A/N: This is simply a restructure of the previous story of the same name. The chapters were just too long and unwieldly for computer reading. Plus I took the opportunity to make some minor edits. There's no new content, so if you read the previous version you won't miss anything if you skip it. Thanks to Sirius, Slkwind, and Starburst for the previous reviews.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except Morii and any OC's. No really I own nothing... the bank owes it all. So don't sue me for a big chunk of my nothing. I make no money from this, hence the owning nothing.
The Jedi say the Force binds all things in the galaxy. Every thought, every word, and every action that takes place sends out ripples to the farthest ends of the Unknown Regions. A small pebble thrown into an ocean can destroy or save worlds. Even the smallest act, the most casual word can change the course of the entire galaxy. Move this rock from here to over there and a battle erupts on a planet light years away. Say the wrong thing at the right time and you send someone on a path, for good or ill that they never would have followed otherwise.
It is the task of the Jedi to try and see these connections and how they will affect each other, but it is a daunting and monumental task. For if something so small can change the destiny of worlds then what effect do the larger actions have? When someone decides to change the fate of the galaxy what kind of echoes do they send out into the blackness? And more important; when the echoes return to their owner, as they always do, how do they change the one who originated the echo? If the galaxy is about connections and their effect, what then? What happens to the one that birthed such a cry?
Do we reap what we sow? Do the consequences of our actions come back to haunt us? How can anyone ever hope to do the right thing in such a mire of connections? The Jedi and the Sith both share a common belief. The Force will occasionally choose instruments to bring balance back to the galaxy. That in order to combat so much choice and free will sometimes a tool must be forged to restore the order of the galaxy, to follow the will of the Force. They are most often forged by fire. The fire shapes and bends them into something stronger and more durable than the original form. Such tools often remain ignorant of their purpose but one thing both factions of the same religion know is that the instrument, the tool's life is rarely their own.
However, there is always the will of the tool. Even the Force, destiny, or whatever it is labeled cannot destroy free will. This is where it gets interesting.
Morii had been afraid, but now she felt safe and warm. A thick comforting liquid enclosed her, and she felt protected. There had been something awful, something terrible but now it was gone. A memory stirred from the back of her brain and made her reach out for comfort with her mind. Mama? She asked tremulously. No one answered and Morii began to become afraid again. Mama? Morii asked again, louder this time. Still there was the awful nothing and panic bloomed in her chest. Mama! She mentally yelled. Finally she felt the comforting touch of a feminine mind which soothed her. Morii relaxed in the liquid. Mama, I was afraid, she sent.
You're safe now, the other mind responded.
Don't leave me alone again in the dark, Mama, Morii begged.
Don't worry I'll be right here.
Safe, Morii went limp and fell back asleep in the warm liquid.
The contact had shaken Bastila badly as she hadn't been expecting it. The voice had been that of a young child, not an adult. Bastila walked over to the tank and studied the older woman floating inside. Her skin had finally healed and smoothed out, the veins no longer stood out against her skin, and her hair had grown considerably, which was a common side effect of kolto due to its regenerative powers. Bastila knew she should be afraid of the unconscious woman in the kolto tank. The Padawan should fear the patient's power and who she had been. But when Bastila looked upon the other woman's peaceful face she heard that voice again. Mama, I was afraid. Terror rolled off the voice and the woman in waves. The female Padawan had tried to ignore it with a hope the owner of the voice would go away. This bond made her extremely uncomfortable. To be so intimately tied to another, and to be so intimately tied to her of all people was a frightening thought. Finally Bastila responded when the pleading tone of the mental voice squeezed that at her heart. The voice had sounded so lost, so alone and so afraid. Bastila sent back soothing thoughts. It had calmed the other woman and she had fallen asleep content.
Perhaps she can still use the Force, Bastila thought. She should tell the masters. They would want to know of this. But Bastila hesitated, she felt protective of this other woman; irrational as it was. This woman was a monster… wasn't she? What would they do to her if they thought she could still feel the Force? Bastila was afraid of the Council's intentions for the first time in her life, afraid of what they might do. No, she decided, Bastila wouldn't tell them. After all the cause may just the bond that Bastila had accidentally forged. That could be the reason she could hear the unconscious woman's thoughts.
"Padawan, time to go it is." A voice startled Bastila out of her thoughts.
Bastila turned to look down at the small green male strolling toward her. Guilt ran through her at remaining silent of the contact. Master Vandar only stood to about Bastila's waist. The Jedi had dull brown skin and large pointy ears that stuck out both sides of his head. He was dressed in a small blue Master's robe that still didn't fit properly. Bastila wondered again why the Jedi Master didn't get better tailored robes. Master Vandar may have looked fragile, but he came from a race that had produced some of the greatest and most powerful of Jedi. One tangled with the diminutive sentient at their peril.
