Star Wars-style Zombie Movie

Chapter IV: The Undercity

The Undercity combined the filth and decay of the lower city with darkness and despair. When Anaiya, Carth and Matthias stepped out of the elevator, they found themselves in a village. They were immediately accosted, as Carth said; “Even the beggars are trying to shake us down!”

The two beggars were chased off by a girl named Shaleena who proceeded to babble on about her dreams of living on the surface, meaning the upper city, since they were technically on the planet’s real surface.

            Carth had gone to talk to the village leader, Gendar and had left Anaiya and Matthias to wander around the village, searching for information. The Undercity village was a place of nightmarish desolation, where the residents lived in far worse squalor than even the most meager dweller of the lower city. This was Taris’ face of evil. After encountering the paddock where the destitute villagers were forced to lock in their fellows who had been infected with the rakghoul disease, Anaiya finally doubled over.

            “Are you all right?” asked Matthias.

“I’ll live. But the suffering here is… intense,” said Anaiya, “What the truly horrible thing is though, is that this isn’t the first time I’ve seen this.” Matthias turned his eyes to Anaiya’s.

“I’ve seen this on plenty of worlds, and not just ones that were affected by war. There are some planets whose rulers make some very bad decisions out of a desire for wealth or power, like here on Taris, and this is often the result. It makes you sick to think that even with the Jedi doing their best to maintain peace and law in the Republic, that places like this can still exist.”

-KOTOR-

Anaiya had gone to find Carth, leaving Matthias to his own devices. He was passing by a particularly decrepit tent when a voice called out from its shadowed maw.

“You! You are from the up-world!” called out a voice that was raggedy and wheezy, but still full of a commanding tone. Matthias moved to the entrance of the tent and beheld a small old man sitting cross-legged on the floor next to a dim glow lamp.

“Is this the time of destiny then? Are you a portent of the salvation of my people? Or are you just another false sign to lead us from the true path? Are you the herald of prophecy or another false sign? Tell me what fate you unleash upon us! Salvation or damnation? Speak up-worlder!”

Matthias had a definite feeling that this old man was actually crazy enough to give him problems but at the same time, his instincts told him that it would do no harm to talk with the man. He had always trusted his instincts.

“Uh, okay. What do you want of me?”

“A question. You are confused, bewildered, perplexed. Understandable I suppose. Even after a hundred years of life, I myself become befuddled at times. My name is Rukil, the oldest Outcast in the village. Rukil Wrinkle-Skin the children sometimes call me.”

“So, again, what do you want from ME Rukil?”

Rukil leaned forward so that the lamplight washed across his ancient, wrinkled face. He studied Matthias very carefully, his pale eyes darting hither and thither.

“No… no not yet. Do I dare to trust you with my secret knowledge? No, not yet. You must prove yourself first.”

“Say what?”

“I was once the spiritual leader for this village. But over time the villagers fell away from the true path until only a single apprentice still followed me. Now she is… lost. I sent her out into the Undercity to look for… something. I beg of you up-worlder! Please find my apprentice! Her name is Malya. It will be difficult, she could be anywhere in the Undercity. But I must know what she… found. Please, will you do this boon for an old man on the verge of despair?!

“I’ll… I’ll try and find her if I can, but my friends and I have our own mission here,” said Matthias without really knowing why. Rukil’s beaming smile was full of cracked, yellowed teeth.

“Thank you up-worlder.”

-KOTOR-

Matthias re-joined the others at the gate leading to the rest of the Undercity. A woman was there, begging the gatekeeper to open it to let in her husband, who was being chased by rakghouls.

“We’ll kill the rakghouls,” Anaiya told the gatekeeper.

As soon as they stepped through the gate, the chased man ran straight past them and into the arms of his wife. The gatekeeper slammed the gate shut behind them, trapping them outside with the hideous monsters. The rakghouls looked like the personification of all that was evil on Taris. They ran on all fours, except when they reared up to attack. They had lifeless milky white eyes and bone white, translucent skin. They were hairless and had wide, fang-filled jaws that were dripping with green ichor. Matthias was strongly reminded of a zombie holo-movie he had seen right before being assigned to the Endar Spire.

“Cover me with blasters,” said Anaiya as she took out two vibroblades and hooked them together to form a double-bladed vibrosword. Carth watched in amazement as she twirled the weapon expertly above and around her.

Anaiya sliced into the rakghouls, four of them slain by her in the first stroke. Carth and Matthias opened up with their blaster rifles and cut down all but two of the remaining monsters. Anaiya then finished those two by somersaulting over their heads and slicing them with her blade. Both Carth and Matthias watched, entranced as she performed the move.

The Outcasts at the gate thanked them profusely and then left. Now they were alone in the vast expanse of the Undercity. The soil was bare all around, except for small clumps of dead grass that refused to wither away. The space was broken only by the massive foundations of the city above. Combined with the dim glow from failing lighting panels around the service ducts, the scene reminded them of some alien moonscape. Silent and foreboding.

It had only been 15 minutes, when they heard a voice cry out and a pair of feet pounding the dead soil.

“Please, you’ve gotta help me! Nobody else will, even the Beks won’t help me now! But I can’t just leave him, he’s my friend! You’ll help me won’t you?!”

It was Mission Vao. The petite Twi’lek girl rounded a pile of junk and practically jumped into Carth’s arms. She didn’t look very good. Tears streaked dirt on her face. Her gray vest was torn and she had some cuts on her arms.

“Woah, slow down Mission. What happened,” said a somewhat startled Carth.

“It’s Zaalbar! He’s in trouble, big trouble! If we don’t help him, they’ll sell him into slavery!

“Calm down Mission,” said Anaiya, holding the young woman’s face in her hands, “Take a deep breath and tell us what happened exactly.” Mission drew a shuddering breath.

“Me… me and Zaalbar were just down here exploring. We do it all the time!”

“I guess with a wookie by your side, you figure you can handle the odd rakghoul attack,” said Carth.

“But this time they were waiting for us! Gamorrean slavers. We didn’t even have time to break for it. Big Z threw himself at them and roared for me to run! I… I took off. I figured that Big Z could handle them, but there were too many. They’re going to sell him to a slaver I just know it!”

“Do you know where they took him?” asked Matthias.

“Into the sewers. The stink reminds them of home I guess.”

The three Republic soldiers took a moment to confer amongst themselves.

“I have an idea,” said Carth. He turned to Mission.

“Here’s the deal kid. If we help you get your wookie pal back, then you have to help us get into the Vulkar base,” he said. Mission nodded emphatically.

“Once we get Big Z back, I’ll show you the back door. It’s in the sewers too. Now let’s go! The more time we waste down here the more chance that Big Z might not be there!

-KOTOR-

The newly formed quartet began to make their way toward the entrance to the sewers at a more rapid pace now that they knew that there was someone in danger who needed help. As they jogged past the base of another building, several men, including the mandalorian mercenary that had been called Canderous, surrounded them. One of the men pointed his blaster carbine at them. The way he was shaking didn’t instill a lot of confidence in this squad of toughs.

