Disclaimer: I don't own the Star Wars universe or Star Wars KOTOR, George
Lucas and Lucas Arts do. They also own all the Characters and Worlds
contained therein. The characters created by me for this story are all
that I own.
Who Rescued Whom
We turned the accelerator over to Gadon. I reminded him of our bargain and he said that he was not going to back out of it. I would be racing under the Hidden Bek colors, and I would be using the swoop with the accelerator. I asked him why he was doing this and he told me that the accelerator was unstable and that he wouldn't ask one of his people to take the risk. If the swoop blew and I was killed, one of his riders would still have a chance to win the race.
I raised an eyebrow and commented that he had all the bases covered. I didn't see another way to accomplish our mission though so I agreed to take the risk. I spent the night at the Hidden Bek base. I rested in the bunk provided and I told myself this was no different than the night before any major mission. I went through the calming exercises we had been taught and was able to finally fall asleep.
In the morning I met with the mechanic, he had been working on the stability of the accelerator and thought it would stand up to a four or five races before it became dangerously overheated. I had him explain the principles behind racing then went out for my first heat. I walked over toward the race announcer, noticing a woman in a cage as I did so.
I paused, realizing that this must be the woman we were trying to rescue. The Vulkar guard didn't object to me looking over what was supposed to be the race prize so I walked over to the cage to check her condition. She had no bruising or other signs of abuse that I could see. There was a neural collar around her neck which explained why she remained a prisoner. She stood slumped barely able to stand under the effects of the neural collar. She was beautiful with her dark brown hair, and pale porcelain skin. I noticed something else as well, she looked amazingly like the woman I had seen in my dream when I had first woke up on Taris.
Seeing her I was more determined than ever I would win this race and free her. I thought back to my experience with Ricco at the base when he had been a captive and under torture and how it had felt, impulsively I attempted the same communication with Bastila. I tried to will her to know that someone was here to rescue her and that it would only be a short while longer before she was free.
Then with determination in my heart I went to the race announcer and told him I was ready for my first heat. The first race went well despite the fact I was learning how to ride the swoop bike, it wasn't too different from some of the one person transports I had used in Covert ops. So I wasn't entirely as inexperienced as I had thought I would be. One of the Vulkars ran a heat after I did and beat my time. I was certain that I could better my time and went out for another heat. I managed to better my time by quite a bit on the next heat and the time stood. I had won!
Brejik though had other ideas, during the presentation he accused me of cheating by using the accelerator and he was withdrawing the victory prize. I was about to argue when the race announcer said that was against the rules and couldn't be done. Brejik announced that the traditions were nothing to him; he was the wave of the future and could do what he wanted.
Then something happened that stunned everyone, Bastila spoke up from the cage "I might have something to say about that, Brejik!" she announced. We all turned and looked and she made a motion with her hand and the cage door fell. She took out the guard with one blow and grabbed up his weapon. Brejik said something about it being impossible for her to free herself and she replied "You underestimate the strength of a Jedi's mind, Brejik a mistake you won't live to regret!" Brejik started screaming for the Vuklars to kill both of us and the battle began.
Jedi Bastila went for Brejik, and I was worried that she might still be confused from the neural disruptor but she was holding her own. I went for the other Vulkars, quickly cutting them down. Redros gave me a slight pause but he was sloppy and I got in a quick stab. I turned around and went to assist Jedi Bastila with Brejik, I came up behind him and attacked and he was dead. I was only panting slightly and I grinned at her and was about to congratulate her when she angrily said "Well, maybe those bloody Vulkars will thing twice next time before trying to keep a Jedi prisoner! And as for you if you think you can collect me as a prize...."
I stared at her this surely wasn't the rescue scene I had anticipated. I had hoped for some gratitude, instead she looked quite ready to attack me! I was about to say something calming when she said "Wait... I don't believe this! You're..." she paused for a long second then said "you're one of the soldiers with the Republic fleet, aren't you? Yes, I'm sure of it. How did you end up racing for these swoop gangs?"
I was feeling a bit resentful but politely said "My name's Cait McDonald. I'm here to save you." Bastila replied in indignation "Save me? Is that what you were trying to accomplish by riding in that swoop race? Well, as far as rescues go this is a pretty poor example. In case you hadn't noticed, I managed to free myself from that neural restraint collar without your help. In fact, it's more accurate to say that I saved you! Brejik and his Vulkars would have left you for dead if I hadn't stepped into that fight. You're lucky I was here to get you out of that mess!"
