Disclaimer: *handwave* This is not the copyright holder you are looking for.*handwave* I own nothing.
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Chapter 1: Technicalities of Duty
Brianne once again, found herself in the fog.
"Well, I suppose this means I'm still alive. Guess you want to talk to me again, before I wake up? Or shall I just sit here and stare at the fog a while?"
After she said that, the fog around her began to move. It came crashing into her little island, surrounding her completely. Then it began to clear, almost as if someone were raising a curtain.
Which it seemed it was. Before her was the battle onboard Revan's flagship, after the Jedi had ambushed them. But this was not how she remembered it. This window on the battle was from another point of view, as she was watching Bastila and another Jedi beat her down. She had Bastila in a saber-lock, when the other Jedi used the force to slam her into the wall. Slumping to the ground with a concussion, Brianne passed out.
And yet, the scene continued. She watched as Bastila went and killed the last of Revan's personal guard, while Revan simply watched, choking the ship's captain. As a fourth Jedi ran in to join the others, Bastila, in her traditionally arrogant Jedi way, ordered Revan to surrender.
Seriously, what was she thinking? This is Revan, telling him he can't win will just make him prove he can! Bastila really needs to get her head on straight. Brianne thought, watching Revan change his stance. She also saw the Leviathan open fire behind him.
The vision ended in a flash of flame, and she found herself once again in the fog, lying on her back. As she sat up, she watched the fog retreating to its usual distance, the void with a voice once more making an appearance. "In answer to your other questions, yes, you are alive, and I would like to speak to you."
"...What was that? I shouldn't know what happened after I passed out." Brianne asked, looking for the void as she stood. "No, you shouldn't. But that wasn't a dream, don't you think? A vision from the force, perhaps? And yet, something wasn't right, was it?" The voice replied. "No, something was... missing?"
"Perhaps something was. But that question will have to wait, for now. I can only delay your awakening so long, and I thought you could use the time to think of what you would say to the Commander about your using a lightsaber."
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The first thing Brianne noticed, was pain, followed shortly by sunlight and what felt like the hangover of a lifetime. Looking to her left, Brianne saw Carth in a chair nearby, reading a datapad. Carth, having noticed her movement, looked over and saw she was awake.
"Good to see you up, instead of thrashing about in your sleep, I was beginning to wonder. I'm Carth, one of the soldiers that was on the Endar Spire. I was with you in the escape pod, remember?" Carth crossed the room while he was saying this, and was digging through a sack while Brianne sat up on the cot. "Yeah, I remember. Don't remember landing, and this isn't the first major headwound I've gotten, so I'm guessing I got knocked out?" Carth handed her some prepackaged rations and water, likely from the escape pod. "Yes, for two days now. You've been slipping in and out of consciousness for the past day. Don't worry though, we're safe. For the moment, anyway." Carth once again sat down in the chair, looking at her.
"We're in an abandoned apartment complex on the planet Taris' Upper City. You were banged up pretty bad, but I was luckier. I managed to get us away from the pod, and stumbled onto this empty apartment. We were long gone before the Sith arrived at the crash."
"Thanks for hauling me out, I guess. I'll try and be more useful later. What's the Sith presence on the planet like?" Brianne asked, wishing the food helped her headache as much as it did her stomach. "Taris is under Sith control. Their fleet is in orbit, blockading the planet. They've declared martial law and imposed a planet-wide quarantine. I'd like to say I've been in worse spots, but..." Resting his hand near his blaster, Carth continued. "I saw on your service records that you understand a remarkable number of alien languages. Pretty rare for a raw recruit, but I don't think you're that raw, are you?"
Time to see how much he knows. Brianne thought, replying. "No, I'm not. How much did you watch me on the Endar Spire's security cameras?"
"Enough to know that you can use a lightsaber. Let's cut to the chase, who and what are you? I can tell that your records have been doctored, and the Jedi specifically ordered your transfer when they came onboard. You're not just some no-name soldier, are you?"
Sighing, Brianne set down her food. "Short version, I'm not a Jedi, but I used to be. I came back to the Republic military because it's my best bet to see Malak dead." Standing now, not hiding that he was ready to draw his blaster, Carth asked, "Used to be, how?"
