Rian:

            Dank, slimy, grimy, dripping, hot, festering hellhole!  What had I gotten myself into?  I should just pick Carth's pocket and be on my merry way.  No, I swore I'd earn his trust like an idiot, so I was stuck on this Wookiee hunt.

            Carth had at least one hand attached to a blaster constantly.  He looked worse for wear, gunk had splattered on his military fatigues and his forehead glistened with sweat.  His eyes darted down dark corridors, alert, a wary animal ready for anything.

            Mission wasn't any better.  As the adrenaline drained from her small body she became somber.  She must have been going out of her mind.  If we were too late and Zaalbar was dead or worse, would she be able to forgive herself?  I hoped so.  Mission was too young to let something like the past weigh on her.

            "Hey, Mission." I said.

            Mission jerked herself from whatever morose thoughts she was having and looked at me.  "What can I do for you?" she asked.  Her eyes trailed to a connecting sewer path.

            "Why don't you tell me about yourself?"  And get your mind off of Zaalbar, I thought.

            "Really?"  Mission looked stunned. 

            "Yes, really."  I offered a smile.

            She perked up.  "You want to know about me?  Nobody's ever really been interested in me before.  What did you want to know?"

            I shrugged.  "How did you and Zaalbar hook up?"

            Mission winced.  Oh great, I got her mind off of Zaalbar, just like I had planned.  Stupid!

            The petite Twi'lek sighed, but seemed to take it all in stride.  "Big Z's my family, you know?"  Her voice dropped as we trudged through the muck to a doorway.  "My parents… well, I guess they're dead.  It was just me on my own until the day I saw Zaalbar in the Lower City. 

            "I could tell right away he was in trouble.  This was before the gang wars were out of hand, but even then the Vulkars were scum."  Mission's face gradually became more animated as she immersed herself into telling her story.  "A few of them were hassling Big Z, trying to pick a fight—but he wasn't looking for trouble."

            "Who'd want to pick a fight with a Wookiee?" I scoffed.

            Mission snorted.  "Hey, nobody said the Vulkars were smart."

            I found myself admiring the girl.  Her delicate fingers quickly overrode the archaic door lock.  The door groaned as it opened.

            "But there were three of them, so maybe they figured they could handle him." Mission said.  "I don't know.

            "Anyway, I don't like the Vulkars at the best of times.  And when I saw them picking on this poor Wookiee—all alone on  a strange planet, overwhelmed by the big city—I just lost it."  Mission gleamed with intensity.  "I screamed out, 'Leave him alone, you core-slimes!' and charged right at them.  One of them saw me coming and slapped me so hard he just about knocked me cold."

            I chuckled.  "You're lucky he didn't fry you with a blaster."

            Mission scowled.  "Hey, I don't need a lecture from you.  You ain't my mother!" she snapped.  "I knew what I was doing.  Those Vulkars didn't scare me.  They're nothing but cowards.  I knew how to deal with them."

            Carth and I followed Mission through the door.

            "Of course, I never got the chance." she grumbled.  "I guess Zaalbar didn't like seeing me get smacked around.  He let out this howl and yanked that Vulkar a meter up off the ground and held him there by his throat."

            If Wookiees were known for anything, it was their brawn.  Black Vulkars must find their brains in a bantha's hind quarters.  "What did the two other Vulkars do?" I asked.

            "The other two screamed and ran off."  Mission smirked.  "Can't say I blame them.  The first time you see an angry Wookiee up close it isn't a pretty sight.  I thought Zaalbar was going to rip that punk's arms off and beat him to death with his own fists.  The Vulkar was so scared he fainted." 

            The Twi'lek's nose wrinkled as she placed a finger on her chin in thought.  "Or maybe Big Z's breath just knocked him out." she muttered.  "I keep telling Zaalbar to brush those choppers of his, but he never listens.  Just stay upwind when he's speaking and you'll be fine.

            "Anyway, I knew those Vulkars would be back with friends, so I grabbed Zaalbar and we took off.  Ever since then we've been a team.  We look out for each other, you know?"

            A screech echoed down the gloomy corridor.  I suppose it would have been too much to ask for a smooth, uneventful trek through the sewers.

            "Sorry to break up your conversation, ladies," Carth cut in.  "but we've got trouble."

            Mission visibly tensed.  Carth tossed her one of his blasters and I grappled for my vibroblades.

            The creature came barreling out of the shadows.  Festering white skin was stretched over malformed limbs and it stared with vacant yellow eyes, but it was its scream that made my blood run cold.  Shrieks filled with pain and hatred, the sound a body makes when it scratches steel.

            Carth opened fire and Mission quickly followed suit.  I stood there, paralyzed by the monster's howls of senseless rage.

            "Rian!"  Carth's voice penetrated my shock.  "Snap out of it!"

            I looked up in time to see the Rakghoul lunge for me.  I instinctively thrust one of my vibroblades up in time.  The creature impaled itself as it crashed on top of me.

            My other vibroblade went flying as I flung my free arm up to protect my face.  The discarded blade clattered in the distance.  The air was torn from my lungs and my head cracked against the concrete ground.  My head was never going to heal.

            I tasted blood.  I looked up at the dead weight on top of me, its eyes glazed over, my left hand in its mouth.  Oh shit…

            "Rian, are you okay?" Carth called out.

            "Does it look like I'm okay?"  I groaned.  "Get this thing off of me."

            On the count of three Carth and Mission rolled the dead Rakghoul from my body.  I wrenched my fist from the creature's mouth and pressed my punctured palm against my stomach.

            "Did it bite you?"  Carth grabbed my good hand and hoisted me to my feet.  "Did you get any of its blood or saliva in your eyes?  In your mouth?  Any open wounds?"

            "No."  I clenched my bleeding palm into a fist and held it stiffly at my side.  "I'm fine."

            "You're the luckiest damn woman I've ever met." Carth said.

            "Yeah…"

            "That was some shot you had with a blaster, Mission."  Carth turned to her, approvingly.

            Mission grinned.  "Yeah, well, like I used to tell my brother, fast talk and slick words don't get the job done."

            "I didn't know you had a brother." I said.

            "My brother's a touchy subject, you know?"  Mission's smile died.  "It just so happens I don't really feel like talking about him right now.  Nothing personal, I just want to find Big Z."

            "Yeah," I agreed.  "let's get this over with."