A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Four thousand years before the rise of the Galactic Empire, the Republic verges on collapse. DARTH MALAK, last surviving apprentice of the DARK LORD REVAN, has unleashed an invincible Sith armada against an unsuspecting galaxy.
Crushing all resistance, Malak's war of conquest has left the Jedi Order scattered and vulnerable as countless Knights fall in battle, and many more swear allegiance to the new Sith Master.
In the skies above the Outer Rim world of Taris, a Jedi battle fleet engages the forces of Darth Malak in a desperate effort to halt the Sith's galactic domination...
Strong Winds
Chapter One
My vision blurred.
My hands, shaking.
I saw the commander, Bastila Shan-she really did have a pretty voice -lightsaber flaring. I swallowed as the sparks flickered into my face like beads of sweat and the body of a dark figure fell to the ground.
"Shan?" I asked though no one around me answered. Like I was some ghost.
I suddenly saw the colorful skies around me. Red laser beams mixed with green blurred my field of vision like mist and I tried shaking my head but I couldn't move. I just stood there. Like a statue.
W
The ground below shook.
I jumped up then back down without even bothering to open my eyes.
A week had gone by of space travel and we were apparently heading towards some planet in the Outer Rim. Just where I belonged. I was convinced that the Commander was wasting her time going all the way out there. What type of Jedi mission forced the Battle Meditator away from the war?
The room shook again and I opened my eyes, confused.
The dark haired man and his friend were gone-they had similar shifts as me. We were supposed to be resting now though. Clothes were strung about along with open trunks. What was going on-?
My eyes caught the windows and I could only stare as my sight flashed back to the nightmare I had. Colorful red and green lights. A twisting ship.
I jumped to my feet in fear and panic. Oh Force...they were attacking the ship! The Sith! I wasn't supposed to get my neck into this sort of trouble. Don't they protect the Jedi Bastila? How stupid are these soldiers? This couldn't have been the mission, could it? Why hadn't anyone woken me up?
As I went to grab my pistol underneath my pillow, the strong gray doors slid open. The Endar Spire's shields were hit again and I tripped, falling onto my face as I went to rummage through my trunk at the end of my bed. I had been given limited supplies of course, including a standard issue Republic uniform that I ignored. Already, I had been given a few "demerits" because of it. Well, they should have at least given me a better blaster...
The soldier who stepped through the doors looked unfamiliar. He stood there appearing like a veteran and his golden hair was freckled with pure white-he looked like he was from Aldaraan. His face was frantic.
"What are you still doing here?" he demanded me. "I thought most of the soldiers had already evacuated."
As I was recovering, pulling over a shirt, I glared at him from the floor.
"No one. Woke me. Up. What in all of the hells is going on? And who are you?" I asked, grabbing my red jacket. This veteran didn't look as if he was in the mood for jokes though. Actually, he was looking at me as if I was some lazy ass hut from Tatooine.
"What is-you don't know? The Sith are tearing the Endar Spire apart in search of Bastila, what do you think?"
Well, I was thinking that maybe I would get a more in-depth explanation than that but apparently he thinks I'm an idiot. Another explosion from a fighter rocked the unstable ship, causing us both to shake. I grabbed my pistol again after dressing and began storming towards the door that this man left open.
I jumped when it closed.
"Where do you think you're going?" he asked. "We need to stick together! Are you insane?"
I turned my head to glare at him as I rummaged through my jacket pockets. Shit. I forgot to go ask for a key from the bridge. I knew procrastinating that important task hadn't been smart. I just didn't want to see the commander and Onasi's face again.
I punched the door.
"Open it-"
"Ensign Trask Ulgo. And you must be Gale my new bunkmate. We worked opposite shifts. Guess that's why you haven't seen me before."
Yeah, I didn't give a fuck why I couldn't recognize this veteran. I just wanted to get on the next escape pod out of here. This would be my only chance to jump onto whatever planet was below and escape. I would never have a better chance.
I banged the locked door again.
"Trask. Open the damn door."
He pursed his lips then finally began making his way over to the panel "You're that smuggler the other soldiers have been talking about, right? Heard that the only way the Republic could capture you is if they hired you."
You got that right.
I remained silent as the man overrode the emergency locks and the door slid open. "We have to go find Bastila and make sure she's alright. She's the only hope the galaxy even-"
"I don't give a shit about what hope the galaxy has. I'm heading for the escape pods."
