Star Wars
Knights of the Old Republic
The Path of an Exile
Chapter I
"Tell me more of this… group you have encountered, my apprentice," the Sith Lord spoke as he walked passed his apprentice, a cerulean skin colored twi'lek woman, garbed in black robes with a lightsaber clipped to her belt.
"They are powerful, milord," she replied smoothly. "There are nine of them in total, milord. Two are droids, an older model assassin and a utility droid. Then there is a zabrak, Jedi and a miriluka, Sith. The rest of the group is made up of humans. Four male, three of them Jedi. Two female, both Jedi. The last man is a mandalorian," the twi'lek replied.
"Eight Jedi? I hadn't realized there was such a team left in the galaxy," the Sith Lord mused. "I thought Revan had turned them all to the Sith."
"Revan was a coward, milord," the twi'lek replied. "I've studied him for months! He turned away from true power."
"I'm aware of this, my dear," he replied to her. He sighed and turned to face the window. The vast sea of stars that made up this sector's constellations glimmered outside of his flagship, The Midnight. He could see hundreds of crafts following after his ship slowly; his fleet. He chuckled slowly. "How did you find them, Violla?" Her master asked.
She stood up and began to walk towards her master. She stood beside him, admiring the fleet with him. "I recognized the ship, Master," she replied. "It was the Hawk, Revan's ship."
"The Ebon Hawk?" He was surprised, though it didn't show in his voice. "I thought it had been lost."
"Apparently it has been found, milord."
"Yes," he mused. "And Revan wasn't one of the males?"
His apprentice merely shook her head. "They're not that strong. They have little in the line of training."
"What training do they have?" He insisted.
"The leader was formally schooled in the ways of the Jedi, as far as I can tell, though he constantly speaks ill of them. He has trained all but one of them in the ways of the Force. The Miriluka was trained by the fallen Sith Lord, Nihilus."
"Visas," the Sith Lord seethed. "She is alive?"
"Yes, Master."
"Amazing. I thought she had perished along with her master."
"The leader was also trained for a time by Darth Traya, until he slew her."
"Traya? Interesting…"
"In any case, they have landed on Dantooine. The Jedi leader intends to rebuild an enclave there and begin training new students."
The Sith Lord smirked and a slight laugh escaped him. "New students? Any Force sensitive that walks in? What a fool!"
"Milord?" The twi'lek spoke questioningly.
"Send the youngest Sith apprentices we have to Dantooine, near Khoonda. That is most likely where they will scout for padawans."
"As you wish, Master," she replied as she bowed to him and then swiftly departed.
The Sith Lord looked out the window again at his armada. "You were a fool, Revan. If you think that destroying the Star Forge could stop me, you were wrong. Both you and Malak were fools! This galaxy will be mine, and you have only yourself to thank!"
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Dorian Throust surveyed the area that surrounded him. As far as he could tell, the area was dieing, devoid of life thanks to one of the last acts of Darth Traya. Three corpses littered the ground. Each one was decaying, rotting away into the earth. The robes they wore were still in good condition, as were their lightsabers, but the bodies were disgusting. It had been almost a month since the three Jedi Masters had been murdered by Kreia. The people of Khoonda had merely assumed that the Jedi had returned and had locked themselves away again.
The administrator had been shocked when she heard that the Jedi Masters had been murdered and deeply mournful when she had heard that Master Vrook had been amongst them.
Dorian turned his head around. His people stood behind him in a straight line, each one with their hands behind their backs, their attention completely focused on their leader. He looked at them all proudly. Each of them had been sad and broken people when he had met them. He had changed their lives for the better and that was a great source of joy in his life. His plans were in no way solid, but he knew that they would all follow him to the very end, even if it meant the end of their own lives.
"I have jobs for all of you," he spoke slowly as he turned around to face them completely. "Canderous." He called on the mandalorian first, knowing that his task would be the least related to the new Jedi order.
