"I think the city echoes with a clash of cries.
Pour vinegar and oil into the selfsame bowl,
You could not say they mix in friendship, but fight on.
Thus variant sound the voices of the conquerors
And conquered, from the opposition of their fates."
—Agamemnon
Chapter One: Opposition of Fates
Connan yawned and stretched. She squinted and thought for a moment. What day is it? She took a glance at a datapad and groaned.
They'd been away from Nar Shadaa for almost a month now. After they took the detour for Donella to pick up Mical over near Coruscant (which Connan was not happy about; it took two weeks to get to Coruscant from the border of the Outer Rim, and they were pressed for time enough as it was), they were now on their way to Telos, which they would reach in a matter of hours. Her time of resting was over.
She sat up from the cot and instantly wished she hadn't. Her stomach flipped upside down, and she clutched it to keep from becoming sick. She shook her head roughly from side to side and stood up.
Maybe she'd spent too long on this ship. It was strange thinking, because she loved the Ebon Hawk almost as much as she loved the crew, but it was the only thing she could think of. Maybe she should go to Jolee to get some medicine.
Connan wandered through the ship toward the medical bay, and Jolee laughed at her condition.
"My, my, lass. You look horrible! Come sit down." The old man yanked at her arm before she could tell him not to and dragged her inside and onto a cot.
"I'm fine, really." Connan excused. "I just need something for my stomach."
Jolee blinked at her. "You're nauseous?"
Connan nodded before she decided not to. It made her stomach churn. "I'm not sure what happened. Yesterday I was fine. This morning I woke up and felt like I was going to throw up."
The old man handed Connan a few light blue pills. "Take those. If you're sick again tomorrow, tell me."
Connan nodded her thanks, downed the pills, and leapt off to go find Carth. She was in a surprisingly good mood for someone who felt like they were going to heave up whatever was in their stomach.
She felt better before she even stepped foot into the cockpit. With a contented sigh she plopped down beside Carth in the co-pilot seat and looked over at him. She caught him staring intently at her, as if she'd done something completely shocking.
It drove her crazy. Her good mood was ruined.
"Keep staring," She snapped. "I might do a trick."
Carth blinked a few times before he frowned. "Are you all right?" He asked, leaning over to place a hand on her forehead. She pulled away. "You look…. Different."
"I'm fine." She stated. "I'm just sick of doing nothing. We've been in this ship for a month now and we're just barely getting to where we need to be? We've wasted way too much time."
"Aw," Carth crooned, a silly smile forming on his face. "Someone's got cabin fever."
"I don't know what I have, but I'm extremely annoyed that I haven't been able to get rid of it."
"Well, we'll be landing in a few hours, do you want to go ahead and get clearance from Lieutenant Grenn?" Carth asked. When Connan stared at him without telling him not to, Carth presses a button on the dashboard of the Hawk. "Here you go."
They waited a few minutes while the soldiers of the Telosian Security Force located Grenn and told him he had a call.
They came face to face with Dol Grenn, still old, grumpy and wrinkly-skinned in Connan's opinion. She put on a bright smile for him and waved.
"Good morning Lieutenant!" She called. "How have you been?"
"Better, since I stopped worrying about who was going to attack Telos next," The man replied.
"Yes, we did stop that before it got too out of hand, didn't we?" Connan nodded, rubbing her chin. "Well, you know what I always say: 'make an example out of someone powerful and the lesser won't do a thing.'"
"You've never said that." Carth joined in. Connan smirked at him.
"Not to you." She replied.
"Not to sound rude, Revan," Grenn stopped to shake his head. "Or Connan, or whatever you call yourself these days, but what do you want?"
Connan crossed her arms. "Can't I call without having to want something?"
"No." Grenn replied. Connan laughed. "I don't think so, anyway. How many men is this going to cost me?"
"That's all right." She said. "We don't need men. We need space."
"Come again?"
"We're trying to get to the Polar Region of Telos, but there're two ships, so we can't land them both there. We we'll need space enough to hold one ship so we can pile everyone into the other."
