Dara and I walked down the somewhat empty halls towards the med bay. I had been on the Harbinger for nearly a week now. We were behind schedule, and only barely past the rim. The Harbinger had to stop many times in order to refuel, distribute provisions to impoverished planets, and also to help with a few border disputes.
It seemed like planets were dying slowly, out so far from the core planets. I had seen first hand how the rim had suffered during the Mandalorian Wars, but was surprised they continued to suffer even now. Ships like the Harbinger did what they could to help, but it wasn't enough. Though it did warm me knowing that they were at least trying to help those who needed it.
I was happy for the extra time all the stops awarded me. It meant I didn't have to deal with my family anytime soon.
During this time I had healed quite a bit. I could walk for a good few minutes before needing to pause. Most of the time I could walk small distances with ease.
Somehow, I never remember needing this much time to heal, but then again, I always had the force to rely on before this.
Knowing that forced me to realize how much I had relied on the Force before. I suppose I never realized how taxing it was to be normal and broken.
"You're keeping something from me." I said, as we paused.
"What?" Dara jumped slightly, and looked away from me, suddenly quite interested in the floor, "How would you know? I thought you couldn't feel through the Force anymore."
Over the past few days, Dara and I had became very close. We had forged a friendship that I hoped would last on Coruscant. She could very well end up being the only friendly face that I knew on Coruscant. And while forming this friendship, I had opened up to Dara about a great many things in my life, including my lack of Force.
She had been surprised at first, almost unwilling to believe.
"Are you... Are you sure? I mean, you're Jaina Solo! You're the Grand Master's niece. The Granddaughter to the Chosen One! Maybe it was a side-effect from something, maybe the key to feeling it again is to return to Coruscant and be around other Jedi."
"I doubt it, Dara. This isn't like a ysalamari, where the lack of Force comes and goes as a side-effect. It's been seventeen years. Tell me what kind of side-effect lasts seventeen years, and maybe I'll believe your explanation."
I shook my head, smiling slightly, "I don't need the Force to tell me you're keeping something from me. It's obvious."
"I don't know what you're talking about." She said, miffed.
"You're doing it again." I teased, "You're trying to hide something and you're so terrible at it."
I started to walk down the hall again and only stopped once I realized Dara wasn't with me anymore. I turned, confused, and noticed she was still where we had stopped. She seemed to be deep in thought, almost as if she were torn about something.
I hobbled my way back over and lightly touched her shoulder, "Dara, what is it?"
She nibbled on her lip, a habit I had noticed she had when she was unsure, "I have been keeping something from you."
"Is that all? Dara, I know that already. You look like you kicked a gizka! Stop feeling so guilty, I'm not mad at you. Just tell me what it is, before you burst a blood vessel."
She laughed though she didn't seem totally relieved, she paused before continuing with a serious voice, "It's about your family."
I took a deep breath and released it after a moment, "What about them?"
"Well, like I said in the beginning, a lot has changed. And I'm still not sure I should be the one to tell you, but you were right, you deserve to know what you're walking into."
I nodded, "Go on."
"Right now, the Jedi and the Chief of State aren't exactly... on friendly terms."
"Well... That's not really a surprise. She was an Admiral, wasn't she? For the Empire? She and my uncle are no doubt always at each others throats."
"And about your uncle... well..." She started chewing on her lip again.
"Oh, just spit it out."
"He was exiled."
...
I stared at her without even really comprehending what she said. After a few moments the words churned in my head and started to make sense. "My Uncle? Luke Skywalker?"
She nodded wordlessly.
I laughed.
And not just normal laughing. It was ugly how hard I laughed. I could barely catch my breath. Dara stood to the side and stared at me, worried, no doubt, that I had finally lost my mind.
Oh, the irony.
I shook my head. Luke Skywalker. Exile. Just like me.
No... not like you. You were exiled because you betrayed the order. Luke Skywalker would never do something so unforgivable.
That thought sobered me up quickly. I took a breath, "What for?"
"No one knows for certain. There are tons of rumors and theories."
"But if you had to guess?"
Dara looked around, making sure we were alone, "I think that it was a show of power. Daala wanted to prove she had control over the infamous Jedi council. And how better than to cut their head off and replace it with a weaker, more malleable one?"
"Oh, boy." If Dara was right... I was about to fall head first into a bloodthirsty mynock nest.
"Since then it's just snowballed from there. Blockades, assassination, and murder, just to name a few."
"Assassination?" What could possibly drive either side to be that desperate? Jedi didn't kill unless they absolutely had to, and when that occasion did come, they did not act in the shadows. They were warriors of peace and justice, warriors of the Light.
I felt sick as a little voice prodded me. Jedi had let the Mandalorian threat spread far and wide, they did nothing to save Republic while Revan and I did everything in our power to bring an end to the bloodshed. They had abandoned their duties then, what kept them from doing it now?
Maybe assassination wasn't so far fetched.
Dara nodded, "There was no proof, of course, just speculation, but it seemed a little strange that the Solo's were attacked while trying to dine. After they had just so happened to be seen leaving the Chief of State Daala's office."
"My parents were involved?" I wasn't that surprised. My parents had been targets since before I was even born. And their targets tended to stretch to encompass their children as well. My brothers and I had been lucky to always avoid serious damage, but being attacked is never something any child gets used to easily.
"They're fine now." She rushed out, misconstruing my interest as concern. Of course my parents were fine. The Solo's always were. People could come after them, time and time again, and nothing could prove stronger than the bond of Leia and Han Solo, nor their penchant for survival. It was the people around them that got hurt. "They were shaken up, but mostly they were furious. They had Amelia with them when the attack happened."
"Amelia?" That name was new to me.
She looked at me confused for a moment, before it finally clicked for her. "Right, I guess you wouldn't know anything about her. You've been gone. Amelia is a war orphan that the Solo's adopted."
A war orphan? They adopted a child. They were old enough to be grandparents and they adopted a child. Hadn't they had their fill of parenting yet? Hadn't they learned their lesson?
Look at how well their first batch went. The only one they had left after the wars is Jacen. Jacen is good, strong willed, and caring, but nothing like Anakin. The son that was long gone, dead before his time, and infinitely better than you, a traitor and exile.
Guilt flooded through me as I stood there. What right did I have to judge my parents for wanting to try again? My mistakes were not theirs. My brother's death didn't lay in their hands.
Mingled in with the guilt was also anger and pity. Anger at my parents for forcing their life upon a little girl. I had first hand experience at how my parents priorities were stacked. Duty then family. The galaxy above their children.
Didn't this little girl deserve parents who could love her first and foremost without putting her life in danger?
Wanting to know more, I asked, "How old is the girl anyways?"
"Eight, I think. She's very young."
