Chapter 4
Fear
"You lost your way, little girl?" the shadowy figure spoke, her cultured voice elegant yet chilling at the same time as the tip of her blaster pressed against the side of Mission's head.
"Who…who are you?" Mission replied in a shaky tone, holding her hands up as she looked attentively at the woman who was still standing in the shadows.
The stranger let out a slight chuckle, seemingly amused by Mission's fearful responses. "Have a short memory, do we? Perhaps a reminder is in order, then. We've already met in the Lower City duel arena."
Kael stepped forward in curiosity, but still remained cautious so as to avoid startling the woman. "The arena?"
"Yes. Don't you remember?" she chuckled lightly. "It was shortly after you killed that unlucky Devaronian in the second round, and—" She then responded with lightning-fast reflexes, using a spinning manoeuvre as Mission attempted to take advantage of her brief lapse in concentration to snatch her pistol. In the blink of an eye, Mission was pulled to the ground and at the mercy of her mysterious captor once again, while Carth, Kael and Zaalbar were too slow to help her.
The woman sighed in disappointment and spoke softly to Mission. "All those years of taking care of you, and Zaerdra didn't do as much as train you properly in unarmed combat. How typical of her, isn't it…Mission?"
"You…How do you know my name? And Zaerdra?" Mission asked, feeling somewhat safer as she felt the grip around her shirt collar loosen.
"Yeah, yeah, that's your cue to relax, dear," the woman released Mission and holstered her weapon. She extended a hand to the young Twi'lek to help her to her feet, an offer that Mission accepted with an open hand.
"Ugh…," Mission groaned as she tried to get up, peering down at her left leg.
"Something the matter?" the stranger asked.
"She said she bruised her leg a little after falling down the ladder," Kael explained. "We rushed down here after being chased by rakghouls."
"Let me see that," the woman demanded of Mission as she crouched beside her and pulled up her pants by the left ankle until she spotted a nasty bruise upon the shin that was faintly illuminated under the weak and flickering light.
Mission remained insistent. "I told you, it's nothing. Let's just get moving already!"
"Ssh, shut up," her tender said quickly, the serious tone in her voice indicative of the fact that she would not accept further protests from Mission. Upon further examining the affected area of Mission's leg, she promptly grabbed what appeared to be a syringe of sorts from her inner jacket pocket and held it over her targeted spot.
"Eek! What the hell?!" Mission's hands flew up to her mouth in horror.
"Rakghoul serum. Just in case."
"I don't need it! I'm not bit—aggh!" Mission squealed in silenced pain as she felt the needle digging into her skin. Moments later, she began to feel a stinging pain where the needle departed and rubbed her leg with a miserable look on her face.
"Better safe than sorry, honey. Now come on," the woman told Mission as she pulled her to her feet. Walking over to the others, she gave Mission a gentle push in the back as a sign to return to her companions' side. As she approached, the stranger's face became illuminated in the weak and flickering sewer lights, revealing features which resonated nothing short of coldness: a pale complexion, pale lips, blue eyes and shiny blonde hair. She wore a tight yellow combat jacket and dark blue pants which complemented her lithe and curvaceous figure.
Rolling her eyes and sighing at the men who still had their weapons pointed at her out of concern, she waved her wrist at them in a gesture to lower their guns. "I believe I have seen you all already. Name's Ice."
"Ice?" Kael questioned. "Aren't…aren't you the one who—"
"Got my ass kicked by you in the arena, yes. Don't get all cocky about it," she said in irritation. "And did you really have to charge at me with a damned vibroblade? You should know how a treat a lady, even if it's in the ring. At one point, I thought I might have to start calling myself Ice three-fingers."
Kael shrugged. "Never was a good shot."
"Hmph. Well, at least I can thank you for holding back somewhat, and also for actually stopping once you disarmed me."
"So who are you, exactly?" Carth asked her.
"Oh…only the third-most senior member of the Hidden Beks. Why do you ask?" Ice smiled. "But enough idle chit-chat. We can speak while moving, can't we? Don't want to linger anywhere while those rakghouls are roaming."
"Al…alright," Mission nodded, stepping forward to lead the others with Ice. "Follow the two of us, and stay close."
