"We don't have to do this you know, I just have a mild hangover," Ariv tried to explain to Carth as his head throbbed, and he winced, the glare of the morning sun reflecting off the metal around him a little too harsh for his taste.
"Nope," Carth answered, stubborn as ever, "We gotta make sure your head's completely fine. I would've brought you here earlier anyway, had I had known about this place. And," he added, wistful, "If we're really kriffing lucky, Basila might even be at this Medical Facility."
"That seems unlikely," Ariv commented and Carth huffed.
The duo had been arguing outside a clinic in the South of the Upper City, Carth had insisted that Ariv go for a routine check-up, but he refused, somewhat used to the odd twinges of pain that lingered even months after his injury. He had been told by the healers back at the Jedi Enclave that they were a by-product of his severe wounds.
However he had not informed the Captain about that incident, since he did not like to think about it, let alone share the details of it with a man who was a virtual stranger even if said stranger outranked him. And besides, they might learn something useful about Bastila or Taris from these medics. So here he was, trailing behind Carth who was walking towards the facility.
It was early morning, the Tarisian sun barely rose over the horizon. The sky was suffused with a riot of warm oranges, reds, and yellow. Few people milled about making their way to work while Sith troopers, clad from head to toe in dark armour marched around on duty all day.
Finally, Ariv and Carth came before a dull white, worn door with a large sigil stamped on it – a somewhat split red cross with twin lines pointing away from the centre, encircled with a crimson band – the Red sigil, the universal sign of a medcenter across the galaxy.
The doors whisked open to reveal a small room with dark blue walls, and bright lights. A few metal benches lined the walls and a silver med-droid floated about, whirring softly. A large eggshell-coloured desk occupied most of the place and a short man sat bent over it, poking at the screen and frowning.
"Excuse me," Carth began "I was wondering if I needed an appoin–"
"Can't you see I'm busy with my duties?" the man sneered, without looking up, "Go talk to Zelka if you need something."
Ariv rolled his eyes at this man's rude tone and gestured to Carth to follow him deeper in. He saw that the actual facility was large, and lit up brightly. Dark curtains had been pulled away from the windows, allowing golden light to filter through.
Massive deep blue panels covered the walls and eight kolto tanks lined two sides whereas five clean beds were set against another.
An elderly man, dressed in the typical garb of a medic, stood before one kolto tank, assessing a Rodian that floated blissfully inside, while he made notes in his datapad. A few machines beeped rhythmically in the background.
On realising he wasn't alone, the doctor turned to them, putting aside his datapad alongside the usual medical equipment on a table nearby, and said, "Greetings, young men, I see from your appearance that you are off-worlders."
They nodded, surprised that they absolutely did not blend in, "You are welcome here," the man added assuringly, "I'll not have it said that Zelka Forn refused to help somebody just because they weren't a citizen of Taris."
So this was indeed Dr. Zelka Forn, Ariv thought. The medic was an was an old man with deep brown skin, in his sixties, perhaps. He had short grey hair and a moustache that twitched when he smiled, and a friendly demeanour, "I can treat almost any injury or ailment right here, so tell me, what brings you by?" he asked kindly.
"This one here," Carth explained, pointing to Ariv, "Got his head hurt pretty bad. He was knocked out for nearly a week."
Dr. Forn's eyebrows raised in surprise, "That sounds awful, how did it even happen?"
"I got too excited trying out a new speeder, ended up pushing it past its limits and losing control," Ariv answered smoothly. They did not know where the doctor's allegiance lay, so he and Carth could not afford to reveal themselves as Republic soldiers – especially since they hadn't found Bastila yet.
For all they knew Dr. Forn could be working with the Sith. So, Ariv would have to stick with the story he and Carth had concocted to explain their presence here – two smugglers stuck planetside because of the blockade.
"Have you been injured elsewhere?" The Doctor asked, frowning.
"Thankfully, no," Ariv replied truthfully.
"A week, you say?" Dr. Forn asked sceptically, "Why did you come only now?"
"Like you guessed earlier," Carth answered, "We are not from Taris and we did not know about your facility."
"Very well," the doctor added, "Come with me, young man," he added, calling Ariv who followed him past another door in the facility.
𓆩𓆪 𓆩𓆪 𓆩𓆪
Ariv sat quietly on the small leather chair, waiting for Dr. Forn to get the results of his test. He did not like med bays very much, they reminded him of Dantooine, when he had woken up barely being able to recall anything. They reminded him that most of his life was a blank slate on bad days or a hazy blur on the best ones. Ariv would forever be grateful to the Jedi healers for saving his life, but he hated the fact that his memory had more holes than a sponge.