Eight. That would mean she was adopted two years after the Mandalorian wars. During the Jedi Civil War. Just two years after I had been exiled and Anakin had died. "Replacing their faulty daughter with a brand new innocent one. Oh my parents. Such wonderful people."
Dara looked at me, surprised and confused, "What are you talking about?"
"I was exiled and my brother was barely even cold in the ground and they had already moved on to a new child." I laughed, "I shouldn't be so surprised."
Her surprise turned into disappointment, "You're parents adopted her only two years ago, after the fall of Darth Caedus. I'm sure she wasn't a replacement for you or your brother."
"Who?" I tried to not let her disappointment bother me, but it did sting a little. Dara was never afraid to call me out when she thought I was acting like petulant child. And even though it embarrassed me, I needed someone willing to do that.
"Former Chief of State. He caused a huge debacle in the Alliance a few years after the Civil War between the Jedi. He was actually one of the heroes of that war. Not as big as Revan, but he lead many successful campaigns. It was what opened so many doors that led to his becoming Chief of State in the first place."
"After the Civil War! I was only gone for a little over fifteen years, how the Sith spit did the Alliance manage to squeeze in two more wars in that little of time? How is the Alliance not in shambles right now?"
"Who's to say it isn't?"
I grimaced knowing she was right.
"Besides, it wasn't really a war. It was more of a... civil unrest." She shrugged, "Darth Caedus had started out as a respected leader, he was only one willing to do what it took to bring Corellia back into the fold. The public loved him, his troops loved him, he was eventually made Chief of State too. Somewhere along the way though... he just lost his mind, lines were crossed, people were killed, and even your parents were on the run for awhile."
"Heh. No surprise there. When aren't my parents involved?" I shook my head, "How did they manage to stop him?"
"Your cousin, Ben Skywalker, hunted down and killed Darth Caedus, though most people say it was in revenge."
"Ben! He's just a boy. He had to have been only... what, fourteen? How in the galaxy did he manage to take out a full fledged Sith lord?"
Dara shrugged, "I don't know, but revenge is powerful thing. Couple it with pain and anger, and people can do unbelievable things."
"But what pushed him to that point?"
"Darth Caedus murdered his mother."
I didn't know what to say to that. Mara had taught me a great many things when I was growing up, she had been my official master. Though I had been extremely upset over that in the beginning, I had learned to love and respect her guidance.
She had been very good to me, to my family, and I had loved her. It hurt to know she was gone. And I felt for Luke and Ben. Luke had loved Mara with all his heart, just as my father loved my mother. I couldn't even imagine how hard it must have been for Luke, and for Ben. Losing Anakin had been the second hardest thing I had ever lived though, and he had only been my brother. If I had lost my mother... I don't know how I would have coped.
As for Luke, my father would be in pieces, lost, if he no longer had my mother by his side. I can't imagine Luke had been much better off.
"This Darth Caedus, he was a Jedi before he fell, correct?" She nodded, and I continued, "Who was he? He must have been someone close to the family in order to kill Mara. She was a tough woman, very brave, and selfless. Not just anybody could kill her."
Dara's eyes widened in what I could only assume was fear. This shocked me. Just as I was about to ask her what was wrong, we were interrupted. Over the speakers, passengers were asked to return to their cabins, immediately.
We were confused, but we started to make our way back to our bunks.
I was about to bring the subject back up about Darth Caedus, when Dara suddenly called out.
"Captain!" Dara seemed extremely relieved at his arrival.
The captain was an older man, of probably his mid-fifties, with gray, thinning hair and a grizzly, wrinkled, old face. His uniform was always spotless and perfect. He was also quite the sabacc player, I had heard.
He was surprised by Dara's sudden exclamation, but stopped none the less.
"Dara. General." He nodded to us, but seemed to be in quite a hurry. I was still irked by his calling me general. I was only a general during the war, and that title was long since retired, but he still insisted on referring to me as nothing else. "I was just on my way to the bridge. Is there something you ladies needed?"
"What's going on, Captain?" I asked.
"Standard procedure, General." He assured me, "We've received SOS broadcasts from a freighter not even a parsec away. Says they were attacked by an unknown source and require immediate help. We've redirected our course and will be intercepting them within the hour. You're both welcome to join us on the bridge. We've scanned the area and it doesn't seem there is any other ID signatures but that freighter."
"It could be a trap then. Perhaps they were hoping a smaller vessel would come across them first." I said. It certainly wouldn't be the first time a pirate ship had attempted such a rouse.
"It's a possibility, which is why we asked that passengers return to their cabins for the time being. If this turns to a fight, which I doubt it will, it'll be easier to keep as many people out of the cross-hairs as possible. You're a seasoned war general, and I'd be honored to have you on the bridge, if you wished it. And you, Dara, I've heard quite a bit about your feats with a blaster."
I shook my head, politely denying his offer, "I'm no general anymore, Captain. My days fighting wars are long passed. Besides, I would only slow you down in my current condition. I think I will return to my cabin to refresh my bandages." I gestured to my heavily bandaged side.
He nodded, understanding my reasons, "Of course, General."
"I'll accompany you, Captain. This freighter has piqued my interest. Perhaps I'll see my very first pirate." Dara surprised me. She had never expressed interest in the inter-goings of the Bridge. To be honest, she never really seemed very interested in any part of the ship. Mostly we kept to ourselves in our cabin, only leaving to journey to the medbay.
She must have been very desperate to get out of telling me who this Darth Caedus was.
"Well then, I should let you two be on your way." I shook the captain's hands and they left for the bridge.
Dara was gone for many hours. I sat alone in our cabin and did my best to re-bandage myself. The wound on my arm had healed nicely. The skin wasn't fully healed, but the wound had closed. The only proof I had of suffering from a wound there at all, was a single jagged, puckered, pink line that contrasted against my pale skin.
My ribs were not nearly as close to being healed. They were positioned back into place and in one piece again, but my skin and muscles remained heavily bruised.
Laying on the bed, my mind drifted to the news Dara had given me. My Uncle was exiled, my Aunt was dead, and my little cousin was a Sith slayer. Each was hard to believe, but what kept my thoughts going in circles was Darth Caedus.
Who was he? How did he manage to kill Mara?
No person was invincible, I had learned that the hard way during the war, but... she had always seemed so... Larger than life. Like my parents, or my uncle. No matter what came their way they always seemed to bounce back.
This Darth Caedus had to have been close to the family. I quickly thought of all the people close enough to do so. It would have had to have been a council member. Perhaps Kyp.
No, he couldn't. He was headstrong and impulsive, but he was no Sith. He despised Sith.
But what Jedi didn't despise Sith? No doubt your Grandfather Anakin had despised them up to the very moment he turned into one himself. He had lived to become second only to Palpatine as the worst Sith to ever terrorize the galaxy.
And Ben! How had he been able to get close enough to the Sith Lord in the first place? It couldn't have been easy. He would have to have been in a position close to the Lord in order to slay him. He was only a child, a teenager, but still only a child.
