almost got him," she said. "Another pull or two aughtta get 'er."
He nodded, taking a deep breath and grabbing the rope. "Ready?"
She nodded. They heaved a few times, and finally T3-M4's little head poked out of the dispenser. Blatting and whirring with joy, the droid rolled out onto the floor, where it plugged into a wall to recharge.
Carth kicked him. "No time, droid," he said. "We need to keep moving."
T3-M4 bleeped unhappily. He rolled down the hall to the elevator to override any lockdown sequences. Mission finished raiding the supply room and appeared with a very heavy-looking supply sack. She nodded at them, and Carth allowed her to remove her battle armor so the load would be easier to carry.
The door opened with a whoosh, and they stepped inside. Cortessa had to lean on Carth for support – her legs were wobbly and weak after her stim booster-induced delirium. She felt light-headed and sleepy. When they got home, she promised herself a long turn in the 'fresher. Bastila would slay her for it, but she didn't care. Bastila could screw the Wookiee.
Carth knew they would be a real sight: a blue Twi'lek, a bloody man, and a broken woman, so he led them through a complex series of alleyways, until they safely reached their apartment. Cortessa thanked him by clapping him on the shoulder, and vanished in the 'fresher. Sure enough, a few minutes later, Bastila began kicking the door, shouting at her to come out and face her.
"Go away, you upended Bantha burner!" Cortessa shouted. "For the love of the gods, it's like something spiky crawled up your –"
Zaalbar roared his protest for her obscenities, drowning out her insults. She sighed unhappily and closed her eyes, feeling the dirt and grime being pulsed off of her body. It was a good feeling. She relaxed, and soon found herself asleep inside the 'fresher.
When she woke again, Carth was swearing fluently in another language, beating a poor, innocent chair, and Zaalbar mumbled condolences. Bastila was on her knees, meditating, though her ears were flushed with agitation. Mission hovered nearby with Cortessa's clothes, eyes wide.
"Um," the Twi'lek mumbled. "Er… here." She thrust the clothes at Cortessa and looked away, biting her lip.
Cortessa dressed silently, watching her friends silently. "What happened while I was out?" she asked at last.
"Bastila had to save you from the 'fresher," Mission said. "You had closed yourself up in there and passed out. She said she could feel you in the Force and knew something was wrong."
Cortessa rolled her eyes. Jedi tricks and magic shows. If Bastila tried to flip that around, Cortessa would have none of it. She didn't believe in it. As far as she was concerned, if there was some great Force, it should have touched her life by now.
"It is true," Bastila said after a moment. "And I learned from Mission about what happened to you in the Sith military base. I am sorry that a joke on my expense happened to turn on you."
"What?" Cortessa shook her head, frowning. "I don't understand what you're talking about. What joke?"
Mission groaned. "Do I have to repeat myself? Did you really forget?"
Cortessa stared blankly.
Mission bit her lip, flushing with irritation. "Okay, look. I slipped some stim boosters into Bastila's caffa. But you drank it instead. It kind of turned you on towards everybody for a while until it finally started leaving your system, when you went into overdrive and had a fever pitch. You passed out a few times." Mission took a deep breath. "I'm sorry."
Cortessa shook her head in disbelief. "So… who… what… what did I do?"
"You scared the crap out of Bastila," Mission said thoughtfully. "You flirted with Janice Nall, you swooned over Canderous Ordo, and you kept staring at Carth's pants."
Cortessa spat. "Disgusting."
"Well, at least you have good taste," Mission said. "Canderous isn't all that bad, once you take away the forty-some years on his life."
Carth glowered at the floor.
Cortessa brushed it off. There was nothing she could do about her drugged yesterday when they had a busy today. "Okay. Whatever. Look, do we have the launch codes?"
T3-M4 blatted happily, opening the miniscule supply tray in his torso. A small datapad stared up at them. Cortessa grinned, studying it.
"Perfect," she murmured.
Bastila shifted uncomfortably, leaning against the wall. She played with her ponytail absently, frowning to herself. Cortessa frowned at her.
"Bastila?"
