Saviour, Conqueror, Hero, Villain.
Author's Notes: Well there goes the theory of one chapter per planet, out the airlock. I kept writing and writing and Taris didn't end. Eventually I decided it was just getting ridiculous. I've avoided the topic of rakghouls in my previous fic because they do scare me. Anyone who has seen 28 Days Later may recognise my take on the rakghoul disease... and that's why I was afraid of rakghouls... 28 Days Later gave me nightmares. And hence, this chapter's title.
sammie teufel: Thanks. Glad you like it.
Prisoner 24601: This was intended as a Revan/Carth fic... but I didn't want her to be sappy, or anything. As for Carth being perceptive... you'd like to think so, wouldn't you? I did consider pairing her with Canderous, though.
Lord Valentai: Thanks. Glad you like it.
Luthos: Dozens of reasons? Such as? And the whole point of her having a sense of honour is to show that she's human, not a monster... her morals just got warped and/or lost somewhere along the way.
Ozziegrl: The lightside is corrupting her? I like that terminology - it turns the theology on its head in a way I really like.
darth poop: Cute penname. You have to keep in mind that Revan is still human, even if she is evil. And she may not be drooling over Carth yet... but she will unintentionally develop attachments to the crew of the Ebon Hawk.
ahmad brooke: Thanks. Here's more.
JacenPrime: That penname's too long to write out. You know who you are. Glad you're enjoying it. Here's more.
ProcrastinatingMonkey: I like that penname. The whole point of an AU fanfic is to deviate from canon - as for fooling the Jedi, who says that's what she's planning? About the rape thing - Revan just doesn't like the concept... hence the punishment for it... I do believe that it did happen, just not that she was aware of - she made an effort to prevent it, through threats of mutiliation to anyone caught doing it... torture is all well and good, but the Sith have ways to violate someone without sinking to that crude level... and if her underlings can't charm/blackmail themselves a proper girlfriend, they don't deserve to get any. What's the big deal with waist-length hair? I have waistlength hair, so do several people I know - it's not that special. About the breathmints... it's the evil thing to do to a Wookiee, isn't it? Seriously, though, I've always wanted to fix Zaalbar's breath, so I just did, that's all... if you find the concept offensive, just ignore it - it was a one-off incident.
Xan: Glad you like it. My spellchecker would argue with you about the Rancor, though... but maybe that's because I'm using a British spellchecker. About the memories, though, she's stronger-willed than Damien, after all he turned away from the DS almost immediately, she is more determined.
Trunxluvr82190: Glad you like it.
snackfiend101: Sorry, ff.net messed up the fic description - it was supposed to be 1/9, or 1 out of 9. I already have several rabid weasels, though - they're called the Weasley family - they insist on popping up in my HP fics, much that my muse and I want nothing to do with them. Glad you like my writing, but the prologue won't show up until I've finished this - it applies to both of them... and the other fic's epilogue will have to wait for KotOR2 before I write it.
x x x
Chapter 2 - Tarisian Nightmare
We trekked through the sewers for some time, occasionally stumbling across rakghouls and corpses. Usually not far from each other. I found two journals when I looted corpses in separate parts of the sewers, and Onasi gave me pointed looks for the next ten minutes that clearly told me I should give the journals to the old man in the village.
Then we stumbled into a room practically packed with Rakghouls, and we had no time for subtle recriminations as Onasi and Mission opened fire in one direction and I lashed out with my vibroblade in another. We beat them back, and killed them off. But not before one of them got past my blade and sank its fangs into my arm.
I shrieked in pain and used the Force to push it away before removing its vile head with my blade. When the battle was done, I dropped the blade and stared at the wound on my arm in abject horror. Sickly green venom dripped from the wound, and the skin around it was blackened.
"What's the matter, Kira?" Mission asked rushing over to me. I idly wondered how she knew that was supposed to be my name when I never told her, but then I remembered Onasi had shouted it at me when I had attacked her.
Onasi and Zaalbar also rushed over to me, [She has been bitten.] Zaalbar told Mission.
Mission gasped, "You're infected?"
I started shaking with fear. I could feel the venom spreading through me like tendrils of blackness, void through the red of my dark aura. "How... how long have I left?" I asked quietly.
"It takes half an hour for physical symptoms to set in. An hour for total transformation." Mission whispered.
Onasi looked at the rakghoul corpses on the ground, then levelled his blaster at my head, "It's kinder that you die now, rather than turn into one of those." he said quietly.
I stared at him, and even though Zaalbar had just sworn his life to protect me, he didn't try to stop Onasi. He must agree with Onasi's statement. I didn't blame them. I'd do the same in their places.
The disease was already choking the Force in me. I felt weak, and I hated it. "There has to be a cure." I said plaintively.
Mission brightened at this, "The one time I went to the Upper City, the doctor guy said the Republic base was working on a cure. Maybe when the Sith took over they got their slimy paws on it?" she said hopefully.
Her hope radiated over me and I stopped shaking, soothed by it. I smirked darkly, "Then let's go find a Sith and beat the cure out of them."
"I'm all for that." Onasi said brightly.
Mission giggled and Zaalbar roared his agreement.
"Just promise me one thing." I said quietly. They all looked at me. "If I start to turn, kill me. And make it quick."
Onasi nodded immediately. Mission hesitated before nodding nervously. Zaalbar frowned as if debating something.
"It's my wish, Zaalbar." I said quietly, "To honour your lifedebt is to help me. This would help me more than defending what feeble life I would have if this disease takes hold."
He nodded, [I understand.] he growled quietly.
x x x
Half an hour, and many dead rakghouls, later. We were above ground, searching for any sign of a Sith down in this dump. Nothing, so far, and I was feeling weaker. The tendrils of blackness had spread through me, and it felt like it was strangling me. I was shaking now, this time from the disease's effects.
"It's been thirty-five minutes." Onasi said to me.
"I can guess." I muttered, looking up at him.
He took a step back.
"What?"
"Your eyes are red." he said flatly.
"That's the first symptom." Mission said quietly, "And it means she's contagious now, if she bites anyone. But we've still got some time."
Red eyes. Well that makes the whole spectrum, doesn't it? My natural eye-colour is blue. My eyes were golden-yellow as a Sith Lord. And now red. Great, just great.
We continued our search, though I noticed the other three were none-too-subtly keeping their distance from me. I got the distinct feeling of not being entirely here. Like I was watching the scene from a distance.
Then suddenly, I doubled over and vomited. When I eventually straightened up, I tasted blood. That in itself nearly made me sick again.
"Symptom number two." Mission muttered, "We're really running out of time here."
"What are the other symptoms?" Onasi asked her.
"Well... next'll be growing fangs." Mission explained, "Then skin getting rotten." been there, done that. "Then delirium. Then when they start walking on all fours it's too late... and it takes another ten minutes after that for them to stop even resembling humans."
"It's possible to walk on all fours without being a rakghoul, Mission." I said flatly.
"Yeah, but I mean instinctively, rather than deliberately." she said warily, "It's like primal or something."
"I see." I muttered.
The search continued to yield nothing, and I noticed fangs growing in my mouth, though I made a point of not letting the others see that. When my skin started flaking and turning white, though, they couldn't miss it.
"I'm not delirious yet, Onasi." I noted.
"Right." he said flatly, hand on his blaster anyway.
The Force was gone. I couldn't even read their auras. I was terrified, and running out of time. [I see something.] Zaalbar growled.
"Where?" I asked quickly, "What is it?"
[It appears to be Sith. Though it also appears dead.] Zaalbar told me.
"All the better. Save time." I muttered, following Zaalbar's line of sight. A glint of silver armour on the ground was clearly visible. I raced for it, as fast as I could... instincts I never had before kicking in and I dropped to all fours, half-way there, which did allow me to run faster.
Blaster fire missed me by a few feet, and I skidded to a halt next to the corpse. I turned and glared at Onasi, who was racing after me, and who had fired at me. "Eager to kill me, aren't you?" I growled, my voice not entirely my own.
That stopped him in his tracks, but he still had his blaster aimed at me, "Well you heard what Mission said."
I shot him a vicious glare, and set about rooting through the corpse's pockets, desperately. I was so desperate, I practically shredded the body with claws that I hadn't had a few minutes ago. Eventually, I found a vial of green liquid that was labelled as the antidote. I injected it into my arm, and collapsed on the ground.
I heard footsteps, and someone knelt next to me. I felt the Force return to me, and the aura next to me radiated anger and concern at the same time. The light in his heart was so... comforting. The darkness so alluring. "You're going to make it." he whispered, his voice soothing. "You're going to be all right, Kira."
I frowned, eyes still closed, "Kira? Who's Kira?"
"She's delirious. I told ya so." a distant voice noted.
"You're Kira, remember?" he said quietly.
"Nuh uh." I mumbled.
I heard him sigh, and he helped me sit up, so I was leaning against him, "You got the antidote in time. You're recovering."
I ran my tongue over my teeth and felt the lack of fangs... then smiled. "Thank you, my love."
A very slight incredulous laugh, "You're right, Mission. She is delirious."
"Huh?" Logical thought returned with a near audible snap, and I opened my eyes to look at who was holding me. Onasi. I blinked several times. "Oh. I... you're right, totally delirious. I thought you were someone else." I said quickly.
He laughed, "Who, exactly?" he asked, grinning, "Who would a heartless woman like you call 'love'?"
I raised an eyebrow, "Wouldn't you like to know."
"Yes, I would." he said quietly.
"I don't pry into your personal history, why are you asking me about mine?" I snapped. Yet I hadn't pulled away from him yet.
"How about I tell you my deepest darkest secrets and you tell me yours?" he asked, though I sensed he wasn't entirely serious.
"You already know my darkest secret, Onasi." I said flatly.
"Huh? I do? Since when?" he asked, genuinely surprised.
"Since the day we met."
"I have no clue what you're talking about." he said flatly.
"That's your problem, not mine."
"You are the most infuriating woman I have ever met." he snapped, "And that's including my mother-in-law!"
I laughed, "Lucky for me my love never knew his mother." I said grinning.
He sobered suddenly, "Lucky you." he said coldly.
"Not as lucky as you'd think." I said just as coldly, "He wasn't the most loyal man you could imagine."
Onasi raised an eyebrow at that, "He cheated on you?"
"He tried to kill me."
He winced and helped me stand up without another word. That fascinating conversation was clearly over.
x x x
We returned to the village late that evening, and the village leader let us stay the night. Not exactly the best place to sleep, but surprisingly comfortable considering.
Early in the morning, I got up and wandered the village, looking for the crazy old man.
"I saw you talking with Rukil." a weasely voice asked from behind me. I turned around, with my hand on the hilt of my vibroblade, to see a scrawny mean-looking little man was addressing me, "He told you his legends about the Promised Land, didn't he? He told you all about his missing apprentice and the other lost explorers, right?"
"So his name's Rukil. Thanks for telling me. What's it to you?" I asked coldly.
"You know, most people don't believe his stories - they figure he's nothing but an old kook. But I think there might be some truth in what he's saying. That's why I want to stop him!"
"Is there a reason you're telling me this?" I asked impatiently.
"Oh, don't worry, I'll make this quick." he said defensively, "I've got an offer that might be worth your while."
Not dropping my guard for a second, I raised an eyebrow, "I'm listening."
"My name's Igear. I run a little salvage shop here. For an Outcast, I've got things pretty good." he explained, "The village relies on me to bring in food and supplies - I'm an important man. If it wasn't for Gendar I'd be running this place. But if Rukil ever finds his Promised Land, I'm sunk. People won't need to rely on me anymore. I'll just be another nobody like all the rest of the villagers. I won't let that happen!"
"Oh yeah?" I asked, smirking, "What're you going to do about it?"
"The two explorers who went searching for the Promised Land might have found something." he said, "They might have found clues or evidence - just like Rukil's apprentice! They would have recorded that information in their journals. I'll pay you if you bring all three journals to me - the two from the explorers and the one from Rukil's apprentice. Then I can destroy the evidence and make sure nobody ever finds the Promised Land! I've saved up enough credits from my business here to make it worth your while if you help me."
"Credits?" I asked blankly, "How many?"
"One hundred." he said in hushed tones that gave the impression this was a big deal to him.
"I'm an up-worlder, Igear. One hundred credits isn't what I'd call worth my while." I said flatly.
"Well, I don't want Rukil to get his hands on them journals. I'll give you two hundred credits - that's all I have."
