Redemption
Chapter One: Attack on the Endar Spire
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Disclaimer: I do not own KOTOR. This fanfic is based on the game with a couple changes. My character's name was Aleira Kain, but I have given her a different personality in the story then in the game. She is in her early 30s, born on Tatooine, and specializes in healing. I hope you enjoy.
Once upon a time…
In a Galaxy far, far, away…..
Grey. It was a different change of pace than the color Aleira Kain was used to see growing up in the yellow and white sand dunes of Tatooine. All she could hear was the sound of her own breathing and the sound of her indigo boots against the hard steel floor. She observed her feet as they stepped one foot in front of the other. In front of her was Trask Ulgo, who had led her aboard the Endar Spire. This was all so new to her. Yesterday, she was a nurse in her father's medical facility in the town of Anchorhead and now, she was in the deep fathoms of space, hired by the Republic to assist in protecting a woman by the name of Bastila Shan of the Jedi order.
Her sky blue eyes traced the walls around her. Her black hair as dark as space itself bounced a bit as she walked. She held her medical bag close to her chest. Everything was just so…Big!
"And this Miss Kain is your sleeping quarters. I hope you will make yourself as comfortable as possible"
Aleira wasn't listening
"Miss Kain?"
"Hm? Oh I am sorry…it's just...this is quite a change for me. My mind was elsewhere. I'm just a bit fascinated by all of this. I've never been on a ship, let alone in space before " Aleira answered, still slightly absent minded.
"Well it isn't every day a person is suddenly hired by the Republic to protect a Jedi. I just hope it won't affect your performance if you're ever needed in the field miss Kain"
"Field?" She asked.
"Yes. I don't know if you were informed of this but there may be a time where you will have to assist our troops while in the line of fire. I hear you're good at what you do, so we need you be at 100% capacity. You are a very valuable asset to the Republic. We hope you won't let us down."
"I...I'll do my best" she responded, a hint of nervousness nestled in her voice.
A small smirk appeared on Ulgo's lips and he patted her shoulder "Don't worry kid. I know it's a big change from what your used to, but don't worry, you'll learn the ropes soon enough."
Aleira nodded "I do hope you are right ,"
"Please, just officer Ulgo"
"Very well officer Ulgo."
"Alright then, I hope to see in the Mess Hall at 900 hours" He placed his right arm in from of his forehead, saluting her.
"Yes sir," She saluted back with her left hand, causing Ulgo to chuckle slightly as he turned his back to her and made his way down the corridor.
It wasn't until after she pulled her hand back down to her side had she realized that she saluted with the wrong one. She mentally kicked herself. "Stupid…!" she muttered angrily to herself as she entered her quarters. But before she shut the giant metal door behind her, a small croaking sound arose from her medical bag.
"Izzy..! Shh..!" she scolded, slightly hitting her medical bag.
"What was that?" asked a passing Republic Officer.
Panicking, Aleira turned and hastily lied to the officer "Oh um…excuse me. I must have a case of the hiccups. Beg pardon" she then quickly shut the automatic door.
The Republic Officer stood confusingly for a moment, and then continued to move down the hall to his own quarters. When the sound of his boots against the metal floor faded, Aleira leaned against the door and breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "Phew…!"
Then, there came a second croak from her medical bag
"Dammit Izzy," she opened up her bag, peering down at the tiny male gizka that had nestled himself in with her belongings. "How am I supposed to keep you from getting caught with me if you keep making so much noise?"
Izzy just croaked innocently, and Aleira just sighed, putting her bag on the bed "Alright, I guess you have been stuck in there a while. Come on out, just keep it quiet."
Izzy scurried out of the bag and began to explore his new surroundings with great curiosity. This caused Aleira to giggle. Even in when she was in the worst of moods she could always count on her pet gizka to cheer her up. She admired his innocence. She had wished for far too long she could have his kind of attitude. That everything was alright.
But it wasn't.
