Chapter Two

Disclaimer: I do not own KotOR.

Revan blinked uncertainly as he sat up. He was in a bed, which was good, but he didn't recognize the surroundings, which was generally a bad thing in his experience. Best case scenario he had had a one-night stand but what was the point of that if he wasn't going to even remember it? And while it his head was admittedly killing him, it didn't really feel like a hangover.

"Good, you're awake," a semi-familiar voice said, sounding relieved. Revan glanced over to see it was that Republic guy, Carth, that he'd met right before escaping the…whatever that ship was called. "With the concussion you got from that crash-landing, you've been out for almost a week."

"Wait, what?" Revan demanded, stumbling to his feet. "You're never supposed to let someone with a concussion sleep! I could have been in a coma for all you knew!"

"You clearly weren't given you're awake now," Carth pointed out. "Or at least if you were you got over it."

"Just because it worked out doesn't mean that couldn't have killed me!" Revan cried.

"Deal with it," Carth advised. "And I thought I ought to mention that when I said that we were the only two people alive on board the Endar Spire, what I meant was we were the only two non-Sith. I really should have made that clearer."

"Okay," Revan said slowly. "Except how the hell could you tell which signs of life were friendly and which were hostile and if you knew it was only the two of us – and Trask before he had Bandon assist in his suicide – why didn't you tell us Bastila wasn't there so we could leave?"

"So we're on Taris," Carth announced brightly, completely ignoring the question. "You probably could have guessed that seeing as we were attacked right above the planet, but I wouldn't want there to be any unnecessary confusion given your head injury. It's a pretty great planet if you're human."

"And if you're not?" Revan asked curiously.

Carth hesitated. "As much as I hate the Sith and think anything even remotely connected with them is the embodiment of evil…a non-human on Taris would probably do better joining up than trying to make it here."

Revan winced. "That bad, huh?"

Carth nodded. "I know. From what I can tell, things have started getting better for them since the Sith arrived since they don't care about the local population equally. It's a sad, sad day when the likes of the Sith are bringing about much-needed social change."

"Too true," Revan agreed. "So what now? We've got to get off of this planet as occupations usually involve a lot of fun-killing."

"Fun-killing?" Carth repeated uncertainly.

"You know, curfews, commandeering the local alcohol supply, claiming sections of the planet as their own…" Revan trailed off.

"Not to mention the killing of Republic soldiers," Carth added.

Revan cocked his head. "Do I really count as a Republic soldier?"

"Why wouldn't you?" Carth asked, bemused. "You were listed as official Republic personnel on a very important ship."

"Yeah, but I only joined up because I wanted a date with the recruitment officer," Revan told him.

"…How did that work out for you?" Carth asked, uncertain he wanted to know.

"Very well, in fact," Revan smirked.

"Either way, you're still a Republic soldier no matter your motives for joining and as we may very well be the only two in any position to do anything…we've got to find Bastila," Carth decided.

Revan nodded. "I agree, getting off the planet it – wait, find Bastila? Why?"

"Because she's the Republic's only hope!" Carth reminded him. "Don't you pay any attention at all?"

"Yeah, I knew that," Revan defended, electing not to mention that the only reason he did was because Trask had seen fit to yell at him for the same thing but a week ago. "But if she's so high-and-might and a Jedi to boot, can't she take care of herself? I mean, you managed to get us a place to stay and hide us from the Sith despite the fact you had to deal with me while I was unconscious."

"We can't take that chance," Carth said firmly. "If Bastila dies – or God forbid, defects – so do we."

"Would it really be so bad to be a Sith?" Revan wondered. "What are their benefits like?"

"I'm sure I wouldn't know," Carth said flatly. "But I hear their retirement package is a lightsaber to the gut."

Revan winced. "I would not like that. At least with the Republic, they give you a watch. Fine, finding Bastila it is. So do we have any leads?"

Carth shook his head. "I couldn't really leave the apartment much in case someone came by while you were out. This is an abandoned apartment complex populated by criminals and non-humans so it's not exactly the most secure of places."

"So we're just going to wander around aimlessly looking for any sign of her?" Revan asked incredulously.

"Do you have a better plan?" Carth snapped.