Grenn sighed and rubbed his temples, like he'd been expecting something so ludicrous.
"It's not like you can't spare me the space," Connan crossed one leg over the other and leaned back into the chair. "What with my taking down Czerka and all that, I'd say you owe me."
Carth snickered at the tired look on Grenn's face.
"I suppose if I don't give it to you, you'll just take it anyway. At least this way we don't have to chase you around the planet." He shook his head and pressed a few buttons. "You have our permission to land. I've given you two landing docks, so you can land both ships and regroup in one of them. We'll watch the other."
Connan nodded, waved goodbye, and turned off the screen.
"Good. Let's start landing." She stretched. "Force, I'm hungry!"
XXXXX
After getting a quick bite to eat, Connan made a quick communication to the ship following them, the Faultless Eagle (a very fitting name, since Bao-Dur and Donella made routine runs throughout the day to check for faults, the ship was almost always completely taken care of), telling them to follow the Ebon Hawk into the Telos landing docks so they could all pile into the Faultless Eagle—because Atris would let that ship in and wouldn't suspect Connan to be on it—and head off for the polar region.
Not an hour or two later they landed in the docks.
Connan was the first off of the ship, having had more than her share of the ship for the month. She twirled around and stretched, feeling suddenly happy to be somewhere that wasn't a ship.
She heard Bastila laugh behind her and whirled around to face her.
"You're in a good mood." Her best friend observed.
"Of course I am!" Connan grinned. "After a month of just sitting around and traveling, we're finally going to get something done!"
Bastila laughed, and then her face grew serious. She tugged at her robes and stared at Connan seriously.
"Connan," She started. "Promise me you won't cause her any sort of mental trauma."
Connan cocked an eyebrow as Mission came running off of the ship. "What makes you think I would?"
"I've seen your temper before, Connan." Bastila warned. "And it's not pretty, especially when you decide to retract it and save it for later, like you seem to have done in this situation."
Connan frowned. That certainly wasn't true. She opened her mouth to retort.
"Don't say it's not true," Mission leapt up behind Connan and wrapped her arms around the Jedi's neck. Connan instinctively reached back to secure Mission in her piggyback position. The Twi'lek shrugged. "Because we all know it is. Let's face it: when you're mad you take it out on the next person who purposefully pushes one of your buttons."
"Or the next person who gets in your way." Bastila added.
"I don't see how it affects you, since you know full well I'm not going to hurt any one of you." Connan began walking around, spinning sharply. She grinned at Mission's squeak and the Twi'lek tightened her hold around Connan's neck.
"I'm going with you, and I don't want to have to stop you from killing someone." Bastila argued.
Connan watched as Carth came down the ramp after them, and she turned to Bastila.
"Dear Bastila, why would I want to kill Atris? I can't get any help from a dead body."
XXXXX
In the end they chose Donella's ship to take them to the polar region, because there were better places to hide people and Connan would need to be out of sight and cloaked from the Force if Atris was going to let them into the Academy.
Atris and Connan had never liked each other. Even when Connan was Revan, the two of them were always mudslinging at each other. Of course, because Atris was big into keeping to the Jedi Code and Connan couldn't have cared less if someone paid her, Connan won most of the scuffles they came into.
Connan pulled open the floor beneath her and dropped into the empty space below. The Faultless Eagle had many places to harbor people without anyone knowing. Before she could close it up again another body leapt down beside her and fastened the flooring into place.
Connan blinked for a few seconds before Carth lit a small flashlight that illuminated the room.
"What are you doing down here?" Connan asked him, raising an eyebrow. He pecked a small kiss to her lips and grinned.
"Atris knows you too well, we decided." Carth informed. "Wherever your old crew is, you're sure to not be that far behind. It will be safer for everyone if the rest of us are hidden, too." Before Connan could say anything else Carth wrapped his arms around her and had them situated up against the wall comfortably. "Everyone else is hidden along other floorboards, and everyone who isn't a Jedi is with a Jedi so they can be cloaked."