He sighed, fidgeting, wondering how long would Dr. Forn take. He looked around the cabin he was in, it was very clean, and a few screens had been mounted on the wall along with a large cabinet that dominated most of the space. There were many datapads stacked neatly, along with other equipment like pressure cuffs and labelled bottles of anodyne, blood thinners, and most curiously, an antidote synthesiser.
The medic came in moments later, a smile affixed on his face, "Are you nervous, kid?" he asked, seeing Ariv's expression and taking a seat in the chair opposite.
He stiffened, "No," he said simply.
"There's no shame in it," Dr. Forn replied calmly, "The results should be out any second," he said, gesturing to the plethysmograph. Ariv saw the grey blob that was his brain begin to form on the screen, there seemed to be no swelling or anything else needed to worry about.
Ariv stared, mollified, and Dr. Forn asked, "Do you have any history of such injuries?"
Ariv hesitated, but replied in the affirmative, knowing that it was better to tell the truth. He was grateful that Carth had been made to wait in another room outside. Dr. Forn nodded as if he'd been expecting as such.
"What had happened?" He asked then.
Ariv licked his lips, "My ship was attacked," he answered. It was true, and well, not uncommon in a galaxy torn asunder by war.
"I see, when was this?" Dr. Forn probed.
"Roughly a year and a half ago," Ariv said.
"How bad was it?" Dr. Forn asked.
Ariv sat silent, unspeaking, Dr. Forn finally looked away from the screen after a few moments of tense silence. Dr. Forn's demeanour changed, understanding that Ariv did not want to talk about it. He shifted closer then, pulling the display towards him.
"I understand the event must have been traumatic, but I need to know, kid, for your sake." The Doctor said, kindness seeping into his words.
Ariv knew he was right, and yet he swallowed, unwilling to answer. Dr. Forn only sat patiently waiting for an answer. Finally, Ariv sighed and replied, "It was…bad. I was out for weeks and uh, I don't remember much of well, anything." He closed his eyes tightly to combat the twinge of pain that lanced through his skull.
Dr. Forn was quiet for a moment, "That's not good," he said finally.
Ariv huffed a laugh, "I know, but the hea–medics," he correctly and continued, "–where I was treated told me my memories will come back with time and that I'd be fine. It's alright I suppose."
"Have you had incidents of memory loss since?" he asked.
"No," Ariv replied honestly.
They were quiet and Dr. Forn studied the display intently, trying to see if he may have missed anything. At last, he smiled, satisfied, "Well, it seems to me that you're very lucky. There seems to be no issue here. Your friend's a good lad – helped you recover and all." The Doctor said a few minutes later.
Ariv sighed, relieved beyond measure.
"But I would recommend you take this," he advised, giving him a small packet of pills, which Ariv took gratefully, "It will help with any pain."
"Thank you," Ariv replied, getting up and ready to leave. Despite his earlier protests, he was glad that he didn't have any more injuries to deal with.
"It's alright, kid," the medic said, waving him off, "There's nothing old Dr. Forn can't help with, except for the rakghoul plague of course," he added, a frown appearing on his face.
"Rakghoul plague?" Ariv inquired, having heard bits and pieces about the disease in his travels, but had never encountered anyone infected. He remembered, vaguely, reading about Taris being affected by the terrible affliction and realised that if he were going to be stuck on the planet for a while, he needed to know all he could about it.
Dr. Forn answered almost immediately "It is a terrible disease that has plagued Taris for many generations — spread by the rakghouls — horrible monsters. They inhabit the Undercity. Prolonged exposure to a place like that breeds the disease and those infected will eventually mutate into rakghouls themselves, becoming mindless beasts that feed on the flesh of others."
Ariv felt a twinge of worry – the Undercity was where Bastila's pod had crashed and he hoped she was safe – if she wasn't, well, then it seemed that the whole galaxy would be doomed.
"Is there no cure?" He asked gently.
The doctor shook his head sadly, "There is no antidote for the disease, though I heard the Republic microbiologists at the base were close to a breakthrough — but then well, the Sith arrived," he continued, mouth twisted with displeasure, "They overran the military base and now refuse to allow anyone access to the laboratories inside."
"They are hoarding the serum, reserving it only for the patrols they send into the Undercity. One would think with their promises of peace and justice they would help the citizens of the worlds they ravage," he muttered and sighed.