“Don’t… don’t move. I’ll shoot you if I have too!” said the quavering man.

“Settle down,” said Canderous, knocking the carbine’s muzzle down, “he last thing we need is more casualties from a needless firefight.” The merc ran a critical eye over them. Obviously he didn’t remember them from earlier.

“From the look of you I’d say that you’re down here for the same thing as we are; to salvage something from those Republic space pods. Here’s some friendly advice: Go back right now.”

“Are you threatening us?” asked a wary Carth, all the bad experiences of the Mandalorian Wars coming back to him.

“Mandalorians don’t make threats. We make promises. It’s not us you should be worried about anyway. It’s those damn rakghouls.”

“Canderous!” cried one of the other mercs, “I heard something! Over there, in the shadows. Sounded like a rakghoul…”

“Stang! Get those blasters ready boys!” shouted Canderous just as a pack of rakghouls came charging out of the darkness.

The resulting fight was quick and bloody. Once again Anaiya drew her blade and Matthias followed suit, drawing his vibroblade from a sheath strapped across his back. As Anaiya finished off one of the mutants, she saw that one of them was trying to get the jump on Carth.

“Carth!” she shouted, throwing herself in the path of the rakghoul and skewering it with her blade. Carth looked down at her, not quite sure how to respond,

“Thanks,” he mumbled. Anaiya flashed him a dazzling smile.

“Any time,” she said.

-KOTOR-

None of the mercs had died, but Canderous seemed eager to leave all the same.

“This is getting ridiculous. I’ve already lost half-dozen men to these monsters. Davik’s boys just aren’t trained for this and I can’t baby-sit them all. All right boys, let’s get going. I can’t carry all this salvage back by myself.”

As they began marching off, Canderous turned and offered one last comment.

“Hey, take my advice: Leave while you’ve still got all your parts intact.”

-KOTOR-

They were close to the sewers now or so Mission said. Perhaps the stronger odor of filth was a clue.

“Hey Carth,” asked Mission, “You’re a pilot for the Republic right? You’ve been all over the galaxy right? So tell me, how do you rate Taris compared to other worlds you’ve seen?”

“To be honest Mission, Taris would rate pretty low. The rich spoiling themselves while the poor starve and fall prey to the rakghouls, it’s not a pretty picture.”

“Yeah, but that’s only since the Sith occupation. Before that… well I guess it was pretty much the same. Hmm, I guess Taris… aint as great as I thought you know?”

“Trust me Mission, there are a lot of worlds better than Taris, there are worse too, but Taris is no place to for a kid to grow up. Even one who’s got a wookie by her side.” Anaiya couldn’t help but notice how forcefully he said that last part.

“Hey I aint a kid! And I look out for Big Z as much as he looks out for me. He’s not my baby-sitter. Geez, I ask you a question and you give me a lecture!”

“Don’t you snap at me missy! You want a lecture, how’s this? Only bratty little children fly off the handle because of a simple comment.”

“I think that both of you need to calm down,” said Anaiya but they weren’t paying attention to her.

“I don’t have to listen to you Carth! You aint my father, though you’re sure old enough to be! So keep your lectures inside your withered old head, ‘cause I don’t need ‘em!” said Mission.

“And I sure as hell don’t need this, let’s just get back to what we were doing.”

-KOTOR-

Now that they were so close to the sewers, they suffered rakghoul attacks more often. The creatures had a very nasty habit of jumping out of nowhere. During one of these attacks, Matthias noticed that the creatures had made a nest. Running an eye over the grisly contents, he noticed a corpse dressed in the rags of the outcasts. The hand of the body was clutching an old, leather-bound book. Remembering what the old man Rukil had said, he pocketed the book. He didn’t want to read it. He had a feeling that whatever was inside wasn’t meant for his eyes.

-KOTOR-

They had one last obstacle blocking their way into the sewers. A Sith patrol was standing near enough to notice Anaiya and the others as they tried to sneak by. But thanks to their security code, Anaiya’s charm and her ability to create a quick cover story about them being civilian mercs, they got rid of the patrol.

“Well, well, well,” said Matthias as removed a vial of bubbling green liquid from the hand of a dead Sith, whose departed fellows had callously left behind, “Looks like they should’ve looked him over better.”

He handed the vial to Anaiya, her face slightly illuminated by the faintly glowing liquid,

“The famous rakghoul serum…” she whispered.

-KOTOR-

The sewers stank with such a revolting, numbing, cloying, smothering stink that they were all forced to wear strips of cloth over their mouths, except for Mission who said that she’d learned to ignore it.

Mission led them deep into the maze of tunnels and pipes, moving like a huntress stalking hr prey. Gadon was right, she did know her way around. The journey wasn’t without peril. There were plenty of rakghouls and gamorreans roaming about to give them trouble. Anaiya and Matthias had started using their blades more often as did Mission. Carth was noticing more that both Matthias and Anaiya were very adept at using blades. They would seemingly move together without being aware of it, yet sometimes stumbled into each other, but would recover quickly. It was yet one more suspicion to add to his growing list.

Matthias had made an effort to keep an eye out for any more objects like the book he’d found. During their trek through the stinking pipes, he found two more, one which Carth and Anaiya had to rescue him for. When asked what it was, he simply said that it was something that an old man in the village had asked him to find.

After half a standard hour, they found the chamber that held the gamorrean chieftain and his lieutenants. Matthias determined that surprise was still on their side and that a quick strike would give them the best chance of rescuing Zaalbar alive.

Mission sliced the locks on the door and the quartet charged in vibroblades and blasters flashing. Matthias was in his element. Fighting with the fierceness of a mandalorian he cleared a path through the pig-like aliens while Anaiya, Carth and Mission brought up the rear. In moments his prowess and the skill of his friends had slain all but the chieftain.

“Where is the wookie that you captured?” asked Matthias in a thunderous voice.

“Tell us now!” added Mission. The Chieftain squealed and raised his vibroaxe high into the air. Before anyone could stop him, he brought it swishing down and buried it in his chest. However they didn’t need the chieftain after all as a loud pounding and roaring echoed from behind one of the heavy blast doors in the room. Mission examined the lock on the door.

“Hmm, this is one of those old-style manual locks. No electronics to slice or nothing. The sewers is the only place you’ll find stuff this ancient, but don’t worry, I know how to pick ‘em,” said Mission. Moments later the old door creaked open and a giant wookie emerged and swept Mission up into a joyful embrace.

 “Glad to see you too Big Z!” giggled Mission, “You didn’t think that I’d forget you? Mission and Zaalbar, together forever!”

Zaalbar growled and gestured at the others.

“These are my new friends who helped me rescue you Big Z!” said Mission.

“You can thank Matthias the most of us,” said Carth, “Without his skills we wouldn’t have made it this far,” Matthias then surprised Zaalbar by giving him a wookie greeting.