I couldn't believe this woman, I needed help? She hadn't even managed to finish off Brejik by herself. I had taken out three other gang members then helped her with Brejik. I would have been able to take all four, maybe not without some wounds but I would have been able to take down all of them. I swallowed the disrespectful reply I wanted to give; straightened myself and replied "I think you've got things confused. You were a helpless prisoner until I came along." Ok maybe it wasn't polite but it was a lot better than the reply I wanted to give. She obviously took what I said poorly and replied haughtily "I may have been a prisoner, but a Jedi is never helpless. Maybe you've heard of a little thing called 'the Force'? I narrowly avoided outright gross insubordination by blurting out 'bitch!' and bit my tongue, hard.
Perhaps something in my rigid stance and narrowed eyes finally communicated my anger to her, she said apparently amused at me "But I suppose I shouldn't be too hard on you. You did try to save me after all, even if it didn't go quite as planned. So let's get down to business - we're not out of danger yet. If I'm going to figure out a way for us to get off this planet I need to know what kind of resources we can draw on. First, are we the only two survivors left from the Endar Spire?"
I took a breath and calmed myself, I was a professional soldier and I wasn't about to let some stuck up Jedi, aggravate me into being rude, especially since she was officially my commanding officer for the time being. I said with a measure of calm "We aren't the only survivors. Carth Onasi is alive as well."
Jedi Bastila said "Carth Onasi is alive? Finally, some good news! Carth is one of the Republic's best soldiers. He's proved himself a hero a dozen times over! And he sent you here to save me? Maybe I misjudged you. Carth wouldn't have sent you if he wasn't confident in your... abilities. Forgive me - despite my Jedi training, I still tend to act a bit rashly sometimes. Please, take me to Carth right away. Between the two three of us I'm sure we can figure out some way to get off this planet before the Sith realize we're here."
First she attacks me, then she laughs at me and now she's trying to be polite, for a moment I wondered why we had all risked our lives to save her but then the answer came to me. It was my duty. I replied, "Of course Ma'am, if you would follow me. I will take you to him." I could see her pause for a second then nod and I set out at a brisk pace back toward the apartment.
******************************************************************
Bastila had to almost run to keep up with Cait's ground eating stride. Things hadn't gone well at all but she had been rather shocked when she realized that Revan was the woman who had been fighting with her. The conversation had gone down hill from there, and it was all her fault, she had lost control of her emotions and had reacted out of fear.
She would have to regain control of the situation and get all of them off the planet and to Dantoonie where the Council would know what to do with Revan. She had almost wrecked everything when she had almost called Cait Revan, but she had managed to stop and say soldier instead. You could see the Force swirling around Revan as she walked, and it frightened Bastila. What would happen if she regained her memories!
Cait, she told herself, this is Cait McDonald, don't even think the name Revan. She knew that Cait was still angry with her and she couldn't blame her. Cait had come here to rescue her and she had arrogantly rebuffed her. Bastila felt ashamed of how she had handled that, Cait had reacted with anger at first but then immediately calmed down. Now she was treating her with a precise military formality, and disapproval radiated from her.
Cait led her out of the Lower City, nodding politely to the Sith trooper stationed there and obscuring his view of Bastila. They arrived at the apartment and Carth Onais sprang up at their arrival exclaiming "you're alive! Finally, things are looking up. Now we just need to figure out a way to get off this planet.
Bastila felt her fear rising again and said "You mean you don't have a plan to get off Taris yet? What have you been doing all this time?" Cait replied "We were trying to find you, remember?"
Bastila recited to herself 'there is no emotion there is peace' to calm herself and said "I see. Now that I'm back in charge of this mission, perhaps we can start doing things properly. Hopefully our escape from Taris will go more smoothly than when you "rescued" me from Brejik."
They both stared at her and Carth said "I know you're new at this, Bastila, but a leader doesn't berate her troops just because things aren't going as planned. Don't let your ego get in the way of the real issues here."
Bastila snapped back "That hardly strikes me as an appropriate way of addressing your commander, Carth. I am a member of the Jedi Order and this is my mission. Don't forget that! My battle meditation ability has helped the Republic many times in this war, and it will serve us well here I am sure."
Carth looked at her and she could sense his disappointment, he said "Your talents might win us a few battles, but that doesn't make you a good leader! A good leader would at least listen to the advice of those who have seen more combat than she ever will!" Cait said in a tired tone "Both of you settle down, this isn't helping."