The hallway before us had been blown to pieces and a T3 unit was rolling against the wall, burning. Electrical units steamed out the needed oxygen we all breathed-explaining why the door suddenly shut in my face. I jumped suddenly when a cold barrel of a blaster touched my neck, my mouth agape. This man wouldn't...would he?
Before I could try and reason with him, the cold metal hit me over the head-hard enough to hurt but not enough to knock me down cold.
The Endar Spire rocked again. I held the back of my head with both hands, glaring at this ensign with my full fury.
"What the-?"
"You are a recruit of the Republic now. And, I don't know why you've decided to take it upon yourself to act like a selfish bastard but where are you going to run when the Sith are boarding the ship, huh? Do you even know your way there?"
My face turned into iron and I could almost feel my face burning when I realized the truth in the man's words. No...I didn't know where the escape pods were. I couldn't figure out the Republic's data pad for the life of me. I felt like such an idiot and my pride suddenly left me like blood flowing out of a wound.
I had been so ready to rush ahead into the action that I had forgotten which direction to go in.
I bit my tongue. I knew I was going to regret this later.
Huffing, I stood up. "Fine. We'll find your Jedi princess. Lead the way."
W
The grenade thrown exploded and almost blinded my senses as I dove away, using my blaster to force the Sith in black armor away from the wall we were using. A few ensigns and other soldiers were blasted into flesh and blood-smoke only remained from where five men had once stood.
I swallowed down fear and raised my blaster again, however, my aim had been too shaky to deliver the Sith down into the graves they belonged in. I heard Trask beside me curse as another grenade was thrown towards...me.
My eyes widened and before I could mutter even a final prayer to the hell that awaited me, a strong red and yellow body collapsed on top of me-a blue shield encircling him. Another flash and the Sith that were shooting at us were torn to pieces as well.
I shuddered, my hearing gone, as I looked up at the ensign who saved my life for some reason. He only smiled and deactivated his shield, blood rushing down his scalp.
The only Sith left had been the one throwing grenades. Ulgo took him out with an easy shot and I got up, still shaky.
The ensign took my hand. "Easy there," I heard his dull voice, my ears still ringing. I gave him another suspicious look while I threw my hand back from his grasp after I was on solid ground. He only frowned at me in disappointment.
"Don't help me. I'm fine," I shouted over the loud explosions from inside and out.
The ensign sighed, re-gripping his blaster.
"You know, recruit, you remind me of myself when I was your age. Brash and self-assured like the Admiral herself was going to give me a medal for simply acting brave and stupid." The ensign bent over the dead Republic soldiers and closed a dark haired man's eyes-Force, it was that one man who sat in front of me before. Trask stood, his eyes heavy with sorrow. "I learned, however, that stupid men don't win medals. Brave and honorable men don't either. So, I forgot my bitter attitudes of the past and only served as any Republic soldier would."
I rolled my eyes as I grabbed the Sith's better looking blaster pistol and took the charges out of my old one. Brash and self-assured. I wasn't sure if those were compliments or insults. It was hard to tell when such qualities were vied for in the smuggling trade.
This Trask Ulgo was too full of himself. Republic soldier? What better way to bind yourself to a dying age. Only the stupid were proud about serving in the army. I knew a few deserters that came to the Outer Rim to escape persecution and the stories they told-of both the Mandalorian War and this Sith one-were not pretty. Most of them were tragic. I was only glad that I was born in Deralia and not forced into the army like most other people in the Republic. However...that really didn't stop the Mandalorians from taking over the planet anyway.
I began walking again only to stop at the sound of raving sparks. My heart jumped into my throat. There were Jedi Sith here. Ones with lightsabers. I could never hope to defeat one of them. We would die before we could even scream...suffocate in our own throats-
The ensign heard the battle sounds as well but instead of running away from them as I intended, he rushed ahead, slamming his fist into the door's emergency switch.
"Are you mad?" I shouted over the sparks of red and blue.
Trask only widened his eyes in response and held up a hand in front of me as if I would actually go in and join that.
"Stay back. There's a Jedi here. Maybe she can help us."
I really was not in the mood to deal with Jedi...but who else could protect us from the Sith? Especially one with a lightsaber.
But...I could see that the Jedi was losing. Badly.
With a invisible push from the dark Jedi, the bald man with a malicious grin took the blue lightsaber right from the woman's grip as she hit the wall, distracted by us. The Jedi bitch? My eyes widened and I hadn't even realized when I raised my blaster and shot off a round at the Sith.
