Destiny Awaits

The Exile Returns

Part 1

On board the Ebon Hawk all-organic forms are silent… the only living one is an exiledJedi Knight, Kirana Sunrider, who was in the medbay. Sparks flew from various locations as a droid, T3-M4 made his way slowly and carefully around the dying ship. He needed to repair the hyperdrive before they could limp in for repairs. As he made his way around the ship to repair it enough to limp into the nearest port – Peragus Asteroid Station – he came across the body of a robed woman lying on the floor of the main living area of the ship… he beeped and continued on… there was no time to pay respects to the dead, not when there was one that lived and he must get the ship in order to save her…

Through the fog of nothingness, Kirana heard a voice coming as if from afar… telling her to Awaken… Slowly she came around finding that she had been in a kolto tank for quite some time. Her head took a long time to clear before she unsteadily rose to her feet and looked around. She was in a medical bay that was full of what looked to be miners in the remaining kolto tanks. The only thing was, they all looked as if they were dead… and there were no medical personnel around anywhere. What is going on here? Kira shrugged and decided first order of the day would be to find some clothes. As she had been in the tank a while she had been in her issued underwear, not the most flattering of outfits. She couldn't even find a towel to dry herself off so would have to drip dry.

No sign of anyone anywhere… where are they all? Heading over to the medbay computer she logged on to see what information she could find out. Hmmm interesting… From the holovid's she could see footage of herself being carried from the Ebon Hawk. Another showed a discussion going on about her being a Jedi and also of all of the droids acting oddly. Another lot of footage showed an argument taking place, some of the miners wanted to turn her over to the Exchange for the bounty. Now that's not good… She unlocked the doors to the morgue and the stores room and headed in to find some clothing. What? No clothes? Oh that's just great… I still have to run around in my underwear… just great… what fun… NOT!

She headed from the stores room into the morgue, seeing the old woman from the video footage of the Ebon Hawk laid out there. Paying no more attention to her, she moved onto the only other occupant, searching for anything useful that she could use for either a weapon or for later use.

"Find what you're looking for amongst the dead?"

Kira jumped and spun around… seeing the woman now standing before her… strangely enough it didn't surprise her as much as she thought it would have.

"Your voice I heard it as I floated in the kolto tank."

"I hoped as much", the old woman stated and went on to mention that it would have been through her Jedi training.

Kira looked thoughtfully at her before answering, "So you can touch minds... and feign death. Who are you?"

"I am Kreia, and I am your rescuer from the Harbinger...do you remember what happened?"

Now Kira had to think hard… she really didn't know what had happened… "Last thing I remember, I was on board a Republic ship...what happened to it?"

"Your ship was attacked by the sith... they are after you because of your Jedi training, no doubt." Kreia stated.

Feeling that honesty was the best policy Kira answered her truthfully, "I am no longer a member of the Jedi Order."

Kreia regarded her carefully for a moment, her voice very understanding when she spoke. "Your stance, your walk is that of a Jedi...your past is what weighs you down."

Feeling the need to unburden somewhat Kira replied, "The Jedi Order and I have a ... troubled history. I was exiled."

"So it would seem" Kreia regarded her with an understanding look on her face"... let us focus on the now."

"Very well. How do we get out of here?" Kira dropped one subject and took up another.

"I do not know...we should recover the Ebon Hawk and leave."

Kira's head was still rather fuzzy, she gathered it was from whatever medications she had been given while in the tank. Puzzled she looked into Kreia's sightless eyes.

"Why do we need to leave?"

"We were attacked once by the sith, they would find us easy prey indeed." Kreia calmly stated, managing to make Kira feel the urgency behind her words.

"You seem nervous, worried. Is something wrong?" Kira got the feeling that something was wrong… but she really couldn't focus properly just yet, it had been such a long time since she had felt the force, had trusted the force.

"...we will need to depart as suddenly as we arrived." Kreia's tone sounded far away again before she snapped again back to the present, looking her over. "You may wish to extend your search for some clothes..."

Kira looked down at herself, blushing slightly. She had almost forgotten her unclothed state and that sharply reminded her. Concern for her companion came through in her voice… she would have to do all the running around for a while.

"I'll return soon to make sure you're all right."

