Zira Darkstar

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A/N: Well, hopefully I haven't bored too many of you away. Chapter 11 is mostly silly stuff. I know I grinned a lot reading it and Envy laughed a lot when beta'ing. Hopefully you enjoy it.
~Beta'd by Envy~
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Chapter 11


The world wavered into view before Zira’s eyes. She felt light, like gravity wasn’t affecting her. Is this what death feels like?

Her vision was cloudy and she felt as though everything was kept at arms length. She started to try and move, to look around but she felt as though something was pinning her by the face.

She slowly raised a tentative hand to her face but found something hard and metallic prevented her from touching it. Something hissed beside her and suddenly she felt as though she couldn’t breath. She started to panic as her lungs began to burn. She felt numb limbs flailing, grasping for something, anything.

A new sensation began to over take her as she felt as though she was being pushed through something soft, it started at the top of her head and then trailed down her face and the rest of her body.

As the sensation passed her mouth she felt air rush into her mouth and nose. She gulped desperately at the air. The sudden intake caused her to feel as though her lungs were going to burst and she began to cough violently. Gravity felt as if it was crashing down around her, and she felt too weak to stand it’s tremendous pull. She collapsed to her knees, still vehemently coughing.

There was another loud hissing sound somewhere in the far reaches beyond her perceptions and she suddenly felt hands gripping the sides of her head. A light began to flash back and forth from one eye to the other and she weakly smacked at it.

“Calm down.” A familiar voice commanded.

The world around her was so bright and loud. Was I just reborn?

“Where am I?” She heard herself croak, the strain on her voice created a new fit of coughing.

“This is the medical facility. You were brought in for a blaster wound to the shoulder. There was a remarkable amount of blood loss. You’re lucky to be alive.” A mechanical voice chimed as she tried to make heads or tails out of the foreign world that surrounded her.

“I will go fetch Doctor Forn.” She could hear metallic clanking sounds retreating from her, but the light of the room was still too intense to open her eyes.

“There you are… I was beginning to think you weren’t going to make it.” The voice she first recognized when she’d first woke up. It was a tender, deep man’s voice.

“Yun?” She asked, her voice strained.

“Yun? No it’s Carth. Carth Onasi?”

She put a hand gently to her head, her hair was wet and sticky. She tried to open her eyes again, to look through the light and force her eyes to adapt. She blinked several times, to clear them of fuzziness and tears. “Carth?”

“Yeah… You had me worried.”

Her eyes had just barely started to focus on Carth; she recognized his ugly burnt red-orange jacket first. “What happened?”

Carth suddenly looked away from her, and she could hear sounds of someone else approaching. He turned back to her and whispered, “Later.”

A short, ebony skinned man was walking towards them. He had gone bald with age, the only remaining hair no where near the top of his head. The short curly hair that circled the sides and back of his head was mostly grey and white, but it still seemed to hold a trace amount of black.

Zira was slowly regaining some measure of coherence now, she was sitting on a table though she wasn’t sure when she’d gotten there. The older man began to examine her shoulder. “I see from your appearance that you are an off-worlder.”

She must have looked at him alarmingly cause he patted her gently on the shoulder and his tone became more soothing. “Still, you are welcome here. I’ll not have it said that Zelka Forn refused to help somebody just because they weren’t a citizen of Taris.”

She started to mouth the words thank you, but no voice escaped her.

He seemed to be examining her body completely and asked in a tender manner, “Do you require medical supplies?”

She shook her head no. He must be able to tell she got into a few fights. She watched him absently as he continued to poke and prod at her shoulder. “I can treat almost any injury or ailment right here at this medical facility, except the rakghoul disease, of course.” His voice had been so full of pride until the end. Zira vaguely recalled Carth saying something about rakghouls.

“Rakghoul disease? What’s that?” Her voice was cracked and broken, but she managed to get the words. Guess that’s something of an improvement.

