"Before the light, there was dark. That was the way it was. Before the light, the dark conquered. Conquering was all it knew. And in a singular instance it wasn't that way. Because with light there came life. And with life there came… Hope. And with hope there came passion, prosperity, and peace. But to counter that light, there was chaos. There can be no peace. There can be no light. Because what comes with every light, there is a shadow. And there are many shadows in this game of leaders, fools, and soldiers. In this journey of assassins, Sith, and Jedi. Your journey is has just begun Exile. But first…"
"Awaken."
Arias was confused. He was also cold. His head hurt. There was something in his side that brought excruciating pain. Something was bleeding, or had been bleeding previously. He tried to rise from the ground. The metallic floor was piercingly cold to his unfabricated arms. His skin peeled from the hard floor as he rose to his hands and knees. Arias clutched his side, finally finding the source of the pain. A blaster shot. Or so it would seem. Arias looked up at a series of Kolto tanks aligning the wall of what looked to be a meditation chamber for the injured. Something had ruptured his Kolto Tank. The chamber was broken, glass lay upon the ground, strewn out across the room. But what had released him. It couldn't have been himself, he was asleep. How long had he been asleep for? Days? Weeks? Maybe months? Where was everyone.
"Hello?"
Arias called out to the empty hallway that unraveled before him. There were two doors on either side of the messy hall, he stumbled through the hallway. The lights dimly flickered, something was wrong. He opened the door on the right. As Arias stepped forward he was greeted with a smell. The smell of the dead. And the smell of a woman. And maybe something darker. Arias gazed to the right corner of the morgue. There was a woman. She was lying on a table, seemingly lifeless. However, there was no sign as to what killed her.
Arias moved forward to a second body. More horrific than the previous. Upon examination, the victim looked to have severe burns. "What happened here." Arias muttered to himself. However, Arias was not as alone as he thought. Behind him the woman began to rise. Arias looked up from his examination. The woman readjusted her hood to just barely fall over her brow. Her eyes, almost invisible to sight. But Arias could see just enough to realize how strange they were. She spoke softly, the voice of wisdom. "Find what you're looking for amongst the dead?"
"Who are you."
"I am Kreia. And I am your rescuer, as you are mine. Tell me, do you recall what happened."
"I was on board a Republic ship. The Harbinger, what happened to it."
"Your ship was attacked. You seem to be the only survivor. A result of your Jedi training, no doubt."
"I am no Jedi."
"Your stance. Your walk tells me you're a jedi. Your walk is heavy, you carry something that weighs you down."
Arias took a step back. For a second he was startled, and then he was angry. His brow dropped. The tone in his voice changed.
"That is no business of yours."
"So it would seem. Keep your past then. Let us focus on the now."
The old woman was mysterious. But Arias knew she was right, they must keep moving. He was curious of the woman. Who was she exactly, where did she come from? And what were wrong with her eyes?
"Where are we," Arias said.
"This is Peragus. A mining station. I am not sure how we got here. They could have intercepted us somewhere in the galaxy. I have felt this place in my slumber. There is little to no life here. I fear something is very wrong."
She was right. Someone would have come to find Arias. If only he knew how long he was in that tank for. If something was wrong it had only recently happened. Which means the threat may still be present.
After a long silence, Arias spoke. "How do you suppose we escape from this place."
"I am not sure. I was removed from the events of the world as I slept. A survey of our surrounding may provide the answers we seek."
"I arrived here not on the Harbinger."
"Indeed. You arrived here on the Ebon Hawk, as did I. That must be where these people intercepted us from. We should find the Ebon Hawk and leave immediately."
"We'll see. There's got to be someone alive around here. I will be back with information, and hopefully some weaponry."
Arias started toward the open door and back into the hallway. He left Kreia in the room, she lowered herself to the ground and began to meditate. Arias looked back at her as he was about to turn the corner. Arias felt strange confiding in this one woman he has hardly known. She seemed to know so much about him and him so little about her. It was strange. There was something she knew that he did not. And perhaps in time she would share that knowledge. For Arias knew that they were going to get to know each other for a long time. As friends or as enemies.
Arias rounded the corner. He approached the door at the end of the hallway. It was a door he hadn't seen before. Through much search he grasped a lever that pulled through and the door shrunk down into the ground. It gave way to a small room that lead into a steeper hallway. The room was dirty, broken droids lay upon the scattered hall and what looked to be a body was with them as well. The body looked to be severely burned. Could the droids have done this. A shiver went down his spine. Not due to him not being clothed, but for the fear. This man may have been armed. Unlike Arias, who had no such luxury. He put one foot in front of the other and kept moving, for he was not alone. Kreia was watching from the secluded morgue in the farthest part of the mining station. On the ground she whispers to herself.
"Good luck… Exile."