A/N As I post, or more like repost from the KFM forum I used to hang around so much at, here on this site, the news of BioWare closing their forum no doubt had spread far and wide. Just like many of you guys, the news saddens me. I spent so many hours lurking over there in the good old days. The place was the first hint of something hatching about the new games, place to seek help when you got stuck in any BioWare games (including some bugs), and a place you get to fangirling/fanboying over some ficitional character (Fenris/Anders 1.0/Alistair/Carth etc!). I met so many good friends there. Now it's all going to be gone in a month. It also makes me believe reposting what I have written on the KOTOR series here is a good thing.
Sorry it had taken me so long to update. I was a little distracted, as you guys might have noticed.
BioWare owns everything except Skye.
Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic
Taris
Part Eight
Skye Imarr kicked away the dead Gamorreans that had been viciously attacking them just a few minutes ago. Annoyingly stupid creatures, she must have said. While looking gigantic with thick skin, their brains probably were no bigger than the size of a grenade. They were very tough to kill, however. Plus the damn rakghouls, Skye and her party spent an awful lot of time and energy slashing through the sewers. Her lekku were now dribbling with sweat. There were smudges and splashes of Gamorreans' and rakghouls' blood on her face. She gently wiped it off her face, rested her heavy blaster rifle on her left shoulder, and gingerly stepped towards the door not very far from her. Right behind her were Carth and Mission, who both seemed a bit grumpy and pissed, possibly due to the argument they just had a few minutes ago.
It all started when Mission asked a simple and innocent question: "What do you think about Taris?" Somehow it progressed towards a completely different direction. They both ended up shouting at each other on the top of their heads; one commented the other was 'a spoiled little girl' and the other commented he was 'dodgy old man.' Skye had to literally squeeze herself in between them to break off their argument. They refused to talk to each other for the rest of their journey. Well, at least it gave Skye some degree of quietness for while so she could concentrate on the task ahead.
"And you thought one of them was a grown up," she sniggered inwardly as she examined the lock. "They fought like two 5-year-old kiddies!"
She tried to pick the lock, but the lock was a bit tricky. It seemed like the ordinary lock picking technique could not solve the problem. She jerked her head up and looked at Mission, who was peeking over her shoulder.
"Hmm…." Mission commented. "This is….interesting."
"What's interesting?" asked Skye.
"Well, you see, this kind of lock is no longer in use as far as I know of." Mission took over for Skye and bent down to examine the lock. "I've only come across it once in my life. At the time I had to let my brother Griff to show me how to do it…Let me see..."
"You had a brother?" Carth arched his eyebrow.
"What, is that a surprise?" Mission cast a side-glance at Carth. This was the first time they actually talked to each other since the argument.
"No... It just that you had never mentioned it before…"
"Well, that's because none of you guys had bothered to ask," replied Mission half-heartedly. She drew out a Bobby Pin from her pocket and fiddled the lock with it for a few seconds. The once stubbornly dead bolted lock simply clicked open. "There, all done. Try opening this door again."
Carth was in awe. "Goodness, you are good."
Mission went all tomato. "Piece of cake!"
Skye held the blaster rifle in her hand firmly and pressed the door release bottom. The door opened. Almost immediately a familiar tall hairy figure emerged from the loud squeaky noise produced by the slightly rusty door and the dust. Mission was in tears as soon as she saw the figure.
"Big Z!" she screamed out loud. "Thank goodness you are okay!"
"[You are such a sight for sore eyes, Mission.]" Zaalbar's face was covered with furry hair, but Skye was pretty sure he was beaming with delight and relief.
"It's good to see you, too, Big Z." Mission dabbed her eyes. "Gee, for a moment I thought…I thought…"
"[I thought I was going to be sold as slave for sure this time as well.]" Zaalbar growled happily.
Mission rushed over and hugged Zaalbar's waist (he was way too tall for Mission to wrap her arms around his shoulders). Zaalbar put his hand on her shoulder. The two of them cuddled merrily for a couple of minutes.
Then Zaalbar noticed Skye and Carth.
