Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Star Wars, or either Kotor game. However, I do own Crystal Kasra, Mara Kirei, Marcus and Nicholas, and my friends own their characters.
'Word' thoughts
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A few hours later, the Phoenix Hunter landed on Yavin 4. Crystal, who had fallen asleep again, sat up with a yawn. "Are we there yet?" she murmured sleepily as she stood up.
Tina, who had gone back to the guest quarters to sleep, came out again, yawning and throwing on her cloak. "I suppose so. Feels like we've landed."
At that moment, Exar returned from the cockpit. "Ladies, we have just landed on Yavin 4. I need to investigate something in the temple, but you two are free to remain here."
Crystal yawned again, and Tina looked at her. "Don't you need to contact somebody, Crystal?"
Crystal blinked several times, and then realized who Tina meant. "Oh yes, I almost forgot."
Tina stared at her, "You forgot? Honestly, you must be exhausted if you'd forget. Guess we'll see you in a few minutes then."
Crystal nodded, "Suppose so. I'll catch you two up in a little while." The Jedi Master then disappeared to the communications room.
Tina turned to Exar with a sigh. "Suppose we should get going then."
He nodded, "Suppose so. If I may ask, who is Crystal contacting?"
Tina looked at him, her expression un-readable. "If she wants you to know, she will tell you. It's not my place." The Jedi Knight then left the ship without another word.
Exar looked curious at her words, but shrugged it off and followed her.
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Not long after the pair stepped off the ship, another ship landed on the landing pad near the temple. Both Jedi Knight and Shadow Master could feel the malice of the person inside, and both pulled out their lightsabers. Unfortunately, Exar had lost his sword at the battle for Onderon; he had been too worried about Crystal to find it after Sion made him drop it. Therefore, he now carried a blue double-bladed lightsaber. Meanwhile, Tina had her two cyan lightsabers in her hands, her eyes watching the new threat.
When the pilot of the ship jumped out, both companions knew the cause of the hatred. The pilot of the ship was Darth Sion, who was looking most unimpressed to see them.
"I wonder, Lord Exar, why have you not reclaimed your heritage as a Sith lord? Why do you fight against those who were once your brethren?" he said, making it apparent that he had come here looking for Exar.
Exar ignited both ends of his lightsaber. "The answer to your question is that I found something more important than the dark lure of ultimate power and control."
Sion sneered. "If you mean that pretty Jedi bitch of yours, she's hardly worth it."
Exar's expression was murderous at the insult to Crystal, and he attacked. Sion was a little surprised by the sudden ferocity of Exar's attack, but recovered quickly. They dueled for a few minutes, whereas Tina waited patiently to the side. She was waiting for the time when she could press her advantage – in the meantime using the Force to probe Sion's mind.
Indeed, after several minutes, she found the advantage. Sion started backing away from Exar, and she moved up behind him. "You made a grave mistake when you turned your back on me," she growled angrily as she moved her lightsaber to his throat.
Sion merely grinned evilly, and used the Force to jump upwards suddenly. It soon became clear why he had moved: Exar had just thrown a dagger straight at his heart. Tina received no warning of Exar's attack, and because Sion had moved, the dagger struck her instead. Fortunately, as she was a different build to Sion, and had turned away slightly, it was merely a glancing blow, and didn't pierce her heart. But it was still a potentially fatal wound if not treated quickly and properly.
Exar looked horrified at what he had done, and Sion (who had landed next to his ship) just cackled. "Well, it was my pleasure doing business with you," he called back to the pair. He then got back into his ship and took off into orbit once more; heading for Korriban.
Exar ran over to Tina's side, a look of horror still on his face. As he ran, he screamed for the Jedi Master. "Crystal! Get out here now! We need your healing skills!"
Crystal had been unable to reach the person she was trying to contact, and had been leaving a message when she 'felt' Tina get hit. Looking shocked, she quickly turned to the recording button. "Sorry darling, but I have to go. I'll try calling you again later. Bye." She then sent the message, and fled the ship to Tina's side.
Just as she left the ship, she heard Exar's yell, and saw him trying to repair the damage. Seeing that it was a potentially fatal wound on Tina's chest, Crystal immediately ran over, and pushed him out of the way. She then placed her hands over the wound, using the Force to concentrate on healing it.
