Disclaimer: Same as before. LucasArts/BioWare owns the characters in this story.
Sorry for the long delay. School is hard right now. But the next week we're free from school in my country, which I will dedicate to this story. So hopefully there will be one or two more updates next week, starting at Monday.
The first thing Maul registered was the incredible amount of filth that lay about. The walls were literary made of dirt and burn marks, with only a few patches of the original wall sticking out, making it seem a disease. An odour of decay clogged itself inside Maul's nose. The second thing was the clinging of metal against metal. A Nikto hurried past the crossroad-corridor section and headed into a fight between what seemed to be two rival gangs.
There was two other Niktos, and facing them was a dark-haired human, an Aqualish with oversized tusks, and a Rodian who just arrived on the scene.
"The Hidden Bek are nothing but dirt! We Black Vulcars are the ruling gang here on Taris!" the Nikto boasted loudly to the Rodian, who's trout-like mouth twitched, and then spoke in high-pitched noises: "We shall see who is the larger gang!" Then he drew his vibrosword, but before he could strike at the offending Nikto, the Black Vulcar had struck out with his electrical knife, and hit the Rodian in the stomach. A crackle emitted from the Rodian's twitching body, and then it fell to the ground, twitching wildly, smoke rising from the corpse. The Aqualish managed to hold his ground against the Nikto he was facing, slowly getting the upper hand. His strong, yet precise strikes battered at the sword of the untrained Nikto, showing his skills as he performed a swipe towards the head of his opponent, then changed direction and cut the arm off of him. Then with another perfected swipe, he beheaded the Nikto, but before he could gloat over his victory, he was hit in the back by the electrical knife of the group's leader. Grunting in pain, the Aqualish doubled over and collapsed on the floor, his life slowly ebbing away.
The human did not fair that well. His opponent wielded a vibrostaff, and even though he was clumsy, he was far stronger than the human, and swatted the attacks away. He then kicked the man in his stomach, and using the moment opened, he thrust his blade through the man's heart. Without a sound, the human fell to the ground, sword clattering out of lifeless hands. Neither Carth nor Maul had moved during the fight, not knowing which side to fight for, but it was decided for them by the Nikto in charge. He shouted: "Strangers! Kill them!"
Carth drew his blaster and fired off a few shots at the leader, who decided to target him, while Maul ran up to the vibrostaff-wielding Nikto, his twin vibroblades drawn.
He viciously slashed at the gang member's head, who managed block it with his staff, while throwing away a kick that could break bones, but Maul evaded it and hacked away against the Nikto's limbs. Desperately the alien blocked every attack, now on the defensive, only managing to squeeze off one or two attacks against Maul's legs, which were easily deflected by Maul. He threw a quick glance over his shoulder, to see how Carth was doing.
Carth had drawn his own vibrosword, which he didn't use that often, and had engaged the Nikto head on. The little knife was no trouble for Carth's sword, which he used to swipe the knife out of the hand of his opponent, and then sliced his head off clean, in a brutal, but clumsy move.
Maul danced around the Nikto, hitting him with light but agonizing strikes, too fast for the gang member to parry. Grinning wildly, Maul played cat and mouse with the poor alien, until finally deciding that it was boring, swirled round so he faced the alien's backside, and forcefully kicked the Nikto in the back. Unprepared, the Nikto gasped as his spinal cord snapped from the powerful blow, paralyzing him instantly. He fell to the ground, unable to defend himself as Maul buried his vibroblades in his chest.
Cleaning the swords on the clothing of the dead alien, he turned to Carth, who administered a med-pac on a long cut on his left arm.
"Seems that not even you escaped unscathed," he remarked to Maul and pointed at the gash in his side. Giving a med-pac to Maul, Carth touched the small wound at his own arm, and winced at the pain."That will leave a bruise in the morning" he muttered to himself. He then assisted Maul in plundering the dead bodies for anything valuable, and asked Maul in a commanding tone: "Can you tell me where we are going next?" Maul shook his head and shrugged arrogantly. Then eyeing Carth's more roughed up clothes, he commented: "You need more protection", and pulled off the armour from the Nikto Carth had killed, and handed it to Carth, who threw away his old orange pilot-jacket and quickly put the armour on. Now more adequately protected, Carth's new armour was mostly composed of black and brown leather, with some metal covering the chest and elbow-caps.