Moving cautiously as a group, Kael explained to Ice the reason why they had come down into the sewers, as well as the savage rakghoul attack that forced them to seek shelter. Warming up to them, Ice revealed further details about her involvement in the Hidden Bek gang, and that she would on occasion scout around in the sewers in order to keep an eye on any potential developments among the Black Vulkars.
"You've come at a real shitty time, I'm afraid," Ice informed them as they walked quietly through the shadowy passages of the sewers, taking care not to make any noise that would alert any potential foe. "Your Jedi friend sent the Vulkars on a hysterical security spree. Tough girl even took out the rancor that guarded their side entrance. My guess is that she was taken out by some secret gas mines they planted just inside that entrance. Vulkar punks always liked using their secret mines to take out our rookies. We'll have to make our way to the deeper parts of the lower sewers in order to ascend from the opposite side of the sewer complex and access their base from the kitchen drain."
Carth remained cynical. "Are you sure that'd work? If security is as upped as you make it seem, then we shouldn't get our hopes up that your plan will work out."
Ice chuckled. "You wouldn't believe how stupid some of the Vulkars are, especially the ones they assign meagre duties like watching over living spaces. Trust me when I say that I've had the fun of slipping in through the sewer, putting on some slave rags in the kitchen and pretending to be one of their servants, and then taking one or two of them out before they even notice as I make my way out again. I've got a friend called Ada who's a slave there and will help us out. With luck, we should be able to rescue your friends without much trouble."
"Wait a moment," Kael stopped in his tracks, causing the others to do the same. "Just why exactly are you helping us? We don't exactly have anything noticeable of value to provide you in exchange for your assistance. I'm sorry to say this, but I can't trust you completely."
Ice looked over her shoulder, peering at him blankly. She then shot a glance at Mission. "Beks look after one another when we're in trouble. It's the attitude that separates us from the Vulkars and Grey Hands, and wins us the affections of the people of the Lower and Undercity."
Carth couldn't help but express his curiosity. "You and Mission kept on mentioning these 'Grey Hands'…what kind of gang are they, really?"
Ice winced her eye at him. "You're not aware of them?" Receiving an uninformed shake of the head from Carth, she explained. "Well, simply put, we Beks are the 'angels' of the Lower City, helping the needy with what supplies we can manage to spare while providing them protection when we can from common thugs. The Vulkars are the spoiled little brats, obsessed with proving their 'superiority' by ambushing our junior members in large groups and snatching innocent girls off the street. The Grey Hands, however…"
Kael implored her to go on, taking notice of her hesitance. "What about them?"
"Pure evil," she replied. "It's almost as if they don't have any souls. The Grey Hands don't even take slaves; they just simply kill for pleasure. More like butcher. Walking alone and unarmed in the Lower City at any time is essentially a death wish. You get the picture, so I'll just leave it at that."
"Hey Ice?" Mission spoke, prompted by Ice's previous referral to their gang's sense of camaraderie. "Sorry for bothering you about this, but how do you know me?"
"It's natural for you to not know me," Ice smirked as she took the lead once more. "You were only about seven or eight at the time we met. Your brother had a bit of…well, 'trouble' would be a nice way of putting it – a run-in with none other than the Grey Hands. I remember being darn exhausted after extracting him from one of their hideouts, and Zaerdra almost lost her life that day. On my bed I was, resting until you came up to me and personally thanked me for saving your brother, although I was too drowsy to properly respond. I thought you were a sweet kid. We didn't have any direct contact after that, but I knew where you and Griff's room was, so I left some stuff inside for you to eat every now and then while you were younger. When no-one was looking, of course – they don't call me Ice for nothing, and I have a reputation and an image to uphold."
"Really?" Mission's eyebrows rose in shock. "I…I never knew that. Thanks, I guess."
"You can thank me properly by perhaps saving my life down here. Never know what might happen," Ice said, looking attentively at her dark surroundings which only grew dimmer as they progressed.
The newer surroundings caused much inner confusion within Kael, who treaded behind Ice with both certainty and reluctance. While he was glad to get away from the main sewer areas which churned his stomach, the increasing darkness which seemed to consume them with every step they took gradually replaced disgust with an emotion which he loathed all the more in this critical time: fear.
