Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 20

Atton switched the commlink swiftly after his conversation with Meetra. It was time to report to Revan. He neglected doing it for far too long and he certainly knew better than to keep the Sith Lord waiting. He activated his communicator.

After a long moment, there was a response. The holoprojection of Revan came to life.

"I was afraid you forgot me already, Jaq" Revan reprimanded him. He was wearing his mask so Atton couldn't see his face.

"I'm sorry, Lord Revan. I was… occupied" he replied, looking around, fearing that someone might overhear their conversation. "But I have good news" he added quickly. "We have found the Exile." He heard Revan let out a loud sigh of relief.

"Then you've had more luck then we in this bloody war" Revan sighed.

"What happened?"

"Enough to say that the campaign on Ziost was the last battle I could call a victory and have no second thoughts about it" Revan replied grimly. "Their Empire has organized quickly and stroke back, while at the same time, a part of it is in the known Galaxy, wreaking havoc. To put it simply, we're fucked" he summed it up.

"Well, that's where the good news ends by the way," Atton said; his own features darkening. "We were attacked by the Sith when we retrieved the Exile, and now she suspects that they found us."

"Where are you?"

"On Peragus. We were on our way to Telos but we were forced to stop here. Otherwise, we would have been blown to bits. But there's more. The Exile informed me that she was attacked just now by an HK unit" Atton informed him.

"For Force sake" Revan muttered and brought his hand to his temples, attempting to reach them through his mask. After a moment he took it off. Atton was surprised at how much the man had changed. He clearly lost much weight; his cheeks were collapsed and his cheekbones were much more visible. To top it off, his face that always remained cleanly shaved was covered by a full beard. Even if Revan in front of him was only a holoprojection, Atton could see a lot of lighter hair on his head and the dark bags under his eyes. What surprised him the most was the fact that Revan pulled out a cigarette and ignited it.

"I didn't know you're smoking" Atton commented.

"And I didn't know that I would get my ass kicked so hard in this war" Revan replied without a trace of humor. He puffed his cigarette. "What do you mean 'HK unit'?" he asked.

"That's what the Exile told me" Atton explained. "She encountered an HK-50 droid. She suspects that it was sent by those Sith attackers."

"I never thought this would backfire on us" Revan muttered, though Atton heard him clearly. "We've lost a lot of HK units during the campaigns. We didn't have the possibility to clean up after the battles and it would seem that they took the droids for themselves. Have you encountered that unit?"

"No, the Exile has contacted me via the commlink and told me about it."

"Hmmm" Revan murmured, taking a drag from his cigarette. "It's possible that there are more of those droids out there. If you have the chance, try to get your hands on one of them and run the diagnostics. Try to find out as much as you can. And if my suspicions are correct, you'll face more of them in the upcoming days." He massaged his temples again. "You said you were going to Telos, right?"

"Yes."

"Those droids are very efficient in combat" Revan informed him. "They are nearly perfect copies of HK-47. You may be able to handle one, or two of them, but if they send more after you, you will be quickly outmatched. I'll contact HK-47. He's still on Telos and will join you when you arrive" he said, indicating that there was no room for disobedience.

"And what next?"Atton queried. "Shall we bring the Exile to you?"

"No" Revan replied. "There are things she must experience first and I feel the Force will guide you after Telos. Traya must retrain her first, but not in the ways of the Jedi… but in our ways. I will come for the Exile when she's ready. And remember, to her you are Atton Rand. For what it's worth, forget your life as 'Jaq'. She must not know about it."

"Consider it done, My Lord" Atton replied.

"I must warn you" Revan added. "Meetra is a charismatic person and I have no doubts that she'll try to get you to talk about your past. Do not lie to her, she will sense it and we need her to trust you."

"Then what should I tell her if I can't lie to her and at the same time I can't say the truth?"

"Tell her the pieces of truth and colorize it" Revan replied instantly as if he had prepared the answer for that question. "You'll figure something out, you're good at lying. And Jaq" he added, drawing the man's attention back to him. "Do not forget who you're truly loyal to."

"I will not, My Lord Revan" he replied immediately, straightening himself. Atton saluted him and Revan replied only by shutting down the communication.

After battling her way through the corridors against other droids, Meetra found herself in a spacesuit, in front of the airlock doors. In a nearby console she found another recording, saying that there was no other way to the hangar bay, but the surface of the asteroid, all the way to the dormitory airlock. The hangar was sealed behind a containment field, impossible to open it. Taking in a calming breath, she opened the airlock and took the first step on the space scaffolding.