You were only two years older than him when you left for the wars. Anakin, as well. You were no children.
Yes, we were. I was too stubborn to accept it at the time, as was he, but I wasn't prepared for the terrors of war. Look at me, look at what I've become... And look at what happened to him.
I could only hope Ben did not feel torn by his actions, as I was by mine. I hoped he had the strength and conviction that I had lacked.
The door to the cabin opened and I pushed myself off the bed. I stopped, expecting Dara, but was surprised to see a silver protocol standing in the doorway.
"Introduction: I am HK-51, my master, the Captain of this vessel has sent me to request your presence in the most immediate of time."
"Oh," I said. "Okay."
I began to walk past him when a voice filled my head. It sounded very much familiar, but it was not my own. The voice brought me to a complete stop.
Beware of this droid, he means you harm. Danger surrounds you, Exile. Trust no one.
"What the..." I froze in my spot, I turned to look at the droid in just enough time to see the needle coming straight at me. I tried to jump back but the droid was somehow connected to the doors controls. He forced the doors to slam shut, but considering I was standing in the middle of the two sliding sides, the doors slammed shut on me pushing my shoulder blades and forcing me to a still.
"Statement: Fight and you will only make things worse, meat-bag. My bounty will not be stolen from me."
"What are you..." The words died on my lips as whatever was in the needle began to work its way through my system.
Awaken...
Struggling to open my eyes, I felt an odd weightlessness accompanied by a cold wet liquid all around me. I forced my eyes open and stared at my surroundings, unsure of where I was. As far as I could tell, I was in a med bay.
I was also floating in a kolto tank. How I got here, I had no idea. I tried to look through the haze of the kolto, but I couldn't see much past a few feet.
I reached over to the latch on the top of the tank. The safety switch activated without a hitch. I struggled to pull myself out of the kolto. My arms were very weak, almost useless. They tingled from the sudden use, and I wondered just how long had I been floating in the tank.
I was leaning over the edge, my lower body still submerged in the kolto when I came to an abrupt stop. The tubes the had connected to my nose were tangled at the bottom of the tank.
Ripping the tubes out and gasping for the first bit of fresh air I got since I woke up, I lost balance on the edge and tipped over the top of the tank and came crashing down onto the cold hard metal flooring.
Pain shot through my elbow and reverberated through my entire arm. My head came down hard on the floor and darkness danced on the edge of my vision.
Groaning, I managed to push myself up onto my knees and cradled my arm.
Around me, were four more kolto tanks. Each had a person floating within them. I walked to each and checked their vitals. All of them told me the same thing. These people were dead and had been for quite a few hours, a day, even, if I had to guess.
Where could I possibly be? Where ever I was, it lacked personnel. These bodies were left unchecked for far too long. Any Alliance military med lab is under strict regulations for the disposing of bodies.
The only way in and out of the room was one single door. As I walked closer to it I realized it was low tech. Practically outdated. Anybody could walk in and out as they pleased. Where ever I was, I wasn't being held as a prisoner. That information was somewhat calming. Unless my captors were just incompetent, but even that was still a calming thought.
I activated the door and it slid open slowly. The hallway I walked into had three doors. The one farthest from me, was damaged badly. The smoke billowing from it's shuddering frame was proof enough of that.
Someone had tried to lock me in here.
"No," I said, shaking my head. "That's insane." I told myself as I walked farther into the hall. I didn't even know where I was, and I was already thinking of conspiracy theories. There was a door to my right and another door a little farther down on the left, past a small window.
I had been kidnapped before. Plenty of times. Growing up as the daughter of two of the most famous people in the universe tended to attract one or two crazies. But I hadn't faced anything like that since I was exiled. Nobody wanted an outcast. I was no longer a Solo, so I was no longer needed.
I turned to the door on my right, and tried to activate it. It beeped angrily back at me, demanding clearance. I sighed as I moved to pull open the metal casing that protected the doors inner wires. My slicing skills were rusty, and with the outdated door, they were obsolete. Resisting the urge to groan, I put the casing back on and began looking for a different way out of the room.
I moved on to the door on my left. I paused slightly at the window to check if anyone was in there. There wasn't. But there was a terminal, thank the goddess.
Something was definitely going on here. Someone should have been in the med lab, hopefully I would find some answers in this room. The door opened with ease, and I walked into it looking around. The room looked like it hadn't been touched in days. Everything inside it was covered with a thin layer of dust, and some things were knocked onto the floor, like someone had left in a rush.
Spotting a container in the corner I rushed over, hoping to find clothes. My arms were covered in goosebumps from the cold. There wasn't any, to my extreme displeasure, but there was two medpacs. While I didn't need them now, I knew they would come in handy eventually so I took them with me in a cloth bag I found pushed to the bottom of the container.
I slipped the bag over my shoulders and moved to continue my search.
Turning away from the container, I headed towards the terminal across the room. Activating it was simple enough. It was a basic terminal, with minimal security, and it was pretty outdated too. It took a few moments for the old machine to hum to life.
-Peragus Medical Bay Console-
-EMERGENCY LOCKDOWN-
-Enter command-
Peragus. That certainly sounded familiar. I had heard it once or twice in my travels. It was a mining facility, if I remembered correctly. They liked to hire small worlders. Or travelers. Anyone, really, who was looking for work, even if the pay was low and the work, to be honest, very dangerous.
Peragian fuel was temperamental, and even that was an understatement. One single slip up and you could find yourself barbecued to the bone in seconds. That is, if the blast left any bones to barbecue.
I pulled up the medical logs, hoping to find out why or how I came to be here. There were three logs. The oldest was 3 days old, and there was one for each day since. I opened the oldest, and waited as the holovid flickered to life.
The holovid just barely flickered to life. The woman's figure was blurry and the static distorted her features. The message started out mid-sentence and I hoped it wouldn't cut out too much, but considering how outdated everything in this facility seemed to be, I had a feeling it would.
"-still examining survivors from the damaged freighter we pulled in. Goes by the name of Ebon Hawk. There was only one survivor, a young woman in pretty bad shape. We placed her in the kolto tank for recovery, but it doesn't seem hopeful."
The Ebon Hawk? That didn't make any sense. The last thing I could remember was being on the Harbinger. Dara and I were walking to the med lab, talking about something... something important. My fuzzy memory would not allow me to remember exactly what, but... I could just feel it was something terribly important.
"The carbon scoring on the freighter suggests it was in battle, but there was no indication as to who fired upon it." static cut through, "-it's voice locked. Strange. Usually only smugglers or bounty hunters voice lock their navicomputer."
