Trouble: A Knights of the Old Republic Fan-fiction
by: Sam Lincoln
"Master Kenobi, wait a moment!" Queen Amidala called out as Revan and Obi-Wan walked out of the palace.
"Yes Queen Amidala?" Obi-Wan asked as he came to a stop.
"I have a question for you that I did not feel was appropriate to ask in front of the court. I was wondering, where is Ani...Anakin Skywalker that is. I was under the impression that he was your Padawan."
"That is correct, however, this mission is too dangerous for a Padawan. It requires the talents of two full fledged Jedi like myself and..." Obi-Wan paused before continuing, "Master Delwynn." Revan wondered how the queen would have reacted if Obi-Wan had decided to use Revan's real name.
"Of course...is he doing well then?"
"Oh yes, Anakin is the strongest Padawan his age, with limitless potential," Obi-Wan said. He noticed a flicker of pride cross Padme's face. :If I may ask, why are you so interested in younger Skywalker?" Obi-Wan countered.
"It's nothing really," Padme said quickly. "Just simple curiosity. I was there when Master Qui-Gon found him on Tatooine. Not to mention the huge debt I and the rest of the people of Naboo owe him. It's only natural that I would want to know how his training is progressing."
Revan felt the queen was rationalizing a bit too much, but whatever her feelings for Kenobi's Padawan were they were none of his concern. "Forgive us your majesty, but we're on a tight schedule," Revan said brusquely.
"Yes of course, forgive me for wasting your valuable time. Thank-you Master Kenobi."
"You're most welcome Queen Amidala, it was no trouble at all," Obi-Wan said before he and Revan walked towards the space port. Obi-Wan turned his head as they walked down the street and saw that Amidala remained standing on the top steps of the palace, obviously lost in thought.
"Have you made any headway yet T3?" Bastila asked the small droid. T3 chirped that he had not, nor that he had when she last asked five minutes earlier. "Well keep looking," Bastila retorted. Upon her return to Coruscant Bastila decided to eschew meditation and instead focus on finding out everything she could about Alton Behl, the Sith agent Revan discovered on Correllia.
"Query: The Jedi Council is already investigating the meat bag known as Alton Behl. What do you hope to accomplish by duplicating their efforts?"
"I just need to so something to help Revan HK," Bastila explained. "I can't just sit around and meditate, not while he's out there."
"Observation: It looks to me like T3 is doing all the works and you're just sitting around," HK noted sardonically.
"Don't worry HK, as soon as T3 finds anything we can go investigate it," Bastila told the droid, ignoring the obvious barb.
"Statement: I hope there will be something to blast. I grow weary of all this sitting around."
"As much as I don't like to say it so am I," Bastila admitted. "But until we have something to go on we have to wait." She sighed, "When you start commiserating with a psychotic assassin droid something is wrong with you," she told herself.
Bastila was reaching for her lightsaber with the intention of finding and empty training room to spar in when T3 began chirping. "What is it?" She asked.
"Statement: It appears T3 has found new information on Alton Behl," HK said. "According to Behl's financial records he invested a sizeable number of credits in a building complex here o Coruscant. Further cross-checking of Behl's travel records show frequent trips to Coruscant."
"That sounds like a lead to me," Bastila decided. "Care to go investigate HK?"
"Agreement: I thought you'd never ask."
The building in question was located deep in the underbelly of Coruscant, about as far away from the grandeur of the Jedi Temple as could be imagined. Bastila observed the unassuming gray structure from an alleyway across the street. She and HK had stood there for over an hour, gathering as much information as they could about the exterior of the one story building.
"Statement: My sensors still do not register any organic presence inside the structure," HK announced.
"So you think the building is abandoned?" Bastila asked.
"Statement: That is a possibility, or the walls are constructed of a material my sensors cannot penetrate. From this vantage point I cannot tell."
Bastila sighed and drummed her fingers on the hilt of the single-bladed lightsaber she had taken from the armor onboard the Ebon Hawk; a double-bladed lightsaber would be far too conspicuous. "Very well, we have waited long enough. Let's go inside."
The Jedi and the droid slipped across the street and walked up to the building. They stayed concealed in the half-light that permeated the lower section of the great city. They approached a side door that HK had selected earlier and Bastila withdrew a security spike from her belt. The spike overrode the door's lock and they entered the building.
The interior of the complex was almost as dark as the street they walked off of. Bastial could see no signs of life in the sterile corridor, but she knew this was the right place. She could feel the faint trace of the Dark Side in the air.