“You understand my language? That is rare for a human. I am impressed. You have saved my from a life of enslavement and the only way to repay such a deed is through a life debt,” growled Zaalbar.

“A Life debt? Are you sure Big Z? Think about this carefully. You better be sure about this,” said Mission.

“I am sure Mission. On my home world, my people are being used as slave labor because of our great physical strength. They see us as brutes and animals to be exploited. When the Gamorreans captured me, I thought that I was doomed to a life of servitude. I have been saved from such a fate and the only way to repay that kindness is to swear a life debt.”

“Wow! Big Z swearing a wookie life debt to you. This is… this is major! Do you realize what this means Matthias?” asked Mission

“What exactly?” said Matthias.

“A life debt is the most solemn vow a wookie can make. It means that he’ll stay by your side for the rest of your life. Wherever you go, whatever you do, Zaalbar will be with you.” Said Mission in a reverent voice.

“In the presence of you all I swear this life debt. May my oath be as strong as the great Wroshyr trees of Kashyyyk,” said Zaalbar. Matthias stared up at the wookie. Carth and Anaiya looked on in awe.

“I am… I’m honored to accept this vow,” he murmured.

“I guess that means you’re stuck with me too. Wherever Big Z goes, so do I! I guess I also still owe you one secret path into the Vulkar base.

“And the sooner we get out of this hole the better!” added Carth.

“I better come with you. The Vulkars set up a force field to block off the way and I’m one of the few non-Vulkars who knows the access code. I picked them off the pocket of a Vulkar who had a little too much to drink at the Cantina. After the field their base is only a little further beyond. I only hope the Rancor monster isn’t still there,” said Mission.

“Rancor monster?!” cried the others.

“You have got to be kidding me! I didn’t sign up for this Sithspawn!!!” shouted Matthias.

Heart of Darkness

Chapter III: The Lower City

Matthias sat at the dirty bar and nursed a flat lum and several bruises and burns. Their foray into the lower city hadn’t gone well. Within 15 standard minutes of the elevator depositing them into the fetid decay, they had been attacked at least a dozen times. The only thing that had saved them from being mugged, begged, etc. had been their Sith uniforms, which they’d had to put away before coming into Javyar’s Cantina. Javyar’s looked like a decomposed version of the Upper City Cantina, with slime and filth, both sentient and not decorating its dim interior. The cantina wasn’t completely safe, as they had found out when they’d come in. As they entered the bar proper, three members of the Black Vulkar gang blocked them as they accosted a small man sitting at one of the tables.

“Go away,” said the small man in a nasal voice.

“Hey! You not be like that! We just want to talk to big, bad bounty hunter Calo Nord!” said a Rodian.

“Nah, this can’t be Calo Nord, he’s supposed to be tough,” snorted his Twi’lek companion.

“One,” said Calo simply.

“Huh? What one mean? What’s he trying to say?” said the second Rodian.

“You shouldn’t talk down to us. We’re members of the Black Vulkars! What do you think of that?” said the twi’lek.

“Two,” said Calo.

“Me not understand. One, two? What, he trying to count how many of us there are?” said the confused first Rodian.

“It’s three against one! What do you think of those odds?” challenged the twi’lek. It was the last thing he ever said.

“Three,” stated Calo. He then threw a device that looked like a grenade on the floor. Before anyone could react, the flash-bang went off. There were several shouts, three blaster shots, and then the light faded away. The three Vulkars lay on the floor, very dead. Calo Nord calmly sheathed his twin blaster pistols and then strode towards the door, which Anaiya and company blocked. He gave them a look that could’ve frozen molten carbonite and said, “One.” Not wanting to challenge this dangerous little man, the three quickly stepped out of the way.

“Smart,” said Calo and left.

Now Carth, Anaiya, and Matthias sat at the bar and nursed their wounds and drinks. Their attention was caught when a high, female voice cried out amidst the normal room buzz.

“I told you to leave me alone! Now give me some space bug-eye! Your breath smells like bantha poodoo!”

Wanting to see what the trouble was, the three made their way over to the source of the racket, which turned out to be yet another pair of Black Vulkars, both Rodians, who were menacing a lithe, blue-skinned Twi’lek girl.

“Little girl should not be in bar. This no place for little girl. Little girl should run away home now.” Said one of the Rodians, as he grabbed the girl’s arm. She wrenched it out of the alien’s grasp.

“Just a sec boys. Zaalbar, a little help here? I need you to rip the legs off some insects.” A hulking, furry shadow shifted in its seat at one of the tables against the wall. It didn’t speak up in Basic but instead began to growl and bark.

 “Quit complaining, you can finish later. Besides you need the exercise so get over here!” said the girl. Anaiya’s suspicions about the voice were confirmed as the hulking form moved into the light and was revealed to be a brown-furred wookie. The rodians took a step back.

“We no want trouble with wookie. Our problem with you little girl.”

“You got a problem with me? Then you got a problem with Big Z. So unless you want to take on my furry friend, I suggest you greenies hop on outta here.” The two rodians began slowly backing away, their eyes fixed on the wookie called Zaalbar.

“Little girl lucky she has big friend,” one of them called as they began to head towards the door.

Matthias stepped towards the girl and asked, “Are you all right?” The girl looked him up and down.

“Hey, I don’t recognize you and I know just about everyone around this part of the lower city. I guess that makes Big Z and me you’re official welcoming committee.”

“You showed a lot of guts dealing with those Vulkars kid,” said Carth, “You got a name?”

“My name’s Mission Vao and this big wookie is my best friend Zaalbar. I’d offer to give you a tour, but the streets aren’t safe right now, what with the gang war between the Hidden Beks and the Black Vulkars.”

“Tell us about that,” asked Anaiya.

“It’s all Brejik’s fault,” returned Mission hotly, “If he hadn’t been such a sleemo, this would never have happened. Ya see, Brejik used to be part of the Hidden Beks, Gadon’s right hand man. I think Gadon was grooming him to take over leadership or something. Anyway, when Gadon lost his sight, everyone assumed that he’d let Brejik take over. But Gadon said that with his artificial eyes he could see just fine, and that Brejik wasn’t ready to take over. Brejik stormed out and then shows up in charge of the Vulkars. Next thing anyone knows, Brejik’s gone and declared war against the Beks. Gadon is one of the nicest and most decent people I’ve ever met. I can’t believe that Brejik wants to kill him now. It’s all just so stupid!”

 “Well that helps put things into perspective somewhat. Know anything else that would be helpful to a trio of wanderers kid?” said Matthias.

“I’m not a kid! I’m fourteen, and yeah, I know pretty much all there is to know about the lower city. I’ve even got the scoop on that bounty hunter Calo Nord.

“Tell us about Calo Nord,” said Anaiya.

“Calo Nord’s one of the most famous bounty hunters in the galaxy. He’s killed more people than the Iridian Plague! I’ve seen him kill people just for trying to talk to him!” said Mission.

