Disclaimer: George Lucas owns Star Wars

A Shift in the Force: Chapter Thirty-Three: The Offer From Gratina

AN: So, the end of last chapter was pretty dramatic, huh? Obi-Wan and Carina are going to have a lot of meetings over the next couple of months, so there's a lot to Carina to look forward to.

There was a question about Quinlan Vos appearing in the fic, and I'm not entirely sure if he will, but he has been mentioned before and will be brought up on more than one occasion, if he doesn't make an appearance.

I'm not entirely sure how long the Carina Arc is going to last, but it's going to be several chapters at least, so I hope you lot are all ready to enjoy her glory.


When Darth Sidious had heard the rumors of another using the name Darth, he'd been furious, on the verge of an apoplectic rage, and it was only practiced ease that those under his employ remained ignorant of that anger. Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, after all, was a patient and kindly man, nothing like his Dark Side counterpart, or so it seemed. He considered his chief accomplishment to date, right behind killing his old master Darth Plagueis while he slept, to be fooling the Jedi in the Temple for so long, particularly Yoda. He had thought the Grandmaster would see through him, but he never did.

No one ever saw his anger.

But a bounty hunter? A bounty hunter using the name that was reserved for the Sith? It was outrageous and insulting in every possible way! A bounty hunter using a Sith's name…it made him burn from the inside out.

He was going to find this nameless, faceless, weak bounty hunter and make them regret the day they chose to use that name.

But he wasn't going to get his hands dirty, he simply didn't have the time for it.

No, he'd take out his own bounty on this 'Darth' and let their own kind do the rest…


Obi-Wan had felt fear several times in his life, even though the Jedi Order taught to free oneself from fear, in certain situations it was impossible to deny. He had felt fear when he had taken Qui-Gon's place against the Sith Darth Maul on Naboo, and he certainly felt fear now.

Because there was nothing more terrifying that seeing the face of a friend, of someone he cared very much about, in an unrecognizable manner. It was the eyes that got to him the most, because Sabé's were such a deep brown, only amber in certain lighting, but never, absolutely never yellow, never the color of the Sith.

"Darth…Carina?" he repeated slowly in incomprehension, well aware of how struck Anakin was beside him. The name was familiar, but he couldn't quite recall why.

"You think my name's funny?" Carina arched an eyebrow.

"Not at all," he said quickly, swallowing thickly, "but the Sith I knew had a more…brutal name."

Carina's lips twisted into a cruel smirk. "Maul was weak, as men so often are."

Obi-Wan wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"Our masters choose our names," Carina said with disinterest, "mine preferred that others underestimate me with a name that means 'beautiful'." It was clear she found the meaning of her name to be rather amusing.

She tilted her head as she considered them both. "And what do they call you?"

"I'm Obi-Wan Kenobi," Obi-Wan said slowly, "and this is my padawan Anakin Skywalker."

Carina stepped forward, allowing a shadow of light to pass over her face, making her eerie yellow eyes almost glow, and Obi-Wan tried not to show the shudder that ran down his spine.

"Ordinarily I kill anyone who sees my face," Carina said smoothly, raising a hand to rest it on her hip as she scrutinized the pair and Anakin jerked back with wide eyes. "Luckily for you, I'm feeling…merciful…that and you've got a pretty face, Kenobi, but currently that's the only thing going for you."

There was something distinctly Sabé in the look that flashed towards him, but it was more different than alike, it was like staring at a ghost, a shadow of who she had once been.

"You were injected with a Ysalamiri-derivative that cut off your connection to the Force…a startling sensation for you, I'm sure," the Sith said shortly, moving forward until she had one hand pressed against the harsh surface of the door. "Fortunately for you, I'm largely immune."

Her hand clenched slightly and cracks appeared in the wall before the door was thrown back and away from the wall it had once been connected to.

The movement and use of the Force was far too smooth. Sabé wouldn't have managed it, even with her skill she'd needed some level of concentration; Kit had complained about her taking too long with utilizing the Force once when they'd been surrounded by feral animals on a mission and Sabé had been rather short about it taking all her concentration.