Maybe I shouldn't kill him, after all. He's a real asset, so far, Maul thought and grinned mentally. Still thinking like a Sith.
Then a problem arose. There were three ways to go. One straight ahead of the elevator, leading into what seemed to be an apartment complex, just like those in the Upper City, only slightly more roughed up. One to the right of the elevator, leading to a large door, guarded by something he could not make out. The one to the left of the elevator only went on for a few meters before making a sharp 90 degrees turn to the right. Not knowing what lay around that corner, Maul decided to search the apartment complex first, there probably would be a lot of credits in there, ripe for the taking. Carth tried to argue against it, but Maul growled threateningly, his eyes glaring determined back at Carth. Carth hastily agreed, thinking nervously: What a nervy guy. I think I made a good judgement in not trusting him. He is definately dangerous.
Maul on his part, thought angrily: That man better listen to me. I am the stronger fighter of us two! But there's something about him, making me suspicious. He seems to be holding something back. No matter, I'll interrogate him soon enough.
Both not knowing what the other was thinking, they went inside the apartment complex, that was, if possible, dirtier and more broken than the corridors outside. Some of the apartment doors were open, their frames destroyed, effectively keeping them open. Other doors were closed and heavily locked, for what other reason than protecting some treasure "hoard" of credits and possibly a roof over one's head, Maul could not fathom."Time for circle-walking again," he muttered jokingly and started to walk to the right. Carth followed him on a distance. Stopping by a locked door, Maul took up a blaster and shot the electronical lock repeatedly, until it gave in with a squeak, and opened the door. In the shadows, he saw a figure standing. Waltzing in, he was about to speak to the figure when it called out: "Do not move! I will not let a mere bounty hunter kill me! If you do not wish to die, I suggest you turn around, bounty hunter." The persons voice was determined and angry. Holding his hands up to show he meant no harm, Maul asked: "Now, why would I want to kill you? I don't even know who you are!"
Slowly, the figure walked out from the shadows, revealing a green-skinned Twi'lek, his clothes torn and dirty. The perfect camouflage in a dirty, shredded room. Eyeing Maul and Carth that stood in the doorway, he sourly commented: "I don't know. Nor do I know if you are trustworthy."
Carth decided that, since Maul seemed to be less inclined to speak, he would do the talking.
"Let me introduce myself. I am Carth, a human mercenary, if you will. With me is Maul, my esteemed Zabrak colleague. Who are you?" Maul bowed lightly, looking the Twi'lek deep in the eyes, while Carth attained a more neutral stance, hands behind his back.
"I am Matrik. I used to work for the Exchange, but now I am to testimony against them and their operations. However, I am, as you might understand, unable to do so, because of all the bounty hunters that are after the bounty on my head." Then the soot-covered face lit up and he asked: "But maybe you can help me? You can pretend to kill me, get the bounty, and I will still be alive to give the government my report about Davik's dealings."
Frowning deeply, Carth excused himself and turned to Maul, pointing to the corridor outside the apartment. Understanding the message, Maul walked a short distance from the apartment, with Maul close behind him.
"What should we do? We could kill him, but that would only help the Exchange. Or we could help him, and feel better, yet gain no credits. I vote for helping him, since it might aid us in turn" Carth stated heartily. Maul grudgingly agreed with him, determined not to fail the simulation, and so they went back to the Twi'lek, who at hearing the news, happily told them of the easiest way of "disposing" him.
"You will need a permacrete detonator. I believe that you can get one somewhere in the Upper City" he told them, giving them a description and a holo of the item.
Maul and Carth left the man, promising to return to help him later. Not wanting to explore the complex any further, they went back outside, this time walking toward the turning pathway.
