She knew what she was.
People around her didn't. Not anymore at least. She recognized this now as she walked across the sandy surface of Tatooine. The heat glared down at her, but she almost couldn't feel it. She was cold on the inside; cold enough to let her ignore the blinding heat. After all, what did one feel after they were already dead? And if she was anything, she was certainly dead. Dead to feeling, dead to emotion, dead to the world, and more than anything, dead to herself.
She walked into Anchorhead, her previously white hair whipping in the wind, sending small lines of red in front of her face. She reached out and quickly caught a strand of the dusty hair and inspected it. Her hair was growing light again. She was going to have to dye it soon or start using the wristbands again.
The exile shook her head and continued walking. She couldn't allow herself to be so easily distracted. People stared at her when she was actually inside the settlement, away from the docks. She understood why. She stuck out in a crowd even though all she wanted to do was blend in. Clad in the armor she always wore with weapons of all sort attached to her belt, there wasn't anyway she could blend in.
"The Republic seems to still be trying to recover from the catastrophic war with the Mandalorians." The small bit of news caught the exile's attention. She turned around and saw that a small group of people were standing around the holo of a news reporter. She slowly walked up behind them, listening the entire time.
"The heroes of the war, the Jedi Revan and Malak, have disappeared along with the entire Republic fleet they commanded. They seemed to have gone past even the graveyard world of Malachor V…" the exile turned around and sharply walked away. Revan and Malak…they had been two of her best friends. And then the war had happened. She had become a general under them while they commanded everything else.
Aurali had become a private scout for Revan. She had always been sent away to missions on some far off planet that the general had never been privy to. And then there was Malachor V. The planet that the exile had destroyed, killing so many people in the process. And as she thought about it now, she was lucky she hadn't been one of them. She had known for a long time that Revan had wanted her dead, and Malachor had almost done her in. But if anything the exile was a survivor in a physical sense, and she had only lost the Force and herself that day. But her body continued to push on and keep going, even if there wasn't a person or a soul inside her anymore.
The exile took a turn and walked into the Czerka office. It was hot and stifling in the room, but she didn't care. She really didn't care about anything now. The Czerka employee that was standing in the office was incredibly bored. That was easy to tell from merely her stance. She however seemed to straighten up when the exile walked in.
"Kiana Shale?" she asked tightly. Kiana nodded her head stiffly, the name sounding bitter in the heavy air. Kiana Shale, Jedi General, Tyla Moore…she was none of these people. Names meant nothing to her now. They didn't define you or what you were. They were simply a shell that people used to make themselves feel important and unique. But the exile knew better now.
Nobody was special, nobody was important, and nobody was above anything. She herself hadn't been immune to the love that had almost killed her, Revan and Malak hadn't been above the darkness that consumed them, and Aurali hadn't even bothered to stick around.
"That's me. What do you need?" She said stiffly. The Czerka rep droned on about the job as Kiana allowed herself to be lost in her own thoughts. It had been at least three years since the day of her exile. Three days since her life had been shattered and she had lost everything that had made her herself. Three years since she had given up on not only the Jedi and the Force, but on their light and their redemption as well. There was no point anymore. Why help the universe when all it was going to do was throw you away when it was done with you? That was the one though that ruled her mind now, and she would never again be foolish enough to forget that lesson.
"Do you have something against killing innocent people? Because if you do, this job may not be for you." The rep muttered quickly and Kiana shook her head, pushing her white hair out of her face.
"No. I don't." She responded instantly, letting her hands fall to her weapons. Why should she care? Everybody had done something in their life to deserve death at one point. What made the so-called innocent people so special? All their innocence meant was that they hadn't been caught yet. That was all.
"Good. Then we have a deal." The rep said, holding out her hand for Kiana to shake it. Kiana just turned on her heel, turning away from her and out onto the scorching surface of Tatooine. Any part of her that had once been Jedi was dead. Long gone, buried under all the pain and hurt she had suffered as a teenager during the war. Did she even care? No, not really. There was no point. No meaning. Life was just an excuse to hurt people more. And if she just happened to speed up the process a little more, better for her. Only the strong survived in this world. She understood that now. Those who were weak were left behind. Those left behind were killed. Tyla Moore had died once. Kiana Shale refused to be weak again.
Anything familiar belongs to LucasArts/Bioware/Obsidian. Tyla Moore/Kiana Shale belongs to Shadows of the Storm. Aurali Adrics/Leila Cross belongs to Aurali Adrics.
What's In A Name © Shadows of the Storm