Master Vandar gave Bastila a small smile, "Do you justice it does that you can feel compassion for her," Vandar said as he nodded his head at the woman in the tank. "But let it sway you do not. Ever wary you must be, once the dark path is taken, much harder to resist it is."
"Yes, Master, as Master Vrook has reminded me," Bastila answered. She gave a mental shudder at her irritated tone.
Master Vandar's smile widened in response, "Frightened Master Vrook is, and not without good reason." Bastila responded to the statement with a shocked look and Vandar chuckled. "Even Masters trouble controlling their emotions have. No less in danger of the dark side are we than you, Padawan, or her," Master Vandar nodded once again at the tank. "Better at hiding it we just are," Vandar's eyes sparkled with amusement but turned serious. "Insidious the Dark Side is. The easier path it is called for a reason. Ever vigilant all Jedi must be, even Masters."
Bastila was surprised and honored that Master Vandar had shared that with her. She nodded at the Master Jedi, "I will remember, Master."
"A great Jedi you will be, Padawan," Master Vandar gave her a fond smile and reached up to give her arm a comforting pat. "Come, time to go it is. Our plan now we initiate."
Bastila nodded once and followed the master toward the door. She paused at the exit and took one last look at the tank. I won't fail you, she sent out to the floating form, I won't let you fall. You are my responsibility and I will take care of you.
Mama?
Bastila gave a small smile and walked out of the room.
Morii woke again, this time alone. The pain was gone and things were clearer. She was still floating free in the liquid as she opened her eyes. Her world consisted of a green haze and she could hear muffled soft noises coming from the world around her.
Mama? She asked hopefully. Morii listened hard for a response but heard only the soft beeps and clicks of the room beyond. Mama, are you there? Still there was nothing. Mama! Morii was alone! It was dark and she was alone! She began thrashing wildly in her tubular prison. She had to get out! Escape! The dark would eat her with claws and gnashing teeth! In a panic she swung her arms and legs but the liquid slowed her movements. Morii ripped at the mask that covered her mouth and inhaled to scream but choked on the kolto liquid. MAMAAAAA! She screamed. Unable to bear the threat of the looming dark Morii pushed out and felt the watery substance rush forward taking her with it. She lay on the broken glass littering the floor while sopping wet, coughing up the kolto in her lungs.
When she had finally regurgitated the last of the medicine, Morii gasped in huge breaths as she pushed herself up and looked around the room, with wide eyes. Lights flashed and beeps echoed from strange things on the walls… consoles. Yes, she knew they were consoles. And another thing was making noises at her… talking… with words. Droid, her mind provided the name for it. It was saying something, telling her something but she couldn't make out what.
A shriek started to echo through the room. Morii covered her ears in self defense and gave wild looks around, jerking her head from side to side. Angry, she tilted her head back and screamed in defiance at the noise. She spotted a particularly bright light across the room. She decided this was the source of her ire. She walked over to the flashing red light and punched the thing below it… panel, that's what it was. Sparks flew out and pain shot through her fist. The pain further enraged her as she hit it again and again until it was silent. Her hand was blackened and coated with red… blood. Blood she knew, blood she remembered. She didn't like it; she didn't like seeing her blood.
The droid started to move toward Morii and she skittered away with a snarl. Her legs bumped into something and Morii spun around. She grabbed the object…chair, and heaved it over her head to smash it into the droid. The medical droid's frame crumpled under the impact and its vocabulator slowed like a toy winding down. Morii yelled without words at it.
Run! Her brain told her. Flee, before it comes for you! Confused and crazed Morii looked for something… a door. There was one on the other end of the room. Morii wanted a door. Her hand was almost to the exit when she paused and looked down at herself… she needed something else… clothes; that was it. Morii needed clothes or she would attract attention. Looking around she saw… clothes hanging on a wall.
Morii grabbed the jumpsuit, pulled it on by instinct and zipped up the front. But there was something else missing… a weapon, in case the dark came for her. She needed a weapon. Morii grabbed a long metal lever attached to the wall and pulled. She ripped the rod out of its home and brought it up in a defensive pose. She proceeded toward the… door. Doors led out. Doors led to escape.
As Morii approached the door nothing happened. She cocked her head to the side and stared at it. Then she pulled back her weapon to bash it once, twice, and then over and over with anger. She had to get out! She had to get away!
The repeated bashing wasn't doing her any good. Morii stopped and studied around the door. On the right hand side she saw a… plate. It was a door plate and door plate would open the door to her freedom. Morii waved a hand over the plate but nothing happened. She tried it again and still nothing. With a yell of frustration she slammed her rod into the panel plate and it sparked and shattered. The door slid part of the way open and she was able to squeeze through.
A dim hallway in gray tones stretched out before Morii and she jogged barefoot down it, desperate to get out. At the end the hallway the corridor branched in two opposite directions. Morii looked back and forth in confusion trying to decide which way to go.
A medic had the misfortune of coming around the corner at that moment. He and Morii spotted each other at the same time. "Hey!" he shouted. "What are you doing? You should be in the tank!" Medic Gityan Polis didn't know who the patient was, just that the Jedi were adament about her being kept incapacitated.
