If the Lower City was bad the Undercity was horrible. Hundreds of people were packed into the small area and judging from the number of huts to the number of people, either some were forced to share their homes with two other families or were forced to sleep in the slime ridden streets. Their clothes were little more than rags, and there were several children wandering around with no shoes, the bottom of their feet black and bloody from stepping on the rocks and broken glass that lined the streets. A small river ran through the middle of the village, but instead of water what flowed was raw sewage and trash from the upper cities. The smell was staggering and even Ice seemed to be effected by the odor. There was no natural light, they were miles underground and the only lighting came from several hundred dimly lit street lights that cast most of the area in shadow adding a foreboding atmosphere. The air was damp and chilly, and if the people did not die from the Rakghoul infection, there was a constant risk of pneumonia and with almost no medical attention available, it was potentially fatal for the children and the elderly. Talan felt an overwhelming mix of revulsion, pity, and rage. How could any system allow their people to live like this?
"Outcasts and decedents of those who fought in the rebellion," Ice said seeming to read his mind. "The ones who rebelled died out a long time ago, yet those who remain are still punished for the sins of their fathers. Most people here have never even heard of sunlight much less seen it."
"They were sent down here during the Tarisian Civil war," Carth added "they rebelled against the injustice forced upon them by the wealthy and powerful. They were cast out and sent here to hide the stain that would mark their otherwise perfect society. Now their conditions are worse than they were before the rebellion."
"We should get moving," Ice said. "The longer we linger here feeling sorry for them the more chance someone not so helpless will try to slit our throats for a few credits. Their desperation will drive them to pick fights they cannot win and I would rather not have the blood of a reckless beggar on my hands."
"Which way to the sewers?" Talan asked.
"That way," Ice motioned with her head. "Past the river of sludge and decay, to the left of the rotting animal carcass."
The trio made their way through the streets and Talan could feel every pair of eyes on them. No doubt they thought them to be some Upper City dwellers come to laugh at their misfortune. He tried to avoid making eye contact with anyone; it would do no good if he became emotionally involved in their situation. As much as he would like to help these people he knew that he was in no position to help at the moment and they could not afford to start raising rebellions.
The sound of shouting interrupted his thoughts.
"Lower the gate, please! He'll die if you leave him in there!"
The source of the commotion was immediately apparent. Just ahead of them there was a large gate cutting of the village from the area beyond. A young woman was pleading with what could only be the gatekeeper, and judging from his grim expression and her panicked yells, he was willing to leave whoever was in danger to die.
Talan hurried ahead to the hysterical woman.
"What's the problem?"
"One of the villagers, Hendar, he wandered into the sewers despite my warning and now he has returned. Followed by the Rakghouls! I cannot open the gate and risk infecting everyone in the village!"
"Please make him open the gate! Hendar's no fool he was just trying to find something salvageable from the wreck to sell to feed us."
Hendar had now reached the gate and was pleading with the man to open the gate. Three monstrous looking creatures could be seen shortly off in the distance. Talan looked into the man's eyes, seeing the fear and silent plea looking back at him.
"Open the gate." He said to the gatekeeper. "We will handle the Rakghouls."
"Stranger, Rakghouls are not some rabid dog that-"
"Do as he says." Ice said surprising both Talan and Carth.
The gatekeeper muttered something inaudible under his breath about crazy surface dwellers but pulled the lever to lower the gate. Hendar ran past the trio who immediately rushed through the gates and drew their weapons. Carth immediately took one of the creatures down with his blasters and Ice and Talan made short work of the other two. Talan removed his blade from the head of the creature, looking at it with disgust. He silently thought that he would much rather die than to be turned into something so foul.
"You know," Ice said as she kicked the ghoul nearest to her. "It's been a long time since I fought something that could actually die."
"You almost sound pleased." Talan said with a small grin.
"Cracking skulls in the arena is all well and good but there's something oddly satisfying when the skulls stay cracked."
