A/N: This story originally reached ten chapters last year. However, due to creative difficulties, we decided to take it down and start again from scratch, so hoepfully, it will be better this time. So, Darth Hunter, Green Dragon, Lady Xianghua, Red Mage Neko and Slave 1 present KotOR II1/2-take two!
Along time ago in a galaxy far, far away...
STAR WARS
KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC III
LIGHT AND DARK UNITED
It is one year after the destruction of Malachor V due to the efforts of the EXILE. The Republic has found a small measure of peace due to the efforts
of the newly reorganized Jedi Council lead by BASTILA SHAN.
Little do they know that on the edges of known space lurks the True Sith Empire. The Grand Lord Marshal ruler of the Empire seeks to capture Bastila and the Jedi Order in order to strike back against the rebel leader in his own territory. JEDI REVAN.
On the remote planet of THULE, a lone Jedi Knight explores the borders of an ancient Sith city. Hoping to find Intel about the other Sith, who are also rebuilding, he remains blissfully unaware of the approaching threat...
Thule. A planet located in the Thurra system. By no measure has it ever been an attractive planet. Rocky. Course. Constantly plagued by lightning. As one might imagine, it was not a frequent tourist spot. A deserted place such as this is perfect to house those who do not wish to be found. Those such as the Sith. Still recovering from the blow left when Revan killed Darth Malak, their leader, the Sith have slowly begun to rebuild. Of course, to do so takes time. And it would be difficult if they were hounded by the Jedi Knights. So, their return is being carried out in secret. Away from prying eyes. However, even the masters of shadows cannot stay hidden forever.
The Jedi have had sightings of Sith ships for some time now. Something which is beginning to become unsettling. Therefore, a plan was crafted. At the next sighting of a Sith ship, the council sent a Jedi Knight, Keyan Kenobi, to follow it in his own ship, the Green Dragon, towards Thule.
Having touched down on the planet's surface, Keyan pushed his blonde hair out of his eyes nervously, trying to get it back into its parting. As thrilled as he was with the return of the Jedi Order, he had to admit, he had enjoyed the slightly more peaceful times when he had while the Order was underground. Yet here he was. First assignment since the Order had been re-established and he had to sneak into a Sith base alone. Still, it was nice to have a break from Artorus.
As he climbed up a ledge, a sound of falling stones from behind caught his attention.
"Ooooh, this is gonna be so much fun, I haven't killed a Jedi in ages!" Keyan whipped around to see a tall man, standing at the bottom of the ledge. He was surrounded by a few dozen Sith troopers. The man looked up at him through steely grey eyes. He ran a hand lazily through his black spikey hair. He seemed to be wearing Sith robes, though it was difficult to tell, considering he was armed to the teeth.
"So, Jedi." the man spoke, removing what looked like a metal staff from his back. "Why the beard? Must make picking girls up difficult." Keyan scratched his beard somewhat self consciously. "S'matter? Kath hound got your tongue?"
"No." Keyan replied. "It's just I know I'm supposed to come up with a witty comeback, but I'm having trouble thinking of one." The Sith grinned and signal the troops to stand back. He pressed a button on his staff and a silver lightsaber blade emitted, but from the top, towards the side, giving it the resemblance of a scythe. Keyan's blue eyes widened in surprise. The Sith chuckled.
"It always cracks me up when someone gets that look." With that, he leapt at Keyan. In a flash, Keyan's lightsabers leapt into his hands, guided by the Force. Twin flames of forest green sparked forth and met the silver blade in mid air. The Sith merely smiled. Forcing Keyan sabers away, he sank his hand into the Jedi's stomach. Winded, Keyan staggered back. It hurt a lot more than it should have. Then he realised. The man's left arm was a prosthetic. Before he had a chance to think, that same fist connected with his jaw, sending him flying back into a nearby rock.
"I hate prosthetic limbs." was his last thought before he blacked out. The Sith took out a commlink and activated it.
"Sangha." he spoke into it. "We've found the person who was following us. A Jedi. Shall I kill him?" A soft feminine voice crackled through the comm.
"Not yet Neko."
"But he knows we're here!"
"Well he won't be telling any of his Jedi friends from inside our holding cells, will he? Besides, you can't interrogate a corpse. Bring him to me."
"Right away." Neko switched off the comm and look to the commanding Sith troop. "Take him to the speeder." He paused and glanced at the Green Dragon. "Bring that too. Nice ship."
"I still think you should've let me kill him." Neko was saying, as Keyan slowly came to. He was being propped up by two Sith troopers. His hands were cuffed and he could feel the cold metal of a neural disruptor laced around his neck. He looked around to see he was in some sort of large hall. Before him, Neko was talking to a dark blue skinned Twi'lek woman. It took several repitions of the Jedi code to distract him from her revealing Sith robes.
"Well I suppose that's why I'm in charge and you're just my lackey." she was saying. All of a sudden, her voice took an angrier turn. "If we kill him now, we won't find out just how much the Jedi know about us, you imbecile!" Her voice grew soft again, yet still menacingy. "You're damned lucky you contacted me before you did anything stupid. I'd have hated to start my day by ripping some teeth out." Keyan shuddered, though tried not to show it.
"Oh come on boss." Neko said, trying to make light of the matter. "He's here now, he's alive. You're already to go and make him squeal." The Twi'lek turned away, examing her fingernails idly.
