KOTOR Version 2-Chapter 4-Meeting the Sith

As Carth left the apartment complex, he thought about the argument he had with Revan. Yeah, he didn't like Revan, but he'd never got that upset with anyone before. Then he realized why he lost it. Saul. Carth thought. If I ever get my hands on him... Carth shook those thoughts out of his head. Getting angry at Saul wasn't going to find Bastila any faster.

Carth reached his destination shortly, Zelka Forn's medical clinic. Carth had been there a few days earlier, to get some supplies to help heal their wounds from the crash. Everyone knew injuries were expected when using an escape pod, but because Revan wasn't buckled in, the medpacs they had hadn't been enough to help him. So, Carth pulled as many credits as he could muster up and bought as many medpacs as he could afford. But with Revan's winnings at the Pazaak table and in the dueling ring, he had plenty of money to get some good medical supplies.

'Welcome back.' Zelka said, recognizing Carth from a few days earlier. 'Are you in need of healing or medical supplies? I can treat you right here at the center for almost any condition, except the rakghoul disease, of course.'

'Rakghoul disease? What's that?' Carth asked. Last time Carth was here, he was in a lot of pain. Right before Carth came here last time, he had injected himself with a minor pain killer and with Revan on his mind, and his desire to get him healed up, he didn't remember a lot of what happened last time.

'The rakghoul disease is a terrible affliction has plagued Taris for many generations.' Zelka said. 'It is spread by the rakghouls, horrible monsters that live in the Undercity below Taris' great skyscrapers. Prolonged exposure to the Undercity breeds the disease and those infected will eventually mutate into rakghouls themselves, becoming mindless beasts that feed on the flesh of others.'

'I would think there'd be a cure by now.' Carth said.

'There is no antidote for the disease, though I heard the Republic scientists at the military base here on Taris were close to perfecting a cure.' Zelka said. 'Then the Sith arrived.'

Carth could guess where this was going. 'So the Sith are hoarding the rakghoul serum, if it even exists at all.' He said.

Zelka nodded. 'If I could just get my hands on a sample of that serum the rakghoul disease could be wiped from the face of Taris forever.'

'Hmm.' Carth said. 'A comrade of mine and I need to head into the Undercity ourselves, so if we happen to find some, we'll bring it back here. For now, I need to see your stock.'

As Carth left, he was approached by what appeared to be Zelka's assistant. 'I need to talk to you about the rakghoul serum.'

'I really don't have time for this.' Carth said. He started off again, but was once again stopped by Zelka's assistant.

'Oh, don't be an idiot. Just listen to me for one minute and you won't be sorry. Davik Kang wants the cure, and you'd be smart to give it to him.' Zelka's assistant said. 'Davik will pay big credits for the cure. More than Zelka could ever afford.'

'And then only the rich could afford the cure. Just let the poor suffer, right?' Carth snapped back at Zelka's assistant.

'If you find the rakghoul serum, just take it to Zax in the Lower City bounty office. He works for Davik. He'll pay you what that cure is really worth!' Zelka's assistant shot back at Carth.

'Are you finished?' Carth asked. 'Because I really need to get going.' Zelka's assistant slowly moved out of the way, and Carth headed back to the apartment.

No doubt he'll get a cut for getting me to sell the rakghoul serum to Davik. Carth thought. If we do find that serum, I'll try and convince Revan to give it to Zelka.

When Carth got back to the apartment, he saw Revan standing at the window, looking outside. When he got closer, it appeared that Revan was concentrating hard on something. 'Revan?' Carth said, not knowing what was going on.

Immediately, Revan snapped out of whatever he was doing. 'What's up?' He asked.

'You alright?' Carth asked.

'Fine.' Revan shot back. 'What's up?'

'Well, I've got us some medpacs, so we won't have to worry about medical supplies. I've still got plenty of credits left over to get us some grenades and blaster packs, though.' Carth said.

'Good.' Revan said, walking over to Carth. 'In the mean time, it's almost time for that Sith party. We should start getting ready to go. We want to show up a little late as well, so we should have time to get our weapons as well.'

'Hey, I know you!' The woman behind the desk said, as Carth and Revan walked into the weapon shop. 'You're the Mysterious Stranger! The one who became the champion in one night!'

'Always nice to meet a fan.' Revan said. 'And you are?'

