Niki (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
niki_chidon) wrote2007-12-21 03:29 pm
niki_chidon) wrote2007-12-21 03:29 pm
Fic: Nights of the Old Republic (8/?): Taris, Third Night (Carth/femRevan)
Title: Nights of the Old Republic (8/?): Taris, Third Night
Author: Niki
Fandom: SW:KotOR
Disclaimer: Can I have Carth, pretty please? I'll take *good* care of him.
Previous parts: Prologue, Chapter 1, Interlude, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5 and Chapter 6
Chapter 7: Taris – Third Night
-------------------------------------
This time no one questioned Shin's decision to take only Carth with her when she left to the meeting with Canderous Ordo. Bastila merely shrugged and said, "easier to explain than a Jedi. Or a Wookiee. And you can't go alone."
She had refrained from commenting.
"We will likely be leaving in a hurry, so... be prepared. I'm not sure what kind of signal we can send but, what ever happens, under no circumstances *do not leave this room* unless you have absolute proof that we are dead. We'll have no way of finding you, or contacting you otherwise," Carth was looking at every member of the team in the eye one by one as he tried to drill it into their heads.
"Yes, sir," Mission muttered but with no real resentment in her voice, so Carth grinned at her, and remarked: "Hey, I like the sound of that."
Mission stuck her tongue out before playfully saluting him. He returned the salute, in his best parade pose, and got a laugh from the girl.
It made him inordinately happy to see the girl was starting to accept him, maybe even like him. Of course, now that she had Bastila to resent...
"Good luck," the Twi'lek said, hugging Shin quickly, and shooting a warm smile at Carth.
- - -
Canderous Ordo took them to Davik Kang's estate where the man himself showed them around the place, trying to convince Shin (of the Mysterious Stranger fame) to join his operation. During the guided tour they were also shown his 'baby', the Ebon Hawk. The ship they were supposed to steal.
Davik very purposefully told them the ship was protected by security codes.
After the tour the three of them were escorted to a 'guest room' and told they could only leave it to visit the slave quarters, for the time it took Davik to run a check on Shin.
After the crime lord and his entourage had left, Shin took in the lush beds and laughed, turning to look at Carth.
"Well, I'm glad we're not back at the hideout arguing over sleeping arrangements with the others."
Carth thought about it. Three beds. Bastila would complain. He wondered whether she'd ask about the previous night's arrangements, saw the same thought hit Shin at the same time, and turned away to hide his discomfort.
Canderous seemed uninterested in the exchange, unceremoniously lying down on one of the beds. Shin dug up her stealth unit and walked to the door. "I'll be right back!"
She was out before either man had a chance to say anything.
- - -
Shin had been gone for an hour. Carth kept shooting glances at Canderous who was still lying on the bed, eyes open, seemingly relaxed. He couldn't quite find it in him to start a conversation. What would he say to a one-time enemy whose army had killed so many of his comrades?
So he did what he did in these circumstances. Paced. Canderous would occasionally make a sarcastic comment but he refrained from answering.
Then, finally, the door slid open but no one seemed to come through until Shin shimmered into view.
"Come on, guys, I'll need your help. Try not to attract attention."
She had discovered a prisoner who was being tortured. Canderous grumbled but helped the Republics defeat the guard droids. It paid off – the prisoner was an ex-pilot of the Hawk and rewarded them with its access codes.
"See? It pays to be nice every now and then," Shin smiled at the Mandalorian sweetly, and Carth felt something painful stab his side.
Oh no. No. Just worrying about her. That was all. And, and, manly pride. Yes. They had slept together, after all, and he didn't like feeling like he'd been replaced. That's *all*.
"Are you okay, Carth? You look... pained."
"Huh? No, I'm fine. Let's go."
- - -
It just figured that nothing would be easy. While they were making their way towards the hangar, the whole building was suddenly shaking with explosions.
"The Sith! They're bombarding the city!"
Carth would know, he had had to experience something like this before. Was Malak really willing to attack the whole city just to get to Bastila? With all their troops still down here? Shin shuddered, unable to understand such callousness, such darkness.
"We have to hurry," Canderous was saying while working to open the hangar doors... just to be met by a sight of his former employer and another of his pet mercs, Calo Nord when they made it through.
The building falling apart around them added interesting flavour to the match. It was impossible to find cover, and moving was dangerous due to falling debris. Shin abandoned her brand, and got her blasters out – no way was she going to get close to those two.