She walked on the platform, slowly, but soon enough, she found herself in front of the viewport. On the next side of the glass, Atton was standing. She tried to contact him via the commlink but there was no signal. After watching carefully, she saw him speaking to someone, though he was too far away from her to know who it was. She watched as he ended the communication and before Meetra could try to call him again, Atton contacted her.

"What is going on?" he asked. "I'm picking you up on the exterior of the facility, on the asteroid's surface. That can't be right."

"Really?" she replied. "Maybe you should look up," she said sarcastically.

"Huh?" Came his puzzled question. "What are you doing out there?" he asked her.

"I need to reach the dormitory section in order to get to the hangar bay, and this is the only way to get there" she explained.

"You're crazy" he commented. "Even for a Jedi. Look, you need to get out of there… quick."

"What do you mean?" she asked suspiciously. Atton's communication with someone raised a series of questions in her mind. Perhaps I was wrong to mistrust the droid, she mused.

"What little is left of the facility's venting systems have gone active, most likely from the explosions in the mining tunnels" he explained to her calmly. "They're venting Peragus fuel deposits into space through the exterior vents – right in your path."

"Can't you shut them down?"

"I can't" he replied; he sounded defeated. "I'm locked out of the main systems here, I couldn't shut it down if I tried. The vents look like they've been purposely rerouted to vent the gases to the exterior, and only in the last few minutes" he informed her. "It's almost as if…" he wanted to say something else, but a beeping coming from the console interrupted him. "Oh, what now?!" he complained. "I don't believe this" he muttered after a few seconds. "There's a ship coming in, sending a docking code. I have a bad feeling about this" he commented.

As soon as he said those words, Meetra saw in a corner of her eyes, a ship exiting the hyperspace. The Harbinger, she realized. It was coming towards the Peragus Mining Facility. Someone informed the Sith, she deducted. Though she wasn't sure if it was the HK droid, or Atton, speaking to some stranger mere moments before.

Meetra watched as the Hammerhead cruiser approached the asteroid on which they were trapped. It came to a halt right next to it. She saw a pipe approaching the ship's engines, no doubt in order to fuel. But it wasn't the only place in which the ship was connected with the asteroid.

The starboard section was connected to the exterior airlock of the facility, allowing the Harbinger's passengers to enter the asteroid.

"I have a bad feeling about this too, Atton" she replied.

Luckily for her, the fuel was now being directed through the pipe, and not into space, blocking her path. She accelerated her moves with the Force and raced down the scaffolding, entering the dormitory section.

Once inside, Meetra quickly took off the spacesuit, discarding it. After stepping out of the airlock, she found herself facing another mining droids. She didn't pay them much mind, getting rid of them with the Force. She had to hurry and she was well aware of this. Except for the droids, she also found numerous corpses, lying on the ground. Earlier in the console, Meetra found a schematics of the facility, allowing her to move freely across the asteroid, knowing exactly where she was supposed to go.

From the holorecords in one of the consoles, she found out that the turbolift to the administration level was locked down. Luckily for her, the console also had the codes to unlock it. She ran from the console towards the turbolift. She tapped in the codes and the doors were opened. She entered the turbolift.

As soon as she arrived at the administration level, she found Kreia waiting for her.

"I have felt a disturbance" Kreia informed her. "Our enemy is here. We must leave at once."

"And I've seen them arriving" Meetra replied. "But there's more. Someone has reported our position to the Sith" she informed the old woman.

"Is that so?"

"Yes. And I think I know who it is. But first, tell me, why didn't you say that you came for me with that man who was locked down?"

"Because I didn't think this was important" she replied dryly.

"It is important" Meetra countered. "You lied to me."

"I didn't lie to you, Exile" Kreia replied. "I merely didn't tell you the whole truth. And that is different. I never said that I worked alone while rescuing you. Now, who do you think gave us away?"

"I think it was Atton," she said immediately; her voice cold. "I saw him speaking to someone a few moments before the Harbinger arrived" she explained. Kreia snorted at that.

"Atton is many things, mostly a fool, but he's not a traitor" she replied calmly. "You have nothing to be afraid of from this one… maybe except for his stupidity. Even in your heart, you know that it wasn't him who gave us away. And I have a feeling that you know who it was."

"I've encountered an HK unit" Meetra admitted. "It said a different story of my arrival here than what I've learned from you."

"And there is your answer on who betrayed us," Kreia said. "I cannot offer you anything except my words that this is true, but honestly, you have no other choice but to believe me. Now come, we must go, and quickly."

"All right. Let's go" Meetra said reluctantly and the two women proceeded towards the main room.

"We need to make our way to the docking area on this level" Kreia informed her while they walked. "I fear the airlock has already opened, and if so, we must be on our guard. If we cannot reach the Ebon Hawk, then we must find a way to escape on the ship that has docked here.