"Yeah?" Mandalore replied. He was still wearing his heavy mandalorian armor, though he held the helmet under his left arm, while his repeating blaster rifle was strapped to his back. His grey hair was neatly combed and his dark eyes shone with anticipation.
"I need you to go back to Dxun, with a message from me to Queen Talia. Then I want you to bring the mandalorians here."
"Yes sir," Canderous replied with a nod.
"The people of Onderon will not accept salvation at the hands of a mandalorian. You know that. You will have to rely on your wit to even get near Talia, despite our services to her."
Mandalore nodded again and saluted Dorian, a sign of respect and honor coming from a mandalorian.
"Atton," Dorian called next.
"I here you," he replied. He stood up straight, and watched his friend carefully. Atton was now wearing the armor traditionally worn by the students of Jal Shey, though it had been reinforced by a mesh coat underweave. His double-bladed lightsaber was strapped down to the back of his hip. The old smuggler had his hair slicked back and his blue eyes were surrounded by lines of weariness.
"Atton, you were the first one I trained to be a Jedi," Dorian said, looking back fondly on that day on Nar Shadda. "Now it's only fit that you be the first to train the new apprentices. Go to Khoonda and search out any Force-sensitive people you can."
"Alright," he replied.
"Mical," was the next one.
"Yes?" The disciple said as he stepped forward. Mical was now wearing traditional Jedi Knight robes, with a lightsaber strapped to his belt. He watched his master patiently, waiting for his assignment.
"I'm sending you to Coruscant. Find the Jedi archives and bring them here, if the Sith haven't already got them."
"I understand," Mical replied.
"Visas." The miriluka stepped forward and nodded. She had come a long way since she had first attacked Dorian several months ago. Her pale skin had been exposed to several suns, giving her thin skin color. The several injuries inflicted by her master had been healed, due to several hours of meditation with Dorian. The Sith lightsaber she had lost had been replaced with the rare weapon hanging at her belt. "Go with Canderous. I want you to scout for Force sensitive people on Onderon. Negotiate with Talia to bring them here."
"I understand," was also her response.
"Mira," he called.
The huntress stepped forward. She had abandoned the green leather and open top look soon after embracing the Force. She was now wearing the armor traditionally worn by the students of Zension Sha. A lightsaber hung from her belt, along with a small field blaster and a pouch that contained several poisonous darts that she could shoot from her wrist launcher at any time.
"Mira, I want you to go back to Nar Shadda. Find Goto, the real Goto, and finish him, and Vogga the Hutt. The Republic will take control of Nar Shadda, and its fuel supply."
"Alright," she replied. "I'll do it."
"Bao-Dur," was next.
The zabrak nodded. He, unlike the others, was not fond of the traditional robes or armor of the Jedi, due to the mobility restrictions they placed on his already limitedly useful arm. Therefore, he had designed a new type of armor, a combat suit that restricted no movement, but still managed to protect the arms and legs. The deep blue torso and grey legs were underlayered by a suit of thin mesh. His double bladed lightsaber was strapped to a holder he had designed for his leg.
"Your job is one of the easiest and hardest, but also one of the most crucial. I need you to stay here, and service HK-47 and T3-M4 in any way possible. Once they have been upgraded and repaired to the maximum level, I want you to start mass producing large numbers of combat droids, similar to HK, but without the assassin protocols."
"Sure thing, General," he replied.
Dorian smirked at the title that Bao-Dur still continued to use. Oddly enough, it was fitting. He was now Revan's general in a war that was invisible and could quite possibly be nonexistent, just like the former Sith Lord he prayed he was aiding by doing all of this.
