C8-42 BI-P1-C2

Part 1 - Chapter 2: The Search for Bastila
Nik stirred himself out of pure necessity, too frightened to stay asleep, afraid to face the wrath of his fantasy woman. “Good to see you up, instead of thrashing about in your sleep,” called a rough voice. Nik turned to face his captain, straining his eyes to adjust to the room’s intense lighting and the god-awful color his C.O.’s jacket. “You looked like you were having one hell of a nightmare.” Nik confirmed this with a nod. “I’m Carth, captain of the Endar Spire...may she rest in peace. I was with you in the escape pod, do you remember

“A little bit, I--ow!”He jerked his hand to his head, wincing from a hellish headache and an even worse swelling. “That’s gonna leave a mark.” Carth’s chuckle was as raspy as his voice. “I’m Nik...Nik Starfall. Where are we? How did we get here?”

“You’ve been slipping in and out of consciousness for a few days, so I imagine you’re pretty confused, but try not to worry; we’re safe, at least for the moment. We’re in an abandoned apartment on the planet of Taris.” Nik recognized the name, but it was lost among the thousands of planets and systems that he knew in passing. “You were banged up pretty bad when the escape pod crashed, but luckily I wasn’t seriously hurt. I was able to drag you away from the crash site in all the confusion. By the time the Sith arrived, we were long gone.”

“I guess I owe you my life...thanks.”

“You don’t have to thank me. I’ve never abandoned anyone on a mission, and I’m not about to start now. Besides, I’m gonna need your help.” Nik eyed his captain curiously. “Taris is under Stih control, the fleet is orbiting the planet, they’ve declared martial law, and they’ve established a planet-wide quarantine, but I’ve been in worse spots. It’s Bastila I’m worried about.”

That was a name Nik didn’t take pleasure in hearing. She had caused him enough trouble as it was. However, Nik tried to remain diplomatic about the situation. “Bastila’s a Jedi. She can handle herself.” He could see Carth wasn’t buying it. “What’s so special about her anyway?”

“She’s not just any Jedi. She was with the strike team that killed Darth Revan. Bastila’s the key to the whole Republic war effort, some kind of Jedi hocus pocus called “Battle Meditation.” Nik laughed aloud at the phrase. “For the sake of the Republic war effort, we have to find her. Nobody will be looking for a couple of common soldiers like us--a luxury Bastila won’t have.”

Nik wasn’t about to argue politics with the captain. “Good, then let’s get off of this rock before they do start looking.”

“The whole planet is under quarantine; no ships can land or take off, so if we’re going to escape Taris, we’re gonna need her help.”

“Then we’d better get started.”

“All right, soldier, let’s move out!”

The duo strolled through the Upper City of Taris, trying their best to blend in. “The whole planet is one big city, but its golden years have passed.” Nik wasn’t in the mood for a history lesson, but nodded politely. “Taris used to be as important as Coruscant, but ever since the Sith Occupation, there’s been a limit on trade, and now this quarantine--“

“I got it,” Nik snapped. He turned around in time to see the armored soldier just seconds before they collided.

“Out of our way, citizen! We’re on official Sith business. Just stand aside if you know what’s good for you!”

Carth gave Nik a stern look as the group of Sith troopers passed. Nik shrugged his shoulders and answered, a little too loudly, “And I thought my superior officer was rude!” Carth retained his expression and gestured for them to continue.

“Davik says you missed your last payment,” beckoned a shrilly voice, audible even during the rush hour traffic.

“Davik doesn’t like you missing payments, added a lower-pitched voice in an alien language, the latter of which drew Nik’s attention.

“Here, I’ve got fifty credits--a down payment! That should buy me some time, right?”

“Sorry,” the shrimp replied, “you’re out of time. All, or nothing.”

“But I don’t have that much!”

“That’s too bad.”

“Please, somebody help! They’re going to kill me!”

As Nik was about to walk past the group without notice, Carth grabbed him by the shoulder. “I know we have to be careful about drawing attention to ourselves, but are we gonna let them just drag this guy off?”

Before Nik could answer, the smaller thug took notice of their presence. “Looks like we got ourselves a couple of witnesses.”