...Am I stupid? Why was I trying to pick a damn fight with a force user?
Even Trask was looking at me like I was a moron and my shots only ringed back into the metal and broken walls of the Endar Spire by the Sith's bright blade. He was walking towards me...with a grin on his face that sent shivers down both of our spines. My hands were shaking when the charge on my round ran out, the blaster dropping from my hands like worthless weight. I was dead. So dead.
Trask was frozen beside me-he hadn't even begun shooting at the Sith, the bastard.
I suddenly felt an invisible force grip my neck and my eyes widened when I was forced against the wall, my breath escaping my lungs. I gripped my neck desperately, my eyes wild and trying to find Trask. However, I had no idea where he or that other Jedi was...
The darkness surrounding this dangerous man was flowing out of him like rivers. I wasn't afraid more about the way he was somehow choking me...but how the darkness whispered to me from his yellow eyes. The Sith was still smirking at me and before he could stab me with his pretty little saber, a blue light replaced his neck and burned his face in half as it exited.
I fell to the ground in great shock, coughing from both fear and pain, glancing up in pure gratitude. I might have been a smuggler, but I was a smuggler who repaid his debts. Smiling up at the Jedi bitch-well no, she really wasn't a bitch now, was she?-I stood up shakily as her blue blade returned into its metal casket.
Her face was dark yet relieved.
I sucked in a long needed breath. "T-Thank yo-"
I hadn't noticed...but the blaster fire had sparked right above the Jedi into the electrical circuits. My eyes widened but before I could warn her, a loud explosion ripped beams and walls from above her form...and fell directly onto her, crushing her beneath hot steel.
I rushed quickly towards the flames in sudden horror only to be pulled back by Trask.
"Stop...just don't, recruit!"
"S-She's dying-!" I shouted back. We had to help her...I didn't even care if she had been kicking and shoving me only days before. She didn't deserve-!
"We can't do anything for her. This hall is going to collapse on us any second if we don't move now!"
I-I just couldn't believe this. Her death was my fault. If I hadn't...been so stupid and shot back at the Sith...
This was no time for regrets.
I was pushed to the side of the burning wreck-the Jedi's shouts haunting me as I ran past smoke and fire, my jacket singing. My mind was racing as I almost tripped over a loose beam but was righted again by the figure behind me.
I felt something-a vibroblade?-fit into my hands as Trask came alongside me, hitting the button to the bridge of the Endar Spire.
The place was swarming with Sith but no Bastila. Of course. I knew we were supposed to go for the escape pods in the first place. I shouldn't have followed this stupid ensign...
Almost out of habit, I lifted the vibroblade up as another one came crashing down towards me. I was suddenly struggling with a black masked Sith, my strength faltering only slightly...enough for me to step away from him in time. Ulgo was fighting another Sith and had been powerful enough to smash the sharp blade into the armored face of his mask.
Another explosion rocked the ship and I slipped in my defense, the blade nicking my shoulder. Sucking in a pained breath, I pushed harder and kicked the Sith into the fires that appeared behind him.
I had to admit...I liked listening to that man's screams.
I rubbed my brow from the sweat but I hadn't had enough time to even breath when Trask grabbed me by my injured shoulder-to my great disdain.
"Go, go! They've probably gone to the escape pods. We have to leave!"
"I heard you the first time!" I shouted, the ship rocking again.
I had no time to argue with him as he ran past me, another explosion breaking part of the Spire's shield. We weren't going to last another thirty minutes.
I ran after him over burned bodies and half dead men I couldn't afford to help save. I only hesitated for a second as one of the sergeant's hands reached out to me.
I felt a pull on my red sleeve.
"Come on! We can't save them!" Trask shouted.
I wasn't a saint, I couldn't waste my time with already doomed men. I looked after myself and myself alone...and this Trask was only putting himself in danger for reminding someone like me.
Trask already had the door opened and he ran ahead into a less broken down hall compared to the bridge. Ulgo closed the door behind me when I finally ran past, pressing a red button for the emergency air lock. He knew the ship was going down. I knew the ship was going down. What hope did we truly have to leave here alive?
"Shit..." I muttered to myself, bending over my knees. When I first came aboard the Endar Spire, I thought that I would just be accompanying an annoying Jedi and her stupid Republic friends. I hadn't been expecting a war.
Trask was gazing at me sympathetically.