I smirked darkly, "All right, then. Give me the credits." I waved the diaries in front of him.
He scrambled to get out the money, and showed it to me. "Give me the journals first."
"You don't seem to understand what I'm saying. I never said I would give you the diaries. I said you would give me the money."
"You- you're robbing me?!" he demanded, horrified.
"Yes." I said, grinning ferally, "You get what you give, and you're getting yours."
"If that's so, you'll get worse one day." Igear growled at me.
"Already have done." I pulled up my sleeve and showed him the still-oozing bite-mark.
His eyes widened, "You're infected! You shouldn't be in the village!" he shouted.
"Give me the credits." I growled, then I snapped my teeth at him, and grinned evilly.
He threw the money at me and ran away. I laughed as he ran, then I pocketed the credits. Win-win situation. I get the money, and the old coot gets his journals. Everyone's happy. Except Igear, but that's his problem, isn't it?
It didn't take me long to find Rukil, after that, "Welcome back, up-worlder. How goes your quest? Have you found the journals of my father and grandfather?"
"My quest is getting nowhere fast. As for your journals, on the other hand, I have all three." I said, showing them to him.
His eyes lit up, "Can it be true? Is it possible that at long last the dream of my father and grandfather before him will be fulfilled? I... I can hardly bear to look." I handed him the journals, and he read through them, "Hmmm... yes. Yes! Of course! Now I understand - it all makes sense! Now I see why the Promised Land has been so hard to find! It is so obvious!"
I smiled, "I know the feeling. Usually what you need most is right under your nose the whole time you're looking for it."
"You have done a great thing, up-worlder - a selfless act that will bring great joy to all the people of this village! I must take this to Gendar right away!"
As we walked, looking for Gendar, I noted, "Selfless isn't the word I would use. I happened to find them, and I had nothing to gain by not giving them to you."
"Either way, you have done us a great kindness, up-worlder." Rukil said to me. I shrugged and followed him.
"Rukil? What do you want now?" the village leader asked as we approached him, "Have you more fables of a hidden paradise just waiting for us to find it?"
"You may not think these are fables after you see what I have brought you, Gendar! Look at these journals!" Rukil said, thrusting the journals under Gendar's nose.
"What... no. It can't be! Are these real, Rukil? Is this information accurate?" he asked, stunned.
"I swear to you everything in these journals is true, Gendar. The Promised Land - I told you I would find it!" Rukil said.
"The entrance is far from here, Rukil." Gendar noted, "It will take us weeks to get there... perhaps even months. And we will have to cross many rakghoul infested areas."
"I do not deny the journey will be hard, Gendar. But surely it is better than the miserable life we have here!" Rukil retorted.
"Wise words, Rukil." Gendar agreed, "Our supplies are high right now - we could leave by nightfall! I will tell the others to prepare for the journey."
"Thank you once again, up-worlder." Rukil said, beaming, "I hope to see you again before we leave tonight."
When Onasi, Mission and Zaalbar woke up, we went up to the Upper City and Mission showed me where to find the 'doctor guy' she had mentioned.
"Welcome to my medical facility. Do you require healing or treatment? I can treat almost any ailment right here at the facility, except the rakghoul disease, of course." the man said as I walked over to him.
"My friend here-" I gestured to Mission, "-said you know about the rakghoul disease."
"That is correct, yes." he said warily, "But if you're looking for a cure-"
"I'm looking for someone who could replicate the cure." I took out the half-used vial of serum and waved it in front of the man, "Are you able to do that?"
"You have the serum? Impossible!" he said, his eyes following the vial, "How did you get this? No, wait... I don't really want to know. Can... can I see it? The serum, I mean? I need to see if there is enough for me to analyse it so I can start producing it in mass quantities."
"As long as I can have some of what you produce." I said.
"Of course, of course." he replied eagerly. I handed him the vial and he examined it. "Hmmm.... let me see... yes, this is it! A cure for the rakghoul disease! With this sample I can make enough serum for everyone!"
I followed him to a workstation and watched him work on the serum. Half an hour later there were ten vials and still more being produced.
He turned to me, "The people of Taris owe you a debt they can never repay. Please, take this small reward. It isn't much, but it's all I can afford: a few credits and two spare medpacs." I happily pocketed the reward and took the vials of serum he offered me.
It may seem like I'm going soft, but honestly... the disease strips the Force and soul from its victims. If I hadn't found the cure it would have destroyed me. When a person dies they join the Force - when the rakghoul disease takes them it destroys them and they would never become one with the Force. Even I consider that vile. Not something I would ever wish on anyone.
I convinced Zaalbar to stay at our apartment-hideout, and then I took the serum to Gendar and offered it to him before they left.
x x x
As we returned to the sewers, Onasi noted, "That was a really nice thing you did, getting that serum for those people."
"I wouldn't wish that disease on anyone." I said flatly.
"Oh, I don't know." Onasi said, "Might serve some people right. Saul, for one. Or Darth Malak. Wouldn't mind seeing them mauled by those creatures. Or if Darth Revan were still alive-"
I spun around and struck him across the face so hard he landed on his back on the ground. "Don't. You don't know what it's like!" I yelled at him, "NO ONE deserves that! No one!"
He clutched the side of his face, and glared at me, "Calm down, Kira." he said, picking himself up.
"You have no idea." I said, shaking my head, "I could feel it eating at my soul. It wasn't killing me, it was killing who I was. There's no way I can explain to you how much worse than death that fate would have been."
"And you have to admit Revan and Malak deserve the worst they can be given."
"No they don't. Never suggest that anyone deserves the rakghoul disease, ever again. Understand?" I made the threat clear in my tone.
He nodded, "All right. Let's just keep going."
x x x
Mission was true to her word, and deactivated the Vulkar energy shield. We crept into the Vulkar base and stole the accelerator without much trouble.
The swoop race was the next day.
I was allowed into the racers area, but everyone who wasn't a racer or a mechanic had to watch on the viewscreens. I pretended to listen to the Ithorian mechanic as he explained the already familiar controls of the standard swoop bike to me. Then I wandered over to the race co-ordinator and asked what the best time was.
Then I beat it almost too easily. There's not much to say - if you've raced one swoop track there's nothing new besides the scenery... and Tarisian Lower City scenery leaves much to be desired.
A Black Vulkar named Redros beat my time by literally a fraction of a second.
"Stupid bloody lucky creep." I muttered, and went straight back out there, against the Bek mechanic's advisement that the prototype engine needed some time to cool off, and beat him by almost five seconds.
No one could beat that time. "Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the winner of this year's swoop race!" the announcer declared, "Put your hands together and show your appreciation for one of the most daring riders this swoop track has ever seen!" I bowed to the crowd, lapping up the applause. "Through your skill and courage you have proven yourself the premier swoop rider on Taris, and brought great glory to the Hidden Bek gang! Now, here to present the champion's prize: Brejik Thek, leader of the Black Vulkars."
"People - hear me!" a mean looking human man said, stepping forward, "Before I present the so called champion of the Beks with their prize there is something you must know: the winning rider cheated!"
I growled, "I am not someone you want to cheat, Brejik." I said with some Force in my words.
"Ah, yes. Kandon told me about you." he said coolly, "Before he... disappeared."
"I'm nothing if not persistent." I noted, grinning ferally.
"Indeed." Brejik said flatly, "But your swoop bike was using a prototype accelerator - clearly an unfair advantage! Because of this Hidden Bek treachery I'm withdrawing the Vulkar's share of the victory prize!"
"How many credits do I have to throw at you to get her?" I demanded, "I will have her one way or another."
"Ah, I doubt you want this woman." he said, shaking his head, "You see, she is no mere Republic officer - she's actually a Jedi! I've had to equip her with a neural disrupter collar to keep her mind in a state of unfocused confusion just to make sure she doesn't use her Force powers to escape. Obviously, I can't turn her over to you - it would be far too dangerous to have a Jedi as a slave."
"Oh, I'm sure I could handle her, Brejik." I said coldly.
[You can't do this, Brejik!] the Duros announcer shouted, [You know the rules: nobody's allowed to withdraw a victory prize after the race. It goes against all our most sacred traditions!]
"You old fool!" Brejik jeered at him, "Your traditions are nothing to me - I am the wave of the future!"
"Brejik, I'm warning you." I growled, my left hand moving to my hip where Bastila's lightsaber was concealed in the pocket, and my right hand moving to the hilt of my vibroblade, "Give me the girl or else."
"No! If I want to withdraw the prize and sell this woman to the Sith myself, nobody can stop me!"
"I might have something to say about that, Brejik!" Bastila's voice startled everyone. She had broken free of the disruptor collar and opened her cage, knocking the Vulkar guard unconscious with a well-aimed kick to the head.
"What? Impossible!" Brejik shrieked, "You were restrained by a neural disrupter collar! How could you possibly have summoned the will to free yourself?"
"You underestimate the strength of a Jedi's mind, Brejik - a mistake you won't live to regret!" Bastila said coldly.
"Vulkars - to me!" Brejik yelled, panicked, "Kill this woman! Kill the swoop rider! Kill them all!"
I drew my vibroblade, which distracted Brejik enough that when the lightsaber hilt rammed into his gut and I activated the blade so it ran him through, he didn't know what hit him. But it was fatal. I then deactivated the blade and threw it at Bastila, "This is yours, I presume?"
She caught it and quickly activated it, taking out the surrounding Vulkars with ease. Redros - the Vulkar racer who had the temerity to beat my first race time - ran at me, and I side-stepped, holding my vibroblade where I had been standing a second ago, and he ran into it, his momentum cutting him clean in half.
When the battle was done, Bastila stalked over to me, "Well, maybe those bloody Vulkars will think twice next time before trying to keep a Jedi prisoner! And as for you, if you think you can collect me as a prize... wait... I don't believe this! You're... uh... 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 mildly relieved that she didn't seem to have the same problem as Onasi about the concept of non-Force-users being able to work the on-off switch on a lightsaber. I would have been in deep shit if she knew I remembered. I know from that one line she said that she thinks I have no clue who I am. "Trying to rescue you... duh."
"Rescue 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." she snapped, "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 this mess!"
I literally laughed in her face, "I think your brain's still fried by the after-effects of that restraining collar, Jedi." I said, sniggering, "I can handle a bunch of Vulkars easily enough on my own, thank you so very much. Or didn't you count how many enemies were there before the fight?"
She sulked slightly, "I suppose you have a point. Well, I appreciate your attempt to save me - even if it didn't really go as you planned. But 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?"
"Hey, who said you were in charge here?" I asked petulantly.
"The Republic, for one." she retorted. I snorted. She glared and continued, "I was fleet commander, remember? But I don't want you getting all worked up over nothing. So tell me - do you have a plan to get off this planet?"
"We're working on it, but Onasi would insist we rescue you first." I said, emphasis on the word 'rescue'.
"Carth Onasi is alive?" she asked, brightening up, "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?" she gave me an evaluating look, "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."
"Onasi only sent me because, while he works well in outer space, he can't race swoop-bikes for shit." I said, grinning evilly, "Or so he told me. I think he was just afraid of the prototype accelerator blowing up in his face."
Bastila snorted at my comments, then said, "Please, take me to Carth right away. Between the three of us I'm sure we can figure out some way to get off this planet before the Sith realize we're here."
Suddenly I staggered slightly, memories flashing before my eyes, pulling me away from the present and away from reality for a minute. I saw - no, more like re-lived - the incident on the bridge of my flagship where I faced off against Bastila.
As soon as I regained my bearings, and returned to the present, I turned on Bastila, "What the hell was that, Jedi?"
"What was what?" she asked too innocently, clearly shaken.
"What kind of Jedi mind trick are you trying to pull on me?" I demanded. Honestly, I didn't know what she'd done, but I did know it was her that did it.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." she waved her hand slightly, and I could feel the Force in her words.
I snorted, "For the record, that particular mind trick doesn't work on me. And I will find out what you tried to do, I promise you."
She sighed, "Let's just get out of here."
x x x
"Bastila - you're alive! Finally, things are looking up." Onasi said as we entered the apartment.
"What? Doesn't anyone think the fact I'm alive is a good thing?" I demanded.
"No." Bastila and Onasi said at the exact same moment. Which caused Mission to giggle.
"Thank you so much." I muttered sulkily.
"Now we just need to figure out a way to get off this planet." Onasi noted.
"You mean you don't have a plan to get off Taris yet?" Bastila demanded, "What have you been doing all this time?"