Carth had their grenades, and she could see him utilising them from the corner of her eye. She concentrated on shooting at the merc, figuring he was the more dangerous of the two. Luckily, the Sith were making the other side's life equally difficult.
Suddenly there was a loud crash, and the roof was falling in just where the two were standing, the bits and pieces flying as far as the door, and Shin was pushed to the floor by a hard mass of... Carth. He was protecting her with his own body, then helping her up. Part of her wanted to yell at him for taking foolish risks for her – she could look after herself. Part of her was touched.
No time to think about that now, they were rushing towards the ship through the disintegrating building. No time for delays, either, but Shin couldn't help but stop at the broken body of Davik, visible under the rubble. His armour would come in handy, and she also removed the visor that looked modified... anything she could grab. Calo's body was hidden from view, she didn't even try to dig him up. His armour might be booby trapped, anyway.
Someone was yelling at her to get a move on, so she did, and before she knew it they were on their way. No time to explore through their new acquisition. Carth sat on the pilot's chair, and Shin found herself from the cannon tower, trying to figure it out very quickly. Presumably she had known how to do this, before. She just hoped it would come back to her like her fighting skills had.
A quick detour by the apartment building, and then they were racing through the collapsing buildings, into space, and through the Sith blockade... five to six fighters at their tail. First one blew up with a satisfying light show and she could see Carth was trying to fly so that her job was as easy as possible. She basically just needed to pull the trigger when the Sith made another attack. Thanks, flyboy.
Then she felt the familiar jump to hyperspace, and her task was over. She joined the command team in the cockpit, met Carth's grin with one of her own, and had to stop herself from giving him a congratulatory hug. He might not be comfortable with that.
"Where are we heading?" she asked, and Bastila was the one who answered.
"Dantooine. We can find shelter at the Jedi enclave. And the Council can help you with... the visions."
"Dreams," she corrected, distractedly. Her instincts were telling her to keep moving but she couldn't deny the wisdom in Bastila's suggestion either, so she silenced the little voice in her head.
Bastila excused herself to go meditate, and Shin looked at her retreating back before smiling to Carth. "Well, we did it."
She got a slow grin in return. "We sure did."
- - -
Shin left Carth to pilot duty then started exploring the ship. She went through the supplies and found secret compartments pretty much where she'd expected to. It was obvious Ebon Hawk was a smuggling vessel. Unfortunately she lacked the proper codes. With time she would very likely be able to hack her way in but that would most likely destroy the contents.
She decided it wasn't worth it and moved on. She stopped for a while to check on everyone – even the droid who repaid her attention with a programming spike.
She found Zaalbar as unresponsive as he'd been on Taris, and decided – again – not to push it. Life debt or no he was still entitled to his secrets. Canderous was more verbose.
It was funny how everyone managed to scatter around the ship. The Mandalorian was situated close to the exit ramp – as if ready to leave at moment's notice. Probably the soldier in him.
The man intrigued her. They hadn't had much time for discussion and she saw no reason for him to stick around after they'd reached Dantooine, and it almost saddened her. She sensed hidden depths in the seasoned warrior and would have liked to get to know him.
She stopped with him for long enough to share a drink, and listen to some of his war stories. It was horrifying and fascinating at the same time to hear about the Mandalorian war from 'the other side'. She did wonder about her own strong identification with the Republic sometimes, even with her past and her lack of recollection of it, but yet there it was. For her, Mandalorians were 'the other side'.
It was hard to consider Canderous an enemy, though. Not that she'd turn her back at him.
After leaving him she went to find Mission, and finally located her in the farthest corner, sitting on the floor in the crew quarters.
"You think they'll destroy Taris with the bombing?" she asked with a quiet voice when Shin entered the room.
"I don't know," she replied, closing her eyes and thinking about the City. It was an ugly place with so much misery... but still they had found goodness, courage and friendship there.
It saddened her to think about their hideaway being destroyed.
"I don't know," she repeated, "I'm sorry."
"Well, it wasn't much of a place, really," the girl was trying to put a brave face on it but Shin knew it was mostly just bravado. You can hate your home but it's still your home.
Shin needed to learn more about her brother. She didn't think he sounded like a very reliable guy but he was all she had left in the galaxy besides Zaalbar, and Shin wanted to find him for her, if at all possible.
The more she learned about Griff the less hopeful she was, though.
"Wanna play some pazaak?" she asked, knowing it would cheer the girl up – and, hey, she was never adverse to a game or five herself.
