Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic: Sweet Sixteen

Chapter 3 - Long Nights and Bar Fights

"Sir, is Tarisian ale really that strong?" Seth asked as he surveyed the drunken scene before him. The party had ended hours earlier, he assumed, once Sarna had placed a sloppy kiss upon Seth's cheek and collapsed to the ground along with her fellow officers after valiantly holding her own even after everyone else aside from herself and a sober Seth had passed out. The music still pulsed loudly throughout the apartment, and strobe lights reflected off the silver of a Sith uniform as Seth pulled one out of Yun's pack.

Carth shrugged. "Not if you drink it responsibly, no," he replied to Seth's question. "But these kids look fresh out of boot camp, they probably aren't the most seasoned drinkers."

Seth could agree on that point wholeheartedly. The party had exceeded any expectation that had been set during his tenure at the academy, and these Sith had cemented their organization as the harder partiers in the war. There had been a point where Yun and Sarna had sat a private down, lodged a funnel between his teeth, and poured an entire bottle down the lad's throat. The three had victoriously raised drunken hands as he guzzled the last drop, swaying and shouting and slurring their words.

Seth had done his best to avoid the craziness of the party while still blending in, and he wasn't sure if he was more surprised that he hadn't had a sip of alcohol during the course of the night or that he'd managed to evade Sarna's drunken advances for a majority of the night.

He'd called Carth the moment the woman had passed out, and was now just looking forward to a shower and a change of scenery.

The hard work had paid off, however, and Seth was giddy to see his plan come to fruition the next day as he and his superior officer slipped down into the Lower City right under the Sith's noses.

He followed Carth's lead in changing back into street clothing during the long elevator ride down to Taris' lower levels. Seth was glad to be rid of the appearance of his enemy, but Carth explained that the reasoning behind the change was to blend in better with the swoop gangs. "Who knows, they would probably shoot any member of authority, even a savage such as a Sith, on sight," the captain muttered. Seth felt conflicted for just a moment, feeling that Sarna, Yun, and the other Sith he'd met were people he'd hardly consider savages, aside from perhaps their animalistic partying habits. But he was promptly reminded of Trask's sacrifice and the massive loss of life aboard the Endar Spire and the fact that he didn't know if people like Draven or Iggy were even alive and Seth gladly shoved the Sith uniform down into the bottom of his pack.

"You don't really think the gangs are as violent as the Upper City folk make 'em sound, do you?" Seth asked skeptically. "I mean, there were plenty of gangs in the lower levels of Coruscant when I was a kid, and yeah they had some street wars and occasionally innocents would get caught in the crossfire, but they never outright shot anybody without cause."

Carth sighed. "I think that the Upper City residents could be exaggerating a bit, but you gotta remember that we're in the Outer Rim now. Taris isn't under Republic jurisdiction and so the law operates a bit differently out here. The Exchange probably holds more sway than local law enforcement, and in this case the Sith."

Seth mulled the point over in his head, but ultimately wasn't convinced. Taris' Outer Rim location had nothing on the size of Coruscant and its vast population. And Seth knew that gangsters, despite their lack of concern for the law, were not all bad. He'd learned how to fire a blaster from Coruscant's Black Suns, and how to fix up a speeder from the Sleeping Rancors. These swoop gangs were likely no different. You just had to know how to talk to them.

He wondered if Carth's past involved any run-ins with the galaxy's gang culture. It came to mind that he really didn't know much about his superior officer. So when the two came across the entrance to a Lower City cantina and the bouncer paid no mind to Seth's youth, the private offered to buy drinks. Carth gave him a disapproving look, and Seth shrugged. "Look, I promise I'll get a water or something, your drink's just on me," he said. "Consider it a victory celebration for sneaking down here right under their noses."