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Author's Notes:

Tails of the Old Republic is a crossover between the Sonic the Hedgehog universe and the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic video game.

Sonic and all related IP belongs to SEGA/ Sonic Team
SW: KotOR and all related IP belongs to Lucas Arts/ Bioware Corp
No copyright or trademark infringement intended.

Series rated "Web-14" for violence, mild language, and suggestive themes.

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Lower City Taris — Flight

Miles "Tails" Prower was certainly glad to be rid of that Sith armor. Hauling around the extra twenty-five kilograms, while not overly burdensome, affected every movement he made. Considering his body had a mass of only fifty kilograms, the weight of the armor had forced him to recalculate the physics behind his every step, jump, kick, and punch. It made a decent training weight, but after carrying it in his "tailspace" all day, the adolescent Mobian didn't miss it one bit.


But, Tails' mind was preoccupied with the decisions he made in the cantina. He was still coming to terms with his bold proclamation to fight Bendak Starkiller in a death match. Why, oh why, had he said such a foolish thing? Tails had barely defeated Twitch in the dueling ring, and that was only because the arena's "energy suppression fields" had rendered Twitch's blasters nonlethal. Reflexively, the fox cradled his stomach and shoulder where the Rodian's blasters had struck. Against a superior opponent, with no proverbial safety nets to protect him, could he actually come out alive? Tails silently cursed his emotional impulsiveness.


Carth Onasi was visibly relieved that Bastila was still alive, though equally distressed by the news that the female Jedi had been captured and taken prisoner by the Black Vulkar street gang. It puzzled him how petty thugs could keep a Jedi like Bastila imprisoned, but he figured she must have been knocked out in the crash and then kept in an induced coma by the Vulkars. Regardless, both he and Tails had only twenty-six hours until the season opener of the annual swoop race here in the Lower City – their first, last, and only opportunity to actually rescue her now.


Gadon Thek's plan relied on so many variables, a single snag could derail everything. Unfortunately, neither Carth nor Tails could think of anything better. They had to hope the captured Sith security documents would get them down to the Undercity, find Mission and Zalbaar wandering somewhere down there, hope Mission could actually get them into the Vulkar base, locate and retrieve the prototype swoop bike accelerator and bring it back it the Bek base without getting killed, and finally beat the Black Vulkars in a racing contest. What could possibly go wrong?


The Hidden Beks sold medkits, food packs, and water cartridges to Carth and Tails at discounted prices, and the duo left the Bek base for the Undercity elevator. Tails offered to take point again, and Carth followed a few meters behind. According to Gadon, this corridor would lead them to the elevator after eleven kilometers. Tails groaned at the thought of walking that entire distance. The fox was far more patient than Sonic ever could be, but all this walking was boring him out of his mind. He was just so used to flying everywhere, whether inside the Tornado or under his own power.


Carth had done a commendable job in selecting boots that approximated the size and shape of Tails' feet, but the uncomfortable truth was that these boots were still designed for Human bone structure, and the fox's feet were beginning to hurt with each step. He kept quiet about it, but the urge to fly down the corridor at top speed nagged him constantly. All of the Lower City corridors were about eight meters wide and four meters high; spacious enough to accommodate either his "helicopter" or "turbojet" style flight modes, but not enough to support aerial combat, and there was no telling when he'd get shot at again. Besides, he'd be leaving Carth eating his dust, and Tails would have to wait for him at the elevator platform anyway.


The corridor they were trodding began to curve, and Tails' ears picked up the sounds of battle up ahead. Carth and Tails ducked to the inside edge of the curve, but there was nothing in the vicinity to crouch behind and hide; only the curvature of the corridor obscured them from whoever was fighting. Tails could hear blasters and even grenades shooting and exploding, and the battle was quickly advancing toward them. Carth Onasi flattened himself against the wall as much as he could, and Tails knelt down on one knee, compressing one boot against the wall in preparation for a fast takeoff. The Human had his blaster ready, and he kept one finger over the activation button for his energy shield. The noise of combat was loud now, and both Carth and Tails could hear the combatants screams and yells with chilling clarity.