The reason she enlisted herself to join the Republic was to save a person who she cared dearly for. Her father, Giles Kain, who had recently fallen ill and needed an extremely expensive surgery if he had even a remote chance of staying alive for a couple more years. She just couldn't let her father go yet. She loved him more than anyone and was not going to give up on him without a fight. So when opportunity called, she quickly answered it by enlisting herself and became a medical officer aboard the Endire Spire.
Only one thing continued to nag at Aleira in the back of her mind. Why the Republic recruited her exactly one day after she enlisted.
'My file is pretty plain,' She thought as she sat down on her bed and reclined her back against the wall and examined the datapad that contained her case file 'I wonder what would make them pull me out of the millions of other enlisted soldiers. I mean, there were probably hundreds of more experienced medical officers on that list than me! I mean just look at me!'
She glanced over herself; only 5''6 and 110 lbs
'Hell I don't even dress like an officer for crying out loud!'
Even though uniforms didn't make the soldier, Aleira was still self-conscious about it. Her current attire consisted of a black tank-top which was covered by a thin, loose, white over shirt that exposed her left shoulder (and no matter how much she pulled it up it fell back down) a black skirt with black leggings, a blue cardio-regulator belt and indigo shin-high boots.
'Yeah, I just ooze Republic Soldier.' She sighed dispiritedly.
Izzy, who was able to sensed Aleira's moods, hopped over to her and tenderly nuzzled her hand that hung lazily over the head. Upon feeling his soft, slightly slimy skin against her the palm of her hand, Aleira's face brightened a bit. Again, this tiny little creature had managed to make the pain of her depression less severe.
"Oh Izzy…" she whispered, picking him up and laying him on her lap, "what would I ever do without you?"
Izzy glanced innocently at Aleira, croaking affectionately, which caused her smile to grow even more and she began to gently stroke up and down his smooth head/body. As Izzy cooed from the attention, Aleira found sleep's spell slowly being cast over her. Her eyes grew heavy and soon she found herself in the cover of the darkness behind her eyelids.
3 Hours later
Aleira felt a small shake, which than erupted into a loud explosion and she quickly sat up as her eyes popped open.
"What the-"
Another explosion quickly fallowed the first and the ship shook mercilessly, causing Aleira to tumble out of her bed and face first onto the hard metal floor.
"Owww….!" she groaned.
Before she had completely pulled herself up off the floor, Trask Ulgo burst through the door, heaving a bit. He had obviously been running.
"Kain! On your feet! We've got a code red situation on our hands and we need you to aide our soldiers! Now get the lead out!" He ordered.
"W-wait. What's happening?" she asked
"We've been ambushed by a Sith Battle fleet! The Endar Spire is under attack! Hurry up-we don't have much time!"
Aleira quickly gathered her things and stuffed them into her bag and to her relief; Izzy had already dove into hiding inside of it. She then turned to Ulgo, who handed her a small blaster.
"A blaster sir? But I have no idea how to handle a gun!"
"Well now is a good a time as ever to learn kid.Now hurry up, we have to find Bastila! We have to make sure she makes it off the ship alive!" and he grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the room.
'What have I gotten myself into!?' she mentally screamed to herself. 'This was not in the job description!'
As the two hurried down the hall, the smell of blaster shots and blood nearly made Aleira gag. And before they had made it even a mile down the hall, another explosion was heard and loud blaster shots fallowed right behind it. Aleira nearly tripped as the shockwave from the explosion shook the Endire Spire.
"Keep on your feet! We have got to keep moving!" he demanded, pulling her arm harder to motivate her to move faster. But just as she had finally began to pick up speed, Ulgo stopped in his tracks, which caused her slam straight into his back with hard force.
"Oww..!" She groaned in pain, grabbing the bridge of her nose, trying to soothe the intense pain she felt. 'Jesus…! I hate this…!'
Ulgo ignored her, as he peered down the hall from their current location. Aleira stood behind him, trying to see what it was he was watching for, or who.