Bastila cautiously stretched out her senses in an attempt to see if any Force users were in the area. She could not sense any, but that did no comfort her because she could not sense any life of any kind. "Let us be quick about this," she told HK. "I do not care for the feel of this place."
"Statement: It was your idea to come here."
"I know that, and this has to be done, but that does not mean we need to dawdle."
They followed the hall they were in until they came to a computer terminal. "Ok HK, plug in."
"Statement: I would once again like to raise my objections to this plan. I'm an assassin, not a utility droid."
"You're not much of an assassin if you can't slice into a computer system. Now get cracking."
HK growled and a computer interface tool shot out of his wrist. The droid walked up to the terminal and jacked into an interface port. "Analysis: This terminal lacks the appropriate security clearance to provide us the information we seek. Hypothesis: Tapping directly into the central computer core should provide us with the necessary clearance."
"How do we get there?" Bastila asked.
"Statement: I was able to download a copy of the floor plan for this facility into my memory. The computer core is this way."
As Bastila followed HK through the building she wondered how the Sith could have established a presence on Coruscant under the very nose of the Jedi Council. It was obvious that they had infiltrated deep into the structure Republic in order to do so and it trouble her deeply to see the Republic she worked so hard to save beginning to crumble from forces inside it.
"HK are you detecting any life forms or droid energy signals?" Bastila asked.
HK swiveled his head back and forth, giving his scanning package plenty of time to function. "Negative: No ma'am. The walls are constructed out of a sensor-resistant material. It is impossible for me to get a reliable reading."
Bastila sighed, "Very well, let's just proceed cautiously."
The deeper into the building they moved the more apprehensive Bastila felt. The fact that they had yet to encounter anyone only heightened that feeling of apprehension. She tightened her grip on her lightsaber as she peered around a corner and looked down the hall. "HK doesn't it bother you that no one seems to be here?"
"Statement: Not particularly. This building might not be used as a residence for organics, but as a storage facility."
"but in that case wouldn't there be guards or something?"
"HK turned his head and stared at Bastila. "Query: Are you actually complaining that no one is trying to terminate you? Because if you are I have to agree, there's been a distinct lack of violence at the moment."
"I'm not complaining, just worrying," Bastila said as clarification.
"Observation: You worry too much."
"I don't want to be caught unaware is all," Bastila protested. "If we're right then this is the nerve center for Sith operations. Can you think of a more dangerous place to be?"
"Statement: The Sith Academy on Korriban, the Leviathan, the Shadowlands, the Star Forge..."
Bastila held up a hand, "Alright HK enough you've made your point. Can we get to the computer core without any additional editorializing, please?"
They walked the rest of the way to the computer core in silence; coming to a stop in front of a small, unmarked door. HK overrode the door's security measures while Bastila held her lightsaber at the ready. The door opened and Bastila sighed in relief when they were not met by a squad of troopers of Dark Jedi. The room itself was lit only by the glow of the computer monitors that lined the walls.
"Ok HK, find out whatever you can," Bastila instructed the droid.
"Statement: Thank-you for providing me with such valuable direction. I never would have known what to do on my own."
"Sarcasm in a droid is terribly unbecoming," Bastila muttered under her breath as she watched HK slice the computer system. She leaned against a wall and let herself relax for a moment.
"Cautionary: Uh-oh."
Bastila's focus instantly snapped back into the present. "What's wrong?"
"Statement: I seem to have tripped a silent alarm in my attempts to infiltrate this computer network. Recommendation: We should leave before security forces arrive." HK detached himself from the terminal.
The door to the room opened and a squad of humanoid war droids entered the room. Each one held a menacing-looking blaster rifle.
"You are under arrest for unauthorized access," the lead droid said in a metallic voice. "You will place yourself in our custody for questioning. Failure to comply will result in termination."
"I am Jedi Master Brin Kyja," Bastila said in an attempt to bluff their way out. "This facility is linked to a known Sith Agent. We were executing a lawful search of the premises."
"Target has identified itself as a Jedi. Initializing Jedi protocols. Target has ten seconds to comply with the previous request or target will be terminated."
"Statement: While I don't enjoy blasting droids as much as organics I will take pleasure in sending you to the scrap heap," HK said as he raised his blaster rifle and shot the head off the lead droid.
Bastila activated her lightsaber as the surviving droids opened fire. "HK, I'll provide cover, you dispatch the droids." Her lightsaber was a blur as she deflected a volley of blaster bolts from the security droids.
