Chapter 18, Part 1 – Into the Depths
Soundtrack:
Hrakert Rift - Fire It Up by Thousand Foot Krutch
Xana lay curled in the cargo hold's storage niche, absentmindedly sharpening her knuckle blades. She hadn't used them in forever, but sharpening the glinting metal was simply something she took to doing while she was thinking. More specifically, thinking about Splicer.
I'm skirting danger, she berated herself absentmindedly. I shouldn't be opening this Pandora's box, especially not now. Not when all these emotions could literally be the death of me.
Emotions, she scoffed at herself. What kind of leader am I, if I'm not even strong enough to hold back a few fragging tears? How can I direct others when I can't even get a hold of myself? Xana punctuated this thought by an extra-hard clink of the sharpening stone against the blade. All she could feel at the moment was frustration.
She knew there would be hell to pay if any of the onboard Jedi caught wind of just how deep her attachments ran. So, she was forced to pretend they never existed, if only for convenience's sake. And if there was anything Xana hated, it was pretensions.
Not only that, she couldn't get Talon and Splicer's different reactions out of her head. She mentally tallied them up against each other, all the while inspecting her blade in the dim light.
Each boy had their own distinctive, insurmountable faults. Splicer was charming and considerate, but going nowhere with his life. Friendships put aside, Xana knew she was much better off without him.
Talon was a talented, capable guy who'd made something of his life, but he was bound by duty. From what Xana knew of his life, she was sure they couldn't work out as anything but friends. She liked him, to be sure, but she had to be logical as well. He was a soldier, she was a rogue Jedi; he played by the books, she was a vigilante; he was on a surefire path to success, she didn't even know if she'd survive the next year.
Xana tossed the sharpening stone against the far wall, looking at it in disgust. She ran her hands through her hair, pulling it angrily once her fingers were embedded in the jet-black locks. The slight pain took the edge off her frustration. She sighed in relief before resuming her mental rant.
This is why I stay single. Every heroine is supposed to have their Prince Charming, but I gotta be the only girl who's got two and can't pick either one.
And in the unlikely event that I ever forget…
"Hey, Bass," Xana unenthusiastically called behind her, sensing her bond-sister's presence in the doorway. The Jedi strode into the room, sternness written all over her face.
"I must speak with you," she replied curtly.
Xana put down the blades and looked over at Bastila. "Okay, shoot."
"During today's briefing, Lieutenant Averra has informed me of what transpired in the Sith base."
Xana retained her composure, even though her mind was reeling with a sudden attack of anxiety. Mentally cursing Talon's misplaced sense of loyalty, she drawled, "As I recall, a lot of things transpired when we infiltrated the Sith base. What did he bring up, exactly?"
"Aside from the fact that you went on a single-handed battle spree, presumably set off by protecting your smuggler friend, and had a nervous breakdown in a Dark Jedi's training room…nothing of consequence."
"Oh, that," Xana admitted sheepishly.
"I assume that, after your time in the Jedi Enclave, you've learned what it is truly called to succumb to battle fever so completely."
Xana nodded, staring Bastila down with a glare that just dared the older woman to try and correct her. "Force Rage. A rather unpredictable dark side technique that makes one invincible to a point and increases combat skills to an almost superhuman ability," she recited coldly. "One that, I might add, saved the life of my friend and is totally under my control."
Bastila threw her hands up in the air exasperatedly, "Do you not know how dangerous this is? We, as Jedi, are supposed to avoid the dark side at all costs, not use it as some sort of…battle enhancer! I forbid you to use it any further!"
Xana got up and stood in front of Bastila, pointing a finger in her face, "First of all, nobody on this ship forbids me from doing anything! Second, it's not like I abuse it – this is the first time I've used it in months and it was to save someone from certain death!"
"Yes, but imagine what would happen if you were unable to fend off its' addictive nature. What if civilians or your crew stood in your way? Would you recognize Mission, Carth, or Sasha in the heat of battle?"