What she saw made her eyes go wide. Dead Republic soldiers scattered around the floor, crimson rivers of blood flowing from their lifeless bodies.
"Oh god…" she whispered, horrified at the sight before her.
"Check for survivors" Ulgo ordered, as he moved away from Aleira to survey if there any other Sith soldiers in the surrounding area.
Aleira bent down among the bloody Republic corpses, checking their necks and wrists for any sign of life. She felt none, and with every cadaverous body she found, she felt a hard tug at her heart strings.
She glanced over some the soldiers and saw the wide eyed look of shock on their lifeless faces and would have closed them, had she not known the muscles in their eyes would automatically push them back open. She rose then turned Ulgo who was now standing in front of her.
"Survivors?" He asked, to which she just responded by the shake of her head
"Don't worry kid." he said, pulling her arm down the hall again, this time much gentler. He knew she was greatly shaken up and she didn't need to be pulled around like a rag doll.
But before they had even gotten a foot away from the soldier massacre behind them, a blaster shot was fired and Aleira cried out in pain as she felt the burning sensation of the gun's power graze past her left forearm, tearing through the fabric of her outer shirt
"Shit! Sith soldiers!" Ulgo cried as he pushed Aleira behind a wall opposite of them. "Come on! If you want to live through this, you better start using your blaster!" he ordered as he began to fire at the oncoming soldiers.
Aleira hands shook as she tried to aim the blaster 'Come on, you can do this just…steady…aim…!'
"Fire Kain! That's an order! Ulgo interrupted, causing Aleira to jump and pull the trigger, which caught a soldier right between the eyes of his suit.
It took Aleira a brief 30 seconds to realize what in the hell she had just done.
"Nice shot for a first timer," Ulgo complimented as he tossed a frag grenade toward the other soldiers that began to close in on them. A loud explosion and the groaning of Sith soldiers soon followed.
Aleira felt herself shake.
'Di...did I just….kill someone…?'
Ulgo grabbed Aleira's shoulder, causing her to jump again.
"It's never easy your first time around kid. But we have got to keep moving"
Aleira nodded and fallowed him as he led them into the barracks, when a voice chimed in from Ulgo's wrist communicator.
Aleira glanced at Ulgo wrist to see a tiny video feed of another soldier on the ship, and she felt her face go a bit red. She could tell, even though he wore a thick orange jacket, that his body was very masculine. And the fact that he had the most luscious brown hair and the most beautiful brown eyes she had ever seen did not help matters.
'He…he's so handsome…!' she thought, mentally kicking herself again for having her head in the gutter.
"This is Carth Onasi-the Sith are threatening to overrun our position! We can't hold out long against their fire power! All hands to the bridge!"
After, the feed terminated and the tiny screen went black.
Ulgo then grabbed Aleira's arm once again and pulled her out of the barracks, all the while saying, "That was Carth Onasi!"
'I heard him! I'm not deaf!'
"He's one of the Republics best pilots! If he says things are bad you better believe it kid! Now move it! He pulled her arm harder, nearly causing Aleira to trip but she kept going
'When we get out of here, I'm going to kick you where the stars don't shine Ulgo!' she screamed mentally.
"Come on! I order you to move it soldier! We have to get to the bridge and help defend Bastila!"
They continued down the second corridor until they were met with another bombardment of Sith soldiers, along with another trail of bloody Republic bodies.
"These Sith must be the advanced boarding party!"
As the Sith began to fire in their direction, Ulgo cried "For the Republic!" and charged into the hall, Aleira right behind him.
While Ulgo blasted soldiers left and right, Aleira became cornered by a more heavy built Sith, who had his long sword drawn and ready to slice her throat. When she tried to fire, her blaster jammed.
'Bantha shit!'
As the soldier charged toward her at top speed, Aleira ducked at the last second and the blade pierced straight through the metal wall behind her. Finding this to be a perfect stroke of chance, Aleira pulled a thick scalpel from her bag and shoved it deep into a small fabric lining built into the armor. She prayed she had calculated correctly and had hit a vital organ.
