Peace is a lie
There is only passion
Through passion I gain strength
Through strength I gain power
Through power I gain victory
Through victory my chains are broken
The Force shall set me free.
The Code of the Sith
Sith Gothic 2 – The Dark Lords
Part 1
AWAKEN
AWAKEN
A voice told me wake up, and while I was trying to sleep the word kept repeating within my mind so soon I opened my eyes. When I did I found that I was floating in some sort of fluid. This was not welcome news, yet I found that I could breathe which was something that prevented panic.
FREE YOURSELF
The instruction came from someone else, and for some reason it was impossible to resist, so I pulled off the tubes that held me in place and I escaped the tank by climbing out of it. It was not a pleasant thing to do as I'd had to remove the breathing mask, and that meant for a few seconds I'd been drowning.
I managed to crawl to the centre of the brightly lit room and once there I lay unmoving for a few moments, as I was aching all over. I'd been in that tank for so long that my muscles had weakened, and now they were screaming in pain. I tried pushing myself up off the ground, but I fell back to the floor with a thud.
After what felt like a very long time I was able to pull myself up, and I surveyed my surroundings. Things were blurry at first, but soon enough everything came into focus. Then I got dizzy, but thankfully that past as well.
It was a med bay of some sort that was for sure, and the tank I'd been floating in had been full of kolto, what they used in this time period instead of bacta, which meant that I must have been injured quite badly, but I had no recollection of being hurt. This was worrying as it meant I had no idea if I was out of danger or not.
There were other four tanks in the room and they each held what seemed to be workmen of some sort, they were dressed in ragged remains of a matching grey uniform so it was clear that they were all employed by the same company. Although I hadn't a clue what business that could be.
Sadly they were all dead which meant that the healing waters of the kolto tanks hadn't been able to save them even though it had saved me. Since they seemed to young and strong I assumed it was the Force that had made the difference.
Next I checked myself out, hoping to figure out how I had been injured, but I had no cuts or bruises. The only thing odd about my body was the fact that I had been stripped down to my underclothes, but that was to expected when getting medical treatment.
Thankfully it was warm here in the med bay, and there was no one about so I no reason to be embarrassed. Not that I would otherwise as I kept myself fit, and I'd not exactly been sedate these last few years.
"Okay I better figure out where the hell I am" I said to myself.
As there was a computer nearby it didn't take me long to uncover some of what had happened here. The medical computer even told me the name of the ship that had brought me to this station, the Ebon Hawk, which made sense as I'd been using that ship while travelling around the galaxy ever since I'd stolen it.
Soon I discovered that I was at the Peragus mining colony, which was located inside of a large asteroid somewhere in the asteroid belt circling Peragus II.
That little bit of information made things much clearer to me. Given the time and the location I knew now that I was at the beginning of the game Knights of the Old Republic 2. I had actually intended to come here in order to help the Exile, but not like this and I had the horrible feeling that something bad had happened to the Exile.
I also checked out the local history of this place, and read some reports about a mining explosion a few years before that had destroyed the planet, and I also found out that this was an important source of fuel for the Republic. Reading that refreshed my own memories of the events of the game.
The medical logs also told me there had been some sort of massive droid malfunction on the station and that the men in the tanks had been administered a lethal dose of tranquilisers, as had I. However since I was not a normal man I had survived.
Now even memories were flooding back. I remembered what was happening here, at least most of it, and I also knew what I had to do next.
The morgue was across the hall and while it was sealed I was able unlock that door via the console inside the med bay. Which was something I wouldn't have been able to do not so long ago as I'd never been very good with the local tech, yet I am seemed to have gotten the knack for it at some point without even realising.
There were two bodies in the morgue, one was an elderly woman, who wasn't really dead I knew, and there was a middle aged human female. She was tagged with the name: Meetra Surik.
"Kriff" I swore.
This was very bad as Meetra Surik was the Jedi Exile, the Force User who was supposed to save the galaxy from the Dark Lords. Only now she dead so the galaxy was doomed.
"Kriff" I swore again, this time more loudly.
I'd quickly come to realise that if the Exile was dead then I was going to have to stop the Sith. I had intended to help her, but I'd never wanted to be the one with the special destiny. However I didn't want the Jedi to be wiped out, as then there would be no one to stop the Truth Sith when they were ready to invade a few centuries from now.
"Find what you are looking for amongst the dead?" someone then asked.
The woman was old, but it was hard to judge just how old she was since she was covered, from head to foot in a brown cloak, and her face was almost hidden below a hood.