Bastila paused, the masters had warned her not to be too prideful of her abilities and to not let emotions rule her, but that was what she had just been doing. She was letting her fear rule her again and look what was happening. There is no emotion she thought there is peace.
Bastila said "Yes... You're right, of course. I apologize, Carth. This has been a difficult time for me. Of course I'm happy to listen to your advice. What do you suggest we do?"
Carth replied "First off we cant get hung up on whose in charge; we all need to work together if we want to get off this rock. The answers out there, we just have to find it."
Bastila nodded "Well said, Carth. And the sooner we start looking the better; I've already been a prisoner of the Vulkars and I don't plan on being captured by the Sith." Cait looked at both of them and said "Okay, so what now?" Bastila said "I think we'll need some help getting off Taris. Maybe if we ask around one of the locals can help us out. We should probably start by asking around at the cantinas."
Bastila noticed that Cait was looking pale and said "Is... is something wrong? You seem as if something is troubling you." Cait looked at her and Bastila could see the mistrust in her eyes "Forget it, its nothing. I just need to go clean up; I have Vulkar blood all over me." Bastila blinked and said "Of course we should probably both clean up before going back out."
Cait went into the shower and Bastila thought, I wonder what that was, she regretted the fact that Cait obviously didn't trust her enough to tell her what was bothering her but after the way Bastila had treated her it wasn't surprising. I need to apologize again to her, she thought.
Bastila decided to extend her force senses to see what she could sense of Cait, what she saw surprised her. Cait was strongly inclined toward the light, it almost streamed off her. She would have to find out what had occurred while she had been in the hands of the Vulkars. She decided to take this opportunity to find out from Carth what had occurred.
What he told her was amazing, they had saved several peoples lives by assisting them with getting bounties removed from their heads, they had saved several people from the Sith, they had helped the outcasts in the Undercity discover a place for them to go to find shelter. The list of people they had helped while trying to find her was amazing. She complimented Carth but he said that it had all been Cait's doing, she had argued and sometimes outright went against his wishes to help others. There were also two more members of the group that would be joining them shortly a Twi'lek girl and a Wookiee who had swore a lifedebt to Cait.
***********************************************************************
I stood in the shower and let the sonic pulses soothe my tense muscles; the Jedi woman had really gotten to me. And then there was the vision that had overcome me for a second when we had been walking back. It had been almost exactly like the vision I had before, now I knew that the woman in the vision was indeed Bastila.
Bastila had been fighting Dark Jedi on the bridge of a ship, a body of a republic soldier had slumped into view and Bastila had cried out angrily "You can not win Revan!" Then I saw the soldier's killer, a figure in black with an environmental mask covering their face. The figure had just elegantly brandished their lightsaber when another ship had fired on the bridge throwing everyone to the ground. I saw Bastila stir and roll over and look at the figure in black who lay unmoving and a sudden look of pity and anguish crossed her face. Then the dream or vision or whatever it had been had faded out.
I had wanted to ask her about it but had changed my mind, she might be acting more reasonably now but the woman was like a rose. Beautiful to look at but all thorns that scratched the hell out of you close up. I was getting wound up again, I cursed myself under my breath and then reminded myself that emotions were to be experienced, understood and then reacted to only if I choose to do so. I had completely been forgetting that and had been reacting to my emotions like some type of green recruit.
I went over the day in my head and realized most of my resentment was due to the dim idea that I had that I would be able to free the barely conscious Jedi, sweep her up in my arms and bear her gently back to the apartment. She would have been trustingly relaxed in my arms with her head resting beneath my chin. HA! that had been a rudely crushed fantasy. Most of my resentment was due to that not happening.
I went over the conversation and decided maybe I should give her another chance. She was young, younger than I, and she had been placed in charge of this mission due to her battle meditation. She had gotten herself captured by a bunch of thugs, a neural disrupter slapped on her and finally stuck in a cage as a prize. I strongly suspected she had been reacting to her embarrassment over needing to be rescued at all. It was not what I associated with Jedi, and probably not how she saw herself. I was surprised the Jedi had let her out of training so obviously before she was ready, but then I thought, her battle mediation. And there had been several senior Jedi on the Endar Spire with her, probably to continue her training and give her guidance.
She had been placed in a position she wasn't ready for due to her ability, and had acted like any nervous green commander given combat troops. When Carth had confronted her over it though, she had backed down and apologized and listened to him. Thank goodness for Carth, I thought, I should have corrected her myself but I was too busy reacting to my emotions. I grumbled some at myself, and resolved to not let my physical attraction for the woman get in the way of my good sense.