Blaster fire erupted along the outside edge of the curve, and four ragged Hidden Beks emerged from the tangent, running and shooting at whoever was behind them. Two of them were hit as they ran, and they fell to the floor. Another one turned and lobbed a grenade, but he too was shot dead just as the explosive device left his fingers. The grenade detonated behind the tangent, out of view, but the truncated scream indicated somebody had bought it. Just then, six Black Vulkars burst into sight, each one aiming implements of death at the sole survivor. Tails was already seething, and he launched himself into the fray like a cannonball. Targeting the lead Vulkar, Tails dove for his legs and whipped him across his knees with his namesakes, shattering them completely. The Vulkar's legs bent backwards, and the assailant's face became a parking brake against the hard metal floor.


Tails bolted for his second victim and struck him in the gut with a flying tackle, and they tumbled to the floor. The moment he could break free, Tails jumped away, but not before wrapping his tails around the Vulkar's arms. As soon as the boy landed, he gripped the floor as best he could and flung the hapless goon into his nearest comrade like as improvised cudgel. Both of them crashed together and tumbled like cracked bowling pins. The three standing Vulkars realized just what was going on, and trained their weapons on the orange blur within their midst. Tails bucked to the right and evaded the trio of blaster pulses, and the fox dashed for the nearest one. Entwining both his tails around the Vulkar's right arm, Tails wrenched it hard over the Vulkar's shoulder, audibly popping the limb out of joint and crushing his arm bones. The adolescent Mobian then jumped up and kicked the thug in the head, and he went sprawling.


As he landed again, Tails' headset emitted an alarm, and Tails looked up two see two blasters aimed for his chest. His attackers were ten feet away, but the fox knew he had no chance for evasion this time. Barricading his body behind his Chaos-hardened appendages, Tails could only hope his organic shields held under the coming assault. Two blaster bolts immediately struck his tails, and Tails yelped as his defenses frazzled and the fire burned into his flesh. The pain shot up his spine to the base of his skull, but Tails kicked the floor and twisted away before the second volley could kill him. The Vulkars tracked him, but the Mobian again contorted his body out of their line of fire and jumped away.


"Hey, idiots!" Tails shouted.


The two Vulkars aimed for him one last time, but never got to shoot. Both of them screamed as blaster bolts boiled through their backs and soot and sparks sprayed out the front of their torsos. Carth and the other survivor had shot them dead. After checking to ensure the corridor was clear of hostiles, they rushed to Tails' side, who was now propping himself up against the wall as he gasped for air.


"Thank you! Thank you both for saving me!" the surviving Hidden Bek exclaimed. He was a young Human male; Tails estimated he was barely into his twenties. "I thought I was doomed for sure!"


Tails was too busy panting to reply properly, but he gave him a thumbs-up.


"You're welcome," Carth said.


The young Human clutched the side of his head, and said in a broken voice, "More than fifteen of my friends just got creamed in the last ten minutes. The Vulkars have never attacked so close to our base! Those scum rushed our outpost and overwhelmed our position, forcing us to retreat. If Gadon... if Gadon doesn't do something soon, Brejik's forces are going to overrun us all!"


Tails frowned; he didn't know what to say.


"I... I-I'd better get over to the Bek base!" the young man stammered. "T-Thank you again!"


The man took off, and Carth Onasi turned his attention to his companion.


"Are you all right?" he asked.


Tails lifted up his newly injured tail and cradled it in his arms. Two scorched blotches had been burned into it, these ones deeper and wider than the single burn on his other tail. Tails breathed through his teeth, the pain reminding him he was not immortal.


"I'll heal... in time," Tails rasped.


"You need treatment," said Carth.


"I won't disagree with you."


Carth retrieved one of the medkits they had bought earlier and gave it to Tails. The teenager applied some kind of healing gel to his wounds and bandaged his tails, while Carth kept watch in case one on the KOed Vulkars decided to wake up and attack again.