There was a sudden pause. Then the Sith crumpled to the floor, into a pool of his own blood.
Aleira sat in shock to what she had just done, her hands shaking around the bloody scalpel clutched between them.
"Are you alright soldier?" Ulgo asked, reaching his hand down towards her.
"Y..yes. I'm alright." She responded as she allowed Ulgo to assist up from the floor.
"I've got a gut feeling that won't be our last battle with the Sith. Good thing you're here Kain. Your medical training will definitely come in handy."
"Thank you sir."
"No thanks needed. Now let's get a move on."
Aleira nodded and they continued down the hall to the next sector.
~Aleira~
Before we continued, Ulgo handed me his spare long sword, "You seem to handle a sword better than a gun Kain so I would recommend you take it,"
I nodded, taking it into my still shaking hands. Than before I had a second thought, he grabbed my arm and we went to continue our mission to find Bastila.
Ulgo and I ran into at least two other Sith patrol squads while making our way to the bridge. I personally found it easier to take the soldiers with a sword rather than a stupid tiny blaster. I always was better with close hand combat.
When Ulgo and I finally made it to the bridge, all we saw were more Sith and Republic corpses.
I turned over all the bodies, checking pulses but getting none. After a few minutes of cadaver searching, Ulgo exclaimed, "Bastila's not here on the bridge-they must have retreated to the escape pods"
I looked at him, and then toward the lifeless body of a Republic woman in front of me…Her entire face had been obliterated…
'Those Sith monsters!'
"Bastila's not here on the bridge-They must have retreated to the escape pods! We have had better head that way to!"
I stood and we continued to make our way through the ship, trying to maneuver our way through the cadavers, ship wreckage and scattered droid pieces.
"We have to hurry! Those Sith bastards want Bastila alive! But once she's off the ship, there's nothing stopping them from blasting the Endar Spire in galactic space dust!"
I pulled away from Ulgo's grip so I could stop for a moment to catch my breath. I leaned against the wall, heaving in and out. I felt as though I had swallowed my own lungs.
Ulgo turned to me and I could tell he was going to bark more orders at me. But before he could get a single word in edge wise, the sound of footsteps against the metal floor were heard behind the door across from us.
"There's someone or something behind the door," And no sooner had that sentence escaped his lips, the door slid open, revealing a dark Jedi. Red lightsaber drawn and ready combat.
"Damn-another dark Jedi! I'll try to hold him off! You get to the escape pods!" Ulgo ordered to me, drawing a long sword.
I stood in shock. My mind told me to run, but my legs were stone stiff.
"Kain! That's an order! Move it!"
"But Ul-" I began to move forward to try and aid him but then the door slammed shut, and he disappeared from my sight.
I tried to open it, but deep down I knew, it was too late. He was gone.
"Trask…" I whispered.
My train of thought was broken by a small whimper from my bag. I felt Izzy shaking through the thick leather and I poked my head in. "Izzy?"
He stared up at me, his tiny body shaking violently with fear.
"Don't worry Izzy, We'll get out of here soon, I promise. And I swear to you, you will never ever have to go into space again. You can stay where you belong. On land"
Even though Izzy probably didn't understand a word I had said, his shaking subsided, and he licked my cheek tenderly.
I smiled but our calm moment was interrupted by chiming sound of my wrist communicator. I glanced at it.
It was that Onasi guy again. I felt my cheeks go red and I kicked myself mentally again.
"This is Carth Onasi on your personal communicator. I'm at the escape pods. You get down here quick. I'm tracking your position through the Endire Spire's life support system and it looks you're the only surviving crew member besides me…and your little gizka friend"
I laughed nervously and said, "Well guess the gizka's out of the bag eh, Onasi?" then I mentally kicked my own ass for such a bad pun at a time like this.
He just looked at me through the fuzzy blue screen then said "Listen, Bastila's escape is away and I can't wait for you much longer! You have to get to the escape pods!" then the screen went black.