I should probably stop treating her rudely as well, I might hide it behind a formal politeness but I had been being rude. And I finally thought she had apologized to me, she had asked me to forgive her before we ever started to the apartment but I had been so angry at the time I barely heard it.
I breathed out a slow breath and let my anger go, I still felt a bit sad, but I had set my own self up for disappointment with my romantic daydreams. I dressed and went back out into the common area.
Bastila and Carth both looked up at me as I approached. Something seemed different Bastila seemed calmer for one thing and more thoughtful. I guess they had had a long discussion while I was getting cleaned up.
I said "Jedi Bastila, I wanted to apologize for my abruptness earlier. I did have something I wanted to ask you about. Something weird happened when we first met. Like a vision" Bastila looked at me puzzled and said "A vision, a vision of what?" I replied "Of you, fighting a dark Jedi. Revan, I guess." I could see her hesitate and she looked paler for a moment, she said "This is... strange. Such visions are often a sign of Force sensitivity." Huh? I thought and said "Force sensitivity? What do you mean?"
Bastila continued "I... I'm not sure. It may be that you have some connection to the Force. It would not be unheard of. When we first met, your natural talent may have fed off my own Force abilities. It is possible that in the excitement of the battle's aftermath the Force allowed you to witness one of my more intense memories." I was very confused now and said "This isn't the first time I had a vision." Bastila replied "The force is complicated; even I with all my training cannot fully understand it yet. This is a matter best left to the wise Masters of the Jedi council. Once we escape Taris we can seek the guidance of the Council, if you wish. They will understand the significance of your vision... if there is any. However, I think it would be best if we all stayed focused on the task at hand right now."
I nodded to her and she went to go clean up herself. What had she been saying? That I was force sensitive? Oh I didn't like the sound of that, I was a Covert Ops soldier not some robe wearing member of a monastic like order who talked of peace and the Force all the time. She might think I was interested in talking to her council, but the only thing I was interested in was getting back to my unit in one piece.
When she came back out she wanted to talk to me again. I sighed to myself but agreed. Bastila said "I would like to know what happened after you crashed on Taris. I'm curious as to know what you and Carth were doing before we all joined forces." I decided to see if I couldn't get her to lighten up some and I gave her a friendly grin and said "Before we rescued you, you mean." The woman was stubborn, she said "I managed to free myself, as I recall. In fact, if I hadn't been there Brejik and his thugs might have killed you in that fight. It's probably more accurate to say that I rescued you." I shook my head at her and said "Can't you just admit that you were rescued?"
Bastila replied "I'll admit that I probably wouldn't have been able to free myself if not for the brawl after the swoop race. I guess I should thank you for that, at least." I raised an eyebrow 'at least?' gezz. She continued quickly "Actually, your presence at the swoop track is what I'm curious about. It couldn't have been an easy task to find me there. Yet somehow you managed. You also avoided detection by the Sith, discovered I was a Vulkar prisoner, gained sponsorship for the race and became the Taris swoop champion. That's quite a resume."
Some imp of mischief took over my mouth and I heard myself say with a chuckle "And rescued the damsel in distress. Don't forget that." Bastila straightened but I could see she could tell she was trying not to get angry with my jesting "Yes... well. I hardly consider myself a damsel in distress. I'm a member of the Jedi Order, after all. But I won't deny you've impressed me with what you've done. When you were chosen to join this mission, I doubt any of us expected this much from you. A Jedi could have done such things, of course, but only by drawing heavily upon the Force."
I was put on the defensive for a moment, I said "I think you're underestimating us non-Jedi" Bastila said "Perhaps. But the Force works through all of us to some degree of another. There are some individuals outside the Jedi Order that we consider 'Force Sensitive'. It is obvious to me that the Force has been working through you. There is no other explanation for your great success, though I am not certain what to make of this discovery. Perhaps if you weren't... well if you were younger the Jedi might take you for training. But as it is..."
I interrupted her "I don't know about all this Force sensitive stuff, I'm a Covert Ops officer. It's not anything we aren't expected to be able to accomplish. Give the credit to my military training for being able to rescue you."
Bastila paused obviously taken a bit aback by my words and finally said "Ah, yes the rescue again. Very well. For what it's worth, I concede the point to you: You rescued me from Brejik. And yet we are still stuck here on Taris. Hopefully between your... abilities, my Jedi training and the skills of our companions we can find a way off this planet."
