Title: Destiny's New Path
Summary: A what if. What if it wasn't Revan on the Bridge when Malak fired on his Master's ship? Suddenly the Apprentice is betrayed by the Master, and Revan then infiltrates the ranks of the Jedi. The Dark Lords mission: turn Bastila to the Dark Side of the Force.
Disclaimer: George Lucas and Bioware own the basis of this FanFic. I am merely entertaining the idea that I am good at making Star Wars stories (stupid ideas).
Author's Note: Nothing to report.
Chapter 10: A Hint From The Past
…Darkness fell around me as I entered the cave…shadows crept along the walls…and a great beast stood between us and our target…and yet I saw, at the very back of the cave, the tripod separating like a giant mechanical flower…
Even a day after the vision we still wondered what it all meant. Obviously the Star Map had to be in a cave, or else the many sandstorms would have eroded it, but past that we had no idea what the vision was trying to tell us.
Carth was just bringing us in to land in the Anchorhead Landing Bay, and, unfortunately for Kayle, I was beginning to feel irritable as we got closer to where my mother was staying.
"…and then maybe we can take a look at the Swoop track. Bastila, are you even listening to me?" I looked up at Kayle.
"Yes, I'm listening. You said…you said…" I wracked my brains for memory of the past few minutes, and found a mass of blank thoughts. "Okay, so I wasn't listening. What did you say?"
"Don't worry about it." Kayle said. "Why don't you go get some rest? We'll be leaving at noon, when the suns are lower; until, it might be best if we all rest up."
Nodding slowly, I turned and walked out of the cockpit, leaving Carth and Kayle to finish landing the Ebon Hawk.
I slept better in those few hours then I had in the week it took to get to Tatooine. No dreams, no visions, just peaceful sleep.
I woke up slowly, keeping my eyes closed for a while. When I first woke, I thought I heard a squelching, and a strange cooing sound. I thought maybe I'd been having a dream I didn't remember, and that the cooing may have been residue of the dream.
But it continued, and when I opened my eyes, I was looking right into the innocent, black eyes of the mass-productive amphibian known as the Gizka...
I screamed despite the fact that I was not afraid of a Gizka. I merely screamed because it was barely an inch from my face and staring directly into my eyes.
Kayle, Juhani and Carth all came running, and Kayle laughed when he saw what had caused me to scream.
"I guess one of them got away." He said, sneaking up on the Gizka and scooping the small critter up in his arms. It cooed excitedly, and then slid out of his grip like a bar of soap.
"What is a Gizka doing on this ship?" I demanded.
"You mean, what are about a dozen Gizka doing on this ship?" Kayle suddenly stopped as Mission ran in. "Some idiot dropped a crate of them on the wrong-!"
"We just found three more nests. Each with at least ten eggs." She said.
Kayle suddenly rushed at the Gizka, perhaps thinking to catch it off guard. He failed, and after another three failed attempts at catching it, he and Mission began to chase the Gizka around the room, slamming into each other more often then showing any sign of catching it.
By the time the Gizka collapsed with exhaustion, we were all exhausted with laughter after the many tricks Kayle tried and failed to use to capture the small amphibian.
With the Gizka no longer moving, Mission picked it up and carried it out of the dormitory, followed by Juhani. I shooed Kayle and Carth out so I could get changed into my robes, and then followed them out into the Central Room of the Ebon Hawk, where most of the crew had gathered.
"So, we're searching for some kind of map on this pit of a world?" Canderous asked.
Kayle nodded. "Yep. From what we could tell from our vision, it's in some kind of cave. And there was something in that cave."
"Something?" Juhani asked. "I have read about Tatooine. It is one of the places my people fled to after our Homeworld was attacked. It is likely the something you felt in the cave was actually a Krayt Dragon, a giant lizard, or at least a giant reptile of some sort. They often hibernate in large caves for six or seven months of the year. It's quite possible it was attracted to the Dark Power of the Star Map. We have already guessed that the Star Maps manipulate the environment around them, as the one on Kashyyyk did."
"If that's so then we're going to have to find a way to get passed it." I said.
"Don't forget, we've also got three family members to find," Zora put in. "Missions brother, my father, and Bastila's mother." A wave of anger washed over me, only for a second, and I hoped none of my fellow Jedi, and especially not Kayle, felt it. I had come oh so close to forgetting I had to meet with my mother, and then Zora had reminded, not only me, but the entire crew.
"Okay, we'll split into groups again." Kayle said, eying me suspiciously. He must've felt my second of anger. But then his gaze returned to the rest of the crew. "Mission, Zaalbar and Jolee, you three head to the Czerka Office, find out if they've seen Griff. And while you're there, get some hunting license's; we'll need them to leave if this place hasn't changed since I was last here."
"When did you come here last?" I asked, worried more memories were breaking through.
"Just before the Mandalorian Wars." Kayle answered, turning his head to look at me again. "My crew and I had to stop here to pick up supplies on our way to Taris; at that time it was the rendezvous point for anyone who was joining the fight. Back then you needed a Czerka Hunting License to leave Anchorhead.
"Now, while Mission, Zaalbar and Jolee are checking out the Czerka Offices, Carth, Zora and Juhani can check out the Swoop Tracks and also ask around for Zora's father. Erik; you, Seth and Canderous go take a look at the Hunting Lodge, find out what's been happening out in the Desert. Bastila, you come with me. We'll check out the Cantina, see if we can find out where your mother is staying."
There was a loud bleeping sound behind Mission, and T3-M4 push passed her, shrieking in loud beeps and other strange electronic noises.
"Wish I understood droid." Mission said. Kayle laughed.
"I think our T3 Unit is a little disturbed that he's being left behind." Kayle said. "Or maybe he's just disturbed." That got a laugh out of everyone.
And so we left, T3-M4 coming with Kayle and I, and chirping happily in some warped version of the droid language. Despite my suggestion that we sell the droid, or at the very least have it's memory erased, Kayle seemed happy with the droids borderline-insanity.
It turned out to be useful, however, when we were ambushed by two Dark Jedi. Despite his minute size, the droid took on one of the Dark Jedi head-to-head (er…dome), and electrocuted him to death with a built in shock arm.
Kayle easily overpowered the second Dark Jedi with a series of powerful attacks of his green bladed saber against the red blade of the Dark Jedi's lightsaber, which unbalanced her grip on it, at which point Kayle sliced her hand from her arm, and with split-second timing caught her falling lightsaber and drove it through her chest.
My mind was suddenly flooded with images of the very same women, not in the robes of a Dark Jedi, but in undergarments, and she was climbing into bed with – Malak! But not the Malak who'd been captured by the Jedi; a younger Malak, not as handsome as he had been before joining the Mandalorian War, but still with his jaw and still looking semi-normal.
It ended as suddenly as it had begun, and I saw Kayle on his hands and knees one moment, tears in his eyes. The next, he was on his feet, his eyes dry, no sign at all that what I had just seen had not been my imagination, except that I knew he too had seen those images.
Was it possible that Malak had been in love at some point? Or had she simply been someone who'd slept with him because he was in charge of half the Republic fleet?
Either way, Kayle suddenly seemed reluctant to dispose of the lightsaber he'd used to kill the Dark Jedi, though when he saw me staring at him, he quickly hooked the lightsaber onto his belt, hidden beneath his tunic.
And then we continued down the sandy street of Anchorhead, heading in the direction of the Cantina, where we'd hopefully find out where I would most likely find out where my mother was staying.