Disclaimer: I don't own the galaxy, the characters, or anything else. But, you probably already know that.
Author's Note: Well, I was watching the cutscenes of Jedi Knight today as well as reading the excellent Dark Forces Saga RPG supplement by Abel G. Peña and Jason Fry and all of a sudden I got the inspiration to write this fic. A lot of the information was culled from those two authors as well as the game.
I look across the rocky landscape of this planet and slowly search for our target. The black smoke from the burning transport assaults my nose as I walk with my companions through the canyons and valleys of Ruusan. The Twi'Lek to my right quickly notices something in a nearby valley, the burning remains of an HWK-290 lays on its top.
I remember my master's orders that were issued just a few minutes ago. He had sensed that Katarn had somehow managed to escape the falling ship, and we were to find him and kill him.
My mind wanders to the events that led me to choosing this path. It was almost a year ago that I first set my eyes upon the woman to my left. From the moment I saw her in my father's court, I was mesmerized by her. I poured myself into her teachings, learned the beliefs of The Church of the Dark Side. After only a small amount of time I found myself in love with her. I approached her one night, and told her of my feelings. Imagine my joy when I found out that she felt the same way about me as I did about her.
The remnants of the ship are getting larger in my vision as we begin to move down towards it. I view the ship that I have seen for just the briefest of moments. The left wing has been shorn off and the upper portion of the hull is beginning to collapse under the weight of the ship's lower half. Surely no one could have survived the crash…
My mind once again returns to the past, returns to the night that I wish I could relive. I remember the anger and lust burning in me as she told me that we could not be together. The anger in me swelled as she explained that due to her being betrothed to my father, our feelings could never be realized. Filled with the anger of being denied yet again, and the tug of the Dark Side teachings that I had been exposed to, I chose to walk this path. That night, I took her lightsaber and beheaded my own father. It was simple to do, I walked up to him and brought the blue blade down upon him. The moment the blade sliced through him, the explosion of anger and relief that followed was immense. For the first time in my life I felt powerful. I felt like I was finally in control of my life. No one would reject me again, not the Palawa monks or anyone else. Little did I know that in my moment of independence, I was actually moving into the control of someone else.
The next few months happened in a blur. I remember going through the temple of the monks on Bunduki and slaughtering them in my rage. All I remember of that slaughter is that at the end, when I looked at the dead monks I felt no remorse. There was no guilt in my mind after the slaughter. I didn't feel guilt for anything after that, all there was my anger and the power.
Right now, I'm searching in my mind for the event that brought this change in me. I remember feeling the first twinge of guilt after the Jedi was caught and brutally slaughtered without mercy by Jerec on the Vengenace. It was soon after that that I realized that Sariss did not truly return my affections. It was then that I began wondering if all I had done was worth this newfound power. Were the murders of my father and the monks truly worth it?
Ever since the incident on the Vengeance, I couldn't get the image of the Jedi out of my head. After witnessing Jerec take his head, the Jedi seemingly began haunting me. I saw him everywhere, and always there was the same line uttered from his mouth.
"It is never too late."
We are at the crash site now, and the barely conscious Jedi is crawling away from the wreckage. I remove the hood from my head and watch as Boc destroys the green lightsaber that once came close to ending my life, only to have it's wielder spare me.
"Go tell Jerec that he will soon join the dead."
I hear Sariss tell Boc these words, and watch as he skips away to do as he was told. Sariss removes her cloak and hands it to me. I can only watch as she removes her lightsaber from her belt. She looks down in contempt at the man who failed to live up to her and her master's expectations. The man who made the decision I couldn't. The snapping sound of her lightsaber fills the air as the blue blade comes to life. From behind me, I hear the voice again.
"It is never too late."
She raises the blade as the barely conscious Katarn can only look up. He deserves a better death than this, he deserves the same mercy he showed me. As the blade begins to fall towards him, I use the Force to speed up my actions as I quickly grab the lightsaber from my belt. I activate just in time to intercept her blade feet from Katarn's head.
Her next move is quick, I can only watch as her blue blade slides across the yellow of my lightsaber and then…
I feel the burning pain as her blade tears through my arm and into my side. I can hear the sound of my severed arm hitting the rocky ground below me and the deactivation of my own lightsaber. I collapse to my knees as my strength slowly fades. I can barely hear the startled gasp of Sariss as she asks why I did this. I say the only thing my mind can come with at the moment.
"He's a Jedi, he deserves a battle…"
Ahead of me I see the Jedi I had a hand in murdering weeks ago. He slowly nods at me and turns away. Behind him springs up a well of light.
"Sariss, can you see the light?"
I fall to the ground, and I hear those words one last time, only several voices join in with the murdered Jedi.
"It is never too late."