“Davik doesn’t like witnesses.”

“Well, I don’t like your tone,” Nik shot back. “Let that man go.”

“Looks like we have to teach you to mind your own business.” Before the alien and his partner could draw their weapons, two blaster shots burst over Nik’s shoulder, one of them striking the shrimp in the head. Nik trained his own rifle on the other, slaying the alien with one clean shot to the chest. Nik turned to see Carth holster his two blasters, and then faced the nervous man.

“Thank you! I owe you my life!”

“It was no trouble, really. We were just in the right place at the right time.”

“I’m getting out of here before more of Davik’s goons show up. You should do the same!” As the man raced off, Nik took notice of the two bounty hunters lying dead on the pavement.

“Sure, as soon as I take a look-see in his wallet.” While the alien only had a few breath mints, inside the shrimp’s pockets he found several hundred credits, no doubt bounties from the other innocent citizens he had beaten down. The only other item was a round metal object.

“Looks like a holodisc.”

“Then let’s play it.”

The image crackled and sputtered to life. The hologram Rodian identified himself as Twitch. “Davik says to forget the bounties. There’s a bigger job down below, something to do with all these Sith patrols.” Carth’s eyebrows danced with interest. “Meet me at Ajuur’s Cantina at eighteen-hundred.”

“Knowing Rodians you’ll probably smell him before you see him.” Nik barely heard Carth over the club’s music and the shatter of glass as a clumsy waitress dropped her tray of drinks. “Come on, let’s look around.”

Nik glided past a group of patrons playing pazaak, mingled at the bar, and eyed the Twi’lek dancers for a little too long, before spotting two green tentacles among the crowd by the duelists’ lounge.

“You Twitch?”

“Yup, that’s me. What you want?”

“What are the Sith guarding?”

“The Under City.”

“Why?”

“Why do the Sith do anything?”

“I’m not playing, bug-eye!”

“I’m with the Exchange! Nobody messes with Davik’s men. Not anyone who wants to live!”

“Oh, yeah? My friend Carth here fought in the Mandalorian Wars. He’s killed men three times your size...with his bare hands.”

The Rodian gulped and, appropriately, twitched. “Do your worst. There’s over a dozen witnesses.”

“And Davik doesn’t like witnesses, right?”

“Hold on, soldier, maybe the Rodian’s right. We can all sort things out when the Sith arrive.”

“I’m sure they’d like to know that there’s an illegal alien in the heart of the Upper City, wouldn’t they, Carth?

“I don’t know, Nik. I’ve heard grim stories about Dark Jedi interrogations. They say the Force can do terrible things to a mind. It can wipe away your memories, destroy your very identity.”

“All right, all right!” the Rodian squealed at last. He shifted his gaze around the room in suspicion and with two fingers beckoned for Nik to come closer. “Escape pods,” the insect whispered. “The Sith are guarding the escape pods.”

“This elevator is off-limits, civilian. Only Sith patrols and those with proper authorization are allowed into the Lower City.”

“Well how do I get proper authorization?” Nik asked for the tenth time.

“If you qualified for authorization you wouldn’t need to ask! Now move along!” Nik surrendered with a nod and the two soldiers continued on their way.

“We’re going to need some kind of disguise to get past this guy. Either that, or find someone with the right papers.”

“You’d think a Sith this thick-headed would be easy to persuade. If only we had a Jedi on hand…”

“Funny. Come on, soldier, it’s getting late. We should head back to the apartment.”

“Start talking, I want answers!”

About ten feet from their door, Carth stopped short. “Did you hear something?”

“Probably came from where that Sith is standing guard.”

“There’s nothing to see here. Move along.” Nik ignored the soldier and peeked into the apartment behind him. Inside, the Sith’s commanding officer was harassing an Ithorian.

“Where did you hide those Sith uniforms? Did you sell them to the Tarisian Underground?”

“What uniforms? You’re crazy!”

“Start talking before I splatter your brains all over the room!”

“Uh-oh. I think the commander is losing his temper again.”

Carth leaned over so the Sith couldn’t hear. “I know all about Sith interrogation tactics…this isn’t going to end well.”