"We can't save everyone, recruit. I'm sorry about the Jedi...and the other soldiers, but Bastila is the only person standing in Malak's way. She needs every able bodied soldier at her disposal."
I looked up to glare at him. I wasn't sure if what he had just said had been completely cruel or completely right. This Sith war had put a toll on the Republic's numbers, I heard, and the power they used to hold with the people was slowly crumbling as the Sith fleet destroyed everything in their wake.
I coughed. "But-maybe..."
I was stupid to even argue. I just...only remembered being abandoned to my death by complete bastards myself. What gave me the right to decide who lived and who died? I wanted to save everyone now it seems-I guess even my own morality was to be questioned.
The ensign shook his head and explored the room, opening a door that probably led to the escape pods. However, before he could go through it, he spotted the other door beside it and tilted his head in curiosity.
"Wait," the ensign suddenly called back to me. "There's...someone behind here."
I swallowed because I believed him...there was another presence on the other side of the door. I could feel it...a dark whisper and mist that threatened to intrude my mind. My skin suddenly grew cold...even with all of the fires that surrounded us.
"Trask...don't-!"
The door suddenly opened and yellow eyes and pale skin of a Sith Master revealed himself in the oxygen smoke. I could feel myself suddenly shaking in pure terror as the Sith with golden eyes stepped towards the ensign only for him to hit the red button to the door again.
"By the-" I began only for Trask to turn around and push me through the other door that led to the escape pods. Off balance, I fell to the ground, shocked.
"Hurry, get to Bastila and make sure she's safe. Find Commander Onasi...anyone. Just go. Run!"
I narrowed my eyes at this stupid man. What was he doing? Did he think he was a hero risking himself? What sort of person would place a smuggler before his own skin? Why not lock me in the room while he ran off?
"Are you crazy?"
"No."
And without another word, the door suddenly closed in my face, leaving me bitter and wordless. How-? Why was this happening to me? I didn't deserve this. Why-? I banged at the door.
"Trask!" I shouted. "You bastard!" He had been serious about leaving people behind...including himself. Swallowing, I realized that staying put would only mean Trask Ulgo's death had been in vain.
I began running down the hall both lost and frozen in my face. I...wasn't used to these people placing their lives before mine like the heroes they were pretending to be. What was I supposed to do? Become a hero myself? Was Trask stupid? There was no hope left for me! Why-?
What should I do? I felt lost and helpless. Go after Bastila? Find the Commander?
What else did I have left to do?
W
I was breathing heavily against the locked door and spoke lowly into my comm.
"You sure they're behind here, Onasi?" I asked, peering past the metal as if I would be able to see past it.
I heard a quiet crackle on the other side.
"Yes. They've been trying to get to the escape pods. Fortunately, they won't be expecting someone sneaking behind them."
I smirked at Carth Onasi's frantic voice and nodded to myself before eyeing a stolid broken droid, bent over from the dead mechanic on the floor who had failed to defend himself from the Sith. The droid looked almost complete-the back was open and only a few bolts need to be spun into the hard drives.
I pressed the comm button. "I have an idea. Hold on, Onasi."
A few minutes later and the droid finished taking down the red and black armored Sith-just as the door on the other side opened for them. Unfortunately, the droid only had enough juice for a few skirmishes and drooped down into it's undead looking format. Once the smoke cleared, I saw the orange jacket form of Carth Onasi-the same man I met before coming onto this ship.
I ran over towards the ex-Commander, smiling.
"Got em'," I muttered, stepping over the red body of a Sith captain. This Carth glared at me over smoke and returned his gaze back to a computer. His fingers over the keys were hesitant yet quick and when he finally pressed something that appeared to be an enter key, he looked over towards me, slightly relieved.
"You're that new recruit..."
"Yes, now can we get a move on? We don't have time for long introductions-"
When the Spire rocked again-my eyes widened as the shields finally broke.
Shit.
Carth saw this as well and rushed towards an escape pod-the last one. I ignored the fact that he had waited for me to come here and slipped past him when the circular doors opened like the jaws of a firaxa shark.
I had no time to secure myself when Carth jumped in as well and hit a yellow button. A ear-piercing explosion ripped through the thin walls of the pod and both of us held on as we began to plummet away from the space junk that was now the Endar Spire. Startled, the gravity wells that held me to the Endar Spire suddenly disappeared only to be replaced by the shocking rush of force that shoved me into the back of the pod.
The ground of the unknown planet outside was the last image I saw before all grew dark.
