Redemption - A KotOR Fanfictional: Pt. 2

Redemption - A Knights of the Old Republic Fanfictional: Pt. 2

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Chapter Four - Taking The Risk

The sultry room Nine and Carth stepped into next was definitely not one that they were accustomed to.

The dimly-lit room was center to a faded green pazaak table where two shady-looking men were playing. One of the men had a Twi'lek female on his lap, and seemed to be the better player of the two by the way he was smiling and the large pile of credits on his side of the table. Nine guessed the Twi'lek was probably one of his winnings too.

Sensing there was nothing interesting to gain here, Nine walked straight through to the main bar. It was pretty small, but vastly packed, and Nine had to navigate her way through the crowd carefully.

She spotted an open doorway to her right and walked through.

This part of the cantina was obviously the Entertainment Section. At the end of the room was a small stage, just big enough to hold the 3 Bith musicians and pair of Twi'lek dancers atop of it.

Just as Nine took a step forwards, a man got up from his table and walked over to her.

'Well, hello there! I see from your exotic appearance that you are not from Taris originally. Allow me to introduce myself - my name is Jergan.'

Nine smiled. 'Pleased to meet you. My name's Nine Dakari.'

Jergan took another step towards her. 'What do you think of our local music? The band is quite good, wouldn't you agree? They're on the verge of intergalactic stardom, you know.'

Nine shrugged. 'I don't much care for the band.'

Jergan looked a bit put-out, but his enthusiasm returned again almost immediately.

'They are something of an acquired taste. But mark my words; they'll be famous soon enough. They were about to go on tour before this Sith quarantine stranded them here. Would you like to meet the band after the show? Maybe have a brief brush with fame before they become intergalactic superstars? I can arrange it, you know.'

Now Nine understood: Jergan was setting her up. He was obviously a con-man.

She raised an eyebrow. 'How will you arrange that?' she asked, playing along.

'I have a standing arrangement with one of the Rodian bodyguards backstage. For the small sum of 20 credits he'll let me set up a meeting with you and the band.'

Nine shook her head. 'Sounds like you're running a scam to me.'

Jergan stumbled back. 'You sting me with your words! I merely thought I could offer you the rare opportunity to meet a celebrity before they were famous. But I see you're not interested. That's too bad. They really are charming fellows. Very well, then - I hope you enjoy the music. If you change your mind come speak with me again.'

And with that, he sat back down in his seat as though the previous conversation had not occurred. Nine looked at Carth, who was nodding. Evidently, she had made the right choice in rejecting his offer.

Not wanting a similar situation to happen again, she turned to leave. But just as she did so, she spotted a shady-looking guy over in the corner, half-hidden in shadow. She walked tentatively towards him. He spotted her coming and smiled. It seemed he liked what he saw.

'Hi there - I haven't seen you around before. Of course they don't give us Sith officers from the military base much time off...'

Jackpot! She'd only been here two minutes and had already found a Sith officer. Now, all she had to do was use her feminine skills of persuasion, and he'd be putty in her hands.

Nine put a hand on her hip, eyeing him up and down. 'You're from the military base? You don't look like one of the Sith.'

He shrugged. 'I'm off duty right now, so I'm not in uniform. My name is Yun Genda - junior officer first class with the Sith occupation force.'

Nine nodded. 'Nice to meet you, Yun. I'm Nine Dakari.'

Yun raised his eyebrows. 'I'm actually a little surprised you're talking to me at all... most of the people here on Taris can't stand us Sith. It can make this a pretty lonely job.'

Nine smiled understandingly and placed a hand on his shoulder. 'You're just doing your job, right? I don't hold that against you.'

Her persuasion technique worked, as Yun's shoulders relaxed and he began to talk more at ease.

'That's true, but people don't appreciate what we've done for them. We could have slapped a curfew on this whole planet but we didn't. You know, it's like everyone on this backwater planet is in a permanent bad mood. Don't they know they have to make the best of things?'

Asshole, Nine thought. She shrugged with a coy smile. 'Everybody has their ups and downs... it's how you deal with them that counts.'

Yun smiled back, and began to stare down at Nine's chest as he spoke.

'Exactly! It's all about attitude. I didn't ask to be assigned to this backwater planet, but I try to make the best of it!'

