Some People Change:
A SW:KOTOR Novelization
By Elina Trevisan
Hello again. Not a whole week late this time! Yay! I would have actually gotten this out sooner, but my brother is nearing finals, which means that he's usually too busy to beta. So, I'm sending out a call. Anyone who has played the game and would be willing to beta read, let me know! I'm pretty good with grammar and spelling, so I'm looking for things like sentence variation and plot inconsistencies (though, admittedly, I actually want some of those). So if you're willing, let me know. Please enjoy!
Chapter 3
Catra sat up quickly, alarms blaring in her ears. She had the same foggy feeling that she always got after a nightmare. Normally, she was able to wake up slowly and adjust. Today, she didn't have that luxury.
"Are you alright?" Trask said quickly. He was already standing next to his bed, his blasters attached to his hips.
"Yeah," she said, shaking her head in an attempt to clear it. "What's going on?"
"Didn't you hear the announcement?"
"Apparently not," she growled. Since she saw Trask putting on weapons, she stood up and began doing the same.
"The Sith are attacking. Everyone has been called to defend the ship and Bastila."
"Where is she?"
"The bridge, last I heard. Are you ready?"
She finished fastening her weapon belt. "Yeah. Let's go."
The two of them headed for the door. As Trask tried to open it, a soft beep was all that came from the control panel. "Looks like there's a lockdown in place. I can't get past it."
"Move over," Catra hissed, shoving Trask aside roughly. Her fingers worked swiftly over the panel before it opened. "This is bad," she said quietly, starting down the hallway. "The Sith boarding party will know how to get past the lockdown. Not all of the crew will. The lockdown is only going to slow down our people."
"We can't worry about that now," Trask said. "We have to get to Bastila."
"You're right," she said. She had to wipe it from her mind. She continued on down the hallway. At their next door, they encountered a small part of the boarding party.
Catra immediately unsheathed her vibroblades and ran for the nearest enemy. He seemed to be unused to fighting someone using two blades, and she was able to quickly impale him. She headed for the second one to find a smoking hole where his chest had been. Without stopping to congratulate Trask she continued on to the bridge.
They encountered several damaged doors, and were forced to take the long way to the bridge, encountering several more groups of Sith as they went. She was able to distract them and avoid all of their attacks while Trask picked them off. Suddenly the lights went out.
"Oh frack," Catra muttered, searching in her vest pockets for her flashlight. Their comlinks crackled to life.
"This is Commander Onasi. The Sith have taken out all power, including life support. We have half an hour until we run out of air."
"Just great," Catra yelled, having found her flashlight and attached it to her belt. "Not only do we have to worry about the Sith trying to kill us, but now we're running out of oxygen!"
"Then we'd better hurry," Trask said, also attaching a flashlight to his belt. The two of them set off again.
Catra stopped as they reached a door near the bridge.
"What is it?" Trask asked.
"Listen," Catra whispered, placing her ear against the door.
Trask did the same and heard the hum and clash of lightsabers. "That's either one of ours, or they brought dark Jedi along."
"Both. It sounds different if it's a vibroblade against a lightsaber." With that new knowledge in hand, she opened the door and saw just what she'd expected. There were bodies strewn across the hallway, each and every one killed by a lightsaber. In the center of the hallway was a woman in tan Jedi robes, fighting furiously against a dark Jedi.
Catra started towards them, but Trask placed an arm in front of her.
"This fight is out of our league," he said.
"But I can help!" Catra shouted. Trask shook his head. Catra stepped back and Trask lowered his arm. The dark Jedi had obviously overheard their conversation and smirked. Catra's blood boiled.
She pulled the blaster from her side and shot the dark Jedi in his unarmored head, quite obviously catching him by surprise. Trask froze in shock. He stared between her blaster and the dead man. The Jedi looked just as shocked as he was.
Catra smiled and put away her blaster. "I told you I could help."
The Jedi had overcome her surprise and turned towards her helpers. "Thank you," she said. Her eyes flickered over Catra, but she said nothing. "Bastila is on the bridge. We have better chances working together than we do alone."
As the two women started off, Catra turned towards Trask and stuck her tongue out.
"Mature," Trask muttered.
"I always am!"
- - - - -
The three fighters reached the door to the bridge and heard blaster fire from within. Without wasting any time, they opened the door and Catra and the Jedi charged in. Trask stood at the door, taking shots at the Sith from there.
Most of the Republic soldiers were already dead, but a few of them were still fighting. When they arrived, there were nearly ten Sith. Within moments after their arrival, the Sith were down to five.
