Knights of the Old Republic 3: The Final Chapters
Chapter 10: Standoff
And here we are with the tenth chapter. Got to say, it only just feels I published chapter 1 not long ago. Anyway, enjoy chapter and don't forgot to review.
With a deep breath to calm her mind, Bastila opened the door and slowly stepped outside, hands placed behind the back of her head, her lightsaber attached to her back. Meetra and Carth turned off the lights from inside to blend in with the dark environment.
"Okay you win," Bastila informed, faking surrender as she stepped forward. She put on her best pity and weak tone. "I give up, please do not shoot me."
The pirates only chuckled as they had their weapons aimed towards her. Their leader stepped forward. He was dressed in custom mandalorian armor, red paint with flames spray painted over his outfit. Clearly he was a mandalorian soldier, or a former one at the least.
"A shame, we were this close to throwing grenades," the leader chuckled as he stepped forward. "I am Coraid Gadol, proud warrior of the mandalorian clan. We have come for your credits, supplies and anything else you have of value. Comply and you live. Try something stupid and you die."
Seeing the time to strike was nigh, Bastila slowly moved her hands from her head, now standing firmly with no fear to display. "I have a better proposition. You can all surrender to the law and live or I kill you right here. Choose wisely."
Her threat fell on deaf ears as they chuckled. Little did they know of the mistake they were about to make.
Mission watched the events occur through her scope, her finger on the trigger. "Come on, Bas', don't do something stupid."
"What do you know, she has a sense of humour," Coraid chuckled, gesturing for his right hand man to fire. "Kill her."
The pirate did not hesitate to raise his rifle and fire, expecting to have a clean headshot. He watched in horror as two yellow blades emerged, deflecting the blaster bolt directly back towards him. In seconds, his own blaster bolt pierced right through his chest as he collapsed.
Coraid stepped back, taking out two blaster pistols. "Jedi?! Shoot her!"
A powerful blaster bolt shot from the second floor of the estate, hitting a second member of the pirate. A firefight begun as Bastila deflected their blaster fire while Mission provided cover from above. Seeing their cue, Meetra ran outside to support her while Carth guarded the exit, using it for cover as he picked off exposed pirates with his two blaster pistols.
"Two Jedi?!" a pirate screamed, dropping his blaster in horror as he moved to retreat. "I'm out of here!"
"Get back here!" Coraid ordered, but his position as leader suddenly felt useless. He only growled as he continued fire towards the Jedi.
Despite being retired for five years, Bastila had not lost her touch with deflecting blaster fire. Even without Meetra's help, Bastila managed just fine. As more pirates collapsed, Coraid opened his comlink for reinforcements. "Team 2, attack from your position. Go through the back of the house to attack them from behind. Kill anyone inside!"
Juhani watched the events occur though the CCTV hologram. Just sitting here while the others defended the Shan estate had her feel useless, even despite her important position to defend the inside. Her concentration was snapped by the protocol droid standing beside her.
"Miss Juhani, we have trouble from the south side," C2 informed. "Eight hostiles coming in two-by-two formation are attempting to break through the backdoor."
Her lightsaber held firm in one hand, Juhani stood only a few feet from the backdoor, ready to defend against anything that was coming. No matter what came through that door, she would stand her ground and fight.
In seconds, the door was forced open from the outside and in emerged the eight pirates. While originally determined, their confidence dropped upon recognizing a blue blade.
"Another Jedi?!" one of them gasped. "You gotta be kidding me!"
"Who cares, there's eight of us and one of her!" another assured, raising his blaster rifle. "Blast her!"
In seconds, red blaster bolts shot from multiple directions. Juhani deflected them with relative ease, approaching slowly to force them to back up. The second she was in range, Juhani did not hesitate to cut two of them down as they continued firing.
Using force speed, Juhani impaled her lightsaber through one of them to hit another. Four remained. She raised one hand and forced push three of them out of the estate.
The one standing-a trandoshan-growled in frustration. Throwing down his rifle, he grabbed a vibrosword from his back sheath and prepared to fight her. Juhani raised her lightsaber, preparing to defend. Trandoshans were not only skilled warriors, but their incredible strength made them just as a dangerous.
Simultaneously, they charged and engaged in a duel. Despite Juhani's lightsaber training, the trandoshan was remarkably skilled, blocking her every strike. With one strong slam, he knocked Juhani off balance before sending her down to the ground with a kick.
Now lying down and defenseless, the trandoshan raised his sword to finish her. In panic, Juhani threw her lightsaber forward from her grip. Her weapon pierced directly through his chest before he could strike. In seconds, he collapsed.
"Fool," Juhani sighed as she retrieved her weapon.
The remaining pirates she force pushed retreated, running off into the distance. Seeing her work was completed, Juhani retreated into the estate.