She headed out of the morgue, coming up against a damaged door. Grabbing the plasma torch Kira set to work on the door, trying to get it open. With much effort she managed to open it and passed through, checking everything in sight for equipment and weapons that she might need, although she still couldn't find any clothing. Where the hell are the clothes? There's got to be some around here somewhere, you'd think they would have had a set in the med bay for their patients dignity at least! Humph! At least they should have been in the lockers…

Kreia's voice again sounded in her mind, giving her a lesson on the feelings within the force… telling her to stretch out her senses to see what was beyond the doors without using her eyes. It took some time to focus on what used to be second nature to her, she would have to relearn all that she had had taken from her, all that had been second nature to her. What she sensed made her glad that she hadn't just barged straight into the next room… forewarned is forearmed.

Oh great just what I needed, to fight psychopathic droids in my underwear with only a plasma torch… great, great, great… this keeps getting better and better… NOT! She found that the room was full of mining droids. She would have to fight her way through them only armed with the plasma torch. It actually turned out to be rather efficient tool against them. Kira found that she easily fell into the dance of the battle, especially since these droids were not programmed to be attack droids originally.

Someone had done a quick job on reprogramming to turn them into combat machines. For not having fought close combat for quite some time, she slashed and jabbed, parried and defended herself admirably against her opponents, finding only a few of the mining laser blasts getting through her defenses. The warrior inside of her came easily to the surface and with feeling the force whispering in her veins after so long she felt more in tune with herself than she had for a long time. With her injuries though, she'd either have to concentrate on healing – if she could remember how to do that, or find a medpack somewhere, probably have to find a medpack. Her touch with the Force was only tentative as yet. Kira's other option was to return to the med station and fix herself up again before going any further. Dismissing the latter thought she moved on.

Finding a vibroblade lying under one of the fallen miners Kira picked it up, knowing she would need it more than the deceased and kept going ahead, fighting her way past the remaining droids and searching through the facility for some sign of life other than the psychopathic droids that she was really starting to hate, at least she could trust T3. That little droid was one of the few that she knew she could trust. Spying a backpack she grabbed what she could find as she went, shoving items into the pack then throwing it over her shoulder, disappointed that she still hadn't found any clothing. Her short jumpsuit underwear was starting to look rather tattered by this time, laser blasts had scorched and burnt holes in a few places and she looked rather battle scarred, blood drying here and there where she'd been hit by glancing blows.

The Exile had to fight her way through several more groups of scattered droids as she made her way through the complex. The droids seemed to congregate in one's and two's more than anything else. Finally making it to the Administration section of Peragus she again heard Kreia's voice in her mind as she neared yet another closed door and fully expecting another fight once she entered. Surprise crossed her features at what the old woman had to say…

Ah… beyond this door someone yet lives… be mindful… his thoughts are… difficult to read… but you have nothing to fear from this one.

Kira made her way inside to see a man locked in the containment field looking like he had been there for some time. He looked up as she entered the room, his eyes lighting up as he took in her appearance, a huge smirk appearing on his face.

"Nice outfit – what, you miners change regulation uniforms since I've been in here?"

"I'd keep those eyes up, and tell me who you are." His words as well as the look he gave made her self-conscious. She could feel his eyes travel over her.

"Atton… Atton Rand. Excuse me if I don't shake hands – The field only causes minor electrical burns."

Ah… a comedian, this should be interesting… "Care to explain why you're locked up?" She asked curiously, her embarrassment momentarily forgotten.

"Security claimed I violated some trumped up regulations or other. Take it up with them but they stopped listening shortly before they stopped feeding me. Now that's criminal."

"This facility is deserted. What happened?" Sympathy for the dead briefly appeared on her face before she schooled it back to neutral. Atton wondered if he'd even seen the emotion cross her face… he was finding it hard to take his eyes off her. It had been some time since he had been with a woman and this one… well… standing there in her underwear, even if she did look alittle tattered was playing on his mind.

"You mean before or after the Jedi turned up? Either way it's a real short story. You see, this Jedi turns up and you know what that means – where there's one Jedi – the Republic will soon be crawling up your ion engine in no time. But the story gets better. See, some of the miners get it into their ferrocrete skulls that since the Jedi's unconscious, they can collect the bounty the Exchange has posted on live Jedi. Well what passes for law around here didn't like that idea, so the two groups started fighting. Then there was some explosion, I was sitting here some time and then you showed up in your underwear and things got a lot better."