He then decided to take things a step further by playing with a lock of Nine's raven black hair admirably.

'It's pretty easy to get depressed on an assignment like this, but we do what we can to keep our spirits up,' he said suggestively.

Nine tried to hold back a shudder and instead tilted her head to the side and pouted, looking up at him adoringly.

'It must be tough, being stationed on a hostile world.'

Yun exhaled, barely able to contain his happiness of having a pretty young woman showing him attention.

'That's true. It's nice to meet someone who understands what I'm going through. It's good to talk about this stuff - it gets pretty lonely up at the military base.'

Nine had to use all of her physical strength to stop herself from laughing. He was lapping all this up like a Bather to fodder. She fluffed up her hair slightly as Yun continued to speak.

'I have to get going soon - I've got a shift at the military base. But some of us junior Sith officers are having a party tonight to blow off some steam.'

He leered at her. 'I'd really like to see you again. Why don't you drop by the party? I'll show you where it is on your map.'

Nine really didn't want to have to meet up with this creep twice in one day, but seeing as he was the only Sith who had spoken to her, it looked like meeting up with him again was her only choice.

She smiled. 'Sounds good. I'll be there.'

Yun chuckled to himself. 'Don't be late. We're starting right after our shifts end. Most of us won't even be going back to base to lock up our uniforms. I look forward to seeing you there.'

And with that, he walked off, a smug grin on his face. Nine stood still in shock. Did he say they wouldn't be locking up their uniforms? If so, Nine might find a way to steal one and fool the Sith guard outside the Lower City into thinking she was one of them. Nine bit her lip and grinned, her idea plotted out.

Meanwhile, Carth was scowling at the disappearing figure of Yun. Nine smiled and grabbed Carth's arm.

'Come on. Let's look round some more.'

Carth nodded in agreement and began following Nine out of the room.

Nine walked into the next room; this one was a little brighter than the others, but not by much. From what she could tell, it looked like a separate bar for those who wanted a quieter setting.

Nine spotted an interesting looking woman at the side of the room and walked over to her. The woman turned around and grimaced.

'Where did you get those clothes - a trash compactor in the Lower City? And where are those drinks we ordered?'

Nine frowned. 'Order? I have no clue what you're talking about.'

Carth whispered in her ear. 'Careful what you say. I get the feeling this spoiled brat could cause us more trouble than she's worth.'

The woman paid no attention to Carth as she continued to speak in her harsh, brassy tones.

'Why is the help here so incompetent? One word from Daddy and I could get you fired!'

Nine paid no attention to Carth either.

'I don't even work here!'

The woman recoiled back in horror as Nine shouted. But the horror on her face passed as soon as it had appeared, and she began to shout back.

'How dare you speak to me like that! Daddy's going to hear about this!'

And with that, she strutted off, her nose in the air. Nine suppressed a giggle; it would be fun to watch what happened after this.

She turned to Carth, who was shaking his head, yet smiling ever-so-slightly. She grinned back and exhaled slightly.

'Let's get a drink. I think we need a bit of a break.'

Carth nodded in agreement and they walked over to the bar before ordering two Tarisian ales. They made their way over to a small table at the back of the room and Nine sat down gratefully. As Carth sat down opposite her, she leaned forward slightly.

'So, I think it's about time I learned some more about you,' she said pointedly.

Carth raised an eyebrow. 'Me? Well, I've been a star-pilot for the Republic for years. I've seen more than my share of wars ... I fought in the Mandalorian Wars before all this started. But with all that, I've never experienced anything like the slaughter these Sith animals can unleash. Not even the Mandalorians were that senseless. My home world was one of the first planets to fall to Malak's fleet. The Sith bombed it into submission, and there wasn't a damn thing our Republic forces could do to stop them!'

Carth looked away angrily and Nine frowned, feeling bad she'd asked. It had finally occurred to her just how much Carth might have been through, and she felt quite selfish for not realising this before.

'I'm sorry, Carth. This must be very painful for you.'

Carth huffed, 'I'm just a soldier; I go where the fleet Admirals tell me to. I follow my orders and I do my duty. It just ...' he sighed, 'doesn't seem right that doing that means I failed them! I didn't!'

He shook his fist in frustration and Nine looked down sadly.

'I'm sorry, Carth. I didn't mean to upset you.'