"Do you always throw yourself into harm's way?" Carth asked.


"It was a calculated risk. I saved that guy, didn't I?"


"That isn't what I asked you."


Tails sighed, and said, "Depends. I saw a life worth saving, and I played the odds that I wouldn't get killed in the crossfire."


"You could have just, you know, shot them. I didn't give you that blaster for a hip ornament."


"If I truly feel I need it, then I'll use it. If you haven't noticed, I'm trying to not kill people."


Carth grumbled to himself, and Tails finished patching himself up. His injuries weren't nearly as severe as the lightsaber strike he had parried, but his tails still smarted intensely. Between the healing gel and his nanites' own repair protocols, Tails estimated his burns would be healed within the next several hours.


The Human and the Mobian proceeded with their journey, and witnessed the carnage ahead of them. Beyond the curved section of the corridor, the whole passageway was a smoldering wreck. The walls, floor, and ceiling were pocked with blaster damage, and entire sections were bombed out from grenade blasts. Support struts hung down into the corridor at several places, as did many electrical cables. The narrow rectangular light fixtures in the walls and ceiling flickered, creating a strobe effect that harassed Tails' vision. And, scattered on the floor were the remains of nearly three dozen people. Tails averted his eyes; the psychological trauma alone gave him an overwhelming urge to vomit, but he fought it back down.


After a kilometer, the corridor cleared up, and Carth and Tails were able to continue unhindered. Fortunately, the next several kilometers proved to be uneventful. Tails' nerves were badly frayed by the day's events, and he struggled to keep his emotions contained. He tried hard not to think about what transpired, but the fox couldn't help it. He had spent the last decade of his life fighting alongside Sonic against Doctor Robotnik's tyranny, and he had personally witnessed countless people die fighting the madman's mechanical armies. But never had he seen groups of people so eagerly and so callously maim, kill, and destroy other lives for political or territorial gain.  


Tails knew there were lawless areas of Mobius where Robotnik's forces had withdrawn, and he knew other high-profile Mobians like Fang, Bean, Ixus Naugus, Mammoth Mogul, and various Overlander tribes had few to no compunctions about killing people to achieve their own pursuits. Tails knew how to use lethal force, and has used lethal force, but every time he did it felt like a chunk of his soul had perished. The adolescent feared his actions aboard the Endar Spire would forever haunt him.


In their final two kilometers to the Undercity elevator, Carth and Tails encountered a breeze, and it didn't have the odd odor from the Lower City ventilation systems. In fact, it smelled like... fresh air? The corridor curved again, and they both saw the right wall open up as a long open window. After inspecting their surroundings, they both walked to the window. Fresh air streamed inside.

"Is this some kind of air shaft?" Tails asked to no one in particular.


It was obviously night, and thick fog obscured their vision, but both Carth and Tails peered into the open space.


"I can't see a thing," Carth commented.


"Hang on a sec," said Tails.


He turned on the miniature camera on his headset, and the holographic eyepiece activated. Tails switched to infrared view, and now he could see through the mist. Looking up, down, and around, Tails said, "Yeah, it's some kind of air shaft; must be part of the ventilation system here. It's a big rectangle, about five hundred meters across and five kilometers long. Looks like this 'window' stretches down the entire length. I can't see the top of the Lower City, but I can definitely see the ground from here. And here I thought we were underground already. I'd say we're about a hundred stories above actual dirt."


Carth grunted and looked back inside the corridor; while interesting, the air shaft was little more than a distraction, and they couldn't afford to have some Vulkar sneak up on them. Tails continued looking outside.


"Hey, I see a hole!" Tails said, and he pointed downward and to the left.


Carth slowly whirled back around and tried to see where Tails was pointing, but it was too dark to see.


"What kind of hole?"


"It must be where an escape pod punched through!" Tails answered. "About thirty meters above ground level, there's a big ragged hole in the building at the far end. It must have come down hot; I'd estimate it punched through at a sixty degree angle. I sure hope those pods have good seat belts and some advanced air bags!"


