Disclaimer: As much as it pains me to HAVE to say this: I do not own Star Wars or any of its related materials. :P
-----------------------------------------------
Chapter 6
I was surprised by the Republic ship's appearance. If I had any less of my reconnection to the Force, I wouldn't have had the forewarning, and horror, of feeling 'it'. Whatever was on that ship, it was absolutely steeped in Dark side energy. It was pure power, but at the same time, it felt empty, like it was power physically manifested without a wielder. Long ago, I would have felt compelled to investigate. But that was long ago. I felt I had no obligation to the century old conflict of light against dark. The Jedi abandoned me, so felt I should embrace the idea that one received what one gave. I turned my back on the Jedi as they did me. Not once did they ask why. Not once did they wonder if they were wrong. Not once did they question.
I knew the ship was trouble long before they docked with the station. I hurried along the catwalk to the exterior door that led to the sought-after dormitory. There had to be people there. Me, Atton, and Kreia couldn't have been the ONLY ones left. Could we?
Ignoring the last thought, I stepped through the airlock seal and waited until oxygen and pressure returned to the room. Once done, I stepped out of my suit and continued through the empty and debris-ridden hallways.
More corpses. More malfunctioning droids; all of which easily dealt with. More death. I had not felt anything like this since Malachor V, but even though this was nothing compared to the screams of Malachor V, I still felt an unrelenting strain of sorrow and horror in the air, no, the atmosphere. It was a gut-wrenching feeling. I envied non-Jedi for this. They had not one idea how horrible sometimes it could be to 'feel' death and destruction with all of your senses and more. Only experience or years of meditation could ease the pain and prevent one from literally losing their minds.
I passed through the entrance hall of the dormitory quickly. I didn't bother going into the rooms. I could already feel that they were all dead. It was a little sickening. I told myself to shrug it off and hurry it up, reminding myself of the mysterious arrival and the darkness that accompanied it.
I found the turbo-lift back to Atton's level and went to its controlling terminal. I tried opening the door, but, not to my surprise, it was locked. More work from the string-puller, I surmised. I tried entering in a few codes.
Didn't work.
Then I tried a few buttons randomly.
My efforts failed again.
Finally, I just stared at for a minute in complete silence.
The I smashed the console with my vibroblade violently. This finally opened up the turbolift back up to where Atton and Kreia were waiting.
"When in doubt, break stuff." I mused upon an old proverb I heard from a drunk a few months ago. At least I believed it to be a few months ago, as I had no idea how long I had been in the Kolto tank. The drunk had said this to me on a backwater, yet civilized planet before smashing his glass on the bartender's unsuspecting head in a vain effort to run away and avoid paying for his drink. Not surprisingly, he failed and had an unfortunate and painful encounter with the bar's bouncers. It was actually quite funny that the advice of a fool got me out of a situation some of the nest couldn't escape Pieces of gold could be found even on a hutt's backside (not that I would ever look there for anything in the first place).
I stepped in the circular chamber and pressed the up button on the lift's control panel. The lift shot up to the next level and I stepped out heading top where Atton was to update the situation. I was cut short when I saw a familiar, brown-robed figure running towards me.
"Kreia?" I asked. For an old woman, she could sure run fast.
"There is not time. Surely you felt it as well; the great darkness that approaches. If my suspicions are founded, they are the same that attacked you on the Harbinger." She said rushed, yet surprisingly not out of breath.
"Wait, I want to know just who this enemy is."
"Be you daft as well as slow? They are the Sith, the mortal enemy of the Jedi and indulgers of the Dark side of the Force."
"What!" I said in stupid disbelief "But I'm not a Jedi! Not anymore, at any rate."
"Apparently that does not matter to them. You have known the touch of the Force. But enough talk, we must hurry if we are to avoid unnecessary confrontation."
"Agreed."
We hurried down the hallway towards the room where Atton was waiting for me. When we arrived, Atton had been at the console, looking over information. Hearing our footsteps, he looked our way at first with a smile but then disbelief seeing Kreia.
"What the! ANOTHER Jedi? What, did you guys start multiplying when I wasn't looking?"
"Ah, Atton, my ever comedic companion. This is the old woman I was talking about earlier."
"Hmph. There will be time to speak later. You, the fool, and I are in grave danger. We must make haste to escape." Kreia spoke with a certain coldness.
I wasn't sure, but I had thought I heard Atton mumble something along the lines of 'stupid schutta'.
Atton, ignoring Kreia's comment, walked back to the console and said "I'm guessing the Republic ship that just docked isn't the best of pals to you guys. However, we aren't in much of a position to do much."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Despite my valiant efforts-"
I cleared my throat loudly to remind him of who nearly got killed trying to find escape.
"And your manual labor, there is no other way out of this station except through that ship." He finished.
"What do you mean?"
"Think about it; we have already tried every other possible escape route. That route is only opened when a ship is docked there. Problem is, it's probably loaded with unfriendly faces."
"Good point. Well, gimme a sec to think about what to do."
I sat down to think. As I was thinking, two forces were enclosing in on our position. I knew because I could feel them coming.
-----------------------------------------------
Author's Note: Again, I apologize for having so much time, yet delivering so little. It's a little hard (mostly boring) working with so few characters. I probably speed up when I introduce the Handmaiden. Thank you again for your patience.