Kira had to struggle not to blush, managing it only just. It had been such a long time since someone had even tried to flirt with her. She ignored his last comment, instead focusing on the bounty he had mentioned. It was news to her, she had been out of touch for a very long time… "There's a bounty on captured Jedi? Why?"

"Don't know much about it. Maybe the Exchange wants one as a trophy, or somebody's got something against Jedi and is looking to collect. Not many Jedi left… wouldn't surprise me if the bounty's pretty high."

Why were there so many gaps in her memory…why did she stay so long out of touch beyond the outer rim? "Not many Jedi left? What happened to them?" Her mind worked quickly, images of all the Jedi she knew flashed past and she had to wonder if they were all dead, or if they survived. The Jedi had been such a worthy cause, such a noble vocation, even if she was on the outside now.

"The ones that weren't killed in the Jedi Civil War ended up switching off the lightsabers long ago. Word is, there's not even a Jedi Council anymore, but who knows?" He was watching her closely, wondering at the sadness that briefly appeared in her eyes. Again he had to wonder if he had imagined it or not as it disappeared just as quick.

"Was it caused by the Mandalorian Wars?" She had fought in them, she had made her decision and stood by it… and for that had suffered in exile ever since. The only one to return to face the Council after defying them.

"Yeah, Revan, Malic and the Jedi that went to join them in the Mandalorian Wars. They turned against the other Jedi and had a scrap that almost laid waste to the galaxy. Heh. Where have you been?"

Knowing she had to say something, she hesitantly answered him, "I've been… away since the Mandalorian Wars."

"Well, I wasn't there. But like all Sith, Revan and Malic turned on each other. After they turned on the Republic."

"I was led to believe that Revan had saved the Jedi – and the Republic." That much she did know, having heard that when she'd been on board the Republic ship. She had felt the truth behind the words spoken.

"I guess… there's rumors all over space about it. All I heard was Revan returned to pay Malic back for trying to kill her in the first place. You know women." His words were to try and get a reaction out of her, he was finding this woman before him quite interesting and not only because of her near naked state.

"I had heard Raven's redemption involved her stopping Malic, and she had no choice but to fight him."

After all these years she still defended Revan, still believed that the choices that had been made at the time were for a reason, and that she had followed her into battle for the right reasons. The Council hadn't wanted to save the innocents but those Jedi that had followed Revan and Malic had. In hindsight she maybe wouldn't have made the same choices, but then… how was she to know that she would be stripped of the one thing that was so important to her, that had made her who she was. She had been paying for her choice ever since.

"Well, I wasn't there, thankfully. But I heard what she was like during the Mandalorian Wars, and it sounded like she was quick to wipe out anyone who crossed her. Dark Jedi are bad enough, but when woman falls to the dark side, you better space yourself before they catch you. Uh, no offense or anything." Suddenly realizing what he had said, he tried to back out of it, colour creeping up his face.

"None taken – I had some more questions for you." Towards the end Revan had acted like that… that was when Kira had made another choice and had been the only one that she knew of to do so. She had turned her back on the war, on following Revan and Malic into the darkness.

"Look, not like your half-naked interrogation isn't a personal fantasy of mine, but… Hey, wait a minute – you are that Jedi the miners were talking about. Where is everybody?"

I wondered when you'd realize that… "I don't know – this facility seems abandoned." Silently she laughed to herself, he had part of it correct at any rate.

"The miners can't be all gone. But if they are… Look – hey, let me out and I can help you. I can. I've gotten out of trouble countless times." Now his mind was working over time… he could get out of here… escape… but he was quick to realize that he would need her help to do so. He wasn't above teaming up with someone while the need was there… and besides, she looked damn sexy in her underwear, a real sight for sore eyes…

"Tell me your plan, and we'll go from there." Kira was fully aware of him checking her out, she also made it obvious that she was doing the same to him. While he wasn't the cutest she had seen, there was… something about him. Maybe it was his roguish good looks.

"This facility isn't a military installation which means we may have a chance. You shut down this cells' security field, and I can reroute the emergency systems so we can get to the hangers. We grab a ship and then we fly out of here."

"One thing first… the patients in the medical bay were killed by a lethal dose of sedatives. Know anything about that?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" His voice was honestly puzzled, he didn't know what the hell she was talking about.

"Nothing, I trust you – let me get you out of that cage and we can work together to get out of this mess."

She released him from his cage and he stepped out if it, a look of pure relief crossing his face as he left it behind. "Great – now to business. Lets get to the command console."

