Author´s note: Update! Finally! And happy New Year everyone!
Undead American: Don´t worry, I´m not going to do any Revan/Carth. Aside from the fact that the plot doesn´t really allow for any romantic interludes, I took the third option offered by the game.
I don´t really have much to say except: Thanks once again to all my readers for their kind words.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Keena slowly came to her senses, almost wishing that she hadn´t. She could have sworn that even her soles hurt as she sat up.
She had managed to tear off a piece of her cloak to use as a crude bandage for her right arm before passing out the previous night. She knew very well though that she would either need medical attention or kolto for it to be of any real use.
So, what the hell now? she thought glumly. Won´t be able to put up much of a fight if they find me. And I won´t be able to just tell the Jedi to put their weapons down, like with Mission.
Mission. The feelings she had sensed from the girl . . . anger, feelings of betrayal, disappointment . . . Keena clenched her jaw as she realised how close those feelings were to her own, albeit less potent.
No! No I´m not! I´m not like Revan! I jus . . . I wan . . . Keena´s nails dug into her palms as she fought yet another battle for her frail self-image.
I have every right to be angry! She patched the holes in her image with force of will and anger. Deep down, though, she felt the oh so familiar sting of doubt.
´´I´m not bad . . .´´ she muttered weakly under her breath. ´´I was just stupid enough to trust Revan . . . stupid enough to leave Eskon behind alive . . . stupid enough to sit on my hands all this time . . .´´
She leaned against the wall, closed her eyes and sighed. ´´. . . stupid . . .´´
When she actually felt her eyes moisten she gave herself a mental kick, wiped her eyes and drew the anger tight around her heart to shield from the pain. She couldn´t remember the last time she´d cried. Gotten teary with anger and disappointment, yes, but not cried.
Some damn instrument of vengeance I am.
A bitter, self-deriding laughter escaped her lips.
Enough. Time for a plan . . . not that those seem to work out lately.
Keena´s stomach growled fiercely, reminding her that she hadn´t eaten in a while.
Right. Food, then plan.
She stood up and shifted her weight between legs experimentally. Although both legs had been hurt in the explosion, just like the rest of her, the left one was more of an annoyance than anything else. The right one had recovered somewhat, although it too would need healing to be fully useable.
Next Keena moved both arms. The left one was more or less okay, although the burn hurt. The right arm was the real problem. Darth Kisi had really ripped up the muscles. The makeshift bandage and the feeble healing power Keena could channel into the wound had stopped the bleeding, but any careless movement might open it up again.
She felt another stab of hunger.
Ah well, one problem at a time. Can´t very well get anything done without nourishment.
Keena limped out of the ruined house and into the streets.
--------------------
Even looking as she did Keena didn´t draw much attention. The population of Brim´s scummy streets was divided into victims and victimizers. Most who laid eyes on her most likely figured her for a newcomer who had been stupid enough to wander into the wrong alley, and didn´t spare her a second glance.
It felt strange that Brim´s scummyness was working to her advantage.
She approached the first lower-quality diner she found, stopped by the doors and glanced around.
Keena had kept up her Force cloak ever since leaving the Verthandi Vigvöllur, and for the Jedi to find her in the crowds was very unlikely. Lately, however, probability had been turned upside down. She neither saw nor sensed anything, though, and walked in.
The first stop was the fresher, where she locked the door and washed the blood off her face.
As the surprisingly plentiful red washed down the drain Keena further examined the additional damage she had received in her fight with Kisi.
With Eskon´s apprentice,she reminded herself.
She carefully washed the cuts on her arm, as well as the bandage before replacing it.
Keena sighed and met her mirror self´s stare, reflecting that she really did look as tired as she felt. Body and soul.
In addition to looking like a prizefighter, she thought as she tentatively prodded the cut on the bridge of her nose.
Finally she did her best to clean her clothes. It felt like silly vanity; not wanting to look like she´d lost a fight.
Keena moved to the counter and assessed her options. As a Jedi she´d always taken good care of her body, maintaining a well-balanced and nutricious diet. The meals offered by the diner were about as far removed from that as possible.
Still, they had a certain . . . attraction.
Well, it´s not like giving in to gluttony is my biggest concern right now.
She ordered deep-fried bantha nuggets with unspeakably greasy sauce, a soft-drink, and artery-abusing accompaniments she neither could, nor wanted to, identify.
Keena ate with her left hand, and her tastebuds went berserk.
After the questionable meal was through, she sat back with a cup of caffa and feigned interest in the holoscreen playing some sport event or another and considered her next move, as well as waiting for the food to digest.