"Assuming you didn't break his jaw, yes." she suddenly turned back with a lazy, seductive smile. "Now, be a dear and go and check on the latest shipment will you?" Neko perked up immediately.
"Right away!" And with that, the Sith Marauder headed away. The Twi'lek chuckled to herself for a moment. She then turned to Keyan, with a grin than sent shivers up his spine.
"So Jedi." she whispered. Why don't we go and make you comfortable in the holding cells?" Keyan swallowed hard.
"Um...I'm perfectly comfortable right here..." The Twi'lek laughed gently.
"Oh but Jedi." she said, signalling to the troops. One of them hit Keyan hard in the back of the head. As everything started to go black, he heard one last sentence. "I insist."
Beep… Beep… Beep…
Twitch.
…
Relieved sigh.
Beep.
Thud.
'… It must be time. Must be by now…'
A barely audible click was heard within the Green Dragon's storage chamber closely followed by a low hiss as part of the interior wall came away. Suddenly a figure clad in black toppled out of the small hidden compartment and hit the floor with a dull thump. The girl staggered to her feet and, pushed her short brown bangs away from her eyes so she could rub the bruise that was bound to be forming on her forehead.
'Must the Force taunt me at every turn?' She thought dismally. Letting out a short frustrated sigh she rolled her shoulders back, straightened her back, in an attempt to salvage her remaining dignity, and proceeded to sneak out of the room.
Before tripping over her hydrospanner, causing her to fall, curse and storm out the room while wondering why now of all times did the Force have to answer her.
She reached the cockpit without further incident and sat down in the pilot's seat before running a quick diagnostic on the ships systems. She was pleased to find that the Sith didn't have enough time to disable any of the ships systems, that would make the task of leaving the base that much simpler. A quick flash of light outside the ship managed to catch her interest and as her amber eyes flickered upwards she was met with a rather disheartening sight. Well beside the fact that she was currently within a Sith base- Sith bases were never very aesthetically pleasing after all.
There was a large energy field surrounding the Green Dragon- preventing anyone from entering or exiting the ship.
'Damn.' The girl thought. 'That definitely makes things difficult…'
With a frown Neko looked at the shipment of crates and various other containers. When he had first found out that the simple shipment that Sangha had asked him to check out was as simple as trying to teach a fully grown rancor to play fetch, he had let out a few choice curse words and kicked a few random people. The shipment of crates that had come in the past few days in actuality rivalled the size of said rancor and the Sith could think of better ways to spend his time. However he doubted that thinking of Sangha would have helped.
He had finished checking off the various supplies from the shipment but with each passing second he grew more and more irritated. After all, his skills as a Sith came from his ability to beat most opponents he met into oblivion not from his observation skills and ticking boxes. There was a prisoner Jedi here and, Force be damned, Neko wanted a crack at him. It was only a few minutes before the Sith Marauder lost it.
"Why the hell am I here?! This isn't what I signed up for, damn it! And why is this extra box here?! It's ruining everything!" He yelled before flinging the clipboard at a random trooper and storming out of the hanger.
…The trooper didn't duck.
He didn't know where he was going but anywhere was better than being stuck in that hanger with all those damn boxes. So furious he was over the situation that he didn't notice the person in front of him until it was too late. With a grunt, Neko staggered backwards as a wall of air slammed into him. He managed to keep his footing long enough until the Force ebbed away and with a growl he ignited his lightscythe. The silver glow from his weapon revealed a cloaked figure whose face was obscured by their hood.
"You'll pay for that!" The Marauder hissed before getting ready to charge. The figure in front of him merely titled his head towards the lightscythe.
"Neko Vendis?" The cloaked man questioned in a deep, heavily accented tone and Neko eyed the man suspiciously. The man's voice seemed a bit too practiced for his liking. It was the low, gravelly menacing voice cliché and really, who actually speaks like that? Then it hit him.
"…You're one of those Jedi, aren't you? You've come back to get back your weakling of a friend, well forget it. You'll be joining him soon enough!" Neko hissed and lunged at the man, ready to slice his head off. Then another wave of Force propelled air hit him, stronger than the first and Neko found that he couldn't close the distance between him and the cloak guy. He just shook his head as Neko struggled through the air barrier.
"I am no Jedi. I am the Sith Lord that was required here." The man stated. Upon hearing this Neko stopped struggling and glared at the man.
"Well, why didn't you say so?!" He hollered before turning his lightscythe off. "You were supposed to meet with Darth Sangha when you arrived." The Marauder then muttered before turning and storming off in the original direction he was intended to go in. He didn't have time to deal with this.
Just after he had gotten a few corridors away from the Sith Lord, he managed to finally reach his quarters. Just as he was opening the door, a Sith trooper stumbled around the corner. When Neko saw the trooper, he began beating his head against the door a few times before giving the trooper his attention.
"What?" The Marauder growled impatiently and the trooper flinched when he noticed Neko's worse than usual temper.
"There's an important transmission and we need Sangha to take it, sir."
"Then why are you telling me that idiot?!" The Sith snapped.
"Well because she's interrogating that Jedi and she didn't want to be disturbed…s-sir."
"…Right." Neko said with a restrained sigh and wandered off in the direction of the interrogation room.
'…Today sucks.'
Being knocked unconscious was never a pleasant experience, though at this precise moment Keyan wished that he had another few hours before he had came to. He had woken up to the feeling of metal cuffs biting hard into his wrists and ankles while his bare back had been raw from being rubbed against the vertical stone tablet that he was currently bound onto. He suppressed the urge to shiver as his exposed skin quickly began to cool to a temperature closer to that of the room than what it should be.