"I am Kreia" the woman said by way of introduction "Tell me do you recall how you got here".
Since I knew this old lady was a lying bitch I was tempted to ignore her and just get on with things, but I knew that I would need her help. My education about the Force had huge gaps in it. A result of poor training more than my own failings.
"Not really" I replied.
Another thing that bothered me was that I couldn't feel the Force. I knew that things like sedatives could make it difficult to feel the Force. However the drugs had mostly worn off by now, however I still couldn't connect to the galaxy wide energy field.
I'd grown up without it so I knew how to function as a normal person, but given that there was a fucked up Sith Lord heading this way I would have really liked to have my super powers back.
"I confess I know little more than you do" admitted Kreia. "I do not know where here is".
My plan was take everything this batty old cow said with a pinch of salt. However there was no reason to make my distrust of her so obvious. I figured that she was going to try to use me as a weapon it was best if she underestimated me, and thought me to be a trusting fool.
"We are at the Peragus mining facility" I told the former Jedi "Not that far from Telos if I remember correctly".
That was the first planet after escaping this place in the game as such it had to be close by, at least in terms of hyperspace travel.
"I do recall rescuing you" the Sith bitch was now saying "The ship you were on was attacked, and you were the only survivor. A result of your training, and your skill with the Force".
It was possible that I'd somehow gotten knocked off course when entering hyperspace. I'd been heading for Republic territory, so while it was highly unlikely it wasn't impossible that I had been found and then recovered by another space craft.
"If you think I'm some sort of Jedi, then you are greatly mistaken" I said.
Technically I was a Dark Lord. I had been given the rank of Darth by Malak.
"I never said you were a Jedi" was the old woman's response.
She was right, she hadn't actually used the word: Jedi .I needed to focus better, the drugs were still in my system even if they were no longer keeping me asleep.
"Keep your past in the past" said Kreia "let us focus on the now".
Thankfully Kreia didn't want to accompany me further into the facility, instead the older woman sat down on the floor of the morgue and began to meditate. Which was so not helpful. I left her too it and began to explore.
Dead bodies littered the rooms, and while I badly needed some clothes I simply wasn't willing to strip a corpse, the smell and the stains put me off the idea more than the idea of undressing a dead person. The morgue should have been kept cold to halt the decay of the flesh, but it was warm in here for some reason.
Not that it mattered, getting off this facility was my main priority as a messed up Sith Lord was about to pop in for a visit, and there was a killer droid on the lose. Compared to that being half naked wasn't a big deal.
Soon I found a vibrocutter near one hapless victim, a cutting tool capable of getting through solid metal walls, and I intended to put it to good use against a few of the mining machines that had been reprogrammed by the HK droids. I'd once owned the HK-47 so I knew how dangerous that model was so I also needed a proper weapon.
I was worried about what came next as I knew that I would have to fight several rooms of full of deadly mining droids, and worse I'd have to do without the Force. Thankfully I soon a blaster pistol of some sort, and since the machines were terrible shots I was able to take them out without getting myself hurt.
Within the next room I found another active computer. From this machine I found the security officer's logs. The records strongly suggested that all of the troubles had started shortly I had arrived.
Also I then discovered that there was a big bounty for Jedi. This was what had gotten Meetra killed, and this had nearly killed me as well even though I was no light lover. Few people understood the difference between the two groups so I wasn't that surprised by this.
Before I left the security desk I flipped through the screens to see what was on camera. Mostly what I found was empty rooms, some still active droids and dead bodies. It was all rather depressing.
Soon I found what I was looking for: Atton Rand. He was locked up in a holding cell and he was alive. I knew it was him as he was a man with dark brown hair, and he was wearing a jacket.
Oddly his mouth was moving as he stood stock still in the cell. He seemed to be talking to himself, and I wondered if he'd gone crazy. Given that he'd been alone for what could be a few days I didn't blame the guy for being a bit mental. In fact I was amazed he was still breathing given that no one would have given him any food or water.
"I better go save him" I said to myself.
If nothing else I needed someone to fly the Ebon Hawk.
In the next room I was forced to fight another malfunctioning droid and this time the blaster stopped working so I had to whack it with my cutting tool.
Then all of the sudden I felt the Force flow through me once again. The feeling of being once again connected to the universe around me was almost overwhelming despite it being only a trickle compared to the might river I'd once known.
Until I now I hadn't realised just how much I'd missed this connection. I could feel the energy that bound this galaxy together I could sense two human lives and even the droids waiting for me in the next room had some existence within the Force.