"I'm getting a little sick of your attitude, Jedi!" I growled.
"My attitude?" she snapped, anger flaring in her aura and voice, though not showing on her face, "It strikes me that you're the one in sore need of an attitude adjustment. I happen to be in charge of this mission, if you'll recall."
"I know you're new at this, Bastila." Onasi said, clearly biting back his own anger, "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."
"That hardly strikes me as an appropriate way of addressing your commander, Carth." Bastila growled, "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."
"Oh, get over yourself already, Jedi." I muttered. She shot me a vicious glare.
"I hate to agree with Kira on something, but... your talents might win us a few battles, but that doesn't make you a good leader!" Onasi said, "A good leader would at least listen to the advice of those who have seen more combat than she ever will! You know, I had my doubts about this mission but I figured the Jedi Council wouldn't put you in charge if you weren't prepared. But here you are, acting like a spoiled child!"
"He's got a point. You aren't acting like a great leader right now, Jedi." I noted.
She gave me a beady look, then said in a measured tone, "Yes... You're right, I suppose. 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?"
"First off we can't get hung up on who's in charge." he said, "We all need to work together if we want to get off this rock. The answer's out there, we just have to find it."
"Well said, Carth." Bastila agreed. "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."
"Let's go find a way to get us off Taris." I said flatly, "I'm sure someone knows something."
x x x
We unanimously decided that Onasi, Mission and I should go looking for a way off Taris. Bastila would easily draw Sith attention, and Zaalbar would easily draw attention from everyone. Mission may not be human, but Twi'lek are at least tolerated by the bigoted idiots of the Upper City.
We didn't get far before someone stopped us, [You there - human.] it was a Twi'lek, speaking his native language, [You are the rider who won the Great Swoop Race in the Lower City, yes?]
[What's it to you?] I asked, in the same language.
[Me? I am only a runner.] he said, [I work for the man who hired me. I have a message from Canderous Ordo. He says to meet him in the Upper City cantina.]
[Thanks for the message. I'll go meet him in the cantina.] I said flatly. Mandalorians aren't the sort of people you stand up. I may not be afraid of him, but I didn't feel like causing extra trouble for myself right now.
[A wise choice, human. I would advise you not to wait too long. Mandalorians are known for many things, but patience is not one of them.] the Twi'lek said before turning and leaving.
"What would that Mandalorian want to see you about?" Onasi asked, immediately suspicious.
"I don't know. Maybe he wants my autograph." I joked.
"Have I mentioned lately how much I don't like your sense of humour?" he asked flatly. I grinned at him.
"Canderous Ordo's a major player in Davik's little corner of the Exchange." Mission informed us, "If he wants to see you, it's big."
"Well best not to keep the nice man waiting." I said brightly.
We made our way quickly to the cantina, where Canderous kind of stood out like a sore thumb. He spotted me right away, and totally ignored Mission and Onasi, "I saw you in the swoop race. Very impressive. You seem like you know how to get results. That's just the kind of person I'm looking for."
"Uh huh. What exactly do you want?" I asked coldly.
"My name's Canderous Ordo." he said, calmly, "I work for Davik Kang and the Exchange; the hours aren't great, but they promised me a fortune to work for them and I have nothing better to do. Mandalorian mercs like me are in high demand."
"Well there aren't many of you left." I noted, a hint of smugness creeping into my tone.
"That's true." he agreed flatly, "But lately Davik hasn't been paying me what he promised. I don't like getting cheated, so I figure it's time for me to break the Sith quarantine and get off this backwater planet."
"And what has this to do with me, exactly?" I asked.
"I've got a plan to escape Taris, but I can't do it alone." he explained, "I need someone I know can get the job done to help me. That's where you come in. I saw you win that swoop race, and I started thinking. Anyone crazy enough to race like that is probably crazy enough to break into the Sith military base. I need someone to steal the Sith launch codes from the base. Without those codes any ship leaving the atmosphere will be disintegrated by the Sith fleet's automated defence guns."
I read his aura carefully. His aura was dark, very dark, but he was essentially an honest man, and from what I could tell he was a strong follower of Mandalorian honour. He wouldn't back out of a deal unless he was cheated first. "If I get these codes for you, you can get me and my-" I hesitated over the next word - it wasn't technically an accurate description, "-friends off this rock?"
"That's the idea. What do you say?" Canderous asked.
"It's a deal. Now how, prey tell, do I get into the Sith military base?" I asked.
"Getting in won't be easy: the Sith base is protected by an encrypted security system." he said calmly, "It would take a top of the line astromech droid to slice through it. Lucky for you I know just the place to get a droid like that. Davik was having one custom built by Janice Nall."
"All right, then." I offered him my hand, and he shook it.
"I'm going to wait in Javyar's cantina." Canderous said, "You come find me when you've got those launch codes and I'll make sure we both get off this rock."
x x x
I explained to Onasi and Mission that it would be much easier to break into the Sith base alone, and sneak around, than to try to all go in and get spotted. So I went alone to buy the droid - T3-M4 - and set it to work on slicing the door of the Sith base.
"Gonna take you much longer, tin can?" I asked flatly, "Cause someone's going to notice us soon if it does."
"Beep woop beep." it replied.
"Not fast enough, droid." I muttered. Two Sith had appeared from the nearby elevator to the Lower City, and were heading towards us.
"Beep boop bop beep beep."
"Fine." I growled. I used the Force to confuse the Sith soldiers' minds and one of them suddenly remembered something important he had to do elsewhere, and they both left us alone, "And don't you dare tell anyone. I own you, you obey me, got it?"
"Beep beep wop boop."
"You're annoying." I muttered.
"Beep." the door opened.
"Go be elsewhere, droid." I said coldly, "Apartment number forty-two, block seven. Tell them I'll be back by sunrise."
"Beep boop." the droid turned and rolled off happily.
"Evil droid." I grumbled, before stepping into the elevator down to the Sith base.
As I exited the elevator, I was greeted rudely by a secretary who recognised right away that I didn't belong here. Her aura stood out with fear and a sensation of displacement. She didn't belong here.
With a wave of my hand, I said, "You don't want to be here. Bad things are going to happen." She turned and ran for the elevator I had just vacated.
I left a trail of bloodshed and carnage throughout the entire Sith base, and eventually found myself face-to-face with the governor of the base, "Who dares to break my meditation?" he demanded, "You will pay for interrupting my... wait. I sense the Force is strong with you. Very strong."
"No duh." I said flatly.
"Who would have thought a Force Adept could be found on this insignificant planet? But your talent is no match for a disciple of the dark side!"
I laughed at him, "How long have you been with the Sith?" I asked casually.
He frowned, surprised an enemy would ever ask such a thing. "Three years."
I grinned ferally, "Then you may recognise my personal take on the Jedi mantra..." I held up my hand and used the Force to choke the life out of him, "May you be with the Force."
His eyes widened in horror as he tried unsuccessfully to break free of my grip. Aside from the fear of death, he clearly recognised the phrase. Everyone in the Sith army knew I came up with the twisted variant that basically meant 'time to die', based on the fact that when a person dies they become one with the Force.
It didn't take much effort to strangle him to death. And I felt him join the Force. I walked over to his desk and found the codes I was looking for, then left.
x x x
I returned to find Onasi was still awake, "I half expected you wouldn't come back from that foolhardy mission of yours, Kira."
"Yeah." I said flatly, "And I'll bet the other half was hoping?"
"But I wasn't going to say that out loud." he noted.
"Of course not." I said. Then I sighed, "I'm tired. Killing people isn't as fun as it used to be." I collapsed on the nearest chair, "Maybe I should go down to the Undercity and kill some more rakghouls. Now they are more fun."
"You are a sick and twisted individual." Onasi said coldly.
"I am, at that." I said, grinning evilly, "Do you really hate me, though?"
"Hate is a bit too strong. Seriously dislike would be a more accurate term."
"Hmmm."
"I don't suppose you're going to tell me about your mysterious lover?"
"Tell me about yours, first." I said flatly.
He sighed, "Fine. I'll tell you." he sat forward, "I told you about my homeworld. Telos. Four years ago, Saul led the Sith fleet there and demanded its surrender. The planet refused and Saul proceeded to devastate its entire surface. Millions died."
Telos. I remember it well. "I thought destroying Telos was Malak's order. Can you blame Saul for not wanting to be skinned alive for disobeying?"
"One life for millions. I'm sure Saul knows how to count."
I smirked slightly, "Who said anything about him dying? I said skinned alive. I know the sort of punishment Sith dish out for disobedience."
He shot me a vicious glare and I stopped smirking. "I had... a wife and son on Telos. I thought they would be safe there. But my task force arrived too late to be of much help." he said, "We didn't have enough medical supplies. The colony was burning and the dying were everywhere. I remember holding my wife and screaming for the medics. They... didn't come in time."
"So this is where all that anger comes from." I said distantly, my eyes unfocused, looking at the swirling darkness around his aura.
"Yes." he said quietly, "I can't forgive Saul for this. He took everything from me, even... even my trust. I hope you can understand that."
"I understand." I whispered, "Vengeance is important. You can't deny it any more than you can deny emotion."
He gave me a quizzical look for that, "You sound like you don't believe emotion can be denied. What about the Jedi?"
"Self-delusional." I said flatly, "Emotion is more key to humanity than oxygen."
He smiled weakly, "Interesting theory. I wouldn't have thought it from you."
"I'm full of surprises, Onasi." I said, also smiling faintly. But I dropped the smile before I asked, "What was she like, your wife?"
His smile faded too, "She had courage and ... and she was stubborn. I could never talk her out of anything once she put her mind to it. And she hated it when I signed back onto the fleet at the start of the war. I had planned on... on leaving soon, to join her..."
"You never mentioned what happened to your son." I prodded.
"His name was Dustil and I don't know what happened to him." I blinked at the name, but other than that I kept my reaction off my face. I knew that name from somewhere. "The colony was a complete ruin, and we never found any trace of him. I made inquiries and followed the reports from Telos for years, but... I stopped. Anyway... that's the story. For what it's worth."
"Thank you for telling me." I said quietly.
"Your turn." he said pointedly.
"My turn to share painful memories with a person who doesn't particularly like me. Ok." I said calmly, "I was never married. My love was a close friend for years before we became involved. He was a strong man, not exactly what most would call good looking, but he had a good heart. I say that in the past tense. I did then, too."
"You mean there was a time when you weren't an evil bitch?"
I grinned, "Yeah. I told you before, I used to be an adorable and good little girl."
"Uh huh. I find it difficult to imagine."
"Well I assure you I was. A long long time ago." I sighed, "We fought side-by side when the wars came. Childhood friends, fellow warriors, lovers. I was the one who changed. I was jaded by the war, I guess. I still am, so don't think Jedi psycho-babble about redemption means shit to me."
He laughed slightly at that, "You really dislike the Jedi, don't you?"
"They're a bunch of hypocrites who refused to lift a finger to help when the Republic needed them the most. Damned right I don't like them." I snapped.
"This story's starting to sound familiar." he muttered.
"It should. It's a pattern a lot of people, including Jedi, followed during that war. I think your Saul Karath would be included in the same grouping."
"You realise it's close to suicidal to compare yourself to him in my presence, don't you?"
"You couldn't kill me if you tried." I said calmly.
"Want to bet?"
I yawned, "I'm tired. We can talk about this another time."
"That's a no, then. Afraid I'd win?"
"I'm not afraid of anything."
x x x
The next morning, Onasi and I made our way down to the Lower City, where we met with Canderous. "I figured you'd be back. Neither one of us is getting off this planet unless we work together." Canderous said, as soon as we approached.
Onasi fumed silently at the fact Canderous seemed to deem him invisible.
"Now, I know the Sith military base had a break in." Canderous said calmly, "I know it was you. I know you've got those departure codes I need. So what do you say? We join forces and I can get you inside Davik's base - and right to the Ebon Hawk. We can go right now."
"How, exactly, do you plan to steal Davik's flagship?" I asked, "Not that I'm complaining on any moral issues, it just sounds tricky."
"Davik's always looking to recruit new talent." Canderous explained, "I'll tell him how you won that swoop race and mention that you're interested in working for the Exchange. I'll say I brought you in so he could check you out. He'll have you stay at his estate for a couple days while he runs some background checks on you - that's standard procedure." I nodded - any sane tyrant triple checks potential hired help. "While Davik's checking you out, we steal the Ebon Hawk and escape Taris. Come on - I've got an air speeder nearby to take us to Davik's estate. The sooner we're off Taris the better!"