Carth's shoulders slumped, and he looked at Nine with a slightly guilty expression.

'I know. Don't worry about it. I just... must not be making much sense. You probably mean well with your questions. I'm just not accustomed to talking about my past very much. At all, actually. I'm more used to taking action... keeping my mind focused on the business at hand. So let's just do that. If you have more questions, ask them later.'

Nine nodded slightly, at for the next few moments they sat in silence. Until a woman stood up from a table across the room and began to speak loudly to the man she was with.

'What do you mean you couldn't get tickets for the match?!'

He tried hushing her. 'I mean what I said. No need to make a fuss over it.'

She glared at him for a few moments before huffing and beginning to walk out. 'Come on then! If we have to watch it on the view screen, I don't want to miss it!'

The man loked around for a moment before getting up and following her. Nine looked at Carth.

'What was that about?'

Carth shrugged. 'Let's find out, shall we?'

He stood up and began to follow the couple. Nine hurried up and followed him out, into a room that was a lot different to the other ones she'd seen. Whereas they were all dimly-lit, stuffy rooms packed with rich-looking men paying for scantily-clad Twi'leks to crawl over them, this one was a fairly bright room, with a few people crowded round view screens. And at the end of the room was every poor person's nightmare: a Hutt.

'I still can't believe we couldn't get arena tickets for this match!' the woman said furiously.

The man sighed. 'Who cares? It's Duncan and Gerlon fighting. It's not like we're going to miss anything good.'

'Shh! They're about to start, so quit complaining and just watch the view screen!'

Intrigued, Nine walked over to one of the unoccupied view screens to see what all the fuss was about. The Duel Announcer spoke up almost as soon as they reached it.

'Ladies and gentlemen, I draw your attention to the duelling ring. Here, two combatants will battle for your viewing and gambling enjoyment.

The crowd gave a loud cheer.

'Now, I hope all your bets are down, because we're ready to roll! In this corner, I give you ... Gerlon Two-Fingers!'

Gerlon was a dark-haired man with bulging muscles and a sneer on his face. He had a blaster in his hand and the look on his face suggested he knew he was going to win.

'And over here, looking to climb the ranks again is the ever-persistent Deadeye Duncan!'

Unlike Gerlon, Duncan was clearly well-on in his years, and looked so frail, the slightest breeze could have knocked him over. Now Nine knew why Gerlon looked so smug. But the look on Duncan's face was earnest, as if he really wanted to win this match. He too, had a blaster.

Gerlon was the first to aim his blaster, but he waited a few seconds for Duncan to at least take his out of the holster. Duncan fumbled for a few moments before finally aiming... and then dropping his blaster.

As he went to pick it up, Gerlon chuckled and blasted Duncan square in the chest, knocking him to the ground.

The Duel Announcer spoke up again.

'And, to nobody's great surprise, Deadeye is down again. Don't worry, folks - he's just unconscious. As usual. Our medics will have him up and about in a bit. Well, that was quick, wasn't it? So I give you the winner... Gerlon Two-Fingers!'

The crowd gave another loud cheer as Gerlon walked off, looking thoroughly smug.

Nine stepped away from the view screen and looked at Carth, a mischievous smile on her face. Carth's eyes widened as he realised what she was going to do.

'Nine, don't you dare-'

But it was too late. She'd already begun walking towards the Hutt.

As she approached the Hutt, he began to speak.

'I'm sorry, human - the betting window's closed. No more fights right now. People are sick of seeing the same duellists all the time. It's bad for business. Unless...'

He halted for a moment.

'My name is Ajuur. I organize all the duels here. We need a new face in the duelling game, human. Maybe you want step into the duel ring? It can be a highly profitable venture.'

Nine tilted her head to the side. 'I might be interested - what's in this for me?'

'I can arrange for you to fight in the duel ring. If you win, you get the standard contract: 10% of all wagers. And don't worry; nobody dies in the duel ring anymore. Death matches are illegal now. Most fighters in the duel ring use vibroblades or stun sticks because the ring's pretty small, but a few of the duellists use blasters. Use whichever you prefer.'

Carth scoffed. 'Vibroblades and blasters? And nobody ever dies? How come I get the feeling you're trying to take us for a ride?'

Nine smirked at Carth as Ajuur spoke again in his native language of Huttese.