“So we noticed,” grimaced Carth.

“I figure he’s been hired by Davik Kang to do a special job for the Exchange. I’d wager a thousand credits that once the quarantine is lifted, he’ll be offa this rock.”

“Well that certainly helps us some,” said Carth, “We’ll be going. We’ve got a job to do so thanks, you’ve been a big help.”

“You going?” asked Mission, “Yeah this place was getting boring anyway. Hey Zaalbar let’s go.”

The big Wookie let out a mournful howl.

“Can’t you think about anything besides your stomach for five minutes?” said Mission exasperatedly, “Come on, let’s see if they have anything good at the Bek base.” And with that, the slight Twi’lek girl and her 2 and a half-meter tall wookie companion exited.

“Rival gangs, Twi’lek street urchins, and wookies. This just keeps getting stranger and stranger,” mumbled Matthias as they also left.

-KOTOR-

They had decided to seek out this Gadon Thek that Mission had mentioned, thinking that he sounded like he might be able to help or at the very least provide information. They had wanted to follow Mission, but she and Zaalbar had already vanished into the murk of the lower city.

It was another danger-laden trek as they tried to find their way to the Hidden Bek base. Along with the usual assaults and attempted muggings, the trio had two more unusual encounters. The first was when they happened upon an argument between a pair of Black Vulkars and a thin, weasely man.

“You guys are late with your payments. What, you think just cause you’re in some gang that you won’t give Davik his cut?” asked the thin man.

“I don’t see Davik earning his share! We’re the ones doing all the work!” said the first alien.

“Yeah! Let’s see the big crime boss come down here and take his cut!” said the second.

“Oh so you want to play this the hard way?” said the thin man with an amused smile, “Haha, okay.” He whistled and a much larger man stepped out of the shadows. He was about two meters tall, with iron gray hair and eyes. He wore only a simple pair of slacks and a black shirt, over which he wore a red combat vest. In his hands he carried a blaster rifle that looked simply too big to be allowed. It definitely looked capable of blasting holes through solid duranium. Carth stiffened and a hand went to one of his pistols.

“Mandalorian!” he hissed.

The Vulkars didn’t look happy either. Gone was any trace of their bravado and ego.

“Oh hey Canderous. We… we didn’t know you was working for Davik now. Here, take the payment, we won’t be causing anymore trouble.”

“I knew you boys would see it our way. Now don’t be late next time.” Said the thin man.

“Too bad,” said the mandalorian, his voice a deep, growling, rumble, “I was looking forward to cracking some skulls.”

“I’m sure you were Canderous! Don’t worry I’ll call you if there’s any more trouble,” said the thin man as he walked away. Carth, Anaiya, and Matthias were also about to leave when Canderous noticed them and smirked.

“Those Vulkars are dumber than a Coruscant granite slug and only slightly more appealing. Gadon and the others keep their people in line, but Brejik’s getting delusions of grandeur. If Davik is smart, he’ll slap that young punk back down.”

“Who are you?” asked Anaiya.

“I’m someone you don’t want to get on the bad side of,” growled the big mandalorian, “Now if you’ll excuse me, Davik’s got me on special assignment.” And with that, the mandalorian calmly strode away.

-KOTOR-

Their second encounter occurred shortly thereafter. They had cut through an alleyway when they saw the bounty hunter Calo Nord approach a pair of rodians.

“You seem to be taking an interest in our progress. Do you need something little man?” asked one of the rodians.

“Quiet Luugro! That’s Calo Nord, the famous bounty hunter!” said the second.

“There’s a bounty on your little green heads. I’m here to collect,” said Calo simply.

“The only way you’ll collect is over our dead bodies!” shouted the rodian.

“That’s the plan,” said Calo.

Anaiya and Matthias saw it as if in slow motion. Before they could warn the rodians, Calo whipped out his blasters and shot them dead. He calmly holstered the pistols again and turned away. As Calo walked past them, he gave them an icy stare through the blast goggles he wore. And then he was gone, swallowed up by Taris’ darkness.

-KOTOR-

After what seemed like hours, they finally arrived at the entrance to the Hidden Beks’ base. As they approached the door, a sentry stopped them.

“Hold it right there,” said the woman.

“We need to see Gadon Thek. We were told he could help us,” said Anaiya, matching the woman’s glare.

“A lot of people want to see Gadon. He’s a hero of the common people. But the days of the Beks’ open door policy are gone. Between the Sith occupation and the Vulkar gang war Gadon has more enemies than he used to. We’re being very careful of who we let in now.”

“Perhaps we could be an ally against those enemies,” said Anaiya, indicating Carth and Matthias. The sentry ran a wary eye over the two men.

“Hmm, perhaps. We could always use an extra hand and you don’t look like you’re with the Sith or the Vulkars…” the sentry straightened and pressed a button that caused the door to open with a metallic groan.

“You can go on in and speak to Gadon if you want. Besides it’s not like you can do anything to harm him in his own base, not with Zaerdra watching his back,” pronounced the sentry as she waved the three inside.

-KOTOR-

The Bek base was dimly lit, but seemed somehow homier than the alleys and tunnels of the rest of the lower city. Various aliens and humans wandered here and there, dressed in the colors of the Hidden Beks. At the far end of the room, a dark skinned man sat behind a large durasteel desk, with a white skinned Twi’lek woman in full armor standing beside it. Presuming that this was Gadon Thek, they marched up to him. Before they could address him however, the Twi’lek woman pulled out a blaster rifle and stepped in front of the man.

“Hold it right there! Who are you, and what is your business with Gadon?”

“Calm down Zaerdra,” spoke the man sitting behind the desk. He got up out of his chair and strode over beside the woman called Zaerdra. Matthias noticed that Gadon walked with a noticeable limp.

“Nobody is going to try something in the heart of our own base. It would be a suicide mission.”

“You’re too trusting Gadon. Brejik and his Vulkars want you dead. Anyone we don’t know is a potential threat and it’s my job to make sure you’re safe.” Said Zaerdra as if she were lecturing a young child.

“Do you want us to start attacking strangers on sight Zaerdra, like the Vulkars do? I will never let it come to that! Now let them pass.” Said Gadon. He had a strong, commanding voice that burned with passion, probably why he was a good leader. Zaerdra's lekku twitched in agitation but she bowed her head.

“As you wish,” she said, then she turned to Anaiya, Matthias and Carth, “You can speak to Gadon if you want, but just remember that I’m watching you. You try anything and you’ll be vaporized before you can say Vulkar spy!”

Gadon stepped forward, the lights finally revealing his whole face. Anaiya couldn’t help but stare at his unnaturally pale eyes. They looked like they didn’t quite belong, the pupils dilated much too often for her liking. Gadon focused on her and then smiled. Anaiya blushed and looked away.

“No need to be embarrassed, I’m not ashamed of what I’ve become. As you can see, I lost my eyes in a swoop crash. I rely on these artificial implants to see now, but it’s not as good as the original thing. But my blindness was not the worst consequence of the accident. My affliction is what has led to this war between my Beks and the Vulkars.”

