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People who alerted this fic: Darth Reaper
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Chapter 5: Information Gathering
The meadow was peaceful. And for the two five-year-olds that equaled soon spied a cave in the distance. With childish glee the youngsters headed for what would be (in their minds) the adventure of their lives. The brown haired girl stopped at the entrance of the cave and peered into its depths. "I don't think we should go in there." She said with uncertainty. The dirty-blonde haired boy turned to her and exclaimed, "Com'on Kaylee! It'll be fun!"
And with those words the boy led in to the cave. After traveling through the cave for a bit the two children came upon a split in the path. One looked like it led to a lit area and the other just led deeper in the cave. The boy felt something, a faint tug on the edge of his consciousness, which beckoned him down the path. The boy started to go down the path deeper when the small girls voice hesitantly rang out, "Revan! I don't think we sh-should go down there!" Revan turned to her and questioned her, "Why not?" "Because who knows w-whats down there?" She quietly replied. "It'll be fine. It's completely safe." Revan assured her. " 'Sides, Iff'in there was somethin' down there, I'll protect you!"
Kaylee was not inspired by Revan's speech and continued to shake her head. After a few more pleading statements Revan angrily said, "Fine! You're too afraid go down there? Then stay here! 'Cause I'm goin' down!" And with those parting words Revan turned and marched down the path, ignoring Kaylee's increasingly loud pleadings to come back.
The tug became stronger as Revan moved down the path. As he progressed down the path, it got darker and darker. After it had darkened to almost pitch black, Revan saw a faint light in the distance. He ran towards it. The light became bigger and brighter as he drew closer to it. The tunnel suddenly opened into what seemed to be a massive cavern; or at least it seemed massive to the five-year-old. After gazing in awe at the cavern, Revan noticed that the there wasn't any lights that he could see. "Then where is the light comin' from?" He wondered out loud. The tug returned and Revan found himself turning his gaze downward until he spotted a strange sight. A crystal formation sat in the middle of the giant room. But what was strange was the unnatural red light that seemed to be emitting from it. Revan felt drawn to the crystal. He slowly walked towards it, raising his hand to touch it as he got close.
As soon as his hand touched the glowing red crystal, the light flickered. Not that Revan would have noticed. An intense pressure exploded in his skull and faint incomprehensible whispers in his ear. The pressure kept building and Revan thought his head was going to explode! With his consciousness starting to fade, Revan pushed the pressure back within his skull. At first it resisted, but then Revan had a thought; "How can I protect Kaylee if my head explodes?" With that thought bolstering his will, Revan began to slowly push back the pressure. Time became meaningless as he fought the desperate battle in his mind. The crystal was now shining with almost blinding intensity. Then abruptly, the light went out. The pressure in Revan's mind vanished. He collapsed in front of the dark crystal. An unknown amount of time passed. Revan slowly woke to the whispers. He couldn't understand them.
Then, Revan suddenly felt a flash of intense pain, driving him to his knees. It was the worst pain he had ever faced in his short life. As Revan fought for consciousness, one thought formed into his mind. It wasn't his pain. Kaylee. Something had happened to Kaylee. The pain vanished as Revan bolted out of the room towards where he had last saw his bestest friend. And if Revan would have taken the time to look back, he would have seen the crystal glowing red once more. The whispers grew louder.
Mach sat up in bed with a barley suppressed groan. He then let out actual groan when he remembered what he had to do today. Mach let out along sigh as remembered why he was dreading this day.
After Carth and Mach had left the apartment complex, they had stuck to a series of hallways running parallel to the main street. When they had traveled for a while, they came upon a clothing store that had seen it better days. Mach had peered in and was surprised to find that it was run by a Abaxus Selling Droid. The Abaxus Selling Droid was one of the few droids that could be left unattended without worry. The droid simply wasn't smart enough to realize that nothing was actually preventing it from escaping. And due to the fact its programming was designed to accept customers, regardless of race or social status, a strange quirk had developed. The droids became dependent on making a sale. If the droid had assessed that you had some credits to burn, you probably could run around waving a blaster in the air and/or screaming wildly and it wouldn't care. And since it had no concept of time, it could wait indefinitely for you to finish.
