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.
Manaan – Sith Base
We returned to the ship for some supplies before attempting the Sith base and I took the opportunity to see if Balista was ready to talk to me about what had happened earlier. I found her resting on her bunk and she asked me how things had gone. I told her of what I had discovered and she asked how I felt about keeping information from the Selkath's. I grimaced and told her that I regretted it but I knew that the Selkath's would not accept my testimony about the true actions of the Sith in the matter. I shrugged and said that I was comfortable that I had found the most correct path out of several less than perfect possibilities.
She nodded and I brought up the subject of our discussion earlier. She agreed that she had ended it rather abruptly, and that maybe a Master could have handled it better. She said that she should have never brought up the subject and certainly not with me. Bastila told me that part of her purpose on the mission was to guide me in the way of the light and to help me avoid the dark side. But she felt that she had failed in that task, that she wasn't the proper Jedi to guide me.
I was confused, I knew that part of the reason I did good was because of her, I wanted her to think well of me. The bond between us was a great source of comfort and strength, whenever she was with me I found it easier to know what the right path was. For some reason it just seemed clearer, I knew that I depended on Bastila in ways she didn't see, and seemed determine to not accept.
Bastila admitted that she had always never had much skill at controlling herself and with the bond she seemed to have even less. I looked at her confused and then suddenly afraid I told her that I seemed to be less emotional when I was with her and asked her if I had been somehow siphoning off my anger along the bond and dumping it on her. I was honestly afraid suddenly that I had been doing this but she grabbed my hands and told me that she would have known if I was doing anything like that, and I most certainly had not. I looked at her searchingly and knew that she was not lying to me or hiding anything and I calmed back down. I would not have been able to forgive myself if I had been doing that to her.
Bastila watched me for a moment then said "You have maintained the path of the light side. But it has been in spite of my influence, not because of it. It is increasingly obvious I am unable to guide you properly." I once again disagreed with her, trying to tell her that she was influencing me to do good. But she shook her head and said "That is kind of you to say, but I think the evidence speaks for itself. I think... I think I may have made a very big mistake. I simply hope that you are not the one who pays the price, ultimately, for the fact that I can't help you enough."
I stared at her wondering how I could get her to see all that she meant to me. I reached out and clasped her hand and said "Maybe we could help each other?" Bastila looked at me searchingly and said "That's a kinder response than I deserve. And I can see there is wisdom in your words. You... you continue to be there for me, don't you? Even after I keep pushing you away, you're still around when I need you most." She paused and I knew my heart was saying along our bond I love you, and I couldn't hide it.
She looked down and then back at me and said "You're like no one I've known before. And you're nothing like what I expected you to be after... after the Council sent us on this mission together." I tentatively asked her "How did you expect me to be?" She shook her head and said "Well, just... different, I suppose. Things are not going as I thought they would. I... I need time to think about all this."
I couldn't help myself in that moment of closeness, I brought her hand up to my chest and laid it for a moment against my heart and bowed my head over our joined hands. I was feeling so much at the moment and her hand against my heart oddly enough brought me a moment of pure peace and tranquility. I knew she felt it along the bond, how the simple gesture calmed me. Her eyes were confused when I looked back up at her but she made no attempt to free her hand from my grasp and waited until I let it go myself. She paused a moment after I had let her hand go and left it pressed palm flat against the center of my chest, I felt a sudden white hot joy rush through me leaving my skin tingling in its wake. I felt very bright in my spirit at that moment and was suddenly ready to take on any darkness for her.
I think the sudden wave of emotion startled her and she looked at me and I could see concern in her eyes. She slowly removed her hand and I was worried but she smiled at me reassuringly and told me that she would like to accompany the group going to infiltrate the Sith base for the droid data recorder. I nodded and got up; reminded that I needed to make sure everyone was ready for the mission.
Bastila watched Cait leave and stilled the trembling that shook her hands, she could no longer escape the reality of Cait's love for her. The fact that such a simple gesture of hers could either calm Cait or rouse her to overwhelming feelings of joy had shocked her. As did the realization that Cait would probably do almost anything for her. Given the fact that she was having such difficulty controlling her darker emotions, that meant that she was endangering Cait. Bastila finally admitted to herself that she loved Cait as well and she was very afraid that she would weaken her resistance to the dark side as she had once before.