Difficult woman I thought to myself, my only satisfaction was that she was probably thinking the same thing of me.
Who Rescued Whom
We turned the accelerator over to Gadon. I reminded him of our bargain and he said that he was not going to back out of it. I would be racing under the Hidden Bek colors, and I would be using the swoop with the accelerator. I asked him why he was doing this and he told me that the accelerator was unstable and that he wouldn't ask one of his people to take the risk. If the swoop blew and I was killed, one of his riders would still have a chance to win the race.
I raised an eyebrow and commented that he had all the bases covered. I didn't see another way to accomplish our mission though so I agreed to take the risk. I spent the night at the Hidden Bek base. I rested in the bunk provided and I told myself this was no different than the night before any major mission. I went through the calming exercises we had been taught and was able to finally fall asleep.
In the morning I met with the mechanic, he had been working on the stability of the accelerator and thought it would stand up to a four or five races before it became dangerously overheated. I had him explain the principles behind racing then went out for my first heat. I walked over toward the race announcer, noticing a woman in a cage as I did so.
I paused, realizing that this must be the woman we were trying to rescue. The Vulkar guard didn't object to me looking over what was supposed to be the race prize so I walked over to the cage to check her condition. She had no bruising or other signs of abuse that I could see. There was a neural collar around her neck which explained why she remained a prisoner. She stood slumped barely able to stand under the effects of the neural collar. She was beautiful with her dark brown hair, and pale porcelain skin. I noticed something else as well, she looked amazingly like the woman I had seen in my dream when I had first woke up on Taris.
Seeing her I was more determined than ever I would win this race and free her. I thought back to my experience with Ricco at the base when he had been a captive and under torture and how it had felt, impulsively I attempted the same communication with Bastila. I tried to will her to know that someone was here to rescue her and that it would only be a short while longer before she was free.
Then with determination in my heart I went to the race announcer and told him I was ready for my first heat. The first race went well despite the fact I was learning how to ride the swoop bike, it wasn't too different from some of the one person transports I had used in Covert ops. So I wasn't entirely as inexperienced as I had thought I would be. One of the Vulkars ran a heat after I did and beat my time. I was certain that I could better my time and went out for another heat. I managed to better my time by quite a bit on the next heat and the time stood. I had won!
Brejik though had other ideas, during the presentation he accused me of cheating by using the accelerator and he was withdrawing the victory prize. I was about to argue when the race announcer said that was against the rules and couldn't be done. Brejik announced that the traditions were nothing to him; he was the wave of the future and could do what he wanted.
Then something happened that stunned everyone, Bastila spoke up from the cage "I might have something to say about that, Brejik!" she announced. We all turned and looked and she made a motion with her hand and the cage door fell. She took out the guard with one blow and grabbed up his weapon. Brejik said something about it being impossible for her to free herself and she replied "You underestimate the strength of a Jedi's mind, Brejik a mistake you won't live to regret!" Brejik started screaming for the Vuklars to kill both of us and the battle began.
Jedi Bastila went for Brejik, and I was worried that she might still be confused from the neural disruptor but she was holding her own. I went for the other Vulkars, quickly cutting them down. Redros gave me a slight pause but he was sloppy and I got in a quick stab. I turned around and went to assist Jedi Bastila with Brejik, I came up behind him and attacked and he was dead. I was only panting slightly and I grinned at her and was about to congratulate her when she angrily said "Well, maybe those bloody Vulkars will thing twice next time before trying to keep a Jedi prisoner! And as for you if you think you can collect me as a prize...."
I stared at her this surely wasn't the rescue scene I had anticipated. I had hoped for some gratitude, instead she looked quite ready to attack me! I was about to say something calming when she said "Wait... I don't believe this! You're..." she paused for a long second then said "you're one of the soldiers with the Republic fleet, aren't you? Yes, I'm sure of it. How did you end up racing for these swoop gangs?"
I was feeling a bit resentful but politely said "My name's Cait McDonald. I'm here to save you." Bastila replied in indignation "Save me? Is that what you were trying to accomplish by riding in that swoop race? Well, as far as rescues go this is a pretty poor example. In case you hadn't noticed, I managed to free myself from that neural restraint collar without your help. In fact, it's more accurate to say that I saved you! Brejik and his Vulkars would have left you for dead if I hadn't stepped into that fight. You're lucky I was here to get you out of that mess!"