“It isn’t your fault and you know it Gadon,” said Zaerdra fiercely. Gadon laughed slightly.

“You’ll have to forgive Zaerdra. Ever since Brejik and the Vulkars began this war, she’s been a little over-zealous in her duties. The problems with the Sith haven’t helped any. Zaerdra seems to forget that I can look after myself,” he said directing a pointed stare at the woman, “Now how can I help you?

“We need some information on those escape pods that crashed down here,” said Anaiya.

“The escape pods? You know, I heard that the Sith have been asking around the upper city about those pods as well… but you don’t look like your with the Sith,” said Gadon.

“They might be spies Gadon. They might be working for the Sith,” Zaerdra spat heatedly.

“Cool it Zaerdra! If the Sith thought we knew anything useful, they’d have a battalion of troops kicking down our door! No, I think these offworlders have their own agenda.”

“Don’t worry, we’re not working for the Sith,” said Carth.

“I suppose I could tell you what I know… it’s not like it would do any harm to my gang… but it might cause problems for the Vulkars, and that’s okay in my book. The Vulkars stripped those pods clean within hours. It’s too bad that my Beks didn’t get to them first, considering what the Vulkars found. A female Republic officer named Bastila survived the crash and the Vulkars found her when they went hunting for the pods. We Beks don’t believe in intergalactic slavery, but Brejik holds a different opinion. They took her prisoner.”

“Bastila’s a slave?! Wonderful, this makes our job so much easier,” groaned Carth.

“What will happen to her?” asked Matthias.

“Normally the Vulkars would take a captured slave and sell them for a nice profit to Davik or an off-world slaver. But a Republic officer is no ordinary catch,” said Gadon.

“At least they still think that Bastila’s just a Republic officer. That could work to our advantage. Maybe she’ll escape from the Vulkar base on her own,” said Anaiya.

“Ha!” laughed Gadon, “She’s too valuable to leave with the scum at the base. No, Brejik’s got her hidden away somewhere safe until the big swoop race. You’ll never find her,” said Gadon.

“There has to be some way we can save her!” cried Anaiya.

“I’m afraid that your friend has become a pawn in Brejik’s plan to take over the lower city gangs. He’s offered her up as the Vulkar’s share of the prize in the Taris Season Opener swoop race. By putting up such a valuable prize, Brejik hopes to win the loyalty of the smaller gangs, with their numbers, he can finally destroy me and my followers.”

“So how do you propose we rescue Bastila then? We can’t fight all the gangs,” said Carth, desperation edging into his voice.

“The only hope you have is to somehow win the swoop race.

“You have got to be kidding us!” said Matthias

“No kidding. I could help you, if you’d be willing to help us. We both have something to gain here. And much to lose.

“What are you proposing?” asked Anaiya.

“The race is for the gangs only. No outsiders are allowed, so I could sponsor you as a rider for the Hidden Beks. If you can win the race, you’ll win your friend’s freedom. But first you have to do something for me. My mechanics built a new prototype accelerator for our swoop. A bike with the accelerator can beat anything out on that track. But the Vulkars stole the prototype. They plan to use it to guarantee them victory. You’ll have to break into their base and steal it back,” said Gadon.

“And just how, exactly, are we supposed to do this?” asked Matthias skeptically.

“Getting in won’t be easy. The front doors are locked down tight. But I know someone who might be able to help you get in the back way: Mission Vao.”

“Mission?!” exclaimed Zaerdra, “Gadon, she’s just a kid! How’s she supposed to help them?

“Because Mission knows every step of every back alley in this sector of the city. Plus she knows the Undercity sewers better than anyone. If anyone can get you inside the Vulkar base, she can.

“We met Mission in Javyar’s Cantina earlier,” said Anaiya, “where can we find her now?”

“She and her wookie friend are always looking to stir up some excitement,” said Gadon, “They like to go exploring in the Undercity despite the dangers. Your best bet is to look for her in the Undercity. But you’ll need a way past the guards and their droid turrets,” said Gadon.

“We’ve got these Sith uniforms to disguise ourselves,” said Carth. Gadon ran his eyes over them skeptically.

“A simple disguise might have fooled the guards in the upper city, but the security’s much tougher down here. You’ll need the proper security code. Luckily my gang ambushed a Sith patrol that was headed down to the Undercity and their code fell into my hands.” Gadon gave them a sly look.

“Since we’re working together now, I suppose I could give you the code in exchange for those uniforms of yours.” The three looked at each other and then nodded. One by one, they handed their uniforms over to Zaerdra.

“Good choice,” said Gadon,” Thanks for the uniforms. You won’t need them with this code anyway.”

“We’ll be back when we have the accelerator,” said Anaiya, nodding to Gadon.

“I suggest you hurry,” he said, “The race is coming up soon and we want one of you to have time to practice before it happens. Good hunting and feel free to come back anytime. We’re not like those Vulkar savages. Strangers are welcome in the Bek base.” Gadon raised his hand in salute and the three returned the gesture. Code in hand, they departed the Bek base.

-KOTOR-

The elevator to the Undercity was a surprisingly short walk from the Bek base. As Gadon had said, there were a pair of Sith troopers guarding the elevator, and a bunch of nasty looking laser turrets. Cautiously, they approached the doors, when one of the guards pointed his rifle at them.

“Hold it civilian. This turbolift is only for the use of those on official Sith business. If you don’t have the proper code, you might as well turn around and walk back.”

Carth handed the code to the trooper, who handed it to his partner. The second trooper ran the code cylinder through a machine next to the door.

“Do they have clearance?”

“It’s an older code sir, but it checks out.”

“Right,” the guard turned to face them, “All right you can go down, but I don’t envy you though. Watch out for the mutants, the Rakghouls. Some advice: If you see anything moving down there, shoot first and ask questions later,” said the guard. Carth turned to Anaiya.

“I never thought I’d see the day when a Sith soldier would be cautioning me to watch my back.”

The doors of the lift opened and they stepped inside. The other guard gave a sardonic wave as the door slammed shut again and the lift started up with a rattling jerk. Once more they descended into the darkness.

The Bar At The End of the Level

Chapter II: The Upper City

Matthias dreamed. And his dreams were strange indeed. In his dream he saw a female Jedi on the bridge of what seemed to be a Sith ship. The Jedi wasn’t dressed in the standard robes of the Order, but in a form fitting unisuit, with an ornamental tabard on the front. She held a blazing yellow lightsaber and was dueling fiercely with a dark Jedi, dressed in gray and black. Slashing her saber across the Sith’s wrist caused him to drop his weapon. The Jedi drew back her yellow blade and struck. With a dull thud, the corpse of the Sith collapsed to the deck.

-KOTOR-

Matthias awoke to find himself lying on a bed in some sort of apartment room. He sat up, stretched for a moment, and then stood as fast as his aching muscles would allow.