Zelka’s face contorted into a grievous image, “The terrible affliction has plagued Taris for many generation. 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 beasts that feed on the flesh of others.”

She listened intently, slowly feeling things come back. Zelka had handed her some water which she’d managed to swallow. The cool liquid felt nice on the back of her throat. “Is there no cure?” She managed, this time not quite so rough.

He looked at her forlornly, “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. Then the Sith arrived.” He paused. The word seemed like a swear word when Zelka spat it out. “They overran the military base and now they refuse to allow anyone access to the laboratories inside. The Sith are keeping all the serum for the patrols they send into the Undercity.”

Zira bit her bottom lip, listening raptly. She wanted to say something in the defense of the Sith, but she wasn’t sure she could. She remembered Yun’s “game” and the fun it was supposed to be. They might just be the monsters that Carth was making them out to be.

Zelka looked longingly over at some equipment that was in the room. It looked poised and ready to be activated. He finally broke the silence with a somber tone, “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. But I don’t see how that’s going to happen.”

Zira thought of Yun again, “Maybe I could find a way to get my hands on the serum for you.” Surely Yun would help me get some! If he did, we could give it to Zelka! She couldn’t resist the strong measure of hope that had stirred in her. It was giving her a bit of energy, a source of strength.

The gentle old man shook his head. “I don’t see how anyone could get their hands on the serum. The military base is crawling with Sith guards. Breaking in there would be a suicide mission. I suppose the Sith Patrols in the Undercity might have a sample of the serum on them, if they hadn’t already used it because of a rakghoul infection. But, I doubt a patrol would just hand the serum over. And nobody’s stupid enough to attack one of the Sith patrols, even in the Undercity.”

Zira wasn’t about to let that detour her. She was positive that Yun would come through for her. Another thought came to mind, seeing as she was in a hospital. “I want to ask you some questions.”

Zelka looked up from a data pad he’d produced from beside the table, looking her over a moment. “I am quite busy maintaining the facility, but I suppose I could spare a bit of time to answer some questions. What would you like to know?”

She looked at him intently. “Do you know anything about the Republic escape pods that crashed in the Undercity?”

The man froze for a moment, his eyes flashed an emotion that he quickly tried to cover: fear. “Republic escape pods? Uh… no… why would you ask me that? I don’t know. Those pods crashed in the Undercity. I’m not involved in anyway!”

Zira could tell he was lying. She watched him intently, her voice finally starting to sound normal. “You seem awfully defensive about this.”

The old man was practically sputtering now, “I’m not defensive! I just don’t like being accused of knowing something about those Republic pods. This is as bad as an interrogation by the Sith!”

She shook her head and looked up at him, something must have sparked in her eyes because he stopped stammering for words and just stared at her. Her voice came very steady, “Don’t worry, I’m not with the Sith. I won’t betray your secret if you tell me.”

She tried to will her emotion into her eyes. She must have succeeded because his shoulders sank and he slowly put away the datapad. “Well, you don’t look like you’re with the Sith. I guess… I guess I can tell you my secret. Or rather, I can show you.”

Zira nodded and slid from the table. She was wearing the dress she’d been wearing at the party, it was now covered in blood stains and was sticky from the kolto tank she’d been in. She sighed inwardly. Her feet touched the floor and she felt them begin to wobble, so she clutched onto the table for support.

Carth wasted no time in rushing to her side. He offered her is arm for support as Zelka waited patiently for them.

He signaled his droid who pushed some buttons on a nearby terminal and then began walking towards the back of the facility. She followed him, using Carth as a crutch.

Zelka began to punch a complicated code into the door in the back of the room. It took several long minutes of complex sequences before the door finally relinquished it’s locks. It hissed aside to reveal a long room that was lined with kolto tanks. Zira could just barely make out two figures at the back of the room. Carth began walking towards them, seeming to forget Zira was attached to his arm.

She had no choice but to stumble along beside him, her grip growing ever tighter as Zelka began to explain things to them.