The walkway did not have to go on for long before they encountered a Rodian who stood guard by a door with a sign reading "Javyar's Cantina" in blinking red and green lights.
"If in there you go, leave trouble at door. We no want trouble" chirped the green-skinned Rodian to them before opening the door, revealing yet another door.
Security measures, Maul surmised and waltzed inside the cantina, where the first thing he and Carth saw was a short human wearing a blue-coloured vest with fur puffing up the shoulders, and a leather helmet in style with swoop riders, along with a pair of protection goggles. A orange-hued Rodian dressed in brown, ragged clothing strode up to him, accompanied by two Twi'lek twins.
"Go away!" the human spat out in a low tone to the aliens.
"What? We just want to meet big, bad bounty hunter Calo Nord" the Rodian squeaked. One of the Twi'leks snorted and sneered: "Bah, this cannot be Calo Nord! He is bigger, this one is too small."
"One." Maul knew directly when the words left the bounty hunters mouth what was about to happen. Apparently, the aliens did not. They looked at each other in bewilderment, not noticing how people shrunk back toward the unclean walls, effectively clearing the area around the three and Calo Nord. The white lights lit up half of Calo Nord's face, giving him a kind of split face, one half in darkness, the other basking in light.
"What? One? Me don't understand!"
"Two" Calo Nord counted, his hands twitching to his sides, where a pair of blasters hung.
"Is he trying to count how many there are of us?" the Rodian asked his companions, who shrugged, only wanting to brawl. Calo Nord then sharply said "Three", and threw a small object in front of the three aliens feet, who drew their weapon, but before they could shoot, Calo pressed something in his hand, playing a beep. Then the object exploded, throwing shrapnel at the aliens, smoke obscuring the scene from view. A high-pitched squeak was heard through the smoke, as well as two blaster shots and the thumps of bodies hitting the ground.
The smoke slowly dissipated, showing the scorched carcasses lying face-down on the ground and the unharmed bounty hunter that slowly walked out from the cantina, not giving anyone a look. Several of the people in the cantina made their way from the walls were they all had been standing during the short duel, and started talking again, as if nothing had happened.
Turning his head to Maul, Carth muttered fast: "We might find someone in here that knows something about the other escape pods."
"Of course," Maul said quietly. Then Carth asked, suspicion lacing his voice: "What do you think to gain from helping Bastila?"
"I believe the Jedi can help me find out what happened to me", he blurted out without thinking. Carth frowned and shook his head, disbelief scarring his visage. "Oh, what happened to you? I'm starting to believe that you're no Republic soldier after all. Sure, you've helped a few people, but you've ruined more lives than you have saved."
Making sure not to give out anything sensitive to Carth, Maul replied slowly in a long sentence: "You are quite right. I'm no soldier for the Republic. Nor am I Sith. I am a mercenary. I am just here, to learn something. And to help, of course."
"Of course" Carth mumbled, his suspicions not satisfied, but he gave up the conversation for now.
Narrowing his eyes, Maul turned to Carth and growled: "We'll talk about this mistrust-concept of yours some other time, alright?"
Gaping, Carth followed Maul with his eyes as the Zabrak walked away deeper down into the cantina, toward a large silhouette that only could be a Hutt. Maul conversed for a short time with the slug-like creature, reading something on his datapad, before bowing to the large gangster slug.
"So what's our next move, chief?" Carth asked Maul sarcastically, his hands behind his back. Before Maul could retort, he watched three armed Rodians approach a little Rutian Twi'lek girl sitting by the bardisk, who lashed out at the trout-mouthed alien troublemakers.
"I told you to leave me alone, so give me some space, bug-eye! Your breath smells like bantha poodoo!" Both Carth and Maul snickered at her sharp tounge, and watched with growing mirth the exchange between the girl and the Rodians, their mistrust of each other forgotten. Then the troublemakers reached for their weapons, and Maul was prepared to jump in there to fight, but the girl called up a shape that towered over the Rodians, that squealed in fright at the sight. The hairy creature rumbled something to the girl who chided with a comment of her own, as the Rodians left them alone. Maul wearily approached the girl, knowing that any sign of hostility might reward him with a fight against the Wookiee, which he was not particularly interested in. For even if he might be able to defeat one with the use of the Force, he probably could not now that he could no longer use the Force.