Bastila jerked to attention. "How can I help?" she asked immediately.
Cortessa looked her over. "Something the matter?"
Bastila blinked. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment. After a second she nodded. "I would like to know what happened after you crashed on Taris," she said, putting her hands on her hips. "I'm curious as to what you and Carth were doing before we all joined forces."
Carth spluttered, his face turning red, and he shot Bastila and Cortessa a glare. Cortessa grinned slyly. "What does it matter to you?" she said, and laughed hysterically. "No, really. We didn't do anything. We were looking for you."
Bastila frowned. "Yes, I realize that of course," she murmured. "But surely there was more to it than a simple search. I doubt there were any flashing signs pointing in my direction; yet somehow you found me."
"What? Were you hiding?" Mission asked.
She was ignored.
Bastila fixed her eyes on the wall. "You also avoided detection by the Sith, discovered that I was a Vulkar prisoner, became the dueling ring beacon, rescued Zaalbar from slavers…" (Here she went on about all the things Cortessa had done – from saving the baby Duros to winning the swoop race. Apparently Carth and Mission had filled her in on all of the previous things.) She took a deep breath and made a small conclusion. "That's quite a resume."
Cortessa shook her head. "Carth kept me in line," she said. "He wouldn't let me do some things because they would endanger the mission. And without Mission I would have never gotten into the Vulkar base. And Zaalbar… Zaalbar helped too." Although Zaalbar had remained in the apartment most of the time – Wookiees are a rare sight.
Bastila smiled. "Your modesty is admirable," she said. "But even though others helped, you were the catalyst for these events. When you were chosen to join this mission, I doubt any of us expected this much from you. A Jedi could have done such things, of course."
Mission and Cortessa snorted. Carth sighed.
Bastila continued as if she hadn't heard. "But only by drawing heavily upon the Force."
Cortessa wrinkled her nose, pressing her hands to her hips. "I think you're underestimating us non-Jedi," she said. Mission peered over at her in grateful agreement, and Carth bit his tongue; he looked like he was struggling not to laugh.
Bastila scowled. "Perhaps," she growled. "But the Force works through us all to some degree or another. There are some individuals outside the Jedi Order that we consider 'Force Sensitive.' It is obvious to me that the Force has been working through you."
Cortessa glowered, squaring her shoulders. She was a good inch taller than Bastila and made to look very imposing indeed. "I don't believe in your silly little Force ideas," she snapped. "So lay off, Princess! I ain't buying!"
Bastila frowned, folding her arms. "There is no other explanation for your great success, though I am not certain what to make of this discovery," she said as if she hadn't heard, turning her eyes away. "Perhaps if you weren't…" She looked Cortessa over, bringing in her womanly curves. "Well, if you were younger, the Jedi might take you in for training. But as it is…"
Cortessa bristled. "What are you trying to say?" she hissed.
Bastila shrugged. "I'm sorry," she said, though she didn't mean it. "I've overstepped my authority. I'm speaking of things that are best left for the Jedi Council. For now let's just accept he fact that you are… gifted."
"Tough luck on that one, Princess," Cortessa said stoutly. Mission giggled outright, and Carth had to look away to hide his grin.
Bastila tensed. "Hopefully between your abilities, my Jedi training, and the skills of our companions, we can find a way off this planet."
Cortessa kicked at her and the woman, yowling, locked herself in the bathroom.
Sighing, she turned back to the remains of the group. "Let's go find Canderous, then?" she murmured.
Carth nodded. Mission was but a trembling blue heap on the floor.
------
Canderous stood in a dark corner, dragging a cigarra, his grey eyes gleaming in the gloom. He grinned at the sight of Cortessa slinking up towards him, and he reached out. They shook hands, gazing firmly into each other's eyes, smiling.
"I knew you'd be back," he growled, looking her up and down. Carth stood in the background, glaring at them as he took a drink of water from their supply sack. He didn't feel that it was appropriate to admit, but he felt slightly jealous that the Mandalorian had such an affect on Cortessa.