The video eventually cut to the latest recorded bit, the woman was wearing the same uniform as the other parts of the recording, but now it looked more worn. Creases and wrinkles covered her uniform as well as many different stains that I could only guess were blood stains. Her appearance as well had became more haggard. She looked as if she hadn't slept for days. She spoke about the accidents down in the tunnels. More injured minors, more dead to be taken away. Droids, she said, were at the fault for it, but no one could know for sure.
Just before the recording came to an abrupt end, a loud screeching noise began to radiate from the video. The woman stopped mid-sentence and dropped her things to the floor. "Another accident? No, if they've started an evacuation, that means... Everybody start moving! Get as many as you can to the bunkers! Leave the kolto-"
As the holovid came to an end, I felt the most unsettling feeling. Like I was being watched. Something was off about this place, and I was going to find out exactly what.
Scrolling down the options on the screen I found the access code for the door across the hall. There was also an option to open the other door, the one I could only assume opened to the rest of the facility, but every time I tried activating it, a warning popped up on the screen, telling me to contact maintenance.
Just before I was about to leave the terminal, I decided to check one last thing. I had to see what was the last documented command.
I almost wished I hadn't.
Someone had tried to kill me. But they had underestimated my ability to survive, and instead killed four other innocent people.
What had I once said about my parents?
People could come after them, time and time again, and nothing could prove stronger than the bond of Leia and Han Solo, nor their penchant for survival. It was the people around them that got hurt.
Like parents, like daughter. I felt sick to my stomach.
Taking the code for the other door, I rushed over hoping to find a different way to exit the medbay.
Now with the code, the door opened for me without problem. Once again, I wished it hadn't. Laying on top of many slabs were men and women dressed in mining garb. All of whom, were dead.
And if the stench was evidence of anything, it was that they had been dead for quite a few days too. I walked cautiously into the room, trying to breath as little as possible out of my nose. Once again I was overwhelmed with the feeling of being watched. I passed by each of the cold, pale, unseeing eyes of the people of this room, and tried to shake the unsettling feeling.
At the end of the room, clutched tightly in a dead man's grip was a single plasma torch. I crossed the room quickly to examine the weapon.
Strange they should leave a weapon in his hands. It seemed like something they would remove before bringing him in here with the rest of the corpses. It was still in working condition, thankfully, untouched by the fire that had burned the majority of the man wielding it.
A plasma torch had many uses. A flow of plasma could be used to cut through both doors and people. It was precisely what I needed to get out of the medbay. I reached out to take it before my hand froze.
I was looting a dead man's body. My hand withdrew.
Even if my morals had been loose during my exile, it did not mean I succumbed to stealing from the dead. But I needed that torch. Surely it wasn't looting if I truly needed what I was taking...
Praying to whatever Gods or Goddesses that might be listening, I reached out again and wrapped my hand around the dead man's. It was cold. Almost like ice. He held onto the torch like he was made granite. It took a bit of strength to pull the torch from his grasp, but it eventually gave.
Forgive me... I placed his hand gently back onto the slab, and prayed once again for him and his family, if he had any. He deserved peace, and I hoped fervently he had it now.
"Looking for what you need amongst the dead?" A woman's cold, hard voice shook me from my thoughts, bringing me to a sudden start. I spun around and stared at the elderly woman standing not ten feet away from me.
For a moment all I could do was stare. This was the same woman I had just seen laying, quite dead, on the slab next to the door. Staring wide eyed, I felt the nagging feeling that I had heard her voice before, not just once either, "You... I know you..."
Didn't I?
She began to walk towards me. I held my hand up and shifted into a fighting stance, "Stay away from me. Who are you?"
She stopped walking towards me and just stared at me. I still could not see her eyes, as they were now hidden behind her light brown cloak's hood, but somehow I just knew she was staring straight at me, almost as if she could see through me, or into my very being. A chilling chuckle passed through her, "You know who I am? Then perhaps you should not waste time asking questions."
Her voice... Where had I heard that before? "I... I've heard your voice before."
Slowly my fogged memories began to piece themselves together, or at least they tried to. Suddenly I could remember that cold moment, floating in the kolto tank, surrounded by darkness, yet being pulled back to reality by the sound of her voice. But another memory fought to be seen as well, but it was deeper down. I tried to force it out, but the harder I thought, the more distant the memory seemed, "In my head. On the Harbinger. Right before- Ah!"
A searing pain shot through my head.
"Careful." The old woman warned, "You shouldn't push yourself. We have been slumbering for a great while." She took a step forward, towards me again.
I stepped back quickly, and she halted.
"The miners said you were dead." I said, "You were dead, I saw you laying there."
"You have been out of touch with the force for far too long, Exile." She spoke as if it was obvious, "I was not dead. Close, but not entirely. I managed to shut down while my body healed. It took longer than I had expected. I am not as I was when I was younger..."
I stared at her in disbelief, "You've been in here, nearly dead, for three days?"
"You sound surprised," She scoffed, "As if you had never heard of a healing trance before."
Of course I had heard of it, I had used the trance plenty of times when I was on the frontlines of the war. But I had never used it for that long, nor with any fatal wounds. After all, the force could only heal so much. Not even Uncle Luke could have revived himself from near death with a healing trance.
"You are Jaina Solo, are you not?" The woman asked, "The Jedi hero of the Mandalorian Wars?"
I shifted uncomfortably, "...I am no hero. Nor am I a Jedi".
A light flashed in her eyes, and her faced donned a new understanding, "Ah... I see." She said, tapping her chin, "But you are Jaina Solo? I will take your silence as a positive answer. If you are one, you must be the others."
I shook my head, "I am not a Jedi."
"Of course you are!" She shouted suddenly, causing me to jump slightly at her outburst, "But I haven't the time to argue such frivolous things right now. We must leave this place immediately." Her tone returned to her slow pace.
"Why the rush?" I eyed her suspiciously.
I couldn't see her face, but I had a feeling she rolled her eyes before replying, "Must I really explain that to you? The people who attacked you on the Harbinger will surely be close behind. We have already lost three days to which I am sure they have not wasted in tracking us here."
I shook my head, never taking my eyes off her. "Why should I trust you? How do I know you weren't the one to attack me in the first place?"
She paused for a moment, as if debating whether or not to trust me herself with something, "I am Kreia. And know this, Exile, I have walked the same path as you. Many years ago, I was betrayed by those I trusted and stripped of who I once was. I now stand here to guide you, to preserve you from those who would change you. To give you the chance I was never given. As long as our paths intertwine, I shall never lay a hand against you."
A grave silence settled between the two of us as we both sized the other up, trying to decide if the other was worthy of our trust.
"Right." I eventually broke the silence, "Well, I should be looking for a way off this rock."
She nodded in agreement, "Very well. And Exile? You should perhaps extend your search for some clothes, if only for proper first impressions."
The corners of her lips raised ever so slightly and I realized she was simply joking. Even still, I noticed the truth in her words, and I was also more than ready to cover myself up a bit more.