“Since the space battle overhead, people have been secretly bring in these Republic soldiers who crash landed on the planet. I had to take them in. What choice did I have? Their injuries are terrible, most won’t survive. But at least I can make their last days more comfortable. And at least here they are hidden away from the Sith.”

Zira felt a lump in her throat the size of a grapefruit. It could just as well have been Carth, or her in one of those tanks. She felt a swell of guilt run through her. But it’s not you, is it? You survived. You are unharmed. These men are in the moments of their death, all for this Jedi that can somehow save the Republic. And Trask… Trask has already given his life for this woman… this Bastila.

She felt as though she was going to throw up. All these lives… for one Jedi…

Carth broke the newly formed silence as he reached out his free hand and rested it’s palm on the transparisteel. “Well, for that you have my thanks. It’s good to know that at least some of these men ended up in compassionate hands.”

Zira’s eyes were burning with new tears. She could feel them escape the navy blue depths and rush down her face. Why me? Why did I survive? Why not them?

Zelka seemed a little more at ease and he patted Carth on the shoulder. “I hate to imagine what the Sith would do if they discovered these soldiers here. But since their initial questioning the Sith have not returned. So it may be that my fears are unfounded.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Zira finally managed, in a quivering voice.

“I’m afraid there is nothing more anyone can do for these soldiers. Now if you’ll excuse me, I should return to the front in case anyone comes in needing medical attention.”

Zelka gave them a moment longer with the two, before motioning for Carth to follow him out. Zira limply allowed herself to be led from the room. The kolto sickness seemed to have worn off, but she still didn’t think she could stand on her own. For that, she was grateful to Carth for keeping himself steady, immovable.

They exited the room and Zelka reengaged the locks behind them. She went over to the table she’d been sitting on before and sat down heavily. Carth moved across the room and grabbed up something from a locker nearby. He returned with her bag, armor, and weapons. “Here. Just in case… You probably shouldn’t go gallivanting around in that get-up.”

She thought to say something about how she thought it looked good, but she just didn’t have the heart to. Plus it was now covered in her own blood as well as the sticky kolto from the tank. She conceded to the point and looked through her bag. Her underwear was still in there… and still dirty. She felt as though she could cry all over again. She’d only gotten the one new pair, and it was now just as sticky and gross as the dress.

“Where can I get changed?”

“There’s a refresher over there.” Carth offered, his voice a bit authoritative.

She glowered at him and went into the refresher to change.

Joy…. Back to the oversized armor with no underwear under it… I swear the first thing I’m doing when I leave here is buying myself fifty pairs of underwear so I never have to do this shit again… She grudgingly got into the clothing, her skin still felt sticky and gross.

A thought hit her suddenly which she found herself voicing, “How the hell did I get shot!?”

Her mind was a little fuzzy, but she didn’t remember being shot. She’d been with Yun. She had some drunks accost her and then stagger off. She’d gotten back to the apartment okay… so when did she get shot?

She finished doing up her armor as quickly as she could and put the vibroblade back onto her back. The feel of it resting there did manage to comfort her a bit. The weight of the blaster on her belt added a bit more comfort as she walked out of the refresher.

She found Carth waiting by the door and she rushed over to him. “Carth?”

“Yeah?”

“Uhm… what happened to me last night? Where did you find me after I’d gotten shot?”

The color drained from his face and he shook his head. “Oh… That….”

“Yes, that. What happened… Did I wander into the wrong apartment or something?”

“No, you came into ours.”

“I thought so…” She paused but he didn’t say anything. “Well? What happened?”

“Look, it wasn’t my fault okay? You came in in a Sith trooper’s uniform and were looming over my bed. I simply reacted.”

She felt stunned, and a blank look laid itself across her face as she looked at him. “You shot me?”

The color still hadn’t returned to his face. “Yes…”

“You shot me?” She repeated, still in a bit of shock.

