Rian:

            Sunlight trickled in from the small window in our apartment.  I stretched out in my bed as a yawn escaped my lips.  One day I'd get a good night's sleep.  The nightmares kept showing up every night.  Even though I had become accustomed to the reoccurring vivid images, I couldn't shake the fear and anxiety that accompanied them.

            Glancing to my right, I saw Carth curled up on the floor using a backpack as a make-shift pillow.  What a gentleman.  I had offered to make room for him on the bed but he declined.  It might have had to do with threatening to gut him if he so much as breathed on me wrong during the night, but it was only to maintain the professionalism that the offer required.   

            I ran a finger across my teeth and grimaced at the film that had gathered over the previous day.  With Carth soundly asleep I could jump into the shower in peace.  I slid out of the bed and sauntered towards the bathroom.

            I felt a million times better clean.  A year's worth of dirt and grime had been sloughed off in minutes and the skin revealed underneath was rosy from all the hot water.  It was a shame I had to put on filthy clothes afterwards. 

            I swiped a towel across the bathroom mirror and began finger-combing my hair.  I wondered what would happen if I tried to curl it?  It was probably for the best that I let it be.

            That's when I heard the sound.  It must have been coming from the other room.  It sounded like a muffled whimpering.  Was Carth crying?

            No.  I peered through the doorway and noted that he was still sleeping.  Where was that noise coming from?  I crept to the main room, following the sound.

            It wasn't from our apartment.  I pressed my ear against the wall and listened.  How could someone live in a place with walls as thin as these?

            It was a woman.  Sobbing to her heart's content, I wondered what she would say if she realized that she wasn't completely alone?

            Carth looked so peaceful sleeping, I wasn't about to disturb him over my curiosities.  I walked to the bed and pulled a blanket from it.  I knelt beside him and covered him with the soft textile.  If Carth could spend a few more minutes without his brows furrowed, then he should.  Besides, if he was awake, he might have disapproved of my adventuring.

            I tip-toed from our apartment and headed next door.  The door was locked, but the lock itself was outdated.  My fingers went to work, tweaking individual mechanisms until I heard a distinct hiss.  The door slid open to spite the useless lock.

            "Hello?" I called out as I stepped into the apartment.

            An attractive brunette had leaned against the wall and was exhausting herself with weeping.  Her head jerked upright at the intrusion and she glared at me.  Her eyes were red and puffy but they instantly dried for the unwanted company.

            "Who are you?" she demanded.  "What are you doing here?  You can't just come barging into someone's home!"

            I guess I should have thought of that.  But her lamenting antics were bugging me from my room.

            "I'm sorry." I mumbled.  "I was just investigating the area."

            "That's no excuse."  She planted her hands on her hips firmly.  "You can't just go around barging into people's apartments because you're curious!  But at least you're more polite than that pig, Holdan."

            "Holdan?  Who's that?"  Oh brother!  See what I get for being nosy?  I skipped out on breakfast so I could listen to a weepy stranger's guy troubles.

            The woman sighed.  "Just one of Davik's men who can't keep his hands to himself.  But all he got for his trouble was a nasty scar from my vibroblade.  Too bad I'm still the one paying the price."

            "What do you mean?"  Maybe this would get interesting.

            The woman blinked and shook her head.  I guess the absurdity of someone breaking into her apartment to ask her questions about her personal life had finally dawned on her.

            "I… I don't want to talk about it." she stammered.  "I'm in enough trouble already.  Besides, I don't know if I can trust you."

            I crossed my arms.  "You can trust me.  Maybe I can help."

            She sighed.  "Well I suppose you seem like an alright sort."  She walked over and sat on the edge of her bed.  "When I cut Holdan it made him back off but it also embarrassed him in front of his friends.  Holdan's a spiteful little Hutt-slug.  He went and put out a bounty on my head for what I did!  That's why I'm hiding out here."

            I liked her.  It takes a lot of guts to pull a vibroblade on a member of a syndicate like the Exchange, regardless of the reason.

            "Is there anything I can do to help?" I asked.

            She shrugged.  "I doubt it.  Holdan is one of Davik's men.  When you work for the local crime lord the authorities tend to turn a blind eye.  I'm afraid this is between me and Holdan now."