But Carina gave no indication that the movement had strained her in any way as she stepped through as alarms sounded. "See you around, Jedi Scum." And then she was gone, rushing off into the sound of blaster-fire and frightened yells that were abruptly silenced. Obi-Wan didn't want to think of why.

"That was Master Sabé," Anakin said a bit blankly.

"Yes," Obi-Wan said rather weakly, "it was."

"Master Sabé's a Sith," Anakin added, feeling so very much like his legs were about to give out underneath him, a sentiment Obi-Wan couldn't help but echo.

Obi-Wan didn't even know how to start to rationalize what he'd just seen.


Carina's lips curled in disgust as she kicked the corpse away from her with a boot. "You should've just paid me," she informed the lifeless body with a bland tone, twisting her credit chip between her fingers, now with 50,000 more credits than previously.

The whole thing was more than a little aggravating, and Carina meant that. If you hired someone to do your dirty work, and they did, the least you could do was pay them what you owed. Carina despised people who felt they were above the bounty hunters they'd hired.

"Don't bother hiding," she added, her tone severe in the silence, echoing loudly around the room, "I sensed you the moment I entered the room."

"Well, it wasn't as though I was hiding," a voice felt the need to point out from where they were leaning against the wall and Carina didn't even turn in their direction until she'd grabbed her rusty-colored Mandalorian armor that she'd taken off some independent hunter that had thought he could prove he was worth his spice by taking her out; unfortunately for him, that thought hadn't gone according to plan.

Carina turned around only when her helmet was fixed over her head and the blaster pistol was pointed at the speaker.

"Speak quickly," Carina's modulated voice remarked, "I'm in a very bad mood."

That earned her a smirk and a glance towards the corpse on the ground. "Evidently."

The speaker stepped forward into the light and Carina arched an eyebrow from within the helmet.

"You must be the bounty hunter everyone knows as Darth," the woman mentioned in a wry tone. "There has been much debate as to whether you were male or female."

"I can't imagine why any of that would be of interest to anyone," Carina snorted, tapping her finger against the trigger of the blaster, almost teasingly.

The woman was a bit curious, though, Carina couldn't help but admit. Dark shaggy hair fell loosely over half of her face, but it hardly hid the bionic eye gleaming in her left eye socket, nor the coarse scarring set across her face like cracks in the earth. The dark tattoo extending from her shoulder down her arm made it clear who she was.

"I wasn't aware the House Renliss was interested in me," Carina said flatly.

"We wouldn't be the only ones," the woman said with a smirk. "You've been the talk of the Guild for the past six months."

Carina's lip curled. The idea of the Bounty Hunter Guild had never been very appealing to her, especially with how…legitimate it had become in recent years. Legitimate was not how Carina liked to operate.

"I have no interest in the Guild," Carina informed the woman shortly.

"Be that as it may, the Guild has an interest in you," the woman said, "and my sister Gratina and I have a proposition for you."

Carina considered her with veiled suspicion. She had heard about the co-founders of the House Renliss of the Bounty Hunter Guild, two sisters Gratina and Jalindas who had been found near death by a bounty hunter who had given them shelter and a home within the Guild, inspiring them to create the House Renliss years later.

"My kind of work isn't something a legitimate organization would want to be involved in," she said finally and Jalindas laughed.

"So you believe that rumor that the Galactic Republic likes to spread?" Jalindas' bionic eye swiveled in her socket and Sabé arched an eyebrow from within her helmet. "That idea was nipped in the bud centuries ago. The Guild prefers to answer to no one and the Republic likes to think themselves above us, so it works better for us when they're lying through their teeth."

Hm, the Guild wasn't quite what Carina had originally thought…still…

"I'm not someone you want to be allied with," Carina said, holstering her blaster at her side. "I've never cared much about who I kill."