As his vision began to clear he took in the sight before him with a grimace. The room was dark, filled with various cages and torture devices- some of which hadn't been cleared of their previous occupant. Keyan immediately snapped his eyes shut and mentally repeated the code in his head as he tried to ignore the decaying coppery scent that was beginning to fill his lungs.
He knew he had to remain calm and focused, he was to withstand the Sith torture until help arrived, gather some Intel and escape. It was a risky but necessary mission, one that they had put much planning and effort into making it as simple as possible.
But if it was supposed to be a simple mission, then why did he feel so anxious?
He didn't know. Perhaps it was the Force warning him, yet that would mean things would probably get worse. He hated it when things got worse.
The scrape of the stone door startled Keyan out of his daze and he inclined his head towards the door out of habit to see whoever had entered. It had unnerved him that he hadn't been able to sense the Sith presence until now to say the least but all the gears in his head came to a complete halt when he realised just who had walked in.
It was the female Twi'lek Sith from before. Sangha, he had heard the dark haired beard-hating Sith call her. Somehow he just knew that this torture wasn't going to be easy to endure.
As Sangha walked into the torture champers, she couldn't help but let her head tails twitch from excitement. After all it wasn't often that she got to play with a Jedi and it was just her luck that it happened to be a male, young one too. Males, after all, were much easier to break especially when it came to using her unique talents.
Her eyes sought out the form of her Jedi prisoner in the darkened room and upon realising that said Jedi was conscious she let a smirk creep onto her face. Casually she sauntered over to the stone tablet, where the prisoner was bound, at a slow pace while deliberately swaying her hips in a sensuous manner. The whole time she kept her eyes firmly trained on the Jedi- mentally taking a note of his reactions. There had been a delay between when she knew he had noticed her intentions and when he had averted his eyes to the ceiling.
'Perfect.' She thought resisting the urge to smirk again while she was in the Jedi's sight. 'He resists, yet a small part of him doesn't. This one will take time to break, but I wouldn't have it any other way.' As she stopped in front of her prisoner she crossed her arms while clearing her throat slightly to catch the male's attention.
"Having fun?" Sangha asked the Jedi innocently when his expressive ice blue eyes met her scheming grey ones.
"Not really." He said tersely. "This neural disruptor could do with a bit of loosening."
The Sith Assassin let a small smile grace her lips before closing the small distance between her and her prisoner, letting her dark robes brush against his bare skin while resting her cool hands on his shoulders.
"Poor little Jedi. Looks like you've been dealt a bad hand." She whispered into the man's ear and he visibly flinched as her warm breath teased the sensitive flesh. Having got the reaction she had wanted, Sangha then licked her lips and continued in a more seductive tone as her lekku entwined themselves around his neck. "But don't worry. If you're lucky, maybe I'll let you come out on top…"
Keyan gulped and averted his gaze away from Sangha as he prepared for the worst. He didn't know what this Sith was planning but already he knew it couldn't be good for him. Sangha smirked before snatching his chin and forcing him to make eye contact. She was about to say something when she was interrupted by the noise of Neko lifting the door to the interrogation room up with his prosthetic arm and stumbling into the room.
She shot the Marauder a look that clearly said that he had interrupted something important and that he was going to pay for it later and he just grinned sheepishly.
"… The door was taking too long to open." He offered in a way of explanation and Sangha resisted the urge to throw one of the nearby torture instruments at him with the Force.
It had only taken fifteen minutes for the girl hiding on board the Green Dragon to work out that it was virtually impossible to deactivate the energy field from the inside without triggering something nasty. It had taken a further ten minutes of plotting and scheming before she devised the perfect plan for her to escape through the field and get into the Sith base without being discovered.
Then after two minutes of mentally gloating over her own genius, she got to work.
With haste she removed a panel from the cockpit walls revealing a complex array of circuitry. The girl gave the wires a quick glance before she started gathering the ones that she knew controlled the ship's docking stabilizers into her gloved hands. She took a deep breath before pulling a minuscule amount of the Force into her hand and expelling it out her hand and into the wires. It had the desired effect. A surge of electricity flashed through the wires and the controls in the cockpit starting ringing an alarm. Knowing she had little time left before her plan came into action she immediately got to her feet, grabbed the panel that was supposed to cover the circuitry and made for the storage chamber while dragging the panel behind her.
Just then the Green Dragon gave a jolt before the supporting legs of the ship gave way and the underside of the ship crashed into the floor of the Sith hanger with a large crash.
'Oh man, Keyan is going to be so mad about this…' The Jedi thought as she hid herself behind a nearby container and waited for the Sith to show up.
"Neko." She growled. "I thought I told you no interruptions-
"-Unless it was important, I know!" Neko said hurriedly.
"…Well?" The Twi'lek asked impatiently as she reluctantly detached herself from the Jedi and crossed her arms. She hated it when her torture sessions were interrupted. It gave them time to recover and an insight into her interrogation methods.
"There's a transmission for you." He stated while resisting the urge to grate his teeth together. He couldn't even remember why he agreed to deliver the message. He didn't want to bare the brunt of Sangha's rage. He wasn't her punching bag but if had sent another Sith to do it she would have probably killed them before they even got to deliver the message.
"…That's it?" She said as her left eye took on a twitch. Neko instantly noticed the twitch and backed away into the doorway slightly knowing all too well that when Sangha got angry he didn't want to be within striking range.
