Disclaimer: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords was created by Lucasarts and Obsidian Entertainment
Awaken.
Meetra Surik's body jerked. Her eyes opened a crack; the light hurt too much and she shut them again. Her arms and legs felt sluggish, and she couldn't focus. She heard a muffled beeping, and the world lurched. She moved her arms and legs, but she couldn't feel anything. Everything tilted, and she was lying on a firm surface, plasteel maybe. She picked up the too-sweet, vegetal odor of kolto. Meetra recognized her mental fog as the aftereffects of a sedative. She opened her eyes without pain this time, and took a look around. She was in the recovery ward of a starship or space station medical facility. It wasn't the Harbinger's med bay. How did I get here? More important, where is here? She looked around the room. There were four men in other kolto tubes, but they appeared to be dead. Not a good sign.
She found a mirror. Meetra was plainly pretty, or pretty plain, she could never decide. The only standout feature of her face was a pair of bright blue eyes. Her brown hair was cut to frame her face, coming down to her jawline in front; in back, it hung to just below her shoulder blades. Meetra looked at herself: Slightly above average height, forty-six years old, body toned by regular exercise. She was wearing only a one-piece spacer's undergarment. It fit well and showed off her athletic figure to advantage, but she'd rather not be in an unfamiliar place in skivvies-and the metal deck was cold for bare feet.
There was nothing useful in the room, so Meetra headed out the door and down the hall. The corridor was blocked by a pressure door with a damaged locking mechanism. Two other doors opened off either side of the hallway; they were marked 'morgue' and 'medical office.' The morgue was locked, but the office sounded promising. Meetra opened the office door and began to search. There wasn't much inside, just a few medpacs mounted to the wall and a lab bench for synthesizing medicines. Meetra turned to the medical computer. A little slicing, and she had access to the medical officer's files.
Much of the data was corrupted, but what was left was fairly sinister. She was on some sort of mining station. She had arrived unconscious, aboard a light freighter. The ship was badly damaged, apparently by laser fire. The only other person on board was an old woman, dead on arrival. Shortly after she was brought aboard, an explosion in the mine had killed and injured several miners. That didn't explain the dead men in the kolto tanks; Meetra looked deeper. The five kolto tanks had all been programmed to administer an overdose of sedatives. This had been lethal to the miners, but Meetra had fortunately resisted the poisoning. She sucked in a breath. Someone just tried to kill me, and they didn't care that four other people would die too.
She used the medical officer's authorization to open the morgue door, hoping for another exit to get around the blocked passageway. No such luck-the main door was the only way in or out. The old woman Meetra had arrived with lay on a slab, dressed in a set of brown and tan robes. A dead miner lay on the slab next to her, under a sheet. Meetra searched the dead man's personal effects. Ah! Finally, some good luck. The miner's clothing had been shredded and burnt by an explosion in the tunnels, but his tool belt was intact. It held a pair of empty pouches, a sheath for a short blade-and a plasma torch.
Meetra picked up the belt, turned to leave, and nearly died of fright: the 'dead' woman was standing between her and the door.
"Find what you are looking for amongst the dead?" Her voice was low for a woman's, slightly rough-and familiar.
Meetra frowned. "Your voice. I heard it as I floated in the kolto tank."
The woman nodded. "Yes, I had hoped as much-I slept here too long, and could not awaken. It may be I reached out unconsciously, and your mind must have been a willing one." She angled her head slightly. "Or perhaps you have been trained for such things?"
"So you can touch minds… and feign death." Meetra's lips thinned. "Who are you?"
"I am Kreia, and I am your rescuer-as you are mine," she said. "Tell me-do you recall what happened?"
Meetra shook her head. "Last thing I remember, I was on board a Republic ship, the Harbinger… what happened to it?"
"Your ship was attacked," replied Kreia. "You were the only survivor… a result of your Jedi training, no doubt."
Meetra's eyes narrowed. "How do you know I was a Jedi?"
Kreia looked her up and down. "Your stance, your walk tells me you are a Jedi. Your walk is heavy, you carry something that weighs you down."
Meetra looked at the floor. "The Jedi Order and I have a… troubled history."
"So it would seem," Kreia said evenly. "Keep your past-and let us focus on the now."
"All right." Meetra took a breath and let it out. "What's going on? How did we get here?"