“Yes alright!? I didn’t mean to! Well… I.. I did but I didn’t mean to shoot you. I thought you were the Sith!”

“But you shot me.”

“Look I’m sorry alright? If I’d known it was you I wouldn’t have! How was that supposed to look? Think about it from my perspective!”

She shook her head. He has a point… if he’d wandered up to my bed dressed like a Sith I would have shot him too. Let’s face it, if he’d wandered up to my bed dressed as Carth I would have shot him. “Fine. Apology accepted… but you are going to make this up to me.”

He eyed her suspiciously, “And how, exactly, am I going to do that?”

“Don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“Nope.”

“So you are just going to lord it over me until you do know?”

“Yep.”

“That’s not fair.”

“You shot me.”

He looked furious for a moment. Then, he threw his hands into the air. “Fine, I’ll owe you one.”

“Good.”

“Fine. Can we get back to doing something important? Like finding Bastila?”

“Okay.”

“That’s going to get really old, really fast.”

“What?”

“The one word responses!” He spat, exasperatedly.

“Oh.”

“So stop it!”

“Sorry.”

“Augh!” He looked like he might rip his own hair out. A thought that brought a smile to Zira’s lips, but she decided not to say anything.

She keyed the door button to leave the facility, but a man at the reception terminal turned towards her. “Psst.” He motioned her over. “You there! Wait a minute. I need to talk to you about the rakghoul serum. I’ve got an offer for you that you might want to hear.”

The man that beckoned her was a taller man that looked like he could be Zelka’s son. He had almost identically colored mocha skin, and the same dark brown eyes. His face looked nothing like the older man’s though, as she got closer. His black hair had been buzzed short, and it framed a much more angular, sharp face. He had a solid, muscular build that also set him apart from Zelka, he had a certain shiftiness about him that made Zira a bit uncomfortable with him.

Zira raised an eyebrow and walked towards him, Carth following her. “An offer? What are you talking about?” She asked curiously.

“Zelka isn’t the only one who wants to get his hands on the rakghoul serum. Davik Kang will pay ten times what Zelka can if you can get the cure.”

Zira had heard that name before, but it didn’t register where. “Davik Kang? Who’s that?”

His dark eyes widened in surprise, “Oh, come on! Everbody knows who Davik Kang is! He’s the big boss around here. Gambling, smuggling, extortion. He’s got a piece of all the action on Taris.”

Zira was a bit stunned that a name could be that well known and not have the local authorities charging up his ion engines. “You mean Davik’s a crime lord?”

Gurney smiled in a way that seemed more like a sinister sneer to Zira, “I prefer to think of him as a role model. He started out with nothing, and now he’s got it all: credits, power, women. It’s the Tarisian dream, right?”

She resisted the urge to curl her upper lip in disgust and decided instead to inquire more about this “Davik.”

“Why does Davik want the cure so badly?”

Gurney looked around shiftily before continuing. “Davik’s interested in anything that can turn a profit. He could make a fortune selling the serum to anyone infected with the disease, not like Zelka, who’ll practically give it away.”

Something wasn’t adding up for Zira, “Why do you care who gets the cure?”

Even she could see the greed in his eyes, “Look, Zelka can’t afford to pay me much. If you sell the serum to Davik, I can probably get a finder’s fee for directing you to him.”

Zira couldn’t stand it any longer. Sounds to me like Taris would be a lot better off if this Davik wasn’t around any more…. I wonder if I can use this as an opportunity to meet with him. “Where can I find Davik if I want to give him the cure?”

Gurney offered a small laugh that Zira found particularly annoying. The laugh of a man who thought himself superior. “Davik isn’t he kind of guy you can just walk up to, you know?” He said with a tone that suggested he was speaking to a child. “He likes to keep his business at arm’s length. The best thing to do is take the rakghoul serum to Zax. He runs the Lower City bounty office, but everyone knows he also works for Davik. He’ll make it worth your while.”