Canderous continued, and Cortessa listened. "Neither one of us is getting off this planet unless we work together. Now, I know the Sith military base had a break-in. I know that it was you. I know you've got those departure codes I need. So what do you say? We join forces and I can get you inside Davik's base – and right to the Ebon Hawk. We can go right now."
Cortessa shook his hand. "Okay, let's join up," she said. "But how are we going to get me inside Davik's estate?"
Canderous grinned. "Davik's always looking to recruit new talent. I'll tell him how you won that swoop race and mention that you're interested in working for the Exchange. I'll say I brought you in so he could check you out. He'll have you stay at his estate for a couple days while he runs some background checks on you – that's standard procedure."
Carth was interested. "That's actually not a bad plan," he said, amazed. He looked Canderous over, fascinated. "I mean… wow. That just might work!"
Canderous smirked. "Of course it'll work," he said. "You can drag along that Twi'lek with you as a slave if you feel you need to."
Mission looked to Cortessa uncertainly.
"Do you want to, Mission?" Cortessa asked.
Mission shifted uneasily. "I suppose," she muttered. "Yeah. Sure."
Canderous nodded approvingly. "Alright then. Come on – I've got an air speeder nearby that will take us to Davik's estate. The sooner we're off Taris the better!"
------
The speeder was fast. Mission and Cortessa giggled insanely, grinning at the sky, letting their hair whip back in the wind. They threw their arms in the air, screaming and squealing, putting their feet up and enjoying the ride. Canderous seemed to be torn between amusement and irritation. Buildings swooshed by at an exaggerated pace, and other speeders looked like little colorful blurs on the landscape. The sun gleamed bright above them and the ground was a speck below them. A few morning stars glinted on the endless metal horizon.
It was breathtaking. Cortessa had to admit it was a pity that Carth couldn't see.
Finally a large, blue-and-white, dome-shaped building loomed ahead, its enormous glass sunroof leering at them like a sinister eye. A gigantic speeder parking lot was built along its rounded edges, and there were many speeders hovering there along the walkways. Canderous pulled in and his speeder gave a low, soft hiss. He looked back at the women in his speeder and smirked.
"Alright, ladies," he said. "Everybody out. Show's about to begin."
Giggling with the euphoria of their ride, the girls clambered out, onto the walkway, and leaned against the railing with a sigh. Cortessa turned her eyes out at the speeder-way, watching in amazement as the vehicles drifted by. She was a city kid at heart.
Canderous stepped out and shrugged his shirt into a more comfortable position. He walked up to one of the entry doors and pushed it open, allowing Cortessa and Mission to step in first.
The room was round and warm, with a carpet of actual grass, and the sun shining down on them through the glass sunroof. All around were naturally-grown, twisted logs that shaped actual chairs, and desks, too, among other things. Live iriaz and other wildlife wandered about, grazing or flying about the sunroof, and a few people stood a little ways away, chatting.
"What is this place?" Mission breathed, reaching out to touch a bird, which flew away in alarm.
Canderous nodded at a nearby Rodian. "This is home," he said. "Come with me." He led them to the opposite side of the room, winding them around the patches of wildflowers and ponds. Along the back wall was a row of doors. He picked the second one to the right, and it opened to reveal a pounding waterfall. Without hesitation, he stepped inside.
"I'm not getting wet, sorry," Mission said, folding her arms.
Cortessa tentatively reached out and stuck her hand through. There was no wet. It was a hologram. Gasping with shock, she fell through, and landed with a thunk inside the metal and glass elevator chamber inside. Canderous stared at her, smirking. Mission tumbled in after her and screamed with surprise, pressing her hand against the glass.
Her voice was hushed and breathless as she let out a mild stream of obscenities in her awe.
They descended. The skyscrapers of Taris rose and rose until they finally passed the line of view, and the elevator stopped smoothly. The door opened behind Mission and Cortessa, and they turned around. A long, glass tube thirteen feet tall and wide greeted them. All around the tube was an ocean's worth of water, teeming with Manaan-like wildlife.
Mission swooned.
Canderous shrugged. "Davik likes things to be grand," he said. He didn't voice his opinion aloud, but Cortessa supposed he found this habit obnoxious. She had to agree. As beautiful as it was, it was a bit… overdone.