'My name's Kebla Yert, and Welcome to the Equipment Emporium!' Kebla said, remembering where she was. 'My shop's the largest one in all of Upper Taris. Best selection on the planet. Whatever you need, I've got. Well, mostly.'

'Mostly? What do you mean by that?' Carth asked.

'The Sith confiscated all my heavy weapons. And they impounded all my ships and swoop bikes. But I've still got a real nice selection, if you're interested.' Kebla said.

'Let's see what you've got then.' Revan said.

A few minutes later, Revan and Carth left Kebla Yert's shop with some more blaster packs, a few grenades, and a permecrete detonator. Carth asked why Revan bought that, but Revan told him that he felt that they might need it. This naturally confused Carth, but he knew better than to question a Jedi's intuition. He had seen what Jedi were capable of during the Mandalorian Wars, and more importantly, what Revan was capable of.

As Revan and Carth got closer to Zelka Forn's medical facility they noticed two men, an Aqualish and a human, threatening an older human.

'Davik says you missed your last payment.' The human thug said.

'Davik doesn't like you missing payments!' The Aqualish said.

'Here - I've got fifty credits! A down payment. That should buy me some time, right?' The old man said, pulling a credit chip out of his pocket.

'Sorry, you're out of time. Now it's all or nothing.' The human thug said. 'Davik can't have people not paying his debts!'

'But I don't have that much! How can I give you credits I don't have?' The old man pleaded.

'That's too bad. Davik's going to want to make an example of you!' The human thug said. 'You're coming with us.'

'No - help! Somebody help! They're going to kill me!' The old man pleaded to anyone near.

'I know we have to be careful about drawing attention to ourselves, but are we just going to let them drag this guy off?' Carth said in a near whisper.

'He does need help, but our options are kind of limited.' Revan said. 'I can't exactly use Force persuasion on the street. That kind of thing takes Jedi or Sith training, and would raise too many questions. Our only option is violence, and I'd rather not resort to that if at all possible.'

But, before Carth could remark on that, the human thug spoke up.

'Hold on a second. Looks like we got ourselves a witness here!'

'Davik doesn't like witnesses.' The Aqualish said.

'Leave him alone. He's done nothing to you.' Revan said. He knew this was going to escalate to violence the moment the bounty hunters saw Carth and him, so he needed to provoke them, but in a way to ensure the old man knew he was trying to save him.

'Oh, great, another 'do-gooder'. Guess we have to teach you to mind your own business!' The human bounty hunter said.

Revan removed the sword from his back, and lunged toward the human bounty hunter. He brought his sword down, and sliced off his arm. The human staggered back, and fell off the edge. Carth, who had drawn his blasters as Revan lunged, and placed two blaster bolts in the Aqualish's chest.

'Thank you - I owe you my life!' The old man said. 'Those bounty hunters were going to take me away and kill me! My wife warned me not to take a loan from Davik. Now I can't pay him back. It's not good to owe a crime lord money. He'll just keep sending more bounty hunters after me until I'm dead!'

'Is there anything I can do to help?' Revan asked as he wiped the blood from his sword.

'You already helped me by saving me from those bounty hunters.' The old man said. 'So unless you have a spare 100 credits to give me so I can pay off Davik, there's nothing else you can do.'

Revan took out a 100 credit chip and handed it to the man. 'Here, now you can pay off Davik.'

'You're giving me 100 credits? Just like that? I... I don't know what to say! Thank you! Thank you!' The old man said.

'You're giving him a hundred credits? Generous.' Carth said, though he was pleased with Revan's actions.

'Now I can pay off Davik. You've saved my life! Thank you! I better take these credits to him right away!' The old man said. He darted off, with the credits that would change a great many things.

Revan looked over at Carth, and noticed a small smile. Was this one of the judgment moments? He thought, but quickly got himself back on track. 'Come on, we need to get to that Sith party if we want to get any information.'

As Carth and Revan rounded the circle to Sarna's apartment, they noticed Sarna near the entrance. She was laughing, and having fun, but when she saw Revan, her eyes lit up.

'Hey, you made it!' Sarna said with glee. 'I was beginning to wonder if you were going to show!' She ran up to Revan and grabbed a hold of his arm. 'The party's in full swing - come on in.'

Carth glared at Revan, but all Revan did was shrug. He couldn't say anything, though, because he would blow their cover if he did so.