“Good to see you up instead of thrashing around in your sleep. That must’ve been a hell of a nightmare,’ said a voice from behind. Matthias turned around to see a man and a woman seated at a table in the middle of the room. One of them, the one with the leather jacket, he vaguely recognized, the other was a Jedi but he didn’t recognize her at first. Seeing that he wasn’t responding Leather Jacket decided to keep talking.

“I’m Carth. I was with you when we jumped in that escape pod. Do you remember?”

“Carth, the one from the Endar Spire, right. What happened after we ejected?”

“Well when we came down, you got a nasty crack on the head. Our Jedi friend was still out cold so I had to drag both of you out of there and make a break for it. By the time the Sith showed up we were long gone.”

“Commander Onasi tells me I have you to thank for getting me into the escape pod in the first place. My name is Anaiya Brightstar, thank you for saving my life,” she said, bowing her head towards Matthias.

Matthias studied Anaiya Brightstar carefully. Anaiya was dressed in typical brown and white Jedi robes, now scorched and torn by the fighting on the Spire and the plasma conduit. She had black hair than was pulled into a ponytail. Matthias couldn’t help but notice that there was something about her face that seemed strangely familiar.

“The pleasure was all mine miss Jedi. And thanks for getting us the rest of the way Carth.”

“No thanks are necessary. I’ve never left a man behind before and I wasn’t about to start now,” replied Carth demurely.

“Right. So where are we anyway?” asked Matthias.

 “We’re in an abandoned apartment on the surface of Taris. You’ve been unconscious for a couple of days now. While you were out, Anaiya and I did some scouting around. As you know we crash-landed on the planet of Taris. Taris is a Sith world. Their fleet is orbiting the planet, they’ve replaced the local government, declared martial law, and imposed a planet wide quarantine, but I’ve been in worse spots,” said Carth.

“Have you now? Well so have I and I can tell you now that getting off this world won’t be a piece of cake,” replied Anaiya, which earned her an annoyed stare from Carth.

“As I was saying, the Upper City is where the elite of the planet lives and is pretty safe at least for us. However the farther you go down, the worse it gets. The Lower City is filled with swoop gangs that are in the middle of a bloody war for control and the Undercity is even worse. The Undercity is home to mutant creatures called rakghouls. All in all not a very pretty picture. Now I heard some reports of Republic escape pods going down in the Undercity. I figure that’s probably the best place to start looking for Bastila.”

“How can we even be sure that Jedi Bastila is still alive?” asked Matthias.

“We can’t be sure. But, for the sake of the Republic war effort we have to try and find her,” replied Carth.

“Not to sound too much like a pessimist, but given the odds of finding Bastila alive, shouldn’t we worry more about getting off the planet and getting back into the fight?” said Matthias.

“That smack to your head must have done more damage than we thought soldier boy,” said Anaiya with a sardonic grin, “Bastila is the key to the Republic war effort. She’s a fellow Jedi and her skill at Battle Meditation has kept the Sith from total victory, that’s why Malak wants her so bad, either to turn to the dark side or destroy her.”

“Well then, let’s go rescue us a Key,” grinned Matthias.

 “Well we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. First we need to find Bastila,” said Carth, “Now the Sith have got patrols everywhere, but I figure as long as we don’t do anything stupid we should be ok. I’ve heard some grim stories about the Dark Jedi interrogation techniques. They say the Force can do terrible things to a person. It can wipe your mind and strip away your very identity. But they’re looking for Bastila, not a couple of grunts like us. All right soldiers lets move out,” said Carth.

Anaiya smiled ruefully at being told to ‘move out.’

“Would you boys mind if I changed first? These robes announce pretty loudly that I’m a Jedi.”

“Oh, sure,” said Carth, “I think I saw some clothes in a closet back in the bedroom.”

Anaiya left and came back a few minutes later dressed in a long-sleeve tan shirt, a navy vest and black pants with two thin, yellow stripes going down the sides. She also wore a pair of fingerless leather gloves. All in all, Matthias thought the ensemble did her a bit better than her robes.

“By the way Matthias, did you manage to pick up my lightsaber? I’d like it back.” Matthias froze.

“I, er… that is to say…”

“You don’t have my lightsaber?”

“Well I was… I was so busy trying to get you out of there in one piece and watching my own back that I just didn’t think about it. Sorry.” Anaiya just stared at him for a few seconds and then turned and headed for the door. Just barely, Carth and Matthias heard her say something like, “I liked that lightsaber,” in a low, hurt voice. Carth patted Matthias on the shoulder and grinned at him.

“Word of advice? Ladies don’t like it when you lose their things.”

Outside in the hallway of the building, the trio ran into trouble immediately. A Sith soldier and two war droids were in the hallway with their backs to the three soldiers.

“All right you alien scum! Up against the wall! This is a raid!” bellowed the Sith.

“Oh great this is the last thing we needed,” groaned Carth. One of a pair of Duros aliens standing next to the Sith spoke up.

“Why do you Sith insist on bothering us? You’ve been here before and found nothing. Why don’t you just let us be?” The Sith promptly shot the poor Duros between the eyes with his rifle.

“That’s how we Sith deal with smart-mouth aliens,” sneered the officer, “Now the rest of you up against the walls before I lose my temper again!” he bellowed. The Sith officer promptly turned around to make sure his orders were being obeyed and saw Carth, Matthias, and Anaiya.

“What? Humans hiding out with aliens? They’re Republic fugitives! Attack!”

“Well we’re off to a great start at keeping a low profile aren’t we?’ remarked Anaiya.

As the droids raised their rifles, Carth and Matthias drew their weapons with a speed that only came from training and experience. A volley of blaster bolts cut the two droids down. The officer looked like he was about to say something when a blaster shot from behind blew through his chest, It was the companion of the Duros the officer had slain, who held a smoking blaster pistol.

“Poor Ixgil. He should never have talked back to that Sith,” remarked the Duros, “Don’t worry, I will move the bodies so it will look like they were killed elsewhere. I would have been dead if you had not stepped in when you had.”

“Won’t you be running a risk doing that?” asked Matthias concernedly.

“Consider this a repayment,” the Duros replied.

-KOTOR-

Having acquired a blaster pistol from the dead Sith officer for Anaiya, the three allies stepped out onto the streets of Taris amidst a frenzy of activity. Gaudily clad Tarisians moved about on their business while silver-clad Sith troopers marched precisely down the streets. A large group of Sith had congregated by the downed escape pod that had brought Carth and Matthias to Taris. All around them, the skyscrapers of Taris rose into the horizon like glittering teeth.

“This way,” said Anaiya, “The Upper City Cantina should be a good place to start.” They made their way across the street without much incident. There was a tense moment when a pair of Sith troopers marched right past them and one of them turned its helmet to look at the trio, but said nothing and continued on.