Xana faltered, but spluttered out, "Of course I would! I'd see them a mile away on a battlefield!"
"Lieutenant Averra, then? Surely, with him being a professional soldier, you wouldn't be able to tell him apart unless your mind was unclouded."
Xana's mind was suddenly overcome with the image of Talon lying at her feet, injured by her own hand. As angry as she was with him, the epiphany suddenly hit her like a ton of bricks.
"Fine," she growled out, still glaring petulantly. Now all she had to do was pacify Bastila enough to shorten the inevitable lecture. "You're right; I'll stop."
"As glad as I am to hear that, there is still another matter that must be discussed," Bastila pressed on. Xana smacked herself mentally; she did not like where this was going at all. "It worries me that you were so quick to acquiesce once Lieutenant Averra's name was mentioned. I know that you've already formed some deep-rooted connections with other individuals – many of which are past dangerous, I might add – but the one you have with him seems to be the most prevalent."
"We're not involved, nor is he 'clouding my judgment', if that's what you're thinking," Xana snapped, her cheeks going red with indignation.
"I am merely concerned that, if a critical situation arises, you may forsake the logical choice of action in order to preserve his life. I need not remind you that attachments may distort priorities in our own minds, the foremost of which must be our quest for the Star Forge. Therefore, I think it would be best to contact the Republic army and have them send a replacement officer-"
"What? No!" Xana interjected quickly. Upon receiving a triumphant glare from Bastila, she recovered quickly and amended, "Bastila, he's got nowhere to go and no family save for Carth. Don't turn him out on account of me. Just…let him come on the mission to the ocean floor, and I'll prove to you that I can keep my logic and my friendships separate."
"Very well." Bastila's eyes softened for a moment as she regarded the younger Padawan. She added comfortingly, "You do know that I can sense the feelings of frustration your attachments are creating for you at the moment. I only want to help make things easier for you."
Xana sighed and looked up at her bond-sister, "Bastila, all relationships, no matter what kind, are going to come to an end. The key is finding people who'll be well worth the pain when you finally do have to say goodbye. At any rate, going through life without a single comrade in the world hurts a lot worse than losing someone you care about."
Bastila looked back down at Xana and asked, "So, do you think the attachments you have now are worth the struggle?"
Xana smiled, contemplating all the people who'd come into her life. She nodded and murmured, "Yeah. All things considered, I'd never give any of you up for all the solitary peace in the world."
Xana strode into the military base, heels clacking purposefully against the metal floor. Her eyes flashed with battle fever and her mind thrummed with anticipation of the mission.
She looked over her shoulder and smirked at Talon, Bastila, and Juhani, as if to say, You ready for this? Juhani and Bastila gave subtle nods in reply, and Talon smirked back at her.
Xana approached the front desk, where Carth was already speaking with the Republic ambassador. "They've got everything ready," Carth said. "You'll be taking a Republic submersible to a seafloor facility where they're harvesting kolto. Dig teams down there have been reporting an obstruction of possible ancient design."
"The Star Map," Xana replied. They all began to walk towards the docking bay, conversing as they went.
"Be careful, though," Carth warned. "It's been weeks since anyone's heard from the crew down there, and the mercs they've been sending haven't returned either."
"Go in, find the Star Map, investigate the disappearances, and get out," Xana recounted. "I think we can handle that." She flashed him a smile and a thumbs-up sign. The older man replied with a stony stare, reminding her that he was still angry at her.
Luckily, the walk to the docking bay was a short one, thus sparing Xana from any further awkwardness. "Shotgun!" she yelled, happily jumping into the front passenger seat of the submersible.
The others began to board, Bastila entering the submersible last. Right before she got in, Carth called from the doorway, "I meant it. Be careful. You don't know what's down there and we – the galaxy – can't lose you. Any one of you."
"Thank you, Carth," she replied. Realizing that she should probably try to reassure him, she added, "As with any other mission, I can't guarantee that we'll all be coming back - but I can tell you that we'll try our hardest."