'You have to try this Tarisian ale - it's fantastic! We should have conquered this planet ages ago!' Sarna said, bringing Revan over to the makeshift bar she had set up.

'Careful, Sarna. That wine's got quite the kick. A couple more bottles and we'll all be passed out on the floor!' A man, who was also probably a Sith solider, said.

'Who cares? We're not on duty tomorrow - let's live a little! Come on - drink up!' Sarna said.

During most of the party, Carth sat in a chair with a mug of Tarisian Ale in his hand. He was drinking slowly, trying to stay in control of his senses. He hated being around this many Sith, and he would much rather put a blaster bold in all their heads, but that would ruin their cover. Watching from the corner was also stretching their cover, but Carth really didn't care. But others did notice. In his headset, Carth heard Sarna comment on Carth.

'Your friend doesn't seem to be enjoying himself.' Sarna said.

'Well, he's not exactly politically neutral like I am,' Revan said. 'He says he's been wronged by the Sith, but I've been trying to convince him that we need remain politically neutral during the war, to see how things play out. But the fact that your leaders are keeping us from doing out business is what's really got on his nerves.'

That placated Sarna, but Carth didn't care what she, or any of the Sith, thought. He just wanted to get as much information as he could, and get out of there. They had already been there for two hours, and Carth was getting sick of it.

As the party wound down, Carth noticed that people started passing out. In fact, only he and Revan weren't feeling the effects of the Tarisian Ale. Carth had been drinking since joining the Republic Navy, so he had a high tolerance for alcohol. And he was betting Revan was using the Force to rid his body of the poison. As the last person dropped, Carth got out of his chair.

'So, what was that about 'politically neutral?' Carth asked.

'Bold faced lie. I had to make up something, and the best cover was that we are a couple of traders.' Revan said. He took minute to scan the room, looking for keycards, ammunition, credits and anything else they could use during their time on Taris.

Carth started doing the same, and found something extremely useful. 'Hey, check this out.' Carth said, motioning for Revan to come over there. Revan did so, and Carth showed him two backpacks with a Sith uniform in each. 'Heh, that's some good luck there.' Revan said, grinning slightly.

'So, did you find anything useful?' Carth asked.

'Just a few blaster packs and some credits.' Revan said.

'I'm talking about the party.' Carth shot back at Revan.

'Oh. Just the fact that they've been patrolling the Undercity a lot recently. Also, something about a 'rakghoul serum'.' Revan said.

'About that,' Carth said. 'The guy at the medical center, Zelka, wants to get his hands on a sample of it, so he can mass produce it for anyone who needs it.'

'Hmm. Sounds good to me. If we find an unused sample of the rakghoul serum, we'll bring it to Zelka.' Revan said. 'Now come on, we need to get out of here. Grab the bag with the Sith uniform. We can use them later.'

As Revan and Carth left the Sith party, they saw the same two bounty hunters they saw earlier, that were bothering Dia.

'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!' The man the Devaronian and Rodian were bullying said. 'Please, I don't want to die!'

'Your issues with Davik mean anything to us.' The Rodian said. 'All we want is 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.' The man said. He was obviously extremely scared, and didn't know what to do.

'50 credits over a 300 credit bounty? I don't think so human.' The Devaronian said. He lifted his blaster rifle, and was about to pull the trigger when Revan spoke up.

'I guess scum like you will never learn. What has this man done to deserve the treatment you're giving him?' Revan said in a commanding tone.

'None of your business Human!' The Rodian shot back at Revan.

'But it is my business.' Revan said, using the Force to add sway to what he said.

Once again, because of how weak the minds of these two bounty hunters, they immediately complied, as if the suggestion was their own.

'This man owes Davik 200 credits, and has taken too long paying him back.' The Devaronian said. 'And we're here to collect either the money, or his head.'

Probably from some Pazaak debt, no doubt. Revan thought. But he knew that very few people could come up with the credits, plus interest, in the amount of time that a crime lord asked for.

'Leave him alone.' Revan said, slowly advancing toward the bounty hunters.

'And what's going to happen if we don't?' The Rodian asked.

---

Carth could see where this was going. Those two bounty hunters hadn't learned anything from the last time they met. Heck, they probably didn't even remember their last encounter. But Carth could tell that Revan had run out of patience with these guys. And Carth had run out of patience with them as well. To pick on someone so much weaker than you was unforgivable. And so, he placed his hands on his blasters, waiting to see what Revan would do. He didn't have to wait long.

