Playing Light on Dark - Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – The Lower City

"Is this a good time to ask more questions?" Amira asked, glancing around the dull elevator. Their stolen uniforms were lying discarded on the ground, though they both had agreed that keeping them would be handy.

"I'm all ears, beautiful."

Amira leaned back against the elevator wall, and then smiled slyly. She was generally unaffected by flattery, but enjoyed as much as the next person. "I like the sound of that."

"Which? The fact that I'm all ears, or the beautiful part?"

"The 'beautiful' part, of course."

Carth put in the effort to be friendlier, "I might consider calling you that more often, but what would you call me in exchange?"

Amira considered that, "How about. . . 'handsome thug'?"

He chuckled, "I like the first part, but I'm a tad more partial to 'the most handsome pilot in the galaxy'. What do you think?"

"There's one problem: it's too long. How about 'handsome flyboy'?"

Carth shrugged, "'Handsome flyboy'? It's okay, I guess."

She smiled, then said, "And bravo on the damn fine stalling technique, but you're gonna have to do better than that."

Carth had hoped that calling Amira 'beautiful' might've distracted her, or at least softened her, but hid his disappointment well behind irritation. That seemed to be the emotion he had felt the most since the Endar Spire had been blown into space dust. "You aren't going to give up asking questions, are you?"

"Damn straight."

"Are they really necessary?"

"Old habits are hard to break," Amira shrugged.

"Old habits?" Carth echoed suspiciously.

"Standard smuggling practices – know your companions so you're prepared in case anything happens."

"You were a smuggler?" He frowned, "I should've known. Why were you recruited into the fleet, then?"

Amira tapped the side of her head. "Knowledge. Besides, it was better option than rotting in prison. Is there a point to that question?"

"I just find it a little. . . strange that a shady woman added to the crew at the last minute by the Jedi's request just so happened to survive."

Amira groaned, "Oh, no. Don't tell me you're one of those conspiracy theorists." A slightly suspicious look entered her features, "Unless you mean to imply that you wish I died?"

"Are you crazy, woman?"

Amira considered that for a moment and nodded cheerfully. Then something occurred to her. "Wait, Bastila wanted me on board?"

"The Jedi requested thousands of things when they came on board; hell, they practically took over the Spire," Carth sounded like he was trying to justify the odd request, "But all this seems a little convenient, don't you think?"

Amira didn't want to say anything that would increase his suspicion, but was unsure how he would react to her reply, "Maybe. I'm just as in the dark as you are. Hell, I'm the person who can't properly remember what happened on the day the Sith attacked."

"Really?" She shot him a glare. Nope, it still fed his paranoia, she sighed mentally, "I'm probably wrong and this is most likely nothing, but I learned a long time ago not to take things at face value and I hate surprises."

"You now we're on the same side. . . sort of. . . right?" Amira asked, crossing her arms over her torso.

Carth wanted to roll his eyes, despite how childish the gesture was, "Look, it's got nothing to do with you personally–"

"It better not."

"It doesn't -- I don't trust anyone. I have my reasons, which I'm not going to discuss. So can we just get a move on?"

Amira was silent for a moment then a stubborn expression hardened her face, "If you think that you've heard the last from me about this, think again."

"Ugh! You must be the most damned persistent woman I've ever met!"

"Of course."

"We'll talk about it, later."

"That's what you said last time!"

The elevator ground to a halt, the gears screeching loudly in lament of their neglect in care. Amira checked her vibroblades weren't caught on anything and would slide from their sheaths unobstructed. She didn't know if it had occurred to Carth - though being a seasoned soldier, it had - that this was the first time they would be properly fighting together. She hoped that their opposing combat styles would prove to be an asset and not a detriment.

"Well, let's go," Carth said, holding his Sith uniform under one arm and keeping the other free to grab his blaster if need be. Amira did the same.

It was all business now - the Lower City wasn't safe enough for two forced companions to let their quarrels get in the way of their mission. Amira looked around the degraded streets as they made their way through filth and rubble. This seemed more honest to her than the Upper City. In the tops of the towers, rich snobs pretended they lived on a beautiful world that many longed to live on. But down here, the decay and dirt was what Taris really was - a haven for thieves, scoundrels and racists.

"We should probably dump these somewhere," Amira commented. The concept of dragging such a bulky hindrance around was just asking someone to prey upon their weakness.
"Yeah, but where? We'd have to find a really sneaky hiding place to stop thieves," Carth pointed out.
"I know," Amira sighed in frustration, "Stupid shiny Sith armour."

They rounded the corner and stopped in their tracks. Two groups of people were arguing loudly. One gang had their backs to Amira and Carth, while the other stood opposite them. The group that faced Carth and Amira noticed their new audience and screamed while drawing their weapons.

"I don't think they like us," Amira noted.

"We Black Vulkars shall destroy the Hidden Beks and their reinforcements!" one alien shouted, charging. A Bek turned around to see who their 'reinforcements' were, and jumped back as Amira sprang forward to slash at the Vulkar about to shove a shock stick into the Bek's face.

It was a standard street fight, with Amira and Carth making an impromptu decision to side with the Hidden Beks. . . whoever they were. Amira ran one Black Vulkar through with her vibroblade from behind, giving a wild grin to the Bek who was about to be slashed at. Before he could grin back, the last Vulkar standing threw her into a wall with as much force as he could muster. Amira slid to the ground, losing consciousness for a second. When her eyes focused again, Amira wasn't surprised to see her thrower dead from a well-aimed blaster bolt. Four on one weren't really fair odds, especially when one of them was a trigger-happy Republic soldier.