They entered the shop. The droid scanned them and returned its attention to the door, beeping quietly to itself. They had quickly found what they had been looking for. Traveling cloaks. A traveling cloak was worn on the back and vaguely looked like a cape. But fashion was not what concerned the two soldiers, the cloaks could hide their weapons from casual sight. Better still, it made them look just like all of the other hundred travelers wondering the streets. Carth picked a dark green color while Mach picked a black one. Carth had raised an eyebrow at his companion's choice of color but had decided not to comment on it. They paid for the clothing and moved back into the hallway. They looked at the crowd moving passed them down the street and then at each other. They then stepped out and merged with the throng, becoming just another face in the crowd.
After that, it was simple to make their way to the cantina. The First Taris Cantina was big. Extending for at least five stories each designed for different types of patrons, it was a searchers nightmare. After an exchange of words, Mach and Carth decided to split up to cover more ground, the latter albeit more reluctantly than the former.
Carth had gone to the upper levels and Mach had gone to the lower levels. After the two hours passed, the agreed upon time, they met at a table on the ground floor.
"So, any luck?" Carth questioned as he sat down.
"Some." Came the reply.
After several moments of silence Carth spoke again, "I guess I'm going first. I learned from an old spacer that the Sith took over this planet 2 months ago. They imposed the blockade over the planet over two weeks ago. No ships in or out. And to top it off, If you did get a ship off the ground, the turret ring would blast you out of the sky long before you reached the actual blockade itself!" Carth then continued in a slightly hopeful tone, "But, there maybe a way around that problem. The Sith, according to a fighter pilot, have firing codes that can be imputed to control or stop the turrets from firing. The only problem is, it's located inside a Sith base. " A slightly frustrated tone now colored Carth's voice as he continued, "But, even if we get the launch codes we still don't have a ship to leave!" Carth looked over at Mach. "How about you? What did you learn?"
"Well," Mach Began "I found out that Bastila probably crash landed on one of the lower levels. And then, chances are, she was captured. By a gang." Mach stated matter-a -factly. Carth looked skeptical at Mach's information. "Bastila is a Jedi. She wouldn't get captured by some gang. " Mach looked at Carth, "Even if she was unconscious?" Carth opened and closed his mouth. "Damn. Are you sure?" Carth asked Mach. "Somehow…yes." Mach replied slowly.
"Is it because of…" Carth vaguely pointed to his head. Mach nodded.
"But, we can't just reach the lower levels. They are well guarded." Mach continued.
"Then how are we supposed to get down there!?" Carth demanded. He paused. Then looked at Mach. "You have a plan." Carth realized.
Mach nodded and then explained. "It was just after I got done talking to a former Black Vulkars, a large gang in the lower city, I noticed a woman…"
Mach got up from the table. The male Nikto was slumped on the table, barely conscious, muttering gibberish. He idly wondered if the alien was susceptible to liver poisoning. Mach then panned the room for any more useful information points. He then saw a woman sitting by herself in the back of the room.
She had red hair and brown expressive eyes. Mach would have considered her pretty, if not borderline beautiful, except for the scowl that creased her face. She looked fairly intelligent and at ease in the cantina; so Mach figured that it wasn't her first time here. By proxy, it meant that she had been on planet for a while, since the Sith had blockaded the planet. And judging from the scowl, Mach guessed that she considered herself better then the common rabble around her. Each observation, by itself, was not remarkable; together it matched the profile of an off duty Sith officer. Mach let a small smile touch his lips. For some odd reason, the average female would pay complete attention to him when he was talking to them and then answer any question he asked of him. Most also tried to touch him as he talked to them as well. Mach shook his head slightly. "Females were odd. They didn't follow the logical progression of things. They thought emotionally. How could you base a conclusion on emotions? Emotions, by definition, were undefinable. How then could they be good things to be used make decision? I will never understand them." Mach thought as he straightened his cloak and flattened down his hair. He then headed towards the woman.