They ended up playing dozens of hands before she laughingly threw her hands up in surrender.
The inspection round over she found herself heading back towards the cockpit. Carth. She wanted peace, so she went to him.
"Hey, mind some company?"
His smile said 'no', so she sat in the co-pilot's seat.
"We need to work some kind of shift schedule for this. I wonder how many of our little group can handle the ship..."
"Well, I'm fine for now." Silence. "Don't mind the company, though."
They were both quiet for a long time, staring at the space ahead, then Carth cleared his throat, and started to speak, a little awkwardly.
"You know I find it hard to... trust people."
Shin fought back her impulse to say 'duh!' and nodded.
"Well... One of the ships bombing Taris... was Leviathan. Saul Karath's ship."
"Should I know the name?"
"Yes, you should. Admiral Karath taught me everything I know about being a soldier. He was a legend in the Republic fleet, and a hero to me. Until he betrayed us. He's now commanding Sith troops under Darth Malak."
Shin swallowed, staring at him, horrified.
"Before he defected... he came to me. I didn't realise it at the time but he was obviously trying to... make me go with him. I couldn't conceive of it, of him – him of all people! - betraying the Republic. Maybe if I had... if I'd told someone, done something to stop him... Because he didn't just go to the Sith. He gave them the codes to by-pass Telos' defences. When the Sith fleet came, I knew instantly what had happened, and vowed to kill Saul. I've hated him with passion for years."
Again he struggled for words.
"I should apologise to you. I've become so accustomed to expecting the worst in others, and you've done nothing to deserve that. But... I trusted him... believed in him... and if I could be so wrong about him... I admit, I have... tried to keep you out because I can't be betrayed like that again. I won't survive it. I know it's not fair... to you, to anyone, but... But that's how it is."
"Your family... they died, didn't they?"
"We were... too late. I found my wife bleeding. I held her... when she died. And to this day I don't know what happened to my son. I looked for him for years, until I... stopped. I stopped. And now... I live to avenge them, to kill Saul."
"I'm sorry," she choked out. It felt so inadequate. She couldn't imagine worse pain than not knowing the fate of your child. She couldn't blame him for finding it hard to trust anyone, in the face of that history. And she found it hurt very much to look at this man in pain.
And, she had to admit to herself, it felt like a dagger to the gut to realise he might never be able to trust her, not really, not fully, and not with his self.
------- ------- --------- --------
Continued in Chapter 8
Author: Niki
Fandom: SW:KotOR
Disclaimer: Can I have Carth, pretty please? I'll take *good* care of him.
Previous parts: Prologue, Chapter 1, Interlude, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5 and Chapter 6
Chapter 7: Taris – Third Night
-------------------------------------
This time no one questioned Shin's decision to take only Carth with her when she left to the meeting with Canderous Ordo. Bastila merely shrugged and said, "easier to explain than a Jedi. Or a Wookiee. And you can't go alone."
She had refrained from commenting.
"We will likely be leaving in a hurry, so... be prepared. I'm not sure what kind of signal we can send but, what ever happens, under no circumstances *do not leave this room* unless you have absolute proof that we are dead. We'll have no way of finding you, or contacting you otherwise," Carth was looking at every member of the team in the eye one by one as he tried to drill it into their heads.
"Yes, sir," Mission muttered but with no real resentment in her voice, so Carth grinned at her, and remarked: "Hey, I like the sound of that."
Mission stuck her tongue out before playfully saluting him. He returned the salute, in his best parade pose, and got a laugh from the girl.
It made him inordinately happy to see the girl was starting to accept him, maybe even like him. Of course, now that she had Bastila to resent...
"Good luck," the Twi'lek said, hugging Shin quickly, and shooting a warm smile at Carth.
- - -
Canderous Ordo took them to Davik Kang's estate where the man himself showed them around the place, trying to convince Shin (of the Mysterious Stranger fame) to join his operation. During the guided tour they were also shown his 'baby', the Ebon Hawk. The ship they were supposed to steal.
Davik very purposefully told them the ship was protected by security codes.
After the tour the three of them were escorted to a 'guest room' and told they could only leave it to visit the slave quarters, for the time it took Davik to run a check on Shin.
After the crime lord and his entourage had left, Shin took in the lush beds and laughed, turning to look at Carth.
"Well, I'm glad we're not back at the hideout arguing over sleeping arrangements with the others."
Carth thought about it. Three beds. Bastila would complain. He wondered whether she'd ask about the previous night's arrangements, saw the same thought hit Shin at the same time, and turned away to hide his discomfort.