Meanwhile, the rest of the gang fell one by one. Despite their numbers, it was clear they were no match and had underestimated their opponents. Coraid refused to give up despite the heavy losses. As his men fell, he studied the battlefront around them. Bastila was on her own now. Meetra was too busy fighting sword-wielding troops while Carth remained at his position.
"That blasted Jedi!" Coraid growled, pressing a button on his gauntlet to activate his jetpack. Levitating in the air, he confronted Bastila as she finished off the last group of pirates attacking her. "You will pay for this, Jedi! Now come and face a real warrior!"
Bastila did not reply, raising her double bladed. Raising his dual blasters, Coraid continued firing, using his jetpack to to change directions hoping to throw her off guard.
"I gave you the chance to leave," Bastila reminded, deflecting his own blaster bolt that knocked one blaster from his hand. "Now you will feel the wrath of a Jedi. The force fights with me!"
"The force?" Coraid scoffed, throwing down his now damaged blaster. "Let's see the force protect you when I burn you to a crisp!"
He raised one gauntlet and a burst of flame emerged. Bastila would have been caught had she not rolled out of the way. With his free hand, Coraid threw grenades in different directions. With her concentration focused on the flamethrower, she only detected the grenades at the last second. Quickly, she leaped out of the way. Bastila avoided any possible damage, but still close enough for the grenade to knocked her back.
Bastila landed back first, growing upon the heavy impact. The blast caused a loud, high-pitched ringing to shoot through her eardrums. Growing, she struggled to recover as Coraid hovered over her with a chuckle.
"Time to meet your end, Jedi," Coraid calmly spoke, raising his flamethrower to finish her.
Mission witnessed the fight through her sniper and gasped. "Bastila! No!"
Coraid squeezed the trigger halfway, but a sudden malfunction in his jet back knocked him off course. He screamed in horror as his jet back caused him to fly in different directions. As seconds passed, he removed his jet back and landed on his side with a grunt of annoyance and pain.
Mission raised her sniper to finish him off. The rifle merely clicked, firing no more blaster bolts. "Blast it!"
It took Bastila a moment until she recovered from the blast, the ringing in her ears ceased. Coraid recovered too, raising his gauntlet to fire his flame thrower. It failed to fire, disarming him of another weapon.
With a groan, Coraid threw his damaged gauntlet to the ground and retrieved a dagger from his belt. "No more tricks! Let's see how you truly test in battle ARGH!"
Coraid charged and Bastila defended. His dagger was made out of the same material as vibroswords, allowing him to withstand the energy from her lightsaber. Bastila blocked each strike and countered by whacking her hilt against his face, knocking him off balance despite his helmet protection.
She attempted to finish him with a quick strike, only for Coraid to grab her hilt with one hand. Stunned, Bastila was caught off guard as Coraid kneed her in the stomach hard, causing Bastila to fall with a winded stomach. Landing on her back with one hand over her stomach, Coraid raised his dagger to finish her.
Bastila leaped back to avoid his strike, but not quick enough. She screamed in agony as the dagger pierced through her left leg, hurting further when he pulled it back out. The pain left her paralyzed, defenceless and weak.
"Your sloppy for a Jedi," Coraid noted with a sinister chuckle. "I am very disappointed. You're no Jedi. You're just a shell of your former life. I knew your kind were weak. The mandalorians will rise once again!"
Her bleeding leg may be painful, but nothing hurt her more than those who spoke ill of the order. Refusing to be killed by a mere mandalorian, Bastila raised her good leg and kicked him in the chest, knocking him backwards to put space between them.
Recovering, Bastila leaped on one leg, igniting her lightsaber to continue fighting. Moving her lightsaber in a defensive position, she steadied herself while using the force to tolerate the pain.
Coraid retrieved his blooded dagger, holding it in a backwards position as he stared down his prey. He removed his helmet, revealing an old and scared battle warrior. "Only the strongest survive, Jedi. Let that be a lesson you take with you to the grave."
Tension filled the air as both prepared to strike. Meanwhile, Meetra and Carth dispatched of the last pirates and turned their attention towards the showdown ahead. Carth raised his blaster to help, but Meetra placed one arm in front of him, shaking her head. This was something Bastila needed to do.
With a small roar, Coraid leaped forward in mid-air, his dagger raised above his head. Gathering the force to support one leg, Bastila leaped up. They crossed paths in mid-air, clashing blades once more. They landed simultaneously, freezing in their steps.
Silence filled the air, the blaster fire ceasing as well. Meetra watched as Bastila collapsed, clutching one hand over her leg, but not before she witnessed Conrad's head literally slipping off from his body. She did it.
"Bastila!" Carth cried, running over to her aid. He knelt down to support her. "You're bleeding!"