"Acknowledgement!" HK said as he went into combat mode. With Bastila taking care of the enemy droids' attacks HK was able to pick droids off at his leisure.
"I think we've overstayed our welcome," Bastila said when the last of the droids was destroyed. "Is the way we entered still available to us?"
"Statement: At the time the alarm went off it was. And even if there is a lockdown in effect it is the closest exit to our current position."
Bastila nodded, "Then we'd better get moving."
They ran out into the hall and were met by an even larger contingent of security droids. This time they did not offer Bastila and HK a chance to surrender and opened fire immediately.
Bastila dove for the floor. She felt the air above her sizzle with blaster fire. She extended her hand and released a wave of Force energy that scattered the droids like matchsticks.
Bastila picked herself up off the ground. "Are you ok HK?"
"Statement: Nothing my internal systems cannot repair."
They continued to make their way towards the exit. Around each corner they faced an increasing number of droid opponents. They did not pose a significant challenge to a pair of fighters as skilled as Bastila and HK, but it was enough to slow them down considerably.
"How many of these things are there?" Bastila complained as she decapitated a more massive variant they'd been fighting.
"Statement: The benefit of droids over organics is that you do not need elaborate living spaces to house them. A complex this size could easily hold thousands of droids."
"Thank-you for that comforting thought," Bastila told the assassin droid. To that point they had been lucky, neither of them were seriously injured. However BastilaFro was concerned that they might be overcome by the sheer number of droids coming at them.
"How close are we to the exit?" She asked.
"Statement: Just a few hundred meters beyond this intersection."
"So expect them to throw everything they have at us there," Bastila theorized.
"Agreement: That would be logical."
From where they stood the intersection looked clear. They could also heard the advancing tromp of droids coming from behind them. "Why do I get the feeling we're being herded?" Bastila thought to herself.
When they got closer to the intersection a pair of spherical droids rolled into the junction. The droids unfolded into squat, insectile forms, each armed with a pair of heavy, repeating blasters. A shimmering around the droids revealed that they were protected by an energy shield. The droids locked onto to Bastila and opened fire.
Bastila was barely able to bring her lightsaber up in time to block these new droids' attack. She was staggered by the force of the blasters against her lightsaber. They reminded Bastila of the war droids she encountered in the Sith Embassy on Manaan and the detached part of her brain wondered if these droids were a refined version of that design.
Bastila let herself slip deeply into the Force and she released a bolt of Force energy at the droids in an attempt to disable them. The blast was not successful in disabling the droids, but it did overload their shielding, leaving them open to attack.
Bastila seized on the opportunity and she called on the Force to enhance her speed. She dashed in between the stubby droids and sliced them apart before they could restore their shielding.
The sound of someone clapping caused Bastila to turn around. She saw a tall figure dressed in an elegant black jumpsuit walking towards her. A black cloak draped his almost gaunt frame and his face was covered by a Sith mask. Bastila knew that this was no vision; she could feel the Dark Side radiating from him.
"Most impressive," the man said in a deep rolling voice that was electronically altered by his mask. "You displayed tremendous power and resourcefulness against those droidekas, for a Jedi anyway, but I wonder how well you will fair against me."
"I do not fear the Dark Side!" Bastila declared. Out of the corner of her eye she saw HK raise his blaster rifle and aim it at the Sith.
"You might not fear the Dark Side, but you will fear me," the Sith said. He raised his hand and fired blue bolts of Force Lightning at HK. The droid fell to the ground, his joints smoking. "I'm afraid I broke your toy. A remarkable piece of craftsmanship, but in the end just a fragile droid."
Bastila fought down her concern for HK, she knew he had backup systems for his backup systems. "To be perfectly honest I never cared much for that droid," she said both defiantly and truthfully.
"Such a tremendous spirit, it is a shame I have to destroy you."
Bastila tightened her grip on her lightsaber, "Many have tried, but none have succeeded."
"Bold words from a Jedi, but can you back them up?" The Sith threw open his cloak and drew an ornate lightsaber with an unusual curved hilt.
"Turn back from the Dark Side," Bastila counseled, "it only leads to ruin."
"Petty Jedi platitudes won't save you," the Sith informed Bastila. He held up his lightsaber in salute before lunging at Bastila.
Bastila parried his attack with ease. Her mind flashed back to her vision on Rakata and she hoped that this time she could win both the physical and metaphysical battle.