Once they slipped their way through a broken sewer door, Ice gave further warning to her new allies. "Everything's completely pitch black from here on out. Mission, stay beside me with your torch on at all times unless I say so. They rest of you, keep your ears open and don't lose us no matter what you do. Remember: blasters only, silencers on. I may have been lucky to have one serum sample on me, but don't expect me to dish any more of them out."
Kael nervously held on to the side walls of the narrow pathway, making an effort to keep as close to Mission and Ice as possible while still maintaining a watch on the perimeter. Carth walked beside him, his modified blaster pistol's sniper scope emitting a weak red line which attentively followed the trajectory of Mission's torch.
Everything having gone too quiet, Kael thought he could hear the very beating of his heart as his breathing grew deep and forcefully repressed inwards. He wished that the growling and savage grunts he heard faintly far off in the distance were nothing more than mere products of his imagination, but he knew that they would soon have to prepare to fight for their lives once more.
After exiting the narrow corridor into a wider, circular chamber which housed five different pathways each to different parts of the inner sewers, Ice shined her torch decisively at the path which lay directly ahead, then signalled the others to follow her.
"Are you sure about this, Ice?" Mission asked in a hushed whisper. "Something tells me that we should take that path." She pointed her flashlight at the path that lay just to the right of Ice's selection.
"What makes you say that?" Ice turned her head and questioned.
Mission shrugged. "I…I'm not sure. I know that you're more of an expert when it comes to this sewer, but…It's just a feeling, y'know?"
"Have you been to these parts often?"
"Well, no, mainly just the outer parts, but I've been into the inner sections a couple of times and—"
"Then follow me," Ice ordered coldly. "Besides, I hear the wailing of rakghouls from the direction you pointed at. You still want to go that way?"
Mission whimpered unconfidently like a child who had just been berated by her parent. "No…"
"On with it, then," Ice pointed forward, and the team nervously followed, their blaster fingers twitching shakily as they were led deeper into the darkness.
-o-
Standing in lone solitude on the upper platform of the command bridge of his flagship, Darth Malak glared disdainfully at the vibrant, sprawling planet that was Taris. His gaze was as sharp as that of a starving predator hunting its prey, such was his determination to find what could potentially guarantee his complete victory or ruin: Bastila Shan.
Servitude or death – those were the only two options that would be available to her.
The summarily execution of every single trooper who came grovelling for mercy at his feet following their failure to capture Bastila aboard the Endar Spire was not enough to even temporarily douse his burning fury. Intimidated by the torturous ordeals and deaths of their failed comrades, the rest of the crew who witnessed the punishment only resolved to redouble their efforts in the hope of avoiding the same gruesome fate. His patience growing ever thinner, the knuckles of Malak's clenched fists grew deathly white until he heard the sound of footsteps approaching him.
"Lord Malak," Admiral Saul Karath informed him with a bow of his head, "the search teams are scouring the lower levels of Taris without pause. They expect to find Bastila within the next—"
"Prepare the fleet immediately."
"M-milord?" Karath slightly flinched at the order. "Surely you do not mean to—"
"I grow tired of waiting, Admiral. With the forces at our disposal, Bastila life or death is of no consequence to me. Destroy the entire planet."
"The-the entire planet, Lord Malak?" Karath swallowed nervously. "But…shall we not first withdraw our forces from the planet? What of the Exchange? Will this not potentially jeopardize our dealings with them?"
A voice suddenly spoke disdainfully at him. "Lord Malak grows tired of hearing your complaints, Admiral Karath."
Having been mere seconds away from setting the Admiral's priorities straight once more with a threatening Force Choke, Malak turned his attention to the Vice Admiral who approached them. The young man of twenty-nine years walked in confident strides, the sharp look in his cold blue eyes being enough to unsettle his own superior who fell silent in fear of further offending his master. He stopped in front of them, his short cropped blonde hair impeccable in presentation and his hands wrapped together behind his back as he stood at attention. His spotless stark grey uniform was adorned with medals aplenty, an exemplary symbol of his peerless professionalism. Everything about the man – his stance, his gaze, the tone of his voice – exuded boundless confidence, much in contrast to his superior who stood by with a nervous look on his face.
"You wish to make a report, Vice Admiral Krieg?" Malak asked.