"You really scare me." Carth said. "You know that?"
"Join the ranks fly-boy."
Their banter was interrupted by yet another shouting voice. This one seemed to be directed at them. Sure enough running towards them in a panic was a youthful looking blue Twi'lek.
"Mission?" Ice asked somewhat surprised. "You're less hairy than the last time we spoke. Where is your Wookiee shadow?
"They took him! He yelled at me to run and I did but there were too many of them, the last thing I saw was Z being overwhelmed by them! We have to help him!"
"Who are 'they' and 'them'?" Talan asked
"Slavers! Gamorrean Slavers! They have a base in the sewers and they cornered us while we were exploring. Please, I helped you get the papers to get this far and you won't get in the Vulkar base without me. And I'm not going without Zaalbar!"
Ice swore loudly. "Slavers. If there's one thing I hate more than the Sith or my sister's holier than thou attitude it's slavers."
"Are you melting on us Ice?" Talan asked jokingly.
"Don't insult me Stranger. No one should be forced to submit to something against their will."
"Speaking of that!" Mission interrupted.
"Yes, yes. " Ice said. "We help you get your walking floor decoration back and you get us into the base, we get it."
"Good." Mission said her face relaxing a little. "There's a side entrance to the sewers that we can use. The main entrance is suicide."
Carth sighed. "Trudging through the sewers to save a captive Wookiee so we can break in and steal from a street gang so we can possibly explode in a street race. I'll add that to the list of things I wasn't planning on doing today."
"Come on it will be fun." Talan said smiling. "What could possibly go wrong?"
Carth shook his head. He hated when people said that.
Tracking down an imprisoned Wookiee proved to be much harder than expected. They had gotten lost several times in the tunnels despite Mission insistence that she knew where she was going. More than once that had stumbled onto a group of Gamorrean slavers. The fights never lasted long as the slavers had brains slightly more advanced than Kath hounds, but it did nothing to ease the tension the group was beginning to feel. By the time they had tracked down Zaalbar, disabled the barrier leading to the lower levels of the sewer, and trekked through what felt like miles of water and sludge, tempers were high.
"This is the last door before the Vulkar base" Mission said as they approached a massive door at the end of a long corridor.
"If I recall correctly, and I do," Ice said dressing a wound on her forearm "The last time you said that we entered a room filled with Gamorrean guards and their guard droids."
"It's not my fault! It could have easily been the same door."
"And I could easily be mistaken for Ajuur the Hutt."
'Judging from your personality they would not be too far off.' Zaalbar said in his growl.
Mission snickered.
"I understood that perfectly well you overgrown hair piece."
"Enough." Carth said for once Talan agreed with him. "Let's just hurry up and get out of these sewers. I think I saw something swimming in the water earlier and I don't want to wait around to find out what it is."
"Before you open the door I should probably mention something I forgot earlier." Mission said causing everyone to glare at her.
"Don't look at me like that, I forgot! My best friend was in danger of being sold and de-clawed, dealing with the Rancor was not on my list of priorities at the time."
"I'm sorry, did you say Rancor?" Talan asked.
"Well, yeah. You didn't think it was going to be so easy as to just walk into the base did you?"
"You know, somehow I hoped it would be." Talan sighed. He had faced all manner of men and monsters in his time in the army, but a Rancor was something beyond his experience.
"Any ideas?" He asked the group.
"We could throw the blue one in as a distraction." Ice offered. "Then while it is distracted with picking her out of its teeth we could sneak past it."
"Hey!" Mission protested as Zaalbar roared.
"Actually, that's may not a bad idea." Talan said.
"What? you can't be serious!" Mission protested.
"You're the quickest one here." Talan said. "You can distract the thing and maneuver around it easier than the rest of us can. You can distract it while the rest of us finish it off."
"It's true, I am faster than all of you." Mission said a look of pride on her face. "All right lets do it, just make sure the thing doesn't eat my face."
"I hope your feet are as fast as your mouth." Ice said shaking her head.