Half an hour after entering the diner, she was still just as clueless. She would need either time to heal, which probably wasn´t an option (and anyway she didn´t feel much like waiting), or kolto. A year ago Keena had known a few people who would know where to find the precious fluid, but probably all of them knew Pol Svikari. And since he had made a deal with the Sith to give away her location there was a good chance that he had at least told them to keep an eye open for her. She needed her wounds fixed, though, so it was just a question of whom to take chances with.
She was contemplating whether or not to have a second helping when she sensed a familar presence. One that didn´t invite bitterness or apprehension, but just simple anger. And a certain glee.
She got up from the greasy table, went past the greasy clientel and into the street. She caught a look at him just as he vanished behind a corner.
´´Pol.´´
About time the laws of probability break in my favor. I can´t go after Revan just yet . . . but you I can handle.
Keena elbowed her way through the crowd until she made it around the corner. He was still within sight. Right in the middle of the street in fact; easily noticeable.
Sloppy Pol. Sloppy.
She dug back in her memory for the skills she had picked up during her . . . second career, and combined them with her Force skills to tail him without drawing attention to it.
He led her to one of Brim City´s less populated areas, one full of storehouses for various syndicates and small hangars where for a large amount of credits one´s starship could rest in relative safety.
The thinning sea of people made the tailing more difficult. She had to let him out of her sight and trust in the Force to allow her to follow him. Of course every use of the Force made her detection by Sith or Jedi more likely, but damned if she was going to risk him getting away.
As she peeked around a corner and saw him approach an open air hangar she felt the fury boil.
Give me away to the Sith, will you? Have me sent back into a Sith "interrogation" room, or whatever it is they have planned for me? Oh Pol, Pol . . . you picked the wrong circumstances to mess with me. You´ll do fine in holding me over until I get to Revan.
Keena ran after him on silent toes, her right hand instinctively going for her old lightsaber. A sharp jolt of pain reminded her of her injury as she ran through the gate into the hanger. Pol turned around, smirking, with a blaster pistol in hand, and leaned against his ship.
Keena´s left hand snatched the Sith lightsaber out of her left pocket and activated it with a snap-hiss. The angry, crimson color seemed to match her mood perfectly and she briefly reflected that that was probably the reason the Sith preferred red focusing crystals.
She held the saber in a one handed grip, with about fifty feet separating the two of them.
´´Pol,´´ she growled.
´´Keen,´´ Pol sounded as self-satisfied as ever, ´´you look a little worse for wear, if you don´t mind me saying so. Hope the latest-supposedly-greatest Sith Lord doesn´t mind damaged goods.´´
Keena waved the red beam slowly. ´´Yes Pol, let´s talk "damage".´´
Enough sense made it through the anger for her to wonder why he was so casual. She let herself open up to the Force, sharpened her senses and felt her surroundings. There were no other life forms close by.
However, she picked up the buzzing of energy systems, the almost imperceptible whirring of motors: There were cloaked droids on either side of her.
And there was something else . . .
´´Expecting me, were you?´´ There was always the chance of Pol actually being smug enough to reveal what he had in store.
´´I had no idea you were worth so much to the right people, kid. With the kind of money Darth Eskon is willing to bleed for your delivery . . . well, I figured it was worth taking a few chances. And you said it yourself: I know everyone worth knowing on this spitball, and I only had to wait for one of them to see you and contact me. Then I just needed you to follow me here.´´ His fleshy grin stretched over his features. ´´Thanks for complying.´´
´´Oh anytime, Pol. Anytime.´´
What is he waiting for? He doesn´t know I know about the droids.
Then she saw it. A tiny shimmer on the ground between them. Like one made by a mine with a cloaking field.
Keena relaxed some of the tension from her body, and allowed herself a deriding laughter.
´´Pol: I realise you are your own biggest fan . . . but a few hours ago I killed a Dark Lord´s apprentice. I think it´s time for a lesson.´´
She sprang sideways through the air, slicing her lightsaber through the two cloaked droids on her left. The ones on her right uncloaked and along with their owner opened fire with low-intensity blasts.
The red lightsaber beam wove a dizzying pattern as it intercepted each and every one, sending the ones from the droids back to their source.
Just as the last droid fell Pol pulled something out of his pocket and hurled it.
Keena didn´t want to damage the ship so the wave of Force energy she threw at it sent the grenade to the side rather than back to it´s origin.
Pity. It would have made for a comic moment.
Instead of the expected explosion came a wide splash of sticky goo. Keena wasn´t quite out of the area of effect and some of the adhesive stuck to her leg and glued her to the ground.