"All right, lets go." Kira motioned for him to walk with her, keeping herself on guard for any other unwanted surprises.

They both headed over to the console to see what information they could retrieve. The whole instillation had been locked down. They couldn't even transfer the navigation information to the Ebon Hawk. They would have difficulties even just reaching her ship. This was not good. Kira managed to tinker with the control panel and get a response on the communications unit. T3-M4 answered her call… at least that was something. They at least had a chance to get off this station. She told him what the situation was and set the little droid to work, trying to get them access to the lower levels and hopefully into the hanger.

While T3 was going about trying to find a way to open the turbolifts between levels she was surprised at what Atton came out with… not exactly what she was expecting from him and she felt self-conscious from his comments. He had been checking her out more than she had thought.

"So, uh, how long have you been a Jedi? Must be tough, you know… no family, … no husband…" His eyes traveled appreciatively over her again.

Getting abit personal aren't you buddy? "I don't really want to talk about it."

Her tone was said one thing – end of subject, she didn't want to discuss it. He didn't need to know that she was an exile, that she had been kicked out of the Jedi Order, at least not until she got to know him enough to open up, to trust him. She hadn't wanted to even think about those issues. She had been exiled by the Council since the end of the Mandalorian War and had kept herself private and apart from everyone. No contact with anyone if she couldn't help it, no personal attachments of any kind... and no friends. She had lead a lonely life for the last few years and wondered why, now, she had been brought back into civilization.

The door to the turbolift opened, letting Kira feel a sense of relief that the subject would be dropped. His comments did get her thinking though, and she really didn't want to think about it. Why had she cut herself off so completely? Not only had she been cut off from the Force, she had personally punished herself by removing herself from society, purposefully keeping herself beyond all reach out on the edges of known space. Until recently. Until she had been brought back. She still didn't quite understand why. Why hadn't she let go of the past, why hadn't she sort companionship, maybe even a husband after all that had happened. The Order didn't have any hold over her now, she was free to have a relationship if she wanted to, so why hadn't she? Was it just because she hadn't met anyone she was attracted to? Or was it because she still held onto the morals of the Jedi Code. "There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no passion, there is serenity." The two lines of the code that dealt with matters of the heart. Why had she not let them go? There was nothing stopping her from doing so… or was there? Was she just afraid to let go… to love…

"Hey what do you know – that little cargo cylinder came through." Atton's voice broke through her reverie.

"It looks like it. But it's strange he didn't contact us on the comm." She brought herself back to the hear and now and could sense that something wasn't quite right… what had happened to T3 that he didn't contact her? Another thing that was strange… her force senses were slowly returning. That in itself was rather… difficult to deal with. She had mixed emotions regarding it. She hadn't felt the touch of the Force since Malachor V and had felt the Jedi Council had stripped her of her powers for what she had done there. The price of war. The price for defying the Council.

"If he got the turbolifts working, then we should have a clear run to the hanger." Atton continued not realizing her mind was elsewhere still.

"The turbolifts are locked down manually, so I had him open the emergency hatch."

" Wait, wait. Don't tell me you're taking that hatch down into the mining tunnels... are you? That explosion I heard coming from below. There's probably nothing down there except superheated rock and collapsed blast tunnels. You'd be an idiot to go down there."

The look she gave him was resigned for a number of reason's. For the time being she would let him believe what he would, if he thought her still a Jedi, so be it, besides, if her powers were returning, she would have the better chance of getting though the tunnels. "A Jedi's life is sacrifice – besides, someone's got to save our skins"

"You're either really brave or really crazy – or both. All right – I'll try to monitor things from up here. Be careful – the only thing moving down there is likely to be droids, so don't be playing hero too hard. Uh, not that I care what happens to or anything. I just don't want to be trying to get off this rock by myself." A slight blush crept up his face and he avoided her eyes.

Kira hid a smile, although mischief shon in her clear blue eyes. "Your concern is noted. I'll be going now." More lighthearted than she had been for a time, she turned to go.

"I'll keep the comm link open… I may be able to guide you through the tunnels from up here. Don't know if the signal will hold if you get too deep though."

She gave him a cocky wave as she headed to the turbolift and down to the tunnels below. One thought kept coming into her head as she looked at her reflection in the metallic surface of the turbolift. Man I hope I find some clothes soon!