I started to walk past her, but stopped, "One more thing, the miners in the kolto tanks with me were given a fatal dosage of drugs, know anything about that?"
The woman's face remained impassive, and I wished, perhaps for the first time in a great while, that I could feel the force once more. If only to be able to tell if she were truly guilt free. Her lips pursed slightly and I allowed myself to assume it was in deep thought, surprised by the new information.
"Indeed?" She finally spoke, looking towards the direction of the med lab, "Strange they should spare you..."
"They didn't." I said, and her head turned back to me, "I got the same dosage as the others."
"And survived? Due, of course, to your Jedi training no doubt..." She paused for a moment and before I could say anything more, she started speaking again, "I did not know of this at all, but it might do well to tread carefully while we remain here. I can't sense any threat at the moment, but the future is clouded, and you should be wise to watch your back."
"Not a problem." I said, as if I hadn't already been on guard.
This was quickly becoming the strangest day of my life. I had heard her before. This Kreia woman. I knew that even if it made me sound mad.
She evaded my accusation, not denied it. Did that mean she had connected with me? Had she been in my mind?
And if she had and has been in my mind, was she still? Could she hear me even now?
I hated that. I hated not knowing who peered into my mind. Who listened to my thoughts, my feelings. Being a Jedi had hardened me to that sort of thing growing up. My mind had never truly been solely mine then. My brothers, who were just as force sensitive as I (more so in Anakin's case), had flowed effortlessly through our bond. We had shared everything, there had been no privacy between us.
Then, at the temple, people touched each other through the force, sending feelings or messages through the force. Sharing your presence in the force was simply normal of Jedi.
But I had spent ten years separated from that way of life. My mind had been solely mine. My thoughts not shared.
I wasn't ready to be open to it again.
Even more so unready to share it with a complete stranger. Kreia had already proved to me her own abilities in the force with her healing trance. She had been trained, and trained well, but I had no knowledge of her. I had never seen nor heard of her in my entire life.
So she couldn't have been a Jedi.
And if she wasn't a Jedi, what was she?
I tried to shake those distracting thoughts from my mind. I had much more important things to focus on right now. Like getting off this asteroid, which could only happen if I made it out of this medlab.
So, forcing myself to put my suspicions of Kreia to the side, I grasped the plasma torch with my hands and weighed it back and forth. I eyed the heavily damaged door trying to figure the quickest way to slice through it.
I just needed to slice the lock really. In holodramas, they tended to go out of their way and slice an entire new door out, but I had a feeling that would take a little too long for my tastes. If I managed to slice perfectly through the lock then I could just push the doors apart with my own strength.
Placing the plasma torch in the correct spot, I began my task. It was tough, even with the torch to cut through the heavy metal lock. Slowly, but surely it cut through and I could hear the lock snap in half and the door shifted ever so slightly.
Pleased with my triumph, I put the plasma torch away. Now all I had to do was give the door a bit of a budge...
The door slid open and I barely had to break a sweat. If I had still had my force I probably would have just used it to bust down the door, or unlock the device. This way... This way was so much more satisfying. I didn't need the force.
No. I didn't. I got myself through that door, and I would find my way off this rock without it too.
I scanned the room quickly, assessing it for any dangers. There were only bodies. I rushed over to one of them, and took his pulse. Nothing. His skin was like ice.
Just like the miners in the Kolto tanks, he had been dead for a while now. Sighing, I stood back up. My eyes roamed over him looking for the likely cause of death. There was no blood, but he was covered in carbon scoring.
Strange. The scoring was weak. If this man had been wearing proper armor rather than a mining uniform, I doubt it would have even left a mark.
The second body in the room was crumpled down in between two broken droids. He too was covered in blaster shots. These ones were stronger, suggesting that the assailant was closer in range when the blasts were fired. Crouching down next to the body, I noticed the scoring wasn't just on the front of this man, like it was on the other man. These marks also trailed to his back.
Shifting the man over slightly to observe the marks on his back, I noticed a blade laying under him. This man had been fighting back against his assailant, no wonder the markings were more severe than his comrade's. I grabbed the vibroblade and rolled the man back to his original position.
I looked the blade over carefully. It was old and hardly even dangerous anymore. Even as a padawan I had used blades more deadly than this. But other than the dullness of the blade, I realized there was no blood on it.
Interesting.
I looked at the broken pile of droid next to him. It looked like a giant mechanical spider. It was dinged up pretty bad too. I placed the blade into one of the indentations and pulled it away, confident that this was the same blade that caused the dents.
So, the droids really had attacked the miners. But why? Droids weren't enemies, not unless they were programmed to be. And I couldn't imagine that these droids had been given more intelligence than needed to help blast away asteroid rock. If they suddenly turned against their masters, it had to have been because someone else tampered with them to do so.
I decided to check the droids innards, just to see if perhaps someone had made them turn against the miners, but both of the droids had been hacked up too much to get much information out of them.
I decided to keep the vibroblade, despite how dull the blade was. If there were more of these droids, which was probably a given, then I would need something stronger than my plasma torch to get past them.
Thankfully, my long soak in Kolto had left me feeling up for anything.
Turning to my left I headed over to the door. Before I could get close to it though, the door slid open and two of the spider-like droids scuttled into the room, blasting away.
"Ugh!" I was taken by surprise by the droids, and the little bastards managed to hit me a few times before I could turn and dispose of them.
Standing above the smoking remains of the mining droids, the adrenaline from the sudden attack was beginning to wear off. My upper arm was burning with a passion. I look down at where the droid had managed to hit me. It was already starting to blister.
I had definitely had worse, but damn did it smart.
Shaking the thoughts away, I grabbed the mining laser off of the droid and tucked it away within my bag. You can never be too sure about what you'll need.
Shaking off the pain radiating in my upper arm I started down the hall again, this time on guard. I hate how closed in I am, there's almost no place to go for cover. I can only imagine how terrible it was for the miners, hunted down like caged banthas.
When I reach the next door, I'm prepared for any sudden surprises. I open the door slowly, and take a quick glance around to determine if there are any enemies. There aren't. But there are bodies.
I sigh.
Aside from the two bodies, there's a desk and a few lockers. It looks like its a security room perhaps. There are a number of screens lining the desk, each labeled with different rooms. Some that I've been in, some that I haven't.
I sit down at the desk and log into the center console. It's set up pretty similarly to the one in the med bay, but it too seems to be under some kind of lock down. I can't get access to all the files on the console, but the security logs seemed to be untouched.
I opened the first one and sat back.
"...is this thing on? All right, all hands - especially YOU, Coorta... Listen up, because I'm not saying this again. The next one of you juma-heads to try and smuggle a blaster, or so help me, any sort of military grade FRAG weapons into my facility is gonna take a long walk out the airlock.