"It's an important transmission!" Neko said indignantly. Upon hearing this Sangha's face immediately darkened and she strolled towards Neko.
"For your sake, it better be." Sangha hissed in his ear before exiting the room leaving Neko dumbstruck at the lingering promise of pain. What has he done to deserve that?
"…Well crap." He muttered before strolling over to the Jedi with a sadistic grin on his face. "Hey Jedi, you ruined my day. So now I'm going to ruin yours."
"I'd say it was already ruined but-"
"Shut up!" Neko hissed before backhanding Keyan. "You're going to sit there and be tortured and you're not going to like it!" He said as he picked up the nearest torture instrument while Keyan wished he could rub his now tender face.
"W-What's that do?" The Jedi asked hesitantly.
"Hell if I know but there's only one way to find out." Neko said with a shrug as he activated the device causing the object so screech before it started spinning at an alarming speed. Keyan grew increasingly nervous as the object neared him.
"Isn't the point of an interrogation to ask your prisoners questions before you torture them?" He said hastily while all the time trying to sink into the stone tablet behind him.
"Who said I was interrogating you? This, my friend, is stress relief." Neko said with a smirk as he lowered the device dangerously close to Keyan's torso. Keyan snapped his eyes and braced himself for the impending pain. Just as the Sith was about to cut into the skin and the trooper from earlier all but rushed into the room. Neko shot the man a glare but before he could get a word in the trooper hurriedly started speaking.
"Sir, there's been a major malfunction with the Jedi's ship-"
"What?!" Both Keyan and Neko shouted in unison, the latter in surprise and the former in despair.
"We don't know what happened, sir."
"How can you not know? Didn't you even bother to send some technicians to check what caused it?" Neko asked disbelievingly. God, he knew the average Sith grunt was stupid but this was ridiculous.
"We checked it before this malfunction occurred. The ship was in perfect condition."
"…Then there's only one explanation for this." Neko reasoned and took on a pained expression.
"What sir?" The trooper prompted him nervously. Whatever could have Neko worried would definitely be a cause for concern.
"…Droid ghosts." Neko muttered in a serious tone.
"…Droid ghosts, sir?" The trooper echoed matching Neko's tone of disbelief from before.
"…Just send those technicians in again, there's no way you'll get me near that ship." The Marauder said while motioning with his hands for the trooper to leave. Then with a grin he turned to face the Jedi once more to find he was staring at him.
"What?"
"….Droid ghosts?" Keyan said barely being able to contain the urge to laugh. He knew if he did he'd pay for it later, besides his nerves had made him a little jumpy.
"Hey! They do exist!" Neko growled.
"I'm sure they do." The Jedi said dryly, his face an expression of seriousness.
Keyan then burst out laughing thirty seconds later and was rewarded with a whack to the head with Neko's prosthetic arm which knocked him unconscious once more.
"So, Jax. What do you think of this whole 'droid ghost' business? We checked the ship earlier and there was no sign of any ghosts. In fact- the ship shouldn't have malfunctioned the way it did." An amused female Sith technician said to her partner over the comm. After entering a few quick commands the energy field surrounding the Jedi ship deactivated and with a smug grin the Sith left the hanger control room to head down to the ship.
"Well Teela…" Jax' voice crackled over the comm. "With a thing as unexplainable as the Force around, weirder things have happened." Teela swore she could almost hear the shrug of his shoulders. With a sigh she reached the exterior of the ship where Jax was waiting for her, carrying a box of basic equipment and she shot him an exasperated look.
"Robots aren't part of the Force though." She argued before stealing the equipment off the man and walking up the Green Dragon's loading ramp. Jax stalked after her while muttering something about the how the man was supposed to carry the heavy objects.
"Teela, everything is part of the Force." He said in a mock condescending tone and the female technician let out a short snort.
"Oh, are you claiming to be a master of the Force?" She said sarcastically as they strolled leisurely to the cockpit. "Because if anything I'm sure your Force intolerant. Besides, it's only everything living that is part of the Force."
"Define 'living'." Jax said smugly. "Droids do act like sentient beings nowadays. Did you see that HK unit that Lord Revan used to have? I swear it wasn't just programming that made that droid have a sadistic lust for blood…" He argued before getting a slap to the back of his head for his efforts.
"You idiot. You are supposed to be a technician! We're an elite core! Too smart to be normal ground troopers… too stupid to not have joined the Sith in the first place." Teela said.
"Hey, I joined for the dental plan. It's actually pretty good." He said with a grin.
"…Jax, have you ever once seen a dentist on this Sith base in the years that we've spent here?" Teela said resisting the urge to strangle the guy for his stupidity.
"…Damn, those recruitment guys are good." Jax muttered to himself as they entered the cockpit. Immediately Teela's eyes homed in on the gap in the panelling which revealed various sparking circuits.
"Hey, the panel is missing…" Jax mused as Teela seated herself next to the compartment as the urge to choke Jax was getting harder to ignore.
"These circuits have been completely fried." She said while examining the clusters of melted wires avoiding the occasional spark. "And, it's completely localised to the wires that control the landing gear."
Jax visibly gulped. "Sabotage. There's no other explanation."
"Correct. Besides if that wasn't obvious enough, the panel is missing. It's fairly obvious someone is here, someone who has a fairly good knowledge of mechanics." Teela muttered dryly.