"I have instructed the crew of the other cruisers to prepare for a full-scale bombardment of the planet, milord," Krieg reported, then shot an arrogant glance towards Karath. "I still recall your orders in the previous week to destroy the planet of Kel Moltha in order to eliminate a Jedi Master, and believe that the present circumstances require the same drastic measures to ensure our final victory." Turning his eyes back to his master, he concluded his report. "Our forces will be in position to begin the bombardment within 24 hours, with three additional fleets en route to our position to ensure that a full blockade will be in place for maximum efficiency."
The Dark Lord was pleased. "Excellent, Vice Admiral. Your resourcefulness and cunning shall continue to serve you well. Now…," he paused, glaring sideways at his disappointment of an Admiral before reverting his attention and cold gaze to the planet of Taris, "leave me."
The Admiral and Vice Admiral bowed to their master and departed, the junior officer giving his superior an arrogant smirk as he walked away, leaving Karath seething with anger and jealousy which festered in his heart and eyes.
-o-
Beads of sweat trickled down Kael's forehead as he treaded quietly along the far-reaching passageway that Ice chose to lead them through, the wild growling of the rakghouls, which were nowhere to be seen yet everywhere to be heard, never ceasing for a moment. He didn't dare to even let a single drop of sweat fall onto the metallic floor which he and the others delicately walked upon, fearing that even the slightest bit of sound would attract swarms of rakghouls to their position. Mission and Ice, now feeling real concern for the possibility of attracting unwanted attention, only shone their flashlights downwards close to their feet.
Kael thought his heart stopped beating as Ice spoke in a whisper. "Okay, the Vulkar Base is not far from here. After we come through this passageway, we should find ourselves in a wide open chamber which contains parts of the old and dysfunctional sewage containment facility. We then turn left and continue until we come to a ladder. I'll fill you in on the rest once we've ascended to the upper sewers."
Mission stammered, placing her hand gently on Ice's wrist. "Ice, I…"
"What is it, Mission?"
"I have a bad feeling about this. Maybe we should go back."
Ice shook her head and quietly crept forward. "No chance. I'd even take a guess that some rakghouls have wandered into the chamber from which we came. We can't afford to make a racket now. We just have to go a little further, and—" She froze in dead silence, realizing the horrific extent of her mistake and immediately switched off her and Mission's flashlights.
"In the name of…," Carth whimpered as they all paused behind Ice, looking on at a sight which turned their stomachs.
Some ways off in the distance could be seen the dark silhouettes of a swarm of rakghouls, the incessant snapping and crunching of the monsters' teeth against flesh sending shivers down their spines. Upon closer examination, they could see a large carcass of what appeared to be a rancor which all the rakghouls fought ferociously over, and spread all around were the bodies of the rakghouls which presumably were slain while trying to bring down their larger prey.
"What do we do?" Mission said softly, tugging at Ice's arm. "This is the chamber you spoke about, isn't it?"
"It most definitely is," Ice said and bit her lower lip as she peered once again at the feasting rakghouls. "Listen well. It looks like they're preoccupied with the rancor's body. The ladder is just a short way down once we turn left at this entrance. I'll go first. Watch your step, keep quiet and follow me, and we should be fine. Got it?"
The others silently nodded, filled with doubt and uncertainty as to what may come.
"By quiet, I mean you most of all, ok?" Ice looked at Zaalbar, who responded with a hesitant low growl. "Okay, follow me."
But the moment Ice turned to take the lead, she was shocked to see that Kael had overtaken her. What drove him to commit himself to such an action she could never know.
"Kael! What the hell! Get behind me!" Ice ordered in a harsh whisper as she scurried ahead of him.
Kael could not ascertain why he had done what he had done, and what could only be thought of as being stupidity on his part by any rational person.
Was it because he felt the increasing urgency of their mission? Perhaps.
Was it because he simply wished to get things quickly over and done with? Maybe.
Or was it because of…
A surge of emotions which were beyond comprehension rushed over Kael like a wave of water crashing against a rocky shore. As much as he wanted to convince himself it was simply because he was a soldier who sought to perform his duty, he knew deep down just what the reason was.
Elena.
There was something about her…something about that woman which simply compelled him and strengthened his resolve to find her. Of course, she was admittedly a woman of breathtaking beauty, but that was most certainly not something which would drive a trained soldier to subconsciously put his own life at risk.