Why? Because in case you forgot, Peragian fuel explodes at high temps—that's what blasted that chunk out of Peragus II and created this damn asteroid field.
So if I catch any of you with anything other than sonic charges or mining lasers, I'll burn you and your contract! Security out. "
So the miners were smuggling in weapons. What did a bunch of miners need weapons for on a remote mining facility? Was it because of the droids?
If it was that would make some sense. The miners were worried about their safety, but like the Head of Security said, Peragian fuel is extremely dangerous. One miss-shot could send the whole facility into destruction. Surely a few droids couldn't cause that much fear and instability.
Coorta. I had heard that name before. The doctor in the medical lab logs had mention him before the video cut out. He was a trouble starter, was he the reason why people were afraid?
Or was he the one smuggling in the weapons?
I skipped down to the next log and pressed play. The same man from before filled the screen, this time less formal. This was a personal log, not a warning for the miners. Hopefully I could get more information on the situation. Like the medical logs, it cut in mid sentence.
"-And according to one of the miners, it was because one of the sonic charges went off prematurely. Another charge set by yet another droid. The three idiots were grouped so close to the charge, it might as well have been a frag grenade..." He sighed, "The blast wrecked the internal components of the droid that set the charge so we can't even dissect it to see what happened.
I don't like what's going on here. Ever since that damned Jedi showed up, things have been getting worse... It's not just Coorta and his miners, or the fights, now the droids are acting crazy."
So Coorta had been a troublemaker. Smuggling weapons, fights, they all started before the droids. It sounds like all of that had been going on before I got there, but at the same time I had nagging feeling I was the blame for whatever had happened at this facility.
Part of me wanted to walk away from the terminal right now. I didn't want to keep digging. I didn't want to know what had happened here, I just wanted to get off this damned asteroid before who ever was chasing me got here.
But I couldn't. Because a part of me knew I owed it to these miners to find out what happened, especially if I'm to blame for it.
The video had cut out and the only remaining log looked like a recorded transmission between security and maintenance. Probably about the droids. Instead of walking away, I opened the file and sat back to watch it.
This video is even more hostile than the one for the miners. The Head of Security is livid as he interrogates the maintenance officer.
"Sir, I don't know what's causing this. It's like their behavior cores are undergoing binary decay, but I can't find the source... This shouldn't be happening. "
The Head of Security laughed harshly, "Well that's reassuring! It isn't happening! So the next time we nearly have a breach in the ventilation tunnels, I can just close my eyes and pretend it's my imagination. I want answers, I want to know what kind of damage these droids can do if they start mining us, instead of the asteroid. "
"Sir, these droids aren't combat models... their mining lasers are weaker and less accurate. I doubt those droids could even hit one of us. "
"Are you fracking blind?! What about the miners in med bay? It's sabotage and it started right after the commander said we weren't going to sell the Jedi to the Exchange."
I leaned forward in surprise, not at the fact that I was to blame for all of this, but at the mention of selling me. Who was the Exchange? Why would they buy Jedi? What could they want with us and why would the council do nothing to stop them?
These videos were leaving me with more questions than answers and I was going to go mad watching them. I shut off the console and leaned back into the chair, trying to process all the new information. Was the Exchange the one who attacked the Ebon Hawk? Is that who I was running from? If so, maybe I didn't want to keep running. These people are collecting Jedi and I want to know why. There's no way I can let them keep doing this.
Standing up, I resolved to ask Kreia about it as soon as I found a way off this rock. My hip knocked against the side of the table and sent some papers flying to the ground. Even though I knew it hardly mattered if they stayed on the ground, I bent down to pick them up.
One of the papers caught my interest. It was a copy of a form to Maintenance. It was an order from the Head of Security and authorization from the Commander to install an override switch. I scanned the paper quickly. Apparently this switch would deactivate any droids on this level while also unlocking the door to the holding cells. I guess Head of Security didn't want whoever was behind the droids to be able to escape with the help of his or her droids once they caught him or her.
Damn, the switch was installed at the head control center of the facility. It would have been a lot more helpful if it had been here instead. I have a nasty feeling that there is quite a few droids between here and the override switch.
I set the form back on the desk and flipped through the rest of the paper work. They were mostly just copies of order forms for medpacks, sonic and ion charges, and even, surprisingly, a stealth field generator. All of which were scheduled to arrive a few days ago, so I could only assume they were somewhere in this office.
I sat the papers down and started raiding the room. I found the charges and SFG in the lockers in the corner of the office. There weren't nearly as many charges as I had hoped for, but still the SFG would more than come in handy.
Putting the few charges in to my bag and strapping the SFG around my waist, I headed towards the door.
Before I could open the it, I was halted in my spot by a voice shattering through my head.
"Ugh!" I grabbed my forehead as the voice started to talk.
Be careful, exile. There is much energy beyond this door...yet it stems from nothing alive.
"Kreia?" The pain was lessening in my head as I adjusted to hearing her. "How-?"
Can you not sense them?...Reach out... cast aside what you see, and instead reach out with your perceptions.
Ah... I could feel her satisfaction as if it were my own. You can feel them... the droids you cannot perceive but the small oscillations of energy... that you can feel echoing outwards.
"I think my sedatives are wearing off..." I felt dizzy for a moment, but it passed after a moment. The pain from my head had left me feeling fuzzy, but underneath it all I felt something else. Something I hadn't felt in ages. It was like enemy territory and my body wanted nothing to do with it.
It's the force that you feel. It has not been so long as for you to forget.
But it had. Seventeen years I had gone without this. I didn't want this back. The force brought too much pain, too much heart break... I can't do this. "No. I don't want this... I can't..."
You don't have a choice, this is who you are... Do not turn away from this, Exile. Listen... feel it echoing within you. Come I shall guide you down the familiar paths—you will need it if we are to survive and escape this place.
Just as suddenly as her voice had appeared, it disappeared. But the Force remained. It was like getting a burst of energy. It was like waking up all over again. My eyes were clearer, my mind sharper. I could feel the energy beyond this door. I could even feel the lingering essences of life that clung desperately to the bodies littering this room.
I felt connected. I felt whole. But with that I felt insignificant. Lost. Broken.
The memories of Malachor came rushing forward and I had to quickly shut it down. The pain and suffering stayed just out of reach in my mind, but left an all too familiar after taste.
Kreia may be right about me not having a choice, but she is not right about this being who I am. Jaina Solo was a Jedi, but me... the Exile... She's not. And the Force has no place in my life.
"The Force is life," My uncle's words came to my mind. How often had I sat in rapture of his words? How many hours did I spend looking up to him, trying to be just as he was?
It was too many, and all too wasted.
The Force might mean life, but it also meant death. It also meant destruction. I want no part of any of it.
There were too many droids on the other side of the door for me to fight, so instead I switched on the SFG. I opened the door just barely enough for me to squeeze through and had to move slowly.
