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 16: Juhani's Pact
Kayle activated the sonic emitter on his wrist, and the Firaxa shark was killed by the shock waves sent through the water. Between the insane Selkath, the damaged droids, and the nutcase in the locker, he was beginning to feel irritated.
Thankfully, the door back into a breathable location was only a half a dozen feet away from him. Of course, in the cumbersome environment suit, it took him almost a minute to cover that small area. When he did, he went through the airlock as fast as he possibly could.
After taking out a few Selkath, he managed to get himself into a room with two locked doors and a forcefield. Behind the forcefield, he saw a man and a woman.
"Who-?" He began.
"No - no, you can't come in here!" The man shouted. "You'll let the Firaxa and the Selkath in! No - stay out! Stay out!"
"Kill them!" The woman cried. "Kill them now!"
Before Kayle could say anything, he felt the air pressure of the room he was in drop. The doors all slammed shut, and locked. Kayle fell to his knees, the sudden drop in air taking a fast toll on him.
Kayle!
"Bastila…?" He gasped.
Stop struggling! I can barely sense you!
"Bastila, I can hear you in me head…" He was on his hands and knees, gasping for air.
I can't hear anything you say out loud. Don't say anything, just listen. Kayle quieted his thoughts, and Bastila continued. There is an ancient Force technique which allows a Jedi to preserve the air in the lungs. You must do this if you intend to survive.
Kayle tried to do as she said, but it was hard to focus on what he was doing.
You can do it Kayle. Let the Force flow through you. Use my strength. Bastila's voice whispered in his mind, and he felt warmth within him.
Bastila breathed life into her friend, using the Force to preserve his life through there bond.
Kayle stood, the Force flowing through him.
"Please - we're going to die if you don't stop the sequence!" He shouted.
"No..." The man backed away from the forcefield. "The Firaxa... the... the Selkath... I... I can't let you in. They'll get us!"
"I'll keep you safe. I promise." Kayle insisted. "But you have to let me in."
"I... I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to hurt anyone." The man walked to the side of the forcefield and deactivated it.
Zaalbar looked at Juhani as she sat at the bar sipping her Telosian wine.
"Is something bothering you, Juhani?" He asked.
The Cathar Jedi hissed. "My Cathar blood seethes at the thought of that man remaining alive. I cannot stand still while I think about it, but... but I will not give in to the dark side either." She sighed. "He will pay for his crimes, though. He will most likely be following us... me. If we could find him first, then he may not be able to set in motion whatever he has in store for us."
Zaalbar nodded. "Catch the hunter in his own trap." He said.
Juhani nodded, downing the rest of her wine. "Come, we should probably find Canderous and make our way back to the Ebon Hawk. Kayle and Bastila could return at any moment."
On their way back from the Cantina, Zaalbar, Juhani and Canderous were met by a young man claiming to need some help. Despite the bounty hunter act they were trying to maintain, they agreed to help him. The young man led them into one of the hangars down the row from the Ebon Hawk. Where they met the last person Juhani wanted to see.
"You!" She snarled, seeing the ugly purple Twi'lek stepped out from behind some crates.
"Get her, men, but remember: don't kill her!" As he said this, three men rushed out from behind more crates. Juhani snarled as the first came toward her. She raised her blasters and fired to quick shots. The man was dead before he hit the ground. She fired two more shots and the second was dead. She then pulled out her lightsaber.
"Wha-A Jedi?" Xor whispered, suddenly not quite as confident.
"Maybe." She said. "Or maybe I killed a Jedi and took this weapon from her!" She ignited the crimson blade.
Xor laughed. "Go ahead and kill me, Cathar worm, but I'll have the last laugh in the end!"
"What-What do you mean?" Juhani demanded. Xor gave another wheezing laugh.
"You may kill me here, today, but I had the pleasure of killing off your species!" The Twi'lek said. No one noticed the blaster he was powering up behind his back. "Not everyone who fought alongside the Mandalorians did it for their stupid concept of 'honour'. Some of us did it just for the pleasure: the pleasure of seeing your world burn."
"You…you animal!" Juhani snarled. "You monster!"
"And now I'm going to take your vengeance away from you." Xor pulled out the blaster. "You will die without it!"
A single shot was fired from his blaster.
Kayle looked up as the machinery self destructed. He noticed the giant Firaxa had moved away from him, no longer interested in him. He breathed a sigh of relief inside his environmental suit and made his way to the Star Map.
The three parts of the tripod separated, as the last three had, and a ball of light came from within it, revealing a spherical map of the galaxy. A spherical incomplete map that is, but incomplete or no, Kayle scanned it into a datapad, and then turned around and began the trek back to the Hrakert Station.
When he got back in, he was met by Bastila and Carth, both of which were on edge.
"Something wrong?" Kayle asked.
"Someone's been watching us for the past half an hour." Carth whispered, barely moving his lips. "We're not sure who, but we know they're there."
Kayle nodded, his hand drifting toward his belt. His hand closed around the lightsaber as he heard the snap-hiss of a double lightsaber activating. Kayle ignited his own, the once emerald-green blade now an orange-gold.