Kreia shrugged. "I do not know. I was removed from the events of the world as I slept. A survey of the surroundings may provide the answers we seek." She glanced down the hall. "The ship we arrived in must still be in this place. We should recover it and leave."
Meetra cocked her head. "Why do we need to leave?"
"We were attacked once, and I fear our attackers will not give up the hunt so easily," answered Kreia. "Without transport, weapons, and information, they will find us easy prey indeed."
"You seem nervous, worried," Meetra said. "Is something wrong?"
Kreia nodded slowly. As she angled her head, Meetra saw beneath her hood. Her eyes were completely white-Kreia was blind. "Even as I slept, I felt much unrest here-I saw strange visions, minds colored with fear-now, everything here feels terribly silent. I would find out as much as you can about this place quickly-I fear we will need to depart as suddenly as we arrived."
"We'll see." Meetra glanced over her shoulder toward the door. "There's got to be someone left alive around here."
"You may wish to extend your search to some clothes, if only for proper first impressions," Kreia said dryly.
Meetra smiled, then cocked her head thoughtfully. "You said you felt some of what happened while you slept. The patients in med bay were killed by a lethal dose of sedatives. Any idea how it happened?"
Kreia shook her head. "I do not know-why did they spare you?"
"They didn't," snorted Meetra. "I got the same dose, but survived."
"Indeed, a Jedi trance could protect one from such poisons…" Kreia stroked her chin. "In fact, the sedatives may have been intended to keep you unconscious for some time. It would prove lethal to those untrained in such techniques, however. Most curious."
Meetra frowned. "You seem to know a lot about Jedi techniques." Who are you?
"And so do you," smiled Kreia. "Perhaps we could discuss it at length later on-now we have other concerns-among them, finding our new enemy."
Meetra buckled on the belt. "I'll return soon to make sure you're all right."
Kreia nodded. "I leave you to the explorations of this place… here I will remain and attempt to center myself."
Meetra crossed the hall and slipped the medpacs into a belt pouch. The plasma torch ignited with a low whoosh; she cut through the damaged door around the lock. The broken mechanism fell to the floor with a clang and the door ground open. Two dead miners lay in the next section of hallway near a shattered mining droid; both had been shot. Meetra knelt to search them and came up with a vibrocutter. It was a common tool used to cut through tough materials, but it could also serve as a short sword. It fit nicely into the sheath on the tool belt. She looked around the room. To her right was a sealed turbolift door, and there was another door to the left. She shrugged and headed that way.
The door slid open and two more mining droids turned to face Meetra. The low-slung robots walked crab-like on four legs. Each had a pair of tool arms with mining lasers. They were somewhat damaged; one was missing a blaster arm and another had some sensor damage. The droids began firing and Meetra dove to the floor. She ran in and slashed at one of the droids, hacking off one of its arms. The droid tracked her with the other arm and fired. Meetra spun out of the way and the bolts hit the other droid; it crashed to the floor, sparking. She finished the droid off before it could attack her again.
Meetra frowned. The droids are attacking people, and someone poisoned the injured miners. What's going on here? She opened the door to find two more damaged mining droids and another body. No hesitation this time-she rushed the droids and crippled them by taking some legs off, then finished them before they could recover. Meetra looked down at the body; a laser drill sat on the floor near the man's right hand. She retrieved the improvised pistol and clipped it to a hook on her belt.
The door at the far end of the hall opened into an office. Meetra checked the desk terminal first. This was the mine's security office. The logs were as fragmented-and disturbing-as the ones from the medical bay. The mine's droids and systems seemed to have been malfunctioning, injuring several miners. The security chief was angry with the head of maintenance; he seemed to be worried about sabotage. A few days prior he had set up an override system to shut down any droids on the administration level, in case the glitches got worse. One of the chief's journal entries mentioned some captured contraband in the security storage room. Meetra decided to check that out next. As she approached the door, Meetra felt slightly odd.
Be careful, Kreia said, there is much energy in the room beyond… yet it stems from nothing that lives.
Meetra blinked-the old woman's voice was in her mind. "Kreia, wh-?"
Can you not sense them? Kreia asked. Reach out… cast aside your sight, cast aside what you see, and instead, reach out with your perceptions.