"I had no idea that you were still alive" Atton greeted them when they joined him. "I thought that hit to the head was good enough to take you down."

"As you see, I'm safe and sound" Kreia replied and Meetra could easily hear a reluctance in her voice. "But there is no time to waste. We must go, now."

"Right now the Harbinger is the only way off this station" Atton informed them. "Even if we somehow managed to get to the Ebon Hawk, we would still need the asteroid drift chards to not be blasted out into nothingness."

"Then let's hurry, our enemy has found us."

They almost reached the corridor that would take them to the airlock when an HK unit blocked their path. Or rather, what remained of it.

The silver droid was carrying its head in one of its heads, while in second, it was carrying a blaster rifle.

"Threat: I am afraid I cannot let you go further, Master," the droid said. "You will come with me."

"I've bested you once already" Meetra replied, drawing her vibrosword. "And I can easily do it again."

With that, she charged at the droid. Atton quickly drew his blasters and took an aim, firing a shot after shot. Meetra didn't like the fact that they barely missed her every time, but they were precise nonetheless. The droid fired his own shots, but Meetra dodged them gracefully.

With the three of them fighting against the droid simultaneously, HK-50 was quickly destroyed. This time Meetra made sure that it stayed that way, smashing the droid's head multiple times.

"Let's go" she encouraged the rest of her companions.

"Wait," Atton said, stopping in his tracks. "I've left my communicator at the console," he said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Are you kidding me?" Meetra asked, not believing what she's just heard. "There's no time for this!"

"Hey, don't worry, darling, I'll catch up with you" he replied teasingly. "And if our guests find that communicator, they will be able to playback what we talked about. Go" he said before she could reply. "I'll be back in a minute." With that, he turned back and raced towards the console.

"Come" Kreia urged her on. "He'll be along shortly."

Atton was waiting behind a wall for the two of them to disappear in the corridor that would take them to the airlock. When he was sure they were out of sight, he returned to the destroyed droid that was lying on the floor. Meetra's actions made his work easier as the droid's head was already opened. He searched through its remains until he found two small chips. A memory core and a programming core. Without it, the droid would be useless if it came back to life again. He quickly placed both chips in the pocket of his jacket and ran after the two women.

"Missed me?" he asked as they were entering the airlock.

"Do you have the communicator?" Meetra asked him. Atton pulled out a small device from his pocket.

"Here it is" he replied.

Meetra didn't say anything to that. She started to walk through the airlock, straight towards the Harbinger. Kreia and Atton were following her.

"Something is wrong," Kreia said as soon as they entered the ship. "I sense no one on board."

"You sense no one on board?" Atton asked in disbelief. "Sense any assassin droids creeping up behind us like the last time?"

"Everyone here has been slain, yet there are few signs of battle" she explained, ignoring his comment. "No carbon scoring, no blaster fire. This place has been hit by assassins of a different sort. I have little doubts that the arrival of the Harbinger was no accident. The Force is guiding us to find a way out of this asteroid. Be silent" she added, even though none of them said a word. "I need some time to think."

"The hangar bay is blocked by a containment field," Meetra said. "I saw this vessel dock – when it did, a fuel pipe entered the fuel depot, behind that force field. Perhaps we can go through there?" she suggested.

"Look, I don't mean to cast another shadow on this, but even if we could reach the ship we came in on, it wouldn't matter" Atton commented. "You'll need the orbital drift charts to clear the Peragus asteroid field unless you want to have the shortest flight out of Peragus ever recorded."

"Then how did this ship dock here?" Meetra asked, turning around to face him.

"Well, of course, they have the asteroid drift charts in their navicomputer," Atton said as if he was explaining the obvious. "They'd have to."

"So let's get their codes, then" Meetra replied. "Then we can worry about reaching the Ebon Hawk." Atton rubbed the back of his head again.

"Well, we'd have to get to the bridge. I mean… well, that's the biggest problem I can see."

"That is a sound plan" Kreia commented. "For the moment. Let us go. Our enemies gather while we wait here."

"All right… but this won't end well, trust me" Atton replied, shaking his head.

"I'll head to the bridge" Meetra informed them. "The two of you, explore the rest of the ship. Check if there is no one waiting for us to enter into their trap."

With that, she proceeded towards the bridge, leaving the two of her companions behind. She had to take a step back when she opened the doors, though. The sight was not a welcoming one.

The floor of the bridge was littered with corpses of the Republic soldiers. She tried to calm herself and proceeded towards the navicomputer. It was located at the head of the bridge. She approached it and turned it on. She was surprised to find absolutely no security codes. She didn't wonder about that, though. She quickly downloaded the orbital drift charts for the Peragus asteroid field into a datapad that she found somewhere in the mining tunnels. Before she left the console, though, she decided to access the camera records. Back in the mining tunnels, she learned something useful and she'd much rather know what was waiting for her out there. She entered the first log, labeled 'Sith Warship'.