It was up to her to get Cait to realize that the love they had for each other was too dangerous to them both and that they had to resist it. Now if only she could manage to persuade herself to do what was needed.
I decided to take Bastila and Juhani on a tour of the city and to follow up on some vague feelings I had before we decided to infiltrate the Sith base. I think Jolee must have had a conversation with Bastila at some point in the day because she only paused a moment when I told her there were some things that I thought we should do before entering the Sith base before agreeing.
My path lead me unerringly toward the Mercenary Enclave where we were stopped by a Selkath named Nilko Bwaas who was concerned as to why the Republic was hiring so many mercenaries and why they were not returning. He said he was a friend of the Republic and that he would not use the information to harm them and I could tell he was not lying. He asked me as a Jedi to please look into the matter and make sure the Republic was not doing anything to harm the fragile ecosystem of their planet. I wasn't sure exactly what he was concerned about but agreed to look into the matter for him.
That had been one of the things I had been sensing, and the other was very near. I looked over and another Selkath in the Mercenary Enclave caught my eye and I moved over to speak with him. He greeted me first and asked me what my feelings for the Sith were, I answered him truthfully and he said that he did not agree with Manaan's neutral stance but politics stayed his hand. He told me that several Selkath youth, among them his daughter, had disappeared about the same time as the Sith had started their Enclave here. He wanted me to see if there was any connection between the two events and I agreed that I would attempt to find out the fate of his daughter and the other youths. He suggested some of the mercenary's in the area might have an idea and I might want to try asking them first.
I had my thoughts as to who knew the information and it was quickly confirmed, the Irodorian mercenary in the golden armor that my attention had been drawn to. I spend a moment watching him and then approached the Irodorian. He watched me approaching and informed me that he was not for hire, I told him I was more interested in information and he said I could ask whatever I wished though his answers might be distasteful to me. I nodded and asked if he knew anything about the disappearance of the Selkath youth.
The Iridorian acknowledged that he might but his business with the Selkath was his own. I let my feelings guide me and was amused at what I needed to say to get the Iridorian to tell me what he had been doing.
I said with a casual brutality "Maybe I'll just gut you like a Selkath preparing an Orchana ray for lunch." I could feel Bastila and Juhani staring at me in shock behind my back but the Iridorian straightened and replied "You speak the blunt and brutal language of my people. We share the love of death and bloodshed. But we are a rare breed on this planet. Even the Sith are as weak as the cowardly fish people. The Sith sought to buy my loyalty with credits... as if wealth could somehow quench my burning bloodlust! They would have been better off hiring an Echani for the errands they had me running."
I nodded to him and asked "What were you doing for the Sith?" Bastila had relaxed again by this point realizing that there had been no sense of anger in my emotions when I had made my shocking statement, and that it had gotten the Iridorian to talk to us instead of continuing to treat us with distain.
The Iridorian continued "the task paid well, but was boring and beneath me. I was told to lure the Selkath youth to the Sith Embassy, nothing more. I lied, I threatened, I promised... and I brought the most promising youth of the fish people to the Sith." Bastila said "So you brought these youths to the Sith. And then what did you do to them?" He replied "And there I left them. To what purpose I neither know, nor care. Perhaps when the Sith learn I have betrayed their secret they will try to kill me. I will welcome the excitement."
I grinned at him and told him that I hoped the Sith would fulfill his desire. He chuckled and turned away. I told Bastila and Juhani that I thought it was time that we paid the Sith a visit and we proceeded to the Sith base. Bastila and Juhani following me as I walked past the reception desk and opened the entry door and walked in through the front entrance. Bastila and Juhani shook their heads and got ready for the fight they knew had to be upcoming as soon as someone realized just who had entered their base.
It was not long before the Sith officer at the desk realized the pass card was out of date and called for her commander. As soon as he entered they realized that we were not supposed to be there and her commander yelled for her to sound the alarm and called for his droids to attack us. I was between her and the alarm however and she never had the chance to alert the base before I killed her. It was a very short fight, droids were no match for three Jedi.