"For finding Bastila? No," Revan admitted. "And I will concede that should we manage to somehow stumble across her, having a Jedi with us should make escaping significantly easier."

"Who knows?" Carth asked rhetorically. "Maybe the Force will 'guide us' or something and we'll find her right away. Since it looks like we're going to be travelling together until we either die ignobly or we reach the first planet that's at least neutral, I should probably know your name. It would certainly make a background check easier…"

"What was that?" Revan asked suspiciously.

"I said 'I can't keep calling you other Republic guy since we're on a hostile planet'," Carth lied.

"That's not what it sounded like," Revan argued.

"Well it was," Carth insisted. "So who are you?"

"My name is Revan," Revan introduced, then immediately ducked as Carth started firing on him. "What the hell? I get you're paranoid, but shooting a guy for telling you his name? Isn't that a bit much?"

"For the Dark Lord of the Sith?" Carth shot back. "I don't think it's nearly enough! Now die!"

"Whoa, whoa!" Revan held up his hands in a placating gesture while still dodging the steady stream of blaster fire coming from Carth. "I'm not that Revan."

Carth looked skeptical, but he at least stopped firing. "You expect me to believe you're an entirely different Revan who just happens to have the same name?"

"Why not?" Revan shrugged. "Just because you don't really encounter a lot of repeat names doesn't mean there aren't ever some. It would be weird if a name was never duplicated ever."

"I suppose you're right," Carth agreed reluctantly. "Besides, given that this whole mess is all Revan's doing anyway, he would probably be at least vaguely interested in it. Now hurry up and get dressed so we can leave."

Revan eyed Carth guardedly. "You're not going to try and 'help' me, are you?"

Carth snorted. "No offence, but if you need my help putting your clothes on then I'm sticking you on apartment-sitting duty."

"Fair enough," Revan said and quickly pulled on his clothes.

"One last word of advice…I've heard the Force can do practically anything to you if the wielder has sufficient imagination so if you get caught…well today you might be Revan, accidental Republic soldier and tomorrow you might be Boba, loyal Sith lieutenant," Carth warned.

"Eh, if they managed to get my loyalty they probably deserve it," Revan said dismissively. He opened the door and nearly walked straight into two strong-arming a pair of Duros.

"For the last time, where are the missing Republic soldiers?" one of the Sith demanded.

"How should I know?" one of the Duros replied. "It's a big planet and they could be anywhere!"

"You know, you should be more polite when speaking to us," the other Sith said casually. "Seeing as how you're illegally occupying this apartment."

"Exactly," the first Duros said. "We have enough legal troubles as it is, why would we add to it by harboring fugitives?"

"Humans hiding out among aliens?" one of the Sith said. "They must be Republic fugitives!" He shot the first Duros in the head. " 'Anywhere', huh? Not noticing them in the apartment right next door officially makes you too stupid to live."

"Hey, how come he managed to kill someone in one hit?" Revan complained.

"I don't know, maybe it's just the blaster," Carth replied. "Now help me kill him!"

Approximately fifteen shots into each of the two Sith and another twenty for the droid accompanying them and they were victorious.

Revan immediately stepped forward and examined the magical one-shot-death blaster. "It's just a regular blaster…" he said, disappointed. "We could probably sell it, though. And look, money!" he exclaimed, digging through the man's pockets.

"I can't believing you're robbing a dead guy," Carth said, shaking his head ruefully.

"What? As you said, he's dead; he's not liable to care," Revan defended.

"Thank you so much for saving me!" the remaining Duros spoke up. He eyed his fallen friend. "Poor soul…if only he hadn't said anything about how you could be anywhere two seconds before you proved that 'here' was part of 'anywhere'…"

"I'm not actually a Republic solder, you know," Revan corrected. "I'm just really cheap."

"We are too Republic soldiers!" Carth said, glaring at him.

"I would recommend keeping your loyalties quiet since the Sith are occupying," Revan advised. "And my contract was for the Endar Spire and since that ship exploded, I am officially unaffiliated. Granted, this means I probably won't get paid, but whatever. I can always rob these apartments blind…"

"Okay then…" the Duros said uncomfortably. "Don't' worry about the bodies; I'll dispose of them for you."

"I was actually just going to ignore them but if you want to get rid of them then good for you," Revan said, patting the Duros on the back. "Now let's get out of here."