I couldn't believe this woman, I needed help? She hadn't even managed to finish off Brejik by herself. I had taken out three other gang members then helped her with Brejik. I would have been able to take all four, maybe not without some wounds but I would have been able to take down all of them. I swallowed the disrespectful reply I wanted to give; straightened myself and replied "I think you've got things confused. You were a helpless prisoner until I came along." Ok maybe it wasn't polite but it was a lot better than the reply I wanted to give. She obviously took what I said poorly and replied haughtily "I may have been a prisoner, but a Jedi is never helpless. Maybe you've heard of a little thing called 'the Force'? I narrowly avoided outright gross insubordination by blurting out 'bitch!' and bit my tongue, hard.
Perhaps something in my rigid stance and narrowed eyes finally communicated my anger to her, she said apparently amused at me "But I suppose I shouldn't be too hard on you. You did try to save me after all, even if it didn't go quite as planned. So let's get down to business - we're not out of danger yet. If I'm going to figure out a way for us to get off this planet I need to know what kind of resources we can draw on. First, are we the only two survivors left from the Endar Spire?"
I took a breath and calmed myself, I was a professional soldier and I wasn't about to let some stuck up Jedi, aggravate me into being rude, especially since she was officially my commanding officer for the time being. I said with a measure of calm "We aren't the only survivors. Carth Onasi is alive as well."
Jedi Bastila said "Carth Onasi is alive? Finally, some good news! Carth is one of the Republic's best soldiers. He's proved himself a hero a dozen times over! And he sent you here to save me? Maybe I misjudged you. Carth wouldn't have sent you if he wasn't confident in your... abilities. Forgive me - despite my Jedi training, I still tend to act a bit rashly sometimes. Please, take me to Carth right away. Between the two three of us I'm sure we can figure out some way to get off this planet before the Sith realize we're here."
First she attacks me, then she laughs at me and now she's trying to be polite, for a moment I wondered why we had all risked our lives to save her but then the answer came to me. It was my duty. I replied, "Of course Ma'am, if you would follow me. I will take you to him." I could see her pause for a second then nod and I set out at a brisk pace back toward the apartment.
******************************************************************
Bastila had to almost run to keep up with Cait's ground eating stride. Things hadn't gone well at all but she had been rather shocked when she realized that Revan was the woman who had been fighting with her. The conversation had gone down hill from there, and it was all her fault, she had lost control of her emotions and had reacted out of fear.
She would have to regain control of the situation and get all of them off the planet and to Dantoonie where the Council would know what to do with Revan. She had almost wrecked everything when she had almost called Cait Revan, but she had managed to stop and say soldier instead. You could see the Force swirling around Revan as she walked, and it frightened Bastila. What would happen if she regained her memories!
Cait, she told herself, this is Cait McDonald, don't even think the name Revan. She knew that Cait was still angry with her and she couldn't blame her. Cait had come here to rescue her and she had arrogantly rebuffed her. Bastila felt ashamed of how she had handled that, Cait had reacted with anger at first but then immediately calmed down. Now she was treating her with a precise military formality, and disapproval radiated from her.
Cait led her out of the Lower City, nodding politely to the Sith trooper stationed there and obscuring his view of Bastila. They arrived at the apartment and Carth Onais sprang up at their arrival exclaiming "you're alive! Finally, things are looking up. Now we just need to figure out a way to get off this planet.
Bastila felt her fear rising again and said "You mean you don't have a plan to get off Taris yet? What have you been doing all this time?" Cait replied "We were trying to find you, remember?"
Bastila recited to herself 'there is no emotion there is peace' to calm herself and said "I see. Now that I'm back in charge of this mission, perhaps we can start doing things properly. Hopefully our escape from Taris will go more smoothly than when you "rescued" me from Brejik."
They both stared at her and Carth said "I know you're new at this, Bastila, but a leader doesn't berate her troops just because things aren't going as planned. Don't let your ego get in the way of the real issues here."
Bastila snapped back "That hardly strikes me as an appropriate way of addressing your commander, Carth. I am a member of the Jedi Order and this is my mission. Don't forget that! My battle meditation ability has helped the Republic many times in this war, and it will serve us well here I am sure."
Carth looked at her and she could sense his disappointment, he said "Your talents might win us a few battles, but that doesn't make you a good leader! A good leader would at least listen to the advice of those who have seen more combat than she ever will!" Cait said in a tired tone "Both of you settle down, this isn't helping."
Bastila paused, the masters had warned her not to be too prideful of her abilities and to not let emotions rule her, but that was what she had just been doing. She was letting her fear rule her again and look what was happening. There is no emotion she thought there is peace.