The Jedi Exile turned at last, to Brianna, his beloved wife and partner. She had changed so much since he had met her and had gone through more than anyone should. For years, she had been hounded by her sisters, considered to be inferior and less than them. Then, Atris had told her the truth. She had learned that her mother had been a great Jedi Guardian, who had betrayed the council and gone to war. This began her yearning to learn of the Force, to become a Jedi Knight. Atris had denied her this privilege and instead, she had been forced to betray her master to follow Dorian. Though she constantly lied to herself, telling herself that she was spying on him for Atris, she had been craving the Force. Then she realized that she wanted more from him that to be his student. The news of his death had forced her to return home, so Atris would slay the Sith who had killed her beloved. Instead, she had been forced to kill all five of his sisters, and battle the woman who had been a mother to her for years. Atris would have slain her if it hadn't been for Dorian. She watched the intense battle between the Exile and the Jedi Master. Dorian had won, and spared Atris's life. In an act of defiance to all that the Jedi stood for, Dorian and Brianna had professed their love to each other, there, before the Jedi Master. Two weeks later, they were wed.
The last two weeks had had a wonderful effect on her. She no longer used the icy cold façade to shield herself from pain. Her face shone with warmth and her pale white eyes had deepened, taken on a beautiful sapphire color. Her white hair was growing rapidly. It was now cleanly cropped at her shoulders and cascaded from her head like a pearl colored waterfall. Her immaculate white robes that had belonged to her mother had finally been cleaned and repaired, and her duel bladed lightsaber was attached to her hip.
"Brianna," he spoke lovingly. "I need you to go back to Telos. I need you to find Atris and bring her here. She is the last of the pure Jedi Masters now. We need her to help us."
Brianna nodded. "Yes, my love," she replied with a smile.
"What are you going to do?" Atton asked. "You're the boss. You should do something."
Dorian smiled at him. "Indeed I should," he agreed. "I think you've all noticed that this place doesn't feel quite right." All of his friends nodded in agreement, with the exception of Canderous, who merely shrugged. "Vrook, Kavar, and Zez Kai El are still trapped here, and I need to free them from this prison. Once I have done that, I'm going to explore seven different locations throughout Dantooine that are all highly Force imbued."
"Sure, leave us with uniting planets while you go sight seeing," Canderous jeered.
Dorian smiled. "I guess," he replied, turning back to face the dead bodies. "In any case, you all know what to do. Khoonda has arranged transport for all of you. Come back as soon as you can."
They all nodded and replied in some form or another. All of them, except Brianna turned away from him and left. She walked up to him and put her hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?" She asked. "You seem… tense?"
"I'm fine," he replied, turning back to face her and taking her hand into his own. "I need to rest is all."
"Rest?" She inquired. "You know what that word means?" She teased. He smirked at her as she took her hand and took his cheek into it. "You might be powerful, Dearest, but you're not above fatigue."
"I'm aware of that," he replied in good nature.
"Let's go back to the Hawk. We'll sleep there tonight."
Dorian nodded and agreed. His young looking face was drawn with weariness, and his eyes were weak. Despite all of that, he was still rather happy at the moment. Why shouldn't he be? He may have a lot of work to do, but he had the support of his friends and his wife. That was more than enough.
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While the sun set on Dantooine, it had only just begun to rise on Coruscant. A lone figure stood just outside the great doors that sealed the Jedi Temple. There was no one within close proximity of the once magnificent building, save the droids that swept the streets. The figure, cloaked in brown, stepped up to the seal that bore the crest of the Jedi: a council chamber with a center stone in the middle. A hand slid from within the cloak and reached out to the door. A wave of Force energy broke through the seal, causing it to slowly disappear. The figure slowly walked up to the doors that led into the Jedi temple.
They opened for her on their own and she was greeted by two sentry droids, each one carrying a blaster rifle in their hands. "State your business," they said to her simultaneously.
"I have come to locate the lost Jedi archives," the woman replied.
"State your name," the droid ordered.
"My name is Lyna Tren," she spoke as she cast back her hood, revealing the face of an emerald colored twi'lek with acid colored eyes.
"Dark side detected," the droids spoke together.
Both droids raised their blaster rifles towards the twi'lek, Lyna. She quickly threw off her cloak completely, removing any restrictions on her movement. Her black robes had been cut at the arms and around the midriff to reveal more of her jade colored skin, normally causing organic opponents to lose focus. Her hand moved in a quick fluid motion to grab the cylindrical shaped weapon at her hip. A green finger barely grazed the button on her lightsaber, and a ruby colored blade appeared.
