A voice! I had heard a voice i my headthat was not my own, a moment ago. I felt worn and weak. Numerous areas in my body were strangely numb but stranger yet was that voice. It reminded me of the days before Malachor. I managed to open my eyes. I was laying on the bottom of a glass cube. Around me were four other cubes each filled by a person. "Kolto Tanks." I thought. The lights behind the tanks f the others were glowing red. "A Med-Bay." I thought. The room was circular. "This is not the Harbinger!" I was confused. The med-bay on the Harbinger was very large and rectangular in shape. "Where am I?" I heard no sound from outside the door. This place, whatever it was, felt wrong. I had been in kolto tanks before. They were used for any wounds on the skin to prevent scars and enhance and speed up the healing process. When a patient awoke he was usually surrounded by a nurse and a doctor. "Strange, that no one checks my condition." I didn't know what happened to me but I realized I had been unconscious.
"But, that voice." I said aloud. Either imagination or… No, the force was out of reach for me. No two ways about it. "No sense staying here." I thought. I went to the door and opened it. There was no one in the hallway either. One door was locked and the other severely damaged. I looked at it more closely. It had numerous drill holes. Whoever lived or worked here had strange habits in opening doors. I turned around and made a right turn. The door actually opened. "How surprising. I thought doors were just for show here." Some supply cylinders and a Medical computer next to a lab bench was all that filled the room. I went to the console and checked its functions. "Peragus Medical Bay Console, Emergency Lockdown, Enter Command." Was written on the top of the screen. "Great, I must have been wounded some how and the Harbinger left me here. I'm on some strange mining station which seems to be deserted." I looked at the screen again and decided to check the logs.
The first log entry was 3 days old and mentioned me as the lone survivor of the "Ebon Hawk". Thoughts flashed through my mind. "The damaged vessel they mentioned yesterday outside my quarters. No, wait, who knows how long I have been unconscious. I might have been out a week or longer." How I got on the Ebon Hawk was a mystery to me. The entry talked of a T3 unit that repaired the Ebon Hawk and flew it here to Peragus. Those little druids are amazing. And now I owed my life to one. An old woman and a protocol droid were also recovered. I decided to listen to the second entry. "Could be a Jedi-" the female in the log said. I paused the recording in shock. "How would they know that?" this was getting stranger by the minute. I let the log entry continue. It mentioned another accident in the tunnels. Another meant there have been several. Despite my usual calm shivers ran up my spine. There was something wrong here. The last entry only confirmed my suspicions. It mentioned more accidents in the facility and the log entry was stopped abruptly by a warning message. The young woman in the log panicked and the entry was ended abruptly.
Something was wrong. I knew that. I checked the other functions on the medical computer. The second function mentioned that all the other patients were deceased. Only I recovered. The third option said that the four other patients were being treated for plasma burns. "Why are they dead?" I thought. I checked the last treatment. It read: "A lethal dose of sedatives was administered to all the tanks, including #3." If I had not been shocked before I was now. "Damn, if I could get a hold of a spike I could follow the treatment request to its source, and find this assassin."
The last option on the console was finally something positive. I opened the door to the Medical supply room and retrieved some chemicals. I went to the lab station and due to my basic chemistry knowledge managed to construct a primitive med pack. Along with the four from the storage I now had five. "Better than nothing." I thought. This mining station was not deserted on accident and someone tried to kill me and the other miners. Good thing they taught us a technique which made us nigh immune to poisons at the Jedi academy. I was still trapped though. I went back to the medical computer and realized I had overlooked one option. "Unlock door to mortuary."
"How nice." I said aloud. "Nothing like some dead people to keep the boredom away." Since it was the only thing I could do, I opened the door. Two bodies were there. An old woman, and a dead miner. This must be "the old woman" I thought. I felt her pulse. "Dead alright." I thought. I went to the dead miner. The sight that greeted me was both gruesome and joyful. His flesh was burned in numerous places but on his belt hung a plasma torch. I eyed it lovingly. "This should get me out alright." I was starting to get sick of my monologues. I turned towards the door and reeled in shock. The old woman, whom I just checked for life signs and found none, stood in front of me.
"Find what your looking for amongst the dead?" she asked me. Her voice struck me immediately. The voice that awoke me in the kolto tank. Her voice was soothing in a way. A low humming tone. Strange, it reminded me of the voice of a Jedi master who taught me meditation over 2 decades ago.