Bastila said "Yes... You're right, of course. I apologize, Carth. This has been a difficult time for me. Of course I'm happy to listen to your advice. What do you suggest we do?"
Carth replied "First off we cant get hung up on whose in charge; we all need to work together if we want to get off this rock. The answers out there, we just have to find it."
Bastila nodded "Well said, Carth. And the sooner we start looking the better; I've already been a prisoner of the Vulkars and I don't plan on being captured by the Sith." Cait looked at both of them and said "Okay, so what now?" Bastila said "I think we'll need some help getting off Taris. Maybe if we ask around one of the locals can help us out. We should probably start by asking around at the cantinas."
Bastila noticed that Cait was looking pale and said "Is... is something wrong? You seem as if something is troubling you." Cait looked at her and Bastila could see the mistrust in her eyes "Forget it, its nothing. I just need to go clean up; I have Vulkar blood all over me." Bastila blinked and said "Of course we should probably both clean up before going back out."
Cait went into the shower and Bastila thought, I wonder what that was, she regretted the fact that Cait obviously didn't trust her enough to tell her what was bothering her but after the way Bastila had treated her it wasn't surprising. I need to apologize again to her, she thought.
Bastila decided to extend her force senses to see what she could sense of Cait, what she saw surprised her. Cait was strongly inclined toward the light, it almost streamed off her. She would have to find out what had occurred while she had been in the hands of the Vulkars. She decided to take this opportunity to find out from Carth what had occurred.
What he told her was amazing, they had saved several peoples lives by assisting them with getting bounties removed from their heads, they had saved several people from the Sith, they had helped the outcasts in the Undercity discover a place for them to go to find shelter. The list of people they had helped while trying to find her was amazing. She complimented Carth but he said that it had all been Cait's doing, she had argued and sometimes outright went against his wishes to help others. There were also two more members of the group that would be joining them shortly a Twi'lek girl and a Wookiee who had swore a lifedebt to Cait.
***********************************************************************
I stood in the shower and let the sonic pulses soothe my tense muscles; the Jedi woman had really gotten to me. And then there was the vision that had overcome me for a second when we had been walking back. It had been almost exactly like the vision I had before, now I knew that the woman in the vision was indeed Bastila.
Bastila had been fighting Dark Jedi on the bridge of a ship, a body of a republic soldier had slumped into view and Bastila had cried out angrily "You can not win Revan!" Then I saw the soldier's killer, a figure in black with an environmental mask covering their face. The figure had just elegantly brandished their lightsaber when another ship had fired on the bridge throwing everyone to the ground. I saw Bastila stir and roll over and look at the figure in black who lay unmoving and a sudden look of pity and anguish crossed her face. Then the dream or vision or whatever it had been had faded out.
I had wanted to ask her about it but had changed my mind, she might be acting more reasonably now but the woman was like a rose. Beautiful to look at but all thorns that scratched the hell out of you close up. I was getting wound up again, I cursed myself under my breath and then reminded myself that emotions were to be experienced, understood and then reacted to only if I choose to do so. I had completely been forgetting that and had been reacting to my emotions like some type of green recruit.
I went over the day in my head and realized most of my resentment was due to the dim idea that I had that I would be able to free the barely conscious Jedi, sweep her up in my arms and bear her gently back to the apartment. She would have been trustingly relaxed in my arms with her head resting beneath my chin. HA! that had been a rudely crushed fantasy. Most of my resentment was due to that not happening.
I went over the conversation and decided maybe I should give her another chance. She was young, younger than I, and she had been placed in charge of this mission due to her battle meditation. She had gotten herself captured by a bunch of thugs, a neural disrupter slapped on her and finally stuck in a cage as a prize. I strongly suspected she had been reacting to her embarrassment over needing to be rescued at all. It was not what I associated with Jedi, and probably not how she saw herself. I was surprised the Jedi had let her out of training so obviously before she was ready, but then I thought, her battle mediation. And there had been several senior Jedi on the Endar Spire with her, probably to continue her training and give her guidance.
She had been placed in a position she wasn't ready for due to her ability, and had acted like any nervous green commander given combat troops. When Carth had confronted her over it though, she had backed down and apologized and listened to him. Thank goodness for Carth, I thought, I should have corrected her myself but I was too busy reacting to my emotions. I grumbled some at myself, and resolved to not let my physical attraction for the woman get in the way of my good sense.