The door's movement, however small, had caught the attention of the droids. The were poised and ready for any targets. I inched my way past them, holding my breath.
One of the papers from the desk had been a technical layout of this floor, and if I was right this next door would be to the command center.
It was. And thankfully I still had the SFG because there were plenty of droids waiting for me. I went as quickly as I could to the control console and booted it up.
It was under emergency lock down as well. What a surprise. The only difference was apparently I could use a code to shut the lock down off, but considering I wasn't the most proficient hacker I decided to settle for shutting down the droids so I could search for the codes without being blasted by a mining droid.
I flipped the switch and noticed all the droids drop to the floor. Confident that I was safe from the droids now I turned off the SFG and started to search the area. If the codes had been anywhere else on this floor, then I would have found them by now. So they had to be somewhere in this giant room.
I sighed.
If they weren't, things weren't looking so good for me. Without the codes I couldn't leave this floor, and without leaving this floor I could never find the codes. Which means I'm stuck.
Maybe Kreia knows something more about hacking than I do... Unlikely, but there's not many options left.
I was almost out of room to search when I came across a door.
Ah, right, the holding cells. I had almost forgot about them. I had little faith the codes were in there, but as I was about to pass by the door, I stopped.
There was someone in there. The presence was guarded, but I could feel the life beyond the door.
Ah beyond this door someone yet lives... be mindful... his thoughts are difficult to read... but he might prove useful...
"Thanks, Kreia, I can handle it..." I muttered as the dull ache in my head subsided. At least the more she barged into my head, the easier it got.
I paused outside the door, trying to get a feel for the life on the other side. I couldn't feel his thoughts, but still his life force was strong. Almost blinding. I hadn't felt someone like this since... well... never. Bracing myself for the person on the other side I opened the door.
The door slid open, so slowly, almost teasing me. As soon as the door opened I was hit in the face with a wave of hot air. I coughed and braved a step into the only warm room in the entire facility. I wondered for a moment how could this room be so warm while the rest of the facility so cold, before chalking it up to the four pulsing force cages.
In such a confined space the four cages must have acted like heating units. Under normal circumstances, with personnel walking in and out, the heat would have been just enough to keep their guests just the right amount of uncomfortable, not stifling like it was now. The doors to this room must have been kept shut for a long time, to have allowed this room to turn into such a sauna.
My eyes searched the small room and roamed over three empty force cages. They paused on the fourth cage, which was not empty at all. Sitting on the floor, squished into the tiny space between the barriers, was a man. He was sitting on top of what looked like a brown leather jacket, or vest perhaps, that he probably removed when the room became his very own sauna. He leaned onto one of his knees that was pushed up to his chest, the other leg tucked in the space between his foot and bottom.
He seemed to be half asleep. Through the bluish haze of the cage, I noticed the man's damp black hair clinging to his forehead. His white tunic was soaked heavily in his sweat and was tucked into his black leather pants.
Sweat raced down the contours of the man's face, highlighting his sharp features and rugged nose. It looked like it had been broken and realigned many times in the past. Dark stubble traced from one side of his face, down his chin, and over to the other side, like he hadn't shaved in a few days.
I tried to step closer to the cage, to get a better look at him. From where I was I couldn't tell if he was still breathing or not. Cautiously, I stretched out with the force, feeling his own force signature in return. It pulsed like a heartbeat throughout the empty room.
Alive, good.
I was about to withdraw from his mind, and retreat back into myself once more, when suddenly I didn't want to anymore. Emotions poured through him and raced through the force and into myself.
Anger.
Disgust.
Love.
Lust.
Hate.
My heart rushed at just the mere brush against his mind. I wanted, no, I needed, to delve deeper. To peer into his mind and feel the hurricane of emotions that was in him, like a person needs oxygen to live. If I stopped now I would go back to the same lifeless shell I had been for seventeen years, and for the first time in a long time I felt something of my very own. Fear. Fear of being that shell again.
Just as I was about the push a little farther into him, his head flung up from his knee and he looked about the room in a panic. Breathing like a frightened animal cornered by a predator, his gaze fell on me and I was shocked back by the animosity in his glare.
His eyes were bright blue, the rage burned them like they were flames, and they were bloodshot like he hadn't had a peaceful nights rest in a long while.
I was frozen in my spot, unable to move. I had retreated back within myself at his hostility and immediately began to berate myself for almost invading on his private thoughts. I deserved the hostility and anger. Though I doubt very highly that he knew I was poking around in there. Still, I was raised better than to spy on others no matter how good it felt to do so.
Moments passed in silence and the man eventually managed to calm himself down. He cleared his throat, "Nice outfit. Did you miners change regulations while I was in here?"
He chuckled and this time I was the one whose anger was sparked. I could practically feel his gaze as it moved across my bare skin and skimpy clothes.
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms in an attempt to cover myself, "Funny." I said, "I'd keep those eyes up if I were you, and tell me who you are."
My initial regret at peeking into his mind was forgotten as I felt the arrogance roll off him in waves through the force.
He swished his hair so that it fell in front of his eyes, and he looked up to me through his hair with a look that had no doubt caused many a girl to swoon before. But it would get no such reaction from me.
"Atton, Atton Rand," He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes, "Excuse me if I don't shake hands, the field only causes mild electrical burns."
"Tell me, Atton Rand, how exactly did you manage to wind up behind those force barriers? You don't exactly look like a miner, or is that leather jacket regulation for mining peragian fuel?"
"Heh, not for the lack of trying on my part. Apparently you can't have style if you want to mine that death fuel." He shook his head, "No, security says I broke some trumped up regulation of theirs. Take it up with them if you want. Maybe you can get some reactions out of them. They stopped listening to me shortly before they stop feeding me. Now that, beautiful, is criminal."
I shrugged, "Not my problem."
Atton laughed, "Cold. I like that."
I rolled my eyes, "How long have you been in here anyways? This place is deserted, minus you, if you could tell me what happened I'd really appreciate it."
"You mean before or after the Jedi?" He stood up from the floor and started to put his leather jacket back on. "Either way its a real short story. A group of miners decided they'd turn it in for the bounty, but what passes for law out here, didn't like that. Then there was some big explosion, I was sitting here for a long time, and bam! You show up in your underwear and things started to look a lot better."
"Bounty? What bounty?" Dara had conveniently failed to mention anything about that. But I guess this is what the Security office had been talking about.
"Like I know or even care. The Exchange wants what it wants. Maybe someone wants one as a trophy, or someone has a score to settle. Of course, not many of 'em left. Wouldn't surprise me if the bounty's pretty high. And in this economy, you can't blame a guy for trying to get ahead in life."
"Oh, yeah? Is that how you got in that cage? Trying to get 'ahead'?"