Revan drew the sword off his back, and about a foot away from the bounty hunters, spoke again.

'I'll say this once; if you want to live, leave now. And do not pick on someone weaker than you again. Because if I see you doing this again, I guarantee you won't do it again.' Revan said.

Not realizing that they had met Revan and Carth earlier, they mistook Revan's statement for a threat, instead of what it was; that Revan was telling them he was loosing his patience with their actions.

'We won't meet twice human, because you won't live to get in our way again.' The Rodian said. He raised his blaster rifle, but never got a chance to fire, since Revan thrust his sword into his neck.

The Devaronian turned to fire on Revan, but was shot down by Carth's twin blasters. Both bolts hit the Devaronian in the head, causing him to drop immediately.

The Rodian, however, was still held up by Revan's sword. After 10 seconds of letting the blood ooze out of its throat, Revan lowered the body to let it fall off his sword. He took a moment to compose himself and to mourn the dead before speaking to the man the bounty hunters were threatening.

'Are you all right?' Revan asked, putting out his hand to help the man stand up.

'Better now. Thank you for saving my life. For now at least.' The man said.

'How much do you owe Davik?' Revan asked.

'200 credits, but I don't know where I'm going to get them.' The man said.

Revan had been digging in his pocket, and he was able to pull out his credits just as the man had finished his sentence. 'Here,' Revan said, handing the man a 200 credit chip.

'You'd give 200 credits to a stranger just to help them out! I... I don't believe it! Thank you!' The man said, practically beaming. "Now I can pay off Davik! Oh thank you - you've saved my life! I better go give this to Davik right away!'

As the man ran off to pay his debt, Carth looked at Revan strangely. Whether Revan was doing this to show Carth he wasn't the Dark Lord, or if Revan would have done this if he were alone didn't matter to him anymore. But Revan was burning their credits. And they needed them for food and medical supplies. And since he didn't have access to his bank account or his upcoming paychecks on a Sith world, he felt that they were eventually run out of money.

'That was sure generous of you. I just hope we don't end up needing those credits later on.' Carth said to Revan, awaiting his response.

'I hope so too, but Davik's not exactly a man you want to owe money. If I can take on the weight of his pain and suffering, I will, because unlike most people, I can handle the pain and suffering.' Revan said. 'Now come on, we need to hide somewhere, if we're going to change into these Sith uniforms.'

Revan and Carth were able to duck into the empty apartment next door, and Revan went in to change first. Upon coming out in full Sith uniform, Revan decided he was going to make a joke. 'How do I look?' Revan said, waiting for Carth's answer.

'Like someone I want to shoot,' Carth said, making a joke of his own.

'So,' Revan said with a grin Carth couldn't see. 'No different.'

Carth grinned himself, realizing Revan's joke. 'Seriously, you do look like one of the Sith.'

'Now, it's your turn.' Revan said as he walked out into the hall.

That irritated Carth. He hated the idea of wearing the armor of the Sith, but he also knew it was the best way to fool them so they could get into the Lower City. So, begrudgingly, Carth put on the Sith uniform.

As Carth and Revan walked toward the turbolift to the Lower City, they noticed how different people reacted toward them. Before, Carth and Revan were just simply ignored. Now, the people were going out of their way to stay away from the Sith.

That is no way to live, Revan thought. To run in fear of someone just because of a uniform. But Revan pushed those thoughts out of his mind as they came within view of the turbolift.

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

As the doors closed and the turbolift began descending into the Lower City, Revan and Carth quickly stripped off the Sith armor they were wearing. Wearing Sith armor in the Lower City didn't seem like a good idea, after all.

However, it didn't matter what they were wearing, because as soon as Revan and Carth stepped off the turbo lift, they walked straight into a battle between two rival gangs.

'Beks are nothing but bantha fodder!' The Feeorin clad in red said. 'The Vulkars are strongest!'

'We'll teach you who's strongest!' A Rodian clad in yellow said.

A short skirmish commenced, but it was lopsided in the red gang's favor. As soon as they finished with the yellow gang, the Feeorin who started it all looked over at Revan and Carth. 'More strangers!'