I stood for a moment
'I survived? But…' my thoughts became interrupted by Izzy's croaking
I looked down at him and nodded. "Right," I said "We should go."
I turned and sprinted quickly down the metal corridors of the ship, praying that I wouldn't run into anymore enemies. But to my dismay, my prayers were not answered. I was unfortunately forced into combat with at least three more Sith soldiers. It's still a bit of a blur to me. It's hard to have any sense of time when you're trying to keep yourself from getting turned into Swiss cheese or getting gutted like a Gooberfish. When all three men fell dead, it took me a moment to remember why or how they had gotten like that in the first place.
I leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. I stared at the long sword in my hand. It was doused in blood. I tossed it to the floor, and then slid down the wall. I was now sitting on a cold metal floor and in a puddle of cold blood. I clutched my knees. I couldn't do this. It didn't take long for me to break down crying.
'Oh please…I want to go home! Please…! To Tatoonine…To my home…! To…'
"Dad.." I thought aloud.
Izzy whimpered.
I looked down at the tiny gizka below me. I was being selfish. If I just sat here in my misery, I would be costing Izzy his life. As well as the life of my father's. I couldn't do that to them. I wouldn't.
I pushed myself up and picked up my long sword, cleaned it then slid back into its sheath. Then Onasi's voice chimed in on my communicator.
"Your movement stopped. Are you alright?" he asked. "You're not injured are you?"
I wiped my eyes quickly and responded "No, I'm alright. Just had to catch my breath sir."
"Well I just thought I should warn you before you venture any further."
"Warn me?"
"Yes. There's a whole squad of Sith troopers on the other side of that door. You need to find some way to thin their numbers."
I looked around the room. To my left a decommissioned droid. To my right, a computer module. Then I turned my attention back to the tiny blue screen on my wrist.
"And how, pray tell, would you recommend I do that?"
"Hmm…Well, you could try and reprogram the damages assault droid to help you, if you have enough repair parts that is."
I looked back to the droid and I shuddered. For I had been reminded of the last time I had attempted to fix a droid. I don't remember exactly what it was I did wrong, but the next thing I knew, there was an explosion, my face was pitch black and my eyebrows were obliterated.
"Any other possible options sir?"
"You could try and use computer spikes to slice into the terminal and use the Endar Spire's security systems against the Sith."
I nodded.
"Listen, you need to hurry. The Sith are going to blow the ship to kingdom come, WITH us on it if you don't move it. Onasi over and out"
I sighed and pulled out a few spikes. Within a few seconds, there was huge blast from the next room, cries of shock and pain, and then several thumps of cadavers hitting the floor.
I opened the door and quickly maneuvered through the maze of blood and corpses until I reached the door opposite of me.
I practically threw myself through it. When I stopped to catch my breath, I heard a voice and looked up. It was Onasi. I couldn't help but blush. Hopefully he would think it only to be from all my previous running around on the ship.
"You made it just in time!" He grabbed my arm and I winced 'Another guy whose all force and no finesse' I thought.
"We need to move!"he demanded, pulling me toward last pod chamber "There's only one active escape pod left! Come on! We can hide out on the planet below!"
"Wait!" I demanded and he looked at me "Who are you? And how do I know I can even trust you?"
"I'm a soldier for the Republic, like you. And you and I are the last surviving crew members left on the Endar Spire. Look, Bastila's already gone so there isn't any reason us to stick around here and get shot by the Sith!"
He pulled me into the pod and activated the escape sequence.
"There will be time for questions later" And the pod launched.
As the pod released, I thought 'Even we even live that lo-' before I lurched forward. The force was so great I was tossed to the floor of the pod.
The last thing I remember was the sound of a giant explosion, which I assumed to be the Sith obliterating the Endar Spire and the soft sound of Carth's voice.
"Are you…"
His voice faded and everything went black.
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Okay. My first chapter is done. I will update once I get at least 10 reviews for this chapter.
Chapter Two: Taris