Bastila fended off another attack by her opponent. He was good and used a style of attack that was considered archaic even in Bastila's time. She wondered about the s ort of person it would take to master such and outmoded style of lightsaber fighting. She decided that it was a way to give him an advantage when fighting a Jedi used to dealing with a more traditional opponent. However Bastila was hardly an ordinary Jedi. She refused to fall for the Sith's feints and countered each of his attacks.
"You have some skill with the lightsaber," the Sith allowed as they circled each other. Neither the Jedi or the Sith allowed themselves to show the amount of energy they had already expended in the fight. "If the situation was different I might be inclined to take you on as my apprentice. Together we could overthrow my master and rule the galaxy."
"If only you knew the whole of it," Bastila thought to herself. "Power is not a coin that can be cared," she told the Sith. "What you offer is nothing more than the promise of a slow, violent death."
"Your alternative is a quick, painful death," the Sith retorted as he reached out and slapped at Bastila's lightsaber with his own.
"So long as I follow the light death is merely a transition to a new state," Bastila replied. "It is nothing to be feared."
"Let us find out how eager you are to find out if that's true," the Sith said as he renewed his attack.
This time the Sith eschewed the subtlety of his earlier attacks for greater power. Bastila continued to ward his advances off, but she had to focus more fully on his attack at the cost of her awareness of her surroundings. She was so absorbed with blocking the Sith's flurry of strikes that she did not sense him lifting the remains of a droideka with the Force and hurling it at her. The ruined droid connected with the back of Bastila's head, knocking her out.
Darth Tyranus removed his mask and stared down at the unconscious Jedi. He despised wearing the mask, but his master's orders were quite specific, no Jedi could see his face, not yet. He wondered who this young Jedi was, only the most powerful in the order were capable of fighting him to a standstill the way this girl had.
"Quickly, take her away," he ordered the droids who entered the intersection. "Lord Sidious wishes for this Jedi to be questioned."
"What about the droid?" The droid commander asked.
"Scrap it," Tyranus instructed as he watched two droids place Bastila on a stretcher and carry her out of the building. The Sith Lord followed the stretcher. He was eager to learn more about this strange Jedi; perhaps she held some secret that would allow him to turn the tables on his master. It was the Sith Way after all.
HK-47's systems returned to functionality just as a pair of droids started to drag him away. "Query: what are you two worthless buckets of bolts doing?"
"Taking you to be scrapped," One of the droids said, too surprised by HK's question to say anything but the truth.
"Negative: No you will not." HK reached out and smash the head's of both droids. "Statement: That was most enjoyable."
HK stood up and surveyed the intersection. He could find no sign of Bastila beyond her lightsaber lying on the floor, which HK picked up. The droid reasoned that the Sith must have captured Bastila. He also determined that the best course of action was to let Master Revan know what had happened. HK knew that Revan would stop at nothing to rescue Bastila and he eagerly awaited assisting his master in accomplishing that goal. HK picked up his blaster rifle and walked out of the Sith facility.
In his private meditation chamber Yoda looked up as Master Windu entered the room. "Successful were you on Kashyyyk?"
"Yes, I was able to deny Captain Brecktan's men access to the Star Map. Bastila's information proved to be quite helpful. Is she in the temple? I wish to thank her."
"Done something foolish Jedi Shan has. Captured by the Sith she was."
"Does Revan know?"
"Not officially, but know he must. Strong their bond is. React badly he will."
"Perhaps we should attempt to locate Bastila ourselves then. Convince Revan that we can find her for him."
Yoda raised an eyebrow, "Lost her once to the Sith already Revan has. Sit quietly while we look do you think he will?"
Windu shook his head, "No, you're right he will charge in headlong without any thought about the consequences of his actions."
Yoda sighed, "Too soon, too soon, not ready he is."
"We can only do what the Force wills," Windu said philosophically.
"Know this I do," Yoda harrumphed. "but worked too hard we have to get to this point to see it crumble."
"Perhaps this is the Force's way of telling us we made the wrong decision," Windu pointed out.
Yoda looked contemplative, "Perhaps. Meditate on it I will."
Windu nodded, "I will see how Anakin is doing without his master around." He turned and walked out of the room leaving the ancient Jedi Master alone with his thoughts.
-to be continued-
Author's notes: Chapter 11 is in the books. Chapter 12 will be along presently. Thanks for reading and reviewing.
by: Sam Lincoln
Rating: PG
Summary: Will Trouble ever let a pair of Jedi Knights be?