Nik returned his attention to the guard. “Maybe that alien doesn’t know anything.”

“You’ll stay out of this if you know what’s good for you.”

“I’m not going to let you kill a defenseless prisoner!”

The commander’s voice called out from inside the apartment. “What was that? Did I hear you right? ‘Let us kill him’? You can’t stop us!”

“I think it’s time to teach this civilian the penalty for defying the Sith!”

Nik rolled across the sticky floor and kicked at the guard’s feet. As the Sith tripped, Nik wrapped his arms around the guard’s neck, twisting until he could hear a loud, satisfying crack. He looked up to see that Carth had already taken care of the other two.

“Thank you!” cried the Ithorian.

“What were those Sith talking about? Uniforms?”

“Why would I need uniforms? It’s not like I’m running an illegal salvage operation.”

“That Sith was right!” Nik arose with the help of his rifle.

The Sith are idiots,” the alien continued. “They wouldn’t know the Under City if a rakghoul bit them in the--“

“Undercity? What’s going on down there?”

“Many hate the Sith, and some of the Lower City gangs are planning to fight back. You should speak with Gadon Thek. He’s the leader of the Hidden Bek gang.”

Carth nodded. “Thanks for the info. You should get out of here before the Sith find this mess.”

“Good idea. And if you’re ever looking for discount merchandise...”

“Uh...we’re not interested.”

“Thanks again!”

Nik struggled to get the bulky helmet over his head, and again to make up for his lack of sight once it was on. Stumbling out into the hallway, he still easily spotted Carth’s hideous orange coat. “How do I look?”

“Like someone I wanna shoot.”

“Now that is funny. Follow me close.”

Their arrival stirred the elevator guard from his mid-evening nap. “Another patrol headed down to the Lower City, eh? Well good luck. There’s a big swoop gang war going on, not to mention the rakghouls.” Nik didn’t bother to respond; even though he couldn’t see the Sith’s face, he was certain the guard had fallen back asleep.

“So this is the Lower City? Not as bloodstained as I expected.”

“You Beks must have taken a wrong turn. This is Black Vulkar territory!”

“You own these streets? Then we’ll be sure to bury you here!”

After exchanging their weak remarks, the two alien gangs lunged at each other. Nik and Carth stayed out of the way, but when the skirmish settled, the first alien took attention.

“Sith aren’t welcome here either!”

“Guess I spoke too soon!”

The Vulkars were only carrying shock sticks and vibroblades, no match for the two soldiers’ trusty blasters.

“Hey, Nik? I think it might be a good idea if you’d change.”

“Go away.”

“Come on, we just want to talk to big, bad Calo Nord!”

“Nah, this can’t be him, this one’s just a little runt!”

Calo stared at the two aliens, his eyes hidden behind thick goggles. “One.”

“One? One what? Trying to be funny?”

“Two.”

“One, two...keep counting, Calo Nord!”

“Maybe he’s trying to count the number of us against him!”

The small bounty hunter sighed. “Three.” Before the two aliens could respond, Calo whipped out a flash grenade. His thick goggles shielded him from the blast that blinded his two opponents, and in seconds both dropped to the floor. Holstering his two blasters, the bounty hunter headed to the door. Nik gawked at this short menace, and didn’t realize he was blocking the door.

“Go away.”

“Just passing through.”

“Smart.”

“Give me some space, bug-eye! Your breath smells like bantha poodoo.”

“Little girl has big mouth. Maybe we should teach her how to use it.”

“Who you callin’ little girl, chuba-face?” The young Twi-lek sighed and looked over the shoulders of the two Rodians that crowded her. “Zaalbar, a little help here? I need you to rip the legs off some insects.”

“Now? But they just served my food!”

“Quit complaining. You can finish eating later.”

“Hey! We got no problem with big Wookiee!”

“If 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 just ‘hop’ on outta here.” As the two bugs left, she noticed two men had entered the bar. “What do you want?”

The one in orange spoke first. “You showed lot of guts dealing with those Vulkars, kid. You got a name?”

“My name is Mission Vao, and this big Wookiee is my best friend Zaalbar.”

“A Twi’lek and a Wookiee?” said the second.