"[Who's that with you? They look awfully familiar….]" queried Zaalbar.
"Remember those people we thought were tourists back in the cantina?" Mission pointed at Carth and Skye. "It was them! It turned out they weren't tourists after all! They are on a secret mission for Gadon. And without them, I wouldn't have been able to deal with those damn Gamorreans myself."
Carth gave Zaalbar a friendly greeting nod. Skye took a step forward and reached out her hand: "[Please to meet you, my name is Skye Imarr.]"
That nearly floored him.
"[You know my language? Now that's a surprise.]" Zaalbar shook her hand. "[You have saved me from a life of servitude and slavery. There is only one way I can ever repay such an act: I will swear a lifedebt to you.]"
Skye was in frown. "A lifedebt?"
She glanced at Carth. He shrugged. "Beats me. This is the first time I heard such a term."
"Wow, are you sure about that?" Mission seemed to know exactly what Zaalbar meant. Her jaw immediately dropped. "This is serious! Don't you need to think about it through and through?"
"[I am sure, Mission. I am dead serious about this.]" Zaalbar looked at Mission earnestly. "[Because of our great physical strength, Wookiees are being used as slave labour on our own homeworld. They see us as brutes and animals to be exploited. Over the years slavers have taken many of my people; we must always be on guard against raids against our villages. When the Gamorreans captured me, I thought I was doomed to a life of servitude. I have been saved from such a fate, and the only way I can repay that is through a lifedebt.]" He turned towards Skye. "[Now, Miss Skye Imarr. Big Z swearing a Wookiee lifedebt to you.]"
He then bowed deeply; his head nearly touched his knee. "[May my vow be as strong as the roots of the great Wroshyr trees of Kashyyyk. In the presence of you all I swear my lifedebt. Forever after I will be by your side, Skye Imarr.]"
Skye blinked her eyes.
She looked helplessly at Mission, seeking some explanation. Obviously this was a very serious issue. A giant Wookiee was bowing right in front of her.
Mission was a bit anxious and excited. She stared at Skye for a few seconds, seemed to observe her reaction on this, and then she asked. "Do you know what this means? Do realize that this means?"
Skye shook her head. "I was hoping you can explain this to me."
"This is damn big, man!" Mission waved her arms sarcastically. "A lifedebt is the most solemn vow a Wookiee can make. It means he'll stay by your side for the rest of your life - wherever you go, whatever you do, Zaalbar will be with you."
Skye turned her head back at Big Z. This Wookiee just offered her the biggest gratitude any Wookiee could offer. She straightened her back and looked at him seriously.
"It will be my honour, Zaalbar." She placed one hand on her chest and bowed her head slightly.
Zaalbar looked up and made a few joyful howls.
"…Right. I guess I still have to keep my side of the bargain, huh?" Mission clapped her hands. "Well, the entrance of the Vulkar's base…let's see, if I remember correctly, we should be going that way." She pointed at the south-eastern sewer passage.
Skye and the party gathered their gear and headed off.
She found it was a bit hard to believe Mission would find this place 'exciting.' There were just endless Gamorreans and rakghouls to fend off, endless doors to open, endless passages that leaded them to dead-ends, and last but not least, endless lock for them to pick. If there wasn't someone who was very good at this kind of trick like Mission, Skye would certainly be still stuck behind some door for sure.
And obviously she wasn't the only one who realized that. After Mission successfully picked yet another incredibly tricky lock, Carth opened his mouth with great astonishment.
"Goodness, I must say, Mission. We are so glad you are with us. You are not just the little street brat I thought you were."
"You reckon?" Mission beamed. "Wow, no one said those things to me before. You really mean this, do you?"
"'Course." Carth arched his eyebrow.
"Gee, thanks! I really appreciated you said that. Zaalbar don't usually say that to me. No offence, Big Z." She quickly twisted her head around and threw Zaalbar a quick smirk. "But he is that kind of guy who don't talk much, hmm... an 'Actions speak louder than words' kind of guy, you know what I mean?"
"Yeah, we noticed," Skye smiled.