Canderous seemed uninterested in the exchange, unceremoniously lying down on one of the beds. Shin dug up her stealth unit and walked to the door. "I'll be right back!"
She was out before either man had a chance to say anything.
- - -
Shin had been gone for an hour. Carth kept shooting glances at Canderous who was still lying on the bed, eyes open, seemingly relaxed. He couldn't quite find it in him to start a conversation. What would he say to a one-time enemy whose army had killed so many of his comrades?
So he did what he did in these circumstances. Paced. Canderous would occasionally make a sarcastic comment but he refrained from answering.
Then, finally, the door slid open but no one seemed to come through until Shin shimmered into view.
"Come on, guys, I'll need your help. Try not to attract attention."
She had discovered a prisoner who was being tortured. Canderous grumbled but helped the Republics defeat the guard droids. It paid off – the prisoner was an ex-pilot of the Hawk and rewarded them with its access codes.
"See? It pays to be nice every now and then," Shin smiled at the Mandalorian sweetly, and Carth felt something painful stab his side.
Oh no. No. Just worrying about her. That was all. And, and, manly pride. Yes. They had slept together, after all, and he didn't like feeling like he'd been replaced. That's *all*.
"Are you okay, Carth? You look... pained."
"Huh? No, I'm fine. Let's go."
- - -
It just figured that nothing would be easy. While they were making their way towards the hangar, the whole building was suddenly shaking with explosions.
"The Sith! They're bombarding the city!"
Carth would know, he had had to experience something like this before. Was Malak really willing to attack the whole city just to get to Bastila? With all their troops still down here? Shin shuddered, unable to understand such callousness, such darkness.
"We have to hurry," Canderous was saying while working to open the hangar doors... just to be met by a sight of his former employer and another of his pet mercs, Calo Nord when they made it through.
The building falling apart around them added interesting flavour to the match. It was impossible to find cover, and moving was dangerous due to falling debris. Shin abandoned her brand, and got her blasters out – no way was she going to get close to those two.
Carth had their grenades, and she could see him utilising them from the corner of her eye. She concentrated on shooting at the merc, figuring he was the more dangerous of the two. Luckily, the Sith were making the other side's life equally difficult.
Suddenly there was a loud crash, and the roof was falling in just where the two were standing, the bits and pieces flying as far as the door, and Shin was pushed to the floor by a hard mass of... Carth. He was protecting her with his own body, then helping her up. Part of her wanted to yell at him for taking foolish risks for her – she could look after herself. Part of her was touched.
No time to think about that now, they were rushing towards the ship through the disintegrating building. No time for delays, either, but Shin couldn't help but stop at the broken body of Davik, visible under the rubble. His armour would come in handy, and she also removed the visor that looked modified... anything she could grab. Calo's body was hidden from view, she didn't even try to dig him up. His armour might be booby trapped, anyway.
Someone was yelling at her to get a move on, so she did, and before she knew it they were on their way. No time to explore through their new acquisition. Carth sat on the pilot's chair, and Shin found herself from the cannon tower, trying to figure it out very quickly. Presumably she had known how to do this, before. She just hoped it would come back to her like her fighting skills had.
A quick detour by the apartment building, and then they were racing through the collapsing buildings, into space, and through the Sith blockade... five to six fighters at their tail. First one blew up with a satisfying light show and she could see Carth was trying to fly so that her job was as easy as possible. She basically just needed to pull the trigger when the Sith made another attack. Thanks, flyboy.
Then she felt the familiar jump to hyperspace, and her task was over. She joined the command team in the cockpit, met Carth's grin with one of her own, and had to stop herself from giving him a congratulatory hug. He might not be comfortable with that.
"Where are we heading?" she asked, and Bastila was the one who answered.
"Dantooine. We can find shelter at the Jedi enclave. And the Council can help you with... the visions."
"Dreams," she corrected, distractedly. Her instincts were telling her to keep moving but she couldn't deny the wisdom in Bastila's suggestion either, so she silenced the little voice in her head.
Bastila excused herself to go meditate, and Shin looked at her retreating back before smiling to Carth. "Well, we did it."
She got a slow grin in return. "We sure did."
- - -
Shin left Carth to pilot duty then started exploring the ship. She went through the supplies and found secret compartments pretty much where she'd expected to. It was obvious Ebon Hawk was a smuggling vessel. Unfortunately she lacked the proper codes. With time she would very likely be able to hack her way in but that would most likely destroy the contents.