"Well, That's... it's not a bad plan. It might just work." Onasi muttered quietly.
I grinned at Canderous, "Let's go, then."
Canderous took us to Davik's estate, and Davik himself really was my type of tyrant. I liked his aura right away, though his looks left something to be desired. There was a slight seedy edge to his aura, but nothing entirely off-putting, like Kandon had been.
"So, Canderous - I see you have brought someone with you. Most intriguing, if I do say so myself." he said casually. I even liked the accent. "You usually travel alone."
"It's not like you to take on partners, Canderous. You're getting soft." that drew my attention to the runt next to Davik. His aura was also dark and cruel, though there was no hint of either the seedy edge Davik showed or any hope of light there. In spite of his less than appealing appearance I couldn't help myself from eyeing this man up in an appreciative way. That sort of darkness takes years of practice - I know from experience.
"Watch yourself, Calo." Canderous growled, "You may be the newest kath hound in the pack, but you aren't top dog yet!" Calo? As in Calo Nord? Well that makes some sense. The infamous bounty hunter has quite the reputation. Sold as a slave as a child, killed his owners when he was sixteen, then hunted down and killed his own parents for selling him... it gets darker from there.
"Enough!" Davik snapped, "I won't have my top two men killing each other - that's not good business. I'm sure Canderous has an explanation as to why he's not working solo anymore." did I mention I like this man?
"This is a special case, Davik." Canderous said calmly, "I ran into someone the Exchange might want to recruit. You may have heard something of her exploits already."
"Ah, yes - now I recognize your companion." Davik said calmly, "The rider who won the big swoop race. Very impressive... as was your display in the rather heated battle afterwards."
"I didn't know you were a swoop fan." I said, smirking.
"A casual fan at best, but everyone on Taris follows the big season opener." Davik replied calmly, "But we have more important issues to discuss now. With a recommendation from Canderous - and a thorough background check - you could become part of the Exchange. Many would kill to prove themselves worthy of this honour."
And I'm sure many have done. "Your offer intrigues me, Davik."
"Come with me - I will give you a tour of my operations. I'm certain you'll be most impressed." he showed me around some of his estate, though not all of it by far. Then led us to the guest wing. "These will be your accommodations. The slave quarters are just down the hall. If you need anything during your stay - food, a massage - feel free to call upon their services. If all goes well with your background check you will be invited to join the Exchange. I'd advise you to accept the offer when it comes - or suffer the dire consequences of refusal."
"Am I a prisoner here?" I asked innocently. I knew the answer already, and I thought it funny that he thought he could contain someone like me.
"You will stay in these rooms as my guest for the next few days; I will not accept no for an answer. Feel free to visit the slave quarters at any time during your stay. I must warn you that if you are found anywhere outside the guest wing during your stay - or if you bother my other guests - my security forces will deal with you most harshly." you mean they'll point a blaster at me and mysteriously drop dead... cause I could easily make that happen. "I will return after the investigation into your background is complete. Until then, make yourself comfortable. Come, Calo, let us leave our guests in peace."
Davik and Calo Nord left, and the door closed behind them. Once their footsteps had faded, Canderous spoke up, "Okay, we're inside. Now all we have to do is figure out a way to get past the Ebon Hawk's security system and we can get the rest of your group and get off this planet!"
I wandered out of the room, and down the corridor to the slave quarters. I'm not exactly a fan of slavery in the strictest sense. It's so much more effective when your slaves don't know that's what they are. But I still figured it was easier to start with where I was allowed to go, before venturing out of the guest wing. You never know - the slaves may know something.
"Welcome to the slave quarters, mistress." a male slave said, as soon as I walked into the room, "Here we have succulent fruits and berries to tempt your palette, as well as luxurious baths to soothe your aches and pains." I looked at him carefully - even his aura was completely subservient. It was almost nauseating, the weakness. Then again, he is a pleasure slave, so I'm sure that weakness was beaten into him. "Would you like a relaxing massage, mistress? Whatever your desire, we are here to serve."
"I'd love a massage." I said, smirking. It's well known that when a pleasure slave gives a 'massage', it's a little more than just a massage.
"As you wish, mistress. You will find this most relaxing. If you would come with me into the massage room at the back..." he led me into the other room.
As I left the main slave room, I distinctly heard Onasi mutter, "Come on. I mean... I love a massage as much as the next guy, but we're not exactly on vacation here. We need to get going." and Canderous sniggering at him for it.
x x x
When we returned to the main slave room, Onasi was glaring daggers at me, and one of the female slaves was draped around his shoulders, although he was trying to politely tell her he wasn't interested without physically pushing her away. Canderous was nowhere to be seen. "I trust you were satisfied with the service?" the slave was asking me, hopefully, "I have received many compliments on my skills from previous clients."
"I've had better." I said, flatly.
The slave bowed his head, and some of the female slaves sniggered, "I am sorry I have failed to please you, my lady." he said quietly, "I will try to do better in the future. Is there anything else you require from this most unworthy servant?"
I laughed slightly, "I didn't say you didn't please me. Just that I've had better." I smiled at him, "You were very good. Though, I would like some information, if you can help me?"
He looked scared, afraid his answer would displease me, "But... what could I possibly tell you? It is forbidden for slaves to leave this room on pain of torture and death."
"Tell me what you can and I'll tell Davik I was very pleased with your performance." I said gently.
Nervously, he glanced at the other slaves, then said quietly to me, "Praise from the guests is a valuable commodity here. Davik rewards the slaves who perform their duties well. I will tell you what I know. Davik rarely lets us leave the slave quarters. We only know what we hear from Davik's guests. Recently they've all been talking about poor Hudrow. He was caught trying to steal some spice from the lab. Normally Hudrow is allowed to get away with things like that because he's Davik's personal pilot for the Ebon Hawk. But since the Sith have grounded every ship on the planet, Hudrow doesn't get anymore special treatment. They've locked him up in Davik's torture chambers."
"Where is the torture chamber?" I asked.
"I think you can get there through the hall behind the west door of Davik's throne room." he answered, uncertainty wavering in his voice. It seemed clear he had never been there, from the way he spoke of it. "Just keep going west from the slave quarters and you'll see the throne room. But Davik's certain to have guards patrolling the area. If you leave the guest wing, they'll shoot you on sight. Please - I don't know anything else."
I nodded slightly, "Thank you." I said to him. Then I turned to face Onasi, who had just managed to disentangle himself from the female slave, "Where's Canderous?"
"He went that way." Onasi pointed out the door we originally entered the slave quarters through.
"Oh." I said, blinking, "And here I thought he was the type to take advantage of these slaves."
"Like you, you mean?" Onasi growled.
I shrugged, grinning innocently.
Onasi glared at me, "He said something about scouting out the rest of the estate."
"Well let's go find him and get out of here." I said flatly.
Canderous wasn't hard to find. He was entering the throne room from the north door as we entered from the east. Corpses of guards lay in his wake. "Nothing of interest there." he noted.
I nodded and headed for the west door. The torture chamber wasn't hard to find - we just followed the sound of agonised screaming. The two torture droids were easy enough to dispatch, but I didn't make a move to deactivate the torture field the man was held in. The screaming persisted, and I watched in a mixture of fascination and amusement.
It took Onasi about a minute to realise I was actually enjoying watching the man writhe in pain, "You are disgusting, Kira." Onasi growled. He stormed over to the control panel and deactivated the torture field.
"Hey, I was watching that!" I snapped.
"How about we put you in there for a few minutes, see how much fun you find that." Onasi snarled at me.
I shrugged, "You can try. You'd fail, but you can try." I said flatly.
"I'm beginning to regret saving your life when we crashed on this cursed rock, woman!" he snapped. We were face to face, he was trying his damnedest to loom over me, but I wasn't backing down, and he was literally yelling in my face.
"Oh?" I asked innocently, not even slightly ruffled by his yelling at me. And certainly not intimidated, "And how would you have rescued your precious Jedi girlfriend without my help, Onasi? Hmm?"
"I'd have found a way." he hissed, "I should have let the Sith catch you!"
I opened my mouth to retort, when Canderous interrupted our argument, "Entertaining though this little conversation is..." he said with only slight sarcasm, "We've got what we came for. We should get going."
I glanced around the room to see Hudrow was gone, "Where'd he go?"
"I told him to make a run for it." Canderous shrugged, "I don't really care if he gets away with his skin intact or not, but I'm not interested in stopping him personally."
"I see." I said flatly.
"Let's just get the hell off this rock." Onasi said, "With luck, we can abandon you-" he glared at me, "-on the nearest asteroid."
I gave him a bitter smile, "The feeling's mutual, Onasi."
x x x
As we walked towards the docking bay, I suddenly felt a rush of psychic venom hit me from all sides. Beating me down. Fear, misgivings, anger, bloodlust, uncertainty, cruelty, pain... fire. Danger. Death.
"Kira?" in spite of his loathing for me, Onasi was at my side, to see if I was all right. I found that I was kneeling on the ground, clutching my head in pain.
I looked up at him, terrified, "We have to get off this planet." I whispered. "We have to get off this planet right now." I scrambled to my feet and started running down the corridor, "Onasi, signal Bastila. Tell her to get her Jedi ass here ten minutes ago! We don't have time to pick them up in the air!"
His battle instincts kicked in at the genuine fear in my voice, and he bolted for the communication terminal to call Bastila. Canderous kept pace with me as I ran, and we were only a few feet from the docking bay when the first blast shook the building.
"What was that?" Canderous asked me.
"Ominous is what it was." I muttered, slicing the lock on the docking bay door.
"Thank you for being so informative." he retorted sarcastically.
I grinned as the lock clicked open, "You're welcome."
"Damn those Sith - they're bombing the whole planet!" Davik's voice shouted from inside the hangar.
"That answer your question, Canderous?" I whispered. The Mandalorian nodded slightly.
"I knew they'd turn on us sooner or... well, look what we got here! Thieves in the hangar." Davik stalked towards us, "So, you figured you'd just steal my ship for your get-away and leave me high and dry while the Sith turn the planet into dust? Sorry, but that ain't going to happen!"
"Actually." I said quickly and clearly, "We were hoping we could all get away together." technically not a lie - I never said who I was referring to be the word 'we'. I slowly walked towards Davik. Calo had his blasters trained on me, but wasn't firing yet.
"If that's so, how did you get here so quickly? The Sith only just started-" another explosion shook the building, "-firing seconds before you got here."
"Ok, so you caught me." I said calmly, "I had planned to steal the ship. But we don't have time to fight over it - if we do, we'll all get blasted by the Sith."
Davik snorted, "I think we've got just enough time to kill you." I was standing right in front of him now.
"I'll take care of them, Davik. I've been looking forward to this for a long time!" Calo Nord said, training one blaster on Canderous and the other on me. He seemed more intent on Canderous, though.
"Make it quick, Calo. The Sith mean business." Davik said coldly, drawing a blaster of his own and aiming it at my stomach, "If we don't get to our ships and find somewhere safe, the bombs they're dropping will kill us all."
I sensed when Davik was about to pull the trigger on his blaster, and stepped aside just in time. I drew my vibroblade, while he was still wondering why I wasn't dead, and decapitated him cleanly.
Calo Nord fired off one shot at me and one at Canderous, missing me completely and hitting Canderous' leg. Then he realised Davik was dead and panicked, "You may have me outnumbered and outgunned, but if I'm going down I'm taking all you with me!" he pulled out a small object I didn't see clearly enough to recognise until he said, "This thermal detonator will blow us all to bits!"
I sensed the blast from above, but couldn't dodge it. Rubble fell over me, even as I tried to run from the blast. "Damn those Sith! They'll bring this whole hangar down around our ears!" Calo managed to yell, before a particularly large lump of the building landed on his head. I was lucky compared to him, but I was still badly injured.
"Let's get this ship fired up. We have to get off this planet!" Canderous limped slightly as he made a beeline for the ship.
Onasi, Bastila, Mission, Zaalbar and T3-M4 suddenly appeared as a group, in the doorway, and rushed for the ship, too. Bastila was the only one who stopped to see if I was going to be able to make it. She wrapped an arm around my waist, allowing me to lean on her as we boarded the ship.