Something else…something deeper…but what?
His thoughts came to an abrupt end once he felt a damp, moist surface which produced a soft squelching sound the moment his boot came into contact with it. Peering down, he saw the dead corpse of a bloodied rakghoul which's legs were completely severed, its cold, dead black eyes staring blankly up into his as he lifted his foot and placed it once more on solid ground. Hearing the soft sighing of Mission who followed behind him, Kael determined to keep his senses alert and took another step after Ice who led the way to the ladder which was barely visible, illuminated in a pale yellow light from above.
Two steps later, Kael felt numb as Mission let out a scream, petrified by the rakghoul which was not dead as they imagined and which flailed its arms around madly before Carth sprung into action and put the beast out of its misery with a well-placed shot to the forehead.
"Oh…shit…," Mission gasped, taking heed of the dozens of gleaming eyes which shone towards them, closing in at a slow pace which grew faster and faster with each passing second.
"Run! Fucking run!" Ice yelled as she initiated a dash to the ladder, shooting her blaster pistol at the monsters that ran madly at them like starved animals. Seeing that the ladder was wide enough for only one person to ascend at a time, they turned once they reached it and proceeded to fire rapidly at the wave of rakghouls that threatened to swarm over them.
"Mission! Get your ass up that ladder right now!" Ice ordered her junior Bek who instinctively obeyed out of fear and tossed her her blaster pistol before scrambling up the rusty ladder. After seeing the teenager safely climb up, she quickly followed after her, jumping up three rungs of the ladder and shooting a flurry of rapid fire at the rakghouls to provide Kael, Carth and Zaalbar additional cover before nimbly heading up.
Her heart pounding as she looked down at her friends who were still fighting on, Mission yelled at them as she grabbed Ice's hand and pulled her to safety. "Guys, come on!"
"These things just don't go down easily, do they?" Carth grunted through gritted teeth, now aiming solely at the heads of the monsters after observing that shots to their bodies did little to slow them down. The distance between them and the rakghouls which charged over the mount of their swarm's corpses grew shorter and shorter, closing in one less than thirty feet.
"Zaalbar, you next!" Kael shouted as he heard Mission's plea. The Wookiee let out a roar and shot two wide arcs of green laser fire from his bowcaster, buying Kael and Carth more time before he bounded up the ladder which creaked and heaved due to his weight.
The two remaining soldiers persisted uneasily in their fight, neither wanting to be the first to leave the other to fend for himself while he took to safety. All the while, the rakghouls were closing in, their numbers never for a moment seeming to dwindle as the racket caused countless others to wade in to the area and bolster their ranks.
Having lost all patience, Kael lurched towards Carth and pushed him towards the ladder, sending his superior-ranking officer off balance as he flailed his right arm and grabbed hold of the third rung.
"Kael, what the hell!?" Carth shouted.
Kael angrily retorted, his blaster now on the verge of running out of ammunition. "Hurry up! This is not a time for discussion!"
Carth, against his will, climbed up the ladder, doing as Ice had done and providing Kael with covering fire. Kael fought on bravely, looking over his shoulder whenever he could afford to do so in order to see if Carth had ascended high enough for him to rush up the ladder himself. However, given the sheer speed at which the rakghouls charged at him, he found himself utterly unable to turn his back and make for the ladder until—.
…Shit…
He was out of ammo.
"Kael! Get the fuck up here now!" Carth bellowed from higher up.
Unwilling to stay any further, Kael made a break for the ladder, hurriedly gripping on to the side rails with sweaty hands as he proceeded to climb. But once his foot came down on the fourth rung, he thought his heart had stopped beating as the metallic bar snapped from under his heel, having been severely weakened by the huge pressure that Zaalbar's weight had subjected it to. He landed hard on his back, his head pounding as he looked to his left at the pistol which had flung out of his hand. Pulling out his vibroblade, he decided to put up a desperate struggle for survival and fend off his attackers. Carth could do little to help him except shoot some final rounds of covering fire until his pistol's magazine was completely empty, having only been enough to take out two rakghouls to buy Kael time to get back up on his feet.