"You're not really going to rob the apartments, are you?" Carth asked uncertainly.

"Why not?" Revan asked, shrugging. "We need the money."

"Yeah, well so do they," Carth pointed out. "These people are impoverished and their situation, unlike ours, isn't likely to improve anytime soon."

"And?" Revan asked, entering the Duros apartment and poking around.

The next two apartments Revan looted were empty. The third had a family of three in it, who stood around glaring and complaining about the 'good old days' when they didn't have to worry about people burglarizing their apartment while they were home.

"You have no shame," Carth said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"What?" Revan asked innocently. "If they really had a problem with it, they wouldn't just be standing there complaining, you would at least TRY to fight me off."

"They would just get themselves killed," Carth pointed out. "A few credits and a medpac clearly aren't worth their lives to them."

"It's not like THEY know I could kill them without even trying," Revan countered. "And if it isn't worth risking their life to them then I'm claiming it as mine as I actually am risking my life here because who knows who might be in one of these apartments I'm trying to steal from."

At the next apartment, Revan was surprised to actually meet some resistance.

"One more step and you're losing a hand," the proprietor of the apartment warned, holding up a vibroblade menacingly.

"I guess here's someone who really has a problem with you robbing them," Carth commented.

"What?" the woman blinked. "You're here to rob me?"

"I am," Revan confirmed.

"Thank God!" she exclaimed.

"That…wasn't quite the reaction I was expecting," Carth admitted.

"I guess that means she has no problem with it after all," Revan mused.

"I thought you were here to collect my bounty," the woman explained.

"You have a bounty on your head?" Revan perked up. "Normally, I can't be bothered with that kind of thing, but since you're standing right in front of us-"

"Wait," the woman cut him off. "Technically I have a bounty on my head but it's completely ridiculous! My name's Dia and I'm a waitress at the Cantina. Two days ago, an Exchange thug named Holdan tried to molest me so I beat him to a pulp with my vibroblade."

"Do you often carry a vibroblade on you while you work?" Revan questioned.

Dia shot him a look. "My main patrons are Exchange thugs and now Sith."

"Point," Revan admitted.

"What happened was a common enough occurrence, but his manly pride couldn't take it so he put a bounty on my head," Dia explained.

"He couldn't even be bothered to go after you himself?" Carth asked. "Coward. Is there anything you can do?"

"Not unless you can talk to Holdan for me?" Dia asked hopefully. "I don't want to risk leaving the apartment in case something happens."

"We'll be happy to help," Carth said earnestly.

Revan rolled his eyes. "Should the Force send him our way without us having to put forth any extra effort whatsoever and should we remember, we'll say something, sure."

"Thank you ever so much!" Dia gushed.

"Whatever. Carth, you get the details," Revan ordered and proceeded over to a footlocker he saw in the corner. Once he picked the lock, he took out a vibroblade upgrade. "Looks valuable…"

"Alright, I think I've got it. We'll be back once we talk to Holdan, Dia," Carth promised. "Come on, Revan."

"One second," Revan said, placing the contents of the footlocker in his bag and then quickly following Carth into the hallway.

"Please tell me you did NOT steal from the person we're supposed to be helping," Carth said tiredly.

"I could," Revan agreed, "but we both know I'd be lying. And besides, you volunteered to help her, not me."

"Be that as it may, why would you steal from her?" Carth demanded. "She was right there and clearly had a problem with it!"

"Wrong, she said she was okay with it since I wasn't out to kill her," Revan corrected.

"…No she didn't!" Carth cried.

Revan shrugged. "I'm a kleptomaniac; what can you do?"

- -

As Revan and Carth made their way to the medical center, a loud voice stopped them in their tracks.

"Hey, what are you looking at? Mind your own business if you know what's good for you!"

Revan turned in the direction of the voice to see two thugs intimidating an old man. Apparently he and Carth were the people the threat were addressed to. "We kind of were," he tried to explain. "We didn't even see you until you called out to us, in fact…"

"Are you threatening a completely harmless old man?" Carth demanded, appalled.

"What of it?" one of the thugs challenged, cocking his blaster threateningly.

"For the Republic!" Carth shouted out, opening fire on the thugs.