I could sense pain and fear all around me. Combined with my injuries, the heady scent of death and terror on the Force left me more than a little disoriented. I could barely stand. The sudden lurch of the ship, and my face being rudely introduced to the deck plating, would change that evaluation slightly - I couldn't stand.
x x x
Author's Notes: Well there goes the theory of one chapter per planet, out the airlock. I kept writing and writing and Taris didn't end. Eventually I decided it was just getting ridiculous. I've avoided the topic of rakghouls in my previous fic because they do scare me. Anyone who has seen 28 Days Later may recognise my take on the rakghoul disease... and that's why I was afraid of rakghouls... 28 Days Later gave me nightmares. And hence, this chapter's title.
sammie teufel: Thanks. Glad you like it.
Prisoner 24601: This was intended as a Revan/Carth fic... but I didn't want her to be sappy, or anything. As for Carth being perceptive... you'd like to think so, wouldn't you? I did consider pairing her with Canderous, though.
Lord Valentai: Thanks. Glad you like it.
Luthos: Dozens of reasons? Such as? And the whole point of her having a sense of honour is to show that she's human, not a monster... her morals just got warped and/or lost somewhere along the way.
Ozziegrl: The lightside is corrupting her? I like that terminology - it turns the theology on its head in a way I really like.
darth poop: Cute penname. You have to keep in mind that Revan is still human, even if she is evil. And she may not be drooling over Carth yet... but she will unintentionally develop attachments to the crew of the Ebon Hawk.
ahmad brooke: Thanks. Here's more.
JacenPrime: That penname's too long to write out. You know who you are. Glad you're enjoying it. Here's more.
ProcrastinatingMonkey: I like that penname. The whole point of an AU fanfic is to deviate from canon - as for fooling the Jedi, who says that's what she's planning? About the rape thing - Revan just doesn't like the concept... hence the punishment for it... I do believe that it did happen, just not that she was aware of - she made an effort to prevent it, through threats of mutiliation to anyone caught doing it... torture is all well and good, but the Sith have ways to violate someone without sinking to that crude level... and if her underlings can't charm/blackmail themselves a proper girlfriend, they don't deserve to get any. What's the big deal with waist-length hair? I have waistlength hair, so do several people I know - it's not that special. About the breathmints... it's the evil thing to do to a Wookiee, isn't it? Seriously, though, I've always wanted to fix Zaalbar's breath, so I just did, that's all... if you find the concept offensive, just ignore it - it was a one-off incident.
Xan: Glad you like it. My spellchecker would argue with you about the Rancor, though... but maybe that's because I'm using a British spellchecker. About the memories, though, she's stronger-willed than Damien, after all he turned away from the DS almost immediately, she is more determined.
Trunxluvr82190: Glad you like it.
snackfiend101: Sorry, ff.net messed up the fic description - it was supposed to be 1/9, or 1 out of 9. I already have several rabid weasels, though - they're called the Weasley family - they insist on popping up in my HP fics, much that my muse and I want nothing to do with them. Glad you like my writing, but the prologue won't show up until I've finished this - it applies to both of them... and the other fic's epilogue will have to wait for KotOR2 before I write it.
x x x
Chapter 2 - Tarisian Nightmare
We trekked through the sewers for some time, occasionally stumbling across rakghouls and corpses. Usually not far from each other. I found two journals when I looted corpses in separate parts of the sewers, and Onasi gave me pointed looks for the next ten minutes that clearly told me I should give the journals to the old man in the village.
Then we stumbled into a room practically packed with Rakghouls, and we had no time for subtle recriminations as Onasi and Mission opened fire in one direction and I lashed out with my vibroblade in another. We beat them back, and killed them off. But not before one of them got past my blade and sank its fangs into my arm.
I shrieked in pain and used the Force to push it away before removing its vile head with my blade. When the battle was done, I dropped the blade and stared at the wound on my arm in abject horror. Sickly green venom dripped from the wound, and the skin around it was blackened.
"What's the matter, Kira?" Mission asked rushing over to me. I idly wondered how she knew that was supposed to be my name when I never told her, but then I remembered Onasi had shouted it at me when I had attacked her.
Onasi and Zaalbar also rushed over to me, [She has been bitten.] Zaalbar told Mission.
Mission gasped, "You're infected?"
I started shaking with fear. I could feel the venom spreading through me like tendrils of blackness, void through the red of my dark aura. "How... how long have I left?" I asked quietly.
"It takes half an hour for physical symptoms to set in. An hour for total transformation." Mission whispered.
Onasi looked at the rakghoul corpses on the ground, then levelled his blaster at my head, "It's kinder that you die now, rather than turn into one of those." he said quietly.
I stared at him, and even though Zaalbar had just sworn his life to protect me, he didn't try to stop Onasi. He must agree with Onasi's statement. I didn't blame them. I'd do the same in their places.
The disease was already choking the Force in me. I felt weak, and I hated it. "There has to be a cure." I said plaintively.
Mission brightened at this, "The one time I went to the Upper City, the doctor guy said the Republic base was working on a cure. Maybe when the Sith took over they got their slimy paws on it?" she said hopefully.
Her hope radiated over me and I stopped shaking, soothed by it. I smirked darkly, "Then let's go find a Sith and beat the cure out of them."
"I'm all for that." Onasi said brightly.
Mission giggled and Zaalbar roared his agreement.
"Just promise me one thing." I said quietly. They all looked at me. "If I start to turn, kill me. And make it quick."
Onasi nodded immediately. Mission hesitated before nodding nervously. Zaalbar frowned as if debating something.
"It's my wish, Zaalbar." I said quietly, "To honour your lifedebt is to help me. This would help me more than defending what feeble life I would have if this disease takes hold."
He nodded, [I understand.] he growled quietly.
x x x
Half an hour, and many dead rakghouls, later. We were above ground, searching for any sign of a Sith down in this dump. Nothing, so far, and I was feeling weaker. The tendrils of blackness had spread through me, and it felt like it was strangling me. I was shaking now, this time from the disease's effects.
"It's been thirty-five minutes." Onasi said to me.
"I can guess." I muttered, looking up at him.
He took a step back.
"What?"
"Your eyes are red." he said flatly.
"That's the first symptom." Mission said quietly, "And it means she's contagious now, if she bites anyone. But we've still got some time."
Red eyes. Well that makes the whole spectrum, doesn't it? My natural eye-colour is blue. My eyes were golden-yellow as a Sith Lord. And now red. Great, just great.
We continued our search, though I noticed the other three were none-too-subtly keeping their distance from me. I got the distinct feeling of not being entirely here. Like I was watching the scene from a distance.
Then suddenly, I doubled over and vomited. When I eventually straightened up, I tasted blood. That in itself nearly made me sick again.
"Symptom number two." Mission muttered, "We're really running out of time here."
"What are the other symptoms?" Onasi asked her.
"Well... next'll be growing fangs." Mission explained, "Then skin getting rotten." been there, done that. "Then delirium. Then when they start walking on all fours it's too late... and it takes another ten minutes after that for them to stop even resembling humans."
"It's possible to walk on all fours without being a rakghoul, Mission." I said flatly.
"Yeah, but I mean instinctively, rather than deliberately." she said warily, "It's like primal or something."
"I see." I muttered.
The search continued to yield nothing, and I noticed fangs growing in my mouth, though I made a point of not letting the others see that. When my skin started flaking and turning white, though, they couldn't miss it.
"I'm not delirious yet, Onasi." I noted.
"Right." he said flatly, hand on his blaster anyway.
The Force was gone. I couldn't even read their auras. I was terrified, and running out of time. [I see something.] Zaalbar growled.
"Where?" I asked quickly, "What is it?"
[It appears to be Sith. Though it also appears dead.] Zaalbar told me.
"All the better. Save time." I muttered, following Zaalbar's line of sight. A glint of silver armour on the ground was clearly visible. I raced for it, as fast as I could... instincts I never had before kicking in and I dropped to all fours, half-way there, which did allow me to run faster.
Blaster fire missed me by a few feet, and I skidded to a halt next to the corpse. I turned and glared at Onasi, who was racing after me, and who had fired at me. "Eager to kill me, aren't you?" I growled, my voice not entirely my own.
That stopped him in his tracks, but he still had his blaster aimed at me, "Well you heard what Mission said."
I shot him a vicious glare, and set about rooting through the corpse's pockets, desperately. I was so desperate, I practically shredded the body with claws that I hadn't had a few minutes ago. Eventually, I found a vial of green liquid that was labelled as the antidote. I injected it into my arm, and collapsed on the ground.
I heard footsteps, and someone knelt next to me. I felt the Force return to me, and the aura next to me radiated anger and concern at the same time. The light in his heart was so... comforting. The darkness so alluring. "You're going to make it." he whispered, his voice soothing. "You're going to be all right, Kira."
I frowned, eyes still closed, "Kira? Who's Kira?"
"She's delirious. I told ya so." a distant voice noted.
"You're Kira, remember?" he said quietly.
"Nuh uh." I mumbled.
I heard him sigh, and he helped me sit up, so I was leaning against him, "You got the antidote in time. You're recovering."
I ran my tongue over my teeth and felt the lack of fangs... then smiled. "Thank you, my love."
A very slight incredulous laugh, "You're right, Mission. She is delirious."
"Huh?" Logical thought returned with a near audible snap, and I opened my eyes to look at who was holding me. Onasi. I blinked several times. "Oh. I... you're right, totally delirious. I thought you were someone else." I said quickly.
He laughed, "Who, exactly?" he asked, grinning, "Who would a heartless woman like you call 'love'?"
I raised an eyebrow, "Wouldn't you like to know."
"Yes, I would." he said quietly.
"I don't pry into your personal history, why are you asking me about mine?" I snapped. Yet I hadn't pulled away from him yet.
"How about I tell you my deepest darkest secrets and you tell me yours?" he asked, though I sensed he wasn't entirely serious.
"You already know my darkest secret, Onasi." I said flatly.
"Huh? I do? Since when?" he asked, genuinely surprised.
"Since the day we met."
"I have no clue what you're talking about." he said flatly.
"That's your problem, not mine."
"You are the most infuriating woman I have ever met." he snapped, "And that's including my mother-in-law!"
I laughed, "Lucky for me my love never knew his mother." I said grinning.
He sobered suddenly, "Lucky you." he said coldly.
"Not as lucky as you'd think." I said just as coldly, "He wasn't the most loyal man you could imagine."
Onasi raised an eyebrow at that, "He cheated on you?"
"He tried to kill me."
He winced and helped me stand up without another word. That fascinating conversation was clearly over.
x x x
We returned to the village late that evening, and the village leader let us stay the night. Not exactly the best place to sleep, but surprisingly comfortable considering.
Early in the morning, I got up and wandered the village, looking for the crazy old man.
"I saw you talking with Rukil." a weasely voice asked from behind me. I turned around, with my hand on the hilt of my vibroblade, to see a scrawny mean-looking little man was addressing me, "He told you his legends about the Promised Land, didn't he? He told you all about his missing apprentice and the other lost explorers, right?"
"So his name's Rukil. Thanks for telling me. What's it to you?" I asked coldly.
"You know, most people don't believe his stories - they figure he's nothing but an old kook. But I think there might be some truth in what he's saying. That's why I want to stop him!"
"Is there a reason you're telling me this?" I asked impatiently.
"Oh, don't worry, I'll make this quick." he said defensively, "I've got an offer that might be worth your while."
Not dropping my guard for a second, I raised an eyebrow, "I'm listening."
"My name's Igear. I run a little salvage shop here. For an Outcast, I've got things pretty good." he explained, "The village relies on me to bring in food and supplies - I'm an important man. If it wasn't for Gendar I'd be running this place. But if Rukil ever finds his Promised Land, I'm sunk. People won't need to rely on me anymore. I'll just be another nobody like all the rest of the villagers. I won't let that happen!"
"Oh yeah?" I asked, smirking, "What're you going to do about it?"
"The two explorers who went searching for the Promised Land might have found something." he said, "They might have found clues or evidence - just like Rukil's apprentice! They would have recorded that information in their journals. I'll pay you if you bring all three journals to me - the two from the explorers and the one from Rukil's apprentice. Then I can destroy the evidence and make sure nobody ever finds the Promised Land! I've saved up enough credits from my business here to make it worth your while if you help me."
"Credits?" I asked blankly, "How many?"
"One hundred." he said in hushed tones that gave the impression this was a big deal to him.
"I'm an up-worlder, Igear. One hundred credits isn't what I'd call worth my while." I said flatly.
"Well, I don't want Rukil to get his hands on them journals. I'll give you two hundred credits - that's all I have."
I smirked darkly, "All right, then. Give me the credits." I waved the diaries in front of him.