"That's all I ask," he answered with a smile.
Talon desperately wished for a holorecorder. The looks on his team's faces were priceless. Xana looked outside constantly and wore an open-mouthed smile, making her look like a small child in an aquarium. Juhani was glaring – almost pouting - at the water outside the viewport, her fur bristling with distaste. Bastila was obviously unnerved at the firaxan sharks swimming by their small craft. Her façade of regal composure was completely given away by her panicked eyes and rapid breathing.
Talon tapped the controls airily, piloting them under a school of fish and into the facility's docking bay. "Here we are," he murmured, taking the submarine through its' shutdown procedures. The last of the seawater glided off the sub's transparisteel dome in shimmering rivulets. What it revealed, however, was much less pleasant.
A figure lay sprawled on the platform in front of the sub, eyes and mouth open in a silent scream. Xana shuddered, feeling a chill run down her spine. Beside her, Talon gulped audibly and un-holstered both his blaster pistols.
Without waiting for hesitation to set in, Xana mashed down the release button and popped the dome of the submersible. "Be on your guard," she ordered quietly.
Talon got out first, standing with weapons held at the ready as the three women climbed onto the platform. Xana activated her lightsaber and looked around. The place was a mess; a crashed submersible lay strewn across the neighboring platform, the lights were either flickering or shot out, and worse, there were several bodies lying at the far corners of the room.
Her mind began to race with dire thoughts. Something did this; something that is obviously still in the base. Whatever it is, it probably possesses the predatory instincts to know that we're here. It could be lurking in this room right now…watching us…
Xana turned in a full circle, only growing more anxious as she scanned the room. No matter where she faced, she almost always had her back to a shadowed corner. It unnerved the hell out of her.
"Xana? Are you all right?" Juhani's heavily-accented question bought her back to reality.
"I'm fine." Xana replied absentmindedly, trying to suppress the fear threatening to well up and distract her. She crouched by the nearest doorway, motioning for her team to do the same. When everyone was ready, she smacked the control button and spun into the doorway, brandishing her lightsabers. On the other side was a lone, very scared Twi'lek mercenary.
"What happened here?" she asked, nodding her head at the carnage behind her.
The Twi'lek spoke in a panicked frenzy, "Don't go any further, I beg you! All the Selkath researchers on this station have gone insane! The Republic sent me and a few other mercenaries to find out what was happening. We didn't get very far before we were attacked."
"Where are the others? Can we still rescue them?" Bastila cut in.
"No," the Twi'lek mourned, "I'm the only one left. I just barely managed to seal the door in time. There were others with me then, but they're gone now."
Xana assured him, "Don't worry, we'll get you to safety. If this station's crawling with hostiles, it's probably best that we head back up for reinforcements anyway."
The Twi'lek raved, "No! There's something in the water! On my way down, I swear I saw something – something huge - moving around outside. I said as much to the others, but they took the submersible anyway. The last thing I heard over the radio were shouts, then… static."
"Just when I thought the day couldn't get any better," Xana muttered. "Well, I guess our best bet is to storm the rest of the station and figure out what the frag is going on."
The Twi'lek suddenly produced a firearm and aimed it at the group. "Don't open that door! You'll let the Selkath in, and it'll be the end of us all! No…you're staying here where it's safe."
"Safe being a relative term, considering you're aiming a blaster at us," Talon deadpanned.
Xana rolled her eyes, "Be right back." She activated her stealth unit and disappeared.
The Twi'lek began to rant, "Don't play games with me! You'd better stay over there or I'll-"
He was cut off by a resounding thud, and promptly fell forward. Xana reappeared behind him, still grinning and holding her lightsaber hilt aloft.
"Was that really necessary?" Bastila asked.
"Yep!" Xana replied cheerily. "Now, let's go storm this base and find us a Star Map!"
"I don't like this."
"Which part, the fact that we're essentially trapped here, or the ominous scraping noises coming from the other side of that door? Cause I can't really decide which seems more delightful," Xana drawled sarcastically, turning to face Talon.