Three blaster bolts escaped the first droid's blaster. Lyna easily deflected all three, returning them to the droid and knocking it out of function. The next droid began to charge its blaster, but she leapt at it, using her lightsaber to cleave through it. The twi'lek stood triumphantly over the droids. As her lightsaber deactivated, Lyna looked on down the hallway. She had walked these halls once, so long ago. Her memory was crystal clear though. She knew the way to find her objective.
Her hand replaced the lightsaber she held with a three way radio that was tuned directly to her sisters'. "I'm in," she spoke. The radio was silent for a moment before static began to spit back at her. A voice replied to her, speaking in twi'lek, giving her a new set of orders. "It will be done, as our master commands. Lyna out."
The twi'lek slipped the radio back into her back pocket and continued forward.
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The space port of Dantooine was nearly empty, the pilots and flight attendants making up the majority of the people. Dorian was sitting up at the front desk with a manager, discussing transportation for his people. Mira, Canderous, Atton, Mical, Brianna, and Visas were all sitting at a small restaurant in the side of the space port, waiting to hear the news.
Dorian handed the woman at the table his credit stick and waited patiently. "I'm sorry sir, but you simply do not have enough credits to pay for all five of these trips, both ways," she informed him.
Dorian sighed. "Administrator Terena Adare said that these transports would be ready by now."
"I've received no word from the administrator," the woman replied, checking her computer screen.
"Then never mind," Dorian said, extending his hand.
"I'm sorry sir," the manager replied, placing his credit stick back into his hand. He pocketed the credit stick and turned away. His companions saw his frustration immediately.
"What is wrong?" Brianna asked.
"Adare never sent word ahead. We'll have to speak with her first."
They all groaned and each muttered something under their breath. "It's alright. It's not like we're in some great rush to deal with this," Dorian assured them.
"Khoonda is more than seven leagues away," Atton complained. "I don't think Candy can handle it."
"Call me that one more time Atton, I dare you," Mandalore threatened.
"Knock it off!" Dorian ordered. "All of you wait here. I'm going to go find Adare and clear this up."
Dorian turned away and started to walk towards the exit of the space port. The doors that led out of the space port opened and a red twi'lek ran into the port, bumping into Dorian as she went. "Sorry!" She called back as she ran off.
The twi'lek rounded a corner, heading towards the docking bays. When she was sure that she was out of sight, she stopped running. With a sigh, the blood skinned twi'lek walked into the docking bay and selected the nearest star ship. As she walked, she felt something tap her leg. With a glance at the ground, she looked down and saw a small creature, cloaked in what looked like a Jedi cloak. The Jedi threw off his cloak, revealing a small green alien creature with large floppy ears. He was wearing a small black robe, to fit his stature, and a short lightsaber hung from his belt. His acid colored eyes looked up at the red skinned twi'lek angrily.
"What are doing here, Yiara?" The small alien demanded.
"Edean, that would not be your business," she snapped back at him.
"But it is," he sneered back at her. "I'm the one who will slay the Jedi. The master granted me the privilege!"
"And you may have your Jedi," the twi'lek, Yiara said impatiently. "I am not after him. I care only for the exile."
"The exile?" Edean repeated. "Dorian Throust? The one who destroyed Malachor V?"
"The very same," Yiara replied with a grin.
"What makes you think he would return here?" The little alien inquired suspiciously.
"Violla found him. He's here already. As a matter of fact, his companions are sitting out in the lobby, waiting for his return."
The little alien's eyes went wide. "But that boy was trained by Revan himself!"
"Contrary to popular belief, he was not. Dorian was the personal apprentice of the Jedi Weapons Master Kavar, who has quite recently been deceased. Traya took him on after he returned from exile."
"Traya is dead!" The alien snapped. "Her apprentices killed her years ago!"