Spoilers: If you haven't finished the game you'll be damn lost.
Trouble: Chapter Eleven"Master Kenobi, wait a moment!" Queen Amidala called out as Revan and Obi-Wan walked out of the palace.
"Yes Queen Amidala?" Obi-Wan asked as he came to a stop.
"I have a question for you that I did not feel was appropriate to ask in front of the court. I was wondering, where is Ani...Anakin Skywalker that is. I was under the impression that he was your Padawan."
"That is correct, however, this mission is too dangerous for a Padawan. It requires the talents of two full fledged Jedi like myself and..." Obi-Wan paused before continuing, "Master Delwynn." Revan wondered how the queen would have reacted if Obi-Wan had decided to use Revan's real name.
"Of course...is he doing well then?"
"Oh yes, Anakin is the strongest Padawan his age, with limitless potential," Obi-Wan said. He noticed a flicker of pride cross Padme's face. :If I may ask, why are you so interested in younger Skywalker?" Obi-Wan countered.
"It's nothing really," Padme said quickly. "Just simple curiosity. I was there when Master Qui-Gon found him on Tatooine. Not to mention the huge debt I and the rest of the people of Naboo owe him. It's only natural that I would want to know how his training is progressing."
Revan felt the queen was rationalizing a bit too much, but whatever her feelings for Kenobi's Padawan were they were none of his concern. "Forgive us your majesty, but we're on a tight schedule," Revan said brusquely.
"Yes of course, forgive me for wasting your valuable time. Thank-you Master Kenobi."
"You're most welcome Queen Amidala, it was no trouble at all," Obi-Wan said before he and Revan walked towards the space port. Obi-Wan turned his head as they walked down the street and saw that Amidala remained standing on the top steps of the palace, obviously lost in thought.
"Have you made any headway yet T3?" Bastila asked the small droid. T3 chirped that he had not, nor that he had when she last asked five minutes earlier. "Well keep looking," Bastila retorted. Upon her return to Coruscant Bastila decided to eschew meditation and instead focus on finding out everything she could about Alton Behl, the Sith agent Revan discovered on Correllia.
"Query: The Jedi Council is already investigating the meat bag known as Alton Behl. What do you hope to accomplish by duplicating their efforts?"
"I just need to so something to help Revan HK," Bastila explained. "I can't just sit around and meditate, not while he's out there."
"Observation: It looks to me like T3 is doing all the works and you're just sitting around," HK noted sardonically.
"Don't worry HK, as soon as T3 finds anything we can go investigate it," Bastila told the droid, ignoring the obvious barb.
"Statement: I hope there will be something to blast. I grow weary of all this sitting around."
"As much as I don't like to say it so am I," Bastila admitted. "But until we have something to go on we have to wait." She sighed, "When you start commiserating with a psychotic assassin droid something is wrong with you," she told herself.
Bastila was reaching for her lightsaber with the intention of finding and empty training room to spar in when T3 began chirping. "What is it?" She asked.
"Statement: It appears T3 has found new information on Alton Behl," HK said. "According to Behl's financial records he invested a sizeable number of credits in a building complex here o Coruscant. Further cross-checking of Behl's travel records show frequent trips to Coruscant."
"That sounds like a lead to me," Bastila decided. "Care to go investigate HK?"
"Agreement: I thought you'd never ask."
The building in question was located deep in the underbelly of Coruscant, about as far away from the grandeur of the Jedi Temple as could be imagined. Bastila observed the unassuming gray structure from an alleyway across the street. She and HK had stood there for over an hour, gathering as much information as they could about the exterior of the one story building.
"Statement: My sensors still do not register any organic presence inside the structure," HK announced.
"So you think the building is abandoned?" Bastila asked.
"Statement: That is a possibility, or the walls are constructed of a material my sensors cannot penetrate. From this vantage point I cannot tell."
Bastila sighed and drummed her fingers on the hilt of the single-bladed lightsaber she had taken from the armor onboard the Ebon Hawk; a double-bladed lightsaber would be far too conspicuous. "Very well, we have waited long enough. Let's go inside."
The Jedi and the droid slipped across the street and walked up to the building. They stayed concealed in the half-light that permeated the lower section of the great city. They approached a side door that HK had selected earlier and Bastila withdrew a security spike from her belt. The spike overrode the door's lock and they entered the building.