"I will be fine...Carth," Bastila assured between grunts. "There's a medical droid in the house."
Carth nodded as he and Meetra took each of Bastila's arms, helping her stand as they slid each arm over their shoulders. Deceased bodies were scattered around the beautiful land, blood smeared in every direction. This was going to take a while to clean up.
Entering the estate, the others gathered, filled with panic upon witnessing Bastila's injured leg. Vaner was present.
"Mother!" he cried out.
"It will be all right, Vaner," Bastila reassured between groans.
Mission knelt down, placing both hands on Vaner's shoulders for comfort. Escorting Bastila to the medical area, they gently set her down on the bed as Juhani activated the medical droid.
"Systems rebooting. Y2-P6 online," the medial droid's eyes lit as he approached the injured former Jedi. "Hmm, melee damage. Fortunately it does not appear any arteries have been damaged. This wound can be treated."
"Get to it then!" Carth ordered in a snappy tone.
"Patience," Y2-P6 requested calmly. "Now please, I request that you all leave."
Obeying the medical droids orders, everyone left Bastila in the droid's care. All they could for the time being was clean up the area and wait till Bastila was in stable condition. Everyone got to work. Juhani contacted the local authorities while Meetra attended to Vaner. Seeing his mother injured at his young age must have traumatized him.
"Miss Surik," Vaner spoke quietly. "Will my mother be okay?"
Meetra raised a smile, placing one hand upon his shoulder. "Your mother is strong, she will pull through."
"And that should do it," Bao-Dur said as he tightened the screws on the assassin's droids heads. Due to his previous actions, HK refused to shut down. "Test it out."
HK-47 ran a quick voice diagnostic before giving testing his voice modulator. "Diagnostics: testing, test, one, two, three, meatbags, testing."
Bao-Dur jumped down from the cate he used to reach HK's height and crossed his arms in satisfaction. "I told you I could get your voice modulator back to normal. I've upgraded your central processing unit and installed new assassination programs. You'll have faster reaction times and marksmen skills."
"Hesitant answer: I suppose I am to thank you for your assistance," HK-47 grudgingly expressed his gratitude. "Diagnostics: assassination efficiency up to seven-five percent, marksmen programming ninety percent and translation one-hundred percent. Statement: yes, good, well done, Zabrak. Your reputation is indeed better than calculated."
"Is that a compliment?" Bao-Dur questioned.
"Query: in a manner of speaking," HK-47 replied as he retrieved his blaster. "Request: now may we go and shoot something?"
Bao-Dur sighed. As he opened his mouth to reply, the ramp to the Hawk opened. Curious, Bao-Dur moved to see who he had returned. How did they get inside without him to open the ship? Leaving the garage, Bao-Dur stepped back when a hooded figure stood in the middle of the ship, both hands placed together.
Reaching for his blaster, Bao-Dur prepared to fire. "Who are you and what are you doing on the ship?"
The hooded figure did not respond. Instead, they revealed a staff and prepared to attack. Now Bao-Dur was in trouble, especially with his lightsaber in the garage. Slowly, he took a few steps back as the hooded figure crept towards him.
"I have come for the exile," the hooded figure demanded, their voice that of a female's. "Where is she?"
Bao-Dur did not reply, refusing to give the location of his old friend and leader. Before he could reply, HK-47 emerged from behind, blaster risen.
"Statement: ah, a melee warrior," HK-47 noted, dropping his blaster to the side. "Suggestion: my calculations show you are no match for this assassin staff wielder. I recommend calling for reinforcements while I will deal with this meatbag."
Although annoyed the assassin droid had basically told their opponent they could win, he had a point. With quick speed, Bao-Dur retreated and activated his comlink. "Everyone, we have an attacker aboard the ship! Repeat, a attacker! Need help, now!"
The voices of Atton and Mical responded almost immediately.
"I'm on my way!"
"Stay safe until I return."
The assassin stepped forward, staff risen above her head.. HK-47 blocked her way. "Get out of me way, droid!"
"Disagreement: negative, meatbag," HK-47 refused. "My calculations show I have a sixty percent chance of defeating you with any of my abilities. Suggestion: would you like to burn to a crisp or freeze like the depths of Hoth? I can deliver both if you desire"
The assassin growled, throwing a fury of attacks in a fit of rage. HK-47 dodged each one, narrowly missing each strike. Once his fun grew tired, HK grabbed her wrist to restrain her in his tight, cold grip.
Bao-Dur opened the ramp door to escape, but from the looks of things, they may not need any reinforcements. Nevertheless, he waited for Atton and Mical to return.
"Statement: you are clearly outmatch," HK-47 informed her calmly. "Suggestion: might I suggest that you drop your weapon before-"
Enraged, the assassin revealed an electrical taser and attacked, electrocuting HK into submission. Bao-Dur, knowing he was next, grabbed his lightsaber and retreated outside. HK could be repaired, he could not.