Morii narrowed her eyes at the man. He means to stop you! Don't let him! With a snarl she charged the man and slammed into him. Gityan felt the weight of his commlink fall off his belt when he was hit and screamed as the primal woman took him to the floor. He tried to scramble away and reach his communicator but Morii snaked out her arm and grabbed his hand. She gave a sharp jerk back and there was the sound of bone popping. Gityan howled in pain. The sound hurt Morii's ears and she screamed back at him and then punched him in the face. The medic's head slammed against the floor and he lost consciousness.
Morii picked up the comm and studied it for a moment. Deciding it was of no use she threw it against the wall where it broke apart. She looked down at the man's belt and saw something else attached. This she could use! She plucked up the small flat piece of plastic and studied it. This opened locked doors. Pass card… her mind supplied for her. She held the pass card in her left hand and took off in the direction the medic had come from.
The halls were dark with little light and the wet slaps of her footsteps sent echoes down the hall. The strange voice in her mind that used her voice instructed her to stop at the end of the hall. Morii darted her head around the corner. She saw a door guarded by two men in bright clothes with things on their heads… helmets. Morii wanted through that door and escape.
Morii tightened her grip on the piping and charged around the corner. The time the two Republic troopers looked up an instant too late as Morii drew back her weapon and slammed it into the side of the left guard's head. He fell to the ground with a soft moan, still semi-conscious. The right guard lifted the thing in his arms… rifle but Morii whipped back her piping and hit him in the gut. Before he could recover his breath Morii spun in a circle and lashed out her right foot. It connected with the man's jaw and his head slammed into the wall with a crunch. Morii turned to the other guard who was laying on the floor blinking in confusion. She took her pipe and gave a controlled swing to the side of his head again and he fell back unconscious.
Morii paused for a moment panting. The two guards were still and she went over to the one on the right and began stripping his clothes. There was no movement from this one, he was perfectly still. You snapped his neck, now hurry! The voice in her mind yelled. She retrieved the dead man's clothes and put them on. They didn't fit quite right but the other man was bigger, his clothes were no good. Last Morii donned the helmet and pulled out her pass card. She found a terminal in the wall and by instinct slid it in. The door parted and Morii disappeared into the night.
"I am sorry, Master Jedi, but my troops have searched everywhere and we can't find any sign of the patient," the trooper sergeant shook his head in emphasis. "I have men watching the Star port but if we knew her name it might be easier to find her…" Sergeant Jendot had been frustrated by the Jedi's unwillingness to come forth with information on the escaped patient.
"We apologize for being unable to tell you more, Sergeant," Master Zhar offered, "but we have faith in your abilities. Please continue the search. It is very important that the patient be found."
Jendot recognized the statement as a dismissal. He spun sharply on his heel and marched out the med lab door. Frankly he only wanted to find this "patient" to see her brought to justice for killing one man and injuring two others.
It was only after the Republic soldier left that the Jedi continued their conversation. "I told you she was dangerous! We should have killed her! Now look what has happened!" Vrook paced the empty med bay that contained the shattered kolto tank. "Two men badly injured and one dead! Who knows what she is doing now."
"What would you have had us do Vrook?" Master Zhar watched Vrook pace with calm detachment. "Kill her? After Padawan Shan went through so much to save her? And what of Malak? She may be the only hope we have of stopping the Sith."
"She's dangerous! This incident only proves that and now she's on the loose doing Force knows what. And she's unsupervised! The reprogramming wasn't finished! Now what will she do?" Master Vrook's agitation flustered his etched face. "It would have been better to let her die!" he spat.
"Mindful of your emotions be, Vrook," Vandar counseled as he stood next to Master Zhar. "Not the Jedi way to kill helpless prisoners… and helpless she was. Know the pain she has caused you we all do, Vrook." Master Vandar's voice was sympathetic.
Vrook took in a deep breath and closed his eyes. After a moment he opened them seeming calmer. "I apologize for my outburst," he said reluctantly. "You are right, Vandar, I let my emotions get the better of me."
The door to the med bay opened again and a young vibrant Padawan came through. Bastila had gone to see if she could find any trace of the woman she had inadvertently forged a bond with. She looked up at the Masters and Vrook gave a dejected sigh.
Bastila stopped in front of the assembled Jedi and hung her head. "I am sorry I can find no trace of her." She looked up at the Masters and continued, "I think she may have managed to leave the planet. If she was anywhere nearby I should be able to hear her… like an echo. The only thing I can sense through our bond is that she is still alive."
Vrook looked grave, "This is serious. Force knows where the woman is bound if she left the planet. I think we may have made a serious error in judgment." The look he sent Bastila made it clear that he felt she was the one who had made the mistake.
"The Force works in mysterious ways, Vrook," Zhar began, "I have a feeling we shall see her again."