"…So droid ghosts do exist!" Jax exclaimed while Teela buried her head in her hands, cursing the Force and any other deities that would be responsible for her misfortune. After composing herself she got up and grabbed Jax by the shoulder.
"Come on; let's look around for more damage before we hand in our report."
"But… but… ghosts…" Jax lamely whined before Teela forcefully shoved him down the corridor.
"They don't exist." She hissed before putting a finger over her lips to silence him. Quietly they checked out all of the rooms of the ship save for one and in each they found nothing. No damages, no signs of life, nothing. Then they entered the storage chamber. It was deserted like before but however there was something odd about this room Teela couldn't place. It wasn't until Jax got on his knees and picked up something.
"Hey, did we leave our hydrospanner the last time we were in here?" Teela walked over to his side and shook her head.
"No, we didn't." Wearily she began to look around but couldn't see anything else out of the ordinary but she couldn't shake the feeling of impending doom she was getting. Jax seemed equally as nervous.
"Well, I'm outta here. Something isn't right and I don't want to be the one who gets mauled; it's like a cheap holonet horror film!" Jax wailed but as he moved to walk out the room, a screech from overhead filled the room .Jax and Teela both snapped their heads upwards to see a sight that had them both rooted to the spot in shock. The metal panel from the cockpit was suspended in mid air above their heads and the last thing they said before it fell and knocked them unconscious was…
"AAAAAHH! DROID GHOSTS!"
Stepping out from the crate she had been hiding in, the Jedi girl smirked at the two unconscious forms on the ground before chuckling quietly to herself and exiting the ship in her Sith attire.
When Sangha re-entered the interrogation room after her short absence to find the Jedi unconscious she wished she could say she was surprised. Keyan's cheek was bruised and it was obvious to anyone who had a fairly decent head on their shoulders that Neko was probably behind it. The said Marauder was still in the room fiddling with the various torture instruments with a morbid curiosity.
"Neko." The female twi'lek said tersely. "What did you do?"
"He had it coming." Neko muttered darkly while tinkering with a device that resembled a tazer. "So, what was the transmission about?" He asked and Sangha took a seat next to the Marauder ran a hand over one of her lekku in a calming manner.
"The new Sith Lord; the one who'll have to stick around for a few weeks before he 'disappears'. He'll be here in the next hour or so." The female Sith said with a sigh. After hearing this Neko bolted upright and stared at Sangha for a few moments.
"What?! You mean he's not here already?!" He practically yelled.
"No." Sangha replied deadpanned. Neko started pacing the room angrily before returning his gaze to Sangha. He couldn't let her know he'd let an impostor get by, she'd freak out at him for sure. So he was going to do the one thing he did best.
Kick. Ass.
On that note Neko exited the room without saying a word to Sangha and sought out the cloaked figure from before.
Neko walked down the hallway, punding his fist against the wall every few feet in frustration. What did he do to deserve this? Sure he was evil, but he was lovably evil. He stopped when he heard a strange noise coming from the cargo area. As he looked inside, the sight that met his eyes convinced him that he should have stayed in bed today.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" Neko screamed as he observed the mess in the cargo bay. Many of the crates had split and several Gizka were bounding around. The officer in charge was quivering slightly.
"W-well sir, it looks like a c-couple of Gizka got into one of the crates and-"
"And started breeding?" Neko finished. His voice had turned deathly quiet. He backhanded the officer across the face with his metal arm. "I could have told you that! What in the name of Revan am I paying you for?" He turned to face that wall and began to methodically beat his head against it. This had been a very bad day. The officer scrambled to his feet, clutching the side of his face in pain.
"P-please sir, if you just give me an hour to-"
"An hour?" Neko cut him off. "AN HOUR? You have ten minutes! And if this isn't all cleaned up by then, I will personally-" he trailed off as something caught his eye. One of the Gizka, slightly larger than most, had hopped up to him and was looking at him curiously. Another Sith officer took out his shock stick and moved to usher the small creature away.
"I'll take care of this one sir!" But before he could even activate his shock stick, Neko was behind him. There was a dry snap, and the officer fell to the ground, clutching his left arm in pain. Neko picked up the small Gizka.
"You'll do no such thing!" he said, kicking the man's broken arm. "This Gizka isn't afraid like the others. No fear. Perfect for a new pet I think. I shall call you...Snackcake." One of the workers looked up in surprise.
"Snack...Snackcake, sir?" Neko looked at him.
"You have a problem with that?" he asked, reaching for his vibrodagger. The worker quickly leapt behind a crate.
"No sir, absolutely not sir!"
"Good." Neko placed his new pet on his right shoulder. "C'mon Snackcake, let's go kick some ass." With that, he headed in a random direction. As he left, and the workers began herding the Gizka together.
Once Neko was out of sight, one of the crates suddenly opened, as if by itself. A man dressed in dark brown Jedi robes jumped out. He brushed himself down, ruffled his brown hair and looked back into the crate, still full of Gizka.
"Sorry ladies." he whispered. "You'll have to make do without me for a while." With a quick salute to the Gizka, he slipped out of the room into the hallway and sprinted off before the workers noticed him.
After finding the nearest panel out of sight, the Jedi took out a few computer spikes and began hacking into the system with practised ease. He smirked when he got access to the main base map; quickly he connected his datapad into the console and downloaded the location of the interrogation room. He was relieved to find it was nearby as he shut down the console. Now all he had to do was reach Keyan, free him and escape on the Green Dragon. It didn't sound hard at all; then again he had been in far worse situations than this on a regular basis.