"Systems failing, master," HK-47 short-circuited, collapsing backwards on the ground as loose wires and burn marks covered him.
With the droid out of her way, the assassin made haste to follow her target. By now, Bao-Dur had made it outside, firing his blaster into the air.
"Everyone, get out of here!" Bao-Dur warned as everyone panicked from the blaster bolt.
The assassin leaped out from the ship, her staff raised. Bao-Dur turned and ignited his double-bladed blue lightsaber. However, he knew his chances to beat her were slim. Spending all that time repairing things left him absent from lightsaber training.
"The exile!" the assassin hissed, removing her cloak to fight without restrictions. "Bring her to me, now!"
"I'm afraid I cannot do that," Bao-Dur declined, raising his weapon to stay on the defenseless till help arrived. "Leave, while you still can."
Behind the cloak was a woman dressed in white, wielding a combat staff. Bao-Dur recognized her from before, a long while back when he first joined Meetra on Telos.
"I remember you," Bao-Dur spoke, almost dropping his guard. "You were one of the handmaidens that pulled me out from the ship on the Telos academy. "We met on Telos, you worked for that Jedi Master, Atris."
The Handmaiden leaped forward and attacked. "Your exile killed my master and my sisters! All of them!"
While he may not have been present on the attack on Telos, Bao-Dur knew different. "No, you are wrong. That was Darth Nihilus. General Surik would never do such a thing, she cares about all life."
"Lair!" Handmaiden snapped as he whacked her staff into his face, followed by a kick to his stomach.
Stumbling, Bao-Dur remained on his feet as he took a few steps backwards. He was relieved to hear a familiar voice call out to him.
"Bao-Dur!"
Emerging from the town, Atton, Mical and Visas arrived simultaneously, preparing to grab their lightsabers. Before Atton and Mical could do so, Visas held out her arm in disagreement.
"No," Visas declined. "I will deal with this assassin. She is trained well, her skills are beyond your abilities."
Atton did not hesitate to step back. Mical opened his mouth to reply, but after giving a quick thought, he stepped back. Next to Meetra, Visas was perhaps the most skilled out of them.
Visas ignited her yellow single-bladed lightsaber, taking up Ataru form as she moved her lightsaber to the side. "Stand down, assassin, for you are no match for my skills. Lay down your weapon."
"Not until the exile surrenders for her crimes!" the Handmaiden refused as she charged to engage with her opponent.
Fighting with their echani forms, the Handmaiden striked. Visas, sensing her opponent's desire to finish her quickly, remained on the defensive for now. Her skill was good, enough to easily beat anyone untrained. She may have even defeated Atton, Mical and Bao-Dur simultaneously had Visas not been here.
"Should we not assist?" Mical suggested.
"I don't think that would be wise," Bao-Dur disagreed. "We'll probably just get in the way. Anyone think we should tell General Surik about this?"
"Nah," Atton replied with a shake of his head. "She's got her own worries right now with the whole Bastila and Revan situation. We'll beat little-miss white hair over here first."
As Handmaiden threw another strike, Visas used her lightsaber to disarm the Handmaiden, leaving her without a weapon. Refusing to give up, the Handmaiden head-butted the blinded warrior and slapped her lightsaber from her grip. With a strong punch, Handmaiden knocked Visas backwards. In retaliation, Visas leg-sweeped her to the ground. Before she recovered, Visas delivered her own punch, knocking the Handmaiden unconscious and finally subduing her for good.
"Impressive," Mical complemented.
"It was nothing but a mere child playing with a weapon," Visas replied as she retrieved her lightsaber. "Yet I sense the force within her. She is strong yet weak. The force calls to her, but it as if she blocks it out of her own will, pushing it away. Unusual."
"As long as she can't use it against us, then I'm not one to complain," Atton spoke up. "Now what do we do with our little guest here? I could shoot her right now before she wakes up."
"Atton, killing her in cold blood would make us no different than those we oppose," Mical scolded, unfamiliar with Atton's humour.
"I'm kidding," Atton assured with a sigh. "Take a joke once in awhile."
"We'll lock her in the force cage in the cargo hold," Bao-Dur recommended, beckoning for Mical to help carry her. "Like you said, we'll keep it from the general for now."
Atton could only sigh as they picked up the unconscious Handmaiden and took her inside the ship. Somehow he had the feeling Meetra was going to make buddy-buddy with this assassin, then she would join the crew and then one more mouth to feed. "I have a bad feeling about this."
That brings us to the end of this chapter, fellow Star Wars fans. As you can see, we now have the Handmaiden introduced in the story. Stay tuned for the next chapter in a few days time.