Connan nodded. In truth, she hadn't wanted to be alone in the small compartment anyway. She wasn't claustrophobic, but being in such small quarters in the complete darkness by herself would have irked her more than she already was.
Carth seemed to sense she was still a bit uneasy, because he wrapped his arms tighter around her, laying light kisses on her neck. Connan pulled one of his hands up and began playing with the fingers aimlessly, feeling the roughness and comparing sizes between his hand and hers.
"Do you think it was my fault?" Connan suddenly asked. Carth frowned.
"What was your fault?" He inquired.
"Anakin." Connan clarified. "Windu. The fate of the Jedi. Force, the fate of the whole damn Republic."
Carth held her tighter with his one arm, allowing her access to his other hand so she wouldn't have to look him in the face. He knew questions like this embarrassed her whenever she asked them.
"No, of course it wasn't your fault." Carth replied. He kept his voice quiet, and he spoke next to her ear. "There were factors we hadn't anticipated, like the fact that Anakin would actually fall. You did everything in your power to help the Republic through its turmoil, and it fell anyway. No one could have stopped it."
"But if I had just—"
"You wouldn't have taken things into your own hands," Carth interrupted, because he knew what she was going to ask. "We still don't know everything about this whole 'time' thing, and you wouldn't have done anything to compromise the future by interfering unless it was completely unavoidable."
"That's true," Connan snorted. "And this definitely calls for interfering."
Carth chuckled, pulling Connan as close as he could. "Of course it does."
There was silence for a few minutes, while Connan toyed with his fingers mindlessly.
"Thank you, Carth," She said after a while.
"I'm just glad you're in a better mood than you were in this morning." Carth replied. "What made you like that?"
"I wasn't feeling well this morning." Connan reluctantly admitted. She could feel Carth shift instantly beside her and she was pressed against the wall. Carth's large hands were retracted and replaced at Connan's forehead. "But Jolee gave me something for it, so I'm fine."
"Connan, you never get sick." Carth observed. "If you're feeling unwell now, it's not a good thing."
"I'm probably just anxious to get to those holocrons." Connan insisted. Carth glared at her, obviously not believing her. "Look, Jolee gave me some pills to take, and they've already taken care of it. I'm fine."
"All right…." Carth conceded. "But if you get even sicker, you come to me. Got that?"
For a moment Connan's temper flared. She did not need looking after. She opened her mouth to tell him so when she heard conversation up above them.
"Quiet." She said instead, closing her eyes and using the Force to make them practically invisible to the Handmaidens, who would surely be searching the ship for stowaways. Atris would not put herself in such danger by getting onto a ship herself.
"Brianna, so good to see you again," Donella said loudly. "I trust you are well."
Brianna—the youngest of the six handmaidens—replied with some polite answer, but Connan didn't hear it. She was too busy swearing.
Atris had reason to hate Connan. The two were horrible to each other since Connan came into the Jedi training as Revan. They spent the first fourteen years of Connan's life as a Jedi arguing and trying to get the other into trouble. The resentment between the two of them was expected.
But Brianna hated Connan for the hell of it.
At first Connan thought it was because Atris didn't like her very much. Surely the sentiments of the leader would reflect upon the servants. (Brianna hadn't been very pleased to hear Connan speculate on the subject, but for the record, the handmaiden wasn't giving any reasons of her own, so Connan was forced to make up her own.) But no, it went beyond that, even when Connan returned to convince Atris that she had in fact fallen to the Dark Side and had to block away the Handmaidens so Donella could get inside Atris' fortress, Brianna had been bitter toward the Jedi.
And if anyone would be suspicious of Donella hiding someone, it would especially be Brianna.
For good measure, Connan focused more on her Force Cloak, adding another layer. She could feel the extra layer weighing down on her shoulders and pushing her head down forcefully.
Then something happened.