"At last, my search is over! I was beginning to fear someone else had killed you and deprived me of the pleasure." Said a slimy voice. "You may have defeated the pathetic bounty hunter my Master sent after you, but you are no match for me! I have studied at the foot of the Dark Lord himself!"
Bastila ignited her own saberstaff, and two more blades ignited behind the Sith apprentice. Bastila ignored them. "You're Revan's apprentice, huh?" She said. "Can't say he has much taste."
"Your words mean nothing to me, young Bastila." Said the Sith apprentice. "I will have you know, you are about to be killed by Darth Taliat." He rushed forward, swinging his saberstaff in a blur of red light. Bastila Force jumped high over his blade, taking on the two Dark Jedi behind him, having the advantage of a more aggressive blade. Kayle met Darth Taliat, blade for blade, when he ignited a new lightsaber, one with a violet blade.
Bastila blocked each attack the Dark Jedi made, though that was about all she managed to do. It seemed Revan had chosen his two top Dark Jedi to send after Kayle and herself.
Well I will not be beaten by these fools. She thought. She tapped into her new-found power. Since the attack she'd made on the Sith woman's mind, she'd been able to use large amounts of Force power, perhaps enough to fight Revan himself.
She used that power and took hold of both of the Dark Jedi in a grip around their arms. Their lightsabers fell from their hands and deactivated, and their arms snapped to their sides. Bastila pulled both of their lightsabers into the air, and ignited them both. Darth Taliat turns just in time to see the lightsabers come spinning toward him before both impaled him.
He gasped for air as both his lungs were punctured. Bastila swung her own lightsaber and beheaded him. She did not like watching people suffer, even if they had just tried to kill her.
Juhani swung her lightsaber. The blaster bolt connected with it and shot back, hitting Xor in the chest. The Twi'lek stumbled back, taking wheezing breaths, and fell to his knees.
Juhani took a long, calming breath. "No! I cannot give in to my anger. I will not give him the satisfaction of making me that way." She told herself. Xor laughed, or coughed. It was hard to tell now that he was only breathing with one a quarter lungs.
"Worm!" He taunted. "I killed your people on Cathar in the sky, on the ground, in their homes. I hunted them down like the animals they were, just to see them burn. But the treacherous beasts fought back and left me with injuries that meant I could never fight again... or so they thought!"
"Stop it!" Juhani cried. "This isn't going to work!"
"I ended up in the Lower City of Taris, and what did I find? A few of those stinking beasts living there!" Xor continued. "The male was easy enough to best, but the females proved elusive. I didn't know what happened to them after I killed the male, until I saw this cursed woman on the auction block."
"But then the Jedi came and ruined everything before I could have my revenge..." He gave a rasping cough.
Juhani was shaking with barely contained anger. "You... You killed my father, you killed my people, you treat us like animals... You deserve to die!"
"Give in and embrace your hate, Cathar worm! You're no better than me! You're nothing!" Xor snarled.
"I…I…" Juhani shook with utter rage. She closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, they were filled with rage. "You... You will die for what you have done!"
She raised her hands, and unleashed a blast of Force lightning. Xor screamed in pain as the electricity surrounded him, snaking up his arms and legs. And just when he thought he could take no more, it ended.
He gave a triumphant laugh, and was cut off as Juhani beheaded him with her lightsaber. And she stabbed his body, and kept stabbing. Letting out the anger she had suppressed ever since becoming a Jedi. Finally, she stopped. Xor was nothing more then a mangled, burned and charred corpse.
Juhani sighed. Her family had been avenged, and she had given in to the Dark Side.
The Cathar woman turned in shame and walked out of the hangar bay. She didn't say a thing, and she didn't turn around. Neither Canderous nor Zaalbar followed her. They understood that she needed time and space. So they waited a few minutes before leaving.
Bastila and Kayle both felt the rage coming from above the ocean. It was a good thing Carth was the one driving the submersible, or they would probably have sent into a nose dive when they doubled over from the unexpected pain they felt.
"Juhani…" Bastila whispered.
Kayle went in search of Juhani as soon as they reached the surface. The Selkath arrested them about half hour after returning, and detained them for the rest of the day while Kayle explained what had happened. When they were finally set free, Kayle went in search of the darkest, dankest part of the Ahto City sewers, where he expected to find Juhani.
Juhani hissed as she sensed someoneapproaching. She had holed herself up in the corner, with a blanket over her shoulders. The fur on her face was matted with tears, of rage or grief, it didn't matter. The one who approached her would prey upon both of them to get what they wanted.
I felt statisfaction taking revenge for my people like that... but... but I should not have let my anger consume me so. Juhani thought to herself.
"You did the right thing." Juhani wasn't sure who said that.
No I didn't. She thought. I let my anger and passions consume me and did something rash. Something which leads me down the path to the dark side.
"I can help you contain it…" The voice whispered.
How?
"I have the power of the Dark Side and the Light Side." Said the voice. "I can manipulate both, I can help you. But first you must swear yourself to me!"
"I will. Anything to relieve myself of the anger." Juhani said out loud.
"You will still feel anger, Juhani. But only to the extent of those around you. You will no long feeling the battle rage of your people."
"Thankyou…" Juhani whispered.