"Anyway, thanks for that, Carth." Mission seemed visibly touched by Carth's compliment. She was jumping around and almost beaming from ear to ear. "Arh... I am sorry I called you a 'dodgy old man.' You are actually pretty cool for your age!"
"For my age, aye?" Carth chuckled. "Force, I feel ancient…"
Skye couldn't help herself; she was in stitches.
Carth cast a secret shot glance at her. Goodness, she looked amazing when she laughed. There was a certain glow about her that made her look indescribably beautiful. He had to admit, he had started to quite enjoy watching her lips curl up in any angle. It had been a while since he saw her laugh like that, not since their little chat on the street of the Lower City. She was just trying to be nice and understand him a bit more, and to be honest he shouldn't lash out with those harsh comments to her. She took it quite personally, he could tell. Judging by the quietness and distance she had with him afterwards, it proved he was correct. He'd been trying to apologise to her a couple of times after that, but words were swallowed back down his throat every time she turned her clear blue eyes towards him.
No one deserved to be treated like that. Yes, he had trust issues. But it didn't mean he had to lash out like an injured kath hound every time someone went near him.
Why did he have problems trusting her? Was it just because he knew nothing about her? Force, he didn't have a clue. Was he more worried about she might not be what she seemed and betray him unexpectedly, or he might get hurt because of that possible betrayal?
His inward thoughts were disturbed by the abrupt stop of Zaalbar in front of him. He walked straight into the back of Zaalbar, like walking into a tree.
"What's wrong? Why are we stopping?" he asked half-heartedly while rubbing his slightly hurting forehead.
"[We are here.]" Zaalbar pointed at the blue transparent force field in front of them.
"Out of the way." Mission once again moved forward. She gently pushed Zaalbar aside. "Yup, yup. Right behind this force field is the secret passage to the Black Vulkar's base. Of course not many people know that—not even members of the Black Vulkars. The reason why that happened you will understand in a minute." She cocked her head slightly and looked at the computer switchboard not very far from them. " Now all we need is to hack into one of those babies….Oh, it's one of those."
"Seen them before?" Skye queried.
"'Course I have. There is no need to despair." Mission winked. "Gadon wouldn't have referred me to you guys for nothing! Righty-O, let's get cracking, shall we?"
She pulled out a small datapad from her pocket and inserted it into the slot on the computer switchboard. The mini screen immediately lit up and made a series of beeping sounds. She prodded and fiddled with the datapad and computer switchboard a bit; soon, the humming noise generated by the force field disappeared.
"Got this lovely babe from a very drunk Black Vulkar one night when I crushed him with pazaak in the cantina," smirked Mission. "It automatically downloads the newly-generated password from the central computer in Black Vulkar base every couple of days. There." She pointed at the force field. "Sorted."
They turned their heads around. Sure enough, the blue transparent force field was now gone.
"All right!" Mission snapped her fingers. "Not very long to go now. This way."
Carth switched his blaster rifle to his left shoulder and first stepped pass the gate, closely followed by Zaalbar, and then it was Mission. Skye pulled out her vibroblade, turned around, and did a quick scan around the area before following them through the gate.
"We have a problem." Carth looked at Skye after peeking through the shut door in front of them.
Skye raised her eyebrow and looked back at him with query. She quietly moved closer to the door and peeked through the crack.
She had to quickly cover her mouth to stop herself from screaming in fear. Behind the gate was the single biggest rancor she had ever seen in her life. It was almost as tall as a small building on Taris; its arms incredibly long, way past its knees and nearly reached its ankles; its hands, one alone was almost as big as those escape pods, plus the sharp pegs attached at the end of each finger. Its attacks must be ten times more vicious than the Gamorreans' and the rakghouls'; the only thing you could see on its head, nearly sunk in the top of its enormous body, was a big crack full of spikes. Its skin-or she should call it 'shell'-was covered with spikes and some gooey substance that reminded her of wasted oil that spaceships produced. It looked damn tough to penetrate, even with the sharpest vibroblade.
