Mere Anarchy is the sequel to The Widening Gyre, a novella-length bridge between Kotor 1 and 2. You can find it and my other in-universe stories on my author page. Briefly, at the end of The Widening Gyre, Carth was promoted to Admiral and Mission signed on to the Telos Reconstruction Project. Case, former Lord of the Sith, set out for the Unknown Regions to battle the coming Darkness with Dustil, her accidental Padawan. Mere Anarchy begins five years after The Widening Gyre and one year after Kotor 2.
PROLOGUE
Dustil couldn't see the shapes clearly in the dim light, but he knew what they were. They reeked of Darkness, and their hisses spoke seductively of the freedom given by hate. They wanted them, and now they finally had their chance.
Dustil's breath came harshly to his mouth. The air on this planet was thin and gritty, like breathing in metal shavings with every gasp. His rebreather mask had given out days ago, and he had to make do with a piece of his cloak wrapped across his nose and mouth. He backed up slowly, holding his green blade toward the shadows moving toward them. He stopped when he felt a familiar solidity behind him.
"Ready for this?" Case asked. Dustil turned his head to the side and saw the glow of her yellow blade before her. It bled a small cylinder of brightness into the shadows around them.
"You know there's too many of them, right?" he asked, forcing some brave banter in spite of the clenching in his gut. He didn't want to die today.
"Absolutely." Dustil couldn't see her face, but he knew she'd be grinning fiercely, daring the shadows to move first.
One of the shadows took up a keening wail, high pitched and piercing. One by one the others took up the call, and soon the air echoed with the racket. Then the front line swept toward them and the fight was at hand.
Dustil fell into a rhythm of long practice with Case, slashing and parrying thrusts with his blade, ducking under hers when it came his way. He discovered that the shadows weren't any more discernable when they were close up—something about them, some trick of the light or the Force, blurred them into a shape of billowing cloak and Darkness. But they were solid enough when his blade slashed through them. They shrieked when they died, and collapsed into a pile of dark cloth.
Dustil tossed his blade to his left hand and threw his right arm in the air. Lightning burst in a nova around them, killing twenty of the shadows instantly and pushing the ones behind them back, chattering in fear. He panted, smelling ozone and burnt flesh. He felt a coolness from behind and knew Case was lending him Force strength to replace the reserves lost in the Nova. A quick thanks was all he had time for before they were fighting the next wave.
He wasn't sure how long it went on that way, hand-to-hand fighting until he or Case had enough strength to blow them back with the Force, then barely a moment to recover before they were fighting again. The waves of shadows never seemed to diminish. It could have been hours, or days. His blade was heavy in his hands, his legs slow. He knew they couldn't go on much longer.
Then, without warning, the shadows stopped. Dustil paused warily, not daring to lower his blade. They were still there, just beyond the range of their Force attacks, but they did not approach. Dustil reached for Case through their bond and felt her puzzlement. "What's up?" he whispered.
In response, the shadows took up another round of hissing. Case cocked her head, listening, and Dustil knew she was trying to understand their meaning through the Force. Dustil took the opportunity to assess his physical state—no major wounds, just numerous cuts from what seemed to be metal blades. Exhaustion numbed his arms, legs, every part of him, and he didn't have the Force reserves to do anything about it. They had been out of kolto for a year, and Dustil had yet to master more than the most rudimentary Force Heal.
Case gasped, jerking him back to the present. "What? What is it?" he asked urgently. Their bond pulsed with barely repressed fear.
"It's here," she whispered. "Get your blade up!"
Dustil had no idea what she was talking about, but he didn't fool around when she took that tone. He raised his blade and looked alertly outward, right hand glowing with Lightning.
The shadows before them parted and a figure strode toward them. Dustil stumbled backward from the palpable Darkness the shape projected. He could hardly see it, like it was pulling the dim light into itself. It hissed, and Dustil had to stop himself from putting his hands over his ears. With the last of his Force reserves, he sent a bolt of Lightning toward the figure, but it dissipated without ever touching the Darkness. The figure didn't so much as glance at him. It hissed again at Case.
"No!" Case shouted next to him. "You cannot have us both."
Dustil looked at her sharply, but she was glaring at the creature before them. "What are you doing?" he whispered.
The creature hissed again, and Dustil thought he heard a smile in the sound.
Case laughed without humor. "You can try, but why lose so many of your own? You can have me now, without a fight."
He felt desperately toward their bond, but she was blocking him. "No, Case! You can't!"
She looked at him then, dark eyes hard. "We're both going to die if I don't do this. They will let you live if I go with them."
"No! This wasn't our deal!" He grabbed Case's arm and tried to pull her in the direction of their ship, but she pulled a vibroknife from her belt and drove it downward into his thigh. He shouted and dropped to the ground.
Case looked down at him and he felt a trickle of Heal through their bond, just enough to keep him from going into shock. "You can't come with me, Dustil," she said flatly. "That's the deal." She straightened her shoulders and walked into the shadows.
"Case!" he shouted. He forced himself to his feet, but his injured leg betrayed him and he stumbled back to the ground. He reached for her through their bond, felt her fear and sadness. He shouted her name again, using all of his strength to push himself to his knees.
Only silence greeted his call.