She decided it wasn't worth it and moved on. She stopped for a while to check on everyone – even the droid who repaid her attention with a programming spike.
She found Zaalbar as unresponsive as he'd been on Taris, and decided – again – not to push it. Life debt or no he was still entitled to his secrets. Canderous was more verbose.
It was funny how everyone managed to scatter around the ship. The Mandalorian was situated close to the exit ramp – as if ready to leave at moment's notice. Probably the soldier in him.
The man intrigued her. They hadn't had much time for discussion and she saw no reason for him to stick around after they'd reached Dantooine, and it almost saddened her. She sensed hidden depths in the seasoned warrior and would have liked to get to know him.
She stopped with him for long enough to share a drink, and listen to some of his war stories. It was horrifying and fascinating at the same time to hear about the Mandalorian war from 'the other side'. She did wonder about her own strong identification with the Republic sometimes, even with her past and her lack of recollection of it, but yet there it was. For her, Mandalorians were 'the other side'.
It was hard to consider Canderous an enemy, though. Not that she'd turn her back at him.
After leaving him she went to find Mission, and finally located her in the farthest corner, sitting on the floor in the crew quarters.
"You think they'll destroy Taris with the bombing?" she asked with a quiet voice when Shin entered the room.
"I don't know," she replied, closing her eyes and thinking about the City. It was an ugly place with so much misery... but still they had found goodness, courage and friendship there.
It saddened her to think about their hideaway being destroyed.
"I don't know," she repeated, "I'm sorry."
"Well, it wasn't much of a place, really," the girl was trying to put a brave face on it but Shin knew it was mostly just bravado. You can hate your home but it's still your home.
Shin needed to learn more about her brother. She didn't think he sounded like a very reliable guy but he was all she had left in the galaxy besides Zaalbar, and Shin wanted to find him for her, if at all possible.
The more she learned about Griff the less hopeful she was, though.
"Wanna play some pazaak?" she asked, knowing it would cheer the girl up – and, hey, she was never adverse to a game or five herself.
They ended up playing dozens of hands before she laughingly threw her hands up in surrender.
The inspection round over she found herself heading back towards the cockpit. Carth. She wanted peace, so she went to him.
"Hey, mind some company?"
His smile said 'no', so she sat in the co-pilot's seat.
"We need to work some kind of shift schedule for this. I wonder how many of our little group can handle the ship..."
"Well, I'm fine for now." Silence. "Don't mind the company, though."
They were both quiet for a long time, staring at the space ahead, then Carth cleared his throat, and started to speak, a little awkwardly.
"You know I find it hard to... trust people."
Shin fought back her impulse to say 'duh!' and nodded.
"Well... One of the ships bombing Taris... was Leviathan. Saul Karath's ship."
"Should I know the name?"
"Yes, you should. Admiral Karath taught me everything I know about being a soldier. He was a legend in the Republic fleet, and a hero to me. Until he betrayed us. He's now commanding Sith troops under Darth Malak."
Shin swallowed, staring at him, horrified.
"Before he defected... he came to me. I didn't realise it at the time but he was obviously trying to... make me go with him. I couldn't conceive of it, of him – him of all people! - betraying the Republic. Maybe if I had... if I'd told someone, done something to stop him... Because he didn't just go to the Sith. He gave them the codes to by-pass Telos' defences. When the Sith fleet came, I knew instantly what had happened, and vowed to kill Saul. I've hated him with passion for years."
Again he struggled for words.
"I should apologise to you. I've become so accustomed to expecting the worst in others, and you've done nothing to deserve that. But... I trusted him... believed in him... and if I could be so wrong about him... I admit, I have... tried to keep you out because I can't be betrayed like that again. I won't survive it. I know it's not fair... to you, to anyone, but... But that's how it is."
"Your family... they died, didn't they?"
"We were... too late. I found my wife bleeding. I held her... when she died. And to this day I don't know what happened to my son. I looked for him for years, until I... stopped. I stopped. And now... I live to avenge them, to kill Saul."
"I'm sorry," she choked out. It felt so inadequate. She couldn't imagine worse pain than not knowing the fate of your child. She couldn't blame him for finding it hard to trust anyone, in the face of that history. And she found it hurt very much to look at this man in pain.
And, she had to admit to herself, it felt like a dagger to the gut to realise he might never be able to trust her, not really, not fully, and not with his self.
------- ------- --------- --------
Continued in Chapter 8