He scrambled to get out the money, and showed it to me. "Give me the journals first."
"You don't seem to understand what I'm saying. I never said I would give you the diaries. I said you would give me the money."
"You- you're robbing me?!" he demanded, horrified.
"Yes." I said, grinning ferally, "You get what you give, and you're getting yours."
"If that's so, you'll get worse one day." Igear growled at me.
"Already have done." I pulled up my sleeve and showed him the still-oozing bite-mark.
His eyes widened, "You're infected! You shouldn't be in the village!" he shouted.
"Give me the credits." I growled, then I snapped my teeth at him, and grinned evilly.
He threw the money at me and ran away. I laughed as he ran, then I pocketed the credits. Win-win situation. I get the money, and the old coot gets his journals. Everyone's happy. Except Igear, but that's his problem, isn't it?
It didn't take me long to find Rukil, after that, "Welcome back, up-worlder. How goes your quest? Have you found the journals of my father and grandfather?"
"My quest is getting nowhere fast. As for your journals, on the other hand, I have all three." I said, showing them to him.
His eyes lit up, "Can it be true? Is it possible that at long last the dream of my father and grandfather before him will be fulfilled? I... I can hardly bear to look." I handed him the journals, and he read through them, "Hmmm... yes. Yes! Of course! Now I understand - it all makes sense! Now I see why the Promised Land has been so hard to find! It is so obvious!"
I smiled, "I know the feeling. Usually what you need most is right under your nose the whole time you're looking for it."
"You have done a great thing, up-worlder - a selfless act that will bring great joy to all the people of this village! I must take this to Gendar right away!"
As we walked, looking for Gendar, I noted, "Selfless isn't the word I would use. I happened to find them, and I had nothing to gain by not giving them to you."
"Either way, you have done us a great kindness, up-worlder." Rukil said to me. I shrugged and followed him.
"Rukil? What do you want now?" the village leader asked as we approached him, "Have you more fables of a hidden paradise just waiting for us to find it?"
"You may not think these are fables after you see what I have brought you, Gendar! Look at these journals!" Rukil said, thrusting the journals under Gendar's nose.
"What... no. It can't be! Are these real, Rukil? Is this information accurate?" he asked, stunned.
"I swear to you everything in these journals is true, Gendar. The Promised Land - I told you I would find it!" Rukil said.
"The entrance is far from here, Rukil." Gendar noted, "It will take us weeks to get there... perhaps even months. And we will have to cross many rakghoul infested areas."
"I do not deny the journey will be hard, Gendar. But surely it is better than the miserable life we have here!" Rukil retorted.
"Wise words, Rukil." Gendar agreed, "Our supplies are high right now - we could leave by nightfall! I will tell the others to prepare for the journey."
"Thank you once again, up-worlder." Rukil said, beaming, "I hope to see you again before we leave tonight."
When Onasi, Mission and Zaalbar woke up, we went up to the Upper City and Mission showed me where to find the 'doctor guy' she had mentioned.
"Welcome to my medical facility. Do you require healing or treatment? I can treat almost any ailment right here at the facility, except the rakghoul disease, of course." the man said as I walked over to him.
"My friend here-" I gestured to Mission, "-said you know about the rakghoul disease."
"That is correct, yes." he said warily, "But if you're looking for a cure-"
"I'm looking for someone who could replicate the cure." I took out the half-used vial of serum and waved it in front of the man, "Are you able to do that?"
"You have the serum? Impossible!" he said, his eyes following the vial, "How did you get this? No, wait... I don't really want to know. Can... can I see it? The serum, I mean? I need to see if there is enough for me to analyse it so I can start producing it in mass quantities."
"As long as I can have some of what you produce." I said.
"Of course, of course." he replied eagerly. I handed him the vial and he examined it. "Hmmm.... let me see... yes, this is it! A cure for the rakghoul disease! With this sample I can make enough serum for everyone!"
I followed him to a workstation and watched him work on the serum. Half an hour later there were ten vials and still more being produced.
He turned to me, "The people of Taris owe you a debt they can never repay. Please, take this small reward. It isn't much, but it's all I can afford: a few credits and two spare medpacs." I happily pocketed the reward and took the vials of serum he offered me.
It may seem like I'm going soft, but honestly... the disease strips the Force and soul from its victims. If I hadn't found the cure it would have destroyed me. When a person dies they join the Force - when the rakghoul disease takes them it destroys them and they would never become one with the Force. Even I consider that vile. Not something I would ever wish on anyone.
I convinced Zaalbar to stay at our apartment-hideout, and then I took the serum to Gendar and offered it to him before they left.
x x x
As we returned to the sewers, Onasi noted, "That was a really nice thing you did, getting that serum for those people."
"I wouldn't wish that disease on anyone." I said flatly.
"Oh, I don't know." Onasi said, "Might serve some people right. Saul, for one. Or Darth Malak. Wouldn't mind seeing them mauled by those creatures. Or if Darth Revan were still alive-"
I spun around and struck him across the face so hard he landed on his back on the ground. "Don't. You don't know what it's like!" I yelled at him, "NO ONE deserves that! No one!"
He clutched the side of his face, and glared at me, "Calm down, Kira." he said, picking himself up.
"You have no idea." I said, shaking my head, "I could feel it eating at my soul. It wasn't killing me, it was killing who I was. There's no way I can explain to you how much worse than death that fate would have been."
"And you have to admit Revan and Malak deserve the worst they can be given."
"No they don't. Never suggest that anyone deserves the rakghoul disease, ever again. Understand?" I made the threat clear in my tone.
He nodded, "All right. Let's just keep going."
x x x
Mission was true to her word, and deactivated the Vulkar energy shield. We crept into the Vulkar base and stole the accelerator without much trouble.
The swoop race was the next day.
I was allowed into the racers area, but everyone who wasn't a racer or a mechanic had to watch on the viewscreens. I pretended to listen to the Ithorian mechanic as he explained the already familiar controls of the standard swoop bike to me. Then I wandered over to the race co-ordinator and asked what the best time was.
Then I beat it almost too easily. There's not much to say - if you've raced one swoop track there's nothing new besides the scenery... and Tarisian Lower City scenery leaves much to be desired.
A Black Vulkar named Redros beat my time by literally a fraction of a second.
"Stupid bloody lucky creep." I muttered, and went straight back out there, against the Bek mechanic's advisement that the prototype engine needed some time to cool off, and beat him by almost five seconds.
No one could beat that time. "Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the winner of this year's swoop race!" the announcer declared, "Put your hands together and show your appreciation for one of the most daring riders this swoop track has ever seen!" I bowed to the crowd, lapping up the applause. "Through your skill and courage you have proven yourself the premier swoop rider on Taris, and brought great glory to the Hidden Bek gang! Now, here to present the champion's prize: Brejik Thek, leader of the Black Vulkars."
"People - hear me!" a mean looking human man said, stepping forward, "Before I present the so called champion of the Beks with their prize there is something you must know: the winning rider cheated!"
I growled, "I am not someone you want to cheat, Brejik." I said with some Force in my words.
"Ah, yes. Kandon told me about you." he said coolly, "Before he... disappeared."
"I'm nothing if not persistent." I noted, grinning ferally.
"Indeed." Brejik said flatly, "But your swoop bike was using a prototype accelerator - clearly an unfair advantage! Because of this Hidden Bek treachery I'm withdrawing the Vulkar's share of the victory prize!"
"How many credits do I have to throw at you to get her?" I demanded, "I will have her one way or another."
"Ah, I doubt you want this woman." he said, shaking his head, "You see, she is no mere Republic officer - she's actually a Jedi! I've had to equip her with a neural disrupter collar to keep her mind in a state of unfocused confusion just to make sure she doesn't use her Force powers to escape. Obviously, I can't turn her over to you - it would be far too dangerous to have a Jedi as a slave."
"Oh, I'm sure I could handle her, Brejik." I said coldly.
[You can't do this, Brejik!] the Duros announcer shouted, [You know the rules: nobody's allowed to withdraw a victory prize after the race. It goes against all our most sacred traditions!]
"You old fool!" Brejik jeered at him, "Your traditions are nothing to me - I am the wave of the future!"
"Brejik, I'm warning you." I growled, my left hand moving to my hip where Bastila's lightsaber was concealed in the pocket, and my right hand moving to the hilt of my vibroblade, "Give me the girl or else."
"No! If I want to withdraw the prize and sell this woman to the Sith myself, nobody can stop me!"
"I might have something to say about that, Brejik!" Bastila's voice startled everyone. She had broken free of the disruptor collar and opened her cage, knocking the Vulkar guard unconscious with a well-aimed kick to the head.
"What? Impossible!" Brejik shrieked, "You were restrained by a neural disrupter collar! How could you possibly have summoned the will to free yourself?"
"You underestimate the strength of a Jedi's mind, Brejik - a mistake you won't live to regret!" Bastila said coldly.
"Vulkars - to me!" Brejik yelled, panicked, "Kill this woman! Kill the swoop rider! Kill them all!"
I drew my vibroblade, which distracted Brejik enough that when the lightsaber hilt rammed into his gut and I activated the blade so it ran him through, he didn't know what hit him. But it was fatal. I then deactivated the blade and threw it at Bastila, "This is yours, I presume?"
She caught it and quickly activated it, taking out the surrounding Vulkars with ease. Redros - the Vulkar racer who had the temerity to beat my first race time - ran at me, and I side-stepped, holding my vibroblade where I had been standing a second ago, and he ran into it, his momentum cutting him clean in half.
When the battle was done, Bastila stalked over to me, "Well, maybe those bloody Vulkars will think twice next time before trying to keep a Jedi prisoner! And as for you, if you think you can collect me as a prize... wait... I don't believe this! You're... uh... 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 mildly relieved that she didn't seem to have the same problem as Onasi about the concept of non-Force-users being able to work the on-off switch on a lightsaber. I would have been in deep shit if she knew I remembered. I know from that one line she said that she thinks I have no clue who I am. "Trying to rescue you... duh."
"Rescue 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." she snapped, "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 this mess!"
I literally laughed in her face, "I think your brain's still fried by the after-effects of that restraining collar, Jedi." I said, sniggering, "I can handle a bunch of Vulkars easily enough on my own, thank you so very much. Or didn't you count how many enemies were there before the fight?"
She sulked slightly, "I suppose you have a point. Well, I appreciate your attempt to save me - even if it didn't really go as you planned. But 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?"
"Hey, who said you were in charge here?" I asked petulantly.
"The Republic, for one." she retorted. I snorted. She glared and continued, "I was fleet commander, remember? But I don't want you getting all worked up over nothing. So tell me - do you have a plan to get off this planet?"
"We're working on it, but Onasi would insist we rescue you first." I said, emphasis on the word 'rescue'.
"Carth Onasi is alive?" she asked, brightening up, "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?" she gave me an evaluating look, "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."
"Onasi only sent me because, while he works well in outer space, he can't race swoop-bikes for shit." I said, grinning evilly, "Or so he told me. I think he was just afraid of the prototype accelerator blowing up in his face."
Bastila snorted at my comments, then said, "Please, take me to Carth right away. Between the three of us I'm sure we can figure out some way to get off this planet before the Sith realize we're here."
Suddenly I staggered slightly, memories flashing before my eyes, pulling me away from the present and away from reality for a minute. I saw - no, more like re-lived - the incident on the bridge of my flagship where I faced off against Bastila.
As soon as I regained my bearings, and returned to the present, I turned on Bastila, "What the hell was that, Jedi?"
"What was what?" she asked too innocently, clearly shaken.
"What kind of Jedi mind trick are you trying to pull on me?" I demanded. Honestly, I didn't know what she'd done, but I did know it was her that did it.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." she waved her hand slightly, and I could feel the Force in her words.
I snorted, "For the record, that particular mind trick doesn't work on me. And I will find out what you tried to do, I promise you."
She sighed, "Let's just get out of here."
x x x
"Bastila - you're alive! Finally, things are looking up." Onasi said as we entered the apartment.
"What? Doesn't anyone think the fact I'm alive is a good thing?" I demanded.
"No." Bastila and Onasi said at the exact same moment. Which caused Mission to giggle.
"Thank you so much." I muttered sulkily.
"Now we just need to figure out a way to get off this planet." Onasi noted.
"You mean you don't have a plan to get off Taris yet?" Bastila demanded, "What have you been doing all this time?"
"I'm getting a little sick of your attitude, Jedi!" I growled.