Zira set her jaw for a moment. She was sure if she opened her mouth while he was talking it would’ve entailed something along the lines of “you die now.” Instead she took a long slow breath in through her nose and glared at Gurney, “What if I tell Zelka you’re helping Davik get the cure?”

His annoyingly smug grin persisted, “Hmph. I’ll just deny it. Who’s Zelka going to believe, me or some off-world stranger? Now be smart about this. You’ll get a better deal selling to Davik.”

She shook her head and turned to leave. Rather than listen to him any more she spat back at him, “I’ll keep your offer in mind.”

She only made it a few steps out the door when Carth grabbed her by the shoulder, “And then only the rich could afford the cure. Just let the poor suffer, right?”

She shot him a look that might have blasted his head from his shoulders, if she knew how to do that. She could still hear Gurney calling after her, “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!”

“Seriously Carth!?” Her glare was so hot she was sure he felt it burning into him.

“Seriously what? You’re the one who said-”

“I said it to keep him from saying anything else! I didn’t feel like listening to his backstabbing any longer!”

He shook his head, “Just drop it.”

“You shot me!”

“Are you going to bring that up every time we have an argument!? Cause if so this is going to be a long trip.”

“I don’t know. How many more times are you going to shoot me?”

“I’d like to think that I won’t.”

“Yeah, and I’d like to think we won’t be arguing enough that it’ll be an issue!”

He practically roared in frustration. “You have to be the most infuriating woman I’ve ever met!”

She was just about to report when Carth held up a hand. “Oh no you don’t, you don’t get to say shit like that and then shush me!”

He suddenly clapped his hand over her mouth and pointed towards an old man who’d been cornered by two gruff looking bounty hunters. The bounty hunters were comprised of a lanky human with shaggy black hair and an aqualish.

The human hunter spoke in a very matter-of-fact tone, “Davik says you missed your last payment.”

The aqualish garbled something in his own tongue, mostly just reinstating the human’s threat. “Davik doesn’t like you missing payments!”

The old man held up his hands defensively and stammered across his words, “Here - I’ve got fifty credits! A down payment. That should buy me some time, right?”

The human didn’t seem to care what the old man had to say, “Sorry, you’re out of time. Now it’s all or nothing. Davik can’t have people not paying his debts!”

He looked at him dumbfounded, “But I don’t have that much! How can I give you credits I don’t have?”

He shook his head in mock sympathy, “That’s too bad. Davik’s going to want to make an example of you! You’re coming with us.”

“No! Help! Somebody help! They’re going to kill me!” He screamed as the two hunters started to make a move towards him.

Carth, who was still holding Zira against him, whispered in her ear, “I know we have to be careful about drawing attention to ourselves, but are we just going to let them drag this guy of?”

The old man’s screaming had provoked the human hunter to look around, and his eyes fell upon Carth and Zira. “ Hold on a second. Looks like we got ourselves a witness here!”

The aqualish put his hand on a blaster and turned, following his partner’s gaze. “Davik doesn’t like witnesses.”

Zira drove her heel into Carth’s foot and he yelped, releasing his grip on her. “Leave this man alone or you’ll have to deal with me!” She hollered at them angrily.

The aqualish hunter started pulling his blaster, “Guess we have to teach you to mind your own business!”

The human followed suit, pulling his blaster as well. Carth and Zira both drew theirs simultaneously. They all four opened fire. The confusion of blaster fire seemed to affect them all and nobody scored a hit in the first volley. Zira dropped to one knee and seized her weapon in both hands to steady it up, and she fired a shot that took the aqualish off his feet and onto the ground. A blaster bolt sizzled over her head, narrowly missing both of them.

The human tracked Zira lower, but before he could fire another shot three more red flashes of light burned through the man and pitched his lifeless body to the permacrete.

The old man rushed over to them, exclaiming his thanks as he did.. “Thank you! I owe you my life! 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!”

Zira looked around nervously and quickly spoke, “Maybe I can help you.”