The lieutenant just rolled his eyes and continued slicing the door. Xana crouched next to him, ready to jump into the room at a moment's notice. Bastila and Juhani stood further back in a defensive position. They remained the epitome of Jedi focus; silent but deadly.
They were all still taken by surprise when the door slid open and a barrage of sonic blaster bolts whizzed forth. Talon barely managed to roll out of the way, scrambling over the two older Jedi and upsetting a couple of storage canisters in the process. He doubled back and drew his pistols, ready to cover Xana.
"Here we go!" she yelled, dodging into the room and swinging her lightsaber to deflect blaster bolts. Truth be told, she was just waving the shaft of purple light around randomly. It seemed to work well enough, though, so she didn't bother to question it.
Talon was at her back, taking out the insane Selkath from a distance. A couple of them, armed with vibroblades, rushed forth. Xana was forced to stop her 'human shield' charade and bring out her red saber, locking blades with them. Sonic bolts peppered the carapace of her armor.
Bastila took this as her cue to rush into the room, using her double-bladed lightsaber to deflect the rest of the blaster bolts. Juhani took one of the vibroblade-wielding Selkath by surprise, allowing Xana to bring her purple lightsaber around and finish off the other. Xana quickly dropped both her lightsabers, slamming the remaining Selkath against the wall with a Force push.
It was then that the pain struck. Xana's arms went around her midsection, where she'd taken the brunt of her damage. She exhaled and gasped, "Whoo-ee. Feels like I just took a jackhammer to the gut." Xana sunk onto the nearest plasteel container, batting away Talon and Juhani's offers of assistance.
"Eloquently put," Bastila said dryly. "You'll be fine. Sonic damage is a bit unpleasant, but does no real harm to the body unless you sustain a great deal of it."
"I'm so…relieved. And here I thought…I was going to sprout an extra arm," Xana wheezed, cynical as ever.
Several deep breaths and inventive oaths later, she was confident and geared-up as if nothing had ever happened. She stepped over the container, brightly clapping her hands together as if to say, "Alright, so what's the damage?" Alas, nothing could've prepared Xana for the scene that met her eyes.
"Holy hopscotch-playing fudge nuggets below," she muttered, finally having a good look at their situation. The room was trashed beyond all description. Lockers and other storage receptacles were literally ripped open. Their contents and former owners alike were haphazardly strewn about the floor. And this was only the damage of eight or so Selkath.
"My word," Juhani gasped, "It is as if they have truly lost all rational thought."
Xana blinked and closed her eyes, willing the feelings of fear and trauma to disappear into the recesses of her mind. It took but a moment before the old smirk was back on her face.
"Alrighty, so, if I'm grasping the situation correctly, we're currently trapped in a failing underwater base, accompanied by a horde of the living insane, and with no hope of calling for help?" Xana cupped a hand to her ear and asked curiously, "You hear that?"
Bastila shook her head, confused, "The water dripping from the ceilings?"
"Nope. That, my friend, is the sound of bantha crap hitting the fan."
Xana turned to Talon, who was sniggering at her comment. She held out her hand and wiggled her fingers in the classic 'give me' motion, "Hand me some firepower. Preferably, the closest thing to a shotgun that you're packing. If I'm gonna be facing down an army of zombie Selkath, I'm gonna do it right."
Juhani cut in, "But the Selkath here have merely been driven mad by a strange frequency. Technically, they are not, as you call them, zombies."
Xana accepted the requested firearm from Talon and shot back, "Yeah, well, I'm a sucker for horror movies and this is the closest thing I'll get to being an actual zombie slayer." She inspected the power cell and mumbled absentmindedly, "Beggars can't be choosers."
Bastila rolled her eyes and made a show of massaging her temples in frustration, "Xana, we are in a very dire situation at the moment. Why must you choose now to live out your absurd – and slightly unsettling – daydreams?"