"Report" a man, apparently an Officer, ordered.

"The Sith warship is empty, sir" a soldier reported. "We attached an umbilical and sent three strike teams through it, and there's no sign of a crew… or its commander."

"There's no one on board?" the Officer asked, not believing his ears. "What about the escape pods?"

"They're still in their berths, sir" the soldier reported. "This place, it's empty – it's like a ghost ship."

"Then who was firing at us?"

"We don't know, sir."

"Search the warship one more time – if it's clean then we'll destroy the ship."

"Yes, sir."

With that, the record was over. Meetra checked another one labeled 'Survivors'.

"What about that Sith corpse we retrieved from the warship?" the Officer asked.

"We haven't had a chance to fully examine it, sir" a woman replied. "he looks human, but he's… fractured in several places."

"Keep me posted. Something's wrong here, and I want to know where all those Sith on the warship went."

This one ended faster than the previous one. Only one remained: 'Emergency Report'.

"We're still experiencing a problem with the communications array, and now maintenance is telling me there's a cascade failure in the weapon sys…" the Officer was making a report, before being interrupted by a female Lieutenant.

"Sir, I just picked up an unusual sound from medlab…" the woman said. Meetra then heard a beeping of the console, followed by a woman's scream and the sound of breaking glass.

"I have come for the Jedi," said a voice that sent chills down Meetra's spine.

"What the hell was that?" the Officer asked, clearly terrified.

"Sir, I don't know – communications just got cut" the woman replied, equally terrified.

"Send a security team to medlab! Now!" the Officer ordered. And the record was over.

"You've contacted Revan" Traya more stated than asked.

"Yes," Atton confirmed. "How did you know that?"

"The Exile has told me" she informed him and received a surprised look from Atton. "She had seen you talking to someone. At first, she suspected that you were contacting the Sith that arrived here. I've convinced her that it wasn't you who reported our position to our enemies. But she'll no doubt ask you about it. Better have a prepared answer. She'll know if you're making things up."

"Right" he replied. "Revan ordered us to…" he began, changing the topic.

"I know what he wants from us, murderer" Kreia interrupted him. "You don't have to repeat his words to me. And now silence, the Exile is approaching" she said, informing him that their conversation was over.

"I have the orbital drift charts" Meetra informed them. "And I've checked the records. The Sith Lord was indeed on this ship." Kreia's only reply was silence. "Is something wrong?"

"We must escape this facility. If we remain here, then we will die" she informed them, not bothering to choose better words.

Neither of them wasted time to ask more questions – they all sprinted towards the fuel depot.

"I have a bad feeling about this" Atton commented as they continued on running.

"Will you stop saying that?" Meetra asked, clearly irritated.

"I can't help it" Atton replied in his defense. "Don't you feel it? Something's going to get real wrong, real quick."

"How do you know that?" Meetra asked a rhetorical question, though Atton apparently didn't understand her tone.

"You don't survive in the Rim as long as I have without knowing when troubles come" he explained simply.

"Then it must be your cowardly intuition" Meetra replied sarcastically.

"All right" he sighed, giving up. "Don't say I didn't warn you. Trust me, when it comes to staying alive, I'm rarely wrong about these things.

Meetra only shook her head, while Kreia remained silent. They quickly reached a crossroads. Meetra would have continued on further down towards the fuel depot if it wasn't for an eerie feeling that lingered in the air. Chills ran down her spine again. Kreia stopped as well, sensing the same thing as the Exile.

"You were right, Atton" she murmured and turned around.

Further down the corridor, Meetra spotted a single male silhouette. Though the lights of the ship were flickering, she was able to see some details. The man who stood roughly one hundred meters away from them was wearing only black trousers. His skin was studded with scars that were too deep for anyone to survive them, though they seemed old. His right arm ended just at the bottom of the shoulder, replaced with a black prosthetic. Also, his right eye was fully white. The man, or rather a shell of what used to be a man, began to approach them.

"I came for you, Jedi" he spoke and Meetra immediately recognized the voice from the records.

"This battle is mine alone," Kreia said before anyone of them could say anything. She took a step in the Sith's direction. "I am not defenseless" she added and sprinted towards the enemy. "He cannot kill what he cannot see" she informed them as she ran. "And power has blinded him long ago. Run" she urged them on. "I shall be along shortly" she added and sealed the doors behind her.

Uh, I have enough of KotOR 2 already XD. Can't wait till we get back to Revan, but it will have to wait. See you soon.