"Greetings, girl. I see you handled those ruffians rather well" Carth congratulated her. He then proceeded to introduce himself and Maul, who gave a short nod to the girl. She studied them curiously, with her liquor-brown eyes, and then asked in her innocent voice: "Say, you're not from Taris, huh? I know pretty much everyone down here, and since it is here that aliens usually live, then you must be from off-world."
"Yes, indeed we are from another place." He chuckled at her quick understanding of the situation. "We are here on a mission, but we have taken a pause from it, you could say. Could you tell us a little about the gangs around here? And who was that bounty hunter from before?"
Tilting her head to the side, she scratched her left lekku a little, before rambling up a lot of information, in a fast pace. From what he could hear, the Hidden Beks were fighting against the Black Vulcars, because of the Vulcars leader, Brejik, was an old Hidden Bek that wanted to lead the Beks but wasn't allowed, and therefore he left and joined the Vulcars and became their leader, ordering them to attack anyone that opposed them. Partially like the old Sith from the time long before his own birth, Maul thought, and then realized that it was during this time and after these years that the Sith crumbled and killed off themselves, almost. He turned his attention back to the girl, who was stroking her lekku absently, looking up in the lamps. The bounty hunter, Calo Nord, was apparently famous for having killed many persons, in impossible places. A worthy opponent, with other words.
When the girl finally quieted down, Maul said, almost kindly: "Thank you, but I'm afraid we have to go now." Disappointed, the girl nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders, clapping the Wookiee's arm affectionately, saying: "Yeah, I guess we have to go to. Come one Zaalbar." The Wookiee growled a protest, pointing at his half-eaten food.
"Stop thinking about your stomach, you can eat later. Geez. Come on, let's go to down to the sewers." Then she jumped down from the wriggly chair and walked out, the Wookiee in tow. Maul followed her with his gaze until she disappeared behind the door. Then he pointed to one of the empty rooms and walked there with Carth dragging behind.
Seating himself down by one of the round tables, he indicated that Carth should sit down as well, which he did. Looking around the not too clean room, checking for any recording devices, he voiced his current thoughts and ideas to the Republic captain."Since we are strangers on this planet, we need help, which we already know. So I think we should visit these Hidden Beks, see what they might know. They might be able to help us. I highly doubt the Black Vulcars would try to talk to us, anyway, since they attacked us immediately." Pausing slightly for breath, he scratched his itching chin, before continuing. "They also might know something about the other escape pods. I overheard some mentioning them before, but couldn't hear the whole conversation, sadly." Nodding, Carth replied: "Of course. These Hidden Beks are our best shot right now. But where do we find them?"
Maul thought for a few seconds, remembering what he saw just past the cantina before entering it. "I know where it is, I think. So, follow me, and we'll find your Bastila!" With that, he rose from his chair, and with Carth in tow, he walked out the cantina, ignoring and being ignored by the people around.
Well outside the cantina, Maul looked to the left of the entrance, and there he saw a black woman guarding a door. She was wearing a light protection armour, with the insignia of the Hidden Beks attached to her arm. When Maul approached, she sharply called out: "Hey, you! Who are you and what is your business with the Hidden Beks?"
"I was told that Gadon could help me with something, so I wish to see him" Carth replied sincerely, affectively saving Maul from having to speak any more. She eyed him suspiciously, then nonchalantly said: "Many people want to see Gadon. Very well, you can go in and see him if you wish. If you try anything, you'll have all Hidden Beks on your neck quicker than you can say 'swoop rider'."
Unlocking the door for them, the woman stood aside, and continued to check for Black Vulcars, as Maul and Carth entered the base.
A/N: Well, this is the fourth chapter, right? Hmm, Carth's trust issues are starting to surface in a more military way now, right? Please tell me if there is anything that you think is out of place, except for Maul himself, of course.