"Do not," Xana growled, sliding the power cell back into place forcefully, "ruin this for me. I've waited seventeen years to be able to do this. Now, if we can get moving so I can assume my freedom-fighter rampage of awesomeness, that would be great." Talon didn't know what scared him more: the fact that Xana said all this with a straight face, or the fact that she was looking down the barrel of her blaster while she said it.
Still wearing that disturbingly calm expression, Xana promptly cocked the firearm and blasted the adjoining door's controls. Talon couldn't help but wonder if she had been kidding about the rampage or not. He quickly decided he'd rather not know.
Xana strode over to the next door and opened it. The two Selkath on the other side immediately started shooting. Xana immediately flattened herself behind the doorjamb, barking out, "I got this!"
Quick as lightning, she spun out and jumped into the adjoining room. Anchoring herself against the wall, she quickly lined up a shot and took out the nearest Selkath. She then Force-jumped and twirled mid-air, incapacitating the other with a rifle-butt. She smirked and muttered, "Oh frag, yeah."
Turning to the others, she ordered, "Juhani, you take point since you're the only other Jedi Guardian here. Bastila should stay in the back and freeze all hostiles in stasis, as best she can. Talon, accompany Juhani and fire at will. I'll jump in and help out however I can."
They fought through a succession of rooms, Xana employing a combination of blaster shots and Force pushes. She fought like a machine, acrobatically vaulting off walls and various objects while firing. She constantly threw herself in the line of fire to protect her team, but always managed to hit her target. When Xana herself got hit, she simply shrugged off the pain and lost it in the rush of adrenaline.
Meanwhile, Bastila tried to contain the anxiety that gripped her. She briefly contemplated whether it would be cardiac arrest or Xana's blatant darksidedness that would finally do her in. Oh yes, she thought, nothing says "my job is easy" like the former dark lord of the Sith with a shotgun.
They entered the final room at the end of the hall, nobody batting an eyelash at the usual hostiles and carnage awaiting them. Xana turned and asked, "Juhani?"
Immediately, the other Jedi jumped into action. She cleared the room with a few graceful parries and sweeps of her lightsaber. It would have looked like an effortless dance, had it not been for Talon's cover fire sailing through the air.
"Very nice, guys. I think we've razed through most of them," Xana complimented, looking around the room. She looked around and muttered to no one in particular, "Looks like we've found ourselves in a storage room. Maybe there's something we can use here."
"Look here!" Juhani called the others over, as if on cue. She was standing over an open footlocker, which contained a device and some research notes. "It's a sonic device used to repel firaxan sharks; only a prototype, though."
"I'm sure that will come in handy on the ocean floor," Bastila added. "We should hang on to it, at least for the time being."
"Agreed," Xana replied, stuffing the device into her field pack. "So, how do we decide which lucky team member gets to chill with firaxan sharks? I'm guessing rock-paper-scissors won't cut it."
"Again, why me? You know, me, the one member of the team with a secret phobia of both drowning and sharks?" Xana asked incredulously, sitting cross-legged on a bunk. Just down the hall from the storage room, they'd found a bunkroom with both an airlock and an empty environment suit. They'd decided to camp out there, as it was already past nightfall and the ocean floor was pitch-black.
"You are proficient at both combat and Force powers, not to mention computer slicing," Juhani assured her. "Therefore, you would be better equipped to handle anything that comes along."
Bastila added, "Yes, and as much as I don't like the idea of sending you out there alone, I'm afraid we have no choice. There's only one working environment suit."
"Whatever," Xana huffed, sprawling out on her back and glaring at the ceiling. She was racked with fatigue, and the prospect of facing down another horde of Selkath – alone this time – wasn't improving her temper much either.
Talon looked up from the locker he was searching. He felt as if he should say something, but didn't know if that would be wise with Bastila around. At any rate; the moment passed, and Talon stayed silent. He tossed an emergency blanket to each of the women, before wedging himself between two of the lockers and beginning the night watch. Juhani was content to curl up in a corner of the room, as Bastila had already commandeered the other bunk.