'The duel ring has energy suppressor fields to make sure nobody dies. Weapons are limited so they hurt, but don't kill. And we've got a medic droid in case of serious injuries. Are you interested?'

Nine looked at Carth for permission. They were in this task together and Nine becoming a Taris duellist could hold them back. Carth just shrugged, as if to say "it's up to you".

Nine nodded and looked back at Ajuur.

'I'll do it, but I want more than ten percent.'

Ajuur began to laugh.

'Ha-ha-ha! You're joking, right? No, you get the same as all the others, ten percent. That's my final offer.'

Dammit. Nine gritted her teeth. 'Okay, I'll do it.'

Ajuur clapped his hands together in excitement.

'Good - new blood for the ring! But you need a nickname, like Ice or Deadeye or Twitch. Good nicknames make people bet more. Hmmm... what's a good name for you?'

He pondered over this for a few moments.

'You're an off-worlder. You're new here, people don't recognise you... I know! From now on in the duel ring you'll be the Mysterious Stranger!'

Nine grimaced. 'My name is Nine Dakari. I think that sounds better than a nickname.'

Ajuur scoffed. 'Bah - what do you know about nicknames? I've been giving names for twenty years! Mysterious Stranger - that's your name now. The Mysterious Stranger is a perfect name for you. You've got no past, no history... it makes you seem like you have some big, dark secret. People like that. Makes them bet more.'

Carth put a hand on her shoulder and she turned to face him.

'This is for the best. We could use the credits from these duels, but using your real name is too risky. The Sith might have come across a crew manifest back on the Endar Spire.'

Nine sighed and nodded in defeat. Ajuur looked at her.

'You ready for a duel now? You want step into the ring right away? I'll set you up with Deadeye Duncan to start. I'll tell you the rules if you're ready.'

Nine nodded. 'I'm ready for a duel.'

'Yes! You fight and people bet and I make money! It's all good. Only one rule - nobody dies. Your opponent goes down, you don't finish them off. Death matches are illegal now. You new at this, so I'll start you off easy. You get to fight Deadeye Duncan. Are you ready to go into the ring now?'

Nine narrowed her eyes determinedly.

'Let's do it.'

...

'Ladies and gentlemen, draw your eyes to the centre ring! We have a very special presentation in store for you: You've seen him lose night after night after night. But this time, he's after fresh meat. In this corner I give you Deadeye Duncan!'

Duncan took a few feeble steps forward and waved weakly to the crowd. Like before, he looked incredibly fragile.

'And in the other corner, a relative newcomer to the Taris duelling scene. Emerging from the shadows with no history, no past, and no name... the Mysterious Stranger!'

The crowd gave an ear-splitting roar of appreciation, as well as a fair few wolf-whistles. Nine smirked and twirled the blaster in her hand.

Duncan tried to shoot at her, but she skilfully dodged the shot and fired back, hitting him in the stomach. Duncan keeled over and fell to the floor. She grinned smugly.

'It's over! The fight is over! The Mysterious Stranger has won! But really, are any of us surprised? Deadeye losing isn't news. You have to do better than that to impress us, Stranger!'

Nine grinned to herself and walked towards the exit, where she could see Carth waiting. He nodded at her, smiling. Evidently, he was impressed. Nine bit her lip with a smile and walked out of the exit towards Ajuur.

Once she was in front of Ajuur, she held out her hand. He laughed.

'Good fight, good fight. People like you, Mysterious Stranger. They bet a lot when you fight. It makes me happy... and rich. I always pay my debts. You won, so you get paid. Ten percent of the purse - that was the deal. Here's your credits.' He handed her a small pouch.

'You come see me when you're ready to fight again,' he added.

Nine nodded and put the pouch of credits in her pocket. She turned to Carth.

'Ready to go?' he asked, holding his arm out to her.

She took his arm, smiling. 'Ready as I'll ever be.'

As they made their way back towards the exit, Nine felt a pair of eyes on her. She looked around the room to see who it was.

It didn't take long to spot the Mandalorian at the other side of the room. He had his arms folded and was watching her intently. Nine curled her upper lip. Creep.

She ignored his stares and looked forward again as her and Carth left the cantina. Nine gritted her teeth; time to put her plan into action.