An extra wave of Force Connan didn't remember passing washed over them, adding to the Cloak. It had taken Connan by surprise, and she could barely hold herself up.
Where had that come from? She hadn't lost control of her powers since the beginning of her training; Kreia had been quick to make sure she had a handle on her powers before anything could happen.
And that extra blast could have easily been dangerous. Anymore pressure added, and their necks might have snapped. She could feel the strain already.
She could only imagine what Carth was feeling.
"Connan—"
"Sorry about that. But stay still." She barely whispered. She rubbed his hand encouragingly. "I put on another layer of the Cloak. It weighs more but it lessens the chance of someone finding us."
Carth paused for a second. "You're worried about someone finding us?"
"It's Brianna up there." Connan explained. "If anyone could find us, it's her."
Before Carth could reply there were footsteps above them, and Connan pressed their bodies together, trying to lessen the space so much that they would disappear.
The footsteps stopped right above them, and Connan buried her face in Carth's shoulder, determined to calm her breathing.
"Why do I get the feeling you're hiding something?" Brianna's voice sounded up above them.
"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about." Donella replied. "You've seen all the smuggling compartments. There's nothing there. What more do you want?"
There was a pause as Brianna considered where else she could search. Connan held her breath, considering whether or not to add another layer to the Force Cloak. They were already weighted down enough as it was with the pressure, and she didn't want to put any more strain on them, but she couldn't risk Brianna finding them and the hangar doors close on them before they have a chance to get to Atris.
"Very well." Brianna moved away. "You and your crew can come aboard."
XXXXX
Connan listened for the tell-tale clank of the ramp closing to open up the floor panel and pull herself out. She looked around and held a hand down for Carth to get up as well.
They were met with the others of the crew, each one looking a little flushed.
"The droids went with Donella," Canderous informed before Bastila could take over.
"What was that?" Bastila asked as they came up to Connan. She looked a little pale. "We were doing just fine and just huge wave of Force crashed over us. Canderous and I nearly fell over."
"Juhani and I had a hard time keeping Missions from crying out." Jolee muttered, casting a mock-glare at a red-faced Mission.
"Yes, it came from me." Connan answered. "No, I don't know where it came from. I didn't mean to send out that much power. That's never happened before."
Jolee frowned, but said nothing. Bastila looked at her like she'd grown another head.
"Are you all right?" She asked. "You haven't done something like that in years."
"I'm fine." Connan clipped. "Can we send out some universal note? I am fine. Nothing is wrong with me."
Jolee laughed. "We know, lass. We're just looking out for you."
"Uh, guys?" Mission held a hand up in the air. "Shouldn't we be heading out?"
Connan took the escape that her friend gave her. Grabbing the Twi'lek by the wrist, she dragged her outside the ship and into Atris' hangar.
"Mission, get into that room over there and hack into the system. Blur all the cameras to make them see something else. The longer we have under the radar the closer we can get to Atris without much resistance." Connan ordered. Mission nodded and slinked over toward a side room.
"Everyone else, we wait for Mission's signal and storm through the hangar. Atris will probably be in the meeting room, so make your way there."
Minutes later the hangar doors opened, and Connan and the others flew through them, quickly overpowering the two Handmaidens right outside. Connan set their unconscious bodies on the ground and opened the door outside.
XXXXX
Getting to Atris was easy. There were only six Handmaidens guarding Atris, and one of them was Brianna, who Donella agreed to deal with while Connan dealt with Atris.
By the time Connan counted five downed Handmaidens, she burst through the last set of doors, her lightsabers drawn and almost touching the ground as she walked.
When the doors burst open, Atris jumped. Connan took a look at her and held back a snort. Living with the Sith holocrons as constant companions obviously hadn't been good for her. Her white-turning-grey hair was longer, and she looked a bit shrunken in, like she hadn't eaten or slept in a while. She probably didn't unless it was necessary. Her usually all-white robes were slightly wrinkled, and she looked slightly dreary.