"Don't you think we should lock the door?" Talon asked, looking at the door worriedly.
Xana, haphazardly swaddled in her own blanket and half-asleep already, gave a dismissive wave. "The lock is shot; one of the Selkath damaged it with a stray blaster bolt. Still, I wouldn't worry if I were you. They can't open it. Sentiency out the airlock and all that, remember?"
"They only need to press a button!" he protested.
"Look, all the horror flicks out there prove that zombies – or zombie-like creatures – cannot open doors for some unfathomable reason. It's like a law of nature. Don't question it."
"But-"
"I said, don't question it," Xana snapped. "Besides, we dealt with most of 'em already. We'll be fine."
Talon sighed and settled against the lockers. Danger put aside, he was just glad to have a rest. He snuggled deeper into his leather jacket and fixed his tired eyes on the door.
Hours passed. The silence and steady drip of water were beginning to lull him to sleep, and the locker at his back seemed far more comfortable than it should have. Xana's words played over in this head. It'll be fine.
He allowed his eyelids to droop just a little. She's right; we should be okay. We thinned their numbers pretty badly, and I haven't heard anything outside since I started my watch. I guess it wouldn't hurt to rest my eyes for a few minutes...
Xana slept fitfully that night, as her mind kept reacting to the nearby Star Map. Her dreams alternated between glimpses of the Star Map, reenactments of the day's combat, and brief scenes that she'd read from Revan's journal.
Finally, the flashes of imagery melded into a very vivid nightmare. In the dream, she was in a room at the end of a hall, with a whole pack of Selkath closing in. She desperately tried to close the door, but the mechanism was jammed. Xana tried to reach for her lightsaber and blaster, but both were missing.
There was a single moment of sheer, unadulterated horror as Xana realized she was trapped. Selkath flooded the room, rushing and clawing towards her. Xana shut her eyes and screamed, silently begging her mind to let her wake up.
Xana thrashed and her tear-filled eyes flew open. For one blessed moment, relief washed over her as reality registered itself in her mind again. Oh, frag. It was just a dream…
Her surroundings then came into focus, and her heart all but stopped in horror. Not two inches from her bedside stood a ragged, scaly being. The alien, standing in a flood of light from the hall, had been scanning the darkened room for movement. Xana held her breath and looked up at the Selkath, hoping against hope that it hadn't heard her.
Its' head snapped towards Xana and it let out a hissing snarl. Crap.
It pounced, easily batting away Xana's bare-handed attempts to shield herself. She tried to land a punch on its' snout, use its' own weight as leverage to knock it over, or elbow its' claws away; nothing worked. Xana was hardly surprised; it was near impossible to fight when one was already flat on one's back. She was stuck, barely managing to hold off its' jaws as it clawed her face and arms.
Suddenly, a blaster shot rang through the air and the Selkath froze. Just as it had turned around to face Talon, a shaft of yellow light arced through the air, finally defeating it. Xana gratefully shoved the alien away, trying to slow her panicked breaths.
"Xana, are you injured?" Bastila asked, checking her bond-sister's face and arms for injuries.
Xana pushed her away, not wanting anyone to know how hard she was shaking. She ran a hand through her hair and nodded unsteadily. She didn't dare speak, for she didn't trust her voice not to crack.
"Are you all right?" Bastila tried again.
Xana hid her face in her hands, shaking her head no. She was trembling full-force now. It was a harrowing experience to awaken from a nightmare, only to have it come to life before your eyes.
"What happened?" Bastila demanded, rounding on Talon.
"I...I'm sorry, ma'am. I was exhausted, and I fell asleep during my watch. It's my fault." Talon sheepishly brought a hand to the back of his neck, unable to meet the eyes of anyone in the room.
Bastila frowned. "Juhani and I will try and hunt down any Selkath in the vicinity, then we'll come back to guard the room. I don't want this happening again. Lieutenant, I suggest you get some rest while we're gone."