            "Maybe I could speak to Holdan for you."  And grind his face into the pavement until he agrees to lift that bounty, I thought.

            "You could try, I guess."  A hopeful smile crept to her face.  "He usually hangs out at the cantina in the Lower City.  It probably won't do any good, Holdan is used to getting his own way.  That's one of the fringe benefits of being a goon for Davik.  Working for the local crime lord let's you get away with things.  Still, I appreciate the offer."

            I nodded.  "Who should I tell him sent me?"

            "Dia."

            "Okay." 

            I left Dia's apartment with a sense of purpose.  Walking back to my place I began to skip.  Carth was awake when I returned.

            He was topless and was searching the apartment frantically.  I reconsidered my first impression of him.  Carth was more muscular than I originally thought.  Not bad at all.

            When he spotted me walking through the door, Carth's concern quickly turned to anger.  He jabbed a finger into the air and glared in my direction.

            "Where were you?" he demanded.

            "I was scouting the area."  I shrugged.  I was going to have to come up with some better tactics when dealing with Carth.  Already, he could see through my innocent face.

            "I'll bet."  He snorted.  "And just what did you find?"

            "A damsel in distress, you know the classic tale."

            "Rian, I'm serious."

            "And I'm not?"  I walked over to the bureau and started digging through it.  "Her name's Dia.  I think I might be able to help her out once we hit the Lower City."

            I pulled a long sleeved t-shirt out of the drawer.  It was dark brown and matched his eyes.  I handed the shirt to Carth.

            "Put this on.  We can't have you walking around Taris half naked, you barbarian."

            Carth caught my raised eyebrow on his bare chest and blushed.  He slipped the shirt over his head quickly. 

            "You ready to be Sith?" he asked, smirking.

            I laughed.  "I bet I can out-Sith you."

            "That's nothing to brag about."  He grimaced.

            We put the Sith uniforms on in silence.  For a military man Carth seemed to have difficulty in how to strap the thing on.  I was dressed in a matter of minutes and had to help him tighten the side panels.  Who would have thought a smuggler would have been good at playing Sith?

            I tried to walk rigidly as we left the apartment complex.  Feet together, stomach sucked in, shoulders back, chin up, the ideal example of a Sith soldier.  We marched stiffly until we reached the elevator in the Upper City north.  No wonder the Sith are so snooty, I realized, the Tarisian citizens would split crowds in half, even dividing mother and child to avoid getting in a Sith patrol's way.

            At the elevator, I ignored the guard and stalked into the shaft.  Carth followed me, at least I hoped it was him, it was pretty hard to discern gender, let alone an exact identity in these uniforms.

            As the door slid shut, we began our descent to the Lower City.  I pulled the silver helmet off and tousled my hair with my free hand.  I grinned as I saw Carth struggling with his shin guard.

            "Need help out of that monkey suit?" I asked.  It was a shame he still had his helmet on, I would have loved to see the expression on his face.

            "How do Sith soldiers manage to see in these things?" he grumbled, motioning to the helmet.  I shrugged and pried his headpiece off.

            "Is that better?"

            "Yeah, thanks."

            By the time the elevator reached the Lower City we were stuffing the remaining pieces of Sith armor into Carth's backpack.

            Not possessing the same flawless exterior that the Upper City had, I felt at home in the Lower City.  Litter was strewn over the dimly lit streets and a large "V" had been painted on an alley wall with old blood.

            Little did we know that we were wandering into the middle of a gang war.  Two groups of unsavory looking men were facing off.  Shouts of Hidden Bek superiority were followed by curses from Black Vulkars.  Everything from calling their mothers bantha fodder to wishing them a night with a diseased joy-girl was said.  These guys certainly didn't pull their punches.

            Their little party ended up erupting in blaster fire.  A mere handful remained standing upright after the brief shoot-out.  The survivors glared at Carth and myself.  They tried to appear tough and menacing, but couldn't quite master the look of intimidation bleeding over their dead comrades.

            I chuckled to myself.  Carth shot me a warning frown, but it was too late.  The gangsters were fumbling over their wounds to grapple their weapons.  I gave an apologetic shrug.  I wrapped my hands around my vibroblades and prepared myself.  I was home.