I should probably stop treating her rudely as well, I might hide it behind a formal politeness but I had been being rude. And I finally thought she had apologized to me, she had asked me to forgive her before we ever started to the apartment but I had been so angry at the time I barely heard it.
I breathed out a slow breath and let my anger go, I still felt a bit sad, but I had set my own self up for disappointment with my romantic daydreams. I dressed and went back out into the common area.
Bastila and Carth both looked up at me as I approached. Something seemed different Bastila seemed calmer for one thing and more thoughtful. I guess they had had a long discussion while I was getting cleaned up.
I said "Jedi Bastila, I wanted to apologize for my abruptness earlier. I did have something I wanted to ask you about. Something weird happened when we first met. Like a vision" Bastila looked at me puzzled and said "A vision, a vision of what?" I replied "Of you, fighting a dark Jedi. Revan, I guess." I could see her hesitate and she looked paler for a moment, she said "This is... strange. Such visions are often a sign of Force sensitivity." Huh? I thought and said "Force sensitivity? What do you mean?"
Bastila continued "I... I'm not sure. It may be that you have some connection to the Force. It would not be unheard of. When we first met, your natural talent may have fed off my own Force abilities. It is possible that in the excitement of the battle's aftermath the Force allowed you to witness one of my more intense memories." I was very confused now and said "This isn't the first time I had a vision." Bastila replied "The force is complicated; even I with all my training cannot fully understand it yet. This is a matter best left to the wise Masters of the Jedi council. Once we escape Taris we can seek the guidance of the Council, if you wish. They will understand the significance of your vision... if there is any. However, I think it would be best if we all stayed focused on the task at hand right now."
I nodded to her and she went to go clean up herself. What had she been saying? That I was force sensitive? Oh I didn't like the sound of that, I was a Covert Ops soldier not some robe wearing member of a monastic like order who talked of peace and the Force all the time. She might think I was interested in talking to her council, but the only thing I was interested in was getting back to my unit in one piece.
When she came back out she wanted to talk to me again. I sighed to myself but agreed. Bastila said "I would like to know what happened after you crashed on Taris. I'm curious as to know what you and Carth were doing before we all joined forces." I decided to see if I couldn't get her to lighten up some and I gave her a friendly grin and said "Before we rescued you, you mean." The woman was stubborn, she said "I managed to free myself, as I recall. In fact, if I hadn't been there Brejik and his thugs might have killed you in that fight. It's probably more accurate to say that I rescued you." I shook my head at her and said "Can't you just admit that you were rescued?"
Bastila replied "I'll admit that I probably wouldn't have been able to free myself if not for the brawl after the swoop race. I guess I should thank you for that, at least." I raised an eyebrow 'at least?' gezz. She continued quickly "Actually, your presence at the swoop track is what I'm curious about. It couldn't have been an easy task to find me there. Yet somehow you managed. You also avoided detection by the Sith, discovered I was a Vulkar prisoner, gained sponsorship for the race and became the Taris swoop champion. That's quite a resume."
Some imp of mischief took over my mouth and I heard myself say with a chuckle "And rescued the damsel in distress. Don't forget that." Bastila straightened but I could see she could tell she was trying not to get angry with my jesting "Yes... well. I hardly consider myself a damsel in distress. I'm a member of the Jedi Order, after all. But I won't deny you've impressed me with what you've done. When you were chosen to join this mission, I doubt any of us expected this much from you. A Jedi could have done such things, of course, but only by drawing heavily upon the Force."
I was put on the defensive for a moment, I said "I think you're underestimating us non-Jedi" Bastila said "Perhaps. But the Force works through all of us to some degree of another. There are some individuals outside the Jedi Order that we consider 'Force Sensitive'. It is obvious to me that the Force has been working through you. There is no other explanation for your great success, though I am not certain what to make of this discovery. Perhaps if you weren't... well if you were younger the Jedi might take you for training. But as it is..."
I interrupted her "I don't know about all this Force sensitive stuff, I'm a Covert Ops officer. It's not anything we aren't expected to be able to accomplish. Give the credit to my military training for being able to rescue you."
Bastila paused obviously taken a bit aback by my words and finally said "Ah, yes the rescue again. Very well. For what it's worth, I concede the point to you: You rescued me from Brejik. And yet we are still stuck here on Taris. Hopefully between your... abilities, my Jedi training and the skills of our companions we can find a way off this planet."
Difficult woman I thought to myself, my only satisfaction was that she was probably thinking the same thing of me.