"They tried. She returned and set her new apprentice loose on them. Then he turned on her and struck her down in the core of Malachore V."
"But I've seen Traya's tomb! She was buried on Korriban, a scant hundred miles south of the academy."
"Yet her body was lost, along with the rest of the secrets of Malachor."
"It is not possible… and the master knows of this?"
"He knows every word of it," Yiara replied.
"So this man knew Traya… did he meet with Revan?"
"Not that I know of," she replied. "That's where Violla, Lyna, and I come in. We are to infiltrate their ranks and discover what they know."
"A little old to be padawans," the alien pointed out.
"But just old enough to be Sith deserters who with for redemption."
The small alien laughed at the thought. "This could work quite well for me," he said with a grin.
"And how's that?"
"I too will join this Jedi. Once he begins to publicly announce that the Jedi have returned, my enemy will come out of hiding."
"And what makes you think that the three of us will let you join us?"
"Join you as a Sith deserter? Ha! He'd never trust me as fully as I'd need. No, I will come as a Jedi Master who has finally seen the chance to rebuild the order."
"Stay out of this Edean!" Yiara ordered. "This is our mission!"
"Yes, it is our mission," he agreed, though not how she had meant it. "Inform me when Violla and Lyna arrive. My three fallen apprentices will gladly be reaccepted into the Jedi order."
The small alien plucked his lightsaber from his belt and opened the shell. The ruby red crystal inside sparkled with dark energy. He emptied the crystal out into his hand and deposited it into his pocket. Reaching into his robes, he drew out a blue crystal and inserted it into his weapon. Once it was properly install, the alien closed the shell and reattached the weapon to his belt.
After replacing his cloak, he walked out of the hallway, and into the lobby, where he quickly spotted the Jedi, despite the fact that they were currently dressed as civilians. He could sense the Force flowing through each of them, and he could feel the slight energy of their lightsaber crystals, despite the facts that the Jedi tools were hidden. He boldly made his way up to them and took a seat next to a woman who was garbed in skin tight leather pants and a rather revealing top. Her hair was a fiery blaze of red and her expression bored.
"Can we help you?" Atton asked impatiently.
"The other way around, it is," the green creature replied, throwing back his hood.
"What's that supposed to mean, you runt?" Canderous snapped.
The alien turned his eyes on the Mandalorian. "Jedi now travel with Mandalorians, do they?" He asked. "Why so?"
"Unless there's something we can do for you pall, I suggest that you-,"
"Where is the exile?" Edean asked as he scanned the room. "Recognize him amongst the humans, I do not."
"What exile?" Brianna asked casually, realizing the potential danger of someone who knew Dorian.
Edean sniffed the air in Brianna's general direction and had to work to contain a snicker. Brianna had lived in Atris's polar base for nearly all her life, thus he body had taken on a natural ice lily scent that Atris had used to perfume the base. This scent was mingled with a thicker one though, a scent that Edean recognized. So the exile was having an affair with this echani. That information could prove useful.
"The Jedi Exile," he replied. "The exile followed Revan during the Mandalorian Wars, who returned to face judgment, who has slain three great Sith Lords, and who now wishes to rebuild the great order."
"What do you care?" Mira demanded, her hand reaching under the table towards her bag where her lightsaber was hidden.
"I care because I want to see to the rebuilding of the order," Edean replied evenly.
"Who are you," Visas asked calmly, though she sensed fowl intent.
"Edean am I," he replied. "Former Jedi Master, stationed on Ord Mandel until disbanded the order was."
"A Jedi Master?" Canderous laughed. "A little short aren't you?"
Edean only glared at him. "Where is the Exile?"
"He'll be back eventually," Atton snapped. "You can wait with us if you want."
"Very well," Edean said with a grim face. "Wait with you, I shall."
The small alien took a seat beside Mira and motioned to the nearest droid for a hit of juma. He sighed angrily. Not only was he forced to put up with Jedi, but on top of that, they were blithering morons! Though, once he thought about it, it would make his task relatively easy.