"I don't think that's true," Jalindas said with a certainty that Carina couldn't help but admire and then the woman held out an image-caster to Carina. "You don't have to listen to the holo-message…but think about it."

Carina frowned, but she took the image-caster and pocketed it, and running off before the Jedi could find her and try to stop her (and fail).


Carina always made sure to take the long way round with her freighter, she was too paranoid to think of doing anything else. Though, it wasn't likely she would be followed, else the tracker would unintentionally end up deep in Wild Space with no knowledge of how to get out and which was to go in.

How the planet Tython had been found by Carina was an accident, but one that Carina couldn't bring herself to regret.

Tython was a planet that had been ravaged during the Force Wars between the followers of the first incarnation of the Jedi and the Sith, the Ashla and the Bogan. It had been abandoned afterwards, believed to be a barren wasteland, but such was no longer the case.

It was true that no other intelligent species lived there, barring the beasts and animals that still breathed the moist air, but the planet had grown back rather well, though it might've helped that no one really knew where it was anymore. The planet itself was very sensitive to the Force, and, as such, while Carina had been on the planet, the weather had been nothing if not bizarre; impossible heat to frigid cold to constant raining and everything in between.

The rain Carina didn't mind too much, since the rain itself was rather warm as opposed to cold which she was more used to, besides, Carina kept to remaining inside the Temples that reached down into the core, left unchanged since the planet was abandoned.

She guided the freighter down until she could land in the overgrown courtyard amidst the pouring rain, rushing in through the downpour into the dry Temple that she had called her home for the past four months.

The Temple was almost in perpetual darkness, which explained why there were several portable light sources connected to one another on the wall, leaving Carina to flip a small switch in order to see by dim glow.

Carina pulled off her helmet as she took the stairs down to the lower level until she reached the sleeping bag that was her bed. It was modest, considering the places she'd slept before, but it wasn't the worst, though Carina couldn't ever say that she was certain of that fact, because some days her memories seemed hazier than usual. It irritated her greatly, because she knew that she'd left the Order when she was sixteen years old and she'd been nearly seventeen when her master had found her and trained her in the ways of the Sith. Sabé Amidala was not a Sith name but the woman had cared very little for those titles; she had named herself, not the other way around.

But it was still vaguely befuddling how that Jedi Kenobi and his padawan had looked at her, like they were trying to see someone else in her eyes. Calling her Sabé like that…Carina remembered what her old master looked like under that hooded cloak she'd always worn and they'd been nothing alike in appearance; Sabé Amidala hadn't even been humanoid in appearance. But that look in Kenobi's eye…it made her feel as though she knew him, but Carina had never met him before, not before today, and certainly not at the Jedi Temple.

Jedi.

Carina's lip curled in disdain. The pain of apathy was a defect found in the losing side, and Carina couldn't even remember a Jedi with good to honest feelings and opinions that went against what the High Council had wished. If she had, she probably would've snogged them.

The Sith on the other hand, now there was something of value. The Jedi were just too blind to see it, but they'd never been very good about seeing things that were right in front of them.

Carina felt just a tiny bit bad of them, in the mess of hatred she had for them.

They'd learn sooner or later.


"You're very quiet," Obi-Wan said after clearing his throat, directing his eyes towards his padawan where he was sitting across from him on the transport they were taking back to Coruscant. Anakin had hardly said a word since they'd climbed aboard.

Obi-Wan had made a copy of the security-holos of Not-Sabé running through the halls, firing off a blaster that she'd snagged from one of her opponents. She'd killed roughly seven people before she'd made her way through the blast doors just before they'd shut and vanished entirely from the sight of the holo-cameras. The High Council, Obi-Wan was certain, would be very interested in seeing them. Still, it gave Obi-Wan an uneasy feeling that twisted and roiled deep inside him.

But it was his duty to report the matter to his superiors.

"She was all wrong, you know?" Anakin said finally, making Obi-Wan's brow furrow with a bit of confusion.

"What d'you mean?" he asked.

"Like it was her and it was not her, at the same time, you know?" Anakin tried to explain, though he too sounded vaguely confused.