Keena sensed the delicious trepidation from the man as he double-tapped the trigger. Guided by the Force she found the correct angle to hold the lightsaber to sent the bolts right back. They slammed into his chest, not making it through the cleverly disguised Echani armor, but sending him reeling back nonetheless.
She stuck the red beam into the goo, burning it away. At the same time her will moved the blue lightsaber from her belt and sent it activated in Pol´s direction.
Keena didn´t need to look to know that it had hit. His agonized scream told the whole story.
She casually finished burning herself free, sidestepped the mine, and called the lightsaber back to her as she walked over to Pol.
He was prone on the ground, his left hand holding the burned wound at his shoulder where his right arm had been.
´´You know, you dropped something,´´ Keena said as she kicked the severed limb to its owner.
´´You bitch!´´ he screamed, eyes wide with agony and disbelief. ´´You took my arm you stupid Jedi bitch!´´
´´Pol, right now . . .´´ she put her heel down on his throat, ´´you are the bitch.´´
Kill him, a voice whispered. Make him scream.
A few seconds passed in silence as she balanced her anger against her need for information.
Finally she took her foot off his neck and held the red lightsaber inches from his face as he coughed.
´´Right, Pol,´´ she said through her teeth, voice diamond-hard with fury. ´´You are going to tell me everything you know about Darth Eskon, and you are going to do it now.´´ She stabbed the beam into the ground right next to his ear, letting him hear the sizzling sound. ´´Defiance is not an option.´´
´´He . . . he se . . . sent . . .´´ his voice shook with pain but he brought it under control. ´´He sent his spies around this sector a few months ago, asking around about you, and . . . ohh . . . and promising a huge bounty for anyone who could give him your location. Darth Kisi and his men came here about the same time as the Republic Fleet . . . gnnh . . . doing I don´t know what, spying or something. Anyway, I-I knew it was you they were looking for but nobody knew where you had gone. But then you showed up. I had done some . . . some spying for the Sith, and I talked to Kisi. Aaahhh . . . but when you killed him last night I contacted his Master. He promised a fortune for bringing you to him alive. Uhhhh . . . even suggested the method.´´
´´Bring me where?´´
´´He said he´d be in a small private shuttle, something about this being his business and nobody elses´, by Gildra. I got the coordinates in the Blue Wing´s computer.´´
Keena held her breath. ´´And?´´
´´And what?! That´s all I know! I never even met him!´´
´´Eskon . . . Eskon is going to be all alone in a private shuttle?´´
´´That´s what I said!´´
No troops. No epic battle going on. Just me and him . . .
Keena took a deep breath and hardened her resolve. The lightsaber inched closer to the squirming amputee. ´´You know, I can´t help but wonder what the odds are of you telling him I´m on my way . . . even though Sith Lords don´t take kindly to failure or . . .´´ she gnashed her teeth ´´. . . disobedience.´´
Suddenly Keena sensed . . . something. Like some undefined threat she couldn´t place.
She glanced around. Nothing.
´´Did you do something?´´
Pol just stared at her silently.
´´Is someone . . .´´
Then the feeling was overshadowed by another one. One she remembered quite well from the war. She looked up in the sky. A few seconds later she was not in the least surprised when a squadron of Sith capital ships came out of hyperspace. Even less so when they opened fire on the Republic ships.
Guess Carth was right.
She alternated her glance between the sudden orbital battel and Pol. The original feeling hadn´t let up. Like there was just . . . some reason why she shouldn´t kill him.
Very, very grudgingly she deactivated the lightsaber, and grabbed his ship ID out of his breast pocket.
´´I´ll get back to you Pol, count on it.´´
She put her heel on his nose as a farewell before stepping on board the Blue Wing, and shutting the exit ramp behind her.
Keena ran to the cockpit, powered up the engines, and took to the air.
As she soared through Brim´s atmosphere she saw a volley of missiles hit the Republic landing site, as well as some of the Republic soldier hang outs.
She couldn´t tell the exact number of Sith ships, but it seemed to her that if anything Carth had understated Eskon´s resources. The capital ships lined up in ideal attack formations, hammering the Republic fleet with unified hails of turbolaser blasts, while fighters emerged to buss around the giant ships like swarms of insects. She even sensed several powerful Dark Side Force adepts, quite likely the reason she hadn´t sensed the incoming fleet earlier.
Eskon . . . this is what we fought AGAINST.
Republic starfighters emerged from their parents to engage the Sith ones, but they seemed terribly outnumbered and outmaneuvered.
Guided by the Force, Keena dodged an exploding Republic fighter as she looked up Gildra´s coordinates in Pol´s computer.
As she was out of practice, Keena was unprepared for the aura of large-scale death and fear as it hit her. It brought back the war and everything about it with terrible clarity.