Xana mumbled her thanks, barely noticing as the two Jedi moved to stand just outside the door. She simply stared at the wall, too exhausted by her muddled thoughts to even move.
Talon stood awkwardly to the side, not knowing what to do. He felt responsible for putting Xana in this state, and thought he should try to help, at the very least. "You okay?" he asked quietly.
"I already said I'm fine," Xana sniffled. "Go back to sleep."
"You don't look okay."
Xana sighed and glared at him, "I just had a stupid nightmare, followed by a freak accident. There isn't really anything that you can do to help."
"But you're bleeding," he argued, pointing at a particularly deep gash on her arm. He picked up an opened medkit and tried to grasp the injured limb. "At least let me-" Xana just shrugged him off.
"Leave it," she mumbled, shoving him away.
"Are you sure?" Talon was puzzled. Just a few days ago, she hadn't been afraid to let him see her cry. Now, she wouldn't even admit to being scared by a nightmare and subsequent mauling.
"Yeah." No.
Talon fell silent; he was either at a loss for words or too sleepy for a conversation.
Deciding that she definitely wouldn't be sleeping anymore, she wadded up her blanket and gave it to Talon. "Here. You need this more than I do." She regarded him blankly, feeling no disappointment as he simply hummed his thanks and snuggled back into his sleeping area.
Xana considered it fortunate that she'd never been the clingy type. Frankly, no girl in her right mind enjoyed being left cold, frightened, and ignored. Xana, however, was used to having nobody there to help; nobody ever stuck around that long.
Xana let out a reflective sigh, envying the look of peace that passed over her friend's face. Inside, her inner child warred with her tough, coldly logical psyche. She had wanted to say something along the lines of, "I've been acting cocky and cynical the whole day because I'm scared out of my fragging mind. Now, the façade's breaking down and I just need help."
The only problem was that she couldn't.
"You know, I'm still really ticked off at you for sending me out into an ocean full of crazed sharks," Xana grumbled, trying to maneuver into the environment suit. "Although," she added as an afterthought, "I've always had a love-hate relationship with sharks. I mean, they're fragging awesome and everything, but not when I'm walking mere feet from their jaws."
Talon wisely chose to keep his mouth shut, letting Bastila and Juhani deal with Xana's rant while he worked at the airlock's computer terminal. He tapped a microphone built into the terminal, "You should have radio communication in your helmet now. Try it."
Xana jammed the helmet on her head and waved her hands around in mock terror, "Oh lookie, I'm about to get eaten! Yay me!"
"Well, it works," Talon declared with a wry smile. Xana fixed him with a death glare and he added, "Look, you're going to be fine. You've got that sonic emitter in there, and even without it, I'm sure you could scare the sharks away on your own." Xana made sure to smack him upside the head before climbing into the airlock.
"Good to go," she radioed in, closing the door behind her. She tried not to scream as dark seawater began flooding the room. The outer airlock doors opened and Xana took a sluggish step into the ocean depths. She looked around in a panic, seeing nothing but blackness around her.
"Regulate your breathing," Talon's gentle admonition came over the comm. Xana worked to slow her breaths and calm her pounding heart. "Okay, good. Your air should last longer now. How're you doing?"
"I can't see anything and the lifesigns detector is picking up about a dozen firaxan sharks in the vicinity. But on the bright side, the water's so very nice and floaty. So, all in all, it doesn't completely suck," Xana rambled on as she made her way to the entrance, trying to mask her growing fear with sarcasm. She almost missed the flash of yellow at the end of the hall. "Hang on, I think I see another person."
"Be careful," Talon replied.
Xana slowly made her way over to the figure. It turned out to be another panicked survivor. Before he could start ranting a monologue, Xana held up a gloved hand to stop him. "Yeah, yeah, I know. You ran from the insane Selkath, ended up trapped here, and are contemplating a crazy escape before your air runs out."