Obi-Wan had gotten that feeling as well merely at face value, but he couldn't help but think that Anakin was more sensing than seeing. He and Sabé had always had a bit of a different relationship, being the only Jedi in the Temple that were parts of incredibly vague prophecies. Sometimes Obi-Wan wondered if Anakin would've been better off with Sabé, but Sabé had always been certain that their padawan were who they were meant to be.

"What happened to her, d'you think?" Anakin asked his master, his eyes large and round.

"I haven't the faintest idea," Obi-Wan murmured with a heavy sigh. But it had to have been something quite significant; nothing less would have turned Sabé to the Dark Side. But, then again, 'Carina' had been amused when they'd called her Sabé, claiming it was her master's name, and there was no familiarity when she saw him and Anakin…there was no reason for that, unless…unless she suppressed herself. Obi-Wan knew she could do it, she'd described it more than once, but he didn't think she'd ever taken it quite so far.

He smoothed his hand over his beard and hummed a thoughtful noise.


The day was off to a frankly terrible start, if you asked Talik from where she was hiding, tucked behind a boulder large enough to hide her and Tiplar from view. The planet Ganthel was an industrial planet with many operating shipyards, and the matter that the High Council had dispatched them for, which so happened to be settling the masses from a dispute that had gotten just a bit too violent, had only escalated.

"This isn't going well," Tiplar said thickly beside her, wincing at the sound of a minor explosion.

"Tell me about it," Talik groaned. "I think they couldn't really tell which side we were going to side with so they both attacked us so they didn't have to worry about it."

"Smart plan," Tiplar replied dryly and Talik flashed her a grin that made Tiplar's cheeks flush a faint green. "I don't think this species is known for its intelligence…can you see Master Miro and Secura?"

Talik glanced to her left to where their respective masters had dived in order to avoid blaster fire. She could see the faint light of two blue 'sabers fending off blaster fire. "They're a bit farther away, I can see their lightsabers."

Tiplar gave a sigh that was a bit too relieved and Talik frowned. "What is it?"

"Master's just been feeling under the weather, that's all," Tiplar responded defensively and Talik narrowed her eyes before taking out the blaster that had been a gift from Padmé and ducking out of hiding in order to fire some shots off.

Tiplar's eyes nearly popped out of her eye sockets. "What're you doing?! You can't fire off blaster bolts at people! What if you kill someone?!"

And it was a testament of just how done with the whole situation that Talik simply replied: "Well, then I wouldn't have to worry about them trying to kill me."

Tiplar was more than just a touch exasperated as Talik leaned out from behind the boulder and into view once more, firing a few more blaster bolts off. It would be like Master Sabé to have a padawan that was a bit trigger happy. Tiplar could understand wanting to even the playing field, but blasters had never been the weapon of choice for Jedi. She had heard rumors, though, of Sabé Amidala's skill in more than one weapon, and it was clearly an interest that had been passed on to her padawan –sorry, her former padawan.

"On the upside," Talik gasped as she propped her back against the boulder once more. "They all appear to be frankly terrible shots."

She cast a wink towards Tiplar, and before Tiplar could stop herself, she was laughing harder than she would've thought possible, especially over something like that.

"Well it's good to know people still find me funny," Talik said, a bit bemused be the reaction her words had gotten as Tiplar leaned back, breathless and wiping her eyes.

"Sorry," Tiplar apologized, "that wasn't really appropriate."

"We are in the middle of what could be considered a warzone," Talik pointed out, "I think 'appropriate' might be a relative term at this point."

Tiplar's thoughts focused. "Right," she cleared her throat, "we're going to need a plan."

"Well, you wouldn't be wrong," Talik had to agree with her there. "What would you suggest?"


It took exactly one day for Carina to cave and finally pull out that image-caster that Jalindas had left her with.