Not again!
Lives, hopes, and dreams crushed in an instant. All for the sake of a perverted ideal.
Not! Again!
Keena slammed her fist down on the controls, activating the hyperdrive.
The last she saw of the Republic fleet it was starting to line up in defensive formations.
Then there was just the blue swirl of hyperspace.
--------------------
Keena sat in glum silence in the Blue Wing´s darkened cockpit.
She had left Brim behind an hour ago, but the sick feelings generated by the battle lingered.
During the war, back when she had at least some amount of mental discipline, they had crept up on her, and slowly but surely taken hold.
Now, with her ragged mind twisting this way and that it seemed she was like a black hole; sucking in the death and pain.
A Jedi would be able to block these feelings . . . to accept the death, she thought wearily, and a Sith would relish it. And here I am: Neither, and nothing . . . chafing in the middle . . . being pulled both ways like an elastic band . . . stretched so thin . . .
Her thoughts had been along these lines for this last hour, very familiar in nature, only enhanced by recent events.
Jedi fighting for their notions of freedom and peace . . . and the Sith fighting for power and ideas of natural selection. And me doing absolutely nothing of any use to either.
The darkness of the ship seemed to close in, thicken and choke.
All this power I have . . . and yet I am pathetic.
She leaned forward to prop her chin on her hands, and the pain in her arm brought her back.
Oh, right. Injuries. Since Pol needed me alive, and is a parasite prone to getting into trouble, chances are he stocked up on kolto. Better see what I have.
Keena activated the ship lights, squinting as her eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness. She moved backwards through the ship, carefully examining each room. Even if she found nothing of use at least the search would distract her from her own inner voices for a little while.
The sleeping cabin was quite ordinary, with a change of clothes in the closet and little else. Same went for the fresher; nothing but what one would expect. A storage room was full of various tools and parts for repairing engines and weapons. Eating area: Normal.
It wasn´t until she got to the second cabin that things got interesting. Pol had at some point converted it into a simple medical bay. A medical droid he had apparently scavanged for parts lay deactivated in a corner; it wouldn´t be much help. The belt of kolto hyposhots lying on the bed would, however.
Some luck at last.
Keena pulled out a handful of shots and injected them one by one into various parts of her body.
She sat down heavily on the bed and lay back as the fluids´ miraculous effects kicked in, soothing her aches and pains. If her mood hadn´t been so grim she might even have enjoyed the feeling.
She unwrapped the crude bandage around her right arm and watched as the wounds closed, leaving only pale, scabby skin behind. Her right hand found the lightsaber in her belt and swung it through the air experimentally. No pain.
Great, I´m a lean, mean, side-less fighting machine once more.
Keena clicked the saber hilt back into her belt. As she did so her hand brushed against something hard on the bed.
She picked up and examined the metallic ring, and realised it was a neural disruptor collar. In her size.
Her eyes glanced at the shelf holding various medical supplies and found the hypos of hardcore tranquilizer.
Eskon´s attempt at capturing her may have been pathetic but apparently his attempt at transporting her would have been less so.
Keena threw the collar into a corner.
Damn vermin.
She went back to the cockpit and double-checked the readings. She was still headed for Gildra. A course that would take her into Sith space.
She knew of Gildra. It was and old mining planet, long since stripped bare of any valuable minerals, and well out of the way. She had in fact considered it when looking for a place to exile herself, but it´s horrible conditions nixed that idea.
It was a barren wasteland, with nothing more interesting than blowing sand, mountains and abandoned mines. To top it off it was surrounded by a thick asteroid field, with the occasional rock making it through the atmosphere.
Plenty of hiding places. And Eskon would most likely be in one of them.
What the hell am I going to do? Sheesh . . . it was simpler with Revan . . . who might be dead now.
Could it be? Had the former Sith Lord moved beyond Keena´s revenge?
No. No it . . . she has a knack for worming out of tight situations. She HAS to be alive.
Keena felt a strange clenching within herself. She struggled uselessly to find the source. Had she felt this way when she heard news of Revan´s "death" at Bastila´s hands? She couldn´t remember.
She leaned back in the pilot´s chair and put a hand over her eyes.
Why can´t I EVER sort out my feelings?
Eventually Keena took a good long soak in the shower, enjoying the momentary respite it gave her from her own mind. Her torn, bloody, ragged clothes went into the washer.
As she activated the washer Keena had a mild start when she realised that in a way she had gone in a circle. This felt uncomfortably much like her trip from J-3109.
Yeah, except no Zaalbar . . . and no Mission. Somehow I don´t think she´ll be all that willing to fraternize with me any more.