Exar was still looking shocked, and Crystal turned her head to face him. "I can't completely heal this wound right now; all I can do is get it past the danger stage. There should be some medpacs and bandages in my bag. Can you please go get them?"
The Shadow Master nodded, and took off.
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Some time later, they were able to reasonably heal Tina's wound, and Crystal had applied kolto patches and bandages to heal what the Force could not on such short notice. Sighing heavily, she stood up again. "Well, that was something I don't want to repeat for some time. What on earth happened, Exar?"
Exar looked guiltily at the Jedi Master. "Sion was standing in front of her, and I threw a dagger at him. I was so consumed by the need to hurt him that I didn't even know she was behind him until he moved."
She gently squeezed his arm reassuringly. "It's alright Exar, you didn't know. Tina is fine now, so nothing bad came from it."
He sighed, "I suppose you are right."
The Jedi Master smiled gently, and then remembered the wound he'd taken on Onderon. "Exar, what about that dagger wound you received? I doubt your sword could have effectively healed it," she said, looking concerned.
Exar shrugged. "Well, it must have. It doesn't hurt, so don't worry about it."
Not to be put off, the Jedi Master reached out and shifted aside his robes so that she could get a look at the wound. She frowned as she surveyed the scar. "I don't like the looks of that. It looks as though it could split open again at any moment. Hold still a minute," she said as she placed her hand over the wound, calling on the Force to heal it. After a short while, she shifted her hand slightly to cover the bottom of the wound, and Exar drew back slightly. When she looked up at him in puzzlement, he smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, that tickles."
Crystal smiled and moved her hands away from him, turning to face the temple behind them. "Well, unless another Sith lord drops out of the sky and tries to attack us, I think we should get going if we want to explore the temple. It will be night in a few hours, and I don't want to be inside it when it's dark. This place already gives me the creeps. It's strange though...there is something familiar here..."
Exar's face went blank. 'She will hate me for this,' he thought miserably.
Crystal continued to probe the area around her for a few minutes, and suddenly realized what the familiar presence was. Although it had been so long, recently remembered grief caused her to realise who it was. She spun around to face Exar; tears glittering in her beautiful blue eyes. "My father wasn't killed on some far away planet by Sith assassins, was he?" she said softly, her eyes staring accusingly into his.
Exar flinched from the hurt in her voice as though she'd slapped him. He looked away from her eyes; he couldn't bear to face her now. "No, he did not," he replied quietly.
"Why, Exar? By the Force, why would you do this? If I can still sense his presence now, after all these years, then he must have died here in agony."
Exar winced again, but still refused to look at her. "After I sealed my soul in this temple, my followers would leave every now and again to find Jedi. Those Jedi would be brought back here, where their lives would fuel mine and keep me alive."
"One of those Jedi was my father. You knew the second I showed you my memories, didn't you?" she said, unable to keep the accusing tone from her voice.
He nodded, "I did. Something about your father intrigued me: he radiated a great personal loss. I was interested to know why a Jedi would feel loss; they are supposed to have no emotions. Through my servants, I asked him why he felt that way. He told me his story. Never did he leave me to believe that he had left the Jedi, so I was even more astounded by his story. However, my servants believed him to be lying, and killed him anyway. Sadly, the only way I could possibly use his life energy was to kill him slowly."
Crystal didn't look convinced. "So Exar, do you expect me to forgive you for this too? Perhaps I could forgive you for killing nameless innocents in wars, but to specifically hunt down Jedi and use their life energy to fuel your own? Do you expect me to forgive you that?" she said, aware of how cold she must sound. She could forgive him for the death of millions of innocents, but the minute her loss was personal, she got angry. 'This is not the Jedi way', she thought desperately, trying to shove her grief aside.
He turned to look at her, his eyes blank. "No, Crystal. To forgive me for this would be far more than I deserve."
Tina, who had just managed to pull herself into a sitting position, rolled her eyes and sighed. "Crystal? You're not telling me that you're suddenly going to go against every value you ever taught me, are you? You forgave him for being a Sith; this is unfortunately part of that."