"My attitude?" she snapped, anger flaring in her aura and voice, though not showing on her face, "It strikes me that you're the one in sore need of an attitude adjustment. I happen to be in charge of this mission, if you'll recall."
"I know you're new at this, Bastila." Onasi said, clearly biting back his own anger, "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."
"That hardly strikes me as an appropriate way of addressing your commander, Carth." Bastila growled, "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."
"Oh, get over yourself already, Jedi." I muttered. She shot me a vicious glare.
"I hate to agree with Kira on something, but... your talents might win us a few battles, but that doesn't make you a good leader!" Onasi said, "A good leader would at least listen to the advice of those who have seen more combat than she ever will! You know, I had my doubts about this mission but I figured the Jedi Council wouldn't put you in charge if you weren't prepared. But here you are, acting like a spoiled child!"
"He's got a point. You aren't acting like a great leader right now, Jedi." I noted.
She gave me a beady look, then said in a measured tone, "Yes... You're right, I suppose. 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?"
"First off we can't get hung up on who's in charge." he said, "We all need to work together if we want to get off this rock. The answer's out there, we just have to find it."
"Well said, Carth." Bastila agreed. "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."
"Let's go find a way to get us off Taris." I said flatly, "I'm sure someone knows something."
x x x
We unanimously decided that Onasi, Mission and I should go looking for a way off Taris. Bastila would easily draw Sith attention, and Zaalbar would easily draw attention from everyone. Mission may not be human, but Twi'lek are at least tolerated by the bigoted idiots of the Upper City.
We didn't get far before someone stopped us, [You there - human.] it was a Twi'lek, speaking his native language, [You are the rider who won the Great Swoop Race in the Lower City, yes?]
[What's it to you?] I asked, in the same language.
[Me? I am only a runner.] he said, [I work for the man who hired me. I have a message from Canderous Ordo. He says to meet him in the Upper City cantina.]
[Thanks for the message. I'll go meet him in the cantina.] I said flatly. Mandalorians aren't the sort of people you stand up. I may not be afraid of him, but I didn't feel like causing extra trouble for myself right now.
[A wise choice, human. I would advise you not to wait too long. Mandalorians are known for many things, but patience is not one of them.] the Twi'lek said before turning and leaving.
"What would that Mandalorian want to see you about?" Onasi asked, immediately suspicious.
"I don't know. Maybe he wants my autograph." I joked.
"Have I mentioned lately how much I don't like your sense of humour?" he asked flatly. I grinned at him.
"Canderous Ordo's a major player in Davik's little corner of the Exchange." Mission informed us, "If he wants to see you, it's big."
"Well best not to keep the nice man waiting." I said brightly.
We made our way quickly to the cantina, where Canderous kind of stood out like a sore thumb. He spotted me right away, and totally ignored Mission and Onasi, "I saw you in the swoop race. Very impressive. You seem like you know how to get results. That's just the kind of person I'm looking for."
"Uh huh. What exactly do you want?" I asked coldly.
"My name's Canderous Ordo." he said, calmly, "I work for Davik Kang and the Exchange; the hours aren't great, but they promised me a fortune to work for them and I have nothing better to do. Mandalorian mercs like me are in high demand."
"Well there aren't many of you left." I noted, a hint of smugness creeping into my tone.
"That's true." he agreed flatly, "But lately Davik hasn't been paying me what he promised. I don't like getting cheated, so I figure it's time for me to break the Sith quarantine and get off this backwater planet."
"And what has this to do with me, exactly?" I asked.
"I've got a plan to escape Taris, but I can't do it alone." he explained, "I need someone I know can get the job done to help me. That's where you come in. I saw you win that swoop race, and I started thinking. Anyone crazy enough to race like that is probably crazy enough to break into the Sith military base. I need someone to steal the Sith launch codes from the base. Without those codes any ship leaving the atmosphere will be disintegrated by the Sith fleet's automated defence guns."
I read his aura carefully. His aura was dark, very dark, but he was essentially an honest man, and from what I could tell he was a strong follower of Mandalorian honour. He wouldn't back out of a deal unless he was cheated first. "If I get these codes for you, you can get me and my-" I hesitated over the next word - it wasn't technically an accurate description, "-friends off this rock?"
"That's the idea. What do you say?" Canderous asked.
"It's a deal. Now how, prey tell, do I get into the Sith military base?" I asked.
"Getting in won't be easy: the Sith base is protected by an encrypted security system." he said calmly, "It would take a top of the line astromech droid to slice through it. Lucky for you I know just the place to get a droid like that. Davik was having one custom built by Janice Nall."
"All right, then." I offered him my hand, and he shook it.
"I'm going to wait in Javyar's cantina." Canderous said, "You come find me when you've got those launch codes and I'll make sure we both get off this rock."
x x x
I explained to Onasi and Mission that it would be much easier to break into the Sith base alone, and sneak around, than to try to all go in and get spotted. So I went alone to buy the droid - T3-M4 - and set it to work on slicing the door of the Sith base.
"Gonna take you much longer, tin can?" I asked flatly, "Cause someone's going to notice us soon if it does."
"Beep woop beep." it replied.
"Not fast enough, droid." I muttered. Two Sith had appeared from the nearby elevator to the Lower City, and were heading towards us.
"Beep boop bop beep beep."
"Fine." I growled. I used the Force to confuse the Sith soldiers' minds and one of them suddenly remembered something important he had to do elsewhere, and they both left us alone, "And don't you dare tell anyone. I own you, you obey me, got it?"
"Beep beep wop boop."
"You're annoying." I muttered.
"Beep." the door opened.
"Go be elsewhere, droid." I said coldly, "Apartment number forty-two, block seven. Tell them I'll be back by sunrise."
"Beep boop." the droid turned and rolled off happily.
"Evil droid." I grumbled, before stepping into the elevator down to the Sith base.
As I exited the elevator, I was greeted rudely by a secretary who recognised right away that I didn't belong here. Her aura stood out with fear and a sensation of displacement. She didn't belong here.
With a wave of my hand, I said, "You don't want to be here. Bad things are going to happen." She turned and ran for the elevator I had just vacated.
I left a trail of bloodshed and carnage throughout the entire Sith base, and eventually found myself face-to-face with the governor of the base, "Who dares to break my meditation?" he demanded, "You will pay for interrupting my... wait. I sense the Force is strong with you. Very strong."
"No duh." I said flatly.
"Who would have thought a Force Adept could be found on this insignificant planet? But your talent is no match for a disciple of the dark side!"
I laughed at him, "How long have you been with the Sith?" I asked casually.
He frowned, surprised an enemy would ever ask such a thing. "Three years."
I grinned ferally, "Then you may recognise my personal take on the Jedi mantra..." I held up my hand and used the Force to choke the life out of him, "May you be with the Force."
His eyes widened in horror as he tried unsuccessfully to break free of my grip. Aside from the fear of death, he clearly recognised the phrase. Everyone in the Sith army knew I came up with the twisted variant that basically meant 'time to die', based on the fact that when a person dies they become one with the Force.
It didn't take much effort to strangle him to death. And I felt him join the Force. I walked over to his desk and found the codes I was looking for, then left.
x x x
I returned to find Onasi was still awake, "I half expected you wouldn't come back from that foolhardy mission of yours, Kira."
"Yeah." I said flatly, "And I'll bet the other half was hoping?"
"But I wasn't going to say that out loud." he noted.
"Of course not." I said. Then I sighed, "I'm tired. Killing people isn't as fun as it used to be." I collapsed on the nearest chair, "Maybe I should go down to the Undercity and kill some more rakghouls. Now they are more fun."
"You are a sick and twisted individual." Onasi said coldly.
"I am, at that." I said, grinning evilly, "Do you really hate me, though?"
"Hate is a bit too strong. Seriously dislike would be a more accurate term."
"Hmmm."
"I don't suppose you're going to tell me about your mysterious lover?"
"Tell me about yours, first." I said flatly.
He sighed, "Fine. I'll tell you." he sat forward, "I told you about my homeworld. Telos. Four years ago, Saul led the Sith fleet there and demanded its surrender. The planet refused and Saul proceeded to devastate its entire surface. Millions died."
Telos. I remember it well. "I thought destroying Telos was Malak's order. Can you blame Saul for not wanting to be skinned alive for disobeying?"
"One life for millions. I'm sure Saul knows how to count."
I smirked slightly, "Who said anything about him dying? I said skinned alive. I know the sort of punishment Sith dish out for disobedience."
He shot me a vicious glare and I stopped smirking. "I had... a wife and son on Telos. I thought they would be safe there. But my task force arrived too late to be of much help." he said, "We didn't have enough medical supplies. The colony was burning and the dying were everywhere. I remember holding my wife and screaming for the medics. They... didn't come in time."
"So this is where all that anger comes from." I said distantly, my eyes unfocused, looking at the swirling darkness around his aura.
"Yes." he said quietly, "I can't forgive Saul for this. He took everything from me, even... even my trust. I hope you can understand that."
"I understand." I whispered, "Vengeance is important. You can't deny it any more than you can deny emotion."
He gave me a quizzical look for that, "You sound like you don't believe emotion can be denied. What about the Jedi?"
"Self-delusional." I said flatly, "Emotion is more key to humanity than oxygen."
He smiled weakly, "Interesting theory. I wouldn't have thought it from you."
"I'm full of surprises, Onasi." I said, also smiling faintly. But I dropped the smile before I asked, "What was she like, your wife?"
His smile faded too, "She had courage and ... and she was stubborn. I could never talk her out of anything once she put her mind to it. And she hated it when I signed back onto the fleet at the start of the war. I had planned on... on leaving soon, to join her..."
"You never mentioned what happened to your son." I prodded.
"His name was Dustil and I don't know what happened to him." I blinked at the name, but other than that I kept my reaction off my face. I knew that name from somewhere. "The colony was a complete ruin, and we never found any trace of him. I made inquiries and followed the reports from Telos for years, but... I stopped. Anyway... that's the story. For what it's worth."
"Thank you for telling me." I said quietly.
"Your turn." he said pointedly.
"My turn to share painful memories with a person who doesn't particularly like me. Ok." I said calmly, "I was never married. My love was a close friend for years before we became involved. He was a strong man, not exactly what most would call good looking, but he had a good heart. I say that in the past tense. I did then, too."
"You mean there was a time when you weren't an evil bitch?"
I grinned, "Yeah. I told you before, I used to be an adorable and good little girl."
"Uh huh. I find it difficult to imagine."
"Well I assure you I was. A long long time ago." I sighed, "We fought side-by side when the wars came. Childhood friends, fellow warriors, lovers. I was the one who changed. I was jaded by the war, I guess. I still am, so don't think Jedi psycho-babble about redemption means shit to me."
He laughed slightly at that, "You really dislike the Jedi, don't you?"
"They're a bunch of hypocrites who refused to lift a finger to help when the Republic needed them the most. Damned right I don't like them." I snapped.
"This story's starting to sound familiar." he muttered.
"It should. It's a pattern a lot of people, including Jedi, followed during that war. I think your Saul Karath would be included in the same grouping."
"You realise it's close to suicidal to compare yourself to him in my presence, don't you?"
"You couldn't kill me if you tried." I said calmly.
"Want to bet?"
I yawned, "I'm tired. We can talk about this another time."
"That's a no, then. Afraid I'd win?"
"I'm not afraid of anything."
x x x
The next morning, Onasi and I made our way down to the Lower City, where we met with Canderous. "I figured you'd be back. Neither one of us is getting off this planet unless we work together." Canderous said, as soon as we approached.
Onasi fumed silently at the fact Canderous seemed to deem him invisible.
"Now, I know the Sith military base had a break in." Canderous said calmly, "I know it was you. I know you've got those departure codes I need. So what do you say? We join forces and I can get you inside Davik's base - and right to the Ebon Hawk. We can go right now."
"How, exactly, do you plan to steal Davik's flagship?" I asked, "Not that I'm complaining on any moral issues, it just sounds tricky."
"Davik's always looking to recruit new talent." Canderous explained, "I'll tell him how you won that swoop race and mention that you're interested in working for the Exchange. I'll say I brought you in so he could check you out. He'll have you stay at his estate for a couple days while he runs some background checks on you - that's standard procedure." I nodded - any sane tyrant triple checks potential hired help. "While Davik's checking you out, we steal the Ebon Hawk and escape Taris. Come on - I've got an air speeder nearby to take us to Davik's estate. The sooner we're off Taris the better!"