"Oh for the love of God," Revan groaned as he grudgingly joined the battle, "what part of 'we're on Sith-occupied Taris' don't you get? You're the one who told me!"

Carth was unrepentant. "They're dead and I'm sure this guy we just saved wouldn't rat us out."

"What about any witnesses?" Revan shot back. "We're standing in the middle of the street you know."

Carth, as was quickly becoming his standard response whenever Revan made a point, ignored him and turned to the man they had saved. "Are you okay?"

The man nodded shakily. "For now, yes, but those bounty hunters won't be the last."

"You have a bounty on your head?" Carth asked, shocked. "But…why? You look so harmless."

"I own Davik a hundred credits and I ran out of time to pay him," the man explained wearily. "I just hope they don't go after my wife."

"Sweet! I just found a hundred credits on these two dead guys!" Revan exclaimed. Carth and the old man turned to him expectantly. "What?"

"Revan, this guy needs those credits so he doesn't die and you'll have plenty of opportunities to put your kleptomania to good use later," Carth told him.

"But-" Revan began.

"Just do it," Carth said firmly, giving him a look.

"Fine," Revan sighed as he handed over the life-saving credits. "I swear, it's like you're dead-set on us being broke or something…"

"He would have died if we hadn't done anything!" Carth objected as they started walking again.

"Well maybe he should have thought of that before taking out a loan with the Exchange," Revan sniffed. "Or at least considered robbing apartments or looting corpses."

"Maybe he has morals. Did you ever think of that?" Carth demanded.

Revan snorted. "Desperate men very rarely have morals. And besides, it's not like he had to kill anybody. From what I've seen of Taris so far, corpses pop up every time you turn around."

"Yeah, when you kill people there do tend to be a lot of corpses," Carth agreed sarcastically.

"I should warn you right now that sarcasm is lost on me," Revan said airily. He spotted a man standing at the entrance of the medical center. "Do you work here?"

"Yes," the man said shortly.

"We're here to-" Revan began.

"Don't care," he interrupted. "Go talk to Zelka."

"Fine," Revan said, glaring at him and storming further into the medical center. "Carth, you want to take this?"

"I suppose so," Carth agreed. "Hello, are you Zelka?"

Zelka nodded. "I am indeed. How can I help you?"

"Have you seen any sign of any crashed Republic escape pods?" Carth queried. "Or more importantly, any survivors?"

Zelka shook his head nervously. "I know nothing."

"Hey look, a door!" Revan cried out. "I wonder what's in here…"

"Don't touch that!" Zelka cried out, panicked.

Carth turned in annoyance to his wayward companion. "Revan…are those Republic soldiers?"

"…Maybe?" Zelka admitted. "But I swear I had no idea they were back there!"

"You had no idea there were Republic soldiers in your back room?" Carth repeated skeptically.

"None whatsoever!" Zelka claimed. "I bet Gurney put them there. Between the two of us, he's a total Republic sympathizer."

"Lies," the rude man from earlier, apparently Gurney, contradicted in a bored tone. "I hate the Republic. The Sith bribe better."

"It's okay, you know," Carth assured Zelka with a warm smile. "We're with the Republic."

"Speak for yourself," Revan muttered.

"Well, I am," Carth amended. "But Revan is at least not with the Sith so that's something, right? I want to thank you for helping them."

"You're with the Republic?" Zelka repeated, awed. "I had no idea…there's not much I can do for your compatriots, but I can at least let them end their days in peace."

"Thank you," Carth said again. "Is there anything we can do for you? Anything at all?"

Zelka hesitated. "Well…I can treat most things, but Rakghoul Disease is becoming a huge problem."

"Rakghoul Disease?" Carth repeated. "What's that?"

"It's a terrible ailment that turns you into a Rakghoul, a mindless creature ruled by its instincts. The Sith have a serum but they guard it very jealously," Zelka hinted.

"We'll get it for you," Carth vowed.

"Carth!" Revan complained. "Seriously, I thought we were supposed to try and keep a low profile, not attack Sith!"

Carth shrugged. "We want to find Bastila and get off this rock, we're going to need to go through a few Sith first."

"I couldn't possibly ASK you to attack Sith," Zelka told them.

"We'll be back when we have the serum!" Carth promised, heading towards the exit.