Revan and Carth both knew they had to end this quickly, before any other members of the red gang came around. So, Revan pulled the vibrosword off his back, and reached out to the Force, using it to enhance his strength and speed.

Carth watched as Revan mopped up most of the red gang members, and took the opportunity to take care of those that were left. When the battle ended, Revan took the opportunity to wipe the blood off his sword on the cooling body of one of his opponents before sheathing it.

'Overkill much?' Carth asked, as he holstered his blasters.

'I only use as much force as necessary. Besides, they would have called for reinforcements, and we really don't need to be fighting with an entire gang.' Revan said.

'Good point,' Carth said as he walked over to Revan. 'We seem to be at an intersection. Which way should we go?'

'Let's head into this apartment building. We might be able to find out more information there.' Revan said, point to the door in front of them.

As they entered the apartment, they noticed a distinctive smell that wasn't present on the outside. It was a mix of stagnant air, decaying building material, ozone and excrement.

'What a wonderful smell you've discovered.' Carth said.

'Yeah, well try to keep your lunch down; because it's only going to get worse the further we go toward the Undercity.' Revan said. He looked around for a moment, before heading to the left and stopped at the apartment to his left. 'Hey Carth, you think you can pick the lock to this door?'

'What for?' Carth asked as he walked over to Revan.

'Well, I can feel that someone's worried about something inside there. I'm betting it has something to do with Davik, and I'm not about to let someone suffer because Davik wants him to.' Revan said.

'What's your problem with Davik anyway?' Carth asked.

'Davik's the leader of the Exchange in this sector. I thought we chased them off the last time I was here, but apparently Davik was able to hide a lot better than I hoped.' Revan said. 'People suffer way too often because of the actions of the Exchange, and if I can alleviate some of that suffering, than I've made the galaxy a little bit better place to live in.'

Makes sense. Carth thought as he got to work on picking the lock, but as soon as it opened, the Twi'lek started shouting at them in huttese.

'Hey - you can't come in here!' The Twi'lek shouted. 'This is a private apartment!'

'What are you doing here?' Revan asked.

'None of your business.' The Twi'lek said. 'Just turn around and go back the way you came, if you know what's good for you.'

'Are you in some sort of trouble? Because if you are, maybe I can help.' Revan asked, knowing the answer to his question.

'I... I guess I could tell you. You'll probably find out on your own eventually, anyway. Zax is giving his bounties away like candy, or so I hear.' The Twi'lek answered. 'My name's Matrik - I used to work for the Exchange, but all the violence and killing started to get to me. I knew what I was doing was wrong, so I turned in some evidence to the government. My testimony helped put some of the biggest criminals on Taris away for life. But Davik didn't like seeing his friends go down, so now he's got a bounty on my head.'

'Is there anything I can do to help?' Revan asked. He had anticipated this earlier, when he and Carth were at Kebla Yert's shop, when he bought the permecrete detonator.

'I don't think there's much anyone could do. And I'm getting sick of running. I've decided to make my stand right here.' Matrik said.

'I'm betting you've got a plan to get out of this. The most plausible means would be faking your own death, right?' Revan said.

'Right. But I can't pull it off while I'm holed up in here.' Matrik said. 'The trick is getting Davik to buy it when there's no body found at the scene. If it looks like I died in a massive explosion, he won't be suspicious when my corpse never turns up.' Matrik sighed. He didn't really want to ask for help, but he didn't have any choice. And this human in front of him seemed trustworthy. 'If I had an accomplice go back and tell Davik that they were the one who set off the explosion to eliminate me, I think I'd be home free.'

'What do you need?' Revan asked.

'A permecrete detonator. I have some demolitions experience from my own days in the Exchange so I could set it all up.' Matrik said.

Revan dropped his bag off his shoulder and started rummaging through it. 'Here,' Revan said, pulling out the permecrete detonator he bought earlier. 'You need this more than I do.'

To say that Matrik was a little stunned would be an understatement. He wasn't going to question it however, because this man was saving his life after all. 'Thanks. Now, if I were you, I'd back up. These things can make very big explosions.'

Revan and Carth moved back as Matrik set up his explosives. Once he finished, Matrik set a 15 second timer, enough time for him to dive out of the room.