Chapter Five - A Different Method

As Nine stepped outside, she stopped for a few moments, taking in the cool air around her. The past few hours had been pretty hectic, and she wondered how long it would continue like this. Carth looked at her.

'So, where to now?'

Nine chewed on her bottom lip in thought. 'Well... it seems as though the only choice we have is to go to Yun's apartment where him and those other Sith officers are having a party. With any luck, we'll manage to make off with one or two of their uniforms.'

Carth frowned. 'Are you sure there's no other way? I mean, going unarmed into a room filled with Sith who are jumped up on Tarisian ale is pretty dangerous.'

'There is no other way, Carth. Not that I know of, anyway. And if there isn't, we can hardly afford to let slip our one chance,' Nine replied.

Carth sighed in defeat. 'Okay, fine. But promise me you'll be careful.'

'Aren't I always?' she replied, before rolling her shoulders back and making her way forwards.

'I was afraid you'd say that,' Carth replied quietly as he followed her.

As Nine made her way towards the direction of the apartments Yun would be in, her mind drifted back to the dream she had had the night before. Who was the woman in her dream? And - more to the point - why had Nine been dreaming about her?

She couldn't help but feel like she should know the woman somehow. Like it was important. Yet as hard as she tried, she couldn't put a name to a face, or even come any closer to figuring out why she had appeared in Nine's dream.

Eventually, Carth and Nine had made their way into the block of apartments, and were making their way towards the apartment that would be Yun's. However, just moments after stepping forward, Nine caught sight of an on-duty Sith stood outside the open door of an apartment.

'Just move along. There's nothing to see here,' he said, catching sight of Nine as voices came through the doorway behind him.

'Where did you hide those Sith uniforms? Did you sell them to the Tarisian underground? Start talking - I want answers!'

'Please - I'm only a visitor to Taris, trapped here by your quarantine. I know nothing about the Tarisian underground or your missing Sith uniforms!' came an Aqualish voice in response.

'What's going on in there?' Nine asked, taking another steps forward to peer round the doorway, where a Sith Commander was interrogating an Aqualish.

The Sith trooper guarding the door stepped to the side, trying to block Nine's view. 'You're a little too curious for your own good, civilian! This doesn't concern you!'

Unheard by the Sith trooper, Carth muttered to Nine. 'I know all about Sith interrogations. This isn't going to end well.'

The Sith commander was still interrogating the alien, and his tone was getting more and more impatient.

'I'm getting sick of your lies, you alien scum! We got your ugly mug on a security tape from the base! Start talking before I splatter your slimy brains all over this room!'

The Sith trooper outside the door muttered to himself. 'Uh-oh. I think the commander's losing his temper. I'm glad I'm out here - it took an hour to clean the blood stains from my uniform after the last interrogation.'

Nine shoved past the Sith trooper. 'Stop the interrogation right now!'

The Sith commander turned around at the sound. 'Who said that? What's going on out there?'

'Just stay out of this, if you know what's good for you!' the Sith trooper warned her.

But Nine was having none of it. 'I won't let you kill a defenseless prisoner!'

The Sith commander scoffed at her. 'What was that? Did I hear you right? "Let" us kill him? How can you stop us?' Without waiting for a reply, he added to the Sith trooper, 'Time to teach this civilian the penalty for defying the Sith!'

Without another word, him and the Sith trooper both took aim at her and began to shoot. With not a moment to lose, Nine pulled out her vibroblade to defend herself. Her skill with melee weapons allowed her to deflect most of the blaster shots, but she was still hurt pretty badly by the time both Sith soldiers had been killed by her and Carth.

Nine applied a medpac to the most badly wounded areas, before offering a couple of medpacs to Carth and limping over to the alien prisoner, who looked greatly relieved, to say the least.

As Nine stumbled up to him, he offered her a small smile of gratitude. 'Thank you, human. The Sith would have killed me... of that I am certain. I don't know who you are, but it is clear you are no friend of the Sith. Among my people there is a saying: the enemy of my enemy my friend. Like you, I hate the Sith. That is why I stole those Sith uniforms for the Hidden Beks...'

Nine had assumed he had stolen the uniforms, anyway. But nevertheless, there was a flicker of doubt as to whether saving him was the right thing to have done, when he had clearly lied. But then she remembered who it was he had lied to, and the thoughts were banished from her mind immeditely, to be replaced by a question.