Most of the fights during our investigation of the base were amazingly easy, only the occasional group of Dark Jedi giving us difficulty. We found the droid and the data module the Republic wanted us to obtain but we had to find out what had happened to the Selkath youth as well so we continued to explore the base. We found the security room and I disabled the force field that had blocked our way earlier. We went back to that location and continued deeper into the base.
As we were going up a corridor I spotted a Selkath, as he saw us and began firing upon us I realized what the Sith were doing with the Selkath youth. I should have seen it earlier; they were turning the Selkath to the darkside.
This area appeared to be some type of training annex and in the medical unit we found the bodies of two Selkaths and one Selkath that was barely alive. He managed to gasp out something about the Sith torturing them before he died. His injuries had been too extensive for me to manage to heal. There was some type of token in his hand and I picked it up and took it with me.
In the dormatory I found Shasa, Shaelas's daughter. She told us that the Sith had treated them well and were teaching them the mastery of the Force. Their alliance with the Sith would bring strength to Manaan. We argued with them that the Sith were evil and sought to only corrupt them. Shasa said that we spoke as if they were prisoners, but one of their friends Galas had chosen to leave and had been returned home safely. I showed her the pin that I had found and told them of the tortured young Selkath. I managed to persuade them of the truth of my words and they realized they had been lied to. One of the Selkath said that they needed to report this to the Selkath authorities and Shasa agreed with him.
As they were leaving Bastila said "You have been saved from more than you know. Given time, the Sith would have turned you fully to the darkside... and you would have betrayed your world gladly." Shasa and the others listened to her and were obviously frightened by her warning. Shasa said "Quickly, my friends - we can stay here no longer. We must flee this foul embassy and warn our people against the plot to corrupt the Manaan youth."
There was one area yet to enter and I sensed that a one strong in the dark side was within. There was a Dark Jedi Master and two Selkath apprentices within and the apprentices asked for the honor of killing us. The Dark Jedi Master laughed and agreed, and I sprang to attack him while Bastila and Juhani fought the apprentices. I was holding my own against the Dark Jedi Master and had gotten in some good attacks when Juhani and Bastila came to my assistance. It was not long before the Dark Master went down and we found his quarters. In his footlocker we came across a datapad that outlined the entire plan to corrupt the Selkath youth. The final plan was to have the Selkath youth overthrow the current government and install a puppet government that the Sith would dominate. This was what we needed to show the Selkath the true intentions of the Sith for their world.
When we exited the base the Selkath Authorities were waiting for us. I wasn't sure if the Selkath youth had managed to get in to see them yet so I did not resist the arrest. The Arbiter they gave me did his best to get information from me but I refused to let him represent me. I was accused of the murder of several Sith and property damage and I had to smile at the truth of these assertions. Doubtless it rankled the Sith that three Jedi had managed to take out their entire base. I turned over the datapad we had found and the head Judge was very disturbed by what he read in it and adjourned the court to discuss its contents.
They came back shortly and told me the charges against me had been dropped for discovering the plot against their government by the Sith. The Sith embassy was no longer subject to the protections of the Selkath law pending a suitable penalty against the Sith. I was free to go with their thanks.
I went first to give the news of his daughters return to Shaelas and then headed to the Republic Embassy to give them the data module. Roland Wann was very pleased to have the data module back, he said that it had not been tampered with which meant the Sith had not managed to copy it.
Roland then revealed to me that the Republic and elements of the Manaan government had begun construction on a underwater base to harvest kolto directly at the source to provide more kolto to the Republic. Construction had been going well when they had run into some type of obstruction... an ancient building possibly the Star Map I had spoke of.
All transmissions were cut off from the base shortly after that and though they had sent down Republic soldiers and then mercenaries to find out what had happened, none of the expeditions returned. They had finally sent the droid down to try and discover what had happened but it had been attacked by firaxian sharks and damaged. Now he asked us to go down and find out what happened to the base, he had a submarine prepared for us and it was available whenever we were ready to make the trip.