"And now comes the part where you shoot me. So before I tell you, I'd just like to point out I'm you're best bet for finding Bastila. I was one of the Jedi that followed Revan to fight the Mandalorian war." As Brianne expected, this resulted in a blaster pointed at her. "You... mean to say, you're a Sith?!"
"You don't have to serve the Light, to serve the Republic. Hear me out, before you shoot me."
At Carth's nod, Brianne began to speak. "I followed Revan, not the Sith in general. Malak is nothing like Revan. He is blind. He doesn't care if he rules over an empire of dust and ashes. Under Revan, there still would have been a Republic, in some form. Malak betrayed Revan, betrayed his ideals, and has made mockery of what Revan sought to do. I will kill Malak, and all the Betrayers that sided with him. I am no threat to the Republic."
After a long moment of silence, still pointing the blaster at her, Carth relented. "All right, I'll withhold on judging you until we find Bastila. If she says you're on our side, then I'll just have to put up with you. But don't expect me to trust you, and if you do anything suspicious, I will shoot you." Brianne returned to her food. "Fair enough. While we're discussing me, a few ground rules regarding my abilities and salvaged lightsaber. We're trying to draw as little attention as possible, that means no witnesses, or at least none we intend to let live. We're on a Sith occupied planet, and they're looking for Jedi and Republic survivors, even a red lightsaber will attract attention."
"Speaking of lightsabers, where was yours? That one you had you got from a dead Sith on the ship, right?"
"One of the Jedi had it, for 'safekeeping'. Some of them had the same trust issues you have. I assume it went down with the ship. Unless I got lucky and Bastila has it, I expect I won't be seeing it again. Going to have to modify the one I've got if I want it to be truly useful. Saber's got the wrong balance for me."
"Well, you can do that when you have time. For now, let's start talking about finding Bastila. I did some scouting while you were out of it, there were reports of escape pods crashing down into the Undercity. I think we should likely start our search down there." Brianne set aside the now empty ration packaging, and closed her eyes. "Give me a moment, I'm going to try something."
Far. Far. Far... down? Pain. Danger? No, not immediate danger. Captive? No, Sith'd notice my probe... Not Sith?
Opening her eyes, Brianne looked at a slightly uneasy Carth. "She's somewhere in the lower levels, not sure how far or where. She isn't alone, I can say that, nor does she seem to be in danger at the moment." Carth looked at her in surprise. "No wonder you can find each other so easily if all Force users do that."
"Not many can. Let's just say, Bastila's battle meditation had a unique side-effect with me. But I think we've sat around enough for now, where's my gear? I think I'm feeling well enough for some recon."
"It's over there, next to the workbench. Regarding supplies, we haven't got much by way of credits, but I was able to grab the survival pack out of the pod before I got us out of there. That's about a weeks' rations between the two of us, so it should help until we get more credits." As Carth spoke, Brianne went over and began putting on her ammo belt and backpack, pausing to put both lightsabers in the bottom of it, followed by a few ration packs. "It's too risky to leave weapons laying around. Also, we might not always have the chance to come back here. First thing we're gonna buy, is a bag for you, so you won't get shot for carrying around a Republic emergency pack."
"Good idea, I'd prefer be able to carry supplies in case the Sith find this place."
"THIS IS A RAID! AGAINST THE WALL!"
"...I didn't do it." Carth said, in response to the look Brianne gave him.
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CH2 end
Author's notes: Ah... so this kinda took alot longer to post then I intended. Got busy with various things, ranging from distractions to simple laziness. I'll try and have the next chapter up within two weeks. I'm still working on my general outline for Taris, I've already got all of Upper City more or less planned out.
I think I might've gone a bit overboard on the dialog in this chapter, but... hell, you expect Captain Paranoia to just let her using a lightsaber drop? I'd been considering her trying to pass herself off as an undercover Jedi, but I just didn't see that flying too well. Not to mention, it's been done before. Twice, I think, though in different ways.
Oh yeah, and I realized that I forgot to slap a disclaimer on chapter one, went back and fixed that.
Reviews and comments are welcome, please keep napalm and mortar fire to a minimum.