Speaking of trigger-happy Republic soldiers. . . she thought as she watched her companion hurry to her side.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" Carth muttered in an aside, hauling Amira to her feet.

"Yes, I'm fine," she confirmed quietly, shaking off the last of the dizziness, "At least we didn't come yesterday when I had a hangover."

"That would've been idiocy."

"Hey - we agree on something for the first time!"

One of the Beks coughed, and Amira turned to face their forced allies, fully aware that Carth was standing closer behind her than he normally would, most likely to catch her if she fell. Keep waiting, 'cause that ain't gonna happen, she thought, irritated and tense.

"Thanks, whoever you people are," a Twi'lek said, "We owe you. If there's a way to return the favour, let us know."

"Well, do you know anything about a Republic officer called Bastila?" Amira asked in his language, jumping on the opportunity.

"She was taken by the Black Vulkars," another Bek replied, then spat on the nearest corpse. "Our leader, Gadon, will know more. Tell the door guard that Krayt said you could go in."

"Thanks," Amira nodded and the Beks began to walk away.

"So we just got a ticket into the Bek base, but I want to explore some more," Amira said, "I'm not about to walk in there and make a fool of myself because I don't know the local situation."

"Fine."

"To the cantina!"

~.~.~

"Three!" A flash of light, then the sound of three blaster bolts followed by three grunts. Amira blinked as the light faded and saw the midget with the ridiculous hat holstering his heavily modified blaster. Three Black Vulkar corpses were sprawled on the grimy cantina floor.

"Ha, that was cool!" She snickered.

The short man stopped and said, "One." Amira frowned at him, confused, but held her hands up in a sign of surrender. "Smart." The midget left the cantina.

"Someone needs to let their hair down more often," Amira said lightly as if she hadn't just been threatened by a dwarf, "Still, don't mind me if I go nick some stuff from those Vulkars." Amira weaved her way through the crowd towards to bodies. Already other people were beginning to loot what they could, but Amira managed to snag a few credits and grenades. She made her way back to Carth.

"Well what now?" he asked.

"Find a table, order a drink then look around for anyone who might know anything. In that order."

Carth rolled his eyes, "This isn't leisure time, Amira!"

"Buying a drink tells the people around you that you aren't in a hurry and are willing to pay to get what you want. And I'll bet most of the people around here won't give any valuable information away for free," Amira replied, then turned and looked through the smoky air for a free table, "Aha, there's an empty table." She pushed through the crowd, and Carth didn't let his eyes leave her back from risk of losing the nimble woman. Amira sat down in one of the seats and propped her feet on the table. Carth sat down, with some hesitation.

"We should be gathering information, not getting drunk," he admonished.

"This is how I start investigations, Carth," she replied. "I see if I can eavesdrop on anyone. It's amazing how easily people gossip." Amira looked around, looking for nearby people and listening hard. The bustle of many people in one place reached her ears, thudding music, the groans and whoops of the people at the pazaak tables, the clanking of glass. Oh come on! Someone has to be talking about something worth hearing!

The growl of a Wookiee captured Amira and Carth's attention. They searched around until they saw a bright blue Twi'lek muttering to a Wookiee. Then the Twi'lek turned to some aliens that were obviously crowding her.

"If you've got a problem with me, then you've got a problem with Big Z. So unless you guys wanna take on my furry friend I suggest you greenies hop on outta here!" she said loudly, snickering quietly when the 'greenies' in question fled as quickly as they could. The Wookiee rumbled something then lumbered back to his unnaturally large plate of food. The Twi'lek followed and sat next to him.

"What entertainment – first that midget, now a teenage Twi'lek and a Wookiee faced down three Black Vulkars," Amira remarked, flagging a waitress and ordering a drink. "You want anything?" she asked Carth.

"I'm fine," he replied, not really wanting to buy liquor from a run-down cantina. The waitress left to get Amira's drink.

"I take it you're not from the Rim, then?" she queried.

"Not from the edge of the Rim, no," he replied brusquely, hoping to deter more questions, "You?"

"The very edge of known space," Amira replied with a slight smile. "And to think that I prefer the lonely planets with no name than this festering hole."

"I know there are plenty of places I'd rather be than here," he agreed.

The waitress brought Amira's drink. With a flourish of credits and a thank you, Amira took her drink. The alcohol burned her sinuses as she took a drink. "Hmm... tastes like engine fuel. What did I even buy? Oh well." She set her glass on the table.

"Well we've sat down, you've bought a drink so now it's time to gather information," Carth said impatiently.

"Okay," she agreed, "We need information on the general situation down here, the escape pods, Bastila and these Black Vulkars and Hidden Beks."

"Hey, I can help with that!" The blue Twi'lek from before was standing only six feet away.

"What impeccable timing you have," Amira replied with a smile.

"We saw you before. That was pretty impressive. You got a name, kid?" Carth asked.

"Mission Vao and my Wookiee friend is Zaalbar," she replied in a bubbly voice, "You guys must be new here, since I don't recognise you and I know pretty much everyone in the Lower City. Speaking of strangers, Zaalbar'd probably pitch a fit if I just sat down at a table with people I don't know. But oh well. I can take care of myself and he can see me anyway."

"Protective?" Amira asked, not taken aback by the girl's vibrant personality. She moved her boots off the table and slid over so Mission could sit next to her.

"Yeah, sometimes he forgets that I watch his back as much as he watches mine," the Twi'lek replied, taking the offered seat, "Now what was it you wanted to know again?"

"The situation of the Lower City, the Beks and Vulkars and the escape pods from the Republic ship," Carth said, "particularly about an officer named Bastila."

Mission told them all she knew on those topics.