Meetra concentrated as she hadn't in years. There was something there-three flickers beyond the door. Ah, you can feel them, said Kreia. The droids you cannot perceive, but the small oscillations of energy… that you can feel, echoing outwards.
Meetra took a deep breath and readied herself. She opened the door. Three mining droids stood waiting-and they weren't damaged. Two began shooting as the third moved towards her. Meetra drew the vibrocutter in her right hand and the plasma torch in her left. She took an arm off the first droid and then burned through its control cluster with the torch. The other two kept shooting as she ran in. A bolt hit Meetra in the right forearm; she cried out and dropped the cutter. The droids closed in for the kill. Meetra melted the second droid's processor, but the third knocked her down and pinned her with its legs. She couldn't lift her arm to use the torch. The droid raised its arm to crush her skull.
Meetra desperately tried to shove the robot off with her empty right hand. She felt a sudden vibration, and electricity coursed over the droid. It jerked, twitched, and crashed to the ground next to her. Meetra looked at her hand, confused. Can it be?
Ah, you hear it, said Kreia. It is faint… but it is there.
Meetra lay on the deck, completely drained. "What is happening?"
It is the Force you feel, Kreia replied. It has not been so long as for you to forget.
Meetra rolled to her hands and knees. "But it doesn't feel like it did," she said slowly. "It feels like it is coming from across a great distance."
Do not turn away from it, Kreia said quietly. Listen… feel it echoing within you.
Meetra knelt on the deck. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. The vibration was tiny, but she felt it nonetheless-the smallest sound in the greatest stillness. The Force was with her once more.
There was no time for celebration. Meetra was still stuck on a mining station, she knew not where, and there were dead people everywhere. She used a medpac on her injured arm, then walked over to the contraband footlocker. Inside was a stealth field generator and a couple of ion grenades. Meetra took everything and moved on. The door opened onto the main mining control room. There were several droids, and they all scuttled to surround her. Meetra threw a grenade. The blast dropped two droids and temporarily scrambled the rest. Meetra ran for the control console and hit the override switch. The droids regained control, but stood still, perfectly docile.
Meetra had a look at the control console. It wasn't working properly, so she looked around the room. The boards displaying systems information were showing static. There was another sealed turbolift and two hallways leading to the station's docking arms. The remaining door was marked 'holding cells.' With no other options, Meetra walked up to it.
Ah, came Kreia's voice. Beyond this door someone yet lives… Be mindful, his thoughts are difficult to read. Meetra hesitated in front of the door. But you have nothing to fear from this one, and he might yet prove useful, Kreia finished. Meetra nodded and opened the door.
The station's detention area was a small room with four force cages. The one in the left rear was active. It held a man in his mid-to-late twenties. He was tall, with a light complexion, dark brown hair, and hazel eyes. He wore a ribbed short-sleeve jacket of brown leather over a simple white shirt and navy blue pants with a yellow leg stripe. He looked Meetra up and down, spending more time than was proper gazing at her bust and groin. "Nice outfit." He smiled crudely. "What, you miners change regulation uniform while I've been in here?"
"I'd keep those eyes up, and tell me who you are," Meetra said sharply.
"Atton… Atton Rand," he replied, only glancing up for a second. "Excuse me if I don't shake hands. The field only causes minor electrical burns."
Meetra crossed her arms. "Care to explain why you're locked up?"
"Security claimed I violated some trumped-up regulation or other." Atton waved dismissively. "Take it up with them if you want, but they stopped listening to me shortly before they stopped feeding me. Now that's criminal."
First things first, thought Meetra. "What is this place?"
Atton rolled his eyes. "You mean you didn't come here on purpose? I'm shocked, I really am." He looked to the ceiling and gestured with both hands. "This slice of paradise is the Peragus mining facility, the only supplier of shipping-grade engine fuel to this corner of the galaxy."
"This facility's deserted," said Meetra. "What happened?"
"You mean, before or after that Jedi showed up?" asked Atton. "Either way, it's a real short story. You see, this Jedi shows 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." Atton snorted and placed a hand to his forehead. "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 for live Jedi. Well, what passes for the law here didn't like that idea, so the two groups started fighting." Atton grunted. "Then there was some big explosion, I was sitting here for a long time, then you showed up in your underwear and things got a lot better."
Meetra decided to ignore that last bit. "There's a bounty on captured Jedi? Why?"