Some small fortune still remained for Kael, as the mounds of bodies continued to slow down the advance of the rakghouls, three of which he could now see charging at him one by one. With well-placed, solemn strikes, he managed to dispatch them all, the length of his vibroblade enabling him to kill the monsters with single blows to the head before they could overwhelm him with their claws. But his luck soon ran out, the hope in his eyes fading altogether the moment he saw over a dozen rakghouls bounding over the small hill of corpses as one collective body.
"Heads up!" He heard Carth call from above, the higher-ranking officer having now ascended the ladder to join the others. "Sonic grenade! Now's your chance!"
'Are you crazy?' Kael thought the instant he saw a small, spherical grey object clatter off the rail of the ladder and drop with a clang onto the floor. Not wanting to wait to see what effect it could have on him, he leapt upward, grabbing hold of the eighth rung of the ladder and starting a desperate climb. Having failed to properly put away his vibroblade before climbing the ladder, his right hand trembled uneasily, the thumb and index finger aching tremendously as they gripped for life onto each rung he climbed while the other three were firmly clasped around his sword. He could feel the wind blowing against his ankles, caused by the violent flailing arms of the rakghouls which barely missed striking him and potentially resulting in a slow, painful end to his life.
Kael's eyes instinctively clenched shut the moment he heard the loud detonation of the sonic grenade below him, which quickly nullified his hearing and sent a splitting high-frequency sound ringing in his ears. To his great fortune, the stunned swarm of rakghouls screamed in agony and struck each other with their deadly claws out of irritation. The Republic soldier did not for a moment cease climbing until he felt four firm pairs of hands pull him up to safety, upon which he collapsed onto his back and breathed in and out deeply.
Opening his eyes slowly, he could see the blurry figures of Carth, Zaalbar and Ice looking at him with concern in their eyes, while Mission was softly weeping with her face wrapped in her hands. His hearing slowly returned to him, and he could now barely make out the words which they spoke to one another.
"Is he alright?" Mission sniffed, bringing her tears to a stop.
"I don't know," Carth answered. "He was very close to the grenade when it went off."
"What the hell were you thinking, Zaalbar? Just chucking a grenade down there without any second thought?" Ice scolded the Wookiee, who whimpered in disappointment.
"If he didn't do what he did, then Kael would be dead!" Mission yelled out of frustration. "Let's just get moving!"
"Of course, Mish," Ice sighed and planted a gentle hand on Kael's chest to stir him, crouching by his side and looking into his eyes. "Are you alright? Can you get up?"
Still far too stunned to properly answer her question, Kael merely nodded his head and accepted her offered hand which pulled him up to his feet. Looking around his new surroundings, he was slightly gladdened by the presence of dim lights as opposed to the utter darkness they faced below, albeit his optimism was somewhat dampened by the return of the familiar stench of the sewer.
"We're in luck, indeed," Ice remarked once they traversed a long corridor to find themselves in another circular chamber which housed six large pipes spread around in a hexagonal shape, protruding through the diagonal stone walls which sloped downwards. The corridor they walked through was connected by a circular metallic walkway which linked to three other passageways. "It seems that there aren't any monsters lurking around in these parts, at least not for now. This is it."
"This is what?" Kael asked, now having recovered enough from his mild concussion to speak.
"The way into the Vulkar Base. We go through that pipe," she answered, pointing at one of the sewage drainage pipes to her left. The rusty pipe was very confined in terms of space, but was large enough for even the likes of Zaalbar to fit through when crawling.
"You're kidding," Kael's shoulders drooped once he saw that they would have to jump off the railing and quickly scurry up the sharply upward-sloping walls in order to access the pipe.
"You're in a sewer, prince charming. What did you expect – flowerbeds and a red carpet? Now follow me," Ice sighed and walked forward after giving a slight tug at Kael's jacket.
"Now hold on a minute here," Carth muttered in frustration and walked in front of Ice, crossing his arms. "You're just going to leap in there and spring up from under the Vulkar Base without any further plan? We were almost torn apart and eaten alive by those monsters down there. Now how are we going to get back to the Hidden Bek base? By what route? And how?"