"Are you ready?" Talan asked after they had devised a plan.
"As ready as I'll ever be." Mission said with uncertainty.
Zaalbar had been adamantly against the whole idea. It was obvious he was very protective of the girl and it had taken lots of convincing on Mission's part for him to allow the plan to take place.
"Good." Ice said pushing the button opening the door. "Off you go. Don't get dead."
"You better do your part in there!" Mission said as the doors slowly came open.
"We will." Talan said reassuringly.
"I meant her." Mission said as she slowly entered the large room. The first sight that greeted her was a large pile of bones lying in the corner. A strangled noise escaped her throat but she cut it off immediately. She did not want to lose the element of surprise, though she doubted it would make much of a difference if she did. The beast was at the far end of the room and was chewing on something noisily. For a brief moment she wondered what it was but then decided that she did not want to know. Each step seemed to take forever and it seemed like miles to reach the spot they had all agreed on. She stopped for a few seconds, trying to slow the rapid beating of her heart. She took a deep breath trying to calm her nerves.
"Hey! Bantha breath!" She said loudly.
The Rancor stopped feasting, turning his head at the interruption. It turned its massive head toward her, letting out an ear splitting roar. Spittle flew out of its mouth and flew right into Mission's face. She wiped it off in disgust.
"Gross! Didn't your mother teach you any manners!"
The Rancor threw aside the Gamorrean carcass he had been chewing on and charged towards Mission. Mission dived out the way at the exact moment Ice deactivated her stealth field generator. She threw a concussion grenade directly into the beast's face and drew her Echani sword, running towards the creature. Zaalbar and Talan were there in a flash hacking at the creature's legs. They did little damage however as the Rancor's skin was thick and tough and Talan was sure they were doing little more than irritating the creature.
"Look out!" They heard Carth yell as the Rancor recovered. Too late, without warning the creature swung its massive arm sending Zaalbar flying into the wall on the other side of the room.
"Z!" Mission yelled from somewhere in the vicinity. Zaalbar was conscious but barely and growled weakly.
"A flying Wookiee." Ice said ducking under another swing of the Rancor's arm. "Now I've seen everything."
"Wait until you've seen a Hutt cry." Talan said as he sliced at the arm that threatened to grab him. The Rancor roared loudly from pain and rage.
"You lie!" Ice said as she slashed in the creature's leg.
"It's true. I once saw a Hutt lose thirty thousand credits on a bet. They hate to lose." Talan swung his blade and part of the creature's massive claw fell away.
Carth's blaster fire finally hit their mark. He fired two shots straight into the creature's eye, blinding it. The Rancor roared loudly and stomped around blindly hoping to crush one of them. When the Rancor opened its giant mouth to roar again Talan threw a frag grenade directly into the creature's mouth.
"Run!" Talan yelled and they all ran toward the tunnel leading to the Vulkar base to avoid a rather messy shower. The Rancor let out one last earth shattering roar before disappearing in a flash of light. The explosion was muffled, but mixed with unpleasant squelsh thatechoed around them as the Rancor exploded into a thousand gory pieces.
"Sick!" Mission yelled. She had somehow managed to usher Zaalbar into the safety of the tunnel and he sat against the wall looking somewhat dazed but otherwise unhurt.
"You two sure know how to make a mess." Carth said looking at the smoking pile of flesh and entrails.
"And you are a terrible marksman." Ice said swinging her blade clean.
"I suppose you could do better?" Carth returned calmly.
"In my sleep."
Talan wandered a little down the tunnel and came across two Vulkar guards laying face down on the floor. There were not dead but it would take some time for them to regain consciousness. Mission came and stood beside him a smug grin spreading across her face.
"Your doing I assume?"
"Well, I couldn't let you have all the fun."
Talan laughed softly. "Nice job." He said, returning to the group.
Mission kicked one of the guards hard in the ribs. "I wonder when people will learn to stop underestimating me."