Sadly it came with a down side. Kreia was back inside my head.
"Ah... you hear it. It is faint... but it is there"
I didn't reply to the voice I just stood there stunned for a few minutes. However the feeling didn't last as I lost the connection and it didn't return. I guessed that I needed to do some more fighting. That made sense as I had been trained as a Sith, not a Jedi. For us it was all about conflict.
Finally I made my way to what I guess was the command and control centre of this place, there were plenty more damaged mining droids for me to fight through.
When I started swinging my sword once the Force returned to me, and this time the connection wasn't overwhelming, and it lasted longer than before. I guessed that it would take time, but that soon I would have the power again. Then I'd have relearn how to use my powers now they my relationship with the Force had changed for some reason. Hopefully that wouldn't take too long as might need my power back soon
That was something I couldn't afford to worry about right now as I found the sealed door to the brig. When I reached the door, I heard Kreia's voice in my head once more.
"Beyond this door someone yet lives... be mindful... his thoughts are... difficult to read... but you have nothing to fear from this one... and he may yet prove useful..."
Well she wasn't wrong. He would prove useful. Sadly he would also be rather annoying, but I needed his help so I opened the door.
(Line Break)
When the man came through the door, he was counting cards.
Switch the face of the +1/-1 card, the totals are nine-ten. Switch the face of the +2/-2 card, the total is eight-eleven, switch...
He paused in front of the control panel, and soon had one hand resting lightly on the shut off switch for the cage.
"I need a way off this rock," he said.
His voice was tired but steady Atton noted.
"Can you help me with that, or should I leave you in there? It looks safe, at least" the man said.
"Sorry, sorry," Atton apologised as he stood stiffly, stretching as much as the cage's crackling barrier allowed. "It's been a while since I've seen anyone, not sure if your real or not"
The half naked man smiled, finding this humorous.
"So, can you help me or not?" he asked.
Atton nodded.
"I know the station's systems pretty well," he said.
Double the eight, pure Pazaak, shuffle and deal, switch the face of the +1/-2 card...
"And if there's any ship docked on this rock I can fly it" Atton assured.
The force field died with a falling hum as the unknown man flipped a switch, and Atton stepped out of the cage. He was tired, thirsty, starving and his head ached with the weight of so much time whiled away on nonsense lists and parlour tricks, yet he'd not been this happy for a logn time.
"Guess I should've started with my name," he went on to say "Atton Rand."
He held out his hand, but the man didn't take it.
"I'm Gothic" he said.
Atton followed this Gothic into the command and control centre.
"This facility isn't a military installation," said Atton, "which means we may have a chance. I can reroute the emergency systems so we can get to the hangar. We grab a ship and then we fly out of here"
Gothic just nodded before leading the way to command centre.
"All right, here we are," said Atton, as he began to type "Now, this console is set on automatic hail; you may have heard it when you came in. The asteroid drift charts are constantly being updated, it sends out a transmission to incoming vessels so they don't get crushed into space dust. The hail warns them to keep their distance until orbital drift charts are transmitted, and then provides docking instructions to incoming ships, usually freighters".
Atton Rand's brow furrowed as he worked the terminal.
"The thing is, you can bounce that same transmission back to the comm here, and suddenly, you've got access to the communications system from the inside" he then added.
The console chimed and Atton grinned.
"Pure pazaak-the console's ours" he said "Now, all we need to do is re-activate the turbolifts, cancel the emergency lock-down… hey."
He blinked and examined the console closely
"What's wrong?" Gothic enquired.
"This system's been severed from the main hub," Atton said slowly, "after it was locked down remotely. You can't even reroute the system, it's been cut clean. Someone tried to lock down this whole level tight, and leave us here. Trapped".
Gothic turned to face him.
"Is there anything else we can do with this console?"
Atton put a worried hand to his mouth.
"I doubt it" he replied "All we have is communications back, for all the good trying to shout in a vacuum will do us".
Atton checked the comm channels anyone and found a beeping noise.
"That's an astromech droid. My astromech droid. Open the channel" Gothic ordered
Atton did just that.
"T3? Is that you?" Gothic asked.
A tentative chorus of beeps and whistles answered.
"I've got a job for you" Gothic told the droid " Listen we're trapped up on the administration can you unlock the turbolifts?".
There was a moment of silence, then the droid responded in the negative. The turbolifts were stopped at the dormitory level and fuel depot, and could only be unlocked manually from there.
"There must be emergency hatches-try to find one" Gothic instructed.
T3 beeped in the affirmative, cut the comm, and got to work.