"Ooops, forgot to tell you guys about this little 'trouble' you might came across." Mission tapped her forehead, as she noticed Carth and Skye both were giving her evil glares. "This is the reason why most Black Vulkars don't know about this entrance. Even if they do, they prefer not going through here. That thing has been kept here since the year dot. Rumour has it that the founder of the gang put the beast here in the first place. Normally I sneak in with my stealth generator on while Big Z is waiting here. It's not that difficult!" she said innocently. "As long as you kept your steps quiet, I don't believe there should be a problem."
"Yeah, right." Carth made a sarcastic laugh. "If you can keep your steps all quiet when you are this near to a giant beast, I draw my hat on you."
Skye paced around with the arms folded. Her fingers drummed on her upper arms.
"There must be some way we could all get past that thing without wasting a single bullet…" she mumbled, almost to herself.
Suddenly her foot kicked into something. Skye lowered her head and found there was a rigorously chewed body part on the floor that resembled an arm. By now, they all had gotten used to body parts lying everywhere around the passages. Some of them were barely recognizable, some were still fresh, and some still had some items which proved very useful to them, so Skye had developed a habit of looping the parts to see if there were anything in them every time she came across one. This time it was no exception.
She gently used her foot to move around the arm a bit and found there was a datapad held tightly in the hand. Carth noticed it, too.
"What's this?" Carth bent down and tried to remove the datapad from the hand. It was a bit difficult, as the hand held the datapad quite tightly. He struggled a bit but finally managed to pull it out.
He flicked the switch on the bottom and shook and tapped the damaged datapad a bit. "Hey, it is still working."
Skye and Mission leaned forwards at once to read the display on the datapad. This datapad seemed to detail plans the Hidden Beks had to get into the Black Vulkar base. Of note is the following:
"We have synthesized a substance with an odor that resembles a favourite prey of rancors. If we place the bait properly, we can lure the rancor into eating something lethal enough to kill it."
"This?" Mission picked up a mini pocket-sized cylinder not very far from where the arm was found and waved it about a bit. She opened it. There were three clear glass tubes inside. The tubes seemed to contain some kind of liquid.
Skye uncorked the cap and had a sniff. Immediate she corked the cap back, with the most disgusted expression on her face. "Goodness, I think this is the one."
"All right, now how do we lure the silly bugger to eat it without any of us getting chewed up?" Carth peeked through the crack on the door again.
Skye starred at the door, frowning, for a few minutes without saying a word. Then she bent down, withdrew two grenades from her backpack and pressed the stealth generator activated botton on her belt. "I've got an idea…"
Her elegant slim figure became blurry, slowly merged with the surroundings, and disappeared.
Carth and the rest of the party heard light footsteps clicking away from them. The next thing they knew, the door slid open. There was a huge warehouse-like room inside, large enough to park two space shuttles side by side in it. Right on the other side of the room was a foot ramp that led towards a door—the entrance to the Vulkars' base-and in front of the door was the hideous creature they'd all been talking about—the gigantic rancor. The footsteps kept clicking and moving towards the pile of corpses and debris at the feet of the rancor.
Carth held his breath, watching the rancor slowing wave about his tremendously long arms and using every cell on his body to detect the footsteps and shovelling noise right at the bottom of the monster…
Suddenly, the rancor's head turned. It sniffed around in the mid-air, as if it sensed something. Its huge bulging eyes fell on the pile of debris and corpses.
The rancor began to move.
Mission held her hands into tight fist and whispered: "C'mon, Skye. You can do it."
They heard the footsteps hastily moving towards their direction. At the same time waves after waves of ground-shattering shakes nearly lurched them all off balance. The rancor slowing wobbled towards the piles, grabbed one of the dead corpses, and stuffed it into his big mouth.
Almost as soon as Skye's slender body reappeared in front of them, a loud explosion erupted behind them. They turned around just in time to see the rancor's mouth and throat get blown into pieces. It didn't even have a chance to make a sound. Skye and her party watched the rancor stagger backwards and forwards a bit before it collapsed onto the floor.