Just as he neared the interrogation room he heard a succession of rapid footsteps coming from just around the corner, knowing he couldn't risk getting caught this early in the game, he removed his lightsaber from his belt and ignited it as he swung the blade around the corner in an attempt to decapitate whatever foe was coming.
What he didn't expect was for the person around the corner to give out a loud shriek and automatically react with one very strong force wave that had him sprawled out on the ground in seconds. Quickly he snatched the lightsaber that had been flung out of his hand and got up only to realise the person whom he had attacked wasn't a Sith but none other than…
"Xiang? Oh, hey sorry about that… thought you were a Sith. In my defence you are dressed like one, you know." He muttered sheepishly but suddenly his expression turned serious when he realised that she was still rooted to the spot staring at the lightsaber in his hand while her eyes were wide with unrestrained fear.
"G-Get that thing away from me, Art!" She stammered before taking a few steps backwards. Immediately he deactivated the saber and wasted no time in embracing the frightened Jedi, rubbing her back in an attempt to soothe her. Xianghua immediately tensed but Artorus was persistent and it wasn't long before the panic that gripped her mind ebb away.
"…What are you doing here?" She eventually managed to ask and Art chuckled slightly.
"Helping you and Keyan, of course." He answered with a roguish grin and she couldn't help but shake her head at him disapprovingly.
"You had a mission." She stated.
"I have connections." He countered.
"You're disobeying the council."
"Ah, when have I cared about what the council has to say?" He retorted.
"You shouldn't have come."
"But I did."
"You smell like gizka." Her nose twitched.
"New cologne."
"Don't you think I could've handled it myself?"
"No." He answered honestly. "I still don't think you should have taken on a mission so soon after whatever happened back on Korriban."
"I needed to take my mind off of things…" She murmured quietly.
"I doubt going into a base filled with Sith and lightsabers is helping your issues much."
"Well it was going fine until you almost decapitated me."
"In self defence."
"I was rounding a corner!"
"Menacingly."
"I give up with you." She said with a sigh before sneaking out of Artorus' grasp. "Come on, the interrogation room is this way. We can't afford to stand here all day."
"Hold on a minute." he said, looking her up and down. "We aren't too far from the dorms. Maybe I could use a Sith uniform myself..."
As Keyan came to, he felt a dull pain in the side of his face. Remembering how the Sith had punched hig again with that bloody hand of his, he quickly counted his teeth with his tongue. Relieved to find that they were still all there, he looked around the room. Yep. Still in the interrogation room. Still chained to the stone slab. Oh and joy of joys, the Twi'lek woman was back.
"You're awake." she said. "Good for you." As she neared the slab, he silently wondered what in the name of the Force he had done to deserve this. Surely Art deserved it more. "Alright Jedi, let's begin" she traced a finger over an old scar on his left shoulder. He contemplated spitting in her face, but that probably would not lead to anything good. "So. Let me ask you. Why did the Jedi send you here?
"They didn't." Keyan replied quickly. "My ship ran out of fuel and I had to make an emergency landi-" he was cut off as she slapped him across the face.
"Don't lie to me. Our engineers gave me a service report of your ship. According to them, the fuel tank is still three quarters full."
"Oh." Keyan was silent for a moment. "Speaking of, did you happen to find out what the malfunction was? Because it's been bugging me ever since" Another slap shut him up.
"I ask again Jedi" She began carressing his face. The temptation to spit at her was beginning to rise. "Why did the Jedi send you here?"
"They...wanted to know if you're happy with your long distance communications?" She stepped back and walked over to a small table.
"Ah. A Jedi with a sense of humour." she muttered as she fished around through a few gadgets on the table. She picked up what appeared to be a blunt, rusty dagger. "I don't like Jedi with a sense of humour." If he wasn't strapped down, Keyan would have trembled. She walked back voer to him and positioned the dagger over his left shoulder. "I see you have a scar here. Last chance. Tell me what I want to know, or I open up an old wound." Keyan opened his mouth to say something. Then snapped it shut. He didn't lie to himself. He was scared. Scared of the pain to come. But pain goes away. Betrayal does not.
"I'm not saying anything to you skank." His humour was gone. Sangha gasped.
"Do you think I look skanky in this outfit?" she asked, in mock surprise. She held the dagger close to his skin. "Come, come now boy. I don't want to do this."
"Oh I bet you don't."
"Of course not. We want you in good condition when we move your to Rhen Var." Keyan's eyes widened slightly.
"Rhen-" before he could finish, he felt the blade flat of the blade press against his skin.
"Last chance Jedi." Sangha whispered "Tell me what-" she was cut off as the door opened, revealing two Sith troopers. She removed the blade from Keyan's shoulder.
"Thank you!" Keyan shouted. Three times now, that door had saved him from torture. Sangha slapped him smartly across the face.
"Milady." One of the troopers stepped forward. "You're needed in the main hall." Sangha snarled at him.
"You just insist on ruining my fun, don't you? Very well." She handed the dagger to him. "This whelp is annoying me. Make him bleed a little before I return." With a leering glance at Keyan, she swept out of the room. Keyan looked up at the Sith trooper. His blank, silver mask seemed to be all the more menacing in the darkness.
"So." Keyan said. "What do you guys do for fun?" The trooper merely pressed the dagger against his throat.