Atton shook his head. "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."
"Not many Jedi left?" said Meetra, startled. "What happened to them?"
"The ones that weren't killed in the Jedi Civil War ended up switching off the lightsabers long ago," said Atton. "Word is, there's not even a Jedi Council anymore, but who knows?"
"I had heard rumors of a war," Meetra said slowly, "but a war between Jedi?"
"Yeah," said Atton, still staring at Meetra's legs, "Revan, Malak, 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. Where have you been?"
Meetra looked down. "I've been… away since the Mandalorian Wars."
"Well, I wasn't there," said Atton, "but like all Sith, Revan and Malak turned on each other. After they turned on the Jedi, of course."
Meetra blinked. "I was led to believe that Revan saved the Jedi-and the Republic."
Atton shrugged. "I guess… there's rumors all over space about it. All I heard was Revan returned to pay Malak back for trying to kill her in the first place. You know women."
"How long have you been in that cage?" Meetra asked incredulously. "Revan was a man, not a woman."
"Maybe you're right," said Atton, "maybe I just hoped Revan was a woman."
Meetra rolled her eyes. "This discussion about Revan is pointless. I need to know what happened here."
"Look," said Atton brusquely, "not like your half-naked interrogation isn't a personal fantasy of mine, but…" He trailed off as he finally looked back up to Meetra's face. Atton's mouth fell open. "Hey, wait a minute-you're that Jedi the miners were talking about. Where is everybody?"
"I don't know," replied Meetra, shrugging. "This facility seems abandoned. I've seen seven dead so far."
Atton looked back down, just thinking this time. "The miners can't all be gone. But if they are…" He raised his head and met Meetra's eyes. "Look, hey, let me out, and I can help you. I can. I've gotten out of trouble countless times."
Meetra pursed her lips. "Tell me your plan, and we can go from there."
"This facility isn't a military installation," said Atton, "which means we may have a chance. You shut down this cell's security field, and I can reroute the emergency systems so we can get to the hangars. We grab a ship and then we fly out of here."
Meetra took a moment to think and nodded. "I trust you. And if we work together, we may be able to get out of this mess." She walked to the wall switch and shut down the force field.
Atton stepped out of the force cage. "Great-now to business. Let's get to the command console."
"All right," said Meetra, "let's go. I'm Meetra Surik, by the way." The pair headed back to the console in the bay window.
"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, so 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." His 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."
The console chimed and Atton grinned. "Pure pazaak-the console's ours. Now, all we need to do is re-activate the turbolifts, cancel the emergency lockdown… hey." He blinked and examined the console closely."
Meetra walked up next to him. "What's wrong?"
"This system's been severed from the main hub," Atton said slowly, "after it was locked down from remote. You can't even reroute the system, it's been cut clean."
Meetra frowned. "That wouldn't be standard procedure in an emergency lockdown."
Atton shook his head angrily. "No-someone tried to lock down this whole level tight, and leave us here. Trapped."
Meetra 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. All we have is communications back, for all the good trying to shout in a vacuum will do us."
"Let's see if we can try and reach someone on the comm," said Meetra. "We may not be the only ones trapped."
Atton nodded. "Be my guest-not much else we can do. The comm's all yours." He stepped aside, to give Meetra room at the console.
Meetra selected the miner's dormitory and hit the call button. She got nothing but static. Next, she tried the hangar bay. There was a response-the beeping of a droid. Here's hoping it isn't sabotaged. "Do a diagnostic, then stand by for instructions."
Text appeared on the console. "Designation: T3-M4. Class: utility astromech. Status: operational. Ready for orders, master."
"We're trapped up on the administration level," said Meetra. "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. Meetra took a moment to think. "There must be emergency hatches-try to find one."
T3 beeped in the affirmative, cut the comm, and got to work.
A/N: Here we go! This is the last main section of the saga, covering KotOR II. This fic is much more dialogue-heavy than the others, because more of the dialogue in TSL is plot-relevant, where I cut a lot of the talking from KotOR I when writing Second Chances. As a result, this is the longest fic section, clocking in at over 210k words. I do think that I keep the action coming well enough to keep the fic interesting, and I have a few AU surprises in store. As you read through this, please review or PM me and let me know what you think. It really makes a world of difference.