"Ha!" Atton laughed loudly, and shook his head, "Do I look like the type of guy looking to be leveled by a Jedi? Even a simple minded guy like me ain't stupid enough to piss off a Jedi. I prefer my head where it is."
I nodded my head, "True enough, I suppose. You said there weren't many Jedi left. What happened to them?"
He leaned leisurely against the only metal spot his cage afforded him, "The ones who weren't killed in the Jedi Civil War switched off their light sabers a long time ago. Word is, there isn't even a Jedi Council anymore, but who knows. You know how secretive the Jedi were. It was only a matter of time before they started picking each other off."
"Jedi civil wars?" Dara had mentioned the war to me before, but maybe hearing about it from another person's perspective would shed some more light on it.
"Yeah, where you been? Revan and Malak, and the soldiers who followed them, nearly destroyed the alliance. They turned against the other Jedi and had a scrap that almost laid waste to the galaxy. And that was all before Caedus showed up and nearly finished what Revan and Malak started." He shook his head, "Like I said, it was only a matter of time. If only they hadn't torn apart the galaxy before tearing each other apart."
Listening to the amount of hostility he held towards Jedi was easier than it should have been. I found myself almost... agreeing with him. "I heard some things about a war but I don't know much about it."
"You know about the Mandalorian wars, though, right?" I nodded, "Good. Cuts the story telling in half. Revan and Malak saved the Alliance, blah blah blah, but then they came back, right? And it was like they weren't even the same people anymore. One second they're saving the galaxy, the next they're tearing it in two. Then, well, I wasn't there, but like all Sith, Revan and Malak turned on each other."
I nodded, "I was led to believe that Revan saved the Jedi and the Alliance. He redeemed himself by destroying Malak for once and for all."
Atton shrugged, "Maybe, maybe not. I think Revan got cold feet. After Malak decided to dump her, she looked to the Jedi to make her strong, even if it meant playing the good guy again. Then, with their help, she got her revenge on Malak.
Though, I guess there's rumors about it everywhere. All I know was Revan returned to pay back Malak for trying to kill her in the first place. You know women."
A smile tugged at my lips, but I forced it away, "Obviously you don't know much. Revan was a man not a woman - and I heard Revan's redemption involved him stopping Malak and he had no choice but to fight him."
Atton grinned, "Sorry. I wasn't there, thankfully, but what I heard about him back then was that he was pretty quick to kill someone. It wouldn't be hard to believe that he was willing to do whatever it took to get even with Malak."
"Look I'm not really in the mood to discuss Revan right now." I sighed, "Can you just tell me what happened here?"
"Not like your half naked interrogation isn't a personal fantasy of mine, but-" Something seemed to finally click together for him. He shot up from the ground, "Wait, wait a minute. You're the Jedi that the miners were talking about! Where is everybody?"
For a second I was surprised at the anger he aimed at me.
Then I remembered how annoying he was, and I rolled my eyes, "Didn't we are already go over this? I don't know. I woke up and this place was abandoned. I don't even remember coming here. Last thing I remember is being on the Harbinger."
He shook his head, "The miners can't all be gone, but if they are... Look, if you get me out, I can help you. I can! I've gotten out of scrapes worse than this countless times."
"Right," I laughed, "I'm supposed to trust the guy in a force cage? Not gonna happen, pal."
"Look, if the miners are gone, for whatever reason, this place is probably under lockdown." He tried to reason with me, "Which means unless you're a proficient hacker; you're not getting off this level without me-my skills. And even if you did, you'd have to find a ship and be able to pilot it out of here. I can help with all that."
"Who says I'm not pilot myself?" I asked, offended. This man was quickly making his way up my hated list, "I don't need you, not nearly as much as you seem to think."
"Just trust me, I can help you... Please." He pleaded, and it seemed earnest. So earnest I was actually surprised to find a bit of fear hiding in his eyes. He was either a very good actor, or actually afraid he might die in that cage if I didn't let him out.
He can be of use to us. I have felt his sort of presence before. He is no warrior. He is a weak, fool of a man. While he might not be worthy of your trust or respect, you have nothing to fear from the sorts of him...
Kreia's voice boomed in my head, this time with no pain at all. I jumped slightly, still very much not used to hearing someone else's voice in my own head. How long had she been listening in? The whole time? Was she always going to be there, listening and watching through me?
And if she was in there, what keeps her from being able to tamper with my mind? How do I know if what I feel is really me, or her manipulating me? Would she do that? Could she?
Thanks for the advice, but stay out of my head, Kreia. I told her, hoping she would respect my wishes.
I received no reply, so I chose to believe the best of her.
Atton waved his arms from within in force cage, "Hey, Jedi, you awake over there? Will you let me out or do I have to beg?"
I deliberated on the situation for a few more moments before taking Kreia's advice. She may have been crude while describing him, I had no reason not to trust either of them. And Atton was right, my hacking skills were very rusty. I'd need his help.
"Fine. But I'm warning you, any funny business and I'm throwing you right back in there. And I have a feeling the next person to find you won't be nearly as nice."
He smirked excitedly, "Or as pretty."
I stopped, midway to release button. "I can leave you in there. Won't be a burden on my conscience at all."
He threw his hands up quickly and apologized, "Sorry! Sheesh, I didn't mean anything by it. I won't say another word."
"Good," I said as I shut the cage down, "And I'm not a Jedi. "
"Whatever you say, angel. Whatever you say."
Hi guys, sorry for the wait. I've had a breakthrough or two with this story and have gone back to previous chapter to change bits. Mostly the important change is that Anakin is dead, and Jaina does, in fact, know he is, and feels partly to blame for it. Why she feels guilty has not been revealed yet. Also I gave some explanation as to why Jaina hadn't spoken to Revan in so long. Pretty much she was pissed at him. She blamed him for a lot of the bad things that happened in her life, but now realizes it was petty of her and should let go of her anger. (But not necessarily forgive him, yet ;p)
I'm really excited about this chapter, mostly because of Atton's first appearance in this piece. I've changed his character a bit, I know. But I feel like he was too much of a comedic relief in the game. He was a fool, and I liked the original concept design of him than the game version of him, so this is my Atton that I feel will better suit Jaina.
I'm probably going to skip over the Peragus and Harbinger parts, just because I never really enjoyed those stories in the game. So the next chapter will probably be the aftermath of Peragus and the beginning of Telos (When the game starts to get interesting.) I have yet to decide which planet to start with after Telos, but it definitely won't be Korriban or Dxun, just because I've got story lines written out for them already that need a little bit of work up to.
Just so you know, I'm trying to establish a time line, but I'm having some trouble with it. I think I established that Jaina has been exiled for ten years in previous chapters, but when I was thinking about it I realized she had to be exiled for a lot longer than that for the crossover with Fate of the Jedi to make sense, hence why I made it seventeen years in this chapter.
Sorry for the change, but I just want it to make sense time line wise.