"Come on, we're nearly to the elevator," Carth said.


Tails considered spinning up his tails and just flying down there and through the breach. Despite his weight, Carth Onasi wouldn't be too hard to carry. But, as soon as he thought of it, he squelched the idea. Tails had no idea what might be waiting for them down there, and Tails couldn't do aerial gymnastics with a passenger. There could be a platoon of Sith soldiers, a horde of hostile gang members, or even a swarm of those "rakghoul" monsters Zelka Forn had described. And the fox knew just how much ordinary people freaked out when they saw him fly for the first time. No... taking the elevator was the most sensible plan. Or was it?


Just then, Carth and Tails heard someone pounding on a metal door. They both turned, and about ten meters down the corridor, a lone Human male with a smug expression stood in front of the entrance to one of the Lower City apartment blocks. The door opened, and two wrinkle-skinned Vulkars strolled through.


"What do you want?" the Vulkars demanded.


The Human's smirk never left his face. "You guys are behind on your payments," he said. "What, you think that just because you're in some gang you don't have to give Davik his cut?"


The Vulkar on the left spoke first, angrily demanding, "We don't see Davik doing anything for his share! We do all the work. Davik claims he's part of the Exchange, so let's see him prove it!"


"Yeah," said the second Vulkar, "let's see the big crime lord Davik come get his money from the Black Vulkars himself!"


They both brandished their weapons, pointing them at the strangely smug Human.


'Uh-oh', thought Tails.


"Ah, so you want to do things the hard way, huh?" said the Human. "OK, then!"


He let out a sharp whistle, and a burly man approached them. He wore a black shirt, black boots, a red plated vest, and white slacks, and he carried a very big gun.


The Vulkar's voice jumped an octave as he sputtered, "Oh, hi Canderous. We, uhh, didn't know you were working for D-Davik now! Uh, yeah, uhh... we were just goofin' around here. We don't want no trouble with a Mandalorian! H-Here's Davik's cut!"


"I knew you boys would see reason. Now scram!"


The two Vulkars just about tripped over themselves in transferring the money and returning to the apartment block.


'Who is this guy?' Tails asked himself. 'He just scared the cruft out of those Vulkars, and he didn't even raise his weapon! He looks like a Human, but... different, somehow.'


"Too bad," said the burly man. "And I was looking forward to cracking some heads."


"Maybe next time, Canderous," said the smaller Human. "I'll get this to Davik, and I'll call you when anyone else get's behind on their payments."


"Whatever."


The smaller Human left, leaving the burly man grumbling to himself. Tails noticed that his military-cut cranial hair was graying. Was he old, or something? Tails' self-preservation instincts were running on high; and yet, the fox's innate curiosity was overriding his fear of the man. Cautiously, Tails stepped out and slowly walked torward the man.


"Tails!" Carth hissed, and he made a grab for the fox's arm, but was too late.


The two-meter-tall burly man noticed the Mobian's approach. "Who the fuzzy hell are you?" he said in a gruff, gravelly voice.


"Um, hi," Tails replied, trying not to look or sound nervous. "That was really impressive how you dealt with those gang members."


The man snorted, and said, "Those Vulkars are dumber than a Coruscant granite slug. They actually think that being in that pathetic little gang of theirs makes them important. But in reality, their all sniveling cowards. Gadon keeps his 'Hidden Beks' in line, but Brejik is getting dreams of grandeur. If Davik's smart, he'll smack that young punk back down."


Tails felt uneasy talking to an active agent of Davik. Still, he felt it would be best to diffuse (or identify) any potential conflicts now rather than later.


"My name's Tails," said the fox. "Who are you?"


The man's patience had rapidly depleted, and he replied, "I'm someone you don't want to get on the bad side of. And I'm not one for small talk. I'm not sticking around here, anyway. Davik's got me working on a 'special assignment'."


Tails backed away, and the burly man called "Canderous" started walking down the corridor in the direction Carth and Tails had come.