The interior of the complex was almost as dark as the street they walked off of. Bastial could see no signs of life in the sterile corridor, but she knew this was the right place. She could feel the faint trace of the Dark Side in the air.
Bastila cautiously stretched out her senses in an attempt to see if any Force users were in the area. She could not sense any, but that did no comfort her because she could not sense any life of any kind. "Let us be quick about this," she told HK. "I do not care for the feel of this place."
"Statement: It was your idea to come here."
"I know that, and this has to be done, but that does not mean we need to dawdle."
They followed the hall they were in until they came to a computer terminal. "Ok HK, plug in."
"Statement: I would once again like to raise my objections to this plan. I'm an assassin, not a utility droid."
"You're not much of an assassin if you can't slice into a computer system. Now get cracking."
HK growled and a computer interface tool shot out of his wrist. The droid walked up to the terminal and jacked into an interface port. "Analysis: This terminal lacks the appropriate security clearance to provide us the information we seek. Hypothesis: Tapping directly into the central computer core should provide us with the necessary clearance."
"How do we get there?" Bastila asked.
"Statement: I was able to download a copy of the floor plan for this facility into my memory. The computer core is this way."
As Bastila followed HK through the building she wondered how the Sith could have established a presence on Coruscant under the very nose of the Jedi Council. It was obvious that they had infiltrated deep into the structure Republic in order to do so and it trouble her deeply to see the Republic she worked so hard to save beginning to crumble from forces inside it.
"HK are you detecting any life forms or droid energy signals?" Bastila asked.
HK swiveled his head back and forth, giving his scanning package plenty of time to function. "Negative: No ma'am. The walls are constructed out of a sensor-resistant material. It is impossible for me to get a reliable reading."
Bastila sighed, "Very well, let's just proceed cautiously."
The deeper into the building they moved the more apprehensive Bastila felt. The fact that they had yet to encounter anyone only heightened that feeling of apprehension. She tightened her grip on her lightsaber as she peered around a corner and looked down the hall. "HK doesn't it bother you that no one seems to be here?"
"Statement: Not particularly. This building might not be used as a residence for organics, but as a storage facility."
"but in that case wouldn't there be guards or something?"
"HK turned his head and stared at Bastila. "Query: Are you actually complaining that no one is trying to terminate you? Because if you are I have to agree, there's been a distinct lack of violence at the moment."
"I'm not complaining, just worrying," Bastila said as clarification.
"Observation: You worry too much."
"I don't want to be caught unaware is all," Bastila protested. "If we're right then this is the nerve center for Sith operations. Can you think of a more dangerous place to be?"
"Statement: The Sith Academy on Korriban, the Leviathan, the Shadowlands, the Star Forge..."
Bastila held up a hand, "Alright HK enough you've made your point. Can we get to the computer core without any additional editorializing, please?"
They walked the rest of the way to the computer core in silence; coming to a stop in front of a small, unmarked door. HK overrode the door's security measures while Bastila held her lightsaber at the ready. The door opened and Bastila sighed in relief when they were not met by a squad of troopers of Dark Jedi. The room itself was lit only by the glow of the computer monitors that lined the walls.
"Ok HK, find out whatever you can," Bastila instructed the droid.
"Statement: Thank-you for providing me with such valuable direction. I never would have known what to do on my own."
"Sarcasm in a droid is terribly unbecoming," Bastila muttered under her breath as she watched HK slice the computer system. She leaned against a wall and let herself relax for a moment.
"Cautionary: Uh-oh."
Bastila's focus instantly snapped back into the present. "What's wrong?"
"Statement: I seem to have tripped a silent alarm in my attempts to infiltrate this computer network. Recommendation: We should leave before security forces arrive." HK detached himself from the terminal.
The door to the room opened and a squad of humanoid war droids entered the room. Each one held a menacing-looking blaster rifle.
"You are under arrest for unauthorized access," the lead droid said in a metallic voice. "You will place yourself in our custody for questioning. Failure to comply will result in termination."
"I am Jedi Master Brin Kyja," Bastila said in an attempt to bluff their way out. "This facility is linked to a known Sith Agent. We were executing a lawful search of the premises."
"Target has identified itself as a Jedi. Initializing Jedi protocols. Target has ten seconds to comply with the previous request or target will be terminated."
"Statement: While I don't enjoy blasting droids as much as organics I will take pleasure in sending you to the scrap heap," HK said as he raised his blaster rifle and shot the head off the lead droid.