Manaan – Sith Base
We returned to the ship for some supplies before attempting the Sith base and I took the opportunity to see if Balista was ready to talk to me about what had happened earlier. I found her resting on her bunk and she asked me how things had gone. I told her of what I had discovered and she asked how I felt about keeping information from the Selkath's. I grimaced and told her that I regretted it but I knew that the Selkath's would not accept my testimony about the true actions of the Sith in the matter. I shrugged and said that I was comfortable that I had found the most correct path out of several less than perfect possibilities.
She nodded and I brought up the subject of our discussion earlier. She agreed that she had ended it rather abruptly, and that maybe a Master could have handled it better. She said that she should have never brought up the subject and certainly not with me. Bastila told me that part of her purpose on the mission was to guide me in the way of the light and to help me avoid the dark side. But she felt that she had failed in that task, that she wasn't the proper Jedi to guide me.
I was confused, I knew that part of the reason I did good was because of her, I wanted her to think well of me. The bond between us was a great source of comfort and strength, whenever she was with me I found it easier to know what the right path was. For some reason it just seemed clearer, I knew that I depended on Bastila in ways she didn't see, and seemed determine to not accept.
Bastila admitted that she had always never had much skill at controlling herself and with the bond she seemed to have even less. I looked at her confused and then suddenly afraid I told her that I seemed to be less emotional when I was with her and asked her if I had been somehow siphoning off my anger along the bond and dumping it on her. I was honestly afraid suddenly that I had been doing this but she grabbed my hands and told me that she would have known if I was doing anything like that, and I most certainly had not. I looked at her searchingly and knew that she was not lying to me or hiding anything and I calmed back down. I would not have been able to forgive myself if I had been doing that to her.
Bastila watched me for a moment then said "You have maintained the path of the light side. But it has been in spite of my influence, not because of it. It is increasingly obvious I am unable to guide you properly." I once again disagreed with her, trying to tell her that she was influencing me to do good. But she shook her head and said "That is kind of you to say, but I think the evidence speaks for itself. I think... I think I may have made a very big mistake. I simply hope that you are not the one who pays the price, ultimately, for the fact that I can't help you enough."
I stared at her wondering how I could get her to see all that she meant to me. I reached out and clasped her hand and said "Maybe we could help each other?" Bastila looked at me searchingly and said "That's a kinder response than I deserve. And I can see there is wisdom in your words. You... you continue to be there for me, don't you? Even after I keep pushing you away, you're still around when I need you most." She paused and I knew my heart was saying along our bond I love you, and I couldn't hide it.
She looked down and then back at me and said "You're like no one I've known before. And you're nothing like what I expected you to be after... after the Council sent us on this mission together." I tentatively asked her "How did you expect me to be?" She shook her head and said "Well, just... different, I suppose. Things are not going as I thought they would. I... I need time to think about all this."
I couldn't help myself in that moment of closeness, I brought her hand up to my chest and laid it for a moment against my heart and bowed my head over our joined hands. I was feeling so much at the moment and her hand against my heart oddly enough brought me a moment of pure peace and tranquility. I knew she felt it along the bond, how the simple gesture calmed me. Her eyes were confused when I looked back up at her but she made no attempt to free her hand from my grasp and waited until I let it go myself. She paused a moment after I had let her hand go and left it pressed palm flat against the center of my chest, I felt a sudden white hot joy rush through me leaving my skin tingling in its wake. I felt very bright in my spirit at that moment and was suddenly ready to take on any darkness for her.
I think the sudden wave of emotion startled her and she looked at me and I could see concern in her eyes. She slowly removed her hand and I was worried but she smiled at me reassuringly and told me that she would like to accompany the group going to infiltrate the Sith base for the droid data recorder. I nodded and got up; reminded that I needed to make sure everyone was ready for the mission.
Bastila watched Cait leave and stilled the trembling that shook her hands, she could no longer escape the reality of Cait's love for her. The fact that such a simple gesture of hers could either calm Cait or rouse her to overwhelming feelings of joy had shocked her. As did the realization that Cait would probably do almost anything for her. Given the fact that she was having such difficulty controlling her darker emotions, that meant that she was endangering Cait. Bastila finally admitted to herself that she loved Cait as well and she was very afraid that she would weaken her resistance to the dark side as she had once before.