Donella took one startled glance at the doors and made a quick jump over to Brianna, knocking her over and disabling her before she could make a move.
Atris took one loathing look at Donella before meeting Connan in the middle of the room.
"Ah, Revan. I was wondering when you were going to come running through the doors." The woman snarled. "Did you really want to die so soon?"
"Oh, I wouldn't say I'm going to die." Connan replied. "I just want to ask you some questions. The sooner you answer them and give me the things I need, the sooner we will leave."
"Hah!" Atris barked. "And what makes you think I will give you anything?" Before she could allow Connan to answer, she unsheathed her saber and attacked.
Connan dodged easily, and stuck her foot out to trip Atris. The historian Jedi hit the ground. Connan yanked Atris' lightsaber from her grip and clipped it to her own belt using the Force. She then placed a foot squarely on Artis' chest and pressed.
"Now that you've got your misguided attempts to get me out of here out of the way, why don't you just cooperate?"
"Why don't you get out before I decide to kill you?" Atris replied. Connan applied more pressure.
"I'm not going anywhere." Connan said darkly. "I'm sick of waiting. I've been through hell for about a month and a half now, and you've got the solution somewhere in here."
"I won't give you anything." Atris replied.
"Then we'll see how long it takes your chest to puncture under the pressure, and then I'll find it myself." Connan pressed harder. Atris winced.
"Stop it!" Brianna cried from Donella's grasp. "What is it you want?"
"Now that is a very good question." Connan smirked at Atris' seething look. "All I want is a simple holocron."
Atris stiffened. "I'm not giving you anything." She repeated. Connan stepped harder, and Atris let out a high-pitched noise. For good measure, Connan sent a small shock through Atris, large enough to cause her to gasp but small enough that Carth and the others couldn't catch her and reprimand her for it.
"You won't even hear what kind of holocron I want?" Connan tsked a few times. "Let's see if you can guess. It obviously has something to do with the Sith, since I'm here looking for it."
"I won't—" Atris whimpered as Connan knelt down next to her, using her foot on Atris' chest to stay balanced.
"Yes, yes, I know you won't give me anything. That's what I'm trying to change." Connan replied. "Can you guess what I'm looking for? Can you even talk right now?"
Connan really wasn't sure if Atris could breathe or not. She was turning bluish-purple, and when she opened her mouth nothing came out.
"Too late. I'm looking for a holocron about something called a Byssual." She paused and grinned smugly at Atris' widened eyes. "So you have heard of it. I'll need something about it. Do you have anything?"
Atris glared.
"Connan." Connan ignored Carth's warning tone behind her.
"Answer the question." Connan ordered.
"She can't breathe!" Brianna yelled from behind Connan.
"She won't take another breath if she doesn't just answer my question."
"Connan." Carth tried again.
"Answer the question!"
"When I get free I'll kill you!" Brianna screamed from Donella's arms. Connan turned her head. Brianna was flailing around uselessly, trying to break free. Connan smirked.
"You'll kill me? Do I look like I feel threatened by that?" Connan laughed mirthlessly before turning back to Atris. "Look, it's a simple yes-or-no question. All you have to do is nod or shake your head." Connan negotiated.
Atris stared into Connan's eyes and glowered, practically shoving her hate onto Connan before nodding.
"Great." Connan stood up, taking her foot off of Atris. The woman took a large breath before sitting up and growling.
"I hate you." Atris seethed.
"Well, that's a feeling Jedi should feel." Connan replied. "So, now that we've established that you do, in fact, have a holocron that goes in depth about the Byssual, will you please give it to me so we can get out of this creepy place you and your minions prefer to call a home?"
"Don't you already have enough information about the Byssual?" Atris asked. "Donella sent a message to me asking where I could get information about it."
"And you gave her information, which I'm grateful for. But you gave them information from the Jedi side. And since the Byssual is, indeed, a Dark Sided entity, we need a Dark Sided holocron." Connan explained.
Atris glared as fiercely as possible, but breathed a sigh at the end. "And if I give you this holocron, you will leave?"