Tails turned around, and found Carth Onasi glaring at him.


"Did it ever occur to you that we might not want everyone knowing about us?" he said.


"Well... curiosity hasn't killed this fox. Not yet, at least. It's come close, though."


Carth groaned and covered his face with his hand. "You're very exasperating, you know that?"


Changing the subject, Tails asked, "Hey Carth, what species did that big man belong to?"


"Uh, Human, I think. But he was definitely a Mandalorian."


"What's a Mandalorian?" Tails inquired.


"You've got to be kidding me. Hello, the Mandalorian War?"


"Head injury," Tails feinted.


Carth sighed and said, "Basically, the Mandalorians are a multi-species warrior 'race' that live to fight and conquer. Very brutal. Species makes no difference to them, they're all united by their common code. Much like the Jedi or Sith, but with different philosophies. They practically deify combat. They declared war against the Republic several years ago, but we managed to defeat them. Unfortunately, the war weakened us so much, the Sith were able invade and roll right over us."


"Oh... OK."


Tails thought for a moment, then started walking back to the open window.


"Mister Prower, what are you doing?" Carth sighed. "Come on, we need to keep going."


Tails didn't answer, and he hopped onto the window sill and peered over the ledge.


"Hey! Just what the heck do you think you're doing? This isn't a time to play games!"


The Mobian fox didn't have a ready answer, so he couldn't give one. Tails was contemplating their options. He didn't feel like walking another two kilometers to the elevator, and his tails were already feeling much better. Morphing his tails into propellers would destroy the bandages, but he figured he was already healed enough. Still on the window sill, Tails carefully turned around and looked down at Carth.


"You haven't seen me fly yet, have you?" the fox asked.


"'Fly'? What do you mean by 'fly'? We don't have anything to fly with! We need to get the elevator to the Undercity!"


Miles Prower gave Carth a toothy grin. "Forget the elevator. I'll fly us both down through hole the escape pod crashed through. It'll be much faster!"


Carth stared blankly at the fox for a moment. Then, the irritation he was feeling toward his in-subordinate manifested into a snarl on his face.


"What. Are you out of your furry frickin' mind?! Your head got bashed bad in the crash, but I didn't think you'd gone soft in the head! Now, come down here before I'm tempted to wring that skinny little neck of yours!"


Tails sighed. "I guess my only option is to just show you," he said. "Promise me you won't freak out too badly, OK?"


"Mister Prower, this is the last time I—"


The fox back-flipped off the ledge.


"TAILS!!"


Carth rushed to the open window and peered over the edge, searching for any sign of his companion. The Human couldn't see anything through the fog, and there was no sound other than a downward breeze. Emotions of anger, sadness, and pity flooded the man's mind.


"I'm not dead, Carth."


The sound of Tails' voice struck Carth like a sledgehammer. He looked up and saw an orange-furred fox floating freely in midair, grinning from ear to ear, his body parallel to the ground. Tails' expression was the epitome of smug teenage arrogance, and he even had his arms folded across his chest. Carth's brain nearly broke trying to figure out how he was floating in the air like that. Then he looked up a little higher, and saw the fox's twin tails spinning rapidly in a cone-shaped double-helix above him, forcing air down fast enough to keep himself aloft.


"What. The. Hell."


Tails descended a few feet so he was eye-level with the Human and drifted to the window's edge. As he did so, he tightened the spin of his namesakes so he wouldn't whack the exterior wall with them, making a much narrower cone.


"Um... hi," said Tails. "What, you didn't think I was loony, did you? I did tell you I could use my tails as propellers, though I didn't exactly have time to elaborate. Sorry for the shock, but I just—"


Carth Onasi punched him square on his wet black nose.


"OW!"


Tails recoiled from the strike, drifting away from the window slightly, and he cradled his face with his hands. He whimpered slightly, and a brief trickle of blood oozed from his nostrils onto his gloves.


"OK... I totally deserved that," Tails admitted.


"Damn right, you did!"