"Not so fast," Gurney said, stepping in front of their path. "You know, the exchange would also like to get their hands on that serum – and they're willing to make it well worth your time."

"Revan, don-" Carth began automatically but he needn't have bothered as Revan was already brushing past Gurney without so much as looking at him. "What gives?" he asked as he hurried to keep up. "Getting paid to do something I'm forcing you to do anyway…sounds like your kind of thing."

"Oh, it is," Revan assured him. "But he was quite rude so I refuse to have anything to do with him."

"Well, from what I can tell the Sith and thugs are often rude so that's a great mindset to have," Carth said encouragingly.

"The plague walks among us…" an old man was preaching.

Revan stopped short. "Excuse me, plague? There's a plague going around? Does Zelka know how to treat it?"

The man coughed. "Not that kind of plague. I mean aliens are starting to become more and more prevalent. It's like they think they're people or something! It's up to us to stop it."

"Yes, death to all aliens," Carth deadpanned.

The old man's eyes widened with glee. "Could it be…another enlightened human? Oh, blessed be! May you stay safe in your travels, friend, and do not let the alien menace taint you."

"I…but…what?" Carth asked, confused, as Revan dragged him towards the Cantina.

"Wow, Carth," Revan said, shaking his head in disappointment. "I get all this flak for my kleptomania and general lack of morals and you're a speciest. Pot, meet kettle much?"

"But I'm not!" Carth protested.

"That's not what you said two minutes ago," Revan reminded him.

"Does nobody understand the concept of sarcasm?" Carth cried out.

Revan shrugged. "I told you that was wasted on me, remember?"

The minute Revan and Carth stepped into the Cantina they were set upon by a clearly spoiled Tarisian teenager. "Where the hell is my drink?" she demanded.

"How should I know?" Revan asked. "Do I look like a waiter?"

"Clearly," she answered snootily. "Or I wouldn't have asked. I've been here for two minutes and it's not here yet!"

"Two minutes," Carth muttered. "Imagine that."

"I know!" the girl agreed. "Don't they know who I am?"

"Look, I'm sorry, but we're not your waiters, kid," Carth said gently.

The girl's eye twitched. "Kid? Kid? I've never been more insulted in my life! That's it, I am SO going to get you fired." With that, she marched off.

"Way to go, Carth," Revan said, rolling his eyes.

"But we don't even work here!" Carth protested.

"I know," Revan agreed. "But word of advice…anyone young enough to be called a kid will invariably not be able to stand being called one."

"My son never seemed to mind…I think. I really wasn't ever home often enough to tell, was I?" Carth mused to himself, then froze as he realized that he'd just opened himself up to a conversation about his past.

Fortunately, Revan was too self-absorbed to notice. "Let's see…should I visit the Pazaak Den first or becoming the dueling champion?"

- -

"I'm just saying, don't you think it's a little weird?" Carth asked as they exited the Cantina.

Revan sighed. "As great as it is that you finally stopped bugging me about the 'immoralities' of organizing an illegal underground death match to kill some Mandalorian guy pretty much just for the hell of it and so I'd make a lot of money or cleaning all of the Pazaak sharks out all their winnings, I just don't think it's that weird."

"You held up your hand and Bendak Starkiller started choking and then when you clenched your fist he died!" Carth burst out.

Another sigh. "I just don't know what to tell you, Carth. Maybe I'm secretly Force sensitive," Revan said sardonically.

Carth opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by that obnoxious girl from earlier. "Those are them, right there!"she said, pointing right at them. The group of thugs behind her stepped forward menacingly.

"You're sending thugs after us?" Revan asked incredulously. "What the hell? I thought you were just going to get us fired."

The girl nodded. "I was. It turns out you don't work there after all."

"That's what we told you!" Carth reminded her. "So why the thugs if you were wrong?"

"You called me a 'kid'," the girl complained. "Get them, boys!"

Five minutes later and her thugs were lying dead at the two non-waiters' feet.

"Um…well, this is awkward…bye," the girl said, before running off. "No hard feelings, right?"

"Now what?" Carth asked.

"The Force is giving me some pretty strong vibes that we should go loot the apartments on the other side of the Upper City," Revan volunteered.

"Oh great, now the Force is supporting your thieving ways?" Carth demanded.