Passing by a shop that had a sign that said ‘Kebla Yurt’s Equipment Emporium’ Matthias couldn’t shake the feeling that something was bothering him. No… not him but… someone else. He turned around and saw that Carth was trailing Anaiya and him and seemed to have a look on his face that suggested he had something on his mind.

“Hey Carth?”

“Yes? What’s on your mind?” Matthias decided that it might be a good idea to ask about Carth to get him more comfortable.

“I’d like to know a bit more about you, seeing as how we’ll be working together in the future.”

“About me? Well there’s not much to tell really. I’ve been a starpilot for the Republic for more years than I can count. I served in the Mandalorian Wars before all this started. But with all that, I’ve never seen anything like what these Sith animals can unleash. My home world, Telos, was one of the first to fall to Malak’s fleet. The Sith bombed it into submission ad there wasn’t a damn thing that our Republic forces could do to stop them!”

“You’re talking like it’s your fault,” said Matthias.

“It shouldn’t be my fault. I’m just a soldier, I go where the fleet admirals tell me and I do my duty,” said Carth, his voice rising, “I just wish that doing that didn’t mean I failed them. I didn’t!”

“Them? You mean the people of Telos?” said Matthias.

“No… yes, I mean… I’m sorry I must not be making much sense. I’m not accustomed to talking about my past. At all actually.” Carth looked like he was about to say more, but stopped.

“They’ll be time for more questions later, right now let’s get on with what we were doing.” Matthias closed his mouth, but silently vowed to pick this up later. Carth wouldn’t wriggle out of this so easily.

At that moment Anaiya came jogging over to them.

“Hey warn me the next time you two decide to stop and chat. I was at the door of the cantina when I realized you weren’t with me. So try to keep up huh?”

“If her ladyship demands it we’ll try and comply,” said Matthias sarcastically.

-KOTOR-

The air inside the Upper City Cantina was thick with cigarra smoke and the smell of exotic ales. Right in the entrance hallway were several Pazaak tables and further in was the bar itself.

The three split up and spread out through the cantina. Carth wondered over to the Pazaak tables where a heated match was in progress. The player sitting near where Carth was standing threw down his cards and some credit chips and stalked away. Pazaak was a simple enough card game where you had to use your card deck to get to twenty in nine tries and win three hands to win the game. A simple game but responsible for making and breaking a thousand fortunes across the galaxy.

“And Niklos the great Pazaak player wins again!” stated the winning player. He was dressed in an immaculate tunic and had a pretty girl under each arm. Carth grinned. He had learned long ago in his matches against shipmates, that the ones with the egos were usually easy to beat, depending on how good their deck was.

“Mind if I play?’ asked Carth. Niklos looked him up and down, taking in his scruffy appearance and grinned like a shark about to devour a helpless fish.

“Of course my friend,” he said in his thick Tarisian accent, “provided of course you have the credits to wager? Shall we start the betting at, say, 100 credits?” he chuckled with a sneer. Carth grinned right back.

“Sounds good to me.” This guy was so done for.

Matthias was making the rounds of the bar, holding a glass of juma juice, when he was brought to a halt by a pretty woman sitting at on of the tables.

“Hello. I don’t think I’ve seen you in here before.”

Matthias examined her closely. She was quite pretty and seemed not to be overly drunk.

“Hi, I’m Matthias Starseeker. And you’re name is?”

“Sarna. Junior Officer Third-class Sarna with the Sith Occupation Force.”

Matthias leaned forward, now very interested in this pretty young Sith woman.

-KOTOR-

Anaiya had made her way to the back of the cantina, into a room lined with wall-mounted monitors and a medium-sized Hutt reclining the corner.

“Oh I can’t believe I didn’t get tickets for this match! Now we’ll have to watch it on the view screen,” said a woman who was standing with a taller man near one of the screens.

“Who cares? It’s Duncan and Gerlon fighting, it’s not like we’re missing anything good.”

“Quiet the match is about to start!”

Attracted by the conversation, Matthias moved over to watch a free screen. On it she saw a circular arena with raised seating platforms that formed a pit in the center. Two men clad in armor were standing at opposite ands of the arena.

“Ladies and gentlemen may I direct your attention to the dueling ring! The match is about to start! In this corner: looking to climb the ranks yet again is the ever persistent-DEADEYE DUNCAN! And in this corner is his challenger! A man so tough even a disfiguring injury couldn’t end his career ha ha ha! I give you-GERLON TWO-FINGERS! LET THE DUEL BEGIN!!”

At those words a gong sounded and both duelists drew blaster pistols. Actually Gerlon drew his pistol while Duncan fumbled his and dropped it to the floor. Gerlon fired, the bolt hitting Duncan dead in the chest.

“And to nobody’s great surprise Deadeye is down again. Don’t worry folks; he’s just unconscious as usual. And the winner is-GERLON TWO-FINGERS!”

Anaiya stepped back from the screen. She had an idea. She saw the duelist, Gerlon Two-Fingers emerge from a side door and start talking to the Hutt. With a wide smile she strode over to introduce herself.

-KOTOR-

Two VERY long hours later, Matthias had managed to disentangle himself from Sarna and went looking for Carth and Anaiya. He had some very interesting things to tell them. He ran into Carth on the other end of the bar. He was holding a large stack of credits and was trying to brush off some girl named Christyaa or something.

“What is with this planet? I’ve been yelled at five times and been mistaken for a waiter twice! They have no concepts of manners here,” Matthias complained to Carth.

“Tell me about it. From what I’ve heard they don’t appreciate the Sith being here, but as long as they don’t start stealing everyone’s money, they seem content to sit back and let the Sith have free reign.”

After that they found Anaiya coming out of the back room, her clothes cut and burnt and with some bleeding wounds.

“Anaiya what in the sithspawn happened to you?!” cried Carth when they saw her.

“The dueling ring,” she answered, and then proceeded to tell them about the huge amounts of credits there was to be made in the ring. She had gone up against the first three of the top six duelists on Taris and had already made a little more than 1,000 credits.

“We could use the credits… but powered-down blasters and vibroblades? And nobody ever dies? How come I get the feeling they’re trying to take you for a ride?” said Carth as they supported her on the way out.

-KOTOR-

They stopped a passing protocol droid who directed them to a small clinic run by a Dr. Zelka Forn. They walked through the double doors the balding, dark-skinned doctor rose to greet them.

“I’m Dr. Zelka Forn. From the looks of you I’d say you’re from off world. But I’ll not have it said that Zelka Forn refused treatment just because his patient was an off-worlder. If you’ll come this way I should be able to patch you up. I can treat most any injury here, except for the Rakghoul disease.”

“What exactly is this Rakghoul disease?” asked Anaiya, ever inquisitive.

“The Rakghouls are horrible monsters that live in the Undercity, and spread their disease to the inhabitants of Taris. The Rakghoul plague has afflicted Taris for centuries because of this. The Republic scientists were working on a cure at the military base, but then the Sith invaded. If there is a cure, then the Sith are probably stockpiling it for their soldiers who have been sent into the Undercity to look for those downed Republic space pods.”