"Well, That's... it's not a bad plan. It might just work." Onasi muttered quietly.
I grinned at Canderous, "Let's go, then."
Canderous took us to Davik's estate, and Davik himself really was my type of tyrant. I liked his aura right away, though his looks left something to be desired. There was a slight seedy edge to his aura, but nothing entirely off-putting, like Kandon had been.
"So, Canderous - I see you have brought someone with you. Most intriguing, if I do say so myself." he said casually. I even liked the accent. "You usually travel alone."
"It's not like you to take on partners, Canderous. You're getting soft." that drew my attention to the runt next to Davik. His aura was also dark and cruel, though there was no hint of either the seedy edge Davik showed or any hope of light there. In spite of his less than appealing appearance I couldn't help myself from eyeing this man up in an appreciative way. That sort of darkness takes years of practice - I know from experience.
"Watch yourself, Calo." Canderous growled, "You may be the newest kath hound in the pack, but you aren't top dog yet!" Calo? As in Calo Nord? Well that makes some sense. The infamous bounty hunter has quite the reputation. Sold as a slave as a child, killed his owners when he was sixteen, then hunted down and killed his own parents for selling him... it gets darker from there.
"Enough!" Davik snapped, "I won't have my top two men killing each other - that's not good business. I'm sure Canderous has an explanation as to why he's not working solo anymore." did I mention I like this man?
"This is a special case, Davik." Canderous said calmly, "I ran into someone the Exchange might want to recruit. You may have heard something of her exploits already."
"Ah, yes - now I recognize your companion." Davik said calmly, "The rider who won the big swoop race. Very impressive... as was your display in the rather heated battle afterwards."
"I didn't know you were a swoop fan." I said, smirking.
"A casual fan at best, but everyone on Taris follows the big season opener." Davik replied calmly, "But we have more important issues to discuss now. With a recommendation from Canderous - and a thorough background check - you could become part of the Exchange. Many would kill to prove themselves worthy of this honour."
And I'm sure many have done. "Your offer intrigues me, Davik."
"Come with me - I will give you a tour of my operations. I'm certain you'll be most impressed." he showed me around some of his estate, though not all of it by far. Then led us to the guest wing. "These will be your accommodations. The slave quarters are just down the hall. If you need anything during your stay - food, a massage - feel free to call upon their services. If all goes well with your background check you will be invited to join the Exchange. I'd advise you to accept the offer when it comes - or suffer the dire consequences of refusal."
"Am I a prisoner here?" I asked innocently. I knew the answer already, and I thought it funny that he thought he could contain someone like me.
"You will stay in these rooms as my guest for the next few days; I will not accept no for an answer. Feel free to visit the slave quarters at any time during your stay. I must warn you that if you are found anywhere outside the guest wing during your stay - or if you bother my other guests - my security forces will deal with you most harshly." you mean they'll point a blaster at me and mysteriously drop dead... cause I could easily make that happen. "I will return after the investigation into your background is complete. Until then, make yourself comfortable. Come, Calo, let us leave our guests in peace."
Davik and Calo Nord left, and the door closed behind them. Once their footsteps had faded, Canderous spoke up, "Okay, we're inside. Now all we have to do is figure out a way to get past the Ebon Hawk's security system and we can get the rest of your group and get off this planet!"
I wandered out of the room, and down the corridor to the slave quarters. I'm not exactly a fan of slavery in the strictest sense. It's so much more effective when your slaves don't know that's what they are. But I still figured it was easier to start with where I was allowed to go, before venturing out of the guest wing. You never know - the slaves may know something.
"Welcome to the slave quarters, mistress." a male slave said, as soon as I walked into the room, "Here we have succulent fruits and berries to tempt your palette, as well as luxurious baths to soothe your aches and pains." I looked at him carefully - even his aura was completely subservient. It was almost nauseating, the weakness. Then again, he is a pleasure slave, so I'm sure that weakness was beaten into him. "Would you like a relaxing massage, mistress? Whatever your desire, we are here to serve."
"I'd love a massage." I said, smirking. It's well known that when a pleasure slave gives a 'massage', it's a little more than just a massage.
"As you wish, mistress. You will find this most relaxing. If you would come with me into the massage room at the back..." he led me into the other room.
As I left the main slave room, I distinctly heard Onasi mutter, "Come on. I mean... I love a massage as much as the next guy, but we're not exactly on vacation here. We need to get going." and Canderous sniggering at him for it.
x x x
When we returned to the main slave room, Onasi was glaring daggers at me, and one of the female slaves was draped around his shoulders, although he was trying to politely tell her he wasn't interested without physically pushing her away. Canderous was nowhere to be seen. "I trust you were satisfied with the service?" the slave was asking me, hopefully, "I have received many compliments on my skills from previous clients."
"I've had better." I said, flatly.
The slave bowed his head, and some of the female slaves sniggered, "I am sorry I have failed to please you, my lady." he said quietly, "I will try to do better in the future. Is there anything else you require from this most unworthy servant?"
I laughed slightly, "I didn't say you didn't please me. Just that I've had better." I smiled at him, "You were very good. Though, I would like some information, if you can help me?"
He looked scared, afraid his answer would displease me, "But... what could I possibly tell you? It is forbidden for slaves to leave this room on pain of torture and death."
"Tell me what you can and I'll tell Davik I was very pleased with your performance." I said gently.
Nervously, he glanced at the other slaves, then said quietly to me, "Praise from the guests is a valuable commodity here. Davik rewards the slaves who perform their duties well. I will tell you what I know. Davik rarely lets us leave the slave quarters. We only know what we hear from Davik's guests. Recently they've all been talking about poor Hudrow. He was caught trying to steal some spice from the lab. Normally Hudrow is allowed to get away with things like that because he's Davik's personal pilot for the Ebon Hawk. But since the Sith have grounded every ship on the planet, Hudrow doesn't get anymore special treatment. They've locked him up in Davik's torture chambers."
"Where is the torture chamber?" I asked.
"I think you can get there through the hall behind the west door of Davik's throne room." he answered, uncertainty wavering in his voice. It seemed clear he had never been there, from the way he spoke of it. "Just keep going west from the slave quarters and you'll see the throne room. But Davik's certain to have guards patrolling the area. If you leave the guest wing, they'll shoot you on sight. Please - I don't know anything else."
I nodded slightly, "Thank you." I said to him. Then I turned to face Onasi, who had just managed to disentangle himself from the female slave, "Where's Canderous?"
"He went that way." Onasi pointed out the door we originally entered the slave quarters through.
"Oh." I said, blinking, "And here I thought he was the type to take advantage of these slaves."
"Like you, you mean?" Onasi growled.
I shrugged, grinning innocently.
Onasi glared at me, "He said something about scouting out the rest of the estate."
"Well let's go find him and get out of here." I said flatly.
Canderous wasn't hard to find. He was entering the throne room from the north door as we entered from the east. Corpses of guards lay in his wake. "Nothing of interest there." he noted.
I nodded and headed for the west door. The torture chamber wasn't hard to find - we just followed the sound of agonised screaming. The two torture droids were easy enough to dispatch, but I didn't make a move to deactivate the torture field the man was held in. The screaming persisted, and I watched in a mixture of fascination and amusement.
It took Onasi about a minute to realise I was actually enjoying watching the man writhe in pain, "You are disgusting, Kira." Onasi growled. He stormed over to the control panel and deactivated the torture field.
"Hey, I was watching that!" I snapped.
"How about we put you in there for a few minutes, see how much fun you find that." Onasi snarled at me.
I shrugged, "You can try. You'd fail, but you can try." I said flatly.
"I'm beginning to regret saving your life when we crashed on this cursed rock, woman!" he snapped. We were face to face, he was trying his damnedest to loom over me, but I wasn't backing down, and he was literally yelling in my face.
"Oh?" I asked innocently, not even slightly ruffled by his yelling at me. And certainly not intimidated, "And how would you have rescued your precious Jedi girlfriend without my help, Onasi? Hmm?"
"I'd have found a way." he hissed, "I should have let the Sith catch you!"
I opened my mouth to retort, when Canderous interrupted our argument, "Entertaining though this little conversation is..." he said with only slight sarcasm, "We've got what we came for. We should get going."
I glanced around the room to see Hudrow was gone, "Where'd he go?"
"I told him to make a run for it." Canderous shrugged, "I don't really care if he gets away with his skin intact or not, but I'm not interested in stopping him personally."
"I see." I said flatly.
"Let's just get the hell off this rock." Onasi said, "With luck, we can abandon you-" he glared at me, "-on the nearest asteroid."
I gave him a bitter smile, "The feeling's mutual, Onasi."
x x x
As we walked towards the docking bay, I suddenly felt a rush of psychic venom hit me from all sides. Beating me down. Fear, misgivings, anger, bloodlust, uncertainty, cruelty, pain... fire. Danger. Death.
"Kira?" in spite of his loathing for me, Onasi was at my side, to see if I was all right. I found that I was kneeling on the ground, clutching my head in pain.
I looked up at him, terrified, "We have to get off this planet." I whispered. "We have to get off this planet right now." I scrambled to my feet and started running down the corridor, "Onasi, signal Bastila. Tell her to get her Jedi ass here ten minutes ago! We don't have time to pick them up in the air!"
His battle instincts kicked in at the genuine fear in my voice, and he bolted for the communication terminal to call Bastila. Canderous kept pace with me as I ran, and we were only a few feet from the docking bay when the first blast shook the building.
"What was that?" Canderous asked me.
"Ominous is what it was." I muttered, slicing the lock on the docking bay door.
"Thank you for being so informative." he retorted sarcastically.
I grinned as the lock clicked open, "You're welcome."
"Damn those Sith - they're bombing the whole planet!" Davik's voice shouted from inside the hangar.
"That answer your question, Canderous?" I whispered. The Mandalorian nodded slightly.
"I knew they'd turn on us sooner or... well, look what we got here! Thieves in the hangar." Davik stalked towards us, "So, you figured you'd just steal my ship for your get-away and leave me high and dry while the Sith turn the planet into dust? Sorry, but that ain't going to happen!"
"Actually." I said quickly and clearly, "We were hoping we could all get away together." technically not a lie - I never said who I was referring to be the word 'we'. I slowly walked towards Davik. Calo had his blasters trained on me, but wasn't firing yet.
"If that's so, how did you get here so quickly? The Sith only just started-" another explosion shook the building, "-firing seconds before you got here."
"Ok, so you caught me." I said calmly, "I had planned to steal the ship. But we don't have time to fight over it - if we do, we'll all get blasted by the Sith."
Davik snorted, "I think we've got just enough time to kill you." I was standing right in front of him now.
"I'll take care of them, Davik. I've been looking forward to this for a long time!" Calo Nord said, training one blaster on Canderous and the other on me. He seemed more intent on Canderous, though.
"Make it quick, Calo. The Sith mean business." Davik said coldly, drawing a blaster of his own and aiming it at my stomach, "If we don't get to our ships and find somewhere safe, the bombs they're dropping will kill us all."
I sensed when Davik was about to pull the trigger on his blaster, and stepped aside just in time. I drew my vibroblade, while he was still wondering why I wasn't dead, and decapitated him cleanly.
Calo Nord fired off one shot at me and one at Canderous, missing me completely and hitting Canderous' leg. Then he realised Davik was dead and panicked, "You may have me outnumbered and outgunned, but if I'm going down I'm taking all you with me!" he pulled out a small object I didn't see clearly enough to recognise until he said, "This thermal detonator will blow us all to bits!"
I sensed the blast from above, but couldn't dodge it. Rubble fell over me, even as I tried to run from the blast. "Damn those Sith! They'll bring this whole hangar down around our ears!" Calo managed to yell, before a particularly large lump of the building landed on his head. I was lucky compared to him, but I was still badly injured.
"Let's get this ship fired up. We have to get off this planet!" Canderous limped slightly as he made a beeline for the ship.
Onasi, Bastila, Mission, Zaalbar and T3-M4 suddenly appeared as a group, in the doorway, and rushed for the ship, too. Bastila was the only one who stopped to see if I was going to be able to make it. She wrapped an arm around my waist, allowing me to lean on her as we boarded the ship.
I could sense pain and fear all around me. Combined with my injuries, the heady scent of death and terror on the Force left me more than a little disoriented. I could barely stand. The sudden lurch of the ship, and my face being rudely introduced to the deck plating, would change that evaluation slightly - I couldn't stand.
x x x