Bastila activated her lightsaber as the surviving droids opened fire. "HK, I'll provide cover, you dispatch the droids." Her lightsaber was a blur as she deflected a volley of blaster bolts from the security droids.
"Acknowledgement!" HK said as he went into combat mode. With Bastila taking care of the enemy droids' attacks HK was able to pick droids off at his leisure.
"I think we've overstayed our welcome," Bastila said when the last of the droids was destroyed. "Is the way we entered still available to us?"
"Statement: At the time the alarm went off it was. And even if there is a lockdown in effect it is the closest exit to our current position."
Bastila nodded, "Then we'd better get moving."
They ran out into the hall and were met by an even larger contingent of security droids. This time they did not offer Bastila and HK a chance to surrender and opened fire immediately.
Bastila dove for the floor. She felt the air above her sizzle with blaster fire. She extended her hand and released a wave of Force energy that scattered the droids like matchsticks.
Bastila picked herself up off the ground. "Are you ok HK?"
"Statement: Nothing my internal systems cannot repair."
They continued to make their way towards the exit. Around each corner they faced an increasing number of droid opponents. They did not pose a significant challenge to a pair of fighters as skilled as Bastila and HK, but it was enough to slow them down considerably.
"How many of these things are there?" Bastila complained as she decapitated a more massive variant they'd been fighting.
"Statement: The benefit of droids over organics is that you do not need elaborate living spaces to house them. A complex this size could easily hold thousands of droids."
"Thank-you for that comforting thought," Bastila told the assassin droid. To that point they had been lucky, neither of them were seriously injured. However BastilaFro was concerned that they might be overcome by the sheer number of droids coming at them.
"How close are we to the exit?" She asked.
"Statement: Just a few hundred meters beyond this intersection."
"So expect them to throw everything they have at us there," Bastila theorized.
"Agreement: That would be logical."
From where they stood the intersection looked clear. They could also heard the advancing tromp of droids coming from behind them. "Why do I get the feeling we're being herded?" Bastila thought to herself.
When they got closer to the intersection a pair of spherical droids rolled into the junction. The droids unfolded into squat, insectile forms, each armed with a pair of heavy, repeating blasters. A shimmering around the droids revealed that they were protected by an energy shield. The droids locked onto to Bastila and opened fire.
Bastila was barely able to bring her lightsaber up in time to block these new droids' attack. She was staggered by the force of the blasters against her lightsaber. They reminded Bastila of the war droids she encountered in the Sith Embassy on Manaan and the detached part of her brain wondered if these droids were a refined version of that design.
Bastila let herself slip deeply into the Force and she released a bolt of Force energy at the droids in an attempt to disable them. The blast was not successful in disabling the droids, but it did overload their shielding, leaving them open to attack.
Bastila seized on the opportunity and she called on the Force to enhance her speed. She dashed in between the stubby droids and sliced them apart before they could restore their shielding.
The sound of someone clapping caused Bastila to turn around. She saw a tall figure dressed in an elegant black jumpsuit walking towards her. A black cloak draped his almost gaunt frame and his face was covered by a Sith mask. Bastila knew that this was no vision; she could feel the Dark Side radiating from him.
"Most impressive," the man said in a deep rolling voice that was electronically altered by his mask. "You displayed tremendous power and resourcefulness against those droidekas, for a Jedi anyway, but I wonder how well you will fair against me."
"I do not fear the Dark Side!" Bastila declared. Out of the corner of her eye she saw HK raise his blaster rifle and aim it at the Sith.
"You might not fear the Dark Side, but you will fear me," the Sith said. He raised his hand and fired blue bolts of Force Lightning at HK. The droid fell to the ground, his joints smoking. "I'm afraid I broke your toy. A remarkable piece of craftsmanship, but in the end just a fragile droid."
Bastila fought down her concern for HK, she knew he had backup systems for his backup systems. "To be perfectly honest I never cared much for that droid," she said both defiantly and truthfully.
"Such a tremendous spirit, it is a shame I have to destroy you."
Bastila tightened her grip on her lightsaber, "Many have tried, but none have succeeded."
"Bold words from a Jedi, but can you back them up?" The Sith threw open his cloak and drew an ornate lightsaber with an unusual curved hilt.
"Turn back from the Dark Side," Bastila counseled, "it only leads to ruin."
"Petty Jedi platitudes won't save you," the Sith informed Bastila. He held up his lightsaber in salute before lunging at Bastila.