It was up to her to get Cait to realize that the love they had for each other was too dangerous to them both and that they had to resist it. Now if only she could manage to persuade herself to do what was needed.
I decided to take Bastila and Juhani on a tour of the city and to follow up on some vague feelings I had before we decided to infiltrate the Sith base. I think Jolee must have had a conversation with Bastila at some point in the day because she only paused a moment when I told her there were some things that I thought we should do before entering the Sith base before agreeing.
My path lead me unerringly toward the Mercenary Enclave where we were stopped by a Selkath named Nilko Bwaas who was concerned as to why the Republic was hiring so many mercenaries and why they were not returning. He said he was a friend of the Republic and that he would not use the information to harm them and I could tell he was not lying. He asked me as a Jedi to please look into the matter and make sure the Republic was not doing anything to harm the fragile ecosystem of their planet. I wasn't sure exactly what he was concerned about but agreed to look into the matter for him.
That had been one of the things I had been sensing, and the other was very near. I looked over and another Selkath in the Mercenary Enclave caught my eye and I moved over to speak with him. He greeted me first and asked me what my feelings for the Sith were, I answered him truthfully and he said that he did not agree with Manaan's neutral stance but politics stayed his hand. He told me that several Selkath youth, among them his daughter, had disappeared about the same time as the Sith had started their Enclave here. He wanted me to see if there was any connection between the two events and I agreed that I would attempt to find out the fate of his daughter and the other youths. He suggested some of the mercenary's in the area might have an idea and I might want to try asking them first.
I had my thoughts as to who knew the information and it was quickly confirmed, the Irodorian mercenary in the golden armor that my attention had been drawn to. I spend a moment watching him and then approached the Irodorian. He watched me approaching and informed me that he was not for hire, I told him I was more interested in information and he said I could ask whatever I wished though his answers might be distasteful to me. I nodded and asked if he knew anything about the disappearance of the Selkath youth.
The Iridorian acknowledged that he might but his business with the Selkath was his own. I let my feelings guide me and was amused at what I needed to say to get the Iridorian to tell me what he had been doing.
I said with a casual brutality "Maybe I'll just gut you like a Selkath preparing an Orchana ray for lunch." I could feel Bastila and Juhani staring at me in shock behind my back but the Iridorian straightened and replied "You speak the blunt and brutal language of my people. We share the love of death and bloodshed. But we are a rare breed on this planet. Even the Sith are as weak as the cowardly fish people. The Sith sought to buy my loyalty with credits... as if wealth could somehow quench my burning bloodlust! They would have been better off hiring an Echani for the errands they had me running."
I nodded to him and asked "What were you doing for the Sith?" Bastila had relaxed again by this point realizing that there had been no sense of anger in my emotions when I had made my shocking statement, and that it had gotten the Iridorian to talk to us instead of continuing to treat us with distain.
The Iridorian continued "the task paid well, but was boring and beneath me. I was told to lure the Selkath youth to the Sith Embassy, nothing more. I lied, I threatened, I promised... and I brought the most promising youth of the fish people to the Sith." Bastila said "So you brought these youths to the Sith. And then what did you do to them?" He replied "And there I left them. To what purpose I neither know, nor care. Perhaps when the Sith learn I have betrayed their secret they will try to kill me. I will welcome the excitement."
I grinned at him and told him that I hoped the Sith would fulfill his desire. He chuckled and turned away. I told Bastila and Juhani that I thought it was time that we paid the Sith a visit and we proceeded to the Sith base. Bastila and Juhani following me as I walked past the reception desk and opened the entry door and walked in through the front entrance. Bastila and Juhani shook their heads and got ready for the fight they knew had to be upcoming as soon as someone realized just who had entered their base.
It was not long before the Sith officer at the desk realized the pass card was out of date and called for her commander. As soon as he entered they realized that we were not supposed to be there and her commander yelled for her to sound the alarm and called for his droids to attack us. I was between her and the alarm however and she never had the chance to alert the base before I killed her. It was a very short fight, droids were no match for three Jedi.