"You gonna talk, Jedi scum?" Keyan shook his head. "Good. I'd hate to think I'd been working with a traitor all these years." Keyan blinked.
"I'm sorry...what?" The trooper removed his helmet. "Artorus?" Artorus grinned.
"Sorry mate. I couldn't resist." He pressed a button on the stone slab, releasing the cuffs that bound Keyan. He stumbled forward, but the other Sith trooper caught him.
"Art, I don't want to sound like I'm not happy to be off that table but...what're you doing here? I thought you had another mission."
"I figured this was more important."
"So you defied the coun-"
"We've already been through this." the other Sith trooper said, removing her helment to reveal Xiang underneath. "He's already annoyed me enough with his excuses for one day." Art gasped.
"Xiang, you hurt me." She merely rolled her eyes.
"Well anyway, did you get the intel yet?" Keyan nodded.
"She said something about shipping me to Rhen Var. I'd bet good money that's where the new Sith Lord is." Xiang nodded.
"So that means we don't get to chain you back up again, huh?" Art asked. "Oh well." Xiang rolled her eyes again, while Keyan walked over to a small footlocker. He opened it and found his shirt, cape and lightsabres inside. He quickly dressed and turned back to face the other two. He noticed something.
"Xiang, where's you lightsabre?" Xiang looked away, while Art shot him a "now you've done it" look. "What? What'd I say?"
"My lightsabre was...destroyed...during my mission on Korriban." she whispered. If Keyan didn't know better, he would have thought she sounded...afraid. He took one of his own sabres from his belt.
"Why didn't you tell me on the way to Thule?" she remained silent. "Well, come on, you can borrow one of mine 'til we get back to Dantooine." To his surprise, Xiang stumbled back, as if he had thrust a snake in her face. Artorus stepped in front of her protectively and gave Keyan a filthy look. "What? What is going on?"
"Look, just put it away Keyan!" Art snapped. "She already has another weapon, she doesn't need you shoving that thing in her face!" Keyan clipped the weapon back on his belt, feeling ashamed. He didnt know what he had done exactly, but it was obviously something bad.
"Um...I'm...sorry." Xiang gently pushed Art aside.
"It's okay, there's nothing wrong." she whispered, in a voice that betrayed her statement. "But Art's right, I do have my own weapon, so I'm fine." She removed a long staff from her back to show him. A moment of awkward silence passed. "Alright." Xiang said, trying to make herself sound more confident. "We have the intel, we have Keyan, so let's get out of here." Keyan stopped her.
"Just a moment. I heard a little rumour about there being some malfunction with the Dragon. You wouldn't happen to know what it's all about, would you?" Xiang blushed and looked away.
"Maybe..." Keyan gave her a knowing look.
"What did you do?" Art cut in between them
"Anyone ever tell you you're too attached to that ship mate? Somehow I don't think the council would be very happy to know-"
"Somehow I doubt the council would be happy to know about you defying a direct order." Keyan cut him off. Art raised an eyebrow.
"Oh so that's the thanks I get for saving you? Well maybe I should have left you to rot here!"
"The council told Xiang to do this mission alone, so I hardly think I would have been-" Xiang pushed the two of them apart.
"Don't you two ever stop?" she asked. "Look, right now we don't have time for this. Let's just get out of here, then you two can kill eachother on the Dragon!" They both missed her muttering "Boys!" under her breath. Keyan and Artorus both shut up.
"Alright, what'd you have in mind?" Keyan asked.
"Well, first of all, I need to do a few repairs on the Dragon-"
"So you do know what happened!"
"Shut up! Look, I can repair the Dragon in like, ten minutes, tops. But the hangar's sealed up tight." Keyan nodded.
"I'll deal with that." He looked at Artorus. "But we could use a few distractions." Art grinned.
"I thought you'd never ask mate." Xiang suddenly gasped. Art raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
"I've just remembered, I'm out of metal sealant."
"So?"
"I need it to repair the ship!"
"Okay, okay, I'll see if I can find some after I've set up the lockdown."
"Thanks."
"Alright, so we all rendezvous at the Dragon then." Keyan summed up. "Agreed?" Art and Xiang both nodded. With that, the three all ran off in seperate directions.
Keyan sprinted down the hallway. Up ahead he saw the control room. Perfect. That would be where he would find the controls to open up the hangar.
Before he could finish his thought, he was flung back into wall behind him. He struck it with a force that rattled his teeth. As he climbed to his feet, silently vowing to break the knees of whoever thought it would be a good idea to build a wall there, he heard a feminine chuckle coming from up ahead.
"Naughty, naughty." the voice said. "I may have to punish you for this." Keyan looked up. It was Sangha.
"Oh come on." he groaned. "Of all the Sith in this base, why do I have to get you again?" Sangha chuckled again.
"Maybe you just can't help being drawn to me..." she looked down at herself. "And my...assets."
"Assets?" Keyan echoed. He looked around the corridor. "There's no one else here..." Sangha rolled her eyes.
"Not those kind of assets, imbecile."
"Then what kind of assets are you talking about?" he asked, beginning to get the feeling there was some joke he hadn't got. Sangha chuckled again.
"Not often I deal with someone so innocent. Or maybe just clueless." she reached to her belt and pulled something free. Keyan recognised it instantly. It was a lightsabre. "Regardless, are you ready to return to your cell?" Keyan thought for a moment.
"Yes...yes I think I am." Sangha's eyes widened slightly.
"Really?"