'What are you talking about?'

He responded quickly, in barely more than a whisper, so Nine had to strain to make out everything he was saying. 'In the Lower City, there are some who do not bow to the conquerors. Swoop gangs like the Hidden Beks are gathering resources to one day strike against the Sith opressors. If you wish to strike another blow against the Sith you would be wise to journey to the Lower City and speak with Gadon Thek, the leader of the Hidden Beks.'

Nine frowned slightly, strongly intrigued by this information. 'What are the Hidden Beks planning?'

The alien shrugged a little. 'You would have to ask Gadon Thek to know the answer to that question. They approached me, and my only role was to obtain the Sith uniforms for them.'

Nine nodded slightly, chewing on her lower lip in thought. 'Can you take me to Gadon?'

He shook his head. 'Access to the Lower City is restricted, I have never actually met Gadon. My only dealings were with members of his Hidden Bek gang.'

Just then, something seemed to click in Nine's mind, and she realised the situation she was actually in. The only reason she was heading to Yun's party was to get those Sith uniforms, and right in front of her was an alien who already had Sith uniforms on him.

'Can I get one of those uniforms from you?' she asked.

The alien frowned. 'I am sorry, but all the uniforms I had were given to the Hidden Beks. I suppose you could take the uniforms from the bodies of the Sith soldiers in this room if you wanted.'

Nine shuddered slightly at the thought, but then realised it was probably better than going to Yun's party, anyway.

'I should be going now,' Nine answered a little apologetically.

The alien nodded in agreement. 'As should I. The Sith know my face now, I must find somewhere to hide on this world. Thank you once again, human.'

And on that note, he walked out of the room, leaving Carth, Nine, and the two Sith corpses behind him. Nine turned round to look at the bodies, and grimaced to herself. Carth noticed the expression, and looked at her pointedly.

'Come on... would you rather we got killed by drunk Sith?'

Nine rolled her eyes. 'That won't happen,' she replied. But even so, she knelt down and began to remove the uniform from the now-deceased Sith commander, as Carth stripped the uniform from the other trooper.

The uniforms were placed in Nine's bag so that they wouldn't attract attention on the way there, and they begun to make their way out of the room. Just as they were at the exit, Nine stopped in her tracks.

'What's the matter?' Carth asked warily.

Nine held up a hand, backing up slowly. 'I just wanna check something.'

'Well, be quick,' Carth replied, looking around nervously.

Nine nodded once in response and began to make her way around the ring of apartments, before stopping in front of one door. The only closed door in the building.

As before, she tried the handle. And as before, it was locked. Nine cracked her knuckles, before getting to work on bypassing the door's security. It took several minutes, but she managed to open the door, revealing a man sat in an armchair at the back of the room. Once the door was opened, his face turned white as a sheet, and he shot up from his chair.

'Please... please don't hurt me! You don't have to kill me - I'll have Davik's money if he... if he just gives me a little more time! Please, I don't want to die!'

He dug in his pocket for a moment, before pulling out a handful of credits. 'Here - I've got 50 credits on me. That's all I've got. It's yours - just don't tell Davik where I'm hiding, okay? I'm begging you.'

Nine held up her hands. 'Don't worry - I'm not going to hurt you.'

The man did a double take. 'You mean you're not here to kill me? But... I thought you were one of Davik's bounty hunters. If you're not here to kill me, what do you want?'

Nine paused for a moment, wondering just how much aid she would be able to do without grabbing too much attention. 'Maybe I could help you with your problem with Davik.'

The man's shoulders slumped. 'I don't think anyone can help me. I owe Davik money, and I was late with the payment. So he went to Zax in the bounty office and put a price on my head! I've been hiding here ever since, but sooner or later someone will find me. Unless I somehow come up with another 200 credits I'm a dead man.'

Nine exhaled slowly before reaching into her pocket and rummaging around for a moment, before pulling out a handful of credits. She counted a few out, before holding them out to the man, and shoving the rest back in her pocket.

'Here - I've got 200 credits you can have.'

The man's eyes widened. 'You'd give 200 credits to a stranger just to help them out?! I... I don't believe it! Thank you!' he said, taking the credits eagerly and hurriedly making his way out. As he did so, Carth mumbled begrudgingly to Nine.