'That was quite the blast! Don't go back in there... the whole roof might cave in on your head.' Matrik said. 'Look, I'm not a man for long goodbyes but I want to say 'thanks'. If it wasn't for you I'd be a dead man. But now I won't have to worry about anymore bounty hunters coming after me. So good luck, and goodbye. Now that I'm 'dead' I can't be seen wandering the streets.'

'No problem. Enjoy your new lease on life.' Revan said as Matrik ran off.

As Revan and Carth made their way around the apartment complex, battling the 'Black Vulkars' as the red clad game was called, Carth turned over the Matrik situation over in his head. This wasn't truly altruism, given the fact that Revan was probably going to collect the bounty on Matrik's 'death', but at the same time, if Revan had truly been motivated by greed, he would have just killed the guy and been done with it. As time went on, Revan's actions were slowly changing Carth's opinion of him. He doubted he ever completely trust Revan, But Carth was learning that Revan was not what Carth thought he was.

The thoughts of Matrik continued to float around in his head until Carth and Revan entered Javyar's Cantina. And when they entered, Carth noticed 2 new distinct smells; blood and cheap liquor. And those two smells clued him in on the kind of people that frequented this place; desperate and a little trigger happy. And half of Carth's assumption was proved correct as they entered the circle, because 4 of the Black Vulkars walked up to what appeared to be a short human.

'Go away.' The human said.

'Hey, you not talk like that. We just want say hi to big, bad bounty hunter Calo Nord!' The Rodian Vulkar said.

'Nah, this can't be Calo Nord. He's supposed to be tough. This guy's nothing but a runt!' The Twi'lek said.

Revan could tell by the way that Calo was standing that he had lost his patience with the Vulkars, and his words reflected it. 'One.' Calo said.

'One? What that mean? You be funny, tough guy?' The Rodian said.

'You know who we are, Calo? We're members of the Black Vulkar gang! You don't want to be getting funny with us, tough guy.' The Twi'lek said.

Calo just continued counting. 'Two.'

And once again, the Vulkars just didn't get it. 'Me no understand. One? Two? Why he count? He trying to count how many of us is against him?' The Rodian said.

'It's four against one, Calo. What do you think about those odds? Well? You have something more to say?' The Twi'lek said, but those were the last words he ever said.

Because Calo was finished counting. 'Three.' From there he threw a flash grenade at the Vulkars feet, drew his blasters, and with two shots from each blaster, finished off the stupid Black Vulkars.

Revan took the opportunity to check what was on the corpses of the Black Vulkars. He found 300 credits, 3 nearly full blaster packs and some med packs. As he stood up, he saw something he never thought he'd see on Taris; a Wookiee. As he got closer however, he saw something else catch his eye; three Rodian members of the Black Vulkars moving up to what appeared to be a young Twi'lek.

'I told you to leave me alone - so give me some space, Bug-eye!' The Twi'lek said. Though young, she had a certain confidence about her, a stance that showed a life of hard living. 'Your breath smells like bantha poodoo!'

'Little girl should not be in bar. This no place for little girl. If little girl smart, she run away home now." The talkative Rodian said.

'Who you calling a little girl, Chuba-face?' The Twi'lek said. She was brave, that Revan was sure of. And Revan could tell by looking at her that she could take care of herself in the Lower City, but her taunting wasn't the smartest thing Revan had ever seen. Rarely was a street urchin able to hold their own against 3 armed gang members.

And the Rodian knew it. 'Little girl needs lesson in manners!' He said, drawing his blaster.

'Just a sec, boys. Zaalbar... a little help here? I need you to rip the legs off some insects.' The Twi'lek said.

Just then, the Wookiee spoke up, giving Revan the chance to remember his training in Shyriiwook. 'Mission - I'm busy. They just brought my food!'

The Twi'lek, "Mission", was the name that the Wookiee, "Zaalbar", called her, just grinned slightly. 'Quit complaining... you can finish eating later. Besides, you need the exercise so get over here.'

The Rodian that drew his blaster took a step back as Zaalbar walked over to them. 'We no want trouble with Wookiee. Our problem with you, little girl!' He said, trying to put on a brave face. But Revan could feel the fear coming off him. More so with Mission's next words.

'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 out of here.' Mission said, still grinning.

'Little girl lucky she has big friend!' The Rodian said. And as the Vulkars walked toward them and away from Mission and Zaalbar, Revan could swear he could see a big wet stain on the front of the Rodian's pants.