Ice looked at him with curious eyes. "My, my, a sensitive one, aren't we? Well, like you said, we can't go back the way we came from. But luckily for you, the friend whom I spoke about, Ada, can more than help us if she's around. With luck, we might be able to secure us some Vulkar uniforms, one way or the other. If things go well, we may be able to slip into the command room unhindered, take out whoever is inside, unlock the prison cells, give your friends some uniforms of their own to put on, then escape without any trouble."
Kael became puzzled. "How do you know all this? It seems to be so much more than any ordinary Bek should know about."
"I'm a special agent, hun," Ice sighed. "I tend to get my hands on these things. Especially from rookie Vulkar punks who are stupid enough to carry too much intel and maps on them. Now follow me."
"Wait a second," Carth said, much to the frustration of Ice, whose cold blue eyes stared at him. "Considering that we've already come to this point, Mission and Zaalbar don't need to tag around any longer. It's—"
"Hey! What the hell? What's that supposed to mean?" Mission put her hands on her hips and walked up to Carth.
Carth tried to reason with her. "Look, you've led us through the sewers, which Kael and I are grateful for. But now, we know clearly what we have to do to get our friends back, and Ice is here to lead the way. It's going to be dangerous in there, and I don't want you putting yourself in harm's way needlessly."
"I don't need your concern or worry! I can take care of myself!" Mission argued.
"Carth is just concerned for your safety, Mission," Kael reinforced. "Please try to understand."
Mission's expression softened as Kael's words sunk in. "Well…okay. But…there's a slight problem."
"What's that?" Carth asked.
She shrugged, feeling utterly ridiculous. "I don't know how to get back. I've never come this deep into the sewer, nor in these parts. I simply have no idea where to go. None."
Ice tapped her on the arm and proceeded to lead the way. "Then tag along, junior. But don't expect me to babysit you if you run into trouble. I'm not as 'motherly' as Zaerdra is to you."
With that, she took one step on the railing and leapt forward, gracefully landing on the diagonal stone wall close to the pipe. After a rapid run, she grabbed onto the bottom portion of the circular pipe and pulled herself into it, kneeling down in the confined space and looked back at the others. She held out a hand, gesturing at them to do the same and that she would help them up.
One by one they followed after her, Kael volunteering first and Zaalbar being the last. Once all of them had made it, they crawled on their hands and knees through the narrow pipe, Ice having a disdainful expression on her face as she couldn't help but imagine what would captivate Kael's attention until they came to the kitchen drain lid which would enable them to ascend into the kitchen of the Vulkar base. They would be greeted by the feeling of putrid, murky black water running across their hands and clothing until they finally came to a vertical opening which enabled them to stand up and relieve their strained backs and muscles after a long crawl. Directly above them was the drain lid, with rays of light coming down from the narrow slit of space which enabled the dirty water to be flushed out by the slaves who worked gruellingly to keep the kitchen in a clean and orderly manner.
"Hope you were happy back there, mister," Ice rolled her eyes at Kael, who had a fairly content look on his face.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he insisted.
"Whatever." She was unconvinced. "Okay, I'm going to take a look and see if anyone's in the kitchen. Keep your voices down."
The others waited silently as Ice looked through the lid space to see a lone slave tending to the kitchen's wares. Noticing that it was her friend Ada, she made a soft, sharp whistling noise which Ada instantly responded to, taking a moment to listen to her surroundings to make sure the coast was clear before walking over to the drain.
"Ice! What's happening this time?" the young, brown-eyed brunette slave whispered. She pulled aside the drain lid and helped her friend up onto her feet.
Looking back at the open drain where the others awaited, Ice held an open palm at them as a sign to stay put. "Ada," she said in a serious tone, placing her hands on the sides of her friend's arms, "did you by chance see a captured woman being dragged into the prison block in the past few days?"
"'Did' I? Don't you mean 'when'?" Ada said with slight humor. "Ten in the past week. As far as I'm aware, three of them are serving on this floor with me and the other girls who have been here for a long time. Five of them I overheard were turned into personal servants to the gang leaders. The other two…I don't know. They were both taken to the upper level garage area; one violently dragged away against her will, while the other was taken unconscious."
"I have a feeling that the latter two are the ones we're looking for," Ice concluded. "Did I mention that they're Jedi?"
Ada looked at her with wide eyes, dumbfounded. "You're kidding."
"Look, we need to get our hands on some of those Vulkar uniforms. Reckon you could lure a couple of them in here for me?"