Crystal didn't say anything, and Exar moved over to her, his eyes desperately seeking hers. "Crystal, please. If there was only one thing I could change about my time as a Sith lord, it would be the role I had in your father's death. It hurts me to see you in pain, and it kills me to know I'm the cause. I know I don't deserve it, but please, forgive me. I wouldn't do anything like that now; like you said, I'm a different person," he said as he looked at her pleadingly.
Crystal turned to look at the former Sith lord. "Exar, I...I don't know. If it had been anyone else but my own father..."
Tina sighed heavily, "Crystal..."
Sighing to herself, Crystal looked back at Exar. "Exar, I'm sorry. Like Tina said before, I've already forgiven you for being a sith. To hate you for this would just be cruel to you. But this will take some getting used to."
Exar looked relieved. "This is far more than I deserve, but I thank you."
Crystal didn't reply immediately and instead turned her attention back to the temple. "While I'm in the process of forgiving you; anything else you'd like to share?"
He winced at the angry tone in her voice. "No, and I'll swear to you that that is the truth."
She sighed. "I suppose that your word might be worth something now," she said softly, almost to herself. However, Exar heard it, and winced again. With Crystal's aid, Tina managed to stand up, and merely looked slightly amused with the whole thing. "If you two are finished, can we get moving? Standing out here is giving me the creeps."
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Sometime later, the three entered what had been Exar's 'throne room'. Tina, who was by now walking on her own, stared at the huge statue of Exar that dominated the back wall of the room. "Wow."
Crystal shaded her eyes as she glanced up at the huge statue. "Well, although you do look alright 50 feet tall and evil, I'd have to say you look far more handsome the way you are now." The Jedi master then flushed as she realised what she'd said, and turned away. 'Tina will never let me forget this,' she thought miserably to herself. Tina just grinned as she guessed what was going through her friend's mind.
Exar merely smiled, "Why, thank you Crystal. Anyway, everything here seems to be in order. Let me just activate the planetary defense system, and we can leave."
Crystal stared apprehensively at the control panel on the armrest of the tall gold throne they were approaching. "What, pray tell, is this defense system?"
Exar sat down in the chair, and his fingers nimbly moved over the controls. Both Tina and Crystal started as they felt the ground move as it opened up outside to reveal the weapon. Exar grinned, and pressed a few more buttons. To the Jedi's' surprise, the roof then opened up to show them exactly what Exar was talking about.
He grinned at the girls' looks of amazement. "That gun there is capable of destroying a capital ship in one shot."
Crystal looked stunned at the information. "Are you serious? If that's true, how on earth did you manage to lose the war? No-one would have been able to get near the planet."
Exar chuckled, but there was a sad note in his voice. "So I believed too. I overlooked the fact that most of the ships it destroyed over my reign were traveling pretty much alone. This weapon can only destroy one ship at a time with its power and targeting systems, and takes a while to recharge. Therefore, when the Jedi sent so many ships and fighters against me, I was unable to destroy them all. Several of the fighters landed, and the Jedi then came here to finish me off. They believed me dead, and left."
Crystal noted the remembered pain in Exar's voice, and decided not to ask him to relive that particular day again. Her soft blue eyes scanned the room around them, and caught sight of an ornately carved door in the right wall directly beside the former Dark Lord's throne. "Where does that lead?" she asked curiously as she moved towards the door.
Exar frowned lightly as he tried to remember, "Hmm...I believe that is the door that led to the training grounds. No doubt that the grounds are completely destroyed through lack of care over these last few years."
Crystal didn't seem to mind, and began studying the dust-covered door. Every now and then she would lightly brush away some of the dust with her fingers in order to closer examine one marking or another. After a while, Exar wandered over to the door as well, and together they managed to pull the old door open.
After stepping outside, the Jedi Master knew what Exar had meant. The smooth flat ground that had been used for sword-fighting and suchlike when he had reigned as Sith Lord was now in a state of complete disrepair. The grass was growing every which way, and several of the stones marking out the different grounds were cracked and covered in dust.
Exar walked up behind the Jedi Master, looking slightly amused. "As you can see, the few times I have returned here I have not entered this area, nor taken any care of it. I confess that mowing grass for a few hours was never a task I planned to undertake."