"As soon as you put it in my hands, and as soon as I can determine that it's the one I'm looking for." Connan resheathed her lightsabers and crossed her arms.
Atris rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Let Brianna go."
Connan met Donella's eyes, and after a moment of silent communication, Connan nodded and Donella's grip loosened. Brianna ripped out of Donella's grasp and was immediately standing in front of her mistress.
"Brianna, would you please find rooms for these people?" Atris asked. Connan raised a confused eyebrow like the rest of them.
"Rooms?" She asked.
"You do realize how many holocrons I've been ordered to keep track of, don't you?" Atris sneered. "I have read them all; that is the only reason I recognized the word you used."
"So we're stuck here until you find it? How long do you think that will take?" Connan asked.
"A week, maybe two if I'm lucky." Atris stretched. "It will take me a full month to get through all of the holocrons."
"A month?" Connan gawked.
"Yes, so if you're to be staying here for a month, I must ask that you keep to yourselves. Do not disturb me or my Handmaidens unless they permit it. Since you know I will never allow you to talk to me willingly, you might as well just save your energy and leave me alone completely when we're through with this conversation."
"How do I know you'll actually work, then?"
"You may send one of your own minions in to assist, if you feel the need." Atris bowed her head once. "Now, you might want to confer this with your crews."
Connan turned to the horde of people standing near the wall. Carth and the crew of the Ebon Hawk stood on Connan's left, while Donella and her crew stood on Connan's right, but they looked back and forth at each other questioningly.
"Does anyone have any objections?" Connan asked.
"So long as I get to look around for things about that scepter we've been looking for, I don't care where we stay." Mira called out.
"I will allow you to look through the holocrons that I have been through already."
"Then it's settled." Jolee called out before anyone else could interrupt. "The lovely lass will have to make room for the Ebon Hawk in the hangar, because I'm sure Connan would not like to have her ship just hanging around doing nothing for a month."
"We will make room." Atris snapped. "Brianna, show our guests to their rooms. I will start looking for the information you want."
Atris turned and left.
XXXXX
"And these are the guest rooms." Brianna said. "Four to a room. No exceptions. Pick the ones you want."
"All right, get into pairs of four and pick rooms." Connan called. She took Carth's arm and set off to find Bastila and Mission when her other arm was grabbed.
Connan whirled around to find Brianna glowering at her savagely. "Yes?" She asked.
"If you ever grab my mistress like that again, I will rip your intestines out." She whispered. Connan smirked.
"Well, you have no worried for the time being." She replied before slipping her arm out of the grasp. She turned into a room and closed the door.
"Atris agreed to let us stay pretty quickly," Bastila observed.
"She knew I was going to keep beating her around until she agreed. It's more peaceful to just give in." Connan answered.
"I don't like how you dealt with that," Carth scolded. "You suffocated her."
"I prefer to call it persuasion." Connan shrugged, sitting down on a bed and looking around. The room really wasn't that big; just four beds, a refresher, a small kitchen and a small, round table. Connan could walk the perimeter in less than one hundred steps. "I wouldn't have killed her."
"Yes, yes, we know. 'You can't interrogate a dead body.'" Bastila drawled.
"So we're stuck here for a certain amount of time." Mission shrugged. A mischievous glint entered her eyes. "How will we amuse ourselves?"
Connan smirked. "We'll work on that tomorrow. Right now, I'm starved. Let's find something to eat."
XXXXX
I'm sorry I took so long, guys. I'm glad I got this chapter out, though. It was driving me nuts. I hope I'll be able to get them out once a week again, since I'm in a semblance of school nowadays, with band staring up again.
I don't know how many out there know things about marching band, but I've done the impossible and made Drum Major! Yay! ((claps))
Anyway, please review, and I'll see you when I update again!
PLEASE READ THIS! I changed the ending to RoTS. I didn't like how it ended and I added more to it. I'm much happier with this ending than the other one.
Amme Moto