Why did that bother her, she wondered as she walked stark naked to the cabin. It´s not like she´d ever entertained any thoughts of being able to make friends with her. Or had she?
Keena lay down on Pol´s bed, after changing the sheets, and wondered.
Could I have made friends with her? One of Revan´s best buddies?
She sighed. What was the point of wondering? It would never happen now. No friends, no loyalties, no home.
She picked up the two lightsabers and activated them. Half the room was bathed in a crimson light, the other in a blue one. She stood up and took a fighting pose in front of the full length mirror. The two weapons illuminated each half of her face.
How about that? The Force threw me a metaphor.
She deactivated the Sith saber and threw it onto a nightstand.
She sat down and stared into the blue beam.
This used to mean something to me. It . . . stood for something. I stood for something.
She swung it in a few circles.
And then it just became a piece of baggage . . . a souvenir I held onto for sentimental reasons. And what is it now?
Keena had no answer. She threw the hilt next to the other one, lay back, and closed her eyes.
-------------------
She was running through a battlefield, on some world or another, blasted beyond recognition by the Mandalorians. The squad was right behind her, charging up the hill towards the enemy.
TheMandalorians came out of their cover and opened fire with their heavy repeaters, creating a hailstorm of hot death.
Keena´s brilliant, shining lightsaber wove through the air, deflecting bolt after bolt, sending some back to their origin.
But there were more . . . and more . . . and more. Another Mandalorian squad joined the first one and the shots started getting through, cutting into the Republic troops.
Keena drew speed from the Force, moving with superhuman quickness, but she felt the men die one by one. Their pain was like hot gashes across the Padawan´s soul.
Finally the last one fell, his death joining the already thick aura of slaughter that dominated the battlefield. Even more pointless death.
´´Monsters!´´ she screamed, leaping at last to the top of the impossibly high hill. She landed right in the middle of the enemy and started swinging furiously.
´´Stupid . . . evil . . . savages!´´
Her blade sliced through armor, torsos and limbs, mowing them down like nothing. Exterminating them like the insects they were.
The last one fell. To late she noticed the grenade he had in his hand. And had already activated.
The explosion hit her.
When she came to she was in a darkened room. Dark in more than one way. It stank of corruption and evil.
Keena looked up . . . and saw a Jedi, chained to a torture table. His torso had a chastly wound going through it, and his face had been horribly mutilated with a lightsaber.
´´Eskon!´´
The Dark Lord of the Sith, clad in her trademark black armor, hooded cloak, and mask, looked up from her work.
´´Ah, there you are. Come to play the saviour, like he did?´´ the Dark Lord said mockingly. ´´A little late for that, don´t you think?´´
Ignoring her wounds Keena rose, charging the dark figure with a scream.
The Dark Lord dodged the thrusting attack as she brought her hand out from behind her.
Mandalore´s short sword sliced through Keena´s intestines.
Her momentum couldn´t be stopped though, and she slammed into her enemy, bringing them both down.
As Keena fell on top of her, the Dark Lord retaliated by shoving the sword even deeper.
The Padawan could taste her own blood, and felt the warmth leave her body.
With desperate strength she tore at the mask. She had to finally see the face, had to look her enemy in the eyes.
´´I hate you!´´
The mask came off.
´´I know you do´´ Keena´s face said back at her.
--------------------
Keena awoke drenched in cold sweat, flailing wildly at the suffocating darkness. It took her a few moments to tear herself away from the dream and into the real world.
She was sitting in the Blue Wing´s darkened cockpit. After a four day journey, she was almost to Gildra. She took a few deep breaths, trying to shake off the nightmare, and glanced at the control panel. Only a few minutes to go, in fact.
So Keena, are you just going to wing this one too?
Even after the four days of tedium, desperate to distract her mind from its self-destructive habits, she had come up with nothing.
Things will just have to play out whichever way they will. I just wish they didn´t have such a tendency to play out bad.
Something poked at the corners of Keena´s consciousness. Something demanded her attention.
She frowned, and concentrated. There had been a momentary . . . flicker . . . in the Force, just as she had been waking up. Like something had been observing her.
The ship had remained in hyperspace ever since leaving Brim. There was no way anyone could have snuck on board since then, and it had certainly been empty when she stole it.
And anyway, nothing could have remained hidden for so long.
Keena was close to dismissing the feeling when she remembered something.
´´This ship is small,´´ she said out loud to the cockpit. ´´There is no way anyone could have hidden from me for this long . . . except for a Cathar Jedi.´´
She swiveled the pilot´s chair away from the controls and faced the seemingly empty cockpit.
Juhani materialised in front of her.