Crystal chuckled slightly at that, and moved out over the grassy area until she came to a building on the other side. Pushing on the door, it opened to reveal a large stone training ground, with a few levels above the wall on one side where others could view the sparring matches that would take place there. To her surprise, the place still looked to be in surprisingly good condition, besides a few cobwebs and a lot of dust. She moved into the centre of the stone floor, glancing around at the worn markings on the ground.
(AN: There is supposed to be a sparring match/fight sequence here between Exar and Crystal. However, as I am terrible at writing fight scenes, as evidenced by the shortness of the Sion/Exar fight, I will be asking a friend to help me write it. The gist of the fight is that Crystal scores first touch, and then eventually wins, though Exar pretty much lets her win. After the duel has ended, Tina yells out.)
After Exar had left, presumably to see what Tina had yelled about, Crystal felt her commlink go off just as she was about to leave the training ground. Pulling it out, she saw who the message was from, and immediately lifted it to her mouth to talk to the person.
Meanwhile, Exar had just run into Tina in the throne room. It soon became clear what she had yelled about: a large boulder had tried to squish her when she was inspecting Exar's throne. She was still looking startled, and started yelling at Exar the moment she saw him.
"What the hell do you think you're doing planting booby traps like that?!? No-one else even knows this place exists! Why bother? You could have gotten me killed!! Why didn't you warn me? Do you want me dead? And what if Crystal had been the one to look at the throne? What would you have done then?"
Exar blinked as he considered all the questions Tina was throwing at him. "Well...I suppose I just forgot about it. I haven't been here for quite some time, remember."
Tina just glared at him, and walked away from the throne muttering to herself. "Forgot...totally ridiculous...complete idiot...could have killed me...just wait'll Crystal hears about this."
At the mention of Crystal's name, Exar suddenly realized she was no longer standing behind him, and returned to the training grounds.
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Crystal was still standing in the middle, though her back was to the entrance. She sighed softly, a few tears forming in her eyes. "I'm so sorry, Charlotte," she whispered as she returned the commlink to her pocket.
Exar then ran into the complex, looking relieved when he saw the Jedi Master standing there. "Crystal, there you are! What are you doing out here?"
The Jedi Master turned around, looking startled. It was then that Exar realized her eyes were slightly red. "Crystal...what's wrong?" he asked softly, looking concerned.
She shook her head, "Do not worry about me. I'll be fine. I just received some...saddening news from Coruscant. I'll have to send my ship there to collect something for me when we return to Dantooine."
Exar didn't look convinced. "Well...if you say so. And if that's what you want, we'll go to Dantooine straight away."
She looked at him in surprise. "Are you sure?"
He shrugged. "There is nothing else to keep me here. I got what I came for, and my temple is now protected. I wanted to leave now anyway, and since I can't think of any other place where I should be at the moment, I might as well take you to Dantooine."
She smiled gratefully at him. "In that case, thank you. It means a lot to me," she said softly as she left the training grounds with him.
Exar smiled in return, his heart pounding at the look on the Jedi Master's face. She was a Jedi Master, and as such, supposedly didn't believe in love. But sometimes, she would give him a look that gave him hope, and he lived for those moments. He already knew that she didn't truly believe in some sections of the Jedi Code, and the small hope that he might have a chance had flared when he'd found that out.
He sighed to himself, and decided not to dwell on what 'might be' while the war continued. But it seemed that everyday, he only fell further for her. Being around her so much was only making it harder for him to focus on the tasks set before him.
Crystal, completely unaware of the thoughts running through her companions mind, ran on ahead to find Tina, who had been exploring some of the old dormitories and rooting through various lockers and footlockers. After a quick chat over some of the items Tina had found, the two women decided that they were ready to leave, and followed Exar to the landing pad. A short while later, the Phoenix Hunter lifted up into orbit and jumped into hyperspace. Its destination: Dantooine.
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Angel: Well, I hope you enjoyed chapter 4, and as always, please review! This chapter does need some editing, particularly around the part where Crystal realises Exar killed her father, but I will tend to that in the future - for now, I just felt I needed to post another chapter.
C YA!! Angel