"If I could just get my hands on a sample of that serum the disease could be wiped from the face of Taris forever," he added, voice louder, "But I don't see how that's going to happen." He admitted, resigned.
Ariv wished there was a way for him to get the serum for the Doctor, it seemed the older man would truly do his best to help people with it, unlike the Sith. However, even he knew breaking into a Sith Base on a planet almost entirely under their control was suicide, so all he could do was his duty as a soldier and help the Republic win the war.
"I see," He said simply and the duo stood there awkwardly for a moment before the door burst open and they startled. Ariv immediately got up, hand reaching for a blaster that wasn't there, battle instincts overriding rational thought. Dr. Forn flinched as the sound of a droid shrieking indignantly rose above the din, "This is highly disrespectful of orders, that door was for employees only!"
Ariv relaxed once he realised that the man who had rudely rushed in was Carth, who looked at the Doctor with newfound respect, "Thank you!" he breathed, "Thank you, I am so very glad that at least some of my men ended up in compassionate hands!"
Ariv frowned, wondering what the Captain was talking about, but Dr. Forn's eyes widened in surprise as he put two and two together, "You went into the locked room? " The colour from Dr. Forn's face drained and he stared at Carth, mouth hanging open.
"Wait, what is happening?" Ariv asked, entirely confused, and before Carth could reply, Dr. Forn interjected, seemingly have to some conclusion, "You wouldn't have recognized those soldiers if you weren't with the Republic yourself!" Carth nodded and Dr. Forn sighed with relief.
"Of course," Dr. Forn said, shaking his head, "It makes sense, the timeline matches. Let me guess – your friend here," he added, pointing to Ariv, "Was hurt in the escape pods which landed here two weeks ago."
"Explain!" Ariv demanded, panicked, feeling out of the loop. Carth had gone and decided to reveal their identities to a stranger for no apparent reason.
"Since the battle overhead," Dr. Forn began, "People have been secretly bringing in these Republic soldiers who crash-landed on the surface. I took them in – I had to! I couldn't turn them away." Ariv was shocked at the revelation: harbouring Republic soldiers and treating them on a planet under the control of the Sith was a very brave and honourable thing to do.
He was also grateful that at least some of his comrades had survived, but that illusion was shattered when Dr. Forn added ruefully, "Their injuries are terrible, most won't make it. But at least I can make their last days more comfortable and peaceful – away from the Sith. I hate to imagine what they would have done to those poor souls should they come across the soldiers." Dr. Forn must have figured out from Carth's little outburst about who they truly were, and he did not say a word about the false story Ariv told him a few minutes ago.
Carth's expression fell, and Ariv knew he too must have been making the same face, "Thank you," Ariv said softly, meaning every word, " I cannot express how much your compassion means to us, and to our allies."
Dr. Forn nodded, "I am only doing my duty as a medic, now I suppose you must do yours as a soldier and free us from the tyranny of Darth Malak's reign."
𓆩𓆪 𓆩𓆪 𓆩𓆪
"You know," Ariv began, shuffling his pazaak deck, "I've been thinking about this for the past few days, we need more credits right? – to get down under. So perhaps, I could, I don't know, participate in the duelling ring."
Carth stopped fiddling with his blaster and stared at Ariv, "This isn't the time for jokes," he admonished and Ariv rolled his eyes, getting up to stand opposite the Captain, and leaned against the workbench. It had been three days since their visit to Dr. Forn's clinic, since then they had gone back to their usual routine of skulking around cantinas, desperately trying to find something useful.
It was almost evening already – the sun sank below the glittering spires of Upper Taris, the inhabitants – locals and off-worlders alike had started to come out of their houses in an attempt to find entertainment to rid them of boredom and take their minds off the fact that the Sith fleet encircled the planet, practically cutting them off from the rest of the galaxy.
Carth and he would be heading out shortly, to lurk around people in cantinas and eavesdrop on conversations – hoping to find the Jedi. Ariv felt that they were wasting their time – there were hundreds of cantinas on Taris – stars knew in which they'd learn about Bastila. He was sick of staying at the same place, doing practically nothing. So, in his boredom, an idea struck him. The problem was that Carth might not be as willing as Ariv was.
"We've been looking for Bastila for three weeks now – only to learn that we need to be Sith to enter the Lower City. Perhaps, we can use credits to get there, by paying someone off," he explained, "And I'm not joking, the winner gets a substantial prize," he added, biting into an energy pudding and wincing at the dry, disgusting taste.