"Nah." Keyan took his two sabres from his own belt. "Just wanted to see what you'd do if I said yes." With that, he activated the twin green blades. Sangha activated her own sabre. A blade of yellow plasma flared to life.
"All good things must come to an end I suppose." she whispered. "But I suppose I can always torture your friends instead, once I'm finished with you."
Xiang slipped into the hangar. She gasped as she saw the two Sith troopers she had tricked earlier were up on their feet again. And boy did they look pissed. She was glad she had kept the helmet from her Sith uniform. She slipped it back on and walked casually up to the Green Dragon. The one called Jax stopped her before she reached the boarding ramp.
"Damn, so close." she thought, making a mental note to kick him in the groin later, if the oppurtunity arose.
"Where do you think you're going?" he demanded.
"I was ordered to run maintenance on the Jedi's ship." she replied. Jax raised an eyebrow.
"Well I don't know who told you that. Master Vendis ordered that no-one step on board the ship on account of droid ghosts." Xiang was glad of her helmet, beause she knew there was no way she could keep a straight face after hearing that.
"Droid ghosts?" she repeated, tyring not to laugh outloud. Jax nodded grimly.
"I saw them myself. There were fifty of them. They went straight for my partner here." he gestured at Teela. "Luckily, I was able to fight them off before they hurt her, but we were overwhelmed and had to retreat." That was too much for Xiang. She doubled over laughing. Teela marched over to her.
"Is there something funny, private?" She asked. Xiang shook her head. Then waved her hand.
"Master Vendis has ordered you both to assist me in repairing the Jedi's ship." she said.
"Master Vendis has ordered us both to assist you in repairing the Jedi's ship." they both repeated, like Haruun Kal parrots. The three of them stepped inside. Xiang put the two Sith troopers to work, but stopped as she sensed something. She could feel a shadow creeping through the Force. She stepped back out into the Hngar, where she saw it. The shadow. It was a Sith Lord. She could not see his features because he was hidden by his black cloak.
"So you are the one who has com to rescue the Jedi." he spoke. His voice reeked of darkness. "Are the Jedi numbers so low that they send children to battle us?" Xiang removed her helmet. She said nothing. She simply removed her staff from her back. "Come child. It is time for you to feel the power of true darkness." Suddenly, the Force sprang forth from the shadow, like a snake uncoiled. It wrapped itself around the young Jedi's legs and pulled hard. Xiang felt her legs disappearing from underneath her and then felt her head smack against the cold hard metal of the Dragon's boarding ramp. In an instant, the shadow was upon her.
Art slipped into the nearest control room. A little messing around with some of the controls and there. More than half the troops in the base were trapped in their quarters. Art smirked to himself. Wait til he told his drinking buddies on Corellia that he'd sneaked out of a Sith base single handedly. True, Xiang and Keyan were helping, but they didn't have to know that. Within minutes, the entire base was locked down, leaving only two ways to the hangar. One for himself and one for Keyan.
Soon enough, Art ducked into a garage. This would be the perfect place to find some metal sealant. He searched the tool rack until he came across a tub of it, just underneath a can of spray paint. He lifted the tub down and placed it in his belt. Just as he was about to leave, he glanced back at the paint can. A smirk crept up on his face. He couldn't resist. He lifted it down and quickly sprayed "ARTORUS D'UTHER RULZ!" over the windshield of the nearest speeder. Chuckling to himself, he set the can down and headed for the door.
Down the hallway, in the direction of the hangar Artorus noticed a gaggle of Sith troopers rushing down the halls toward. Red energy shields were buzzing, sealing off all the other halls and even trapping portions of the group behind the rest. Artorus halted at the garage's threshold on seeing them. Another forcefield activated and blocked every troop save one in the hallway. This brave trooper instantly cocked his rifle.
"Stop right there!"
Artorus didn't answer, he just made a dumb look and pointed t himself as if to say "who me?". A moment before the Sith reached him Artorus hit a button on the door, activating another energy shield. The Sith trooper came up on the other side of it, banging it in frustration. He looked up and saw Artorus, who gave a little wave. Immediately, the trooper let loose an impressively varied barrage of curse words. The other trooper watched from behind their own force fields as Artorus smirked and gave the leader a mock salute.
"Cheer up mate." he said. "When you're old and decrepit, you'll be able to tell your children about how you almost caught Artorus D'Uther! If you need me, I'll be sleeping with your wife!" And with that, he headed off toward the other entrance. A moment later, he returned. "Of course...if that's the case, when you're old and decrepit, you'll be able to tell my children about how you almost caught Artorus D'Uther." With a wink, he started turning again, while the Sith trooper renewed his cursing with great gusto.
Just it was just then that something hopped between his ankles. Artorus looked down, as did the Sith soldier. A tiny gizka had hopped in front of him. Strangely enough it seemed different from the other he had seen that day. It was covered in Sith tattoos. The Jedi could not help but jump when the small animal let out a squeal. Almost like a warning. But it was not meant for him. A cold metallic hand suddenly clasped the back of his neck and Artorus was pummeled, face first into the energy shield.
"So you're Artorus D'Uther. That was my speeder, Schutta!" Neko's voice growled from behind. Artorus gritted his teeth as his face was pressed into the energy and the trooper he had taunted was now laughing himself tears. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Artorus could hear Jolee Bindo tell him how rescues had a tendency to turn into traps. He hated it when the old man was right.
TO BE CONTINUED...