“We just kinda fell in together. It ain’t easy on your own here in the Lower City. Everyone’s always looking to push you around.”

“Well, my name is Carth Onasi, and this is Nik Starfall. We’re offworlders.”

“Do you know anything about Davik, Mission?”

“Davik’s part of the Exchange, but I guess everybody knows that.”

“I’ve heard of the Exchange. Smuggling, slavery, extortion--we don’t want to mess with them.”

“You got that right. I heard Davik stole his new ship--the Ebon Hawk. I don’t know much about space travel, but I hear that thing’s fast enough to breack the Sith blockade. Of course, this is all just second-hand rumor.”

Carth ordered a round of drinks while Mission filled in Nik.

“There’s only two gangs worth worrying about here: the Black Vulkars and the Hidden Beks. The Beks are led by Gadon Thek--he’s a good guy. Lost his sight in a swoop bike accident, but even blind, he’s a great leader. Not like that traitor Brejik. Before he took over the Vulkars, Gadon considered him his adopted son. When Gadon went blind, everyone figured he’d step down and appoint Brejik in his place, but Gadon figured Brejik wasn’t ready yet. But Brejik was too impatient. And ever since, the Vulkars have been hunting the Beks like tach monkeys. This whole swoop war is totally Brejik’s fault!”

“Mission, I’m hungry!”

“Big Z, can’t you think about something other than your stomach for five minutes?” Mission swallowed the last of her Tarisian Ale. “Maybe we’ll see you guys around. Come on, you walking carpet, let’s get something to eat.”

Nik met Carth’s eyes. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Let’s have a talk with this Gadon Thek.”

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

“You’ll have to forgive Zaerdra. Sometimes she forgets that even though I’m blind, I can still look after myself.”

“So it seems. My name is Nik Starfall.”

“Carth Onasi. We were wondering if you knew anything about the escape pods that crashed into the Under City.”

“You know, I heard some Sith asking about those pods around the Upper City. They came from the Republic ship in that space battle a few days ago.”

“Don’t tell them anything, Gadon! They could be spies! They could be working with the Sith!”

“Calm down, Zaerdra! If the Sith wanted anything there’d be a battalion of troops kicking down our door. No, I think these offworlders have their own agenda.

Nik confessed. “We’re with the Republic. The only survivors from that ship.”

“This might cause problems for the Vulkars...and that’s OK in my book! The Vulkars stripped the pods clean an hour after they landed. It’s too bad we didn’t get there first, considering what my spies reported what the Vulkars found. A female Republic officer survived the crash. We Beks don’t believe in slavery, but the Vulkars aren’t so picky.”

“Bastila...somehow I’m not surprised.”

“Don’t worry, soldier. They still think Bastila’s just a Republic officer. That could work to our advantage.”

“I’m afraid your Republic friend has become a pawn in Brejik’s game to take over the Lower City. He’s offered her up as the Vulkars’ share of the prize in the annual swoop gang race. By putting up such a valueable prize he hopes to win the loyalty of some of the smaller gangs. Their numbers will allow him to finally destroy me and my followers.”

“How the hell are we going to rescue Bastila, then? We can’t fight all the gangs.”

“The only hope you have of rescuing Bastila is to somehow win the big swoop race. I might be able to help you with this...if you’d be willing to help us. We both have something to gain here...and much to lose.”

Carth stared into Gadon’s milky-white eyes. “I don’t make it a habit to deal with gang leaders.”

“I’m not some common thug.You don’t understand these streets. Being in a gang is the only way of staying alive.”

“But if there weren’t any gangs, there wouldn’t be any gang wars.”

“Man never has trouble finding ways to kill. Gangs or no gangs, the Lower City is a battlefield. And we are its soldiers. You of all people should understand, Captain Onasi, given your history.”

“That’s none of your damn business.”

“Calm down, Carth. I’ve dealt with gang leaders myself, and Gadon is the most honorable I’ve met. We’re in. What’s the plan?”

“The race is for swoop gang members only. I could sponsor you as a rider for the Hidden Beks; if you win the race, then you’ll win your friend’s freedom. But first you have to do something for me.”

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