Most of the fights during our investigation of the base were amazingly easy, only the occasional group of Dark Jedi giving us difficulty. We found the droid and the data module the Republic wanted us to obtain but we had to find out what had happened to the Selkath youth as well so we continued to explore the base. We found the security room and I disabled the force field that had blocked our way earlier. We went back to that location and continued deeper into the base.
As we were going up a corridor I spotted a Selkath, as he saw us and began firing upon us I realized what the Sith were doing with the Selkath youth. I should have seen it earlier; they were turning the Selkath to the darkside.
This area appeared to be some type of training annex and in the medical unit we found the bodies of two Selkaths and one Selkath that was barely alive. He managed to gasp out something about the Sith torturing them before he died. His injuries had been too extensive for me to manage to heal. There was some type of token in his hand and I picked it up and took it with me.
In the dormatory I found Shasa, Shaelas's daughter. She told us that the Sith had treated them well and were teaching them the mastery of the Force. Their alliance with the Sith would bring strength to Manaan. We argued with them that the Sith were evil and sought to only corrupt them. Shasa said that we spoke as if they were prisoners, but one of their friends Galas had chosen to leave and had been returned home safely. I showed her the pin that I had found and told them of the tortured young Selkath. I managed to persuade them of the truth of my words and they realized they had been lied to. One of the Selkath said that they needed to report this to the Selkath authorities and Shasa agreed with him.
As they were leaving Bastila said "You have been saved from more than you know. Given time, the Sith would have turned you fully to the darkside... and you would have betrayed your world gladly." Shasa and the others listened to her and were obviously frightened by her warning. Shasa said "Quickly, my friends - we can stay here no longer. We must flee this foul embassy and warn our people against the plot to corrupt the Manaan youth."
There was one area yet to enter and I sensed that a one strong in the dark side was within. There was a Dark Jedi Master and two Selkath apprentices within and the apprentices asked for the honor of killing us. The Dark Jedi Master laughed and agreed, and I sprang to attack him while Bastila and Juhani fought the apprentices. I was holding my own against the Dark Jedi Master and had gotten in some good attacks when Juhani and Bastila came to my assistance. It was not long before the Dark Master went down and we found his quarters. In his footlocker we came across a datapad that outlined the entire plan to corrupt the Selkath youth. The final plan was to have the Selkath youth overthrow the current government and install a puppet government that the Sith would dominate. This was what we needed to show the Selkath the true intentions of the Sith for their world.
When we exited the base the Selkath Authorities were waiting for us. I wasn't sure if the Selkath youth had managed to get in to see them yet so I did not resist the arrest. The Arbiter they gave me did his best to get information from me but I refused to let him represent me. I was accused of the murder of several Sith and property damage and I had to smile at the truth of these assertions. Doubtless it rankled the Sith that three Jedi had managed to take out their entire base. I turned over the datapad we had found and the head Judge was very disturbed by what he read in it and adjourned the court to discuss its contents.
They came back shortly and told me the charges against me had been dropped for discovering the plot against their government by the Sith. The Sith embassy was no longer subject to the protections of the Selkath law pending a suitable penalty against the Sith. I was free to go with their thanks.
I went first to give the news of his daughters return to Shaelas and then headed to the Republic Embassy to give them the data module. Roland Wann was very pleased to have the data module back, he said that it had not been tampered with which meant the Sith had not managed to copy it.
Roland then revealed to me that the Republic and elements of the Manaan government had begun construction on a underwater base to harvest kolto directly at the source to provide more kolto to the Republic. Construction had been going well when they had run into some type of obstruction... an ancient building possibly the Star Map I had spoke of.
All transmissions were cut off from the base shortly after that and though they had sent down Republic soldiers and then mercenaries to find out what had happened, none of the expeditions returned. They had finally sent the droid down to try and discover what had happened but it had been attacked by firaxian sharks and damaged. Now he asked us to go down and find out what happened to the base, he had a submarine prepared for us and it was available whenever we were ready to make the trip.