Revan shrugged. "You're the one who said I was Force sensitive."

"No I didn't," Carth disagreed.

Revan ignored him and the two quickly made their way to the northern part of the Upper City.

"Heeeeeeey, you," someone slurred, clearly drunk. "Watcha doin' here? Go back to the slums, ya alien!"

"But we're not aliens," Carth pointed out. "At least not from your perspective as we're all humans."

"Aaaaaaaaalien…"

"Let me handle this," Revan told him. He looked straight at the drunk and said clearly, "If you don't go away you'll get in trouble."

"Oh, shorry," the drunk apologized before stumbling off.

"Wow," Carth said impressed. "How did you do that?"

Revan shrugged. "I am, possibly, the most persuasive person alive. When I choose to try and convince someone to do something, I just have to tell them to do it and mean it, and they listen."

"It's a good thing you haven't used that on me, then, huh?" Carth asked rhetorically.

Revan didn't reply.

"Right?" Carth asked, a bit nervously.

"Oh look, a droid store!" Revan said, dragging Carth in and completely avoiding the question.

"Hello," the sales-Twi'lek greeted cheerfully. "My name is Janice Nall. Can I help you with something?"

"I think I'm in love," Revan said, eyeing the T3-M4 unit happily. "How much?"

"Oh, him? He's not for sale. Davik King wants him, you know, and he costs two thousand credits," Janice explained.

"If I killed him, would you sell T3-M4 to me?" Revan asked seriously.

Janice paled. "Don't say such things! What if somebody hears you?"

"I'm going to take that as a 'yes'," Revan decided.

"Do you have any other droids for sale?" Carth asked, hoping to placate his apparently droid-obsessed companion.

"Well, we do have a T3-H8 unit," Janice said. "It's only fifty credits."

"We'll take it," Carth said. "I'm not sure what we would use it for, but maybe it can guard our apartment."

"It's just not the same," Revan said sadly. "And considering the droid is forty times cheaper than T3-M4, wouldn't that make it forty times as less awesome?"

"I don't think it works like that, Revan," Carth said, shaking his head. "Now come on."

Tragically, the moment the T3-H8 unit moved out of Janice's store, it exploded.

"You were saying?" Revan asked grumpily.

"I am SO sorry!" Janice said horrified. "I had no idea that would happen!"

"You had no idea that a droid you felt confident in selling to me was that defective?" Revan asked skeptically. "Tell me, what would have happened if it had blown up after we'd exited your store. Do you even offer warranties?"

"I…no one's ever asked," Janice said lamely. "I'll give you a full refund, though."

"What if I don't want a refund?" Revan asked. "What if I want to tell everyone just how much you suck at droid maintenance and that unless they're willing to shell out two thousand credits that their brand new droid could very well blow up on them?!?!"

"Seventy-five credits," Janice offered, sounding desperate.

Revan smiled. "On second thought, I wouldn't want to put a hardworking entrepreneur such as yourself out of a job, now would I?"

"You are shameless," Carth remarked as they left the shop, now twenty-five credits richer than when they'd entered.

"Hey, she could have told me all about how hard it is to be a Twi'lek business owner operating in the decidedly racist Upper City of Taris," Revan defended. "Now which way are the apartments?"

"Would you have cared if she had?" Carth challenged.

"Well, no," Revan admitted. "But she couldn't have known that. Ah, here they are. Let's try door number one…"

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Carth asked dubiously. "I can hear loud music playing, there's probably a party going on."

Revan shrugged. "So we'll gatecrash while I take everything."

Carth groaned. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

Revan opened the door to see a bunch of partiers passed out on the floor. "Force sensitive, you are not." The very first bag he opened contained two Sith uniforms. "Oh, very nice."

"They look evil," Carth said, eyeing the uniforms distastefully.

"Don't be silly, they're awesome," Revan disagreed. "And look! Shiny! Let's put them on."

"Why?" Carth asked.

"That way we can pretend to be Sith," Revan explained.

"I am not putting that on," Carth said flatly.

Revan turned to look straight at him. "If we pretend to be Sith we might find out something more about Bastila."

Carth was putting on the uniform almost before he realized what was happening.

Revan smirked. "Works every time."

Carth blinked. "What?"

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