The old man didn’t seem to understand why she was looking around and he continued to try and convey his thanks. “You already helped me by saving me from those bounty hungers. So unless you have a spare one hundred credits to give me so I can pay off Davik, there’s nothing you can do.” He added in a sarcastic tone.

Zira wasted no time in pulling out the credits and shoved them into his hands, “Here’s one hundred credits. Take them.”

The grey haired man stared at her, “You’re giving me one hundred credits? Just like that? I… I don’t know what to say! Thank you! Thank you!” He said taking them.

Carth murmured behind her, “You’re giving him one hundred credits? Generous.”

He sounded disapproving, but the old man gushed as he began to finally do what Zira was waiting for, leave. “Now I can pay off Davik. You’ve saved my life! Thank you! I better take these credits to him right away!”

Zira quickly scavenged the bodies and couldn’t help but smirk. They had one hundred credits between the two of them and a frag grenade that looked to be brand new. “See, it pays to be nice sometimes. Now we’re not out anything.”

“What’s that?” Carth said an urgency in his tone.

Zira looked around and she too could ear it. There were sounds of armored boots clunking down on permacrete as they headed towards the two.

“This isn’t good, if they get suspicious about these bounty hunters they might start asking us questions that we don’t want to answer.” Carth said quickly.

“We’d better get out of here!” She stood up from the men she’d just finished looting and started to move in the same direction the old man had gone, but Carth seized her by the wrist and stopped her.

“No, they’re coming from that way too! Come on!”

He pulled her violently back towards the medical facility they’d just left. They didn’t make it far before they saw the Sith troopers. “We can’t go back into the medical facility Carth! If they follow us in there it might lead them to the Republic soldiers in those tanks!”

He stopped, his face a tangle of emotion as he seemed to be processing what to do.

Zira was just about to draw her blaster again when suddenly Carth was holding her against him, his lips pressed firmly against hers.

Her mind blurred with thoughts, none of which seemed coherent. She found her eyes had closed and she was enveloping him. A thousand thoughts hit her at once, and she struggled to make sense of them. She thought in tongues, which seemed weird in and of itself. Finally one thought stood out. We’re going to die! He has a thing for me and is expressing it before we die!

Before she could answer the question of whether or not she liked him or not she suddenly felt him being jerked away. A Sith was standing there holding Carth by the shoulder. She felt dumbstruck.

“I said hey!” the deep voice echoed inside the silver and black helmet.

Carth looked almost as shocked as Zira, “Huh?” He said finally.

The Sith pointed over to the two dead bounty hunters. “What happened.”

Carth looked over to the two dead men and his eyes went wide. He looked to Zira and he looked as though he’d just seen a ghost. “Oh my God, dear! I think those men have been shot!”

Oh my God, duh! You idiot! You shot one of them! She found that she was unable to even form words. His stupidity seemed to drain all rational thought from her mind.

The Sith eyed Zira up and down, even under his helmet she could see the motion, but she was still too appalled by Carth’s retardedness to even say anything about that.

“So you didn’t see or hear anything?”

Carth blinked and looked at the silver clad man. “How long have they been there?”

The Sith shook his head, “Look buddy… if you are going to be making out with a woman who leaves you that oblivious you better do it in doors.” He pointed to the durasteel by them. “That blaster bolt was probably three feet from hitting you.”

Carth looked at the score mark in the wall. “Wow… That’s insane! Honey are you alright!?”

Zira couldn’t believe it. There’s no way this was going to be that easy. “I… I think so.”

The Sith nudged Carth with his elbow and seemed to give an affirming nod. “Be careful. And I don’t recommend you do anything like that till you get her home, understand.”

Carth shot the man a toothy grin, “Sorry… couldn’t help myself.”

Zira watched them, stupefied.

“Come on, Dear. We should go. We’ll be in their way otherwise.”

She let him tug on her arm and take her away from the scene. She still couldn’t believe what just happened.