'Wow... that was sure generous of you. I just hope we don't end up needing those credits later on.'

Nine scowled. 'Fine. I won't help people out in future.'

As she began to walk out of the room, Carth called behind her.

'I wasn't trying to say that! All I was saying was- you know what? Never mind,' he replied, finally catching up to her.

Nine rolled her eyes as she walked out of the exit, before frowning to herself. As she made her way back into the Upper City, she stopped in her tracks once more, and turned to Carth.

'Look... I'm sorry I snapped. I've just had enough of the selfish life I used to lead, and I wanna try and make up for what I did. That's why I joined the Republic in the first place.'

Carth looked at her for a few moments and then nodded. 'Okay, okay. I'm sorry, too. I guess I'm just worried about attracting too much attention, is all.'

She smiled slightly. 'Well, don't worry. Just trust me.'

And with that, she chucked his chin slightly before turning on her heel and beginning to walk forwards again. She had barely taken two steps, however, when three - evidently drunk - men stumbled up to her and Carth.

'What is this planet coming to, huh?' One man said, before hiccuping. 'Shlummies walkin' around the Upper City!'

The man next to him swayed slightly. 'Shouldn't you go back to the Lower Cities where you belong, shlummie?'

Carth smirked and muttered to Nine. 'Well, this is rich.'

The first man spoke up again. 'Yeah, like he said, these shtreets are for the Upper City citizens! You better get out of our way if you know what's good for you!'

Deciding she didn't have the heart to cause any trouble, Nine put on a warm smile. 'Hey, guys, we can all be friends here. Let me buy you a drink.'

At this offer, the first man smiled eagerly. 'A drink? Hey - for a shlummie you ain't so bad! Come on boys - this shlummie's buying the next round!'

The third man frowned slightly, then shook his head. 'No way! Forget it! No more drinksh! We're late enough as it is.'

'Uh... yeah.' The first man sighed in defeat. 'I guess you're right. Maybe next time, shlummie.' He hiccuped again. 'Come on fellas, let's go.'

As they walked past Nine, Carth laughed slightly.

'Why is it, everywhere we go we seem to attract unwanted attention. For once, I'd just like to have a good ten minutes without someone either threatening us or speaking to us like where from the Undercity.'

Nine smirked and nudged his arm to gesture they should get moving again. 'Oh? And where's the fun in that?'

Carth smiled and shook his head as they begun making their way towards the alcove they had seen earlier, to get changed into their Sith uniforms.

Eventually, they made their way there and quickly got changed, checking every now and then that no-one caught sight of them. Finally, they were fully in their uniform, ready to see if they'd get let into the Lower City.

As before, Nine had to get used to the fact it was Carth under the Sith uniform in front of her. She shook herself and checked the coast was clear, just as a thought occured to her.

'Carth...' she said quietly, turning to face him.

'Yeah?' he replied, pulling on his second boot.

'Um... what if the Sith guard still won't let us in and asks for ID or something?'

She heard Carth sigh under the helmet.

'Honestly... I don't know. We just have to hope for the best, I guess. Now, come on. We're not getting anywhere stood here,' he said, picking up his blaster.

Nine nodded. 'Okay. Let's go.'

It was rather surreal walking through the streets of Taris disguised as Sith. Whereas before, not many civillians really paid much attention to them, now they all cowered away in fear. Nine frowned slightly under her helmet, wondering just how exactly the Sith had managed to strike so much fear into the hearts of so many anyway.

But she would look into that question later, as they rounded the corner to where the Sith guard stood post outside the door to the Lower City. At the sight of Carth and Nine disguised as Sith, he saluted.

'Another patrol heading down to the Lower City, eh? Good luck... I've heard it's pretty rough down there. There's a big swoop gang war going on, you know. You better watch yourself; those ganfs will take a shot at anyone - even us! It's too bad we don't have the man-power to just sweep those slums clean.'

And with that, he stepped aside, allowing Nine and Carth to pass. Nine took a side-glance at Carth, her eyes wide in shock, before she remembered he couldn't see her face. She nodded curtly and stepped through the door, followed swiftly by Carth.

As they made their way through, and the door closed behind them, Nine took off her helmet and grinned widely at Carth. They were in.

End Of Part 2