"You're in luck, actually," Ada said, turning to look at the door which lay behind them. "Four grunts are drunk beyond belief in the bar. Three of them are asleep while the other is barely awake. You should easily be able to take him out."
"It's only been roughly four days since I had to seduce a man. Shouldn't be that much trouble," Ice dismissed as she walked to the door, her hand favoring the small dagger that was concealed beneath her jacket.
"Ice, I…I have to tell you something…"
"What is it, Ada?" Ice turned, showing concern at her friend's depressed tone.
"It's been two months now since I've been captured, and…I don't know just how much more I can take of this. You promised me before that you'd take me away from this place after completing another one of your scouting missions, but that was over two weeks ago, and you didn't have the time to take me with you while all the Vulkars were running wild in the base after you killed some of them. It's sheer torture here, and I want out…"
"Don't worry, Ada," Ice assured her distressed friend. "I promise that today will be the day. With two Jedi on our side, the Vulkars probably won't stand a chance. You and the others will be free very soon."
Ada smiled. "That's good to hear."
"Tell my friends to get ready to come up; I'll be back very soon," Ice said as she opened the handle of the manual door which separated the kitchen from the bar and disappeared from sight. Barely a minute after the door had clicked behind her, she re-entered the kitchen again, cleaning the blood off her dagger using a thin cloth with a cold expression on her face which fitted her name all too well.
She immediately moved to the open drain to prompt the others to come after her. "Kael and Carth, take a uniform each from a dead Vulkar. Mission and Zaalbar, come up and hand us your weapons; you're acting as the captured slaves."
Mission put her hands on her hips. "Captured slaves?"
Ice scoffed. "What, you really think that you're going to properly fit into the full-sized uniform of an adult Vulkar? Don't even get me started on Zaalbar. Now hurry up, all of you."
As per Ice's instructions, they began to come up the open drain one by one, with Kael ascending first. Still sore from his trialling battle with the rakghouls, he struggled to lift himself up out of the drain, leading to Ice rolling her eyes as she stooped down to offer him a hand. Gladly taking her assistance, he took her hand and gradually managed to pull his upper body onto the solid floor, and soon followed through with his legs.
Feeling physically taxed beyond belief, he dragged himself forward to make room for Carth, and was left panting on his knees for a moment before Ice grumpily walked past him to help up the senior-ranking soldier.
"Whiny bastard," she spoke under her breath as she looked back at Kael who still couldn't summon up the strength to get on his feet. Deciding to move things along, she began to turn her head in front of her once more to help up Carth. "All right, you're up ne—"
She was left frozen in shock as she peered down at the skin of Kael's left ankle, which was left exposed after he briefly dragged his leg backwards across the floor as he continued to catch his breath. On the surface of the skin were three small gashes through which small trickles blood still freshly exuded.
She couldn't help but murmur to herself, mortified by the sight which she just beheld and what it could potentially mean.
"What the fuck…"
A/N: I was originally going to write in a close-quarter fight with a rancor-turned-rakghoul giant monster, but decided to take it out because the Vulkars would have been sent on even higher alert from the tremendous noise it would have caused beneath them, as opposed to a fight against regular rakghouls which would naturally be dismissed as a simple brawl between Gamorreans and rakghouls that they could just ignore. Looking back at the game now, it seems utterly unrealistic that the Vulkars wouldn't jam-pack the secondary entrance with reinforcements after hearing the death of the massive rancor, let alone be so dispersed within their own base while Revan and company are raiding through. I'll try to make things as realistic as possible in regards to that in the next chapter.
Ice is going to play quite a big role later on in the story, and I also want to expand the roles of all the other party members as much as possible while still maintaining focus on the main plot. The character of Vice Admiral Krieg will also play a major role in the story, and will substantially grow in influence once the party flees Taris.
I've also re-written the latter parts of the first chapter. I felt that Kael's flirting with Elena was too rushed. I was a bit distracted by the near-instantaneous flirting you'd do with Bastila in the game soon after you meet her, but I realized that Kael in this case could only do that with Elena once they were sure that Bastila was safe, and so I had to cut back a bit.
Please leave your reviews, and keep an eye out for the next updates to this story as well as 'Heart of a Padawan'.