"How's it going, everyone?" Catra called out as she dodged a slash from her enemy's vibroblade. A blaster shot went over her head as she killed her enemy. "Come on," she shouted to the shooter. "Is that the best you can do?" She quickly shoved one of her blades through the armor gap at his shoulder.
She could still hear her Jedi companion's lightsaber as it slashed through the air, so she turned to check on Trask.
"Oh no," she whispered. That last blaster bolt had not been directed at her.
She heard an explosion, followed by the Jedi turning off her lightsaber. Catra turned back and saw that the explosion had taken out both the last of the other Republic soldiers and the Sith. "Hey," Catra shouted to the Jedi. "Trask's been hit!"
The two of them immediately ran to him. The blaster bolt had hit his chest, where he would have been armored in regular combat. As it was, it was just another part of his uniform. Catra pulled out a medpack and injected it into him, knowing that the chances of the kolto saving him from an injury like this were small.
"Move over," the Jedi said, kneeling next to Trask. She tore his uniform away from the wound and winced. There was a gaping hole, through which they could see several of his ribs. The flesh in the entire area was burned. "Well, it didn't hit the lungs or the heart. Most of the damage seems to have been taken by the ribs. There's a chance that you may make it," she said to Trask. She carefully placed her hands over the wound and closed her eyes. Catra's eyes widened as Trask's chest began to glow a soft blue.
"It's a shame that Elys isn't here," the Jedi muttered. "She's the best healer on the ship." After almost a full minute without any noticeable changes, the Jedi opened her eyes and the glow dissipated. "I can't do anything. We need to stop the bleeding, though."
She stood up and turned on her lightsaber. Trask's eyes widened in fear. Catra nodded, realizing what the woman was going to do. "Don't worry," she said, taking Trask's hand firmly. "Close your eyes and squeeze my hand." She looked around and found a nearby dead soldier. She tore off a chunk of the fabric of his uniform and rolled it up. "Put this in your mouth and bite down." Once he'd done that, Catra nodded at the Jedi.
"This will hurt," the Jedi said uncertainly. She'd heard of lightsabers being used to cauterize wounds, but usually only on limbs that were going to be lost anyway. Using it on such a broad wound would quite possibly kill him. But still, they had to try. If they didn't stop the bleeding soon then he would die soon anyway. The small amount of kolto that he'd been given wasn't enough for a wound like this.
She looked at Catra's face and saw that she realized his chances. She merely looked at him blankly. It was as if she'd already accepted him as dead. The Jedi took a deep breath and touched her lightsaber to the bleeding flesh. He screamed and tried to squirm away.
"If you move it may kill you," Catra said, squeezing his hand. "Keep going," she said to the Jedi. The Jedi nodded and did it again. He tried to turn away again, and Catra tried to hold him as she realized which way he was moving, but it was too late. He had pushed the lightsaber directly into his heart.
The Jedi's eyes widened in shock and she dropped her lightsaber. Without thinking, she reached up to check his pulse, as Catra was taking her hand out of his. She stood up as the Jedi leaned over the body. When the Jedi's fingers touched his neck, she closed her eyes for a moment to collect herself. She had just killed a Republic soldier. It was in an attempt to save him, but still…
"We have to get going," Catra said. The Jedi didn't move. "Come on." She grabbed the Jedi's shoulder and tried to drag her away, but the Jedi pulled back and looked at Catra incredulously.
"He was your friend!"
"He was my roommate."
"You just saw a man die!"
"I've seen lots of men die," Catra said coldly. No emotion was visible on her face or in her voice. "If Bastila gets off the ship and we don't, then the Sith will blow this place into space dust. She wasn't here on the bridge, so she's probably on her way to the escape pods. We have to go now." She seemed to consider her situation for a bit, then added. "Not to mention that we've got about five minutes until we start getting more carbon dioxide than oxygen."
The Jedi nodded and stood up. As they began to run from the bridge, she began muttering to herself. "There is no emotion, there is peace, there is no emotion, there is peace…"
"That sounds familiar," Catra said. "What is it?"
"The Jedi code."
"It sounds stupid." Catra stopped to open a door. She ducked as a red lightsaber was swung at her head. As she rolled back, she got a chance to see the dark Jedi that had been standing there. He quirked a smile at her.
The Jedi looked between Catra and this new enemy quickly. This ensign couldn't handle a fully trained dark Jedi on her own, and this was the only way to the escape pods that would get them there in time. She turned on her lightsaber and rushed the dark Jedi.
He raised his own and the two clashed. "Get going!" the Jedi shouted to Catra. "I'll hold him off!"
"What?" Catra started towards the two battling Force users, but found herself blocked by the Jedi's lightsaber.
"Go!"