“We sure picked a great planet to crash on, huh Carth,” moaned Matthias.

-KOTOR-

As Zelka tended to Anaiya under Carth’s watchful eye, Matthias explored the small clinic. An unmarked door caught his eye. Every other door in the place was clearly labeled, but this was not. Additionally it had a lock that looked capable of stopping a blaster bolt. He oh so casually leaned against the door and slipped a security spike into the lock. Click! He eased open the door and gasped. Inside was a long room with eight kolto tanks lining the walls, four of them filled with two men and a Mon Calamari. Unfortunately that was the exact same moment when Zelka, Anaiya, and Carth walked out of the examining room.

“Hey! Don’t go in there it’s restricted!” yelled Zelka, but Carth and Anaiya beat him to it. They too gasped when they saw what was in the room. Anaiya ran her hands over one of the tanks.

“This is Sgt. Ashaad! And over here; it’s Ensign Baan!” she said.

“And this is Lt. Ackran the navigator,” said Carth, examining the Mon Cal.

“You know these soldiers?” asked Zelka, “Then that must mean you’re Republic soldiers too!”

“What happened to these men?” asked Carth.

“Ever since the space battle overhead, people have been bringing in these soldiers. Must of them have injuries that are too severe, they won’t last much longer. All I can do for them is make their last days as comfortable as possible.” Matthias and Carth shook his hand.

“It’s good to know that some of the men fell into compassionate hands. On behalf of the Republic I thank you.

“Just please don’t tell anyone they are here. But it seems after they’re initial questioning the Sith have not returned.”

Anaiya mimed closing a zipper over her mouth. “You’re secret’s safe with us friend.”

-KOTOR-

As they stepped out of the clinic, night was beginning to fall on Taris, and the lights were starting to come on, bathing the skyscrapers in a myriad of colors that dazzled one to look at.

“I think the city looks much better at night,” said Matthias.

“Maybe… but the beauty masks the corruption deep inside,” said Anaiya.

“Bright ray of starshine, aren’t you?” remarked Matthias, “Anyway we should head back to the apartment.”

-KOTOR-

As they bedded down for the night, Matthias told them about Sarna and the party she had invited him to.

“I don’t like this. It could be a trap,” said Carth.

“A trap? Carth that woman had no idea who I am. Besides you missed what I told you about how she said that they would have their uniforms with them. We can use those uniforms to get down into the Lower City to search for Bastila. It’s the best plan we’ve had so far so I say let’s do it.”

“I agree with Matthias,” said Anaiya, adding her voice to the debate.

“All right all right, I’ll go but don’t expect me to act really chummy. What we’re doing could be considered fraternizing with the enemy.

“It’s called espionage nerf herder! Now bunk down on the couch like a nice boy and try and get some sleep ok?” said Matthias, throwing him a sickly grin.

The next evening they made sure their clothes looked presentable, and then walked down the aerial walkways to the address that Sarna had given Matthias. As they walked through the door of the apartment building, Matthias turned to Carth, whom he’d noticed being a little distant.

“Yes? What’s on your mind?” said Carth.

“Is this a good time to continue our conversation from earlier?”

“I guess I did say that you could ask me again later. Is this really necessary?”

“I just want to get to know you a little better,” said Matthias as they stepped into the building turbolift.

“Oh, well if it’s an interrogation you wanted why didn’t you say so.”

“Excellent! Soon all your secrets will be mine!” grinned Matthias.

“All my secrets are purely of the mundane variety, I assure you. Let me ask you something first though. I’ve been going over the battle on the Endar Spire in my head and some things just don’t add up for me. Maybe you could fill in the blanks?”

“Like you said when we first met: Bastila didn’t have time to use her powers.”

“True. Bastila is as powerful as they say. I guess no Jedi ability, however powerful makes up for being completely outmatched. We didn’t choose that battle anyway it was forced on us. Hell, I’m surprised that any of us made it out of there to talk about it.” Carth stared at Matthias and then at Anaiya for a moment, his brow furrowed.

“Come to think of it, it’s a little strange that you both ended up here at the same time.”

“Don’t look at me, I was just getting blown up in a corridor,” said Anaiya with a note of irritation.

“You’d rather we weren’t?” asked Matthias neutrally.

“Don’t be ridiculous, you’ve both proved yourselves since the crash, we wouldn’t have made it this far without you. Still…”

Are you implying that “I” had something to do with the crash?” asked Matthias, now shocked.

“No! Well maybe. It just seems strange that someone that Bastila’s party specifically requested to be aboard is among the survivors. Considering your connection to Bastila it just seems that your presence here is a little convenient.”

“You know Carth shouldn’t we be trying to work together instead of making unfounded accusations?” asked Anaiya.

“I am working with you, I’d be a fool not too. I’ve just learned to expect the unexpected.”

“You do know we’re on the same side right?” asked Matthias.

“I just don’t trust easily, for good reasons,” said Carth, looking Matthias in the eye, “Reasons which are my own, and no I’m not going to discuss them so can we just get on with what we were doing?”

“Hey lovebirds, if you’re done? We’re here,” said Anaiya as they stopped in front of an apartment door, from which music could be heard.

The party was in full swing. Sarna quickly spotted Matthias and practically hauled the three Republics over to her table.

“Here you are! I thought you weren’t going to show. You have to try some of this Tarisian Ale. It’s fantastic!”

“Careful Sarna,” warned her friend, “That ale’s got enough kick to keep us out till morning.”

“Who cares? We’re not on duty tomorrow so let’s live a little.

As the party wore on, Matthias, Anaiya, and Carth found many varied excuses to not drink any of the very potent Tarisian Ale. Around midnight, the last of the Sith officers had dropped to the floor from alcohol-induced exhaustion. The three adventurers quietly slipped out with three Sith uniforms and melted into the night outside.

-KOTOR-

The next morning found a trio of Sith troopers marching down the causeway towards the elevator that lead to the Lower City.

“Aren’t you a little short for a shocktrooper?” asked Matthias of Anaiya, whose armor was indeed one size too large.

“Shut up,” she said.

“Snappy. I didn’t think that Jedi got like that,” replied Matthias.

“Yeah, well not all of us are perfect.”

As they approached the guarded elevator Carth seemed to grow more nervous.

“This is not gonna work,” he said.

“Why didn’t you say so before?” said Anaiya.

“I DID say so before,” said Carth, but they had arrived at the gate and it was too late to turn back now. The guard looked them over once and then reached for something in his belt. They three stiffened up immediately but it was only a small signal device.

“Another patrol going down to the Lower City eh? Be careful down there it’s nasty. The swoop gangs will take a shot at anyone, even us,” said the guard and pressed the button on the device. The gate opened revealing the cramped elevator. Matthias, Carth, and Anaiya boarded and the gate shut with an ominous clank. The car started to descend, plunging them into weakly lit darkness.

“One small step for us, one giant leap into hell to go,” murmured Matthias.