Bastila parried his attack with ease. Her mind flashed back to her vision on Rakata and she hoped that this time she could win both the physical and metaphysical battle.
Bastila fended off another attack by her opponent. He was good and used a style of attack that was considered archaic even in Bastila's time. She wondered about the s ort of person it would take to master such and outmoded style of lightsaber fighting. She decided that it was a way to give him an advantage when fighting a Jedi used to dealing with a more traditional opponent. However Bastila was hardly an ordinary Jedi. She refused to fall for the Sith's feints and countered each of his attacks.
"You have some skill with the lightsaber," the Sith allowed as they circled each other. Neither the Jedi or the Sith allowed themselves to show the amount of energy they had already expended in the fight. "If the situation was different I might be inclined to take you on as my apprentice. Together we could overthrow my master and rule the galaxy."
"If only you knew the whole of it," Bastila thought to herself. "Power is not a coin that can be cared," she told the Sith. "What you offer is nothing more than the promise of a slow, violent death."
"Your alternative is a quick, painful death," the Sith retorted as he reached out and slapped at Bastila's lightsaber with his own.
"So long as I follow the light death is merely a transition to a new state," Bastila replied. "It is nothing to be feared."
"Let us find out how eager you are to find out if that's true," the Sith said as he renewed his attack.
This time the Sith eschewed the subtlety of his earlier attacks for greater power. Bastila continued to ward his advances off, but she had to focus more fully on his attack at the cost of her awareness of her surroundings. She was so absorbed with blocking the Sith's flurry of strikes that she did not sense him lifting the remains of a droideka with the Force and hurling it at her. The ruined droid connected with the back of Bastila's head, knocking her out.
Darth Tyranus removed his mask and stared down at the unconscious Jedi. He despised wearing the mask, but his master's orders were quite specific, no Jedi could see his face, not yet. He wondered who this young Jedi was, only the most powerful in the order were capable of fighting him to a standstill the way this girl had.
"Quickly, take her away," he ordered the droids who entered the intersection. "Lord Sidious wishes for this Jedi to be questioned."
"What about the droid?" The droid commander asked.
"Scrap it," Tyranus instructed as he watched two droids place Bastila on a stretcher and carry her out of the building. The Sith Lord followed the stretcher. He was eager to learn more about this strange Jedi; perhaps she held some secret that would allow him to turn the tables on his master. It was the Sith Way after all.
HK-47's systems returned to functionality just as a pair of droids started to drag him away. "Query: what are you two worthless buckets of bolts doing?"
"Taking you to be scrapped," One of the droids said, too surprised by HK's question to say anything but the truth.
"Negative: No you will not." HK reached out and smash the head's of both droids. "Statement: That was most enjoyable."
HK stood up and surveyed the intersection. He could find no sign of Bastila beyond her lightsaber lying on the floor, which HK picked up. The droid reasoned that the Sith must have captured Bastila. He also determined that the best course of action was to let Master Revan know what had happened. HK knew that Revan would stop at nothing to rescue Bastila and he eagerly awaited assisting his master in accomplishing that goal. HK picked up his blaster rifle and walked out of the Sith facility.
In his private meditation chamber Yoda looked up as Master Windu entered the room. "Successful were you on Kashyyyk?"
"Yes, I was able to deny Captain Brecktan's men access to the Star Map. Bastila's information proved to be quite helpful. Is she in the temple? I wish to thank her."
"Done something foolish Jedi Shan has. Captured by the Sith she was."
"Does Revan know?"
"Not officially, but know he must. Strong their bond is. React badly he will."
"Perhaps we should attempt to locate Bastila ourselves then. Convince Revan that we can find her for him."
Yoda raised an eyebrow, "Lost her once to the Sith already Revan has. Sit quietly while we look do you think he will?"
Windu shook his head, "No, you're right he will charge in headlong without any thought about the consequences of his actions."
Yoda sighed, "Too soon, too soon, not ready he is."
"We can only do what the Force wills," Windu said philosophically.
"Know this I do," Yoda harrumphed. "but worked too hard we have to get to this point to see it crumble."
"Perhaps this is the Force's way of telling us we made the wrong decision," Windu pointed out.
Yoda looked contemplative, "Perhaps. Meditate on it I will."
Windu nodded, "I will see how Anakin is doing without his master around." He turned and walked out of the room leaving the ancient Jedi Master alone with his thoughts.
-to be continued-
Author's notes: Chapter 11 is in the books. Chapter 12 will be along presently. Thanks for reading and reviewing.