"This makes no sense!"
"Just go!" She raised her hand and Catra's feet rose off the ground as she flew through the door into the next room. The door slammed behind her and Catra heard sparks from the door as the Jedi smashed the locking mechanism.
She could have gotten through that door again if she'd had time, but right now she didn't. She hesitated only a moment before continuing on towards the escape pods. There wasn't much time left on the life support.
She pulled her comlink out of her vest pocket when a voice began coming out of it again. "Ensign, can you read me?"
"Yeah," she said quietly. "Who is this?"
"Commander Onasi. I'm tracking you through the life support, I think that you're the last surviving crewmember."
"Are you sure?" If that was true, then the Jedi had already been killed. Had Loranna gotten to the escape pods in time?
"Well, I can't be entirely sure, but none of the other life signs have comlinks operating on our frequencies. Bastila's escape pod has launched. You're nearly here, but I can't wait too long for you. CO2 levels are getting pretty high in your area. All of this blaster fire isn't helping. I'd switch to melee weapons if I were you."
"Already done. Any other advice?"
"Well, not much. Your way is mostly clear. I'll let you know when you're near any groups of Sith. Do you have a stealth field generator?"
She looked down at her belt and saw that she was wearing one. "As a matter of fact, I do."
"Good. Commander Onasi out."
Well, that would make this easier. If she didn't have to worry about finding any surprises, then she could go a lot faster. She began running towards the escape pods. She was already starting to feel short of breath, and her mouth and nose were beginning to burn. As she neared the end of a corridor, the Commander came onto the comlink again.
"There's a small group of Sith at the end of the next corridor. Don't bother trying to take them out, just try to get past them."
"Thanks," Catra whispered. She pressed the button on her belt and was surrounded by the energy field that came with stealth. To the Sith, she would look like nothing more than a heat wave, and that was if they noticed her at all. She reached the end of the corridor and turned to see three Sith troopers headed her way, their blaster rifles loose in their hands. She was quite tempted to take them out, and she was fairly certain that she could kill two of them at once if she tried. She shook her head and reminded herself of the time limit.
"Why do you think they turned out the lights?" one of the troopers said to his friends.
"I dunno. These Republics can be pretty stupid. Maybe they thought that it would make it harder for us to fight."
"And why does the air seem so stale?"
"Who knows. It's not like they'd turn off their life support or anything, so maybe it's always like that here."
Catra froze. The Sith didn't know about the life support? If they didn't tell their soldiers, then it meant that they were going to be sacrificing the entire boarding party. She forced the thoughts out of her mind and headed on past them. She was feeling lightheaded. Once she was out of earshot, the commander contacted her again.
"Good job, Ensign. You're almost here. Just one more room, and it should be empty. Your path to the escape pods is clear. Hurry up!"
Catra disengaged the stealth field and ran. She could feel herself weakening as she got less and less oxygen in each breath. She felt as if she was going to vomit any minute now, and her nose and mouth were now burning much stronger than before. She took one deep breath and held it in. She concentrated very little on where she was headed, just on forcing the oxygen through her veins. For a moment, she almost felt as if her lightheadedness was reduced.
When she opened a door and saw a man standing there, she could do nothing but hold up her vibroblades feebly, a ridiculous attempt at a defensive posture. The air in this room seemed much less stale.
"Don't worry," he said. "It's me, Commander Onasi. Come on, let's go."
She nodded and entered the escape pod. Since the pod had its own source of oxygen, she finally allowed herself to breathe. She could feel her lightheadedness dissipating as she brought in lungfuls of oxygen. As she strapped herself in, she heard the Commander close the door to the pod and she looked up at him. When she caught sight of his face, she gave a small shriek.
"You!" she shouted, her safety harness forgotten.
"Yeah, me," he said, strapping himself into another seat. He pulled the release on the pod, and the pod ejected with a jerk. "And as much as I would love to rehash your time in the brig, let's just work together for now."
"Fine," Catra said, reaching back to her harness as the planet in the viewport grew closer. Their pod began shaking uncontrollably as it entered the atmosphere. It was then that she realized that something was seriously wrong. Her harness wouldn't fasten.
"Hurry up!" Carth shouted at her. If she didn't fasten her harness, then she would be in trouble when they landed.
"I can't! Look!" She held out the two ends that were supposed to hook together. Some sort of manufacturing error had caused one of them to be slightly deformed.
"Get in another seat!" Carth shouted over the roar that indicated that they were entering the planet's atmosphere.
"No time," she muttered, trying to tie herself into the seat. The ground was getting closer and closer with every passing second. She tried to hold herself in and closed her eyes as they impacted with the ground.