Revan and Carth watched as the Black Vulkars walked away in fear of Zaalbar, and decided to talk to this Mission. They walked up to her, and were just about to say something, but Mission beat them to it.

'Say, I don't recognize you and I know pretty much everyone in the Lower City. You must be new down here.' Mission said with a slight smile on her face, which Revan guessed was a defense mechanism. Smile and make nice, but never take your eyes off anyone. 'I guess that makes me and Big Z your official welcoming committee!'

'You showed a lot of guts dealing with those Vulkars, kid. You got a name?' Carth asked.

Mission took a moment to study both Carth and Revan, using the skills he learned surviving on the streets to see if they were trustworthy. Apparently satisfied with what she saw, Mission grinned and spoke again. 'My name's Mission Vao and this big Wookiee is my best friend, Zaalbar. I'd offer to give you a tour, but the streets down here aren't safe. But if there's anything else you need...'

'My name's Jake Katarn, and this is Carth Onasi. We're looking for information.' Revan said, being as straightforward as possible.

Mission nodded. 'Well, you came to the right person! If you want info on Lower Taris I'm the one to talk to! Davik, the Lower City gangs...' Mission said. 'I've even got the scoop on that bounty hunter Calo Nord!'

'Tell me about the gangs.' Revan said.

'There's only two gangs worth worrying about here in the Lower City: the Black Vulkars and the Hidden Beks.' Mission said. 'Sometimes Zaalbar and I hang out at the Bek base.' Mission took the opportunity to take a large breath, before starting in on a long speech.

'The Beks are led by Gadon Thek - he's a good guy. Lost his sight in a swoop bike accident a few years ago, but even blind he's a great leader.' Mission said, pausing to take a breath. 'Not like that traitor Brejik! Before he took over the Vulkars he was a Hidden Bek. Gadon considered that ungrateful space slug his adopted son.'

'So, what issues does Brejik have with Gadon?' Revan asked. He felt those two names were going to be very important to them within the next few days.

'When Gadon went blind everyone figured he'd step down and appoint Brejik in his place. But Gadon figured Brejik wasn't ready yet. He wanted him to wait a few years.' Mission said. 'But Brejik was too impatient. He left to join the Vulkars, and ever since he's been waging a war to wipe Gadon and his Beks from the face of Taris!' Revan could feel the irritation in Mission's voice at what Brejik's Vulkars had been doing. 'This gang war in the Lower City is totally the Vulkar's fault. They're the ones killing everything that moves out on the street. It's like they've gone insane.'

'What do you know about Davik?' Revan asked.

'Davik's part of the intergalactic crime syndicate, but I guess everyone knows that. But I hear he's got a new ship for his smuggling operations - the Ebon Hawk.' Mission said. 'I don't know much about space travel, but I hear that ship's fast enough to break the Sith blockade. Of course, this is all just second hand rumor.'

'Where would he keep it, do you know?' Carth asked. He was thinking about the next stage of what need to be done after finding Bastila; getting off Taris. And for that matter, so was Revan.

However, Mission squashed those ideas immediately. 'If Davik does have a ship, he's got it locked up in his estate. Nobody gets in there, except the people working for Davik and the Exchange.'

'All right. Since I've already run into Calo Nord once before on Ord Mantell, I believe that's all the information I'll need.' Revan said, sticking his hand into his pocket. He pulled out his credits, and got three 100 credit notes ready. 'This should cover what you told us.' He said, handing the notes over to Mission.

'Thanks.' She said, taking the notes and pocketing them.

'Now, we've got things to do, so we need to get going.' Revan said.

'Yeah, this dive is pretty boring. No action around here. Come on, Big Z, let's go.' Mission said as she shook hands with Revan.

'But I haven't finished eating!' Zaalbar pleaded.

'Can't you think about something besides your stomach for five minutes? Come on - we'll go see if there's anything good to eat at the Bek base.' Mission said, leading the Wookiee out of the cantina.

When Mission and Zaalbar were out of sight, Carth decided to comment on them. 'Strange pairing.'

'No doubt, but it works. Mission seems to be the brains of the operation, while Zaalbar takes care of any physicality. What I'm wondering is how Zaalbar ended up on Taris in the first place.' Revan said, looking around. 'If we ever see them again, I'm going to have to ask them. In the mean time, let's see if we can collect on the Matrik bounty, and see if we can find anything about Holdan.'