They strode through the tube, and it felt as if they were stepping across the ocean floor. Cortessa felt her stomach give a sickening lurch, but she managed to calm herself. She had a great fear of water. It was just so deep and pitch… brimming with gods-knew-what underneath the surface… with undercurrents that would drag you under and hold you there until you died.
They reached the other side. Canderous brought them through several blue-and-white halls until they came to an enormous throne room. Cortessa looked around cautiously, and a door opened to reveal an aging man and two guards, one of which was the infamous Calo Nord. He grinned at them and shook her hand. His grip was cold and sweaty. She didn't like his touch.
"So, Canderous," said Davik in a fading accent, looking Cortessa up and down as if he was speaking to her rather than the Mandalorian at her shoulder, "I see you have brought someone with you. Most intriguing, if I do say so myself. You usually travel alone."
Calo Nord shifted uneasily, eyeing Canderous with unmasked dislike. "It's not like you to take on partners, Canderous," he said. "You're getting soft."
Canderous bristled, glaring back. "Watch yourself, Calo," he murmured. "You may be the newest kath hound in the pack, but you aren't top dog yet!"
Davik spoke with glee and he grinned even while he tried to pretend to be displeased. "Enough! I won't have my top two men killing each other – that's not good business. I'm sure Canderous has an explanation as to why he's not working solo anymore."
Canderous looked back to Davik and spread his hands. "This is a special case, Davik," he began.
Davik made a noise. "Ah, I see," he said. "She's pregnant."
Cortessa couldn't help but let out a sound between a scream and a cough. She stared, wide-eyed and shocked. Canderous cleared his throat, some color coming to his face, but he kept his composure, which was lucky.
"No. I ran into someone at the Exchange you might want to recruit. You may have heard something of their exploits already."
Davik squinted at Cortessa, who glowered back with distaste, squaring her shoulders. Mission bit her lip. "Ah, yes," the old man drawled at last. "Now I recognize you. The swoop rider that won the big swoop race. Very impressive… as was your display in the rather heated battle afterwards."
Cortessa was surprised. He watched swoop races? He was there when she cut Brejik to bits? But no matter. They had a mission. She smiled at him charmingly, setting back on her hips again, letting her torso tilt forward. "Good to finally meet you, Davik," she said pleasantly, letting her voice become soft and womanly. "My name's Cortessa. It will be a… pleasure."
Canderous sighed.
Davik was contented. "You know, Canderous was right. The Exchange is always looking for new talent. You could have a bright future with our organization. With the recommendation from Canderous – and a thorough background check – you could become part of the Exchange! Many would kill to prove themselves worthy of this honor!"
Cortessa smirked. "Well, I did, at least," she said smoothly.
He laughed uproariously. "Excellent! Excellent!"
Canderous looked at Cortessa approvingly. She tossed her head, allowing a few teasing strands of her hair fall in her face. She shook Davik's hand again, smoothly, allowing her movements to turn to liquid. "Your offer intrigues me, Davik," she murmured in her silky voice.
Davik nodded, his eyes wandering up and down her body. She let him for now – there was no harm in winning him over. The man nodded. "Come with me – I will give you a tour of my operations. I'm certain you'll be most impressed."
------
Author's Notes: Hmm. HMM.
Seems you people were PO'd at me because of my last chapter. I assure you I'm not going to be writing one like that for a while. Because she was drugged. Anyway… yeah. Yeaaaaah. This is the next chapter. Yay. Or something. Taris is almost over! OMGYAY.
Dante-Revan – Never did say Mission knew how to slip drugs. XD I'll think about doing something like that. Depends on how life goes for me.
SilverSentinal21 – I know. Cortessa was drugged. She wasn't supposed to act normal. But I'm sorry if I upset you. I know how touchy some people are about vulgarity.
Amme Moto – You know, I should. I'll think about it.
FaintlyAlarming – Glad you enjoyed it.
Vila Skye – Things'll get better by the time they reach Dantooine. Don't worry.