Each House of the Guild had their headquarters on different planets, and no one knew where the others were at any time; it was the best way for an organization like that to work, besides, if someone went rogue and they knew where every House was located, it would be very bad. Carina knew very little about the Guild, but she was pretty sure that they liked their secrecy. The only place where bounty hunters actually met together from more than one House was a place called the Void that had a perpetual cloaking device so its anonymity was maintained. Not even Carina was privy to that kind of information, but, then again, she was the type of bounty hunter that worked alone.

Carina held the image-caster easily in her hand before pressing the button in the center in order to activate the message.

A blue form appeared of a woman who must have been close in age to Jalindas only with longer hair, no present scarring on her face, and both eyes intact. Despite all that, Gratina was as much an imposing figure as her sister had been.

"Darth, my name is Gratina Renliss," the wavering blue figure remarked, her voice like static. "It is my hope that my sister Jalindas managed to reach you in order to impart the request in person. Your career as a bounty hunter is undoubtedly new, but your most recent…shall we say, exploits?...have earned you our interest, we don't take very many interests. Of course, we had guessed of the possibility that you might be female, which is a requirement in the House Renliss—"

Carina couldn't help but snort at that. She'd worked hard at her anonymity and had acquired rather neutral armor rather early on, only exchanging it for the Mandalorian armor when the opportunity had arisen.

"—which I am certain my sister will make sure of before she offers you this holo-recording," Gratina continued. "We extend you the invitation to join the House Renliss, and we await your reply in the hopes of adding another gifted bounty hunter to our House." And then the message cut off and Carina arched an eyebrow in bemusement. It was sounded very official, if you asked her.

But they had asked her, and it wasn't as though working for the Guild would be terrible…


Their footsteps had echoed loudly on the way to the High Council Chamber, and even standing within with Anakin by his side, explaining all that had transpired in the past hours didn't stop the uncomfortable feeling that he felt deep inside himself.

"Master Obi-Wan, more to say, have you?" Yoda inquired when Obi-Wan didn't move after the completion of his report, and Obi-Wan couldn't help but remember the last time he had heard words similar, back when Qui-Gon had appealed to the High Council to allow Anakin to become a Jedi. The reasoning this time was far more stressful, Obi-Wan thought.

Anakin didn't look to him, keeping his hands at his sides, but even Obi-Wan could sense his unease through their shared bond.

"Yes, Master Yoda," Obi-Wan agreed finally, "I very much doubt that my padawan and I would have made it out of the facility in such a short amount of time, if not for the assistance of the woman who had been caged with us."

"A woman?" Mace Windu's brow furrowed.

"Yes, master," Obi-Wan agreed, swallowing thickly. "She said her name was Darth Carina."

And that caused an outbreak of murmurs. It had taken the flight back to Coruscant for Obi-Wan to recall why the name 'Carina' was so familiar to him, and it was because of Sabé, or, more specifically, her nightmares. The name had terrified her something fierce, but she had never spoken of them.

Yoda's clawed fingers interlocked.

"And…she was Sabé Amidala," Obi-Wan added before offering the holo-recording to be played.

A hush fell as the holo of a woman with oddly cropped hair and Sabé's face appeared, firing off blaster bolts, hitting the each of her opponents in the center of the forehead, dropping them dead with a smirk, uncaring of the lives she had just cut short.

"So," Ki-Adi-Mundi said, "Sabé Amidala has fallen to the Dark Side." Plo Koon gave an odd little jerk that expressed his doubt, unseen with all the attention focused on the holo.

"So it would seem," was all Mace Windu said as Yoda maintained his silence, and for the first time since he'd joined the Temple, Anakin actually felt a bit sorry for Yoda.

But he also remembered Sabé, her smile and her calm voice…surely there was still good left in someone, even when they went Dark?

Anakin had to believe that was true.

AN: I was really excited when I read about the House Renliss, and bounty hunting is a major part of the Carina Arc, seeing as that's her job. Tython is a pretty cool place and I really liked the idea of Carina hiding out in some ancient temple. She and Obi-Wan will cross paths again, so that'll be exciting.

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