Carth sighed, "No, those rings are so…barbaric. Besides, you've already been hurt so badly, I can't afford that happening again."
"Oh come on!" Ariv exclaimed, "I've dealt with worse — I fought in the Mandalorian Wars too you know, towards the end – and now in this one as well. And this time, it's worse because Republic's own leaders and allies turned on us." he added. He only had vague memories of the two wars that no matter how hard he tried, he could not, for the life of him, make clearer. But the Captain didn't need to know that, so, it was worth a shot.
"I thought you are a scout," Carth said, eyeing him suspiciously.
Ariv huffed, "I was, yes, but once the Republic went to war against the Mandalorians – I realised that the Army needed my help more than the Scout Service did, so I enlisted." he explained, he did not remember much of this period of his life either, so all the information he'd given the Captain was based off his service records.
"I see," Carth said, "But that still doesn't mean it's a good idea for you to duel here. It could draw unnecessary attention."
"Oh please, this planet has a steady flux of all sorts of smugglers, bounty hunters, and all sorts of scum coming in because of the Exchange. Since they've been grounded, they're getting antsy and the Ring is more alive than ever. The Sith won't care about another random civilian joining in." He added.
Carth did not seem convinced so Ariv continued, "The worst thing that could happen to me is getting stunned since death matches have been outlawed for years. I face far more danger and worse odds every day. And who knows, if we're lucky we might learn something about Bastila from the Organisers who most likely have ties to the Lower City."
The Captain sighed, screwing back his blaster's casing, "I suppose you're right," he admitted, "We haven't gotten any closer to finding Bastila. Alright, do this, and let's see where it goes."
Ariv grinned, excited by the prospect of finally doing something other than what was essentially, a pub crawl, every night.
𓆩𓆪 𓆩𓆪 𓆩𓆪
Ariv took a deep breath in, readying himself to go speak to the Hutt in charge of organising the duel. Apart from the main bar and dance floor, the cantina he was in, called the Black Sign had been sectioned off into smaller rooms that catered to specific needs. The last time he'd been here, he had been observing the duel and the crowd from the Tap Room and the Music Room where he'd had the misfortune of meeting a spoiled Tarisian Noble who threw a tantrum when he informed her that he wasn't a waiter.
Today, however, he was in the Dueler's Den, where all the participants of the Ring spent their time. It was aptly named, a pair of long vibroswords had been crossed over each other to form an X, a variety of blaster pistols and other weapons along with holo-photos of previous champions had been mounted on the tan walls. People leaned against high tables, sipping their drinks and talking and Ariv could see at least five of them were clad in some form of basic armour.
Carth trailed after him, as he made to approach the Hutt and saw a familiar face watching him curiously – if Ariv remembered correctly, the older man was Deadeye Duncan – the duelist who had lost against Gerlon Two-fingers. If that was the kind of competition that the Duelling Ring had then perhaps this fight may not be as hard as Carth had made it out to be in last ditch attempt to get Ariv to change his mind.
Noticing his staring, Duncan sidled up to him and asked furiously, "What are you looking at, fresh meat? Do you know who I am?"
Ariv pressed his lips together, suppressing a stupid laugh, and said instead, "I do, in fact, I saw your duel against Gerlon some time ago, it was…quick."
Deadeye's face turned red as a tomato, "Watch your mouth, boy – I am the number five ranked duelist in this cantina! You want a piece of me? You want to step into the duelling chambers with me?"
Schooling his expression, Ariv asked, disbelief colouring his tone, "You're the number five ranked duelist? Out of how many?"
If it was possible Duncan's face turned redder, "Uh, well… five. But it's an elite group, okay? It's not like just anyone can step into the duelling chamber!"
Ariv raised his eyebrows, there was no way a Hutt would disbar anyone from entering a contest, especially if it meant that more competition meant more credits.
"Well," Deadeye admitted, "Actually anyone can…but not many do!"
"Uh huh," Ariv answered, leaving the duelist behind and ignoring his parting, That's right – back off! You know better than to challenge Deadeye Duncan. I will mess you up!
As he approached the Hutt, Ariv pondered about what he'd do next. He realised he did not need to defeat the Champion (if they didn't find a way below, he would certainly try). All he needed were the credits or connections to get himself and Carth into the Lower City, then he'd find Bastila, return to the Republic and then he could forget about the whole sorry mess that was Taris.
A/N ~
thanks sm for all the love, and please, since i am stem major and still learning to write a coherent story (i haven't had an english class in nearly a year now ) i appreciate any and all feedback 3