Disclaimer: All characters belong to Bioware and LucasArts, I didn't create the Star Wars universe, it's just where I daydream.
This is my take/twist on the background or between the lines story from a great game.
Chapter 10
Tatooine to Korriban
Trin waited until they were in hyperspace to go up to the cockpit. Carth was staring blindly upward. Trin slipped into the seat behind him and he turn to face her.
Carth asked distractedly, "What do you need?"
"Do you want to talk?"
"Talk about what? The only thing I want to do is find Dustil. If he's alive—well there's just nothing else I want to think about."
"Fair enough. Carth?"
"Yeah."
"Try to get some sleep."
He nodded and went back to brooding.
Trin was craving a warm drink before bed. She found Canderous in the common area. He had a glass in his hand and his feet up on the table.
Trin asked, "What are you drinking tonight?"
Canderous replied, "Fifty year old Telosian whiskey, very smooth."
Trin wrinkled her nose "I'm more in the mood for warm milk. I've been craving molasses too." She mixed a dollop of reconstituted molasses with reconstituted milk and warmed a bit.
Canderous shook his head in amusement.
Trin sat across the table from him dreamily sipping at her milk. "Canderous, I was wondering if you had any more war stories."
Canderous smiled. She loved to listen to stories in the evening, his and Jolee's in particular. He took a sip of whiskey then settled into the tale. He said musingly, "I think I'll tell you a bit about the recent war we had with the Republic. That might be more familiar to you." He paused to take another sip of his drink. "The one where the Jedi Revan beat my people."
Trin drew her feet up onto the chair and watched Canderous intently. His stories were also lessons; they offered an insight into his mind and his culture that Trin found alluring.
"We started by conquering worlds just outside the Republic. We did it quietly so the Republic wouldn't really know what was going on until too late. When we finally did hit the Republic worlds, they had no idea we were coming."
Trin nodded this lesson was familiar, "Pay attention to your neighbours lest you share their fate."
Canderous nodded absently. He gestured as he described their tactics. "We came in through three invasion corridors in adjacent sectors. Anyone who put up a fight - or wouldn't fight - was crushed. We razed whole worlds trying to provoke the Republic into fighting us." Shaking his head with disgust he continued, "I don't particularly enjoy wiping out worlds for its own sake, but the cowardly tactics the Republic defenders used left us little choice."
"What do you mean?"
"Hiding in the homes of civilians. Using families as shields. Thinking we would not use appropriate force on their bases inside major cities. They underestimated our resolve and what measures are acceptable in war. Those who cannot defend themselves should not be around those who can in battle. If annihilating a city is the kind of power it takes to overwhelm a Republic shield device, then that's what we did. Necessary force to destroy all opposition."
"Did it ever haunt you?"
"No, it disgusted me. It's wrong to hide with shields surrounding you hoping the enemy will be so good as to throw themselves at your feet to be slaughtered! I have no time or patience for cowards! They deserve to be hunted down and exterminated like vermin!"
"So the republic planets you conquered used their people to protect their forces rather than their forces to protect their people."
Canderous pounded his fist on the table, "Exactly."
"Their cowardliness and the actions required to counter it still anger you!"
"There was no honour in wiping them out like rats." He sat silently for a few moments staring at the amber liquid in his glass. "But some of your forces did redeem the Republic in our eyes—especially later—"
"Later?"
"Later—when the Revan had joined the war." Canderous looked up at Trin. "You're tired. Go to bed. Ask me about it another night."
"You're right. I just can't seem to stay awake in the evenings lately."
Canderous shook his head. Is it a blessing or a curse that she doesn't know?
Trin washed and put away her cup. She headed over to Canderous and kissed his grizzled cheek, "Thank you, Canderous. Goodnight."
Canderous sat brooding. Only now, when it is too late, do I to understand why old warriors returned to home to dangle grandchildren on their knee.