Sarna was bored out of her mind. There was absolutely nothing on this god forsaken planet to do except to drink the local ale. Just when she was ready to throw up her hands and go back to base, a baritone voice broke into her thoughts.
"Excuse me miss. I couldn't help but notice you were sitting here by yourself. May I sit down?" Sarna head snapped to look at the owner of the voice. The stranger was tall, mysterious, and well dressed, or at least better than all of the other common civilians. And most definitely male. His brown hair was short, not as short as a military cut or anything, but short enough to show case his head. He had a strong jaw, and was well muscled. Not grotesquely or anything, just perfectly muscled. But the most intriguing thing about him was his eyes. The bright green eyes were hypnotizing and currently danced with a hint of mirth. As Sarna concluded her perusal, she came to a conclusion. He was hot.
Mach watched as the Sith slowly looked him over. He then repeated his question. She looked startled and nodded, a light blush appearing on her cheeks.
"So…" Mach began. "I saw you from over there," He indicated with his head, "and I decided it was criminal from a beautiful woman as yourself to be sitting by your lonesome."
"Oh, really?" Sarna drew out the words. "How do you know I didn't want to alone?"
Mach smirked. "From the way you looked at me when I walked over here." Sarna had the good grace to look slightly embarrassed.
"Sarna" The Sith woman said as she offered her hand.
"Rodren" Mach replied as he took her hand. Her hand was cold. Mach let his hand linger a second longer than was strictly necessary.
Sarna blushed again as his hand lingered on hers. His hand was warm. She was slightly disappointed as he removed his hand from hers. His voice took an inquisitive tone as he asked her, "So, why are you sitting by yourself? You could probably have any guy in the room hanging on your every word if you wanted." Sarna frowned as she replied. "No one wants to have fun on this planet."
Mach fought to keep his eye brow from rising. She was part of a military enterprise that killed people and conquered planets. And she wondered why the residents of a conquered planet didn't like her. Mach adopted a sympathetic tone as he said, "Yeah. This planet is probably is one of the most boring planet's I have ever been to. But I try to make the most of it." Actually, Dantooine is much more boring. The thought randomly entered his brain. Mach shook his head mentally to clear it as the Sith started to reply.
"Exactly! It's all about attitude. I didn't ask to be assigned to this to this backwater planet, but I try to make the best of it!" Sarna exclaimed. She paused for a second and then smiled slowly as she leaned forward slightly, "And how do you make to most of it?"
Mach let another smirk appear as he replied, leaning forward as he did so. "By getting to know the locals and their rituals."
Sarna's smile slowly spread as she leaned forward. "Oh?" She said breathily, "And what sort of rituals would you be interested in?" She said with a particular smile.
Mach let his trade mark smirk appear once again; leaning forward closer to the female as he lowered his voice "I prefer the hands on type."
Sarna smirked like a Maalraas cat. "Oh?" She purred. "Well, there is a party at four tomorrow. And I'd really like you to come. Interested?"
Mach sometimes hated his job. "I might."
"It's at apartment 57B in the North 20 Apartment Complex." Sarna looked at the crono and scowled slightly. "I have to go to my shift now." As she got up from the table and walked passed Mach she let her fingers run up his arm. "I'd really like to see you there. I might even give you a…reward."And with those parting words she sashayed out of the room.
Mach had to resist the urge to go to the nearest 'fresher and wash his arm off.
Carth looked over at Mach incredulously. "How is going to party, a Sith party no less, going to help us?" He demanded.
"They will most likely drink themselves into unconsciousness. When that happens we will take their uniforms and use them to pass the guards patrolling the elevator to the Lower City." Mach explained.
Carth had to grudgingly admit that it was a good plan. "What time is it?"
"Tomorrow. Four."
Carth heaved out a sigh. "Well, let's head back to the apartment." Mach nodded and the two soldiers left the cantina.