"Ah…yeah, actually. I'm planning to go out on the ocean floor and look for a way into the docking bay from the outside."
"First of all, do you not see the hungry sharks swarming out there? Second, you work here, all right? You know as well as I do that there's no other way into the docking bay. However, I've got a sonic device that-"
"You're right; there's no escape! I can't take it anymore!" the survivor shouted suddenly. He started running for the ocean floor, ignoring Xana's protests, and was quickly snatched up by a firaxan shark.
Xana blinked. "Is it me, or am I just not very good at this whole 'dealing with crazed survivors' thing?"
"Um, both?"
"Shut up."
Xana stepped out onto the ocean floor, her shaking hand gripping the sonic emitter. She quickly looked up and surveyed her surroundings. Firaxan sharks were patrolling the waters above her, but none seemed to notice her annoyingly conspicuous environment suit. Really, she thought, did they have to make them yellow, much less the same shade of yellow as fishing lures? It's like a fragging 'eat me' sign!
So caught up in her rant was Xana, that she completely missed the firaxan shark making a dive towards her. By sheer luck, she happened to glance to the left and was greeted by an open mouthful of sharp teeth.
"HOLY SHIZZ!" she screamed, jamming her thumb down on the emitter's trigger. Mere inches from her, the shark abruptly stopped and turned belly-up.
"Xana? What happened?"
"I nearly got eaten!" Xana exclaimed, heart pounding from fear.
"Are you okay?"
"Practically farting rainbows," she snarked, slowly making her way towards the other building.
As she finally reached the entrance and began to fumble with the airlock, she commented sarcastically, "Gee, I wonder what could possibly go wrong now."
"I had to ask," Xana muttered, banging the faceplate of her environment suit against the harvester console. After walking into a full-out ambush upon entering the other building, nearly being asphyxiated by panicked scientists, and almost becoming shark munchies two more times, Xana was just about ready to pull her hair out. The gigantic, kolto-mutated shark watching her was not helping matters.
Xana growled as she emptied the harvester's fuel tanks once more. Randomly pressing buttons had yet to result in the epic overload she was seeking. "Okay," she sighed, "let's try this again."
The screen flashed an error message:
[ERROR: FUEL RESERVES DEPLETED]
"Oh, come on!" Xana screamed. "Augh, looks like we have to do this the old-fashioned way." She reached for the frag grenades she'd attached to the outside of her environment suit. Jamming them in between the fuel tanks, she pressed the activator buttons in rapid succession.
"FIRE IN THE HOLE!"
Xana flattened herself against the metal walkway, tensing as the shockwaves knocked her back a few feet. The energy from the blast traveled through the fuel lines and ignited a series of explosions within the harvester. Chunks of metal rained down onto the ocean floor.
Unexplainably, when Xana looked up again, the shark had moved from the center of the bridge. She muttered, "Dang, that thing moves fast." Xana pushed herself off the metal grating and proceeded toward the Star Map. She tried not to guesstimate how many seconds it would take for the massive fish to close the distance between them once again.
Still keeping an eye on the shark, Xana opened the Star Map. Its' blue light diffracted through the water, creating gorgeous beams and patterns that danced across the sea floor. Xana let out a deep breath and began to repeat the Star Map's coordinates over the suit's comlink.
"Got it," Talon replied. "Alright, make your way back to the airlock and we'll see you in a bit. Good work."
"Copy that," Xana said, taking her finger off the comlink button. She smiled, all but running toward the airlock. If there was one thing she knew for sure, it was that she was never, ever, ever going scuba diving again.
AN: Okay, so that was my take on the Hrakert Rift level...kinda went overboard with the whole "horror movie" theme, but that's what AU fics are for anyway. They're not out of the water yet, though. (No pun intended.) Next chapter; a survival situation and fluff overload a la Xana/Talon. .
Thanks to writtenrhythm for beta reading this chapter! You all go and read her story One More Time RIGHT NOW, I just finished beta-ing the latest chapter and it is a good one!
Till next time,
~RFC74