"Your voice- I heard it as I floated in the Kolto tank." I said suspiciously. She would have to be force sensitive to reach out telekinetically. She had her hood over her eyes. "Strange, how can she see?" I thought.
"Yes, I had hoped as much- I slept here to long and could not awaken. It may be that I reached out unconsciously, and your mind must have been a willing one. Or perhaps you have been trained for such things?" she asked curiously. "She must be a Jedi… or a Sith." I thought.
I decided to find out. "So you can touch minds, feign death… Who are you?"
"I am Kreia, and I am your rescuer- as you are mine."
"Ok, cryptic is her major character trait." I thought. Annoying was another trait.
She continued. "Tell me- do you recall what happened?"
I felt like I was being interrogated. "The last thing I remember was going to sleep on the Harbinger, a Republic warship on its way to Telos. I have already found out where we are. A mining station called Peragus. They mine fuel from the interior of Asteroids. A hazardous facility, to say the least. It seems deserted as well. How I got here is beyond me."
"A charming place. Your ship, the Harbinger, was attacked. You were the only survivor… a result of your Jedi training, no doubt." she said matter-of-factly.
"I guess everyone here knows what I am, or better, what I was." I thought angrily.
"Well, I am no Jedi anymore. I was exiled many years ago. The Jedi order and I have a… troubled history." I stated. "Ok I showed you my cards, you show me yours." I thought to myself. "No such luck."
"So it would seem. Keep your past- and let us focus on the here and now." I felt like a padawan being lectured by my mentor. Strange that I felt inferior to her.
"All right. This area of the facility is deserted but that does not mean the other areas are. They must have a dormitory here somewhere. I'll check there and the Hangar. All fuel stations have a hanger this can't be an exception. Do you know what happened here?" I asked filled with hope.
"I do not know. I was removed from the events of the world as I slept here. A survey of our surroundings may provide the answers we seek. But it would be best if we leave soon." I was wishing she would stop talking so elaborately. "Old age." I muttered.
I felt she was hiding something. "Why do, we need to leave?" Not that I wanted to stay on this rock ten more minutes but she was acting a little strange.
She seemed annoyed that I dared question her. "She is used to being in charge." I thought. "An interesting trait in an old woman."
She spoke up after scrutinizing me. "We were attacked once, and I fear our attackers will not give up the hunt so easily- without transport, weapons, and information, they will find us easy prey indeed."
What she said was profound and wise. I saw no need to argue it and again felt incredibly inferior to her. A strange power was emanating from her. I felt like a student before his mentor. She also seemed anxious for some reason.
"You seem nervous, worried. Is something wrong?"
"She paused a moment, thinking, it seemed. "Even as I slept I felt much unrest here. Minds colored with fear. I would find out as much as you can about this place quickly- I fear we will need to depart as suddenly as we arrived." she was quite nervous so much was obvious. But was it because of what she said it was… I did not know.
"At least we share a common bad feeling about this place." I thought.
"I will see what I can find out." I replied.
"You may wish to extend your search to some clothes… if only for the proper first impression." I looked down and flushed slightly. I had not realized that I was only wearing some underwear. And not the most stylish either.
"Good Idea." I said. "By the way, the patients in the kolto tanks were administered a lethal dose of sedatives." I told her suspiciously.
"Strange. Why did they spare you?" she asked.
"I am trained to resist poisons of the body." I replied. "They didn't."
"Indeed, a Jedi trance would protect one from such poisons… in fact the sedatives may have been meant to keep you unconscious."
"This old woman knows to much." I thought. "She must be a Jedi or once was."
She continued her theory. "It would prove lethal to those untrained in such techniques, however. Most curious."
"You know a lot about Jedi techniques." I told her. "In fact you remind me of one of my masters of long ago. She taught me the best forms of meditation. I never knew her name though."
"I was once a Jedi, yes, but never a teacher." I felt that she was telling the truth.
"Ah well, maybe we can reminisce when we have left this place. I will return soon to make sure your alright."
"And maybe to pry some secrets from you." I thought.
"I will leave you to the explorations of this place. Here I remain, and I will try to center myself." she said as I stepped out of the mortuary. "She certainly talks like a Jedi Master." I began thinking. "But something tells me not to trust her, at least not yet."
